My last post, I was bummed. The thoughts had crossed my mind that my season might be finished (almost before it began). But after the surprising effects of taping up my foot for a couple days, as well as modifying mowing the lawn (split into two days, with taped up feet) - I found that Monday morning my heel was not nearly as sore as it was the previous week. In other words, while I may have mildly aggravated it during the weekends activities, it didn't get nearly as aggravated as it had on other weekends.
This week I also scheduled an appointment with a sports medicine doctor, but that appt isn't until June 1. Given the progress I've seen this week, I think there's only a 50/50 chance I'll end up continuing with that appointment. It may seem silly to ditch an appointment (and the potential subsequent PT and exercises that would follow), but my reasoning is simple: Upon reflection, I have little reason to believe my issue is PF that has developed under typical conditions where it develops. While the end result may be the same (overuse of the tendons in the heel and general tendonitis), the cause came about because of a completely different reason: that I was trying to land on and use the front part of my foot almost exclusively while running over the past few months. This was such a radical departure from my typical form that of course it overstrained certain parts of my body when I didn't give it a chance to build up strength. Since my old form has served me well for so many years (I was just trying to eek out a bit more performance), I believe I can fully attribute this issue to doing too much, using a new form, too fast. So I'll keep the appt on the calendar, and see how things are over the next week before cancelling.
Also this week, I did some further research into how to tape up the foot to relieve even more stress from the tendon during the recovery process. So the past couple days I've done that (which involves some taping on the underside of the foot in a criss cross pattern). Earlier this week I was feeling around the heel and found a knot of what I believe to be the inflammation - as it was very similar feeling to the inflammation the doctor found when I went in for the IT band last year. So the past few days, I've been massaging that knot of inflammation to try and stimulate blood flow. It is not directly under the heel, but rather off to the side. The location is another reason for me to believe this isn't precisely a case of PF. This morning I stepped out of bed and felt very little, if no, soreness on the heel. That is an indication to me that the massaging, heat, and taping have been effective.
Yesterday I also snuck in a short (like, 10 minutes) run while walking the dogs in the woods, on the taped up foot. I just wanted to see if my heel would be more sore today than it was yesterday. Since I woke up with no soreness, I dont think I did much, if any, new damage. So tomorrow I may try a short 10-15 minutes around the neighborhood and see what happens.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sometimes its better to throw it all out and start over
After my last post, I was feeling pretty good. The heel was doing pretty well, and I thought that with less running I could turn the corner and gradually get the plantar fasciitis out of the way.
I guess I was wrong. I went out to do a 6 miler on Sunday, but failed miserably. It was the worst run I've had in my life, I think. I went in the late afternoon, trying to avoid mid-day heat - but I didn't realize it had actually been getting hotter as the day went on. I had also mowed the lawn earlier in the day, so my heel was, in retrospect, already aggravated a bit. I was also probably a bit dehydrated, although I wasn't showing the typical symptoms. So with all that, and the fact it was the first real warm run of the season and my body isn't used to shedding heat - it was a miserable time. I was trying to think of a single positive, and couldn't. The only non-negative thing about it was that it was an opportunity for my body to adjust to running in warm weather. Maybe that'll pay dividends.
On my way back (mostly walking), I went through a series of thoughts. Should I just skip the marathon this year? If I do, and with that being the major goal of the year - what should I do training wise (because whats the point)? Should I go back to running 3x per week, like last year? Afterall, I did make it much further, and one could argue that I gave myself more time to recover in between runs. Should I concentrate on cycling this year and give my body a rest from the pounding of running?
In the end, after I had some time to think, I decided on the following:
1) Take 3 weeks of no running. Do some cycling in the meantime to at least have some activity - build cardio capacity, legs, etc. That'll leave me with 20 weeks to train for a marathon. Not ideal, but possible - all depends on how the heel responds.
2) In the unlikely event I'm not able to do the marathon, I dont want this year to be a complete loss - so I can still do triathlons. So I signed up for the Webster Lake and Cranberry Country Olympic. I really should be able to do the 6 miles at the end of August. Hell, I did it last year in the midst of ITB friction.
3) Once I start running again, run 3x per week. Running 5x per week may be optimal for recovery and time training, but I really do not care about time in a marathon - I just want to finish.
