May 2017 Running Challenge

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  • WhatMeRunning
    WhatMeRunning Posts: 3,538 Member
    edited May 2017
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    9voice9 wrote: »
    WhatMeRunning wrote: »
    Strava recently added free similar data points in a section called Fitness and Freshness...

    You don't need these though. For the most part you should have rest days or easy/recovery runs in between workouts. If you feel stiff in tge first mile of a run you should not be doing a workout that day.
    Okay - reviewing my Strava report on Fitness and Freshness, I do see a downward trend recently. How do I need to address that?

    I will say that my avg pace has been slowing (high minutes/mile), and it feels like I can't sustain the effort as well lately...
    Well, I honestly don't know. :blush::lol: I'm not sure what to base any advice on. Plus, it might also be worth stating that I only know what I do from learning from other members here over the last 3 years. So I'm not a coach, physical therapist, or anything like that. Just another runner who wants to know how this whole running thing works. I do tend to be a bit of a sponge though, and a data geek to a certain degree. I am also eager to share any info I can, I love to pay all this stuff forward.

    When you say a downward trend, in what specifically?

    I know that I have had trouble with my pace this week and the effort has felt harder, but I think all of that is the heat as this is the first week it has regularly been in the 60's every morning. In just weeks prior it was in the 40's and maybe 50's. So the heat has to do with this week. If you are talking a longer period though, that is something different.

    Do you track your resting heart rate, or your heart rate while running? Has either been trending higher than normal? If so and you have had any other symptoms of over training you might just need a down week or even some time off.

    You could also have hit a performance plateau. If you run the same mileage at the same efforts week after week for too long without taking enough down time (down weeks or rest in general) then this could happen. In that case you are not getting any new fitness gains due to running at an all too familiar effort for an all too familiar amount of time. You get no cardio/strength gain from it. Without adequate down weeks or rest this gets complicated by a thing called accumulated fatigue. You still take a bit of a beating for those repetitive runs, and without enough rest to get rid of that fatigue you can wind up in a nasty spot where you are no longer gaining fitness but are feeling the fatigue building up. So the only thing you really gain is fatigue.

    If you suspect a performance plateau, change things up. But first, maybe get some rest. :smile: Then either up your mileage or maybe maintain your mileage and start doing speedwork during a couple of your mid-week runs. Something that really challenges your cardio. That will get your fitness bumping back up again. BUT...get that fatigue down first because these added efforts will build more fatigue than your current runs.

    All of this is so much speculation though, I probably shouldn't actually post this. I'm going to though, in case it helps, but really, I have nothing to base this advice upon. I don't know what might be causing you to feel like this based on the info you shared.
  • Elise4270
    Elise4270 Posts: 8,375 Member
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    2---3.11
    4---5.16
    6---6.62
    7---2.4 walk
    9---4.64

    10th-15th in Georgia.

    21.93/50+

    UPCOMING RACES

    May 27- XTERRA Rock Dallas Trail Run. 5k.
    July 8- XTERRA Jurassic Trail Run, 5K.  Glen Rose,TX
    Dec 2- POOP trail run, Hoping for a half! Norman OK.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,019 Member
    edited May 2017
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    May goal: 50 miles

    5/1/17: 4 miles
    5/3/17: 3.5 miles
    5/4/17: 3.1miles
    5/6/17: 3.1 miles
    5/7/17: 3.5 miles
    5/9/17: 4.1 miles

    21.3/50 miles

    I had a great run today. The weather was cool. It was a little humid and I thought I might get rained on, but there were just a few sprinkles.


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  • 9voice9
    9voice9 Posts: 693 Member
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    WhatMeRunning wrote: »
    I am also eager to share any info I can, I love to pay all this stuff forward.
    And I completely understand, and don't expect anything other than some ideas and some commiseration. :wink:
    WhatMeRunning wrote: »
    When you say a downward trend, in what specifically?
    According to the Strava data, I had an upwards trend in F&F thru my sub-30 5K last fall, and then it went down a good ways thru December (as I didn't run much while in Japan), trended upwards thru February (thru a couple of HMs) but now has been trending down since then. I pretty much always have a higher value for fatigue than for fitness by about 25-30 points, but the most current calc is 51 fitness, 29 fatigue. The high point was 80 and 92.
    WhatMeRunning wrote: »
    ... I think all of that is the heat
    Actually, we've had a bit of cooler weather this week than previous weeks...
    WhatMeRunning wrote: »
    Do you track your resting heart rate, or your heart rate while running?
    I don't have a good gauge for my resting heart rate, and have left off the HRM recently.
    WhatMeRunning wrote: »
    You could also have hit a performance plateau. If you run the same mileage at the same efforts week after week for too long without taking enough down time (down weeks or rest in general) then this could happen.
    This sounds too familiar - and likely. I do know that I've been keeping track of my yearly goal of 2,017, and maybe should be MUCH less concerned with that.<chagrin>
    WhatMeRunning wrote: »
    All of this is so much speculation though, I probably shouldn't actually post this. I'm going to though, in case it helps, but really, I have nothing to base this advice upon. I don't know what might be causing you to feel like this based on the info you shared.
    But I thank you for your thoughts!
  • 9voice9
    9voice9 Posts: 693 Member
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    Elise4270 wrote: »
    @9voice9 @whatmerunning On the topic of the decline...

