Running

Came here to post this lovely before and after....

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I just ended up running a lot further and it felt more natural. Also limiting myself to breathing only through my nose helped for some reason.

That's close to my usual pre/post Sale Sizzler 5k look tbh.

Been working with a physio since end of October to ditch the custom orthotics I’ve had since I was early 20’s, having never been told that they were intended as a temporary solution either by the initial podiatrist, or subsequent podiatrists when I got replacement ones.

Anyway, been working hard on s&c and plyometric sessions 3 times a week since then, removed orthotics from regular shoes mid December, removed them for everything but running early Jan, and got the thumbs up to start running without them from next week.

Great!

But that means dropping from a steady 35-40km of weekly run mileage down to a starting weekly mileage of 5km (split into 1km, 1.5km and 2.5km runs), building up to 20km over the next 6 weeks.

Physio said if I need to do a long run or interval run for my sanity I can add one, but use orthotucs, but preferably stick to the plan of low mileage with no orthotics. I’m paying for physio and working hard, so I’m forcing myself to stick to the plan.

Better ramp up my swim and bike mileage again to maintain the base!

Question is, how do you run slower than than feels right? Any tips?

To slow down I found changing shoes - so heavier, structured mileage shoes that are more comfortable at slow paces - and clothing - “Over dress” compared to what you’d normally wear.

I don’t know how much is mental and how much “real”, but wearing slow shoes and more kit allowed me to run distance at a slower pace than I’d done previously.

^ +1 this

Run on soft ground too.

I found that going for long runs with a friend and chatting is good for slowing down. If you can comfortably hold a conversation, you’re probably around the right heart rate.

Anyone else with a Garmin find the battery really struggles with the cold? Mine was ~75% and turned itself off 15mins into my 0C run this morning, specifically when it was performing a sound/vibration alert...

Well that was easy, Garmin are sending me a replacement FR45 free of charge.

I feel this, been similarly working since november on ankle/foot stability. It's been sloooow, but (after neglecting ankles after various bouldering injuries and an old acl tear), control is starting to become subconcious rather than having to think about it.

Hoofstones Nav race today, full winter on the tops, probably silly to do it in a vest and shorts (I believe the only one to remain that way throughout).
7 minutes faster and .25 miles more direct than 2019. I need a better compass.
Took a better racing line than previously, but still had a couple of errors. Annoyingly I was at the front of the little pack around me, so was navving independently, only to realise I was heading too southwardly, looked back and saw those behind me had cut more east (due to local knowledge, not a map in sight).
Funny really, lost more time actually navigating, but what else are you supposed to do with no one in sight to follow?

Still, a great run and the season continues to go well - so far at least.

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Is anyone running the South of England Cross Country Championships next Saturday?

Great pics!

Hasn't all xc been banned due to park protection zealots?

I did 2hrs today with 35ish mins effort. Underfuelled and a bit too much effort made for a grim last hour.

Still beats trying to do it in upto 80mph winds tomorrow though...

Pacing and heart rate zones.

I'm trying to get my running legs back and know that 'just going for a run' is not helping me so I have started to build my base by running with a hart rate of between 70% and 80% of my max HR. I have set my max HR with a couple of hard efforts on different days. This is forcing my to run at around 8min/km.

I'm not sure of my current 5k time but the slowest I have ever done one is 23min and I was in far worse shape. My Garmin is predicting that I can do a 24:15 5k. When I use that time in a pace calculator (the vdot.com/Calculator one) it is telling me that my easy pace should be 6:09 to 6:45 min/km. Physiologically I think I'm better suited to shorter distances (maybe even being relatively strongest at 400m or 800m). That may be a function of my preference and how I have trained in the past tho. I'm finding running at 8min/km uncomfortable (but getting less so with each run).

My questions are...

...is the difference between the pace calculator easy pace and my HR measured easy pace simply because I have no base and therefore I am doing the right thing building it from 8min/km upwards?

Or...have I potentially got this wrong therefore am running too slow and should look at another method of measuring my efforts (pace, HR zones based on LT or something else)?

Yep. Did South of the Thames XC at Beckenham in November, but I suspect the going has got muddier since then. And there's 15k of it. Should be fun!

signed up for this https://runyarocket.com/race/glen-lyon-trail/

Never ran more than 15km before and certainly never in a race, so will be a good challenge. Planning to take the train from Glasgow to Bridge of Orchy station and cycle over to Loch Lyon the night before then camp there.

It's been so long since I've paced easy runs by anything other than perceived effort, so I'm not sure of the exact answer, but...

• Garmin metrics are often inaccurate
  
• your max HR might be higher than your current estimate.
  If it were me, I would go out and smash a parkrun (or other 5k effort) which will (a) give you an actual 5k time to go off and (b) might record a new max HR. Perhaps the suggested easy run paces will start to converge?
  

It's been fairly firm underfoot this past week, and it looks like after tomorrow, the rest of the week will be predominantly dry.

Will try and swing over to watch some of it.

Yeah, I should do that.

I have just been letting Garmin suggest a run type and it's corresponding HR range. I assumed that this was based on my HR zones but it is not, it is based on something more complex.

I have also compared my zones when auto calculated by Garmin based on max HR and HR reserve. They are totally different, but the hrr zones make more sense to me.

Big picture is that it is doing what I need it to do currently, and that is forcing me to run slowly, build miles and think about my form. I think I'm learning about more about controlling effort too.

I don't really like hr training so as soon as I'm feeling confident that my legs can hack running at a pace I enjoy running at I'll ditch it and do slow runs on feels.

I should just run slowly for a bit and not over think it.

^ This.

About to go for my first run (I don't count my 5-a-side games as "runs") in over 2 months. Just a gentle 3k to the shops. It'll be slow, and mostly downhill.

Yeah, just run and see if you could hold a conversation at the pace you’re going. If not, you’re probably going a bit quick

Lovely part of the world, even if I think you’d be better off doing the Glen Lyon Horseshoe ;)