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On March 18 2019 04:38 NonY wrote: 31:09 10k
Very poorly paced run. I was too hyped up for the start and took off, coming through the first 1k in 29:30 pace. It was too much and I couldn't stabilize without the pace slipping a lot for a while. I finally got back on pace at the end in order to salvage it a little but sub-31 wasn't in the cards at that point.
But it gives me hope that if I start at the correct pace at my goal race (a 12k in May) that I can run a good race. I started so much faster than I needed to and it wasn't crazy. I think if I can manage to start my next race well then my goal pace will feel very comfortable at the start.
Sounds like you did a pretty good job recovering and kept strong mentally despite the mistake. Glad to hear the overall fitness indicators and sensations seem to be good. Blaze it!
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On March 18 2019 04:38 NonY wrote: 31:09 10k
That seems so stupidly fast to me!
How is your local competition or competition in general in races you enter? Around here it'd be fast enough to win most races and while there's not much prize money, you could probably make enough to not have to pay for running shoes anymore.
My own training is going really well and I have a 10k coming up next sunday, I'm pretty certain it's PR time again! Really curious how it's going to turn out, my legs are so beat up and it's been super windy the past 3 weeks, now I have a tough time estimating how fast I'm capable of running. From a low 39 to comfortably breaking 38 nothing would surprise me right now.
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On March 19 2019 05:34 Nocci wrote:That seems so stupidly fast to me! How is your local competition or competition in general in races you enter? Around here it'd be fast enough to win most races and while there's not much prize money, you could probably make enough to not have to pay for running shoes anymore. My own training is going really well and I have a 10k coming up next sunday, I'm pretty certain it's PR time again! Really curious how it's going to turn out, my legs are so beat up and it's been super windy the past 3 weeks, now I have a tough time estimating how fast I'm capable of running. From a low 39 to comfortably breaking 38 nothing would surprise me right now.
It's pretty damn fast. Not many people could ever run that quick, period.
If you've been progressing workouts, or even running similar in tougher conditions, it safe to say you ought to go faster. How much faster? Yea, hard to say. Post some workouts and the conditions for those workouts and I'll give a prediction.
What's the course like?
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Usually I'm not too bad at predicting how it's going to go myself, but the bonkers weather for the last couple of weeks had completely thrown my feeling off. Yesterday was finally a nice & sunny day with little wind and I did a 5k Tempo run - which now has me confident I can break 38! Did the 5k in 19:12 (GPS) and while I was working hard, I didn't exhaust myself and definitely could've held that pace longer. I don't know the course but it appears to be flat, mostly roads. 4 laps of a 2,5km loop, officially measured so times are eligible for rankings. Now if I factor in race day adrenaline, caffeine, wearing racing flats, being better rested and not having to dodge dogs & strollers...not breaking 38 would already be a little disappointing.
So the plan is to go out at 3:45ish pace and then go by feel/heart rate.
It just seems a little scary and hard to believe that I should be able to take a whooping 2+ minutes off of an unexpected PR that's only 9 weeks old. FWIW my watch already predicts a 36:02, even getting within a minute of that would be crazy. Anyways I'm excited!
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On March 22 2019 00:30 Nocci wrote: Usually I'm not too bad at predicting how it's going to go myself, but the bonkers weather for the last couple of weeks had completely thrown my feeling off. Yesterday was finally a nice & sunny day with little wind and I did a 5k Tempo run - which now has me confident I can break 38! Did the 5k in 19:12 (GPS) and while I was working hard, I didn't exhaust myself and definitely could've held that pace longer. I don't know the course but it appears to be flat, mostly roads. 4 laps of a 2,5km loop, officially measured so times are eligible for rankings. Now if I factor in race day adrenaline, caffeine, wearing racing flats, being better rested and not having to dodge dogs & strollers...not breaking 38 would already be a little disappointing.
So the plan is to go out at 3:45ish pace and then go by feel/heart rate.
