Asphalt Junkies CLOSED AND GETTING OUR FIX (Page 168)

Don't take this the wrong way, but whenever I think my life is getting overwhelming I think about you.  Solves my perspective immediately!

WHAT??????????  I am offended!!!

Warren, you don't think a lack of coffee is a major emergency?  You are an insensitive jerk!

Seriously Tracy you have had a bad run this year in many perspectives and Warren is right.  I wouldn't want to walk in your shoes in these past few months.

Hahahahaha!!!!!  You guys are giving me a good laugh here!  Seriously, what can you do?

Nothing.  Not a damn thing.

I did finish crocheting a Christmas stocking for my husband!  It's really cute but smaller than I envisioned.  He might have to go another year with a holy sock for Santa because the stocking I made is a perfect size 9.  I think I'll make a matching one and wear them! 

Here is an interesting read about endurance sports and ibuprofen use.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/for-athletes-risks-from-ibuprofen-use/

Remember the facebook voting you guys were so awesome to vote for my friend and our nonprofit with the Jeep and USA Basketball thing??  I want to update you on our happenings!  We recently created a newsletter, which also explains our pilot launch in which we have started working with a group of Detroit kids.  We will be taking them around to various sites in the city, as many (most) of these kids don't have the opportunities to leave their neighborhoods.  The main object to put it simply is to allow them to have more everyday experiences, thus broadening their horizons, etc.  

Anyway, so this newsletter.  I haven't looked into figuring out how to put a pdf onto our website yet, so in the meantime, I would like to email it to you.  So, please PM me your e-mail address!!  Also in the meantime is our facebook and twitter  

http://www.facebook.com/atlanticimpact

https://twitter.com/atlantic_impact

If you are on twitter, we #followback 

I hadn't read that specific study  but I have read similar studies.  I am not one to take any kind of medication for any prolonged period of time at all unless it is absolutely necessary.  Recently I took Aleve to calm my foot down for about 5 weeks but I made sure I had a point to the use and stopped taking it altogether to keep any stomach issues from entering into the equation.  It is well known that ensaids can cause stomach ulcers in some people after prolonged use.

I have gotten on board with FB and will jump on twitter later and follow as well.

On a FB/Twitter note:  I know a couple of people on twitter that never check there personal twitter site but I won't be mentioning any names right now.  I tweeted to one of these "posers" a while ago to see how long it would take to notice my tweet.

I think you really need at least 3 rides a week to have fitness and speed benefits from your sessions.  2 sessions a week are more of a maintenance kind of thing to me and you won't likely see many changes in your performance next season.  So I woud make an attempt to get 3 in every week if you can swing it.

Time of all of them could be between 45-60 minutes.  One of the reasons I would try to make sure I got 6 minutes in here is because of the WU.  I have found it is more likely you will have a truly quality WO if you get 10 minutes of a good WU prior to a solid cycling WO and then you need at least 5 minutes to CD, although I prefer another 10 minutes here.  I actually think I am a little bit more sore (if any) if I only CD for 5 minutes

When you are looking at what to do for your WO's make sure you mix in some of the longer intervals with short rests too.  These will feel like you might die but the benefits will become very noticeable if you are paying attention.

I'll let others give some specific reasons and maybe I'll jump back on at lunch.  Right now it appears I might be a minute or so late to work.

Races of 30 minutes are still aerobic races.  You improve your aerobic performance by improving your aerobic EFFICIENCY.  Efficiency is built by LONG distance training.  So even for your shorter race distances you would still be fastest with 500 miles per week on the bike! 

Of course you don't have that time, so your question of what is ADEQUATE is a judgement call for sure.  If you want to keep your bike fitness with the LEAST total time investment I would suggest 2.5-3 hours in one single ride once per week....and of course I'm assuming you are doing a lot of running the rest of the week that you will be relying on to keep your cardio conditioning.

Would it be satisfactory to do 3 60 minute workouts?  Sure.  Rides of an hour or so can maintain your current fitness.  Intervals can potentially increase your speed over a 5 to 10 minute cycling segment too...and maybe even your 30ish minute shorter races, but probably not as much as LONG distance training would.

But in a winter run focus you are gaining something else for the time/strength you may lose on the bike so it's OK.  And your cycling fitness can be recaptured very quickly in the Spring and if you ramp up the miles with long outdoor rides each weekend then you will advance your bike fitness fairly quickly again because your cardio fitness improved due to running and all you need to do is acclimate your cycling muscles to take advantage of that fitness.

