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Jon’s musing about running and things about running while running and after running and probably before running too

I am really struggling with the 5k training plans. Just so little running on most days. Maybe because its a short endurance run.

i am always doing some “research”’ and while trying to figure out my cadence v stride length and doing some geeky spreadsheets on variations of that calc, i ended up watching a “gazelle vs glider” 2 part YouTube video.

i feel like i wasnt engaging my hips correctly especially when watching either style and so todays cold run (just above feeezing with snow for half ) was supposed to be a slow easy short run according to the plan. It ended up being a good “quick” long run because as i better engaged my hips and felt my form change, muscles moving, it felt good. Unfortunately even though the body felt great, the HR registered too high for the run so i slowed it down while still engaging the hips. But it kept in zone 3 high / 4 low instead of the 2.

I think i have had this form before going up hills, but the flats and downhills were not like this. I kept thinking hips forward to keep it going and i could feel the change in foot strike and toe off without the full body calf stretch.

regardless I hope i an doing it right as to develop requires something different in stride efficiency.

5miles
 
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Running really takes practice. I know it sounds crazy...because we grow up as kids and no one told us how to run. But running efficiently does take practice. You'll get it!
 
so I know I am beginner, but I am almost 6 months in and questions abound. here is a good example of my confusion when i read runners stuff. paces for recovery/easy/etc. now i don't know if this is flat track based, and the hills are causing me HR issues, but for me a 50min 10K is not too far off in my mind. but i think it really might be at the HR i'm targeting.. my goal is not just to survive a distance at a pace once, but get there everytime, easily.

I just did some analysis of todays "easy" run and it was 10:16 min/mile pace (4.1 miles in 42 min. taking away the warmup/cooldown). that squarely puts me in "easy", but my HR was closer to 70-85% of max.

cadence was really low @ 168 spm but stride seemed to open up without over-striding.

levels-of-easy-running-1551107690.jpg
 
Did a HIIT today. Followed the HR plan, no extra extra. I realize development comes from appropriate strain, tolerance and most importantly rest and recovery.

Felt like it was really kicking my butt during the high intensity and was trying to give it my best effort, form, cadence, energy, etc. and i had to walk the recoveries to get right into the low zones. The cooldown was really hard to get into the right zone, kind of concerning but i was very close to the right zone. Same issue with warm up but reverse.

What really impressed me was getting it done in less than an hour. And even though i was spent after the last intense session, i had a mile to walk home uphill, I felt great. Sun was shining... didnt mind the cold headwind.
 
Beautiful day today and i could only get out around 5pm. The plan was a easy 20 minute zone 2 jog. I try to put that in the middle of the 5 miles, but today i thought i could add in the forest trail and be out of the trail for the last 2 miles walking home on the pavement and it was awesome. Jogging the trail at sundown was a blast, a tiny bit muddy and leaves everywhere and some snow/ice in the way but not trips/falls.

ended the loop at 6miles in a bit under 90 mins.
 
Same as yesterday almost but this time a bit earlier and with 2 kids at a bit higher HR goal but bot by much (zone 3 for 20 Mins)

love the nike kiger 5s. I grabbed another pair on sale last month because the tread is so soft and knobby it wears quickly on the pavement portions.

felt great out there, the trail is such a different feeling, constant tracking of the ground, roots, mud, leaves, stumps vs the occasional pothole, crack or crappy “bike lane” area of a road filled with everything you never wanted to run or ride on. I tend to run just inside the crown as long as there aren’t lots of cars.

10k with the kids.
 
Ah now I get it, you're only 6 months in. Love the enthusiasm!

I'm similar to you in that I research everything, but keep in mind, that at the end of the day, it's just information, and you find your own way with the help of that information. It takes time to make sense of it all.
 
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HMan said:
Ah now I get it, you're only 6 months in. Love the enthusiasm!

I'm similar to you in that I research everything, but keep in mind, that at the end of the day, it's just information, and you find your own way with the help of that information. It takes time to make sense of it all.
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Yup, until last summer i had never really run like this. Lots of sports, but the training miles were never running. And never by HR or other training plan.
 
