Describe Your Running Today, Part II

2hr 5min of relaxed running on hilly, muddy trails.

Took the soft option and ran far less hills than I originally intended. I realised the course I'd mapped out in my mind would involve a total of 6-700metres of elevation gain. Probably too much work as I have 2 fairly hilly races planned this weekend.

Very cold by my standards -about 47 deg F - that's not cool Driske that's COLD!!

Probably about 23kms. The course weaved through the trails on the McIvor Range. Some of the trails have had a dozer through them to meet fire regs. Made for some soft footing in places.

No police or secret service to be found. Plenty of marsupials and birds including one very large emu, not a single human to be seen.

Similar trajectory there , mopak. 1:53 to cover 11 miles , friend John pulled me tired legs through this one.

Greenery is getting lush of the merits of the rainy cool weather. A few mallard ducks dot the lakes but it was likewise serene with no one else about.

My Bride came along to see what this Timm's Hill excursion is all about. She did a brick of her own. 1 hour MTB, 3 mile run and 3 more miles on a road bike.

Bellin 10K Run in Green Bay has attracted 13-16,000 folks the last few years. Thats our Sat destination.

Guess I'll find out there what kind of rabbit emerges from the hat on race day.

15 min pre-warmup cycling to the track,

1 mile warmup

drills

strides

3x1200 cruise intervals (wanted to do 5, first one on target, felt like crap, going down from there, 3:36, 3:44, 3:57 wtf)

15 min warumdown-cycle to gym

45 min strength work

stretch

10 minute cycle home

... really need this down week now!

just realized, add a minute to all those slits... sadly!

-704 days to the Mother of all Running Gatherings.

Driske: you go do your rabbit pulling on that 10K on do it well. Heck, the mileage is certainly there!

Avoided Villa Pamphili like the plague,more security personnel than square inches of trail available... all busy with providing security for the Col. Qadhafi and his tent. Had a very adventurous day actually, even surreal at moments. Had to do with this long, hilly bike ride at about noon, my cell flying out of my backback and hitting the asphalt, incredibly not disintegrating... the sorroundings, though, like a Camus novel, all very crystallized...

Give Me Wald. Give Me Wald. Give Me Wald.

5 x 800 track workout today. Keep popping Advil, I hope it doesn't get worse. 10k race on Sunday. Next track workout: Monday.

As a rule, I am loath to give uninvited advice. But I need to say HR123, you are on your way to a stress fracture or other long term injury if you don't back off the speed.

It just hurts all the time now, so I take advil all the time, esp. before a workout. Coach says its just because I'm changing my running form from heel-striking to running on the balls of my feet. But its getting worse so I might just have to take off a week or two if it doesn't back off soon.

My plan is to keep icing, taking advil, and take it easy until my race on Sunday then reassess.

Sunday - easy 10 in Griffith Park

Monday - 7 in Downtown LA

Tuesday - 8.2 in Downtown LA

Rest of the week planned:

Today - 6

Thurs - 7

Fri - 8

Sat - 4. I'm doing my own Krispy Kreme Challenge in LA. Hopefully video to share afterward.

If all goes well, this will be my first 7 day and 50 mile week since the summer of 2007. Sad, I know, but I have my first race since April 2007 on June 21st (a 5K), and the marathon planned for December 6th, so the motivation to train seriously is coming back.

Day off yesterday. Today I went to the track after work, feeling very sleepy. 20min grass jog in Zoots. 4x100m in spikes in 23-20-18-17. I knew I didn't want to do the previously planned 600m-400m-300m-200m-100m. Instead I did 6x200m with 1min recoveries, in 34-33-33-33-34-32. My form sucked, and it was a rough session to do. Dammit. 10min grass jog in spikes followed.

Terry, was that you on the old Island Hwy, biking furiously, shirtless and helmetless, in busy traffic?

_________________

I AM A MIDDLE DISTANCE (800M TO 5000M) RUNNER.