It just seems a little scary and hard to believe that I should be able to take a whooping 2+ minutes off of an unexpected PR that's only 9 weeks old. FWIW my watch already predicts a 36:02, even getting within a minute of that would be crazy. Anyways I'm excited!
If you're doing a tempo at 6:15 pace....you're definitely looking at 37 or better for 10k if the course is comparable to what you did the tempo on and conditions are decent.
If not, then you're running those tempos too hard.
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8716 Posts
On March 19 2019 05:34 Nocci wrote:That seems so stupidly fast to me! How is your local competition or competition in general in races you enter? Around here it'd be fast enough to win most races and while there's not much prize money, you could probably make enough to not have to pay for running shoes anymore. If I just picked a race at random, I'd surely be the heavy favorite to win. The majority of road races here are not very competitive. But there is a series of races that are more competitive. USATF is the governing body for running in the US and there are regional divisions of USATF. These regional races are good for runners like me who are fast but not pros, while any national competition is more for pros. I am lucky that for the region I am in, most of the races are fairly close to me (I live near San Francisco). All of the serious runners in clubs show up to these races and virtually no other race. So the situation is that there are particular races where all the serious runners go and then every other race is relatively uncompetitive.
The 10k actually wasn't one of those races but I've signed up for several regional USATF races now. Looking at past results, to win a 5k you need to run 14:40's. To win a mile, around 4:15. So they're right where I want to be now. Perfect competition for me.
There are also a few major races in my area where pros do show up and run seriously fast times, like 1:02 half marathon. The 12k I'm racing also always has real pros.
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So I've signed up for a 5k tomorrow just where I live, to see where I'm at. I'm a bit anxious as I have no idea how fast I will be running, and it's a pace I haven't ran in months, but we'll see. I don't expect anything too crazy fast because the path is not really not straight, but at least weather should be pretty good. Also congrats Nocci, that seems like a crazy fast improvement !
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Sub 23, about 22'45. Pretty happy, I had enough energy in the end to do a pretty fast sprint once I saw the finish line (movescount says I peaked at 19km/h there lol). Sub 22'30 was definitely doable, maybe even a little bit faster. At least I have a speed to work with now Also I had one of my pupil doing the race, he did sub 20' and so another of my pupil encouraged me at 4,2km which was pretty helpful^^
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Sooo...I don't want to call it a miserable race, but it was quite meh
38:42
List of excuses:
a) out of my control: - the course had 5 tight turns (90° or more) 2 of which were on gravel and slowing down/reaccelerating definitely cost a lot of strength, then multiply that by 4 (4 laps of a 2.5k loop) - also pottholes - hottest day of the year so far and while not too hot overall, my body isn't used to it yet and that jump of 15ish °C (about 30F) made me feel like I was thrown into the middle of summer - constant slight headwind on the 2nd half of the loop, probably didn't cause too much physical resistance but was clearly noticeable and messed with my head, each lap a little more
b) my own fault (mostly) - did not adjust for the factors mentioned above and went out too fast, stubbornly ignored my too high heart rate and went by pace for too long, so instead of slowing down earlier I crashed on the 3rd lap - ate too much for breakfast - was not in peak shape, my resting heart rate jumped from mid 40s to mid 50s for the last 2 days and while I don't feel anything coming on, something's definitely off - when I crashed and had to let the guys in front of me pull away, it was a solo effort for the rest of the race until the last km
Pacing, each lap 2.5km:
9:13 9:39 10:09 9:39
2nd km was really stupid, ran 3:39 despite that sharp almost u-turn and headwind, by km 3 my heart rate already crept up to 178 which is not something I want to see until the last 2 km. Especially on km 6 my head just wanted to quit and I simply couldn't push anymore. Then managed to recover after km 7-9 at a flat 4:00 pace and found the strength again to run the last km in 3:42. Definitely one of my worst pacing efforts so far
For comparison: Running my january PB I averaged a HR of 173 and peaked at 182 during the finishing kick (temps around freezing), today I averaged 171 and peaked at 178 on the first lap (around 18°C or 65F).