4) This will all make completing the marathon that much sweeter.
So - last week I made sure to do the main PF stretches during the week, and by weeks end, things were feeling pretty good (again). On saturday I mowed the lawn (2 hours behind a push mower), and my heel was very sore. With that, it became a trend - so either that much walking, or the boots I wear while mowing are not helping. I had some gel inserts laying around, so I started using those to help cushion my heel. They helped a little bit, but the majority of the soreness and pain wasn't heel pressure, but when the foot is flexed during walking.
This morning I was doodling around the internet, and came across this. Normally, I read these types of columns with a great deal of skepticism, and I did with this one too. However, I had been wondering if getting something to support the arch would help - and, well, I had a roll of duct tape right by the computer. So I tried it out. I was amazed at the results. Not absolutely and completely pain free, but markedly better. In fact, the only pain I've had all day is pressure on the heel - which as I just mentioned, has generally not been the biggest contributer to pain in this whole ordeal.
Now, I am really not one to buy into the whole idea of getting things for your feet because they provide support. At least, not on a long term basis. I'm a firm believer that the human foot has the capability to provide its own support, and that artificially supporting it causes atrophy. However, in some cases - such as this where the support is only necessary on a temporary basis - I think support can be useful.
So we'll see how it goes. Now that I know that the combination of mowing and boots are a major contributer, I can start making adjustments to alleviate that. Hopefully after some time without reaggravating the injury every week, things will fall into place.
I guess I was wrong. I went out to do a 6 miler on Sunday, but failed miserably. It was the worst run I've had in my life, I think. I went in the late afternoon, trying to avoid mid-day heat - but I didn't realize it had actually been getting hotter as the day went on. I had also mowed the lawn earlier in the day, so my heel was, in retrospect, already aggravated a bit. I was also probably a bit dehydrated, although I wasn't showing the typical symptoms. So with all that, and the fact it was the first real warm run of the season and my body isn't used to shedding heat - it was a miserable time. I was trying to think of a single positive, and couldn't. The only non-negative thing about it was that it was an opportunity for my body to adjust to running in warm weather. Maybe that'll pay dividends.
On my way back (mostly walking), I went through a series of thoughts. Should I just skip the marathon this year? If I do, and with that being the major goal of the year - what should I do training wise (because whats the point)? Should I go back to running 3x per week, like last year? Afterall, I did make it much further, and one could argue that I gave myself more time to recover in between runs. Should I concentrate on cycling this year and give my body a rest from the pounding of running?
In the end, after I had some time to think, I decided on the following:
1) Take 3 weeks of no running. Do some cycling in the meantime to at least have some activity - build cardio capacity, legs, etc. That'll leave me with 20 weeks to train for a marathon. Not ideal, but possible - all depends on how the heel responds.
2) In the unlikely event I'm not able to do the marathon, I dont want this year to be a complete loss - so I can still do triathlons. So I signed up for the Webster Lake and Cranberry Country Olympic. I really should be able to do the 6 miles at the end of August. Hell, I did it last year in the midst of ITB friction.
3) Once I start running again, run 3x per week. Running 5x per week may be optimal for recovery and time training, but I really do not care about time in a marathon - I just want to finish.
4) This will all make completing the marathon that much sweeter.
So - last week I made sure to do the main PF stretches during the week, and by weeks end, things were feeling pretty good (again). On saturday I mowed the lawn (2 hours behind a push mower), and my heel was very sore. With that, it became a trend - so either that much walking, or the boots I wear while mowing are not helping. I had some gel inserts laying around, so I started using those to help cushion my heel. They helped a little bit, but the majority of the soreness and pain wasn't heel pressure, but when the foot is flexed during walking.
This morning I was doodling around the internet, and came across this. Normally, I read these types of columns with a great deal of skepticism, and I did with this one too. However, I had been wondering if getting something to support the arch would help - and, well, I had a roll of duct tape right by the computer. So I tried it out. I was amazed at the results. Not absolutely and completely pain free, but markedly better. In fact, the only pain I've had all day is pressure on the heel - which as I just mentioned, has generally not been the biggest contributer to pain in this whole ordeal.
Now, I am really not one to buy into the whole idea of getting things for your feet because they provide support. At least, not on a long term basis. I'm a firm believer that the human foot has the capability to provide its own support, and that artificially supporting it causes atrophy. However, in some cases - such as this where the support is only necessary on a temporary basis - I think support can be useful.
