Dirk's Junkie group - CLOSED (Page 8)

Allison,

On the training pace question, I have found the recommendations from coach Jack Daniels to be pretty good.  He recommends the EASY pace for someone with your 5/10k PRs to be 9:37 per mile (9:30 would be a fine round number).  There is some room for flexibility on that, and since you've been running around 7.0-7.5mph on the treadmill, I would slow it down to at least 6.4 miles per hour for now.

As Warren is saying, this pace allows you to run much further with less physical stress.  It should both prevent injuries and result in a greater aerobic improvement.

For comparison, I have been running around 20:00 5k and expect to be around 19:00 right about now.  My training pace on the T-mill is 6.8-7.0mph.  I am training slower than you.

Also, when I was a 15:40 5k runner I trained at 8:00 pace on easy runs.  That's the pace you are running now.

As for your cramps today...that came on just as you started running.  I doubt the pace played a role in a cramp starting so early.  Something was off inside your body and it's possible it will never rear it's head again.

And I think I remember reading you ask about running pace relative to overall mileage.  If you are only going to run 5-10 miles per week, you can definitely pick up the pace because that volume is small.  Training load is a combination of the distance you run and the speed at which you run it.  There is a limit to the training load your body can handle before breaking down, or at least getting weaker.  That's why you can run little, but fast or run lots, but slow.

Running lots, but slow has dramatically better outcomes in regard to both injury prevention and race speeds, even over relatively short 5k distances.

Listen to everything Jeff says, he's gold.

And Allison, I'll add from my recent experience with this running stuff.  Jeff had me go to running 6 days a week, and I strongly urge you to try to get to that number.  At first many of my runs were 15 minutes, and I though he was crazy.  I was recovering from a year of Achilles and calf issues that would not go away.

Slowly add mileage and listen to your body.  Your pace should be slow, slow, slow enough to do the run every day and not feel like you need days off to recover.  The plan I'm loosely using is a 3:2:1 plan, where you run 6 times a week, 3 shorts, 2 mediums which are twice the short, and 1 long which is three times the short.  Don't up the total mileage to start, just spread it out.

Matt, that's awesome.  Thanks for posting that.  It can be a challenge to run outside all winter in the snow belt.  I used to fall once or twice a year and thought that was pretty impressive considering many of those runs were in the dark too.

I tried to get a year long streak in high school.  I had what I was sure would become an injury if I didn't take time off.  I made it 11 months then needed to take 1 day off.  Since it turned out to be fine with only 1 day off, I keep wondering if I couldn't have tried to ease my way through it.

I wear one in races (never in training!  That looks silly).

I have a Rudy Project Wingspan.

They are well worth it, if you are serious enough about triathlon to be willing to spend $ for an extra 40-60 seconds.  The actual amount gained over a road helmet is dependent on the length of the race and to some extent the exact riding position you have on your bike.  But it's universally agreed that it's the best bang for the buck when 'buying' speed.

My winter running gear has been similar to Warrens but I don't really run in shorts once it's in the mid 40's because there's almost always a fair breeze blowing and not a lot of shelter from it.  After that it's almost exactly the same.

I hadn't heard of Old Navy's tech gear but I may check it out.  I had a tech shirt at one time but it was loose fitting and I can't run more than 5 miles with loose shirts.  I still have kind of big pecs and, well, a certain area will tend to bleed with loose shirts.

As Jonathon said too, reflectivity is vitally important if running or riding on the road at night.  Personally I won't ride in the dark.  Too many people don't pay attention when they are driving and you can't guard against that, especially in the dark.  For running though, I wear 3 lights; a flashing white light facing the front, a brilliant red strip light on my right upper arm facing the front and side and finally the same type of strip light on my lower leg at the knee joint facing the rear and I wear reflective gear as well.

Allison,  I agree with Jeffs advice on the pace.  Slow and steady wins the race, especially right now.  You are just now getting back into running and that is why it is so important to go slow.  When running fast you are creating a lot more stress on your body that it may not be ready to handle.  Besides, if I remember correctly, you want to lose a few more pounds and the slower pace will burn more calories.  I am not sure if Jeff would agree here, but running fast right now for you could create the injuries you are going to want to avoid.  I only point this out because I believe you are just starting to get back into running again.  Take your time and build a base first, then you can move on to faster paces.

You had also asked about how many miles a week to run.  That is relative to what you are trying to accomplish.  If you want to do a HIM in late summer you have plenty of time to build a base.  With an Oly in your plans you could get by with 12-15 mpw over 3-4 runs.  (Personally I would want to run more because I'm dumb that way.  I would rather run 20-25 most of the time.)  That would be enough to get you through the race.

