Mileage Reporting 45th week of 2012

Bare Lee

Barefooters
Jul 25, 2011
6,103
6,617
113
Saint Paul
4.5 mi / 7.24 km, 29 F /-1.66666 C, 10.16 mm pace overall. The accuweather site showed 43 degrees out, so I didn't bring back-up. But starting out I thought the morning asphalt and cement felt strangely frosty for 40s temps. When I got back I saw that the temp on the site was actually from yesterday afternoon. Opps. But this morning's temp was tolerable, although my feet didn't really start warming up until about the 3-mile mark. I gotta start factoring in how much colder the surface feels in the morning, if I keep up this Scedastic-inspired early-morning running. If I had had any trouble with the knee it would've been hard walking home.

But the knee felt pretty good until the last 1/3 mile or so, when I began to feel a little strain at the ITB connection, on the opposite side of the tweak. I did a little prancing and that seemed to help loosen up the joint. I'll have to roll that out good today. I also noticed that once in a while my left foot makes more noise than the right one, so I have to focus on my foot landing a bit more on that side, and wonder if that didn't have something to do with the tweak, as well as the greater tofp I get on that side. The right toe seems close to 100%, so I'm glad at least one part of me heals quickly.

For about three miles in the middle of the run I was down to around 10mm pace, and for a while I was even doing 9:10 mm pace, but I couldn't sustain it. So I have some work to do on my aerobic capacity, but it seems like it's coming back fairly quickly now that I'm running consistently again.

Overall, a very pleasant dawn-to-sunrise run under the new time calibration.
 
2 miles this morning at -2C plus 1/2 mile of cooldown by running backwards. Worked on cadence this morning. Forgot to reset clocks last night so it was 4:30 am. when I was out running. I did feel like scedastic being out that early. ;)
Dutchie, just curious, what do you mean by working on cadence? I know you're a high cadence runner, and I'm not trying to open up a general discussion about cadence again, but at the end of my run today when my knee started to feel a bit tight I tried prancing a bit, and this helped, and then I upped the cadence a bit after that and felt like my knee had a little less pressure on it with the slightly shorter stride. Is this what you experience too with a higher cadence? A few other times, before the knee-tweak, I've upped the cadence a bit at the end of a run to relieve fatigue, but this is the first time I've noticed a difference in how my knee feels.
 
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I started to think along the same lines as you did. I read your reply to Jason's reply in the coaches form. I was thinking along the same lines last week and decided to reduce weekly miles and do more speed. The first step for me is to go from 180-185 cadence and get to the mid 190's. Once there then work on stride. I remembered from the past that once my speed was up that the distance came much easier. So this winter season (since I reduce my milage in the winter already) I will work on getting my speed back down. I noticed while working on BF distance that I was losing my speed. Got to get faster to keep up to Dama.
:)
 
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I started to think along the same lines as you did. I read your reply to Jason's reply in the coaches form. I was thinking along the same lines last week and decided to reduce weekly miles and do more speed. The first step for me is to go from 180-185 cadence and get to the mid 190's. Once there then work on stride. I remembered from the past that once my speed was up that the distance came much easier. So this winter season (since I reduce my milage in the winter already) I will work on getting my speed back down. I noticed while working on BF distance that I was losing my speed. Got to get faster to keep up to Dama.
:)
Thanks for taking the time to explain Dutchie. It's especially useful to hear that an experienced runner like you is thinking along the same lines. Right now I'm mostly going on what I've read, although I'm pretty sure that pre-knee-tweak the introduction of speed work was already bringing my pace down pretty quickly. So, if I understand you right, you're going to first up your cadence at the same pace, and then increase your stride to increase pace, right? Interesting approach. Not sure if that would be for me, but I agree we have to do our best to catch up to Dama. My main goal, as you've probably heard me say too many times already, is to get down to 8mm pace or so, where my cadence naturally hovers around 180, then take it from there, but I may trying manipulating my cadence a bit in the meantime. It's just that when I do, I naturally find myself going faster, sometimes beyond a pace I can sustain.
 
