Jeff Y's Group - CLOSED (Page 8)

Oh man....same here.  I did a run/walk routine for a couple months just to get running again.  Talk about start off at square one all over again.

I had a stress fracture on my right shin about 4 inches above the ankle on my right leg. It never showed on X-ray very well but the ortho said that wasn't to uncommon. I was in a boot and had no running and almost no bike either. I got cleared to run 2 weeks ago and did 3 x .5 mile runs first week 3 x 1 milers on second and just did first 2 miler today.

before this I was training for a half mary following Hal Higdons's novice plan, I was in week 8 when I pulled the plug and went to the doc but the leg started hurting around week 6 (I think). the last week I did on the plan was this, I only made it to the second 4.5 miler, I didn't do the 8:

Week 6 where I "think" the pain started was this, I didn't do the race called for:

Before starting his plan I had been running 3 miles 3 times a week doing about 10  to 10.5 minute miles. I kept that pace and weekly distance up for about 2 or 3 months when I decided I was superman and wanted to do a half mary.

The last run I did before going to the doc was 4.5 miles in 39.33 minutes so 8:47 pace. which for me was very good indeed.

Back on Thanksgiving of last year I did a road race of 5 miles in 53 minutes and that was my longest run to date. So I increased my weekly distances and speeds pretty fast which is what I am told led to my injury. I was also doing a lot of running on concrete which I have found is another not so good choice. Part of my downfall there was the existence of an almost perfect 3 mile loop near my house, wide sidewalks on busy streets but only a few driveways so I could run it in the evening and not be stopped by traffic, also no lights or corners to cross so easy to maintain a pace.

So the ramp up in speed, distance and surface choice were all against me and it jumped up and bit me if not in the butt then on the leg. I am now trying to go slow and easy and stay on dirt or gravel tracks and asphalt as a last resort and avoid concrete altogether, my goal for the sprint coming up in 3 months is to finish in 1:45 but I will be happy to finish.

I just don't want to be stupid and injure myself again getting ready to compete when all I really need to do is participate.

Congratulations on the new house BTW. I missed that in your post. New houses are fun, and a bit intimidating but in a good way.

Ok.  So it seems to me from your running history that you may be starting back with too much. 

One of the secrets to avoiding overuse injuries is to spread the 'trauma' over as many small chunks as possible.  Let's say you have a quota of 5 miles per week right now.  The best way to go at this...in terms of avoiding injury...is to do 1 mile at a time five days per week. 

You can imagine how doing all 5 in one single run, even if it were just once per week, could be more likely to cause injury.  That will be true no matter what your weekly mileage is.  When it comes to running, consistent training over time is perhaps the most important feature of your training plan.  Hence injury avoidance techniques are so important.  You even see it in the training plans of the elite runners.  ie. 80% of their running is easy...they usually run 2 times per day to spread the trauma out...

When you are ready to move past the 5x1mile runs (which might just be 1 week), you then move to alternate days of 1 mile and 1.5 miles.  Then you up the 1 mile days so you are at 5x1.5mile.  If/when that's comfortable, you inch up alternate days again...

In no time you will be at 15 miles per week and feeling great.

BTW, let your runs for the next few weeks be at whatever pace feels comfy aerobically.  Even if it's 11:30 or 12:00.

That's my advice anyway.  But it does come from a lifetime of running experience.

Thanks for the congrats!

You do realize that the correct term is 'bonked'.  The term 'boinked' is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.  Or was that not a mistake???

Hope it goes well.  Don't over-taper.  What is your taper plan BTW?

Thanks Jeff, I realized after I sent my second post on this that I asked your opinion but didn't give any facts.

Hey doc, it hurts when I do this...No never mind what "this" is or how it hurts, just tell me what to do to fix it. Can't you read my mind?

slow slow slow, this 44 year old needs to embrace that as his mantra. I still think I am 24 most days.

Tee hee! I just assumed it was a typo the first time I read it, but it would be pretty outrageous to boink in the middle of a race! Almost makes blowing the goal pace worthwhile...

Congrats all around on the various engagements and new houses, etc.

I didn't train at all yesterday, instead I took the kids to swimming lessons and then to see Rio. It was a good day! Hopefully I can sneak a swim in myself later on tonight. I couldn't get away from the office at all today.

By the way, I'm still eager to hear any advice on how to start heart rate training. I have used my Garmin a couple of times but haven't uploaded the workouts yet because I don't really know what to do with the data.

  The good news is that you can train as much as you want...just constrain the running and bike/swim to your heart's content.  I have also found that the legs appreciate running far far more when you do it immediately after a bike or swim.  This way the legs are fully warmed up without having to run while warming up. 

With the exception of my weekend run, EVERY run follows immediately after bike or swim.  I'm doing this partly because of scheduling considerations but partly because it's one of those all important injury avoidance techniques.

