Mad Manatee Mentors CLOSED (Poptart/pet pic bribes?) (Page 17)

http://www.mtbproject.com/trail/4368792

Seems some "hard core" riders are not happy that they've made the trails about 75% double track now. We've come across groups of 5-6 horses and 10 hikers.  I can't see how they'd manage the volume and variety of traffic without widening much of it.  No matter...it's fun! (and just what I needed)

I've looked around a bit at this too, and there is a lot of caution with it. Whatever you changed could very well have caused the new issue, but at the same time it's not certain that the old form was really best. Just what your body had figured was best so far. I've been working on my stride since picking up running more again a few months ago. The basic idea was to put myself into situations where the better form was more apparent. I would trend towards doing that more naturally. Then doing it more frequently as it's skill/technique related, but also not burying myself with it. This is what a lot of the really fast (but short) treadmill sessions were. Also added in the steep hills to help out with the control. They still get hard, but with the slower speeds I can feel what's going on a little more easily while still pushing the aspects I think need to be pushed more. Might even push them a little better although that could be from the better control. It seems there is a lot about the stride that is a result of other parts, so trying to fix one area may require looking elsewhere. Like getting a foot strike right under your center of gravity. If your body position is off then it's not going to happen, not without straining some other things more.

Well, it was a freezing cold morning, but I had a fun time doing the Du--2 miles, 6.8 ish miles, and another 2 miles. After which, a fabulous bbq/picnic with my running/OCR team---speaking of which, a number of them are  of Philippine heritage, so I got to experience Pansit and Lumpia---it was heavenly. seriously..ok, to my race report.

Any gym is likely to have a lot of resolution additions for a few weeks. Just hang in there and try to weather the storm!

Are you timing any of the swimming you're doing?

That sounds like an interesting and fun day!

Welp, Ceiling Cat has a sense of humor ...

Looky here who was nearly dead but still managed to run faster than I did ONTO my running shoes ... from a burning trash heap

Poor little thing doesn't seem to be burnt or have any smoke inhalation (but his name's Smoky anyway), but is in extremely poor shape.

It's a good sign I can't get a nonblurry pic of him, he moves too much ... and he's LOUD and FEISTY ... how is he supposed to recover?

Can't imagine why he picked me

Anyway whether the rest of his life is short or long, it's going to be as great as I can make it for him. Vet's coming tomorrow morning.

awww, poor kitty; glad she found you!

I have no doubt that my form was previously lacking.  My L glutes/hamstring/quads/etc. are weaker and stiffer from the hip surgeries and I'm sure my back issues, which are worse on the R, haven't helped either.  When I started running again after the back injury and hip surgeries, I found that I have a tendency to trip.  Changing from Nikes to Hokas didn't affect that and neither did the stride change.  Something is still off and I want to look at it holistically, I'm just not sure how.

Time for a catch-up post...

Kate and Jonathan, you're on the challenge list.  Yay!  We're up to twenty Manatees in the SMMMMC!!  Way to step up to the challenge, everybody.

Kate and Salty, great way to start the year off with a bang (of the starting gun).  Looking forward to reading your race reports.  (For the BT newbies, race reports can be found here.)

Jonathan, you're going to post new pictures of that sweet baby girl when??

Judi, good luck with the new kitty, wherever she comes from.  Maybe Yanti can hook you up?

Matt TX, I wasn't lonely on the DL so you really didn't have to sacrifice yourself like that.  Seriously, heal up soon.

Stacey, I like to listen to music when I'm on the trainer.  In fact, I've gotten so used to hearing Adele there that it's weird to hear her songs when I'm driving in the car!

Robin and Erin, my pets like to "help" me train too.  One (the "play" dog) thinks the mini-trampoline is the coolest toy ever and if I'm jumping on it, I should also be kicking her ball off it.  She'll also play fetch with me when I'm on the trainer.  At least she doesn't bark at the trainer anymore!!  The other dog (the "love" dog) will come sack out on the couch in whichever room I'm working out in.  The cat steers clear unless the dogs aren't around, in which case, she strolls underneath me when I'm doing planks and licks my face when I'm  doing crunches, etc.  All very helpful!!

Whew!  I think I'm caught up now. 

DH told me about this this morning: Pyongyang Marathon. North Korea has opened up their marathon to the rest of the world.  Talk about a unique opportunity!!  Salty???

I split screen TrainerRoad on one side of my computer, and have ITU races on the other.  Or races on YouTube.  Or I'll get the triathlon podcasts rolling.