On March 23 2019 15:54 L_Master wrote: If not, then you're running those tempos too hard. While I may have gotten a little carried away on wednesday (yay good weather, lets gooo faaast), my HR fluctuated between 165 and 169 averaging a 3:50 pace for that 5k(including some stairs & coming to a standstill to let people pass on a bridge). Averaging a slower pace at a higher HR today means something's not quite right...
Anyway, enough whining, positives:
- still a big PR by 1min11sec after only 9 weeks, also unofficial PRs for anything from 1 mile to 10k - finished 3rd in my age group, stood on the podium and got a little trinket - running streak day 100! - still convinced I'm in sub 38 shape
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On March 25 2019 04:52 Nocci wrote:Sooo...I don't want to call it a miserable race, but it was quite meh 38:42 List of excuses: a) out of my control: - the course had 5 tight turns (90° or more) 2 of which were on gravel and slowing down/reaccelerating definitely cost a lot of strength, then multiply that by 4 (4 laps of a 2.5k loop) - also pottholes
Wow. That's a shitload of turns, especially if you mean 180 degree turns, or limited space for a 90 degree turn on a path. Those would be very annoying and at 20 of them would definitely cost you 20-30s minimum. Possibly more.
If this course was on roads, and it messed you up that bad, especially if it was road 90 degree turns and not 180s, then it's a technical thing you can improve on. Learn to take a racing line, wide on entrance, through apex, wide on exit. Doing this will limit any acceleration/deceleration issues and cost you minimal time.
b) my own fault (mostly) - did not adjust for the factors mentioned above and went out too fast, stubbornly ignored my too high heart rate and went by pace for too long, so instead of slowing down earlier I crashed on the 3rd lap - ate too much for breakfast
- when I crashed and had to let the guys in front of me pull away, it was a solo effort for the rest of the race until the last km
Yea, too much food can throw you off, especially if you don't eat 2-3 hours before the race. Obviously will affect you if you have GI issues mid race.
- was not in peak shape, my resting heart rate jumped from mid 40s to mid 50s for the last 2 days and while I don't feel anything coming on, something's definitely off
- hottest day of the year so far and while not too hot overall, my body isn't used to it yet and that jump of 15ish °C (about 30F) made me feel like I was thrown into the middle of summer - constant slight headwind on the 2nd half of the loop, probably didn't cause too much physical resistance but was clearly noticeable and messed with my head, each lap a little more
First thing I will say is yes, definitely, when it comes to hot weather. Today was more warm weather for you. It shouldn't, and probably didn't, have a massive effect. Ideally it could be 5C cooler, but 65 isn't terrible for 10k. We get days like this in Colorado all the time, where normal is 0-10C days, and then all of a sudden we get 15-20C. This usually has a minimal effect for me on both PE and HR. When it starts to get about 20C, especially above 25C, that's where it becomes very noticeable. A jump from say 15C to 30C is much worse in my experience than a jump from 0C to 15C, which almost goes unnoticed.
That said, I certainly notice HR differences running in the heat. When we get a 25-30C day in a season where it's normally 10 or 15C I would say I notice HR goes up 10bpm higher after about 5'-10', and will easily elevate higher and not recover as well.
The confounder here is that resting HR increase. That's a big jump. In my opinion, it's either you're going to come down with something in the next 2-4 days and you're seeing the body alright starting to fight that. If not that, then it's a sign you've pushed a little too hard/slept or recovered poorly/too much stress/poor eating/etc. and that you definitely need a few easy/clean/recovery days to get back on track. A 10bpm RHR increase usually isn't random fluctuation. It's usually a "something's going on in the body" as you said.
