Morning! Day 1 of post surgery countdown to running. Surgery went well, and I have no pain. Today, I have some tightness, or what I call knee surgery DOMS. 20-29 days to go before I try running. Not that I'm counting or anything.
Spoken like a true addict!
I hope you have a speedy recovery and can make the best of your down time. Books, movies, games, Netflix binges or whatever suits you should be fun.
Former Bad Ass
Spoken like a true addict! I hope you have a speedy recovery and can make the best of your down time. Books, movies, games, Netflix binges or whatever suits you should be fun.
Downtime? What is that? I am already working...from home, at least. Should be back in person at the office Tuesday. But yes, books will be read now that I have hours of taper non-running after work.
Damaris
Ha! I hear you there. I was in a similar situation several years ago where I ruptured my Achilles tendon and couldn't drive to the office. The injury was on my left side and I couldn't operate the clutch on my vehicle so was stranded at home and therefore had to work from home. It was 6 months before I was slowly jogging and about a year before I could play basketball again. Injuries are the worst when you truly love your sport, as we do.
I just completed my first full calendar month of MAF training. 227 total miles. I did not do an official MAF test for a few reasons. I want to do them on a flat track and the local tracks continue to be buried in snow. I also do not want to do them on a treadmill because I know my form isn't quite the same, I'm slower on the treadmill (it could be in my head) and I will never race on one.
However, I was able to collect all of my mile splits and I sorted out the warm up and cool downs. I was able to quickly histogram my mile splits that I ran in my target MAF zone between MAF and 10 beats per minute below MAF.
Here is what I learned and hopefully will see improvements over time:
8:30 - 9:20 (heaviest concentration of results): 51%
Sub 8:00: 11%
Over 10:00: 21%
Here is what I learned and hopefully will see improvements over time: 8:30 - 9:20 (heaviest concentration of results): 51% Sub 8:00: 11% Over 10:00: 21%
What exactly does it take to run 8:30 min mile at MAF? This seems incredibly fast to me. My first two miles at MAF, if I am running at max, around 10:30 - 11:00. After that everything is over 11:00. I am young, 35 years of age, short and slender.. I have roughly three years of running under my belt and mostly everything is slow..I'd say average 11:30 over the last few years.
All of my non-runner friends can enter a HM with 15 miles a week of running and easily finish 1:30-1:50 and I still haven't broke 2:00.. 2:01 being my PR at the current time. I'm running between 30-40 mpw at MAF...long runs close to 10 miles for now and as race season is approaching I am going to try and hit 14-15 miles. I have seen the MAF pace chart predictor posted on another topic, but per my MAF first mile of 10:32 or so I should be able to run 1:54 HM, but I can't keep a 8+ min/mile pace over the course of a HM for the life of me.. Even on a down hill course, which a majority of the courses are here as i live in Utah.. Usually the walk/run struggle begins around mile 10. Any advice? This is getting frustrating.
Solarisrunner, it is what it is, and in the game of running it's a form of self-flagellation to compare one's self with other runners. There's a genetic component that none of us have control over. Elite runners are fast like they are because of genetics. They can show up to a local race and pretty much always win if they wish. Even if the average runners train the same amount of miles, they will never beat the elite. For me, the fun of running has always been beating my own times. I've finished 1st one time in my age group, but the field was small. That was fun, but it'll never happen in a large field. So, I'm always racing a past self. There will come a time when I won't be able to beat a past self and will have to settle for other aspects of running to satisfy my sense of competition.
As for improving, long runs are key. If you've been just putting in 10 miles as your long run, then it makes sense you're petering out at mile 10 in the race. Getting up to 14-15 miles for a long run will help with the endurance for the half. Build to it slowly. I ran my best half marathon doing some heavy volume at MAF-10 and below (20-milers). I was training for a marathon at the time. It's volume at MAF and below that will get that aerobic speed improving. Again, build slowly.
TODAY:
10 mile walk
2:47:00
16:41 pace
Last 7 days: 39 miles
Hi Solarisrunner,
I agree with what Jimmyb said. It is what it is. I have no idea. For me, it's just about getting better and enjoying myself. I have several close friends that are similar to myself in that they are casual runners who occasionally race. We compare results of training runs regularly and discuss strategies. In fact, two of my coworkers are now starting the MAF training due to conversations that we've had about it. One of them just started 2 days ago and the other about 2 weeks ago. The guy who has been running for 2 weeks is currently running over 12 minute miles at MAF. 2 years ago he qualified for the Boston Marathon.
For me personally, my running history isn't exactly super impressive. I ran track and cross country in high school and was somewhere between the front and the middle of the pack typically. I won the 800 a couple of times but they weren't big meets. I'd get smoked in the state meets. However, I didn't care because I was having fun and working on improving my times which I did have success doing.
After high school, I did nothing competitively but I would go out and run maybe 3 to 4 miles, a couple of times a week. Just over 2 years ago, at age 37 my sister in law convinced me to run a 5K down in Denver (I live in South Dakota). So I started training for that about a month out and ran a time of 23:58.
I then worked with management at work to pay entry fees to local races. They would provide people with shirts with our company logo as well. I ran in a couple of marathon relays with coworkers which was a lot of fun. Then I entered my first marathon. I didn't really have a real training plan and the course was really hilly (gain of over 700 ft). I ran a time of 3:40 fading hard over the last 8 miles. Entered my 2nd marathon on an even hillier course (over 1000 ft gain and 1400 ft drop), also with no real focused training plan. We were also blessed with a 15+ mph head wind and 80+ degree heat. Time was 3:45 while once again fading hard over the last 8 miles.
