Gordo Byrn's Group - FULL (Page 7)

Focus on your consistency -- use your mental energy to get-it-done on the days you don't feel like it... rather than going hard on the days you do feel like it.

 It is a lot like racing -- we need to moderate during the periods that we feel good and endure in the periods where it is tougher.

Wow!  Good stuff.  Keep it coming!!!

 I had a great race.  Ran the whole way - Goal # 1.  Did it under 12 minute miles, actually 11:15 - Goal # 2.  Did negative splits, by 2 seconds - Goal # 3.  So it was a very positive night.

Wow!  awesome job!

Morning all..

Nice run this morning. 55 degress with a light rain.Today I focused only on heartrate and time -no distance or speed. Using Gordo's 170-Age scale for a steady run I get a target of 129 so I set the HRM for a range of 125 - 135. I wasn't perfect in keeping it low but I think it was ok.

40 minutes, 2.93 miles. Wow did this ever feel slow. Pace is roughly 2 min\mile slower than what I had been doing. But I felt like I easily could have done this for hours.The hills on the way back have never been so easy!

Followed up with protein shake and 10 min stretching.

HR Breakdown - 23 of the 133-145 minutes were 135 or under, putting them in the +or- 5 range on the target.

Gordo,

Spent a fair amount of time on your website yesterday and I'm learning a great deal (for those of you that have not visited check it out - tons of great stuff out there).  Now that I'm doing the HRMing I'm taking a different approach to training. Intensity level is determined by what my body tells me. Don't worry about times/distances/dates/where I going to finish in the race.  Be PATIENT (it's going to take awhile-perhaps years).

So, this morning I started by doing a quarter mile walk. That was followed by a 2 mile run and then another 1/4 walk. My heart rate was as follows:

• 85 - beginnging 1/4 mile walk
• 120 - 1st 1/8 mile of run
• 135 - 1st 1/4 mile of run
• 140-146 - rest of run
• 100 - last 1/4 mile walk

HR too high?  Should I back it down some?

The good news is that for the 1st time I was able to complete the entire 2 miles running (without walking) and I felt like I could run further.  Previously I always tried to hit 9min/mile pace and sometimes I would hit it for 90% of the run and sometimes not. 

O-BTW - NO MORE jumping on the scale to measure my weight every morning.  Good things will happen with better nutrition and by sticking to the plan!!!!

Jeff

mel.

too funny i thought it was Gordo as well....

 That looks good to me.

 This looks good -- two tips for you to consider next time to compare.  Walk the first half mile, walk with a purpose.  Then walk for 30s to 60s after each subsequent half mile.  See how that feels and what impact it has on the HR.

 Feeling strong at the end... that is VERY good and what we are looking for.  You should also notice an increase in average speed vs average heart rate.  Finally, quicker recovery, especially from your longer workouts.

Gordo - I've got a three questions.

1.) This morning's run was great, but should I lengthen the time to adjust for less intensity? I've got a lot of energy this afternoon and I'm basically bouncing off the walls - which is unusual for me after a workout.

2.) I went back and looked - my heart rate on the bike starting climbing several weeks ago when I focused on a higher cadence (around 90 up from 75 or so). Should I drop the cadence back down to 80 or less?

3.) I picked up a copy of Going Long yesterday. I'm clearing the decks and will start through it this afternoon. Should I read with the idea that is applies to shorter sprint and olys as well as Ironman and longer events?

 1 -- don't change anything just yet -- you'll get improvement from sticking with the same thing for the next six weeks.

 2 -- I like a mix of cadences on the bike -- there is value in building a comfortable range of cadences.  This takes time -- my range is 60-120 rpm.  There is no "right" answer for training cadence -- working across your comfort spectrum adds variation to your program.

 3 -- The philosophical background in GL applies to all aspects of our lives -- humility, consistency, focusing on what we can impact, endurance, mental clarity.  It sits in the background in some chapters but it's always there (at least in the authors' minds).  Other than Chapter 9 (tapering for IM) and 14 (case studies) -- you'll find something useful in each chapter.  Don't get caught up in the workouts themselves -- focus on the training framework as well as the technique tips.

 g

Hey Gordo...The workout today consisted of 5 min walking w/u at 3 mph, then some light stretching...Did 15 min of run 1 min @4 mph followed by walk 1 min @3 mph...Then did 15 min of walking at 3.8 mph...The HR was very high from the start...Here's the breakdown..