So we'll see how it goes. Now that I know that the combination of mowing and boots are a major contributer, I can start making adjustments to alleviate that. Hopefully after some time without reaggravating the injury every week, things will fall into place.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Plantar ups, downs, and coming back-arounds.
So in my last post, I mentioned that I had signs of plantar fasciitis, and at the time I had taken a day off, taken some advil, and the pain had gone away. While that was true, I found that when I tried to run again, the pain came back in a short time.
Over the past couple weeks, I've gone through a couple cycles of days off until the heel felt pretty good, then running again, and having the pain come back. At first the cycle was only a couple days. Then I went just about an entire week without running (last week). Things were feeling good until Saturday, when my heel was sore again - even though I hadn't run in 6 days or so. But once again, I took some advil, and on Sunday things felt better. In fact, they felt better enough that I opted to try a quick 3 mile run. This time, I did a couple things differently: took advil immediately after to control immediate inflammation and tissue damage(hadn't done that before - duh), and reverted more to my older style of running, which uses the calf muscles less.
At that point, my new plan going forward changed quite a bit:
Running 5x Per week
Due to the fact that I'm behind on the build up to running 7x per week, the the apparent higher probability of becoming injured when running on a daily basis (due to no rest) - I ended up deciding that I'll likely settle on running 5x per week. This will provide both a mental and physical break, and provide opportunity for the occasional bike ride or swim session during this training season.
Revert back to my previous 'form' of running.
Since mid last year, I've been trying to make changes to my running form, with the two major items being cadence and limiting heel strike impact. Immediately upon trying the higher cadence, I had found my HR increased by about 3-5%. Doesn't sound like a lot, but when you consider that an easy run for me should be around 150 bpm, and a tempo run should be around 160 bpm (less that 10% difference) - 3%-5% is quite a bit. I initially thought I just needed to give my muscles time to adjust - but after going through the couch to 5k and subsequent build up - my HR was still higher. I've ended up deciding that while both Daniels and Galloway say that the fastest runners use a cadence of 180, that cadence benefits may depends naturally on speed. In other words - a cadence of 180 may impose a certain overhead in terms of HR - and at 9 min/miles, that overhead is more of a penalty than the cadence may deliver in benefit. Perhaps when you are able to throw down 7 min/miles, the equation changes. I'd be willing to bet that neither Galloway nor Daniels did much of their testing on subjects that were doing 9 min/miles.
Regarding limiting heel strike impact - last year I ran a couple times with no shoes to get an idea of the mechanics of barefoot running. I found that it resulted in a lot more landing and taking off from the front half of the foot, and that the heel barely contacted the ground at all. I then tried to emulate the mechanics while having shoes on. However, shoes have a natural slope to them - the heels are thicker than the front of the shoe. So when wearing shoes, your foot and angle is already at a greater than 90 degree angle. In order to have your toes touch first while in shoes, the angle has to be increased even further. I suspect that this had a part in why the plantar fasciitis started to creep up - trying to emulate barefoot mechanics with shoes resulted in an overcompensation condition.
So - with all that in mind, the current status is that I ran three miles on Sunday, followed by five on Monday, and yesterday (Tuesday) as a rest day. Tonight and tomorrow I'll run again, and Friday will be a rest. Even though I'm not going with Daniels 7x per week plan, I'm still going to follow the main aspects of his formula - train based on your current level of performance, and I'll probably have two quality days per week. It'll be very similar to the Galloway plan from last year, but without runs longer than 15 miles or 2.5 hours, with a phased approach to the types of workouts on quality days as opposed to mixing it all up throughout the entire season, and doing an easy run on non quality days as opposed to no running at all.
Over the past couple weeks, I've gone through a couple cycles of days off until the heel felt pretty good, then running again, and having the pain come back. At first the cycle was only a couple days. Then I went just about an entire week without running (last week). Things were feeling good until Saturday, when my heel was sore again - even though I hadn't run in 6 days or so. But once again, I took some advil, and on Sunday things felt better. In fact, they felt better enough that I opted to try a quick 3 mile run. This time, I did a couple things differently: took advil immediately after to control immediate inflammation and tissue damage(hadn't done that before - duh), and reverted more to my older style of running, which uses the calf muscles less.
