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**TeamLiquid now has a group on what I consider to be the best GPS/logging site out there: Strava. You can join the group here: http://www.strava.com/clubs/Teamliquid**
A thread for all my fellow TL'ers who run. A place to discuss goals, training, racing, motivation; anything related to running. Should be a little easier now that everything won't get lost in all the traffic of one mega-thread.
Useful/Good Articles/Training Concepts
- Beginner/Starting Running
+ Show Spoiler +For those new to running their are a few common mistakes that many people make. The first is just plain doing too much, too soon. A general guideline reference is to increase mileage about 10% per week, with every 3/4 week being a cutback week of maybe 50-75% of the distance you just achieved. Obviously some people can increase much faster than this, and others will get an injury even following these guidelines. For people new to running its safe to add a day per week until your running 6/7 days a week, stay at the previous weeks number of days if that week felt particularly demanding. The other common mistake is running too hard. Perhaps because of PE/sports/etc. their is this mentality of "no pain, no gain" when running. This is wrong. Especially for beginner the key is adjusting to running and finding some enjoyment out of it. This probably won't happen if your hammering every run at 5K pace - 10 seconds. If you EVER have to take a break to walk (and its just not immense fatigue from long distance) your running WAY to hard. To give some basic guidelines if you can RACE a mile in: 5:00 - Normal running @ 7:00-7:45 pace/mile 5:30 - Normal running @ 7:30-8:45 pace/mile 6:00 - Normal running @ 8:15-9:00 pace/mile 6:30 - Normal running @ 9:00-9:45 pace/mile 7:00 - Normal running @ 9:30-10:15 pace/mile 7:30 - Normal running @ 10:15-11:00 pace/mile 8:00 - Normal running @ 11:00-11:45 pace/mile 8:30 - Normal running @ 11:30-12:15 pace/mile 9:00 - Normal running @ 12:15-13:00 pace/mile 10:00 - Normal running @ 13:30-14:15 pace/mile 12:00 - Normal running @ 16:00-17:00 pace/mile For those totally new to running that have been sedentary/non-athletic most their life here is one of the best introductions to running out there: Couch to 5K For those that have maintained a minimal level of activity beyond being sedentary its reasonable to jump in at 3-4 days a week of 3-4 miles. Progressing by adding a day per week until you reach 6 or 7 days per week. Mileage can be increased from there.
- Injuries:
+ Show Spoiler +General recommendation for most injuries is if the pain lessens, and perhaps if its mild and doesn't intensify you can continue to run on it. If the pain increases as you run, definitely stop. Nothing like turning a mild case of achilles tendinitis into a long term case of prolonged achilles tendinosis. You really have to listen to your body on these though. For the non-competitive runner running for fitness, its probably wise to just play it safe and take a a day or two off at any hints of injury. If your training competitively or for an important event then you really just need to try to listen to and judge the injury. Obvious training with anything other than routine soreness runs the risk of turning something minor into something serious, however, if you break training for every possible suggestion of injury you probably won't put together very good blocks of training. Great general listing of possible running injuries, descriptions, and treatments: The Fix: Primer for Running Injuries Not gospel obviously, but can help give you an idea of what may be going on the necessary PT to prevent recurrences.
- Glossary of Running Terms:
+ Show Spoiler +Racing Flat/Flat - Very lightweight shoes designed for long distance racing Trainer - Standard, heavier, and generally more supportive shoe used primarily for training due to wearing out less frequently than thinner racing flats
Easy Run - light run for general aerobic development; usually can converse easily with a partner, breathing rhythm usually around 2/2-3/3. Typically 60-75% of max heart rate. Marathon Pace/M-Pace/Aerobic Threshold Pace - usually fastest aerobic pace, obviously pace at which you could run for a marathon. Approx 40-60 second slower than 5K race pace Tempo/T-Pace Run - A common term that refers to several different run types. Tempo's typically have three popular durations, 20-30 min, 40-60 min, and extended tempos of 60-80 min. Correct pacing is around 5K+20-25 seconds per mile for short ones, 5K+35-40 seconds per mile for the medium, and 5K+50-60 seconds per mile for the longer ones. Reps - Fast track intervals @ around mile race pace w/recovery time twice that of repeat (400m in 75 seconds = 150 second slow jog recovery). Used to build economy at speed and make fast paces seem easier Intervals/V02 Max Interval - Longer repeats at slower pace with less recovery. Usually 1:1 recovery/repeat at around 3K-5K race pace (1200m in 3:30 w/3:30 jog recovery). Long Run - run longer than typical for YOUR mileage. Usually around 20% of weekly mileage (aka runner running 60mpw might run around 11-13 miles for a long run) Fartlek - Swedish for "speed play". A run that can be pretty much whatever a runner wants. Can involve just picking random targets and running as hard as desired toward them and then recovery for however long you want, or can be structured as in 2 min "ON", 2 min "OFF". Strides - Short pickups of about 50-100m done anywhere from 400m-1600m race pace. Serve to "stay in touch" with speed and maintain neuromuscular coordination for fast paces. NOT meant to be hard.
Kick - runners strong finish to the end of a race; crucial to winning championship races which are generally slower and more tactical in nature Tactial Race - typically slower pace, refers to a race in which different runners try to force the race to their strengths. Ex: a super fast runner might want to wait till 100m to go before kicking hard for home, while the slower, but stronger runner might really pick up the pace with 400m+ to go and try to "run the kick out of" the faster runner. Move - An increase in speed to either pass runners, obtain position, or make a move for the win. It's said you get one move in the 800m, 2 in the 1500m, and 3 in the 5000m/10000m Surge - Increase in pace of the race by a runner Stagger - difference in starting places to account for varying radius of the curves in races that are fixed lane or partially fixed lane. Turnover - basically a runners stride, turnover essentially referring to the length and rate of stride Cadence - Steps per minute Mileage - miles run, usually given as a weekly value MPW, mpw - miles per week Raw Speed - Most common measure is an athletes 200m time Speed - Generally refers to top end gear, but for distance runners is often cited as 400m speed. Ex: A world class 800m runner likely has 45-47 second speed V02 Max - measure of maximum oxygen uptake vV02 max - Velocity at V02 Max, lowest speed at which an athlete is at maximum oxygen consumption. Usually occurs between 3K and 5K pace Anaerobic Threshold - inflection point on the lactic acid accumulation curve, at which point blood levels of lacate increase significantly faster. Usually around high end tempo pace, a little slower than 10K pace. Bonk - usually applies to marathon, occurs when a runner goes out to hard and deplets glycogen too soon resulting in a massive increase in speed and major pace drop off Elite - top level runner LSD - long, slow distance Negative Split - last half of race faster than first Overpronate - Higher than normal amount of inward roll of the foot Heelstrike - generally undesirable stride in which the foot lands forward of center of gravity resulting in a braking effect and extra stress Splits - Times at specific distances. Ex: in a 5K might have splits read every K, in a mile splits might be read every 400m World Best - best time for an event without official world records, or a non-ratified world record. Ex: marathon world record is 2:03:59, world best is 2:03:02 World Lead - best time run for an event in that calendar year NR - National Record
- Running Form:
+ Show Spoiler + **All credit for this goes to Airblade Orange. **
Head
Your head and neck should look as if you were standing still as someone was measuring your height and you want to squeeze in every extra millimeter possible. Your head should be up tall and your eyes should be looking straight ahead. It helps to focus on an object in the near distance that you are aiming for. If you are racing stare at the back of a runner a little ahead of you. Do not stare at the ground because it will likely mess up the form of your midsection.
Arms
While you are swinging your arms visualize there is a vertical line in the middle of your chest. Do not cross any part of either arm over to the other side. Also make sure your arms are not swinging too far to the outside on the other side of your body. Keep your arms swinging between your imaginary vertical chest line and your shoulder. Your right arm should be between your right shoulder and the vertical chest line and your left arm should be between your left shoulder and the chest line.
