Running

I get it if I’ve pushed myself hard in a race or similar where I’ve gone heavily into the red.

I’ve recently been trying to down regulate for a little bit after a track session or similar through nasal breathing, a few times I’ve listened to really relaxing music, it seems to do the help a lot.

I think I heard about it in a Huberman podcast, the last in his series with Andy Galpin.

https://joshmbunch.medium.com/why-you-should-practice-down-regulation-breathing-after-your-next-workout-a6c16641dcdb

After the guilt of missing a long run over the weekend, I just went out and overcompensated by sneaking a half-marathon distance in this evening.

My target for Leeds half, which is just under a month away is 1:40 .. I just did 1:50 without completely ruining myself.

Have I jinxed myself to either secretly target a more ambitious time which I’ll fail to achieve or else I’ve peaked too early and I’m doomed to pick up an injury between now and the HM?

Great share!

Thanks, will definitely try this.

@Tenderloin I did your regime last night and only woke once so I'm going to keep that up!

I found taking a ZMA supplement before bed helped with this.
https://deluxenutrition.co.uk/products/zinc-magnesium-b6-capsules-500mg-deluxe-formula

Nice one!

As I get older + kid I think one wake up per night is pretty good. Better tracking of my sleep is still something I'm interested in mind.

My current list would be:
Whoop
Fourth Frontier X2
blood glucose monitor
Eight Sleep - when I win lottery

I’ve also been listening to “training for the uphill athlete” on audible, and it has mentioned the importance of warming down after intense sessions.
It’s free to listen to if you have a membership (although I’ve ordered a physical copy as it’ll need going over).
https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/1705223745

Really interested in the notions about capacity training vs utilisation. Basically says the vast majority of training for endurance should be building aerobic base.

Just scored a place for
Newlands memorial on Saturday as well. Will do that instead of Gisborough on sunday.
18.5km, 1100m. First lakes race in a few years so hopefully it won’t be too savage!

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Just looking at all of those contour lines makes my quads burn.

I've been taking ZMA's since this started a few weeks ago. Don't think it's done anything for me. I'm on my last few so wasn't going to renew. Did it take awhile to work for you?

I felt like it worked pretty quickly for me. You could maybe try 5-HTP as well, but that also takes a while to work.

Warming down more thoroughly (20 mins of v low intensity running/walking) might be more effective.

That's some serious elevation. I've been drinking with the race director of the Tortola Torture https://tortolatorture.com/ That's 1350m over 58km.

Ran 9k including some of the course with 435m elevation on Sunday followed by 6k with 100m yesterday. I don't usually run any hills so my quads are pretty tight now. Not sure how running 1100 in 18km is even possible.

Theres a great doc on the winter olympian Nils Van Der Poel and his pretty insane training programme that was based on this logic. Guy realised he could train harder than everyone else and built an insane base at the expense of pretty much everything else. He also released his training manual which is similarly bonkers but good to read.

If it was all uphill, it wouldn't be (as) bad. The eccentric downhill stuff just makes everythoing so much harder.

I discovered that on Sunday, had a 400m 12% descent. Naively had been looking forward to going downhill after the climb.

A club mate is doing teenager with altitude the same day. 25km, 2300m.
Truth be told you won’t run all of it, at least the vast majority don’t. I ran a trail race on Arran in 2019 with similar distance/ascent. My avg pace was 17min/mile and I came 27/110 men.

That makes sense. I had to walk after 9km to cover the last bit of really steep hill. My average pace was 7:09min/km. I had no idea what to expect or aim for regarding pace though.

I've enjoyed a few really flat runs at sea level on this trip, much more my kind of running. I can see the appeal of serious hills now though.

Link is a mess.. ultrarunner dq’d for using a car

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-65314241?at_link_origin=BBC_News&at_format=link&at_ptr_name=facebook_page&at_campaign_type=owned&at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_link_type=web_link&at_bbc_team=editorial&at_link_id=521B51E4-DE7A-11ED-9B21-41077F934D9D&at_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR1lX1jOV0acWZv9qc4xKsiWtxrP4rDIUOEv5c5bAburt1dZ4hD9S2Mqdzs

Have my first 10k at the end of May and will only have completed Couch to 5k about 3 weeks before. Will the 10k kill me?

Currently thinking that if I take it slow and break it down into 4x 2.5ks, then that'll help with the mental aspect as I realise I've left it too late to get up to 8-10k levels in advance.

Goal is to complete the 10k rather than specific time (a slow and steady 1hr 15mins feels feasible)

At the start of a running race it's easy to get caught up in the excitement, and overdo things on the early pacing. Make sure to stay within your limits and find a steady pace that you feel comfortable at. Once you have that, the distance should be ok.

My first XC races saw an HR max waaaay above anything I'd had previously.

Obvs I died on my arse half way round.

Good to know, I'm doing a cross country half marathon in two weeks ..

I'd say it doesn't shake out evenly as 4 x 2.5km. sometimes that last 2.5km can feel like forever. Keep plenty of spare energy for it!

You’ll be fine and you have the right attitude - get round and enjoy the ride rather than focussing on the time. Break it down however makes sense for you but likely each block will get harder than the next so be sure to account for that. If you could do a training run which has you on your feet for the time you expect to be running for is always what I find helpful. Don’t have to do the distance but just so you know what the time on feet feels like

For me it’s the 5-8km in a 10km that seem to last forever, the last few you are nearly home.