At that point, my new plan going forward changed quite a bit:
Running 5x Per week
Due to the fact that I'm behind on the build up to running 7x per week, the the apparent higher probability of becoming injured when running on a daily basis (due to no rest) - I ended up deciding that I'll likely settle on running 5x per week. This will provide both a mental and physical break, and provide opportunity for the occasional bike ride or swim session during this training season.
Revert back to my previous 'form' of running.
Since mid last year, I've been trying to make changes to my running form, with the two major items being cadence and limiting heel strike impact. Immediately upon trying the higher cadence, I had found my HR increased by about 3-5%. Doesn't sound like a lot, but when you consider that an easy run for me should be around 150 bpm, and a tempo run should be around 160 bpm (less that 10% difference) - 3%-5% is quite a bit. I initially thought I just needed to give my muscles time to adjust - but after going through the couch to 5k and subsequent build up - my HR was still higher. I've ended up deciding that while both Daniels and Galloway say that the fastest runners use a cadence of 180, that cadence benefits may depends naturally on speed. In other words - a cadence of 180 may impose a certain overhead in terms of HR - and at 9 min/miles, that overhead is more of a penalty than the cadence may deliver in benefit. Perhaps when you are able to throw down 7 min/miles, the equation changes. I'd be willing to bet that neither Galloway nor Daniels did much of their testing on subjects that were doing 9 min/miles.
Regarding limiting heel strike impact - last year I ran a couple times with no shoes to get an idea of the mechanics of barefoot running. I found that it resulted in a lot more landing and taking off from the front half of the foot, and that the heel barely contacted the ground at all. I then tried to emulate the mechanics while having shoes on. However, shoes have a natural slope to them - the heels are thicker than the front of the shoe. So when wearing shoes, your foot and angle is already at a greater than 90 degree angle. In order to have your toes touch first while in shoes, the angle has to be increased even further. I suspect that this had a part in why the plantar fasciitis started to creep up - trying to emulate barefoot mechanics with shoes resulted in an overcompensation condition.
So - with all that in mind, the current status is that I ran three miles on Sunday, followed by five on Monday, and yesterday (Tuesday) as a rest day. Tonight and tomorrow I'll run again, and Friday will be a rest. Even though I'm not going with Daniels 7x per week plan, I'm still going to follow the main aspects of his formula - train based on your current level of performance, and I'll probably have two quality days per week. It'll be very similar to the Galloway plan from last year, but without runs longer than 15 miles or 2.5 hours, with a phased approach to the types of workouts on quality days as opposed to mixing it all up throughout the entire season, and doing an easy run on non quality days as opposed to no running at all.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Running build-up update - 4/12
No posts recently because there hasn't been a lot of new information to post about.
I've been following the build-up plan from the last post - going from running 4x per week, to 5 times. This is the final week of the 5x sessions, and next week starts 6 times per week (actually, we'll see - more on that later).
There are a couple of things worth pointing out, though:
IT band and stretching
Absolutely no issues with the IT band. I've been pretty good about stretching it after running (averaging around 5x per week). Also been trying to stretch the quads as well (I probably do them 3-4x per week, I'd like to get that up), as hamstrings (maybe 1-2x per week. Definately want to improve on that.
Acclimation to running multiple days in a row:
Last year, I ran 3x per week - always having at least a days rest between sessions. A couple years ago, when I was training for the half marathon, I was running 4x per week. However, many of the runs were able to be done in 30-40 minutes, aside from the weekly long run. So this years running is definately more intense and requires a lot more dedication than for years past.
During the last week of running 4x per week, and the first week of running 5x per week, my legs often felt dead. It was a struggle, both mentally and physically, to finish the 45 minutes. In fact, a couple times I finished up early - after completing a 4.2 mile loop in the 42-43 minute timeframe, I decided that was enough for that day. There were usually 'justifications' for this - either not wanting to overdo it on the 2nd day of a planned stretch of running 3 days in a row (something my body wasn't used to doing), or having just finished 3 days in a row and not wanting to overdo it, having already done the minimum of at least 30 minutes. I suppose I put 'justifications' in quotes, but in reality perhaps the slightly shorter runs are worthwhile. After-all, we are talking about more intense running than I've done in a considerably long time - so as long as I'm meeting the minimum goals (30 minutes per session), one could argue that the few minutes ultimately makes little difference in the grand scheme of things.