And don't give in to believing you are old.  Your body can do great things if you are patient with it...but doggedly persistent too.  You can be in the best shape of your life at 50!

One fairly convenient way to come to a better estimate of your max HR is to race in a 5k run.  Make sure to run with a good solid effort, especially the final mile and then do a long acceleration over the last 1/4 mile followed by an all out kick for the final 100 yards.  Then your HR about 5 seconds after starting is pretty close to your actual max HR.

If you have a HR monitor on, that middle part of the race where you are in no-man's land...really feeling uncomfortable, but not slowing...that's probably your threshold HR.

HR is just a metric to use to measure and communicate relative effort level.  You can either use HR ranges to specify various training zones, or use pace.  They can be interchangeable.  If your current run fitness is known via the results of one or more recent races (run only races) then you can come up with your training zones without knowing your heart rates.

If you know either your maximum HR or your heartrate at lactate threshold (LT...another way of saying that line between aerobic and anaerobic) then you can get those zones as heart rate ranges.

For running that's pretty easy.  For cycling it's less useful to use pace, so you can use HR or Power interchangeably.  but for that you need an expensive power meter...so that's where HR comes in handy.  Your max HR on the bike (or your LT HR on the bike) will usually be a good bit different than when running! 

So you would really have 2 different HR numbers from which to build your ranges off of for running and cycling.

So first question is: do you know either your max HR or your LT HR?  If not, do you have any recent running races from which we can work on pace ranges?

This is really great advice.  I'm learning mostly slow running (easy) is good, and less miles more frequently is way easier for the old body to handle and recover from.  Showing up that start line of that sprint healthy is job #1, forget the times you originally targeted.  Easy for me to say, I wish I could follow my own advice.

I got outside for my first ride today - brutal wind.  That wind that got the Boston marathoners to new PRs was directly in the face on the home portion of my out and back.  A 22 mph out leg quickly became a 14 mph return trip!  Embrace the wind as a great training aid I guess.

ha ha ha     oh...sorry couldn't help myself!!  Congratulations on the new house Jeff! 

With all due respect to all, with injuries or no injuries, hearing about everyone sucking wind has boosted my confidence a bit in that "hey, everyone does it"!  I was beginning to wonder if building up is always soooo slow when it comes to running!

All of these discussions on running has got me excited for my evening Bike/Run!?!

Jenna, we went to see Rio yesterday too!   

Congrats!

You're my hero and officially my new favorite member of BT.

That may prove to be challenging Tim.  Pray that the snow holds off!  To me 41 degrees with no wind is ideal, but most people find that a bit cold.

Is there any benefit to a USA Triathlon Membership as opposed to just paying the $10 fee at each race?  So, far I've just paid the $10 for the 3 races I registered for.

Thanks, Deb

Looks like a yearly membership is $39 so if you do more than 4 it would be worth it, less than 4 not so much from a purely cost analysis.

Their website also lists these additional benefits, I like the one about the insurance:

• Part of a community of 135,000 athletes and growing
• Subscription to the quarterly USA Triathlon publication USA Triathlon Magazine
• Inclusion in the USA Triathlon national ranking system after competing in at least three USAT sanctioned triathlon events or two duathlon, aquathlon or off-road triathlon events
• Excess accident insurance while participating in USA Triathlon-sanctioned events
• Savings at events by not having to pay one-day license fee
• Access to members-only dashboard with opportunities to access giveaways and special articles
• Discounts from USA Triathlon partners, including Endurance Films, Fuel Belt, Rudy Project, Cycle Pro, Training Peaks, Sweat Vac and more. You'll have access to the discount codes via your membership dashboard.
• Members-only forum
• Membership card and key fob
• USA Triathlon sticker
• The official USA Triathlon Rulebook. Please request your free E-copy by emailing [email protected].
• Have a voice in the direction and development of multisport by joining USAT Committees and Commissions
• Eligibility to qualify as a Team USA Triathlon/Duathlon member and compete at ITU World Championship events.
• Eligibility to compete at USAT Short Course Triathlon and Duathlon National Championships.
• E-newsletters to keep you informed 
• Use of Regional Training Centers

I hope the HR training discussion continues because that is how I train.  Admittedly I need to learn more about it and real, practical applications because I use my numbers from a limited perspective.  Also, I don't have a lot of questions to ask because I don't know what to ask.

I do like the alternative method of figuring the max HR, but I haven't heard anyone else discussing it in other forums.  I don't have any short races coming up anytime soon but I would be willing to try it if I see one that pops up on my radar.

Congrats!  This November my wife and I will be celebrating our 25th anniversary.  It has been a lot of work to stay together and several times we thought about giving up but we stuck with it and recommitted ourselves to making things work and now we are as happy as we have ever been.