Running 100 days in a row would be great for you!  But ST usually has rules such as a run must be at least 3 miles to be a run...don't follow that rule.  If you need for a day to be 1 mile then do 1 mile!  And resist the temptation to run 6 days or 5 days and then make that up with doubles.  It's best for your body to run once each day (up to a certain mileage then running twice a day is easier on you). 

Your total weekly mileage shouldn't increase the first week you begin this.  For instance if you had been running 5 miles every other day you don't start this and run 5 miles every day.  Start by running 2.5 miles every day and ease up from there.

And yes, you can even run 1 mile after a super hard bike workout.  It's actually a very good thing!

Don't start talking yourself in to needing rest days (as in day off).  A rest day is just a day when you work less than your body can tolerate...that leaves margin for it to recover from left-over fatigue you may be carrying over.  For example, my daughter ran 12 miles with me Sunday.  On Monday we were chatting and she said she needed a recovery day from the run.  I encouraged her to do a non-running workout.  She responded that running is convenient and other workouts aren't.  I suggested then that she run short and easy as that's a 'recovery' day moreso than a day off.  She did 3 miles at a minute per mile slower than her usual training pace.  Last night she remarked about how she felt perfectly normal when she ran Tuesday...

So how did your appointment go yesterday? 

I see you asked for input and it's taken me a couple of days to get there.  Sorry.

If you are asking how to pick back up your training in a way that heals or maintains healing you've done with your PF, then I have no idea.  Chances are that if running is a contributor to the PF that it would have to be eliminated completely for a period of time perhaps double as long as it takes for the pain to go away.  ie. if you stop running and 3 weeks later feel no PF, then 3 more weeks before starting to run again.  But what if walking is a contributor too?  You could stop running but continue to have PF symptoms for a year!  I once resorted to a week on crutches to get rid of a PF flare up.

If you are asking about ramping up your training in light of the decreased running you've been doing and the recent break from running so that you don't incur a risk of a new/different injury then that's a fun question to answer.  Based on where your running has been in the last few years and the fact that you haven't had any significantly long strings of non-running I think you could jump right back to what you were doing before with just a 1 week acclimation period where you split the difference.

LOL you guys are making me feel inadequate with the bike   It's a good thing though.  Your thoughts will be in the back of my mind. I am very happy for your thoughts!  Thank you!!!

As for the 100 runs in 100 days things, I definitely will not be running 100 days in a row, and it will be through a few doubles (if I manage to complete it.)  I don't really mind doubles, and sometimes even prefer it...  I understand that the benefits between a 7 miles run and 2x 3.5 mile run are different, but somehow it just seems "easier" to build up mileage with doubles.  I actually didn't really even consider running EVERY day, I pretty much had it in my mind that rest days from running was a given, so I will think differently about that now.

Yeah, their "rule" is minimum 30 minute run.

You CAN run every day and your body would thank you for it...a 'rest' day can just be a short run.  Throw out their 30 minute rule and give yourself permission to go just 1 mile.  That will be a rest day from running and probably promotes recovery even more than no running at all.

Building up mileage IS easier with doubles, but you probably won't need to worry about racking up the miles when you are racking up the days... 

Try it as an experiment for the first week or two and then drop back to your original plan if you find it's hard on your body.  But remember my advice to allow yourself short runs and start with a total weekly mileage your body already handles.

RunningYogini - 2012-12-06 2:19 PM I'm feeling really lazy today.  Nothing is hurting.  I'm not sick.  The munchkin woke up late and it seems to have pushed everything back by a couple of hours.  I need to run later today.  I'll make it super easy so I can still enjoy my lazy day! 

What a great way to deal with a lazy day....get yourself out for something so short or easy that it falls below your lazy-limit. 

Then it doesn't break the habit.

The appointment went well on Wednesday.  I have slightly less pain than before and I am going in for another appointment this morning after a swim.  The doc would like to see me 3 times a week for a short period of time to try to get a few things corrected and give the treatments for my foot.  We discussed that things could get worse (with my foot) initially and then things might get better.  Hopefully this was the case from the first to the second appointment.