Keep your elbows bent at about 45 degrees. Your elbows should not be doing much bending or straightening as you are running; keep them at close to 45 degrees the whole time.
Maintain stable wrists throughout your movements. Do not bend them in any way.
Keep your hands in a loose fist. If they are too tight you will be using unnecessary energy and if they are too lose you will look like a not as cool T-1000. Maybe if you're a sprinter you can do the T-1000 with your hands completely straight, but not as a distance runner. I like to keep my thumbs on the top and outside of my pointer finger rather than wrapping around a fist. Your thumb will be straight and pointing away from you if you do it this way. Doing it like this helps me focus on keeping a loose hand and straight wrist.
Chest/Back
Your chest should be just as it would be if you were standing still, straight, and tall. Your back will be straight as well. If you find that you are leaning forward, make sure you are looking ahead of you rather than below you. Also, you may have weak abdominal muscles that prevent you from running up straight and tall. I ran like this for the first couple of years when I started because I had no abs.
Hips
Keep your hips underneath you and forward you as if you're banging a hot girl and you're about to ejaculate. Practice this in front of a mirror without a shirt when nobody else is around or someone you are trying to impress IS around. Keeping your hips forward will help your body drive forward.
Legs
This is where most runners tend to need the most work. You should be hitting about 3 strides per second when you are running at a moderately fast to fast pace. This means that your feet are striking the ground at a rate of 3 steps per second. This is the most efficient way to run for distance runners but is difficult and probably not worth doing if you're not running fast (relative to your own ability). But the next time you are running faster, whether it's a tempo run, strides, or whatever, try this out. Count how many steps you take in 10 seconds. How close is it to 30? You probably need to be taking more and shorter steps.
Pick up your feet as soon as they hit the ground. It sounds obvious but really make an effort to think about this as you are running. The longer your feet stay on the ground the more momentum you are losing. Keep them legs moving fast and forward. Try running in place with this principle in mind.
Pick up your feet higher than where you perceive your knee to be. While some people (usually old people) prefer the marathon shuffle, keeping your legs moving in a more circular manner, you can increase your efficiency as long as you use all of these leg tips together. Just go watch some videos of elite distance runners to get a visual or this or anything else being described. Most elites have excellent form, specifically in the beginning of races before they get too tired. This is another technique that is difficult to do unless you are running fast. But when you are running fast this will make you fast AND smooth.
This last tip can be debated but I'll lay it down anyway. Strike the ground with your mid foot. Heel striking is very common and the normal way most people run when they slip on running shoes. This is interesting because if you run barefoot you will be mid foot striking. Try it out. I am a believer in the benefits of barefoot and minimalist shoe training, but that is a topic for another time. I still think a mid foot strike to be the best bet here. Not only is it the most natural way for humans to run but it also keeps your feet on the ground for less time. Remember that you are fighting inertia and need to keep your feet off the ground and your legs driving forward.
American<->SI Pace Conversion Tool (credit: Malinor) + Show Spoiler +
List of TLer Training Logs: + Show Spoiler +
TL Members 2020 Goals/Progress: Feel free to post up your goals for upcoming year, season, target race, etc. I will keep them updated.
+ Show Spoiler +
*Added a section to the OP for training logs. If you log your running online in an accessible form feel free to post your log up and I will add them to the OP.*
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Well it's a new year folks. 2019 was....eh, okay. It was better than 2018. The first half was horrible, and I was bordering on getting genuinely out of shape. When I started back in earnest in May I was seeing over 100bpm just walking around which is very, very high for me.
But I had a good summer where I just rode a bunch, and got some good general fitness block. August and September were a bit wild, but I had some really good training between Oct and early Dec that saw me get back to within shouting distance of my good fitness. Some downtime over the holidays to avoid getting to crazy early, but now I'm ready to go.
The difference for this year is, I think, I've figured out how to be disciplined enough with my schedule and tasks to be able to keep training amidst the chaos of another intense ENGR semester + working. I think. This will be a much harder schedule than last semester, but if I keep on top of it, I know I can put in quality training. That's an if though.
That said, because I feel like I've figured it out, I've got big goals for this year. Especially true because I'll graduate in December and this feels like my last big year to really accomplish my goals before I have to dive into working hard to make up for lost time. I'm also 30, which means the gradual decline is beginning.
My goals this year are:
- Sub 21' Manitou Incline (Top 15 all time)
- Consistently place in the top 10 at major Zwift races (virtual racing), with the aim of qualify for US Nats in SP 21'
- Get back to where I can comfortably ride a bike again
- Mayyyybbbeeee.....actually race a bike outside
So, why Zwift? It's e-racing, not real bike racing. The simple answer is because it's fun and I do lots of my training inside in the winter so it works nicely. It's also something that suits my skillset, as many races are won with punchy efforts rather than massive sprint power. Ideally, I'd like to get back to outdoor racing, but after a crash and a really scary encounter with a massive gust of wind going 90kph/60mph I've just mentally lost it. I've gone from a mediocre descender, usually like 25th-50th percentile on strava, to absolute horrible, holding the brakes going 20mph down a basic hill feeling out of control descender, and am generally just nervy. It sucks. It takes away a huge portion of the joy of bike riding outside.
My plan for the fitness is pretty straightforward. Train consistently and intelligently, and stop eating like a dumbass. I say that about eating every year, and haven't really been motivated enough to fix it. I think if I get in a really good training groove, that motivation will pick up steam.
As for getting confidence back, my plan is lots of MTB riding (my confidence on the MTB is almost unaffected) building both confidence and more skills there, lots of road skill drills, and working my way up from basic, super flat boring routes towards being able to ride normal parcours without constant anxiety and tension about every little bump, wind gust, car, and downhill.
Fingers crossed. I think it will be a better year than 2019 for sure, and it might be a good or even great one!
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Yeah! The tradition continues!
My big goal for 2020 is pretty boring: build my fitness as efficiently as possible with an eye to running fast in 2021. I've got two races on tap for the year (Sin Seven trail relay in the summer and a local 5k fun run in October) and no real expectations or goals for either of them. The plan is to grind out consecutive months of solid training and let the process do its thing.
Part of this is managing the risk of injury. I'm doing two new things on this front.
The first is lifting weights twice a week. The routine is pretty basic leg stuff (leg press, Bulgarian split squats, hamstring curl machine, etc) and some injury rehab stuff intended to help my once-broken foot stay strong. There's some pretty compelling evidence that this is a great way to lower injury risk and increase running performance, so I'm very optimistic that it will make a difference for me.
The second is running a little lower mileage and being less uptight about missing some miles here and there due to travel/vacation/work. I'm currently running about 130k/week every three weeks, then taking a recovery week where I run ~90k. When the weather improves a bit I might inch up to 140-150, and in the fall I think I'll attempt a single three-week cycle of 160k/week if everything is feeling good.
So in summary my goals for 2020 are:
- Stay healthy and train consistently
- Bring track tempo paces down below 3:20/k
- Run over 5,000k for the year
- Run hard and have fun at Sin Seven
@L_Master
Great to see you still at it, man. Could you tell me more about that hill footrace you mention?
As someone who likes to ride casually, I think caution while descending is generally a good thing. I'm curious about your mountain biking remarks, though. Why does descending on a mountain bike not freak you out if riding on the road does?
The Zwift thing has really taken off in my social circle in the last year; about half of my Strava feed is Zwift rides at this point. Looking forward to watching your progress. Is there a way to stream Zwift races? Might be fun to tune in and cheer you on virtually.
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My big goal for 2020 is pretty boring: build my fitness as efficiently as possible with an eye to running fast in 2021. I've got two races on tap for the year (Sin Seven trail relay in the summer and a local 5k fun run in October) and no real expectations or goals for either of them. The plan is to grind out consecutive months of solid training and let the process do its thing.
Part of this is managing the risk of injury. I'm doing two new things on this front.
