12/6 to 12/12 - The Weekly

Opie · Dec 5, 2010

Feel free to tally up at your convenience today or tomorrow. Also, my videotape session has me thinking about form, so that's my question for this week: Is there a certain aspect of running form that you have worked on or would like to work on? <a href="http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=20261" target="_blank">Here's</a> a good article from Running Times. I think using the 180 bpm iPod downloads will help but I intentionally didn't yesterday because, of course, I want a light, quick stride rate to be natural on an unplugged run.
 
<ul><li>JJJ- no tally yet</li>
<li>Hemerocallus – 27.6 miles, incl. 12 muddy, icy and hilly mi. of single track at ~-2°C; a stunning new avatar!</li>
<li>Hally - 9.3 miles with a good blend of running, lifting & hiking</li>
<li>evanflein - about 34 miles, ending with a snowy trail marathon (I hope to read your RR tonight)</li>
<li>Mcsolar – dude! right on target for pfchang with 84.5 miles, LR- hilly 24mi, 7:50avg w/6 @ 6:43.</li>
<li>Opie – 19.63 miles. What a slacker. Seriously, a good quad-burner tempo run in a nasty north wind.</li>
<li>Tamster - 19.4 miles. Copycat but you needed another 0.23! Soaked in the cultural wonders of Portland.</li>
<li>Sans Souci – a zillion miles because trail miles should count double. Actually, 46.5 miles with hillwork.</li>
<li>Better Than Yesterday – 37 miles & doing well ramping up.</li>
<li>Fortunate One – 40 miles, alternating between the toasty treadmill & wind chills near 0°F</li>
<li>Orange Mat – 42.7 miles with a ladder group workout at the track and voted most improved here!</li>
<li>Dove – 37 miles including 6 extremely hard trail miles and coming from her, that’s saying something.</li>
<li>Paul – 44.9 miles & quiet as usual.</li>
</ul> 
More summaries to come... 
 
Here's my weekly plan:
 
Day.....Plan..................................................................................................................................................Actual
Monday.....lunch 4 mi. easy + p.m. lifting circuit routine....................................done-4.63 running total plus the general cardio & strength work
Tuesday....4 mi. with 2.5 tempo......................................................................................................................done-4.27 mi.
Wednesday....rest.........................................................................................................................................done
Thursday....lunch 4 mi. easy + p.m. lifting routine but not circuit.......................................................................done-4.02 mi.
Friday......XT 1 hour...............................................................................................done-40 min. yoga & 20 min. bike to nowhere
Saturday...warmup, 5k time trial/race & cooldown............................................................................................done-5.75 mi.
Sunday....rest...............................................................................................................................................done
 
Total...maybe 18-19 miles..............................................................................................................................18.67 miles
My regular training week 2 weeks ago was an average pace of 10:09 and now with the race over the weekend it brought this week's pace to 9:28.

mcsolar99 · Dec 6, 2010

thanks for the thread opie!
 
seems like i'm always working on my arm swing. worked on it through high school. i think it was pretty constant for a while after that. now my arms are dropping more... but that feels more natural for marathon training than for the shorter stuff i used to do.
 
this week is just miles until long run + race saturday
 
plan / actual
 
m: 8 / 8 10:15
t: 10 / 10 8:30
w: 14 / 14 8:30
t: 14 / 14.5 8:00
f: 10 / 10 9:30
s: 20 w/10k 39:20 / 20 8:10
s: 8 / 7.5 9:00
 
target: 84 / total: 84

hally · Dec 6, 2010

Thanks Opie and Dove.
 
 
 
Monday=30 min elliptical and whole lotta stress at work
Tuesday=30 min elliptical and not as much stress at work
Wed=1.5 miles and 20 min weights
Thursday=rest
Friday=2 miles
Saturday=hiked 2 miles
Sunday=weights 30 min
 
Weights twice
elliptical twice
ran twice only 3.5 total
hiked some

Better than yesterday · Dec 6, 2010

Posture. 
 
If I can follow my program all week, I'll hit 40 miles this week, before having a planned cutback week leading up to Christmas. We'll see how the weather cooperates.
 
Monday....................................6.5 with 5 easy
Tuesday...................................5.0 easy recovery with 1200 meter tempo interval
Wednesday..............................8.0 midweek medium long
Thursday..................................3.0 easy recovery
Friday.......................................5.0 easy
Saturday...................................13.0
Sunday.....................................0
 
Total Plan......................40.5 miles
Execution.......................40.5 per plan (almost)

Hemerocallus · Dec 6, 2010

Thanks, Opie!
 
Had to think about that one a bit.......... should probably be working on better core engagement and the glute squeeze thing. On the road I'm getting better at it, but on the trail I'm so focused on the footing that everything else seems to go out the window.
 
M.................. 5.4
T................... 40' spin, core
W.................. 3.8
T.................... 6
F.................... zip
S................... Santa Speedo Run <img alt="icon_rendeer.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/icon_rendeer.gif" style="width:27px;height:27px;"> OK, we're going to call it 2.5 miles.
S................... 11.8
 
Total: 29.5 miles

Tamster · Dec 6, 2010

Thank you Opie. I think I neglected to send out a reminder, so I'm glad you remembered! I had a crazy week last week. Hope this week is a calmer and a bit more structured. I like structure.
 
mon: .... 5 ez miles
tue: ...... 4 mi incl 4x1min hill repeats.
wed: ..... rest
thu: ...... 0
fri: ........ 5 progressive miles
sat: ...... rest/son's big bday party
sun: ...... 8 miles
 
22 miles run this week.