Pacing, each lap 2.5km: 9:13 9:39 10:09 9:39 2nd km was really stupid, ran 3:39 despite that sharp almost u-turn and headwind, by km 3 my heart rate already crept up to 178 which is not something I want to see until the last 2 km. Especially on km 6 my head just wanted to quit and I simply couldn't push anymore. Then managed to recover after km 7-9 at a flat 4:00 pace and found the strength again to run the last km in 3:42. Definitely one of my worst pacing efforts so far
Yea, that's pretty quick on a 2nd km into a headwind if you're target is around 3:45-3:50. You mentioned HR before, but I don't necessarily think that's a great way to run. It's variable enough that I don't use it for pacing, it's more of a second or third opinion of what's going on. No way you were feeling cruisy and comfortable after that 3:39...missing that and pressing on definitely cost you. Seems like on that pacing you probably could have run 38 to 38:15 with a really ideal subtle negative split.
And yea, that mental weakness in km 5-7.5 definitely cost some seconds.
For comparison: Running my january PB I averaged a HR of 173 and peaked at 182 during the finishing kick (temps around freezing), today I averaged 171 and peaked at 178 on the first lap (around 18°C or 65F).
Need some more info on that first race. What were your splits. You went out here at close to 36:00 pace, which is definitely faster than you can run based on the given information. It would also be interesting to note a difference in HR warming up in January vs today's race to compare where you were at before heat was potentially a factor.
Show nested quote +On March 23 2019 15:54 L_Master wrote: If not, then you're running those tempos too hard. While I may have gotten a little carried away on wednesday (yay good weather, lets gooo faaast), my HR fluctuated between 165 and 169 averaging a 3:50 pace for that 5k(including some stairs & coming to a standstill to let people pass on a bridge). Averaging a slower pace at a higher HR today means something's not quite right...
Also, your HR is almost exactly like mine on the bike. A good controlled threshold effort is usually 160-165 depending on the day, drifting up towards 165-170 by the end depending on the day. Same with race maxes, usually a steady effort like that will leave me in the mid 170s, with a finishing sprint pulling me up to the 180s.
When I was doing more running, I didn't an HRM then, so no running/race HR data sadly
It's worth noting that in a race like this, if you go out hard and peg HR....it doesn't come back down. Even if you were to slow down to 90% or so of threshold it might not come down after being pegged, i.e. it might still say 175 after that first 2.5k even if you had run even 4:10kms the rest of the way. Definitely won't come down running between 3:50-4:00 in any significant way.
It probably does, in conjunction with RHR increase, mean something though. As mentioned before, you're likely going to be getting sick in the next few days, or your training stress/recovery balance is tipped too much toward the stress side. In either case, 2-3 days at light jogs (30'-40' around 9:00-10:00) pace, or just some walking, would be advised. In my experience those kinds of jumps are almost always a sign your body needs to rest, and adding in a race effort today is only going to increase that need.
Anyway, enough whining, positives: - still a big PR by 1min11sec after only 9 weeks, also unofficial PRs for anything from 1 mile to 10k - finished 3rd in my age group, stood on the podium and got a little trinket - running streak day 100! - still convinced I'm in sub 38 shape
This is all awesome! That's really nice progress, especially starting with already very respectable times. Knocking a minute from 40 -> 39 is a big difference compared to a new guy going from 60 -> 59. Good training and good work, also good work on the streak. If you do get sick...don't be stupid about it though! Maybe 1 super easy mile max. Fingers crossed you don't though!
Based on what you described today, you're definitely in sub 38 shape. There is little doubt of that.
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On March 24 2019 20:07 corumjhaelen wrote:Sub 23, about 22'45. Pretty happy, I had enough energy in the end to do a pretty fast sprint once I saw the finish line (movescount says I peaked at 19km/h there lol). Sub 22'30 was definitely doable, maybe even a little bit faster. At least I have a speed to work with now Also I had one of my pupil doing the race, he did sub 20' and so another of my pupil encouraged me at 4,2km which was pretty helpful^^
Good run man! 20km/hr isn't a blazing kick, but yea if you did that for more than like 5s it definitely means you left a little in the tank and have room to go faster!
What's the next race/target/goal?
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Been trying to get back into it, and was getting there but then came down with a cold about 2 weeks ago. First 3 days seemed normal, mostly sore throat and then it was fading, but then towards the end of day 3 I got very stuffed nose/congestion/savage headache/some muscle soreness which continued for 2 days and then gradually improved. Took 4 days very easy just resting up after that and saw my RHR return basically to normal.