[quote="Bare Lee, post: 108507, member: 2949" I upped the cadence a bit after that and felt like my knee had a little less pressure on it with the slightly shorter stride. Is this what you experience too with a higher cadence? [/quote]

This is what I do when I have "small niggles" of any kind. Higher cadence, smaller stride = less load on lower legs. Big niggles = a day off or 2. Currently working on more speed, so for me higher cadence same stride for now, when cadence naturally stays higher then I will work on stride length. This will in all likelihood be a 2 months project for me. Most likely most of it will be in min shoes when the cold gets here, last summer when I tried this I wound up with blisters the 2 times I tried this so I backed off at that time.
 
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4.4 mi / 7 km, 29 F /-1.66666 C, 10.16 mm pace overall. The accuweather site showed 43 degrees out, so I didn't bring back-up. But starting out I thought the morning asphalt and cement felt strangely frosty for 40s temps. When I got back I saw that the temp on the site was actually from yesterday afternoon. Opps. But this morning's temp was tolerable, although my feet didn't really start warming up until about the 3-mile mark. I gotta start factoring in how much colder the surface feels in the morning, if I keep up this Scedastic-inspired early-morning running..

HAH! My phone made me get out of bed once this week when I was going to snooze it.
I checked the weather; if it was raining or nasty, I was going to try to make it 5-6 hr night of sleep.
Then I saw 45 degrees and clear on the weather site from bed and i thought gee whiz that's great for 4:30 am I'm a goin for it.
Got up, got dressed in not that many clothes, opened the door to let cats out/in, and whew, if that wasn't a chill wind. Checked the thermometer gauge that showed the outside temp and it was high 20s.
My weather site never updated from the day before.
I did go anyways, but put on some socks and another layer.

I could trick myself every day like that and be in better shape......................
 
OH, and lee, that's good pace and mileage for your troubled week, and at an early hour.
See, night running is nice.
I'm almost getting distracted by too much to see during the daylight. I actually think my form is more relaxed at night.
 
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OH, and lee, that's good pace and mileage for your troubled week, and at an early hour.

Thanks for the encouragement Scedastic, but I think it was perhaps a bit too much; the knee began to feel a bit sore in the afternoon. We'll see how it feels today as the day wears on, but right now it's OK. I would like to keep doing that 4.4-mile route though. It's very pleasant and mostly traffic-free, taking me through the State Fairgrounds and back home along the U of M St. Paul campus's experimental corn fields (Cargill's GMO monsters mos' proly). I was thinking of just doing that route for a couple of weeks and see if I can shave some seconds off my pace each run. Maybe tomorrow I'll walk the last mile or so just to be safe. Or try a slightly higher cadence, now that Dutchie has confirmed that it's a little less stressful on the legs that way. The problem is I have a hard time not speeding up with a higher cadence unless I'm already fatigued. Hmnn, maybe fartleks are the answer . . .

See, night running is nice.

I agree, I like the early running. It really sets up the day nicely. I'm a bit slower then, you're right, and it takes a bit longer to get warmed up, but who really cares? The problem is when the temps begin to drop further later this month. I'll have to decide between running shod early or running bare mid-afternoon, at temp highs.

I'm almost getting distracted by too much to see during the daylight.

I think that might be true for me as well. I certainly enjoy the relative peace, and the way you really hone in on every sound. And yesterday I saw a hapless pre-yearling deer in the fairgrounds (looking for an urban animal shelter during hunting season?). Like I've said before, it reminds me of all those years I used to deliver newspapers as a boy.

I actually think my form is more relaxed at night.

I agree, the relatively greater peace of mind that early morning running affords may lead to more relaxed running form, but I haven't tried it enough to be sure. And in any case, my sense of my own running is already overly subjective. I sometimes imagine myself running like Ryan Hall once I get below 9mm pace.