                        Max HR run                 Min HR walk

Min 1-2                 140                              113

Min 3-4                 144                              118

Min 5-6                 146                              115

Min 7-8                 146                              113

Min 9-10               149                              117

Min 11-12             151                              120

Min 13-14             153                              120

Min 15              153

My avg hr for the 15 min walk was 119 with my max being 128 at the start...The hr seemed to go down as I walked more...With those HR's for the run, what do you recommend?                                                

21 min treadmill run today. 

like others have experienced, it just feels so dang slow, but im willing/ready and able to make the mental/paradigm shift

though i realized after reading others posts, i could be a little bit better at data collection.  there are few key details i didnt make note of.  next time...

what i dont have is the HR after the 1 min walk/rcvry, that would be an interesting piece of info, maybe not necessary...

for reference, my ranges are easy 119, steady 129, moderately hard 139

ah well, heres what i have/heres how it broke down...

as per your suggestion gordo i did a 4:1 run walk ratio.

HR start:  83

HR after 3 min walk/warm up 3.8 pace:  106

started running at 4.7 pace

HR at 4 mins:  136

kept the 4.7 pace

HR at 9 mins:  142

backed pace down to 4.3 pace

HR at 14 mins:  139

remained at 4.3 pace

HR at 19 mins:  139

walked the remaining 2 mins +  1 more min....

HR at end after 3 mins of walking:  112

OK.  heart rate is lower this time around than it was the first time i tried it  [5.3 pace/148 HR/all running, NO 4:1 ratio]

but, im thinking im still on the high side.

i could toggle down one maybe two more notches on the TM pace-wise, but then i get into that im not able to hold a run well at all 'zone'

i guess my question is, now what?

lower the pace?

or keep the pace the same and just wait until my body adjusts?

or whats behind door number three? 

im assuming ill stick w the 4:1 ratio until the 'kinks' work out.... 

i can say, this run was no where near 'feeling' moderately hard...course maybe my perception of 'hard' is skewed by that old way of thinking about working out, the 'expecting exercise to feel like an all out effort ---burning legs, labored breathing' way of thinking.

the run felt easy, but i enjoyed it, it was actually quite relaxing and comfortable...

it was the heart rate being so high that had me befuddled and 'anxious'

im assuming this is 'normal', but...

is this normal?  for a HR to be so high, when your running so slow...

im assuming there is a period of 'adjustment'?

is there?

again ready, willing and able to make the shift.  gonna just enjoy the journey/process....

thanks in advance for your feedback/suggestions/wisdom Gordo. 

ttow!

I just noticed that you are Canadian, so am I.

Let's have a look at a workout where you don't "run" but change the pace of your walking.  I'd like to see how that impacts your heart rate.  What might work best is a couple weeks of walking -- we can adjust walking intensity by using the "grade" setting on the treadmill.

 So try a walking only workout -- set the grade at 1% and moderate your HR using the treadmill -- start at a low speed and move up slowly.

 g

 First up -- you are doing great.  The #1 thing that we want to develop through this phase is awareness of how aerobic training feels.  When we start, we expect "training" to be really hard -- it's not that way, it's simply degrees of work.

 Starting Pace -- start around 4 mph for the running next time and see how that changes thing.

 Body adjust -- our bodies adjust all the time -- being new to endurance training, the group's bodies are going to adjust quicker than most.  However, we are still talking about months for our timelines -- so it is important to keep in mind that this is a journey.

 Feeling -- I have deliberately recommended zones that are a bit conservative.  If I am not there beside you then it's the only way to get you to dial it down so you can learn what you are writing about (see, it is working!).

 Anxious -- VERY normal, especially if you feel like you have to report back to a public forum!  Remember that there are no right answers, here.  What we are seeking to do is help you figure out a week that will let you feel good and be super consistent.

 Slow vs Fast -- we are only 'slow' or 'fast' relative to the people that we compare ourselves to.  If we deeply need to be fast then make sure to train with friends that are slower (the same technique works with wealth, beauty, success, you name it).  An important thing to remember when you think you are slow... slow relative to whom?  Life isn't totally fair but there is a pretty good like between consistent work over time and results.