Prior to the first visit I had been having pain that began in the heel and slowly progressed to the arch and then into the ball of my foot.  I was able, before the ART treatment, to move the pain back to the back of my arch and heel but it hadn't begun to ease any.  Now, after a couple of appointments with ART, the pain is almost entirely in the heel of my foot with virtually none in the arch.  Actually there is none in my arch it just feels good to stretch it a lot.  The pain in my heel went from a normally irregular sharp pain to a slightly more constant dull pain.  This seems like some progress to me and obviously I'll be paying attention to how it goes from here.

For picking up the running again I am taking it as a per visit with the chiro/art specialist.  That said, A month or 2 ago when I started running in my Newtons things seemed to get progressively better even with running but it was a very slow process and then I did whatever it was that set it off much worse and that is what led me to my current place.  So the short answer is that I think I could run on it and get better provided I don't change anything like I did last time.  (Last time I changed a little of my form back to my older slightly more heel striking and I used some of my old shoes that still have a lot of miles available in them.)

The "1 week acclimation" answer is what I was looking for but I will likely make that a progressive 2 week acclimation period.  My thoughts are to begin with 4 days a week for 2-3 weeks with runs for 2-3 miles and one long run (for the first 2 weeks) of 4-5 miles. 

Something like this:

First week: 2, rest, 2-3, rest,  2, rest, 4-5

Second week: 2, rest, 3, rest, 3, rest, 5

And then begin a faster than 10%  build based on fatigue and injury prevention.  The idea for the slower progression would be for acclimation but more for injury prevention.

Adequacy on the bike is relative.  You chose how much you want to ride based on your goals and time available to train.  I can't speak for Jeff but I am always looking to become faster and more fit and many of the things I would suggest come from my personal mindset.  I cannot usually remove myself from trying to get faster to a place where many people are content to remain fit and not get faster.  This is nothing more than a personal preference and there is certainly nothing wrong with anyone who is content where they are.  Probably in many ways they might be better off than someone who is driven enough to push themselves over a cliff to become faster. (Hmmm?  Did I push myself over a cliff with my foot last season when I knew I should back it off?)

Has it really been over 24 hours since a post?  What's the matter with you people????

Busy weekend for me - celebrating birthdays, mourning death days, walking in the town parade, a special needs pool party, family tradition of Christmas ravioli making.  Still planning a run with Kathy and hopefully two bikes.  What do you all have on tap?

Warren you sound very busy this weekend good luck in getting all that stuff done. Hope everybody else is having a great weekend.

Well week 1 of Jorge's winter cycling program is in the books and it's as hard as everyone said it was. I know the first two weeks are sort of a warm up but it's already been a challenge for me. The intervals aren't really that bad, they aren't easy but I find that it goes by pretty quickly and it keeps me very focused on keeping in the correct power range for each workout. No messing around it's all business.

Now I did the first long ride today and I will say that it was an experience for me. I have been pretty tired this week but I felt good this morning before the workout. I think half way through it my eyes started glazing over and the wave of pain and agony started washing over me. I thought man I am not going to finish this workout. I was so close to quitting that I think that's when I snapped out of it and just started embracing the pain. I did everything I could to keep my legs moving although it was probably involuntary spasms that kept my legs moving. I was barely able to finish the 10 minute cool down. I did however maintain the correct power range for each interval which was great.

I got off the bike in a world of hurt and I am thinking if I can't handle 1:40 on the trainer how will I ever finish the bike ride at IMWI? I definitely have a new found fear and respect for Jorge's winter cycling program and I know it is only going to get worse from here on out. The good thing is I finished the workout and I know finishing the program is going to pay dividends and go a long way to making me stronger on the bike which I desperately need to be. So week 2 I am ready for you, bring it on!

That is one busy weekend Warren!  My weekend is pretty calm, 7 mile run on Friday.  Saturday so far has been Basketball, Coached Zach's team, watched Olivia's Game, followed that up with a 10 mile bike before taking Isaac to his basketball practice.  Went for a quick 2 mile run during Isaacs practice and then watched the rest of practice.  Tonight is family dinner.  Tomorrow morning brings my long run (12 miles) followed by another basketball game.   I think there is nothing scheduled after 5 though so should be ok!

Tony, good luck with the bike plan, I have it scheduled to start right after the new years so my pain will start soon

A very quick post from me before I head off to bed tonight.  I got to have my picture taken with my youngest daughter as she was getting ready for the Christmas dance and I feel I must brag a little...............OK A LOT!!!  I am so proud to have such a beautiful girl and no matter what happens I will always be able to say that I got her first kiss.  Sure she was just a little baby then but it's my moment.