However, during the 2nd week of 5x per week, I noticed a distinct improvement. My heartrate settled down a bit - from the mid-high 150's to the low 150's, and there was more spring in my step. A very encouraging sign, and is actually a data point of anecdotal proof of Jack Daniels base-building theory that the body responds to stress, and it takes not a period of a few days to adapt, but a few weeks.
First minor setback
The past week or so, I've had a mild soreness in my left heel. I didn't pay a lot of attention to it at first, because aches and pains are common and they often go away. Also, based on where it was located and the conditions in which it was sore (when the calf is flexed, lifting the heel off the groun), made me think that it was an overuse symptom of the band of tissue that goes between the heel and the mid-point of the foot. This made sense, since I've been landing mid-foot a lot more recently, paying particular attention to not heel-strike. Additionally, maintaining the goal cadence of about 180 foot strokes/minute makes it very difficult to heel-strike. All in all, since I've modified my form, it was perfectly reasonable to conclude that some piece of connective tissue had a bit of catching up to do.
By the time I got back from my run on Saturday evening, it was obvious that the soreness wasn't going to go away. I had given it several days, including the two rest days of the week, and it was still present. A quick internet search revealed that I had the symptoms of plantar fasciitis. Basic treatment included anti-inflammatories, and stretching the calf muscles.
Of course!
I had been concentrating on stretching the IT band and the quads so much, I had completely skipped out on stretching the calf muscles - something I had done a decent amount in the past few years. So after a couple days of taking a couple advil, stretching the calfs, giving myself an extra rest day by skipping yesterdays run - the soreness has largely abated. I'm not sure I'll be able to get all 5 days of running in this week with my work schedule, though.
I've been following the build-up plan from the last post - going from running 4x per week, to 5 times. This is the final week of the 5x sessions, and next week starts 6 times per week (actually, we'll see - more on that later).
There are a couple of things worth pointing out, though:
IT band and stretching
Absolutely no issues with the IT band. I've been pretty good about stretching it after running (averaging around 5x per week). Also been trying to stretch the quads as well (I probably do them 3-4x per week, I'd like to get that up), as hamstrings (maybe 1-2x per week. Definately want to improve on that.
Acclimation to running multiple days in a row:
Last year, I ran 3x per week - always having at least a days rest between sessions. A couple years ago, when I was training for the half marathon, I was running 4x per week. However, many of the runs were able to be done in 30-40 minutes, aside from the weekly long run. So this years running is definately more intense and requires a lot more dedication than for years past.
During the last week of running 4x per week, and the first week of running 5x per week, my legs often felt dead. It was a struggle, both mentally and physically, to finish the 45 minutes. In fact, a couple times I finished up early - after completing a 4.2 mile loop in the 42-43 minute timeframe, I decided that was enough for that day. There were usually 'justifications' for this - either not wanting to overdo it on the 2nd day of a planned stretch of running 3 days in a row (something my body wasn't used to doing), or having just finished 3 days in a row and not wanting to overdo it, having already done the minimum of at least 30 minutes. I suppose I put 'justifications' in quotes, but in reality perhaps the slightly shorter runs are worthwhile. After-all, we are talking about more intense running than I've done in a considerably long time - so as long as I'm meeting the minimum goals (30 minutes per session), one could argue that the few minutes ultimately makes little difference in the grand scheme of things.
However, during the 2nd week of 5x per week, I noticed a distinct improvement. My heartrate settled down a bit - from the mid-high 150's to the low 150's, and there was more spring in my step. A very encouraging sign, and is actually a data point of anecdotal proof of Jack Daniels base-building theory that the body responds to stress, and it takes not a period of a few days to adapt, but a few weeks.
First minor setback
The past week or so, I've had a mild soreness in my left heel. I didn't pay a lot of attention to it at first, because aches and pains are common and they often go away. Also, based on where it was located and the conditions in which it was sore (when the calf is flexed, lifting the heel off the groun), made me think that it was an overuse symptom of the band of tissue that goes between the heel and the mid-point of the foot. This made sense, since I've been landing mid-foot a lot more recently, paying particular attention to not heel-strike. Additionally, maintaining the goal cadence of about 180 foot strokes/minute makes it very difficult to heel-strike. All in all, since I've modified my form, it was perfectly reasonable to conclude that some piece of connective tissue had a bit of catching up to do.