If you remain consistent and positive then you will improve relative to yourself -- there's value in seeing the return from our own effort.  So best to evaluate how you do relative to yourself.  When we compare relative to others, our mind will trick us by always finding someone faster, thiner, richer, more pretty, more successful... we can't win that one!

 Overall, you're doing great.  One last tip is to walk for ten minutes to warm-up.  Also, walk with a purpose -- walking is training, it is not recovery -- you are moving with a purpose.  As a sub-3 hour marathoner I can walk my heart rate into my aerobic zone.  It is real training.

g

This is what I have on the calendar so far for 2009:

Philly Tri Bootcamp March 20-22

Komen Race for Cure 5K  April 26

NJ Devilman Sprint Tri  May 3

NJ State Olympic   July 26

G.  thanks for the feedback/tips...

ill be sure to remember for my next run:

4 mph pace for running

10 min walk to warm up

walk w a purpose.

but what you posted...

'we are only 'slow' or 'fast' relative to the people that we compare ourselves to.  If we deeply need to be fast then make sure to train with friends that are slower (the same technique works with wealth, beauty, success, you name it).  An important thing to remember when you think you are slow... slow relative to whom?  Life isn't totally fair but there is a pretty good like between consistent work over time and results.

If you remain consistent and positive then you will improve relative to yourself -- there's value in seeing the return from our own effort.  So best to evaluate how you do relative to yourself.  When we compare relative to others, our mind will trick us by always finding someone faster, thiner, richer, more pretty, more successful... we can't win that one!'

woosh.  so helpful....

thats what i call a KEEPER 

thanks for sharing your perspective

ttow!

PHIL.  will this be your first Komen Race for the Cure...

i ran in my first this past summer, here in PGH

WHAT a powerful experience (set a PB too!)

Good evening everyone! This is my Treadmill workout from Sunday 12/21.  My goal for this workout was to keep my HR down around 137 +/- 2 bpm which is my Steady zone.  Gordo recommended a longer warm up and starting my run at slower speed than my previous run.  Sure enough this strategy worked worked for me.

WU:  10 minutes walking  HR 86 - 102

MS: 6':1' Run/Walk (3x)

      Set 1: Run speed 4.8 HR 125 : Walk speed 3.5 HR 111

      Set 2: Run speed 5.0 HR 132 : Walk speed 3.5 HR 113

      Set 3: Run speed 5.3 HR 137 : Walk speed 3.8 HR 119

CD: 6 minutes walking 3.8->3.2 HR 119 ->100

Stretching 8 minutes

First 12 mile trainer ride tonight. 1hr 4mins. Man my rear hurts.

No HR data yet... hopefully by next weekend. But the ride was long and slow. I picked it up at the end. Partly because you said to. Partly because my butt hurt and I wanted off that bike

Ok, so I can't read otherwise Iwould have known that was not a pic of Gordo because in the line right under the pic gordo made reference to the guy and his name.  So here is a new table with a pic of Gordo (I'm pretty sure).

Then I figure if anyone has any good race pics of themselves as we get into our first races you can post them and we can switch things up if you want.

Ok here is my Tready run from tonight.  This is what I have been doing, working my way slowly down to running a full thirty min.  I can carry on a conversation through the whole run if the opportunity presents itself. (read when my mom calls and wants to chat and I don't want to stop running )  But back to buisness, my numbers:

4min walk/ 26run broken into 8r-2w-9r-2w-9r

Starting HR (69)

WA: .6 miles @ 3.5 for 10:20min  HR (102)

8min @5.5 HR(155)   2min @4 HR(130)   9min @5.5 HR(158)   2min @4 HR(136)   9min @5.5 HR(163)

WD: .5 miles @3.5 for 9:30min HR (127)

        .5miles @2.5 for 12:00min HR (120->105)

Then stretching.

My HR numbers according to your table:

E=130, S=140, M-H=150

So are my numbers close enough or should I be slowing up a bit? 

BTW, the last few days I have been upping me cals a bit (I know I know no cals but I can't help it, I will try to get better about this. ) and trying to eat some form of protein with each meal.  I'm eating about every three hours small meals.  I'm thinking that I need to be eating more through out the day.  What would be some signs that I do need to be eating more? If say a women were eating too few cals and then starts eating more (real foods of corse) what should she expect to happen?  An increase in weight that will then level off and then start declining again or instead of weight loss, notice triming down because her body would then be more inclined to increase muscle mass?