The first is lifting weights twice a week. The routine is pretty basic leg stuff (leg press, Bulgarian split squats, hamstring curl machine, etc) and some injury rehab stuff intended to help my once-broken foot stay strong. There's some pretty compelling evidence that this is a great way to lower injury risk and increase running performance, so I'm very optimistic that it will make a difference for me.
The second is running a little lower mileage and being less uptight about missing some miles here and there due to travel/vacation/work. I'm currently running about 130k/week every three weeks, then taking a recovery week where I run ~90k. When the weather improves a bit I might inch up to 140-150, and in the fall I think I'll attempt a single three-week cycle of 160k/week if everything is feeling good.
So in summary my goals for 2020 are: Stay healthy and train consistently Bring track tempo paces down below 3:20/k Run over 5,000k for the year Run hard and have fun at Sin Seven
Sounds like some pretty good goals you have for the year! I haven't seen too much linking weight training to performance gains, but the injury prevention side of things is quite interesting. What's your gameplan there? I know you listed lifts, but are you going to do lighter weights, heavier training, a mix?
I will say I use that 3 ON, 1 OFF scheme for my training and absolutely love it. It's not used as much in running for whatever reason, but I really like having that down week to "absorb" the gains if you will and recharge mentally for the next little block.
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For the MTB stuff, I'm assuming it's a combination of the speed and the fact that road bikes are lighter weight and have more responsive frames and geometry leading to twitchier handling, combined with the fact that the actual trauma of crashing and getting blasted by the gust occurred on that bike. The MTB just feels a little more secure, and I just have more "trust" in the bike right now. I guess mental trauma is weird like that.
The other advantage of the MTB is that it tends to develop bike handling skills and abilities much more than road riding because you're so much more active on the bike. Generally, guys coming from a MTB background pick up road skills and racecraft much quicker than someone coming from another sport. This is huge, because real outdoor road racing places a HUGE emphasis on position and skills. In running terms, you can waste the type of energy that a guy with a 5:00 pace threshold could struggle to keep up with a group that averages a 6:30 threshold because of wasted energy.
- I generally try to stream my zwift races when I do them, but I can post in here when I'm racing. Depending on the race, watching a zwift race and by moderately interesting to incredibly boring though.
- Hill footrace? You mean the incline? If so, that's not a race, it's just a very famous "staircase" near Colorado Springs. 2000' of vertical in 0.91 miles, which works out to around 44% avg gradient. Very commonly used training ground for elite MUT guys, Olympic athletes, and general local community.
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On January 03 2020 06:57 L_Master wrote: Sounds like some pretty good goals you have for the year! I haven't seen too much linking weight training to performance gains, but the injury prevention side of things is quite interesting. What's your gameplan there? I know you listed lifts, but are you going to do lighter weights, heavier training, a mix?
There's a particular study I'm thinking of that my physiotherapist sent me last year. Researchers had a team of college runners lift over the course of the season (not the control group, of course). Treatment group got injured less and showed improved performance.
I can't seem to dig it out of my inbox, but I've written to my physio about it. Once I track it down I'll post the citation here; I found it very interesting.
As for the specifics of the program, it's nothing too crazy. Each workout takes about an hour, including walking to the gym and back. The hardest exercises are leg press, hamstring curl, weighted calf raise, and Bulgarian split squat. For each exercise I generally do two sets of ten reps, with enough weight that it's hard by the end.
Dialing in exactly how hard has been a learning process. I've found a little goes a long way as far still feeling sore and tired for a workout later in the week. I've been ramping up gradually since the fall and I'm now moving noticeably more weight than I was at the start, which is neat. But it's very much an adjunct to the training and not the main course. I don't really go "in the box" and suffer like I (sometimes) do for a running workout.
Long-term, I'd love to learn to squat with good form. But I'm a little scared of the risk of injury. So it's leg press for now.
On January 03 2020 06:57 L_Master wrote: - I generally try to stream my zwift races when I do them, but I can post in here when I'm racing. Depending on the race, watching a zwift race and by moderately interesting to incredibly boring though.
That would be cool! Where are they streamed?
On January 03 2020 06:57 L_Master wrote: - Hill footrace? You mean the incline? If so, that's not a race, it's just a very famous "staircase" near Colorado Springs. 2000' of vertical in 0.91 miles, which works out to around 44% avg gradient. Very commonly used training ground for elite MUT guys, Olympic athletes, and general local community.
Pardon me, I misunderstood. Sounds like a fun (by which I mean awful) time! Is this a staircase you bike up or run up?
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United Kingdom10443 Posts
Glad to see this thread continue. It's always exciting to see what others set as a goals and read about their progress.
2019 closed out on an encouraging note. I didn't do any racing but trained consistently and ran a 1:29:30 Half marathon.
Over the Christmas holidays I took some time to plan out the year ahead. 30 is coming up this year but the literature is encouraging , I took up running later in life so there is still time and a lot of room to improve and run quick.
First part of the year is going to be building base endurance with the goal of racing a half marathon early April. Aiming for 1:27:30.
Race season is going to be focused on the 10k. There is a chance I can go sub 36:00 (current PB is 37:17 set in July)
End of the season culminates with a relay duathalon in London. I do a 10k run. friend does a 44k bike then I finish with a 5k run.
The other goal is more focused off the road. Broadly speaking it is to enjoy myself and relax.
Don't get me wrong, I love being competitive and trying to set PB's. But I am never going to be a gold medalist or turn professional.
A missed run or a bad meal causes me to be overly harsh on myself , sending me into a shame/depression spiral.
Running improves my mood, lowers my stress and encourages a better lifestyle. But there is a problem if an off day negatively effects my mental health.
The aim is to run as much as possible without over training, but there are more important goals and, inevitably, life gets in the way.
Just let that happen. Running is a hobby for any amateur, something that brings joy. A missed day or two is nothing to worry about. I need to remind myself of that now and then.
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Happy new year to all! I just joined the strava club to hopefully provide and receive some extra motivation, plus I just love seeing other people's rides, runs and routes.
RE: cycling confidence, I have never really had it but the last year or two since I switched my primary focus to running it has tanked even further. I don't like extended descents at all and feel very anxious and worried the whole time. Cars aren't a big issue for me when riding on the road/shoulder/bike lanes but it is still scary sometimes and I always think about getting in a wreck and being laid up for a few months not being able to exercise. Cornering too is something I lack a lot of cinfidence in and will slow down a fair amount and never bank too hard when turning. Part of all this is that my bike is currently not in the most optimal condition (it just needs a thorough tune-up) but structurally everything is fine, yet I always feel a "what if" in the back of my head. Almost all of my riding last year was commuting to/from work and I am seriously considering getting a new (probably a used one) road bike this year to have more fun out on the roads when the weather turns around.
Zwift is something I have been wishing I had as I finally have a garage to be able to set up in. One of my friends is on it nearly everyday and apparently now they have a running portion of Zwift too which is interesting. I need to look into the setup more and see if it might be worth it. I do like that they have drills and stuff to work on like cadence and power intervals in addition to virtual racing.
On January 03 2020 20:09 KelsierSC wrote: The other goal is more focused off the road. Broadly speaking it is to enjoy myself and relax.
Don't get me wrong, I love being competitive and trying to set PB's. But I am never going to be a gold medalist or turn professional.
A missed run or a bad meal causes me to be overly harsh on myself , sending me into a shame/depression spiral.
Running improves my mood, lowers my stress and encourages a better lifestyle. But there is a problem if an off day negatively effects my mental health.
The aim is to run as much as possible without over training, but there are more important goals and, inevitably, life gets in the way.
Just let that happen. Running is a hobby for any amateur, something that brings joy. A missed day or two is nothing to worry about. I need to remind myself of that now and then.
I definitely feel this a lot. I am about your level and have been steadily improving all the time. For the first three years I never really thought about a training schedule or thought that I really should run today to get a mileage threshold. I would just run because I wanted to at the time and that was it. I didn't race except a single 10k a year so I wasn't training for some race (and even that one race I never trained for, it was just a check-in).