I also like focusing on watt watching like Darren.

FWIW, stride change is what landed me on the DL this week.  Tried using much more calf than usual going uphill (on a hilly run).  Seemed to work, until it didn't!  

Back when I changed to a higher cadence, I did that over a long period (many months), so that didn't have any untoward effects other than the discomfort of driving a cadence that was higher than what my body was used to.  The calf thing a couple days ago was one hill too many on the first run...  

As for having a pre-existing imbalance, that can make any changes to your form (which has likely co-developed to compensate for some of the imbalance) more likely to ripple through to discomfort or potentially even injury.  The kinetic change does not like to be messed with, typically.  

Matt

That "use more calf" would be an example of forcing things. Another common one is not using enough with the glutes. Not sure I know how to explain it that well, and don't really have the time to really try at the moment. But if you can follow the thought process of why you're not using it enough right now, then it's likely something somewhere else may need to be adjusted as well. Those areas only built up what they needed and something else in the motion probably needs some work to get things firing more. It's really tricky in running as there are a number of ways to change things, but not for the better. The unused area(s) will likely need some time to develop as they're behind and won't be able to handle the current training load. Then coming back to complications of the injury risk and being able to tell if new areas being worked or getting sore is a good or bad thing. Hence my approach of finding situations to encourage a behavior more naturally as opposed to just doing it and possibly forcing things. I hope that makes some sense.

Yeah, it can be tricky if not at a pool meant more for competition. The one I went to only had a small office clock I couldn't even see the seconds on. Once I started Masters those swims were more for volume and intensity was just lower. The ones at Masters had actual pace clocks to time everything with.

Something to be careful of is ever thinking you're not "good enough" for a tool or method. These aren't just for "fast" people, but anyone looking for more info on their training. They're for everyone who wants to develop. Having a clock and taking splits can help determine how well you are (or are not) executing a swim set. If the easy and hard sets are almost the same, they can help figure out what to do. The first and last 100 of those 300's can help tell if you're pacing the interval well too. Should be fairly consistent throughout (unless set directions say otherwise).

Some comments on "slow" may be said in jest, but in my experience there is at least some truth to the person believing such thoughts about themselves in that they'll be stuck there, kind of restricting themselves before they can ever really get going. Usually plenty of reasons to not use something, or use something else, to not need artificial limitations!

Yeah, and I knew I was doing it, too.  <facepalm>  Someday I'll learn...

The conversation does cause me to think on this a bit.  It's interesting that many people, myself included, believe that more economic running will come simply with more running (the body will find the most efficient way to run on its own, given the chance).  However, many people, myself included, then also try to <insert running form change here>.  Increased cadence, mid-foot strike, forefoot strike, lower arm carriage, higher arm carriage, more glutes, etc., etc.  

I've mostly stuck with just running more, although I have picked up my average cadence (and no longer need a cadence sensor to be within about a step per minute) and occasionally pay more attention to making sure my glutes are firing off (although even here, I try to do that by running in ways that engage them - speed work, "running pretty" and such).  So, guilty of doing both - which somehow makes sense as a way to approach it.  Just enough of each...  Kind of mirrors your approach of finding the right situations (which does, indeed, make sense).

Funny, too, how different swimming is from running!  Tons of form and skill work.  Endless tweaks and drills.  Lots of speed work as a way to get said form.  I've always been struck at how very different the approaches to these two sports are (for most - I admit to doing a lot more long intervals than "real swimmers" do).  I've often wondered if the received wisdom in each discipline is optimal (especially given how the "right" way to do things changes every few years - I'm watching my kids deal with that in their stroke work even now, as the perfect high elbow recovery is now seen as too much work and the new coaches are starting to say just do whatever gets your arms around fastest - kind of like running more!).  

And THAT is why this stuff stays interesting to me.  

Matt

ABOUT DOING A HIM ON THE WAY TO DOING AN IM

Sorry, I'm in newborn-baby (cat) hell, I mean bliss can't find the original post.

I think it's quite important. You mentioned being cautious about burning yourself out on the way to IM, but a HIM is a really good opportunity to practice NOT doing that, practice nutrition over a long haul, etc.

In the same way that a marathon is more than double a half-marathon, an IM is reaaaaally more than a HIM. But it's incredibly valuable experience in pacing, nutrition, execution, and racing overall, especially in the run-up to your first IM. Generally the recovery costs are not too bad, either, especially if you're actually prepared for it and execute well. But even if you mess it up somehow, it's important learning and much better done then than in an IM.