I seem to be making a habit of combining multiple workouts into a single entry lately.
So after Sunday's run of the Hampton half course, I found myself with a free 40 minutes or so before Yoga on Monday evening. It dawned on me that this would be a perfect time for some OLD's at the easiest resistance setting. I could do a few sets on each leg, get the benefit of that drill and not wear myself out before yoga.
Turned out it was a really really good idea! By setting the trainer to the lowest resistance, I was able to get five minutes on each leg without a problem. I could have done more if need be, but it seemed like five minutes turned out to be just about right. The cadence was not stellar - probably around 70 rpm or so - but the important part was that I was able to have an extended time with the muscles in my legs learning how to fire in coordinated fashion without tiring so quickly that benefit is lost. Kind of a carry-over concept from Total Immersion swimming - start out just getting the mechanics down first, tossing anything else performance related (speed, time, resistance) out the window. This would allow the muscles to learn how to work together instead of against each other. At least, so the theory goes. I guess time will tell.
Yoga on Monday night was nothing terribly new - but it was necessary. Even though the half course on Sunday was done at a low intensity, it was still over 2.5 hours on my feet, and throughout the day on Monday I still had some residual soreness because regardless of speed, 2.5 hours of pounding impact is 2.5 hours of pounding impact.
On Tuesday I managed to get out and pick up a pair of NB Minimus shoes. For about nine months now I've been running on Nike Free Run's, and they've been working great. However, I recently found that while a typical running shoe has a heel to toe drop of around 10-12 mm, the Free Run's that I have are around 7 mm. So that explains why they ended up being a good compromise between what I was used to (Air Pegasus) and the sandles I was using in the spring (0 mm drop) that turned out to be too aggressive. So, when I found out that the Minimus shoes have a drop of about 4 mm, it seemed like the next logical step. They are by no means minimalist shoes, but they do accomplish the goal of forefoot striking and make it even harder than the Free's to heel strike.
Anyway, I wanted to give them a shot, but I didn't want to take them out on too long a run. So I grabbed the dogs and did a quick short run of just under three miles. They felt pretty good, but the jury is still out on them - they have a bit of a hump mid-foot towards the outside. I feel like it might be there to 'encourage' forefoot striking, but I'm not positive. I'll have to run in them a few more times to really start making up my mind.
After the run, I hit the bike trainer again for some more OLD's. I felt like Monday's workout of five minute repeats of each leg at minimal resistance was really helpful, so I repeated it. After a five minute warmup at easy pace, I did three sets for each leg, alternating, at five minutes per set. I could tell by the end of the workout that it was getting easier, in a subtle way. To be sure, the legs were getting fatigued, so there was extra effort from that. But outside of that I could tell that the mechanics were getting a little more efficient. It's hard to describe, but even as the muscles got fatigued, they were less herky-jerky about going through the entire cycle. Also, the cadence wasn't fast - again, around 70 - but that is/was not my primary concern.
At lunch today I decided to head out for a run. First of all, at 45F it was nice weather. Second, I'm going to be entering a base building phase in the next week or so, and to make that work I'm going to have to be running 2-3x per week, I figure. So doing a quick 5-6 miles a couple times during the week at lunch when I can will make it that much easier, because then I'll have more flexibility for hitting the bike trainer in the evenings.
Finally, with a run out of the way for the day, I hit the bike trainer in the evening. I decided to try a high cadence workout with a few intervals. To be honest, I have no idea whether it's a good workout or not - but I have seen people talk about not just usefulness of one leg drills, but also high cadence stuff, low cadence stuff (high resistance, to build power), etc. So I figured I'd throw something together and see what would happen. I started on 34x19 for about five minutes, then moved to 34x17 for five minutes, then 34x16 for five minutes, and then 34x15 for five minutes. By that time, my HR was touching 160, so I figured that was a good top limit. After the five minutes was up, I went back down to 34x19 for five minutes as recovery, until my HR got back down into the 140's. I repeated that three times, followed by a few minutes back at 34x19 as cool down. It is too soon to tell definitively, but I do feel as though the OLD's did provide some benefit, as power seemed to be better balanced throughout the entire cycle. Still got a ways to go, but it at least seemed better. Who knows if it was or not!
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