Now though, I am signing up for races and targeting my training towards them and I do think that I need to run x amount this day and y amount some other day to make my distance targets so at some point the burnout is gonna happen. I do still have a hobbyist mindset about the whole thing though and don't take it too seriously. If I can't make a long run on Sunday, I might do it a different day, or if it's pouring rain and I don't want to go outside, then I won't. You have the right approach and you probably are good at listening to your body, which will hopefully keep you healthy. I am surrounded by older runners and my goal is to still be running when I'm 50+ like them. A few days or a week off will maybe set you back a bit, but it's better to be undertrained and healthy than overtrained and overstressed.
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Heard back from my physio! This is the study I was thinking of:
"The Effect of Strength Training on Performance Indicators in Distance Runners" from our friends Kris Beattie, Brian P. Carson, Mark Lyons, Antonia Rossiter, and Ian C. Kenny.
The formatting is a bit wonky, but it's an interesting read.
Study subjects were a group of 20 "collegiate and national-level distance runners." Experimental group did a 40 week strength program; control group did not.
There's lots of fancy stats in the paper beyond the ken of a simple man like me, but one sentence from the discussion jumped out at me:
The main finding of this study was that strength training can significantly improve strength (maximal and reactive strength) and key physiological performance indicators, specifically [running economy] and [velocity at maximum oxygen consumption], in competitive distance runners.
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Happy new year everybody!
2019 ended like crap: decided to take serious a break after my last race in october to get rid of my nagging shin issue, then a few bad things came together and I fell into quite the depressed rut. Instead of getting back into training in november I had 0 motivation to do anything, ate like crap and gained about 4kg, doing hardly any sports until january.
Usually I'm not a new years resolution guy, but this change of year was great timing and I used it to get my ass back into gear jan 1st. Decided to do "something" everyday, be it running, a few pushups or whatever. It's almost scary how much my mood improved in only over a week! Supplementing vitamin d may have sth to do with it, but I already started that in mid december after having my levels tested (= critically low). Like 3-4 days after exercising daily everything was bearable again and while I still feel weak I'm back to smiling most of the day.
Today my Stryd footpod was in the mail so I still plan to have running a big part of my exercise regimen this year, though no concrete goals set as of now. There's my favourite 10k race in a week and a half marathon in march I already signed up for, other than those my only plan for this year is:
take it easy, don't stress out about race times or mileage, don't overdo it and be more consistent.
Last year I was up to 700km by first week of april and finished the year with less than 1300km, definitely want to avoid repeating that.
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8715 Posts
Training is going really well right now. I've increased mileage to 60+ and am looking to average mid to upper 60's for about a 4 month period. Considering I had only run over 60 a few times before with a high of 63, this is pretty new territory. Definitely the fittest I've ever been right now and looking to make the breakthrough early in this year that I was hoping to make last year. I'm not racing until April when I'll do my big goal race for this training cycle (a 10 miler in Sacramento), and then I'll probably do a bunch of minor races April - July like I did in 2019.
The 2020 Cross Country Club Nationals is going to be a 40 min drive from me (in San Francisco) so I want to take advantage of that and make that my big goal race for the 2nd half of the year. That's in December. I'm also thinking I'll do the Rock n Roll Las Vegas half marathon in November.
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United States23454 Posts
I essentially took the entirety of 2019 off of running (like a fool) despite the fact that I had signed up for the WDW Marathon which was two days ago. Needless to say, my time and body paid for that pretty majorly. Looking to get back into the swing of things after a great 2018! Will probably put a training log here at some point. Goal races are half marathon in late October and a repeat of the full marathon next January. Probably a couple shorter races (there always seems to be a 10k happening near me).
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On January 10 2020 10:32 Bonham wrote:Heard back from my physio! This is the study I was thinking of: " The Effect of Strength Training on Performance Indicators in Distance Runners" from our friends Kris Beattie, Brian P. Carson, Mark Lyons, Antonia Rossiter, and Ian C. Kenny. The formatting is a bit wonky, but it's an interesting read. Study subjects were a group of 20 "collegiate and national-level distance runners." Experimental group did a 40 week strength program; control group did not. There's lots of fancy stats in the paper beyond the ken of a simple man like me, but one sentence from the discussion jumped out at me: Show nested quote +The main finding of this study was that strength training can significantly improve strength (maximal and reactive strength) and key physiological performance indicators, specifically [running economy] and [velocity at maximum oxygen consumption], in competitive distance runners.
I always loved running but am now totally emerged in the Powerlifting scene. Given that background it is probably no surprise that I believe that strength training may have a positive effect on running as well. What I found surprising: From a study I heard about lately (of course I do not know the name right now), they proposed that runners also lift relatively heavy, meaning more in the range of 3-8 reps with higher weights. I always naturally assumed that training for strength-endurance in the 10-15 rep range makes sense for runners. I thought about this a bit lately and now I could definitely see the benefits of lower rep ranges. For once, they make you stronger with less focus on hyperthrophy, which is something runners do not strive for. I assume the main challenge is to incorporate something like this in your training protocoll. When you run like 100km+ a week, handling recovery and getting the most out of the strength sessions does not seem to be a trivial task.
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United Kingdom10443 Posts
On January 15 2020 17:10 Malinor wrote:Show nested quote +On January 10 2020 10:32 Bonham wrote:Heard back from my physio! This is the study I was thinking of: " The Effect of Strength Training on Performance Indicators in Distance Runners" from our friends Kris Beattie, Brian P. Carson, Mark Lyons, Antonia Rossiter, and Ian C. Kenny. The formatting is a bit wonky, but it's an interesting read. Study subjects were a group of 20 "collegiate and national-level distance runners." Experimental group did a 40 week strength program; control group did not. There's lots of fancy stats in the paper beyond the ken of a simple man like me, but one sentence from the discussion jumped out at me: The main finding of this study was that strength training can significantly improve strength (maximal and reactive strength) and key physiological performance indicators, specifically [running economy] and [velocity at maximum oxygen consumption], in competitive distance runners. I always loved running but am now totally emerged in the Powerlifting scene. Given that background it is probably no surprise that I believe that strength training may have a positive effect on running as well. What I found surprising: From a study I heard about lately (of course I do not know the name right now), they proposed that runners also lift relatively heavy, meaning more in the range of 3-8 reps with higher weights. I always naturally assumed that training for strength-endurance in the 10-15 rep range makes sense for runners. I thought about this a bit lately and now I could definitely see the benefits of lower rep ranges. For once, they make you stronger with less focus on hyperthrophy, which is something runners do not strive for. I assume the main challenge is to incorporate something like this in your training protocoll. When you run like 100km+ a week, handling recovery and getting the most out of the strength sessions does not seem to be a trivial task.
Based on experience and literature I've gravitated towards strength training 2-3 times a week with a focus on the compound movements (squats, deadlift ), generally lifting heavy in the rep range you have specified. My sessions are only 30-40 minutes , partly due to a busy life schedule and because my form and effort suffer after this time. Another option if I don't want to lift weights is doing hill sprints, good way to build strength in the legs.
However I don't do this all year round, instead I use base building / pre season to lift heavy as this is when the running workouts are less intense and it's a lot of easy miles so it's a good time to build strength.
When it gets into the transition period / race season, then i'd only lift twice a week, doing like 2 x 10-15 with lighter weight. This is just to maintain and stop myself getting injured. I do this workout on the morning of my running workout days (running workout in the evening) . This way I keep my hard days hard. Plus I can't push too hard as I don't want to inhibit the workout later on.
Edit - I have no idea if this is optimal or supported by science but it's worked for me.
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Rather improbably, I am now signed up for two races this year!
Doing the Sun Run, which is a big 10k road race here in April. Running as part of a corporate challenge team for my brother. No idea what to expect but sub-35 seems reasonable.