Fortunate One · Dec 6, 2010

Thanks, Opie,
 
I spend very little time thinking about form, although I read and enjoyed that article. I have run for 5 years with virtually no injury--if it ain't broke, why fix it? I think my foot strike should be more mid-foot and less heel. I have occasionally done a little exercise that illustrates this. When running on a safe surface, I close my eyes or look up in the air for a few seconds. My feet then naturally tend to reach for the ground, as if I'm feeling my way, resulting in a mid-foot strike. Maybe I should close my eyes more often
 
Monday.........5 M on TM
Tuesday........volleyball
Wednesday....5 M on TM with 3 @ tempo pace
Thursday........volleyball
Friday............5 M on TM
Saturday........20 M with 18 out in the "wintry mix"
Sunday..........7 M recovery pace on TM
 
Total: 42 M

Sans Souci · Dec 8, 2010

Good thinking, FO. Since I'm not going to make the Olympic squad, I'm okay with whatever I'm doing. Quick, light feet is good to think about on the trails, though; less time for ankle-turning opportunities. I often think about winejunky telling me to keep my arms closer to my body.
 
Thanks, Dove, and thank you Opie for this week.
 
I think I hit peak last week as I wind down before I wind it up later this month.
 
<div>Tuesday: 45' easy</div>
<div>Wednesday: yoga, 20' easy + 8 x 1' at 5km effort [1' easy recovery] + 15' easy</div>
<div>Thursday: rest</div>
<div>Friday: yoga, 45' easy </div>
<div>Saturday: 10-mile trail "mountain" race</div>
<div>Sunday: 1hr easy</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Total: 35 miles, only 90' yoga. A good week.</div>

Dove · Dec 8, 2010

Thanks Opie. I need to work on getting rid of that walk break habit I adopted last year while training for and running Javelina. Learning good run/walk/run transitions is difficult.... unlearning them even harder.
 
Monday: 5 miles
Tuesday: 4 miles with 1/2 dozen striders thrown in.
Wednesday: 6 miles
Thursday: 8 miles with hill repeats
Friday: 5 miles
Saturday: ? whatever I have time for
Sunday: 5-8 miles

OrangeMat · Dec 8, 2010

Very interesting article, Opie, thanks for that. I've been very lucky with regard to being aware of my optimal form, or rather knowing when I'm not doing things right: the pain I get in my sacrum tells me immediately when things are out of whack. The concept of "path of least resistance" as it was described in the article is exactly how I've always considered the patterns one's body tends to gravitate to, and yes, I agree: just because it came to us naturally doesn't mean it's right.
 
That said, the alignment principles that I've learned and studied with my Anusara yoga practice are constantly with me, no matter what movement I do in my daily life, nor what position I'm in. Sitting, standing, reaching, twisting, all that puts me in pain the instant I let my body mindlessly go into that 48+ years' long habit of its paths of least resistance. That's why running works so well for me to retrain my body how to be and move without pain. I get to do it with every single step, constantly evaluating the left-to-right symmetry feel of things. So not only do I pay attention to what it is that makes the painful side be painful, but also the painfree side as well. Sometimes trying to mimic the pain on the side that doesn't hurt is how to figure out what I'm doing wrong, as opposed to just trying to eliminate the existing pain.
 
So yes, like I said, I'm so fortunate that I get an instant feedback system helping me, every single step I take.
 
Mon..... 15 miles
Tues.... rest
Wed.... 6 miles, yoga
Thur..... 6.3 miles
Fri....... 10 miles
Sat...... 3.1 miles AM, 4 miles track w/o PM
Sun..... rest
 
totals: 44.4 miles, 1x yoga

Paul · Dec 8, 2010

Thanks Opie!
 
No plan this week, I'll fill you in later. Right now I plan on racing in Mustang on Saturday morning. I don't think I can make it over to the race in MWC on Saturday evening (I may give it a try though).
 
M - 6.4 miles
T - 6.3 miles
W - 6.4 miles
Th - 5 miles
F - travel day
Sa - 5K race 22:27, 1st OA! (ran to/from the race for warmup/cooldown)
Su - 4.5 miles
___________________________________
Total - 43.3 miles
 
DW & I just got back from vacation in Kauai on Friday. We had a great week off and I was able to run along beautiful tropical trails & beaches all week.
 
Paul

evanflein · Dec 10, 2010

Thanks, Opie! I sort of fell off the cliff last week, but did end up with just under 34 miles run, ending with that snowy trail marathon.
 
This week, I'm blissfully planless. It may get old pretty soon, but for now, I'm enjoying just doing whatever feels right at the time. As for form, I have to be aware of where I place my feet, and how. I supinate and wear down the outer heels of my shoes. I'm trying to be more aware of "how" I run, and so far my foot is thanking me for it. I also need to focus on my posture because I do tend to tense and hunch up my shoulders when I tire.
 
Ok, here's this week:
Monday: 3 recovery paced miles on the treadmill, .5 mile walk
Tuesday: 4.3 easy paced miles on the treadmill, 1.6 mile walk
Wednesday: 5 miles with 5 x .2 mile @ 8:20, balance @ 8:50 or so, 1 mile walk
Thursday: Rest Day
Friday: 4 miles on the elliptical (31:56) and .5 mile walk
Saturday: 3.5 miles, mostly easy with 3 x .25 mile @ 7:42 pace, .5 mile walk afterward
Sunday: Yeah, um, well... Sunday's hoped for 8-10 miler never happened. Spent the time puttering around the house instead. Love doing that and long overdue, so it's all good.
 
Totals: 15.8 miles run (really? That low? Wow....), 4 miles on the elliptical and 4.1 miles walking (at least)

12/6 to 12/12 - The Weekly

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