Anyway, today I'm just doing weights--chest and upper arms.
 
4 mi, started out at 21F, finished at 18F. left late at 5:25 so i could hang out and drink a coffee first to feel warm. Wore soft stars. Feet were almost too toasty, hands (even in gloves) not so much. Bright bright moon, not much traffic. Venus? Lots of stars even with the moon out.
Foot was fine: both ankles/tendon areas farther up my foot felt just a tad stiff upon waking (confirming to me a tendon issue rather than tofp), so I massaged and rolled before going, and within a mile all was good.
 
OH, and lee, that's good pace and mileage for your troubled week, and at an early hour.

Thanks for the encouragement Scedastic, but I think it was perhaps a bit too much; the knee began to feel a bit sore in the afternoon. We'll see how it feels today as the day wears on, but right it's OK. I would like to keep doing that 4.4-mile route though. It's very pleasant and mostly traffic-free, taking me through the State Fairgrounds and back home along the U of M St. Paul campus's experimental corn fields (Cargill's GMO monsters mos' proly). I was thinking of just doing that route for a couple of weeks and see if I can shave some seconds off my pace each run. Maybe tomorrow I'll walk the last mile or so just to be safe. Or try a slightly higher cadence, now that Dutchie has confirmed that it's a little less stressful on the legs that way. The problem is I have a hard time not speeding up with a higher cadence unless I'm already fatigued. Hmnn, maybe fartleks are the answer . . .
.

Oh no on the knee. Hopefully it's fading at least a bit with time and not getting any worse, I gather?

At least you found a nice route.
 
Oh no on the knee. Hopefully it's fading at least a bit with time and not getting any worse, I gather?

Yah, definitely fading. It's been getting better pretty much every day since it happened, except the second day when I could barely walk. The first week's healing was pretty rapid, but since then it's been a very gradual process, and I'm still a ways out from it being 100%--at least another few weeks. But at least I'm running again. Worse case scenario is just reduce the mileage. I don't think I made anything worse, maybe just overdid it a bit. I feel pretty in control of the thing now, it's just a matter of time and patience. I'm icing it for a second time already since I got up at 1am, and I'll continue taking Damian's Hammer pills, and applying Dama's lotion, just in case those help too.

As for your tendon issue. I'm pretty sure tofp can be attributed to, or defined as, either a stress reaction, or tendon inflammation caused by tight or knotty lower leg muscles. My tofp is all over the place, on top of the foot, on the outside of it, but also up by the ankle. Massaging the shin and calf muscles always does the trick no matter where it springs up, so it's definitely of the 'referred pain' variety. For a long time I mistakenly thought it was a prolonged stress reaction, which kept me from discovering its cure (hint, hint).

At least you found a nice route.

That route is actually one of my old stand-bys, it's just that I outgrew it this last summer once I got up in the 5-to-8-mile-per-run range. It starts by going straight up my street for a mile and half, taking a right for 3/4 mile or so, taking another right for another 3/4 mile or so, taking another right for 3/4 mile or so and then coming back home through the neighborhood again. It kind of describes a squared cartoon caption. I like simple routes without a lot of turns or different streets. It allows me to zone out better.

Opps, I've been up five hours already and have only gotten three hours of work in . ..
 
Really struggling to find the motivation to at least get out for a run this morning. I woke up sick on Saturday and am feeling mostly better now but the effects of the nyquil and dayquil from the last couple of days is leaving me very lethargic and without a whole lot of energy. I still have a slight tickle in my throat too, but I don't think that would bother me for a slow run. I know I should get out there, usually it makes me feel better, but just trying to find that energy to get out there in the first place is a little difficult.
 
Got to get faster to keep up to Dama.
:)
Hahaha!!
Today I needed to gauge where my speed is at so I ran on the indoor track.
A warm up mile
3 mi in 22.32 mi
A cool down mile.
A total of 5 miles in 42 mins.
 
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