Second race is a half marathon in August. Again, no idea what's really tenable, but at least sub-1:15 would be awesome. We will see I guess.
Mostly I want to avoid feeling crummy and down on myself like I did when I ran a 1:20 half coming back from injury.
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On January 11 2020 08:49 NonY wrote: Training is going really well right now. I've increased mileage to 60+ and am looking to average mid to upper 60's for about a 4 month period. Considering I had only run over 60 a few times before with a high of 63, this is pretty new territory. Definitely the fittest I've ever been right now and looking to make the breakthrough early in this year that I was hoping to make last year. I'm not racing until April when I'll do my big goal race for this training cycle (a 10 miler in Sacramento), and then I'll probably do a bunch of minor races April - July like I did in 2019.
The 2020 Cross Country Club Nationals is going to be a 40 min drive from me (in San Francisco) so I want to take advantage of that and make that my big goal race for the 2nd half of the year. That's in December. I'm also thinking I'll do the Rock n Roll Las Vegas half marathon in November.
Good stuff! That mileage bump will serve you well, especially with some of the longer races you're looking at! Excited to see how this season goes for you.
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Well I kinda told my sister I'd run a half marathon with her. Guess I have to get back in shape. First step is lose 40lbs.
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On February 02 2020 14:23 Jerubaal wrote: Well I kinda told my sister I'd run a half marathon with her. Guess I have to get back in shape. First step is lose 40lbs.
Similar to the amount of weight I need to lose
Good luck with the training and eating! When's the race?
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Rowing Test Day
Possibly the most painful aerobic thing I've ever done
Testing short stuff today rowing. Massive ouch. I've done running, cycling, a little bit of XC skiing...this hurts so bad. It's hard to describe, but it's just every part of you is suffering and you can feel the power just going out.
I feel...okay with the effort. Felt very good through 650, and good through 750...and then the wheels slightly came off. I ran out of power and just couldn't go anymore, which was a disappointment based on how I aerobically. I think it was more muscular gas out...because the HR leveled off and I've seen 178 on the rower already doing a one minute effort where I did 1:28.3 pace.
Pacing was clearly good for what I had today, but I have a feeling this can go much lower. Maybe down towards 3:15 by year's end...which would put 6:4x 2k in play I think. Right now sub 7 seems perhaps a bit of a stretch.
Plan is to keep rowing as easy volume some through spring/summer. It feels really good and is an EXCELLENT combo for all the hunched over stuff you get on the bike. Maybe some rowing intervals in the fall with a concerted effort for a decent "little guy" 2k.
Tomorrow is the big one hour bike test, be a good baseline to see where I am at after basically nothing but easy training at 55-65% of HRmax for the past few months. That's also gonna hurt big time...
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Haha, I know what you mean. The hardest rowing I did during my foot rehab was 5k time trials. I don't think I ever got under 19 minutes. The last third of each attempt was a new kind of discomfort for me. Discomfort is much more diffuse throughout the body compared with running, where it's mostly legs and lungs that give you hell.
How did the hour cycle go?
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On February 08 2020 01:22 Bonham wrote: Haha, I know what you mean. The hardest rowing I did during my foot rehab was 5k time trials. I don't think I ever got under 19 minutes. The last third of each attempt was a new kind of discomfort for me. Discomfort is much more diffuse throughout the body compared with running, where it's mostly legs and lungs that give you hell.
How did the hour cycle go?
How tall are you? 19:00 is pretty stout. Likely would have you between 6:45-7:00 2k (rowing standard).
Height has a HUGE impact on rowing performance.
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Small update from my side:
10k race in january went well, 41:18. Didn't go all out since I hadn't been racing in a while and considering I hardly ran at all since september, I was quite pleased with how little fitness I actually lost.
I also cleaned up my diet and aside from 2 days in the last 4 weeks, everything I ate was self cooked, no processed foods, no sugar, hardly any grain, tons of veggies, moderate amounts of meat/dairy/fish. I also skip breakfast nowadays so I'm fasting intermittently and without even trying I dropped all excess weight I gained during the holiday season. Also all the little niggles & background pain has gone away, skin cleaned up really well so without actually knowing I'd claim my inflammation levels are very low and I'm in prime position to start a really great training cycle.
So as a thank you for taking good care of myself, my body decided to react with another collapsed lung No exercise the last 2 weeks, this means it's another training cycle of frustration management, yay me! It's my 3rd time, so at least I'm not worried much. I'm slowly starting back up with some low impact stuff, some easy bodyweight exercises, running hast to wait a little more since a lung sloshing around in the chest cavity is a "bit" uncomfortable...
So sadly I haven't gotten around to testing my Stryd all that much but the few times I ran with it have delivered some very nice data. For instance I did 2 identical laps of 5k, one with pace data from Stryd and one with just GPS: https://www.strava.com/activities/3016542763 Much smoother pace graph with the Stryd an these very even pretty good conditions for GPS.
I also went to the track and did 5 laps at different paces (5:40/km vs 4:20/km) to see how it might get different results with varying strides but I got exactly 1,961m both times. That was because I deactivated its magical auto calibration, had I stuck with the 2% it got from 2 previous runs, it would have been dead on 2k. Only 2 data points, but seems very promising!
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I have a 235km (4km of climbing) cycling race in 3 weeks I’m feeling wholly unprepared for. Wish me luck.
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On February 13 2020 14:29 RowdierBob wrote: I have a 235km (4km of climbing) cycling race in 3 weeks I’m feeling wholly unprepared for. Wish me luck.
That is a BIG day on the bike! How many hours a week have you been riding?
Probably as long as you're on top of nutrition and smart about pacing, keeping everything very easy you'll survive. You'll be good and tired though 😃
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On February 14 2020 10:37 L_Master wrote:Show nested quote +On February 13 2020 14:29 RowdierBob wrote: I have a 235km (4km of climbing) cycling race in 3 weeks I’m feeling wholly unprepared for. Wish me luck. That is a BIG day on the bike! How many hours a week have you been riding? Probably as long as you're on top of nutrition and smart about pacing, keeping everything very easy you'll survive. You'll be good and tired though 😃 I haven’t really done any long rides since my last race which was 170kms. Just been focussing on hill repeats on weekends (bout 2-3hr sessions) and riding about 30kms a day.
I feel fine just churning the legs on the flats at a comfy 30kms/h. But the hills will be tough. The race’s last climb in about 200kms in, is 17km long and the first 10km of that is about 9.5%. That has me most concerned.
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On February 14 2020 15:44 RowdierBob wrote:Show nested quote +On February 14 2020 10:37 L_Master wrote:On February 13 2020 14:29 RowdierBob wrote: I have a 235km (4km of climbing) cycling race in 3 weeks I’m feeling wholly unprepared for. Wish me luck. That is a BIG day on the bike! How many hours a week have you been riding? Probably as long as you're on top of nutrition and smart about pacing, keeping everything very easy you'll survive. You'll be good and tired though 😃 I haven’t really done any long rides since my last race which was 170kms. Just been focussing on hill repeats on weekends (bout 2-3hr sessions) and riding about 30kms a day. I feel fine just churning the legs on the flats at a comfy 30kms/h. But the hills will be tough. The race’s last climb in about 200kms in, is 17km long and the first 10km of that is about 9.5%. That has me most concerned.
What's the gearing you have?
Sounds like you're riding 5-10 hours a week you should be reasonably okay to go.
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Well folks, training is going very well. I'm doing things a little different this time, taking a much slower build approach to my season. I haven't really started doing anything hard yet, just easy aerobic volume, and just starting to sprinkling in a little bit of stuff at AeT.
+ Show Spoiler [Training Details/Discussion] +I've spent about 95% of my training time at or below 65% of max HR. This is very, very chill. Good steady progression in terms of hours, starting from just a few in December and now getting pretty consistently in that +/- 15 hours a week range. The changes are dramatic, my HRs and speed/power right now is crazy good at low power. I'm about 25% faster in that 115-125bpm range than I've ever been.