By the time I got back from my run on Saturday evening, it was obvious that the soreness wasn't going to go away. I had given it several days, including the two rest days of the week, and it was still present. A quick internet search revealed that I had the symptoms of plantar fasciitis. Basic treatment included anti-inflammatories, and stretching the calf muscles.
Of course!
I had been concentrating on stretching the IT band and the quads so much, I had completely skipped out on stretching the calf muscles - something I had done a decent amount in the past few years. So after a couple days of taking a couple advil, stretching the calfs, giving myself an extra rest day by skipping yesterdays run - the soreness has largely abated. I'm not sure I'll be able to get all 5 days of running in this week with my work schedule, though.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Jack Daniels - Phase I plan
The Jack Daniels running formula plan is broken out into four phases of six weeks each:
Phase I - Base Building, Foundation and Injury Prevention (FI). Self descriptive.
Phase II - Early Quality (EQ). Focus on mechanics, economy, and some speed.
Phase III - Transition Quality (TQ). Toughest phase - focus on long intervals
Phase IV - Final Quality (FQ). Primarily threshold running.
Looking at the calendar, that puts the beginning of phase I on May 9. The first phase of the program is essentially running the same amount of time 7x per week for 6 weeks. There are also some strides and a long run or two in there as well. The major concepts in Phase I are:
- Add mileage no more than every 3rd week.
- When adding mileage, don't add more than 10 miles, or about 1 hr of weekly running to the previous total
The question of how much to run is dependant on the runner. Given that the couch to 5k will end with 3x per week of 30 minutes (90 minutes total), I think it'll break down in this fashion:
Week 1 (3/7) - 4 x 45 min (180 total minutes)
Week 2 (3/14) - 4 x 45 min
Week 3 (3/21) - 4 x 45 min
Week 4 (3/28) - 5 x 45 min (225 total minutes)
Week 5 (4/4) - 5 x 45 min
Week 6 (4/11) - 5 x 45 min
Week 7 (4/18) - 6 x 45 min (270 total minutes)
Week 8 (4/25) - 6 x 45 min
Week 9 (5/2) - 6 x 45 min
Week 9 (5/9) (Phase I start) - 7 x 45 min (315 total minutes)
The only aspect of this is that I'm not following the rule of increasing mileage every 3rd week right out of the gate. Basically, I'm going from 90 minutes to 180 minutes. However, I figure that I'm experienced enough that it should not be a problem, and if I'm going to do something stupid like double time from one week to the next, it should be in the beginning when the time and mileage is low. Really, the only major concern at this point could be the IT band, but the time involved is still low enough that I don't envision an issue.
Phase I - Base Building, Foundation and Injury Prevention (FI). Self descriptive.
Phase II - Early Quality (EQ). Focus on mechanics, economy, and some speed.
Phase III - Transition Quality (TQ). Toughest phase - focus on long intervals
Phase IV - Final Quality (FQ). Primarily threshold running.
Looking at the calendar, that puts the beginning of phase I on May 9. The first phase of the program is essentially running the same amount of time 7x per week for 6 weeks. There are also some strides and a long run or two in there as well. The major concepts in Phase I are:
- Add mileage no more than every 3rd week.
- When adding mileage, don't add more than 10 miles, or about 1 hr of weekly running to the previous total
The question of how much to run is dependant on the runner. Given that the couch to 5k will end with 3x per week of 30 minutes (90 minutes total), I think it'll break down in this fashion:
Week 1 (3/7) - 4 x 45 min (180 total minutes)
Week 2 (3/14) - 4 x 45 min
Week 3 (3/21) - 4 x 45 min
Week 4 (3/28) - 5 x 45 min (225 total minutes)
Week 5 (4/4) - 5 x 45 min
Week 6 (4/11) - 5 x 45 min
Week 7 (4/18) - 6 x 45 min (270 total minutes)
Week 8 (4/25) - 6 x 45 min
Week 9 (5/2) - 6 x 45 min
Week 9 (5/9) (Phase I start) - 7 x 45 min (315 total minutes)
The only aspect of this is that I'm not following the rule of increasing mileage every 3rd week right out of the gate. Basically, I'm going from 90 minutes to 180 minutes. However, I figure that I'm experienced enough that it should not be a problem, and if I'm going to do something stupid like double time from one week to the next, it should be in the beginning when the time and mileage is low. Really, the only major concern at this point could be the IT band, but the time involved is still low enough that I don't envision an issue.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Finish of Couch to 5k
This week is the final week (9) for the couch to 5k program. The past couple weeks has been solid running during the workouts, no walk breaks - starting with 25 minutes, then 28 minutes the next week, and this week being 30 minutes.