But, either way, after this I put on my HRM again since it's time to train for real....and I've been seeing some ridiculously high HRs. Like today I was doing low tempo (80%), for runner guys thats a little easier than MP, and seeing 165 in the first 5'. 165 is normally a threshold+ deep in the sufferbox HR. Warming up was very high too...around 145 at very easy power. Normally would be 120-130.
In all honestly I'm not sure about my HR now. I have plenty of data and know what to expect under normal circumstances....however due to "life" I'm very very out of shape, but based on where I seem to be, these should still more or less be my training zones.
Oddly, resting HR is back very close to normal, maybe 2-3 beats high, but not far off. I also don't feel off. It's just....my HR is screaming. Dunno. I'll give it a few more days and go from there.
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On March 25 2019 05:48 L_Master wrote:Show nested quote +On March 24 2019 20:07 corumjhaelen wrote:Sub 23, about 22'45. Pretty happy, I had enough energy in the end to do a pretty fast sprint once I saw the finish line (movescount says I peaked at 19km/h there lol). Sub 22'30 was definitely doable, maybe even a little bit faster. At least I have a speed to work with now Also I had one of my pupil doing the race, he did sub 20' and so another of my pupil encouraged me at 4,2km which was pretty helpful^^ Good run man! 20km/hr isn't a blazing kick, but yea if you did that for more than like 5s it definitely means you left a little in the tank and have room to go faster! What's the next race/target/goal? Yeah it's not exactly fast, but it started to feel pretty tough only in the last 500m, and of instead of a sprint you'd have told me to keep a my pace 500m more, I feel I would have done it np. 22'48 is the official time btw, so 22'30 is still a bit optimistic, even though I started among the last of the 140 people, I had about 10 very sharp turn and I messed up one quite badly (I run it everyday, and the door they opened in the park wasnt the one I'm used to). Anyway excuses excuses, I'm pretty proud of my snail pace and it felt very good ! Next is finishing up my aerobic training, introducing real T-pace in a few weeks, I-pace about 4-6 weeks later, build it up, and then follow Daniel's blue plan... and see when that takes me. Probably run at least 10k and another 5k in between when I feel like it to check on my progress and for motivation.
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On March 25 2019 05:55 L_Master wrote: Been trying to get back into it, and was getting there but then came down with a cold about 2 weeks ago. First 3 days seemed normal, mostly sore throat and then it was fading, but then towards the end of day 3 I got very stuffed nose/congestion/savage headache/some muscle soreness which continued for 2 days and then gradually improved. Took 4 days very easy just resting up after that and saw my RHR return basically to normal.
But, either way, after this I put on my HRM again since it's time to train for real....and I've been seeing some ridiculously high HRs. Like today I was doing low tempo (80%), for runner guys thats a little easier than MP, and seeing 165 in the first 5'. 165 is normally a threshold+ deep in the sufferbox HR. Warming up was very high too...around 145 at very easy power. Normally would be 120-130.
In all honestly I'm not sure about my HR now. I have plenty of data and know what to expect under normal circumstances....however due to "life" I'm very very out of shape, but based on where I seem to be, these should still more or less be my training zones.
Oddly, resting HR is back very close to normal, maybe 2-3 beats high, but not far off. I also don't feel off. It's just....my HR is screaming. Dunno. I'll give it a few more days and go from there.
I've experienced this as well. Coming back after a lot of time off, my heart rate sometimes gets bonkers. The other day it got up to 184 while doing a strong but kinda controlled effort while my previous highest HR on bike was 180 doing 2-3min completely full-out efforts. Sometimes I average >155bpm on endurance rides and its not uncommon to be >160bpm and breathing comfortably only through the nose. So yeah, untill you get a bit into shape heart rate is very unreliable and my advice would be to go purely by feel. And its not like at this point its extremely important to 100% nail the intensities.