The craziest part is I can compare it to 2017, when I was in my best shape ever. I came into 2017 off of a very good 2016, where I had many of my better performances. I trained hard, and consistently at a solid 15 hours a week through March, where I set some all time power records at 1', 5' and 15'. My sleep was very good, a consistent 7.5-8 hours each night. My diet was mediocre. Compare that to this year. I came into Dec 19' in mediocre shape, I'd done a decent training block before, but just 8 weeks and most of the rest of the year was "meh". I've done about the same hours here in 2020 that I did in 2017. I trained harder, had more intensity, and was sleeping better in 2017. Despite all that, I'm seeing power at these HRs I've never had before, noticeably better even than 2017. All of that when almost all I've done is tool around at 110-120bpm for hours.
I've never really understood why all the pros trained so easy except for the occasional interval session. Now I understand.
It's going to be fun to see how this translate to my higher end fitness and threshold when I start adding in the intensity, but the early signs are VERY promising. I did a race Wednesday, averaging 280w with a 315w NP. My best from 2017 was a 293w average, with 308 NP. Admittedly, the 2017 race was 1hr6min and the race this year was 42:00, so there is some difference...but that's in the same territory. This time though, it's with no hard training or fast riding in the mix so in theory there should be tons more room to grow.
Bottom line is I'm incredibly excited to see where this goes. 2020 has the potential to be a banner year if I can get through the next two months where school usually goes haywire without losing momentum.
The only bad news I have to report is that regrettably I'm still eating shitloads of junk food, and am still a lardass hanging out at 78kg (race weight low 60kg) and 23% BF. That obviously has to go if I'm going to post decent times on anything other than the ERG rower.
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The other thing I will add is that I've been doing about 60-70% of my training on the bike, but regularly including 1-3 hr gym machine sessions. Usually I rotate a circuit of uphill treadmill walking, running, stairmaster, and rowing.
This is partly to break up the monotony of doing endless easy Kms on the trainer, and partly to keep other parts of my game sharp, because my eventual goal is an incline assault later in the year and my friends have a few running races they want me to do.
Overall, I've found this to be a nice benefit. It clearly hasn't hurt my cycling, and anecdotally it's been a help. Stairmaster works the muscles very similar to cycling, but a little more strength based. Rowing is especially fantastic. It works the exact muscles that don't get used in cycling and in the opposite direction. You spend all your time in a bike bunched over with contracted abs and lengthened spinal erectors. So the front core gets tight and overly strong, while the back gets lose and weak. The erg does the exact opposite. It lengthens the abs and forces you to use and contract the muscles in the back. It's also an incredible machine for building power and strength.
I was having some consistent back and knee pain/discomfort on rides, but after a few weeks of erging that completely resolved. Moreover, my sprint and explosive power are quite good right now, which I also attribute to the erg. I'm definitely of the opinion that at least some ancillary work on the erg is beneficial to any aerobic athletes training.
It's also super satisfying. It's a different feeling from running or cycling. Rowing feels very....masculine and powerful. Like you push as hard as you can as just rip on that chain, even when you're going fairly easy. It's the only aerobic thing I've done where you feel both fit and strong.
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Wow, looks like your training is going great! Rowing seems pretty beneficial to cycling (and most sports/athletics). Cross-training in general is something I am a big fan of as it helps spread the load on the body better and is good for the mind/soul/whatever to keep things more fun and interesting. But I say that as someone who likes training and not everyone may be in that same camp.
I am thinking about starting up swimming to do a sprint triathlon in mid-may. I know how to swim but I haven't swum laps or anything like that before. The course is 444m swim (37m pool, 1.5x the normal 25m), 17.6k bike, 5k run. There are a few people in my club that swim and/or do tri's and swimming is something I would like to be not terrible at.
It's getting in to bike season here now as the all-day every day rain is subsiding a bit. I'm borrowing my roommate's bike for the past 2 weeks while mine is in the shop getting a tune-up and almost a full drivetrain replacement. Hopefully it will be ready this week and I can do some fun rides soon. The past 3 months has seen very minimal riding and the 4 in a row days last week did a number on my backside that isn't used to it (plus it's not my bike ie. seat). The new parts list is: Chainring (smaller gearing 34-48 I think, old one was 42-52), cassette (7-speed up from 6), chain, cranks, bottom bracket, brakes.
Running-wise I just did a 25k trail race with 1100m vertical on Saturday and finished 4th overall which I am very happy with (avg pace 6:25/km). The first half had a technical climb and technical ridge traverse with the second half being a lot more runnable and rolling hills with one moderately technical climb. I trained hard with a lot of trail specific runs and just a lot of miles and that endurance helped a lot in the back half of the race where I picked off two places. I practiced trails about once a week for the past 2-3 months with a focus on getting better at downhill running and I have definitely improved a lot since my last trail race in October.
For running training, I have been doing track sessions weekly for quite a while now, going on two years with mostly easy-paced running otherwise and have been pretty good about weekly long runs, although some weeks were full of moderate length runs without a long run (in the 12-18km range). Our run club participated in the January Battle with the individual runner's goal of reaching 400km for the month. I am happy to say that I reached this goal and had my highest mileage month and highest weekly total (100km!) so far. The next race for me is Chuckanut 50k as my first ever ultra so I tried hard to make the 400km to push myself to train more for this race and judging from this past weekend's race it has greatly improved my fitness. I tapered a bit last week and will rest a bit for the first half of this week and then resume higher mileage training with an aim of at least 80 km/week pushing up to 100 again before tapering for the 50k in late March.
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On February 25 2020 12:16 tagliatelle wrote:
The past 3 months has seen very minimal riding and the 4 in a row days last week did a number on my backside that isn't used to it (plus it's not my bike ie. seat). The new parts list is: Chainring (smaller gearing 34-48 I think, old one was 42-52), cassette (7-speed up from 6), chain, cranks, bottom bracket, brakes.
Huh? I don't even know what this stuff is. Literally gotta be a decade or more old no?
Nothing wrong with a classic bike!
Does it have a vintage appeal? Slightly confused why you would dump what sounds like significant upgrade money to upgrade from 14 year old tech to 12 year old tech...as opposed to just getting a decent new bike in the 1.5k-2.5k (or down to maybe 800 if you go the used market route) range?
On February 25 2020 12:16 tagliatelle wrote: Running-wise I just did a 25k trail race with 1100m vertical on Saturday and finished 4th overall which I am very happy with (avg pace 6:25/km). The first half had a technical climb and technical ridge traverse with the second half being a lot more runnable and rolling hills with one moderately technical climb where I picked off two places. I practiced trails about once a week for the past 2-3 months with a focus on getting better at downhill running and I have definitley improved a lot since my last trail race in October.
Nice work! That's some serious climbing over that distance! Sounds like you executed really well, although I don't have much experience with trail running other than knowing I seem to run downhills pretty damn fast compared to people around my level.
On February 25 2020 12:16 tagliatelle wrote:For running training, I have been doing track sessions weekly for quite a while now, going on two years with mostly easy-paced running otherwise and have been pretty good about weekly long runs, although some weeks were full of moderate length runs without a long run (in the 12-18km range). Our run club participated in the January Battle with the individual runner's goal of reaching 400km for the month. I am happy to say that I reached this goal and had my highest mileage month and highest weekly total (100km!) so far. The next race for me is Chuckanut 50k as my first ever ultra so I tried hard to make the 400km to push myself to train more for this race and judging from this past weekend's race it has greatly improved my fitness. I tapered a bit last week and will rest a bit for the first half of this week and then resume higher mileage training with an aim of at least 80 km/week pushing up to 100 again before tapering for the 50k in late March.
That mileage should payoff, I'm not sure how much a jump that is, but there are significant fitness gains to be had for anyone as they increase towards 10hrs/wk, and moderate ones to be had going from 10 hr/wk -> 15 hr/wk. After that it gets pretty marginal.
