SBR "U" (Page 15)

That's fantastic! One of the guys on my team just ran his marathon debut @ 2:18:47 or as he probably tells is, 47 seconds slow. 

*I won't specify our VDOT gap

So how hard is it to mail things to Vietnam and actually arrive unopened/untampered/untaxed to oblivion? (had a friend in Turkey that paid a small fortune in taxes for trinkets from home) I'm pretty sure in my "dead garmin" box there is an ANT+ sensor or two. If I haven't tossed/lost would be happy to put one in an envelope if it would actually get to you. 

Ran today.  Went at a "tempo gait" (which turns out to now be closer to my 10k pace - maybe even a little faster than that - given the HR I hit... sigh) and actually felt much better on the injuries than forcing myself to go slowly.  Achilles is no worse, knee is actually still feeling better and hammy just played along for once.

I have always enjoyed running at tempo or faster.  I wonder if, depending on injury type, that kind of smooth speed (not speed work, mind you - just smoothly fast-ish) is actually good?

Or, I could be setting myself up for a year of not running.    Still have a sore achilles, but with no speed work or hills on this route, it felt and feels pretty ok and certainly no worse.

I was just truly happy to be running again (and it didn't hurt that it was 76, sunny and dry!!!!). 

Matt

Fyi, be careful trying to figure out Matt.

Was thinking similar though, biomechanics could be changing at the different paces. So when backing down the effort, what is slacking off that should not be? At least not so much.

Something to be careful of is that the increased pace could also increase the adrenaline and you notice less while doing it. I've done it some and felt better at first, but picked up some soreness after. Or it came on later after finishing the run.

Marc has links in his log. 

Looking at the cost though, in comparison to say wind tunnel testing, it seems very reasonably priced.  I hadn't realized the technology company was Canadian - keeps me hoping they put it in the local velodrome.  When I rode last weekend we were told that by May the Pan Am Games take over until almost September and everyone else is kicked out, so I reckon if anything like this does come to town it's not going to be for quite a while.

Probably batteries.  How long were the dropouts and how many?  Goldencheetah can try to fix the data (Fix Gaps I think?) or you can manually fill them in if it's not a lot of them.  That will give you a number that is close.

Of course, I finally set a goal and start actually training... and I get sick.

But my new therabands have arrived and I can start doing my regular IT band exercises again. 

Tempo gait? Hahaha! 

So on one hand yes, your form is likely much better when running faster. That is why strides are such a huge component of many run plans. Also, many, many coaches point at sprinters when talking about form. 

But I refuse to say the solution is doing all your running at that speed. I believe this is an opportunity to try and always run with good form, not just when you are running fast. And one way to work on this is through things like strides and drills. 

Hmmm...  Not sure what was funny in that one (unless you actually saw me running).    Certainly wasn't intended as a joke - just trying to describe what I was shooting for from a stride/mechanics standpoint. You don't feel a difference in your gate for runs at different paces?

I'm not at all saying I plan to run EVERY run fast or even at a moderate pace - or that I'm planning anything based on this run... just asking a question.  This was a "fast not hard" stride - perhaps a bit slower than what the first half of a HM would be/feel like (but only done for a couple miles).  Certainly wasn't suggesting that the solution to injury rehab is to run every run at that pace.

Let me try again, as perhaps the question will be more clear this way:  is running slowly until you're at 100% the right approach in coming back after a tweak (with consideration to the nature of the tweak, of course)? 

I suspect not (cue someone to respond with the "lots/mostly slow/sometimes fast" axiom), although I don't know.  Hence...

Thoughts?

Matt

Ah nah, I am just teasing really.

I just find that I run how I run. Certainly things seem to get closer to "perfect" when we run faster but I don't think there should be such a wide variance in your gait when you run slowly and when you run fast. But I think many, many people feel, and experience what you do. So I apologize if I was minimizing your thoughts. I do get what you are saying.

I can't tell you how many people think I am crazy when I run slowly, stating that they could "never run that slow" because it's uncomfortable. And maybe that is exactly the issue, right? 

All that being said, I can't really answer your question. I think it's too personal.

I've not had a running specific injury but my experience coming back from a break is to do all easy running for a block of time before I ever add speed. And I do this mainly because I never build up volume at the same time as adding in quality (or "speed.")

But I also feel that it's often as simple as: if it hurts, don't do it and if it feels good, keep with it. You just have to be really honest with yourself. I could see something like shorter easy runs with strides, on a soft surface (with rest in between) could really work for you.

Were the 3x8' intervals you were doing off the computrainer or the PT?  I would have expected a lot higher considering the 3x8' workouts you were doing that didn't feel super hard too you.  

Don't sweat it too much though...a lot of these first few months will just be getting used to training with power.  Your numbers will likely be all over the place for a little while.

No worries!  Figured as much...  Just trying to find the best way forward, as I've now had a few injuries that were running related and don't have the healing thing down pat just yet!

The first two were clearly from not recovering sufficiently after a hard race (learned that lesson... Finally!).  But this one was from modifying my gait.  So, going back to "just running the way I run" was something I wanted to try.  Guess we'll see, but I'm sprinkling some caution in here, too!

Matt

James...sorry, I can't view your workouts.  Maybe they are private?

But just assuming that you held 300w for 24 minutes, with 4 minutes of rest intervals in between.  Lets just say they were at 180w rest intervals.  That would still give you a 28 minute average power of 280 watts even if you include the rest intervals into the average.  If that workout didn't make you feel like you were going to die, then you had more in the tank, and certainly you could do more if it were just 20 minutes at one steady effort.

It took me a while to fully realize how much I could suffer over various lengths of time while testing.  It's a lot easier to hit those limits when it's part of a race, or you're just trying to follow someone who's much stronger than you and you're not paying attention to numbers.  But once you do know what your capabilities are, then it's a lot easier mentally to commit to it from the start of the test and hang on for dear life.

Matt, I've felt less difference between my faster & easier running after doing fast stuff more frequently and by getting in a more dynamic warm-up before every run.