@corumjhaelen @Nocci Congratulations on your PRs, sounds like you're doing great progress, just keep at it!
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Thanks for the detailed response @L_Master
I guess there's no point in overanalyzing the race but I threw together pace chart & heart rate reading with the splits so I gotta post it now Most likely my body was/is fighting something or my electrolytes were out of whack, maybe overeating on saturday had sth to do with it and if I recall correctly, my sleep wasn't too good either on the weekend. RHR readings for the last 7 days were 41, 45, 42, 52, 61 (race day), 47 and back down to 46 today. No symptoms of anything though, just really tired.
March 10k, too high an effort too soon: https://imgur.com/a/2wjuyZs https://www.strava.com/activities/2237296744
January 10k, wonky pace chart but mostly increasing the effort towards the end: https://imgur.com/a/GwitRr3 https://www.strava.com/activities/2091284240
By the way here's my Garmins VO2max estimate (always run with a chest strap) progression from mid december till now: https://imgur.com/a/8Wkryr0
Started out at 53/54 (january race bumped me from 54 to 55) and the last 2 weeks I've been around 59.
But I have a bonus question about cycling that's puzzled me for a while: Last summer I was on vacation with a big group of friends and on two days we rented some mountainbikes. I was pretty certain, that I was one of the fittest guys in the group but on the first couple of km (slight & steady incline, like 2% or so) I really struggled and slowly dropped to the back of the pack. I totally expected our cyclists to have an easier time but some of the non-cycling girls passed me with a smile and even they looked surprised that I was working so hard. Then it got steep, like almost 10% on average with much steeper bits in between. Oh and all of a sudden I was having a blast! I passed everyone but our fittest guy, even the other cyclists.
Same thing the following week, steadily gaining 300m on the 20km ride to a high alpine road felt miserable, actually climbing 900m on the following 13km was fun and I caught myself thinking about getting a road bike (way too scared of the descents though). Oh and it's not like I ever got out of the saddle and used my muscles differently, I rode everything sitting down.
Am I just weird or is this a common thing?
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That's...a bit odd. If this was on road, with road bikes for everyone it would make alot more sense.
But everyone on gravel, with MTB, and on gentle incline it's hard for you to keep up? No that would be pretty wierd, especially since you say even the girls were passing you.
Usually it's a fit runner goes out for the first few times and is amazed that dudes that look pudgy and 80-100kg are blowing by him on flat ground. Then he hangs okay on climbs. Lots of factors there to explain that.
MTB, slight incline, probably gravel, and having girls borderline drop you....thats wierd.
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Well we weren't racing and ofc I don't know how hard they were working. I just remember lots of smiles around me while I felt I was working way harder than I should be.
The second ride was confusing in a different way. Once the steep part started, I dialed in to an effort comparable to a tempo run, HR slightly above 160. I really enjoyed myself until there came a flat part (~1.5km) along a reservoir lake, I thought I'd keep the effort level the same but I just couldn't keep my HR above 150 until the climb started again.
I guess in both cases a HR in the 140s on the flats felt waaaayy harder than it should have, while I had no trouble at all pushing harder on the climbs. Cycling's weird to me...
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On March 27 2019 05:39 Nocci wrote: Well we weren't racing and ofc I don't know how hard they were working. I just remember lots of smiles around me while I felt I was working way harder than I should be.
The second ride was confusing in a different way. Once the steep part started, I dialed in to an effort comparable to a tempo run, HR slightly above 160. I really enjoyed myself until there came a flat part (~1.5km) along a reservoir lake, I thought I'd keep the effort level the same but I just couldn't keep my HR above 150 until the climb started again.
I guess in both cases a HR in the 140s on the flats felt waaaayy harder than it should have, while I had no trouble at all pushing harder on the climbs. Cycling's weird to me...
Some people do describe this. Most people can push themselves a little harder on hills, but there are some that are even split and rare exceptions of people who can do more downhill. The reason for this basically has to do with the pedal stroke, and how it changes. Basically as you go faster, you have more kinetic energy and also their is less force slow you down (uphill adds more from gravity).