Fortunately, there have been no ill effects aside from a minor ache here and there that has gone away within a day or two. Although the running time of 30 minutes isn't that long compared to what I was doing last year, I'm surprised at how stiff my muscles are the next day (which is not to say its a lot, but enough to notice). I attribute it to not running for a few months, as well as getting used to a higher cadence.
Which brings me to another aspect of the couch to 5k that I've been taking advantage of - cadence and foot strike location. Multiple sources I've researched indicate that the optimal cadence is 180 footstrikes per minute. In short, the benefits are: 1) less impact on each strike, 2) it becomes very difficult to maintain that turnover rate unless your up-down movement is minimized, so form inherently improves. Last year I started paying attention to cadence mid-season, and I found that there was a certain overhead to the extra leg motion that I wasn't used to, and my HR would increase. I had also started paying more attention to foot strike location mid-season last year, making an effort to get used to landing mid-sole or even a little farther forward. However, this increased the degree that my calves were used, so it came with a HR penalty.
Since I had to essentially start over by doing the couch to 5k, I figured this would be a good time to incorporate both aspects of form change into my training. So that is what I've been doing.
Once the couch to 5k is over next week, I'll be starting on building up to the training plan I'm going to use this year. Last year I followed Galloway's plan, and while I liked the running 3x per week, I wanted to give another plan a shot, based partially on feedback from other people, as well as the philosophy used.
The plan I'll be following is Jack Daniels running formula. Last year, a friend followed it and was very impressed with the results - saying he was running better than he did even in high school. In talking with him, it was obvious that the philosophy used by Daniels is radically different than most training plans or philosophies. Even still, the philosophy makes sense.
Essentially, it all comes down to this: train at the intensity level that your current performance dictates.
A future post will go into more detail on how this training plan works, but for now I'll just say that while this philosophy sounds like it would be common-place, it is not. Many times, people have a goal time in mind and structure their plan around that end goal. However, this approach does not take into consideration the current level of performance. So under/overtraining is a common result.
Fortunately, there have been no ill effects aside from a minor ache here and there that has gone away within a day or two. Although the running time of 30 minutes isn't that long compared to what I was doing last year, I'm surprised at how stiff my muscles are the next day (which is not to say its a lot, but enough to notice). I attribute it to not running for a few months, as well as getting used to a higher cadence.
Which brings me to another aspect of the couch to 5k that I've been taking advantage of - cadence and foot strike location. Multiple sources I've researched indicate that the optimal cadence is 180 footstrikes per minute. In short, the benefits are: 1) less impact on each strike, 2) it becomes very difficult to maintain that turnover rate unless your up-down movement is minimized, so form inherently improves. Last year I started paying attention to cadence mid-season, and I found that there was a certain overhead to the extra leg motion that I wasn't used to, and my HR would increase. I had also started paying more attention to foot strike location mid-season last year, making an effort to get used to landing mid-sole or even a little farther forward. However, this increased the degree that my calves were used, so it came with a HR penalty.
Since I had to essentially start over by doing the couch to 5k, I figured this would be a good time to incorporate both aspects of form change into my training. So that is what I've been doing.
Once the couch to 5k is over next week, I'll be starting on building up to the training plan I'm going to use this year. Last year I followed Galloway's plan, and while I liked the running 3x per week, I wanted to give another plan a shot, based partially on feedback from other people, as well as the philosophy used.
The plan I'll be following is Jack Daniels running formula. Last year, a friend followed it and was very impressed with the results - saying he was running better than he did even in high school. In talking with him, it was obvious that the philosophy used by Daniels is radically different than most training plans or philosophies. Even still, the philosophy makes sense.