Then most recently, I entered a marathon (September 2016) with a fairly flat track which was my first road race marathon. This time I used a program called FIRST which was basically nothing but hard running. I hit most of my training targets. Once again I was blessed with winds over 10 mph and ran a time of 3:14:25 (7:25 pace). But once again, I had a fade but this time it was less severe and only over the last 6 miles.
In my determination to fix the fade and hopefully one day qualify for Boston, I can across the Maffetone method. I'm learning a lot from this forum and am really enjoying discussing this approach with like minded people. I'm not sure if my personal story helps or adds some color to my progress but I hope so.
Today:
Evil Treadmill (to avoid subzero windchills and new fallen snow/ice)
Avg HR: 134
Mile 1: 9:50 (warmup)
Mile 2: 8:25
Mile 3: 8:32
Mile 4: 8:46
Mile 5: 9:23
Mile 6: 7:42
Mile 7: 7:26
Mile 8: 8:53
Mile 8.6: 16:03 (cooldown)
AM 5.85 mile walk 1:50:00
PM 7.38 mile walk 2:00:00
13.23 miles for the day
40 miles walked the last 7 days
I have been sick all week with a cold. However, I still managed to get all five runs in and ended the week on 33.5 miles. Heart rate has been running about 5-10 beats higher than normal and I assume this is due to the cold. I had a 10 mile run today which I ran on the treadmill. I ran the first 5 miles between 11:30 - 12:00, with a majority at the higher end. I decided at about mile 5 I would try out the decline mode and set it to -1.0% decline and the last two miles at -1.5%. It felt great and I felt like I had a ton of energy. My pace inceased by about a minute per mile, (of course). But it was just nice to get some higher leg turnover for once.
What are the advantages/disadvantages if any of running downhill or with the treadmill decline setting? As I have posted before the majority of the races I run are downhill, some of which are over a 3000ft drop over 13.1 miles.
Feel better, solar!
You guys have been busy this week!
4 days post meniscus surgery and I rode 30 minutes on my bike (on the trainer, so indoors). Light effort. Thinking of going one hour tomorrow.
I have been sick all week with a cold. However, I still managed to get all five runs in and ended the week on 33.5 miles. Heart rate has been running about 5-10 beats higher than normal and I assume this is due to the cold. I had a 10 mile run today which I ran on the treadmill. I ran the first 5 miles between 11:30 - 12:00, with a majority at the higher end. I decided at about mile 5 I would try out the decline mode and set it to -1.0% decline and the last two miles at -1.5%. It felt great and I felt like I had a ton of energy. My pace inceased by about a minute per mile, (of course). But it was just nice to get some higher leg turnover for once. What are the advantages/disadvantages if any of running downhill or with the treadmill decline setting? As I have posted before the majority of the races I run are downhill, some of which are over a 3000ft drop over 13.1 miles.
Advantages to training with downhills are definitely good for your downhill races. Also, if you're lucky enough to have a TM with downhill, it will fill in the little hole in training that my TM lacks: downhills. I can train months on a TM and get fit, but the first few runs outside I will come away with sore quads from the downhills. In terms of MAF training, D. Maffetone suggests downhill intervals for getting some neurological stimulus in terms of speed at MAF. Obviously, you can run faster at MAF if you're running downhill.
I took yesterday off, and enjoyed the rollercoaster ride that was Super Bowl 51. Go Patriots.
Consistently Slow
Maff Training in full effect. 18.8 milies in January. 26.2 miles yesterday. No hrm.New Orleans.
Run until the trail runs out.
SCHEDULE 2016--
The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff
http://bkclay.blogspot.com/
Feeling a lot better this week. At times, I wish there wasn't such a big difference in speed at lower speed on the treadmill. E.g,. 5.4 = 11:07 5.3 = 11:19. 5.4 puts me slightly over MAF by one or two beats, but 5.3 keeps me under by 5 to 8..
I did a 5.25 mile run with warm-up/cooldown
Avg HR High HR
1 10:32 135 141
2 10:47 143 147
3 11:16 141 146
4 11:11 142 147
5.25 11:10 142 146
Feeling a lot better this week. At times, I wish there wasn't such a big difference in speed at lower speed on the treadmill. E.g,. 5.4 = 11:07 5.3 = 11:19. 5.4 puts me slightly over MAF by one or two beats, but 5.3 keeps me under by 5 to 8.. I did a 5.25 mile run with warm-up/cooldown Avg HR High HR 1 10:32 135 141 2 10:47 143 147 3 11:16 141 146 4 11:11 142 147 5.25 11:10 142 146
Wouldn't it be cool if you could dial in a treadmill to minutes per mile (down to the second) instead of miles per hour? Maybe there are treadmills like that?
You mentioned a few posts ago about a 3000 ft drop over a half marathon. Holy moly... Some of my friends signed up for one of the Revel races in Vegas on April 29. That one is 5000 or so ft over the full marathon. I'm debating if I want to try one of those but it sounds like a killer on the quads. I have this scary vision of being on pace to absolutely destroy my PR, qualify for Boston, etc, only to have to walk several miles at the end due to pain.
What little I was able to find on preparing for such races says to run on rolling hills once or twice a week. But if you have a treadmill that declines, I wonder if it's just better to set it to a decline and leave it there? Maybe we should do that once a week anyway as an artificial tempo run at MAF?
Anyway, here was my Sunday run before the Super Bowl:
MAF: 146
Avg HR: 136; Had 3 little blips over MAF where I just walked a little bit to bring it back down
Conditions: 14 deg F, Wind 10 mph, Scattered slippery spots, some up and down but fairly flat (total elevation gain 387 ft, loss 318 ft)
Time 3:01:32
Distance 20.7 miles
Average Pace 8:46 per mile
Morning! Rode my bike on Sunday and got released to do everything non-impact by the surgeon, so I went to Pilates and walked 3 miles last night. Bike ride tonight. Started PT yesterday.