Brenda, no aero helmet for me yet.  I have to slowly build my tri gear arsenal because of budget issues.  Unless you can teach me how to cheat the government out of a few extra bucks. LOL

I don't have one though I have read/heard as Jeff said best aero bang for the buck.  I have a weird internal rule that I won't get one until I have a TT bike, and tri money is limited so it could be quite a while.

bswcpa - 2012-01-09 2:56 PM JONATHAN - You make me laugh. You're absolutely right about signing up for a race gets one motivated. And I'm to the point of frustration with my swim - having dumped hundreds of dollars at coaches and videos, etc and not seeing any speed improvement. I'm into year 6 of trying to get faster and it just ain't happinin'. The funny thing is, once I force myself to get to the pool, I really, really enjoy swimming. I'm just sooooo slow. Valentine's Day challenge....hmmmm.....isn't that a day for eating chocolates and eating dinner out? But OK, you're ON! Congratulations, BTW on being picked for the W Ink Elite tri team. Impressive!! JOHN - Welcome! Great job on quitting smoking! You're a champion already!

Brenda, I think we both know that EVERY DAY is a day for eating chocolate...but we gotta do it.  So here's the deal...you don't have to tell me your weight.  Let's say both of us weighs 10 lbs and we need to get to 5 by valentine's day.  Update every week.  Sound fair?  This will keep me honest.

I've heard they are excellent, but only if you have good form. If you flap your arms like a bird that just fell from the nest (as I do) a fancy helmet won't do you any good!! 

abergdol - 2012-01-11 9:07 PM [

bswcpa - 2012-01-09 2:56 PM JONATHAN - You make me laugh. You're absolutely right about signing up for a race gets one motivated. And I'm to the point of frustration with my swim - having dumped hundreds of dollars at coaches and videos, etc and not seeing any speed improvement. I'm into year 6 of trying to get faster and it just ain't happinin'. The funny thing is, once I force myself to get to the pool, I really, really enjoy swimming. I'm just sooooo slow. Valentine's Day challenge....hmmmm.....isn't that a day for eating chocolates and eating dinner out? But OK, you're ON! Congratulations, BTW on being picked for the W Ink Elite tri team. Impressive!! JOHN - Welcome! Great job on quitting smoking! You're a champion already!

Brenda, I think we both know that EVERY DAY is a day for eating chocolate...but we gotta do it.  So here's the deal...you don't have to tell me your weight.  Let's say both of us weighs 10 lbs and we need to get to 5 by valentine's day.  Update every week.  Sound fair?  This will keep me honest.

I'm hoping it's not too late to get in on this Valentine's Day challenge.  I would like to do it too!

Anybody that knows how to sew need some arm warmers?  These are like new, but the upper seams are coming apart.  Nothing broken...just the thread that holds the seam together at the upper arm.  They are free for the taking.

I went from having a great training week last week, right into a life forced taper week.  This is the reason I never schedule a taper week, something always creates it for me!  I had to cut my Tuesday run short, missed todays bike session completely now I am hoping the fuse doesn't get lit tomorrow so I can return to normal!  And who ever said the Japanese companies have perfected the concept of Lean manufacturing, needs to spend a day with me.

  Ohh so much Chaos!!!

I'll take them. My wife can fix anything related to thread.

Morning everyone - just checking in. Did my first swim workout of the year this morning. Breathing - good, muscle strength - not so much. I was practicing trying to breathe on both sides because I struggled with that last year.

On another note - apparently you folks from NH are the 6th fittest state in the country according to MapMyRun's Fittest of the Fit survey:

http://www.mapmyrun.com/intel/fittest_of_the_fit/top/states/6/

I thought you'd be happy to see that!

John

That's awesome!

As far as the swimming goes...I completely agree with that John.  I will be at the pool again tonight, but just getting back into it, my arms, elbows, shoulders...all tired within a couple hundred yards.  It will get better.  I personally took too much time off.  I'm glad to be back at it though.

Awesome news for NH.  Hard to believe when you're out in public though.  The rest of the country must be pretty bad.

John, I agree that it's important to breath on both sides for lots of reasons, so keep at it.  Oddly, it's just how I breath naturally when I swim.

As far as muscle strength while swimming, I admittedly don't do much swim training, in fact, close to none all last year or over the winter.  But I do various kettlebell exercises and pullups pretty much year round.  When I do swim, I don't feel limited by muscle strength at all.  I'm guessing the limited strength training I do helps.

Jonathan, you're killing me!  On the 9th you issued the 5lb challenge, so I started and had lost the 5lbs by yesterday.  (when you posted this)...so i find out that I already did all the work before the official weigh-in that starts the weight loss!

So now I have to lose another 5lbs!?!?!  Well, I've already lost 2 more lbs since yesterday so I suppose I can make it by Valentine's ... just quit moving the target on me.  I don't want to be 150lbs!