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On February 28 2020 10:37 L_Master wrote:
Huh? I don't even know what this stuff is. Literally gotta be a decade or more old no?
Nothing wrong with a classic bike!
Does it have a vintage appeal? Slightly confused why you would dump what sounds like significant upgrade money to upgrade from 14 year old tech to 12 year old tech...as opposed to just getting a decent new bike in the 1.5k-2.5k (or down to maybe 800 if you go the used market route) range?
Yeah it's a 70's/80's steel road bike from Italy, which made getting new parts really difficult. The one part it's waiting on is finally coming on Monday so it should be ready this week. I paid $500 for it in great condition and these new replacement parts plus the tune up is gonna be around $400.
Since it basically needed a new drivetrain anyways, if I couldn't get anything fixed cheaply or easily I was just going to get a newer (used) road bike in the < $1000 range but I took this option instead. Basically it will have a much easier gearing than was set up on it previously. It's really fun to ride.
On February 28 2020 10:37 L_Master wrote:That mileage should payoff, I'm not sure how much a jump that is, but there are significant fitness gains to be had for anyone as they increase towards 10hrs/wk, and moderate ones to be had going from 10 hr/wk -> 15 hr/wk. After that it gets pretty marginal.
The training was a decent jump for me. I had been doing ~60 km/week since around summer with a few dips for tapering/recovering from races in the fall but had a few weeks in the 70km range (& ~100km/week cycling). I was a bit nervous jumping up to the 90km range and sustaining for a full month, but my body took it better than I was anticipating. February training has been closer to 80km/week average, including my first back to back long run which totaled 55km split on trail then road. The race was a check-in for my 50k race coming up in 3 weeks and I'm training through it but might need to rest up a bit more than I was anticipating to be at my best for that race. Hopefully re-introducing cycling will help balance my efforts better.
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Well, that was fun. Showed up to the CSU Crew (Rowing) team practice to meet some people that also row and learn a little more. Turns out I was clearly the strongest guy there outside of some 6'4" monster that was a bit quicker.
Unfortunately, I just don't have the technique/strength. My HR will be easy and low at a good clip at first, but fatigue sets in fast in my arms/back and I just can't go any faster even though aerobically I'm very comfortable. I think I'm going to need to do quite a bit of harder rowing and longer, moderate steady pieces if I want that to get better (probably will happen in fall).
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So I made it with 45 mins to spare. Finished in 12hours45mins. Recovery was very poor on my behalf and I’m currently in hospital recovering with bad dehydration. Seems to be settling thankfully but was in a bad state for a bit. Had to get driven here by a cop. First time in a cop car, Lol. Pray for me :D
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On March 08 2020 21:25 RowdierBob wrote: So I made it with 45 mins to spare. Finished in 12hours45mins. Recovery was very poor on my behalf and I’m currently in hospital recovering with bad dehydration. Seems to be settling thankfully but was in a bad state for a bit. Had to get driven here by a cop. First time in a cop car, Lol. Pray for me :D
Damn! Glad you finished! That's a monster event.
Sounds like you learned a good lesson about paying closer attention to nutrition. That gets critically important as events get longer than 1hr!
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I was just dumb. Should’ve eaten something as soon as I finished but decided to drive back to accomm first (40mins away). Lesson learnt but I’m mostly ok now :D
Here’s a Strava link if anyone is interested: https://strava.app.link/PaUFy59uJ4
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United Kingdom10443 Posts
Half Marathon got cancelled obviously,
Went out and did a 1:26:30 on my own which was a new PB by like 10 minutes. Good base building season, just a shame there's nothing to look forward to.
I'll probably focus on 5k and try and set a PB in about 2-3 months.
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Had no idea this thread existed, I just joined the strava club! 20 year SC fan and casual player. Triathlete for the past 2-3 years
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On April 17 2020 12:48 vyzion wrote: Had no idea this thread existed, I just joined the strava club! 20 year SC fan and casual player. Triathlete for the past 2-3 years
Great stuff! What discipline of triathlon?
Also, hows everyone else holding up in quarantine? Going okay for me, had a solid spring build...haven't lost it like the past three or four years, but haven't quite settled into another building rhythm yet.
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Well after my collapsed lung in january I had to take it easy for a while and didn't really get back into running all that much. With all races cancelled my motivation for running wasn't very high and I barely did any running this spring. I just checked Strava and my 4 week rolling average with 15k/week is actually more than I expected. Lately I started doing a little more, particularly hill sprints for strengthening purposes but also adding easy mileage.
I did stay fit however! My nutrition's been on point the whole year (no processed foods, no sugar, mostly organic stuff from the farmers market, spending a lot of time cooking) and I've done a lot of bodyweight fitness stuff, especially practicing strength skills like handstand pushups. I look more shredded than ever without feeling hungry all the time so that's great!
All in all I'm in a good place to slowly start building mileage again. I've formulated a long term plan or rather more of a challenge for myself which I dubbed "20/40/80 challenge": by the time I'm 40 I wanna look like a 20 year old (well body anyways) and be able to run a half marathon in sub 80
I have about 2 years left for that and it should be doable with enough consistency!
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On April 23 2020 03:03 L_Master wrote:Show nested quote +On April 17 2020 12:48 vyzion wrote: Had no idea this thread existed, I just joined the strava club! 20 year SC fan and casual player. Triathlete for the past 2-3 years Great stuff! What discipline of triathlon? Also, hows everyone else holding up in quarantine? Going okay for me, had a solid spring build...haven't lost it like the past three or four years, but haven't quite settled into another building rhythm yet.
My strength is running, biking is a natural second...swimming I am very slow and kind of still figuring out how to do it properly haha!
My personality thrives in this quarantine lifestyle. I was already working 4 days from home and now it's 5...don't mind the relaxed schedule. For endurance I'm just running around my neighborhood and doing strength training at home
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On April 23 2020 15:17 Nocci wrote:Well after my collapsed lung in january I had to take it easy for a while and didn't really get back into running all that much. With all races cancelled my motivation for running wasn't very high and I barely did any running this spring. I just checked Strava and my 4 week rolling average with 15k/week is actually more than I expected. Lately I started doing a little more, particularly hill sprints for strengthening purposes but also adding easy mileage. I did stay fit however! My nutrition's been on point the whole year (no processed foods, no sugar, mostly organic stuff from the farmers market, spending a lot of time cooking) and I've done a lot of bodyweight fitness stuff, especially practicing strength skills like handstand pushups. I look more shredded than ever without feeling hungry all the time so that's great! All in all I'm in a good place to slowly start building mileage again. I've formulated a long term plan or rather more of a challenge for myself which I dubbed "20/40/80 challenge": by the time I'm 40 I wanna look like a 20 year old (well body anyways) and be able to run a half marathon in sub 80 I have about 2 years left for that and it should be doable with enough consistency!
Awesome job on the eating! Will obviously keep weight under control and just damn good for you!
I'm the opposite with quarantine motivation...but that's a super clever, unique goal you have set...and with your capabilities definitely in reach if you put in the consistent focus.
How many years before 40?
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Training is going okay. Almost through finals and while Mar/Apr haven't been building months they have been close to 10 hrs/wk so no regression this time and still in peak aerobic fitness.
Eating very good last 2 weeks and seeing weight start to tick down.
Mostly cycling, but adding in some meters of rowing each week as well, it's a very good complement to cycling.
One of those "guaranteed PB" days!! First time doing anything over 500m, just feeling it out. Could rate faster, but wanted to keep it capped low and work on power.
Started off just under 2:00, but after a few minutes of that HR was still under 130bpm so I kicked it down a few splits. Settled into a comfortable rhythm until 2k, where I tried to pull a little harder. Was going to go for a vicious finish the last 1k, as my HR was still well under 90% of max at that point....but alas my muscles in back/shoulder/arms were tiring from the lower rate and I could only drop the split to like 1:51-1:52 instead of like....low 1:40s.