What this means is that when you are pedalling along on flat ground, especially the faster you go, you are basically just imparting power to the pedal at a very small portion of the stroke, keeping the bike going. In the case of a climb, you have much less inertia and have basically the entire pedal stroke to put down power. So, this ends up basically meaning you impart more force in a shorter time for a flatter, time trialling like pedal stroke, and less force over more time while climbing.
Flat riding tends to recruit a little more fast twitch fiber, whereas climbing is a little more slow twitch, but it's a subtle thing. It's not like sprinter vs marathoner. Heck triathletes are like your ideal form of a slow twitcher, but they are all excellent at applying flat power. Bottom line is that there ARE difference between flat pedalling and uphill pedalling, but they are usually more prominent at higher speeds (e.g. 20-50mph) and usually not quite as dramatic as what you are seeing.
Best guess is that for whatever reason, your ability to use quads and buttocks to lay down quick(er) power in your pedal stroke is very low comparatively. Why that is, I can't tell you because what you're describing sounds like at least a 30%, perhaps as much as a 50-60% difference in power output ability, if non cycling/fitness ladies are going faster than you easier on the flat, but then you're beating them by 20, 30, 50% up these climbs.
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I genuinely cannot get over how weak I am right now. This is rough. Admittedly, it's been a long road off. I was in decent shape, within 90-95% of my peak early 2017 shape, last September. Things really kicked off for the worse with some viral guy and then long term sinusitis. I road occasionally throughout that time. For the first 1-2 months after I would still have some decent efforts. By January, even my harder efforts were what would generally be short, moderate sessions (i.e. I was going much easier, not doing as hard of intervals). I road even less, and often fairly easy, throughout January, February and through mid March.
Trying to get genuinely back at it now. So basically I have like 2 months significantly reduced volume, but okay intensity, 2 months of reduced volume and reduced intensity, and then 2 months of very low volume with moderate intensity. Not sedentary, but certainly nothing any decent athlete would look at as "training".
It's bad now. I'm down a minimum of 15% from then, might be closer to 20%. I'm sure some of it will come back rather quick if I get in the swing of things....but it's a massive adjustment. A cruising easy pace (think MP + 90s) now elicts a threshold level heart rate. It's so drastic I can't really even go off pace/power. I think for now I'm just going to chyll and do some workouts based off combination of PE and HR.
But damn, add in the 8kg weight gain....and ugh. I've gone from the equivalent of perhaps a 16:30 5k level guy on the bike to maybe a 23:00 5k level on the bike. Between the "easy pace = FTP" and getting passed by some weekend warriors that's a rough adjustment on the psyche.
I knew I would lose some fitness, but I didn't realize I was doing so little as to return to a similar level as to where I was when I first started training, period. I guess the moral of the story is long term breaks, even with reduced training, can effect you a TON.
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On March 27 2019 13:34 L_Master wrote: ...that's a rough adjustment on the psyche.
It sounds really tough, especially if your peak isn't that far in the past and your fitness loss is that massive. Having been fit in the past is a somewhat double edged sword in that situation. On the one hand you know what you've been capable of and feel frustrated/impatient about your current fitness level, on the other hand you can still get back into shape far faster than someone who's pushing their limits to new heights for the first time. All I can do is preach patience!
When I first got back into exercising 2.5 years ago I could barely do 2 pullups while I was able to do a one-armed pullup 10 years ago. The first half year was a constant struggle with overuse injuries and my mind having trouble adjusting to my bodies capabilities after like ~8 years of sedentary life. Once I relaxed and made no specific performance goals but set my goal to not overdo it so I could train at least 3 times a week, I lost track of time, half a year was gone and I was suddenly in a pretty good shape again.
Sadly the beginner tip "don't compare yourself to who someone else is today, but to who you were yesterday" doesn't work so well in that situation.
Be patient and if you manage to relax and not stress about performance goals, it'll acutally come back faster than you think
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