Skuj, not to worry. Those 100m times are great and I'm sure you'll be running sub-2:20 in the 800m soon. It's tough to do repeats when you're tired, just ask any elite runner who works for a living. You were smart to do something less so you can save your energy. I'm not Terry.

-703 days to Gimmelwald 2011

Happy Runner: i am with driske on all accounts. what you are doing doesnt sound good. running with pain relief? Why? Gettin paid? Made a committment so big it cant wait? Girfirend going to break up if you stop?

Stop and think for a second and if you wish, fill in the picture.

today: bike commute, a lot of walking, and believe it or not some treadmill running...it always makes me laugh...

I've finally reached a point where there's been a major break in my work load. I was actually able to enjoy a relaxed run this afternoon. I did one of my usual routes and felt very relaxed but it turned out to be relatively quick compared to other recent runs. Completed about 8K on roads and trails (mostly roads as the trails were 3K from my start/finish point).

The mind often wanders during these runs and a sudden physical urge got me to thinking if running could be considered and effective laxative. Maybe that's why they call that condition "the runs." Ha, ha! Sorry for the earthiness of that thought, but that really was what I thought of during one part of the excursion. Fortunately I did not have to stop -- though I have in the past, on occasion -- but made a quick bee line for the loo once the run ended.

Keep up the good work, all!

Today I did a 45min run about the pipeline area in mid afternoon heat, and, it was what I consider to be a turning point run: My form....omfg....my form hahaha....I was soooo on my toes, the knee lift seemed so much better, as well as the buttkick. It's as if, after my winter and spring of superjogging, my body has suddenly "accepted/absorbed" the more recent training. It was an easy run, but with such strong form. Completely the opposite of yesterday, hahahaha....

after another pair of off days, it was back to action.....40' ish around the hood.....none of the leg weariness I had experienced before.....maybe i can finally put that virus behind me.....plan to push it a little longer on the weekend....back to 50'?.....would like to race in a few weeks.....but don't want to embarrass myself.....relatively speaking, of course.....

Just a word of advice. Happy runner, you should not be racing if you're in pain all of the time. This is a recipe for disaster. Please don't sacrifice your running, it is NOT WORTH IT. There are tonnes of races for years on end! Advil will just mask the pain and also probably delay healing.

C.V.R.R. wrote:

Today I did a 45min run about the pipeline area in mid afternoon heat, and, it was what I consider to be a turning point run: My form....omfg....my form hahaha....I was soooo on my toes, the knee lift seemed so much better, as well as the buttkick. It's as if, after my winter and spring of superjogging, my body has suddenly "accepted/absorbed" the more recent training. It was an easy run, but with such strong form. Completely the opposite of yesterday, hahahaha....

I'm curious as to what others think about this form talk. Specifically the buttkick reference. I'm of the opinion that this is not desirable for a non-sprinter runner. Efficiency is obtained by keeping the lower part of the limbs closer to the ground. Perhaps during the final push of the race a more elevated stride follow through is appropriate, but not for the majority of the run. For longer runners, buttkicks do not represent "strong form."

I'll leave the "on my toes" discussion for perhaps another time.

Other thoughts?

Ideally the longer one runs, the closer one should stay to the ground. The long lever vs. short lever thing is pretty much a sprinting discussion. Longer runners should be more interested in running economy which can best be achieved by lifting the leg only as high as necessary to get a reasonable stride length and quick turnover. Too much air time will slow you down. Of course, if you're running in the woods, watch out for those protruding roots and stones. :-)

Thank you all for your advice, I'm following it. I haven't run since Wednesdays workout. Been doing a lot of biking though (about 25k today) and doing longer upper body workouts at the gym. Its feeling better but I'm going to wait until Sunday morning to decide if I'm racing the 10k that morning.

I also have an appointment with a sports doctor for Monday morning.

BTW, doesn't advil speed recovery by eliminating inflammation?