Think there is tons of improvement here, especially not rate limited, given that I only averaged about 80% of HRmax for the piece. When I was on 1:55 toward the end felt like a pace I could hold (aerobically anyway) for an hour or so.
I'd like to think 1:50 or high 1:4x is possible since this was not close to all out...but 5+ splits is a big difference.
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Damn, things are quiet around here! Which I guess I rather understand, especially with all competitions on hold.
Going well here. I'm down 5kg so far over the last two months and have been getting in some good training. Given the lack of competition I'm just trying to lay down a massive aerobic foundation for either fall racing, or fall chasing PRs.
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Suddenly, an update from BC appears!
After some Achilles soreness in early March, I've been steadily building mileage. From the week starting March 23, I've done:
81k 90k 102k 92k 105k 114k 112k 86k 117k 120k 125k
This nice gradual increase to mileage has felt really good so far. I'm definitely ready for off-day (Friday) when it rolls around, but my legs don't feel heavy for weeks on end. Looking forward to continuing the build. On a recovery week right now and aiming to sneak up into the 130s for the three-week cycle afterwards.
Race-wise, I did a 5k "virtual" race that my coach organized a few weeks back. I wound up running 16:36, which is faster than I thought I could go. I also had a ton of fun; my partner came to the track to count laps and yell out splits and it really added a neat feeling to the whole thing. I'm planning to try another one in the fall and perhaps try to sneak under 16 or maybe even challenge my PB (15:55).
I followed the 5k up with a virtual 6k two weeks later as part of a relay team. This went pretty poorly plus my shoe came untied with five laps to go. Wound up running 20:46, which, blech.
My next race will be a virtual half marathon sometime in August. Not quite what to target. The MacMillan calculator says 16:36 for 5k equates to 1:16:51, so I think I might aim for 1:15:xx.
Also looking forward to the gym opening up. I've been doing lots of good hip and core strength work at home, but all my lifting adaption is gone at this point I'm sure. Gotta get back to those split squats and leg press!
L_Master, it's been neat to see you rowing more on Strava. Do you have a machine in your house?
Edit: just realized I never answered a question from earlier in the thread.
On February 08 2020 08:33 L_Master wrote:Show nested quote +On February 08 2020 01:22 Bonham wrote: Haha, I know what you mean. The hardest rowing I did during my foot rehab was 5k time trials. I don't think I ever got under 19 minutes. The last third of each attempt was a new kind of discomfort for me. Discomfort is much more diffuse throughout the body compared with running, where it's mostly legs and lungs that give you hell.
How did the hour cycle go? How tall are you? 19:00 is pretty stout. Likely would have you between 6:45-7:00 2k (rowing standard). Height has a HUGE impact on rowing performance.
I'm about 6"2. Taller than the average bear, but not big enough to row at the Olympics or play in the NBA. (Plus my BMI is about seven points too low, but I digress.)
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Looking good on the mileage, and if you're even considering challenging PRs that's definitely a decent sign that things are heading in the right direction. Definitely share your desire to get back in the gym, the occasional lifting I do is quite enjoyable.
1:15:xx seems reasonable, especially given your very strong endurance background and orientation towards being a slow twitch guy.
On June 10 2020 02:44 Bonham wrote:Show nested quote +On February 08 2020 08:33 L_Master wrote:On February 08 2020 01:22 Bonham wrote: Haha, I know what you mean. The hardest rowing I did during my foot rehab was 5k time trials. I don't think I ever got under 19 minutes. The last third of each attempt was a new kind of discomfort for me. Discomfort is much more diffuse throughout the body compared with running, where it's mostly legs and lungs that give you hell.
How did the hour cycle go? How tall are you? 19:00 is pretty stout. Likely would have you between 6:45-7:00 2k (rowing standard). Height has a HUGE impact on rowing performance. I'm about 6"2. Taller than the average bear, but not big enough to row at the Olympics or play in the NBA. (Plus my BMI is about seven points too low, but I digress.)
Tall enough to row at the Olympics as a lightweight, unlike my 5'8" self.
Most lwts are around 5'11" to 6'2" I think, but still pulling pretty insane times, usually very close to, or right at 6:00 for a 2k, which is somewhere around 1:35-1:40 split for a 5k.
It's nice to throw in a little rowing, I find it works the opposite aspects of cycling and so servers as really good overuse/injury prevention for cycling. Might do a cycle for it in the fall, but that depends on whether or not there is any fall racing.
I do have a machine in the house, friend decided to buy one and I'm definitely benefiting from that
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On June 10 2020 08:00 L_Master wrote: Looking good on the mileage, and if you're even considering challenging PRs that's definitely a decent sign that things are heading in the right direction. Definitely share your desire to get back in the gym, the occasional lifting I do is quite enjoyable.
"Heading in the right direction" is pretty apt, I'd say. The 5k PB idea, which may yet prove to be a pipe dream, needs a caveat: my 5k PB (15:55) is my weakest one by a pretty good margin. McMillan equates it to 1:13:42 for a half marathon, for example, while my actual PB there is 1:12:01. This is mostly because I just haven't raced that many 5ks compared to 10s, halfs or even full marathons.
As a corollary, I haven't done much speed-focused training. I have a secret hope, likely caused by wishful thinking, that doing some of this training will help my longer races in the long run.
At least that's the idea. We'll see what comes to pass this fall!
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On Friday, Mo Ahmed lowered his own Canadian record for the 5k when he ran 12:47. This makes him the 10th fastest 5k runner ever!
He's also six seconds faster than the American national record.
The full race can be seen here. It's a fun watch!
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On July 14 2020 02:46 Bonham wrote:On Friday, Mo Ahmed lowered his own Canadian record for the 5k when he ran 12:47. This makes him the 10th fastest 5k runner ever! He's also six seconds faster than the American national record. The full race can be seen here. It's a fun watch!
That was a surprise! But we have seen in these time trial type formats that people can go pretty damn quick. Definitely makes him a threat in the future!
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Yeah, I knew he was our best 5k runner, but #10 all time was a big shock.
In fact, I'm suddenly suspicious. Have you heard anything about a Vaporfly-like shoe for track racing?
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Well, training has been going...medium. Still getting in okay hours but definitely haven't been building into that 13-18hr range I wanted to be at for a few months. More like 8-12, and with a few less longer rides than would be ideal. Not losing shape fortunately, but I'm not building anything much. Combination of it being damn hot here and living with friends + my girlfriend means I'm not getting to bed by 9 or 10p so I can be up at 7a and go for a solid ride. My desire to go ride 2, 3, or 4 hours in close to 100 degrees just drops of the map.
On the plus side, 73.8kg today on the scale. That's the lightest I've been in about two years, down from the 80kg I've been hanging out out for most of the last two years. Still a decent way from where I raced the most at (68kg) and quite a ways from the 60-62kg that is my ideal racing weight. But...progress!!
On July 14 2020 04:09 Bonham wrote: Yeah, I knew he was our best 5k runner, but #10 all time was a big shock.
In fact, I'm suddenly suspicious. Have you heard anything about a Vaporfly-like shoe for track racing?
I haven't, but then again haven't been following LRC and other outlets where I would usually here these things as much.
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This thread is dead but my workouts and training isn't. Still striving for that Iron man and trying to kick it into gear.
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On December 29 2020 06:19 art_of_turtle wrote: This thread is dead but my workouts and training isn't. Still striving for that Iron man and trying to kick it into gear.
good stuff! Any goals or specific race picked out?
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On December 31 2020 06:27 L_Master wrote:Show nested quote +On December 29 2020 06:19 art_of_turtle wrote: This thread is dead but my workouts and training isn't. Still striving for that Iron man and trying to kick it into gear. good stuff! Any goals or specific race picked out? My goal is to still run an iron man before I turn 30. But this year's goals is to increase my swimming ability and biking while preparing for the Jeff City Triathlon.
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2021 is almost over! Has the great TL Endurance Team hung up its collective shoes?
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