Essentially, it all comes down to this: train at the intensity level that your current performance dictates.
A future post will go into more detail on how this training plan works, but for now I'll just say that while this philosophy sounds like it would be common-place, it is not. Many times, people have a goal time in mind and structure their plan around that end goal. However, this approach does not take into consideration the current level of performance. So under/overtraining is a common result.
Monday, February 8, 2010
IT band and couch to 5k
Wow. Two months.
In a sense, not a whole lot has changed. I've completed the 2 month course of PT to help with the IT band, but honestly there are some things I'll always have to do at least 2x per week. However, even though the official PT sessions have come to a close, the therapist left me with a workout schedule to continue with, for the purpose of continuing on with the strength and flexibility training.
The schedule is divided into two strength training days, with the intent of doing strength training 3x per week.
Day 1:
- side leg raises
- straight leg raises
- clam shells
- lateral plank holds (combine with a side leg raise if you want to be hardcore - it's tougher then it sounds!)
Day 2:
- single leg squats
- side walk with exercise band around ankles
- dips (using aerobic step)
- opposite arm and leg (with exercise band)
The exercises were chosen specifically to be paired with the other exercises for that day.
The idea is that on one week, Day 1 exercises would be done two times, and day 2 exercises being done once. Then the next week, day 2 exercises might be done twice, and day 1 exercises only once.
On top of that, stretches 5x per week:
- quad and hip flexor
- foam or PVC roller for IT band
- hamstrings
So I've generally been continuing with that trend, doing the strength training on days when I'm not running as prescribed by the couch to 5k program.
Which brings me to... the couch to 5k program! During the last week or two of PT, the therapist recommended I finally get started on it. With the cold weather and my schedule, I haven't been quite as regimented about it as I'd like - and as a result the 3 workouts scheduled for a week often take 8 or 9 days. However, I figure that having more rest time isn't a bad thing, and as long as I'm progressing, that is all that matters.
Last week I finished up week 5 of the program. Up until that time, the running has been limited to 5 minutes at a time. However, week 5 saw one day with 2 x 8 minute sessions, and the last day being a full 20 minutes. Fortunately, so far there has been no IT band irritation. My times suck, but I'm ok with that for right now. I'm also being pretty good about rolling out the IT band before and after the run, and getting into the habit of stretching my quads after the run as well.
In a sense, not a whole lot has changed. I've completed the 2 month course of PT to help with the IT band, but honestly there are some things I'll always have to do at least 2x per week. However, even though the official PT sessions have come to a close, the therapist left me with a workout schedule to continue with, for the purpose of continuing on with the strength and flexibility training.
The schedule is divided into two strength training days, with the intent of doing strength training 3x per week.
Day 1:
- side leg raises
- straight leg raises
- clam shells
- lateral plank holds (combine with a side leg raise if you want to be hardcore - it's tougher then it sounds!)
Day 2:
- single leg squats
- side walk with exercise band around ankles
- dips (using aerobic step)
- opposite arm and leg (with exercise band)
The exercises were chosen specifically to be paired with the other exercises for that day.
The idea is that on one week, Day 1 exercises would be done two times, and day 2 exercises being done once. Then the next week, day 2 exercises might be done twice, and day 1 exercises only once.
On top of that, stretches 5x per week:
- quad and hip flexor
- foam or PVC roller for IT band
- hamstrings
So I've generally been continuing with that trend, doing the strength training on days when I'm not running as prescribed by the couch to 5k program.
Which brings me to... the couch to 5k program! During the last week or two of PT, the therapist recommended I finally get started on it. With the cold weather and my schedule, I haven't been quite as regimented about it as I'd like - and as a result the 3 workouts scheduled for a week often take 8 or 9 days. However, I figure that having more rest time isn't a bad thing, and as long as I'm progressing, that is all that matters.
Last week I finished up week 5 of the program. Up until that time, the running has been limited to 5 minutes at a time. However, week 5 saw one day with 2 x 8 minute sessions, and the last day being a full 20 minutes. Fortunately, so far there has been no IT band irritation. My times suck, but I'm ok with that for right now. I'm also being pretty good about rolling out the IT band before and after the run, and getting into the habit of stretching my quads after the run as well.
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