Today was a long slow run (zone 2 for 55 mins) so i decided to put on the zero drop 5mm sole primal runamocs shoes and see how it went.

i think my current run style is very advantageous to barefoot minimalist as its a high cadence gait so i felt no issues and went about 7.5 miles over the activity. Got a phone call at the end so spent another hour walking around the neighborhood.

i really like the shoes and i can feel my ankles and the calves not stressed an hour later. I read a quick comment somewhere else that it was better to go “barefoot” on pavement than grass or turf because of the excess lateral movements of turf not needed or unknown holes or stuff that you can’t see in grass.
 
Went for a low speed 5 mile run with the kids in the brooks launch 6 (10mm drop). Definitely felt like the feet were slightly sore from the sole while running. Not my fav shoe.

definitely noticing my HR is staying lower for the same effort 😃.
 
Today was a HIIT day. Kind of look forward to these days as well as dreading them. I look forward to them because i get to run hard, much harder than the other days, but its a hard run. I feel exhausted as i push myself through the short high intensity points and then the recovery feels great but so short.

todays recovery i tried to monitor the HR drop which appears to be ok. About 40beats over 85 seconds. Sadly the recovery portion is only 120 seconds so right back into the fire.

felt pretty good at the end with about 2 miles of active recovery. So 5 miles in all a bit under an hour.

Ran in the first pair of brooks levitate 2 that I bought and noticed that i dont think i the app was recording the miles on them because of a technical issue as clearly the tread was not at all similar to others reporting similar mileage. I went back and looked through the logs and can probably estimate that there was 2-4 months of 5 mile days unaccounted for which i am going to estimate at 100 days across 2 or 3 pairs with the majority being on these. So at 500 miles, i will add 250 to the current tally and at ~320miles these shoes still felt really nice but some of the tread “markers” are clearly gone.
 
1) So the brooks launch6 that i like the least of the current crop of shoes seems to feel pretty decent after 2 miles.

2) I am guessing i am getting way more fit because i can easily feel each limbs feedback and changes (positive and negative) vs a general hurt that was before.

3) i can easily run a 10k at a nice easy pace without issue, good form, and i can think the whole way vs being overwhelmed by the activity.

4) while my cold weather gear is ok, the inside of my jacket is almost soaked at the end. It does not breathe. It is not overly too hot though at the pace i went today. It is a light down puffy jacket. Not sure if i want a jacket that wicks away all the moisture. I know i dont want one that lets the cold in, especially when raining.
 
Went for a 5 mile walk with my wife in the late AM. Felt great, was expecting the roads to be bad from the snow we got, but they were fine. Wore a pair of new goretex vans 🤩

in the late pm, went for a quick run 2.5mile hr zone 3 jog with my youngest, 11yo. Up the road and back. Lots of fun to listen to her answer all about the school day things she didnt want to tell me 5 mins before independently, so i ask a couple question and she cant stop talking.

She told me all about what she is reading for fun and how movies dont follow books “at all!” 😂
 
Today’s forecast was an ice storm and my training had me doing a long 55min run not including warm up and cool down, so i grabbed my parka, sunglasses and head out into the cold salted streets. It was a HR zone 2 but there is no way to keep it that low, i can be super close and i tried to minimize the bpm but hills will skyrocket the rate. It was a good form and breathing run, i could feel the levitate 2s with the miles are super comfy noticeably at mile 1.5 to the end.

totally enjoyed it, glasses fogged up a bit more often then i would have enjoyed but i just didnt want the icy snow in my eyes. Good run today.
 
It’s been a little over a week since i had a “good” run. Between the bad weather, some sensitive toe (slippers caused sensitivity and semi-badly cut finger issues, its hard to believe it was that long, but i had felt a bit of pain in my right calf and figured it was time to take a rest after 10 months of almost daily walking or running from almost zero (over the past 3-4 years). My body felt really tired and and i could feel how overworking was making me slip back into a more sedentary mood again. so even though i’ve walked 2 or 3 times over the week, i didnt feel like running.

had the day off today from work, so a nice and slow morning.

it is sunny right now 4:30pm eastern 42°F and somehow i decided to run at 11:00am when it was cloudy, 32F and pouring rain. Didnt want to put it off though and although my pants and gloves soaked through, i managed fine. I didnt think it was gonna get this nice throughout the day tbh.

I was hoping that since i hadnt been working too hard, perhaps i would be a bit faster, but i’m still clocking around a ~10min/mile pace over the hilly 5 miles.

ran wearing the brooks launch6 (~80 miles use) and the first mile was rough, the second was better and I definitely noticed the shoes midsole softening up around the end of the second mile and felt nice until the 4.5 milepoint which until that time i had managed to avoid getting my shoes feeling soaked. They were definitely soaked but over the last 1/2 mile somehow dragged some water and stepped in multiple puddles and got that immediately soaked shoe feel.

sensitivity of my toes was a non-issue, my finger issue is avoidable bit sometimes i feel it get pressure, my clothes are definitely not rain wear, the gloves were so soaked i could squeeze my fist and have water drain out of the fabric. Sunglasses are an issue, the rain and moisture freeze on the lens, Had to hold them the last half so i could see.

no other neighbors out as expected, no sprays from cars, and generally ok, a bit slower than i was hoping, but i was carrying a lot of rain on me and a bit tired but not feeling sad/depressed, i think its just recovery from all the stuff and weather.

a good run, I’m glad i got out there and hopefully everything will dry fine.
 
Yesterday I waited until it was close to the “warmest” temp for the day, unfortunately it was on the cusp of sunset, which is on reflection a more or less not the best time to be outside for 60-90mins

-temp drops enough from start to end right now to make it hard to dress appropriately.
-Hard to see after sunset with sunglasses, better to not take them.
-Its close to people coming home from daily commutes and are typically rushing around and impatient

but I thought i could get some activity in and ended up doing 5.25m in 56mins. Way slower than I expected given i wasnt limiting my HR bit also wasnt attempting a tempo run. Good cadence, decent form, just felt an overall tiredness that i am monitoring so as to not injure anything accidentally.

felt good to be out there getting it done, though. I added in an extra 1/4 mile loop of hills at the 2 mile point so that was good.
 
Todays run was a nooner in 60°F sunshine but windy. Base and mid layer top (no jacket/vest) and mid layer bottom. No neck gaiter, yes sunglasses and tried out a pair of bone conduction headphones.

i was gonna try for a 9min/mile pace over 5miles and see if I could push myself a bit. Tried to keep cadence high and use a bit more knee push and heel kick. I felt like i was moving faster but I couldnt keep that pace around mile 4, especially on the uphills. It was 50/50 mental/physical as my thighs felt heavy from the knee push and i felt a tiredness maybe from a lack of fuel or the higher HR (more likely). I had to take a fast walk up the last 2 hills

I could feel the knee push effort exertion on my quads the whole way, but kept the form good imho, not overstriding. Still not very fast imho. About 10min/mile.

i like the headphones, they sound clear and i can hear everything around me and they dont need a mid run fit adjustment like my current pair do.

i may restart adding oats back to my diet. I can also tell i need stretching daily.. wow my muscles are just super tight yesterday and today.
 
Oi, yesterday’s run was a hot mess. Evening 9pm start and I thought depending on how i felt at mile 1 marker I would decide on a 5k or 5mile. I chose 5 mile as i was running a low HR for 2.5 miles and felt good enough. I was all over the place, and I thought just work on form and get through it. And so i did that, a bit of running and walking, i made it home a bit over an hour but it was a good reminder that not everyday is a better one and not just taking plateaus.

not gonna worry about it yet, a lot of things could be the issue that i changed up that i can just guess at so i will just monitor.
 
With all the disappointment yesterday, i decided to do some active recovery and switch out the shoes with the heavy mileage and Just a 5 mile quick walk with the wife. and then some soccer training assistance for my kids.

Its supposed to rain all weekend if i understand so i can go slow and easy outside and make sure i keep a good steady pace and do some strength training.
 
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