    1- is it hotter than hell?
    2- is it humid as hell?
    3- what's​ your food look like? You allowing yourself to recover? Cut back eat a little more? ("100-200 calories a day, not a whole pie" she says to remind herself). How about an off season?
    4-hows your iron? When is the last time you had your​ blood work done?
    5- are you pushin' yourself least once a week/10days? Doing any play with speed? Changing up your route? Running some hills?
    6-eeeee! Molly's Cafe! Haha!

    1 - not really. In fact, it's been cooler these last few mornings.
    2 - not any more than usual for mid-Georgia. We live in a sauna (sometimes hot, sometimes cold, but always humid).
    3 - just got back on the MFP food-tracking bandwagon, so prob the bod is re-adjusting to a different calorie intake load.
    4 - I've stayed on an iron supplement since a few years back I was deferred from giving blood because of low iron. I'm thinking about (based on some earlier conversation) adding a B-vitamin supplement to the regimen.
    5 - prob not as much as I should.

    6 - !!!
  • WhatMeRunning
    WhatMeRunning Posts: 3,538 Member
    edited May 2017
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    @9voice9 - That thing with Strava listing fatigue at a higher number than fitness matches my results too. It's why I haven't really paid much attention to the Strava Fitness and Freshness for myself because I can't make sense of when I am performing well versus fatigued because it always says my fatigue is higher than my fitness. I guess we are supposed to magically know when the fatigue is too high?

    I love my Sport Tracks data because it is obvious what the ratio of fitness is to fatigue. When the numbers get close, I can feel it. When fitness is higher than fatigue I perform better. The down side is that it is not free, so I feel bad ever talking about it here. I find it worth the cost, but it might not be for everyone.

    Runalyze looked really nice, you might check it out. It's free and had even more metrics. I just don't want to change tools from something that works for me already.
  • greenolivetree
    greenolivetree Posts: 1,282 Member
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    Another 80 degree run/walk this evening. 3.25 miles. I do think I walked a little less than yesterday. The heat hasn't been terrible with the walk breaks but I felt achy all over the past 2 days. Even had weird back pain at my waistline that's only when running. Even weirder is the back pain doesn't coincide with impact but rather with my breathing!
  • JessicaMcB
    JessicaMcB Posts: 1,503 Member
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    Just found out its supposed to pour rain at RDM, of course haha! Ran a shorty in town, not enjoying having to go easy on distance leading up to the race even though I can see the performance benefits.

    mn1picmrly22.png


    May 1- Rest
    May 2- 14.2
    May 3- Rest
    May 4- 14.5
    May 5- 18.8
    May 6- 8
    May 7- 23.3
    May 8-Rest
    May 9- 15.7

    94.5/300km
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
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    9voice9 wrote: »
    WhatMeRunning wrote: »
    Do you track your resting heart rate, or your heart rate while running?
    I don't have a good gauge for my resting heart rate, and have left off the HRM recently.

    The mere fact that you left off the HRM could be messing with how Strava computes the numbers you're looking at.
  • HonuNui
    HonuNui Posts: 1,464 Member
    edited May 2017
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    May goal: wear sunblock

    5/1: sat on my okole. All. Day. Long.
    5/2: 3.13
    5/3: 6.06
    5/4: 4.08
    5/5 rest
    5/6: 4.15
    5/7 3.56
    5/8 snorkel 3.5 hours
    This is a spaghetti worm....related to earthworms and those white tentacles wave and creep along the rocks....similar to the funny sea cucumber I posted a couple months ago....
    5/9 4.58


    Total: 25.56

    hrmmm...don't know why I can't get pics to show within the post anymore.....

    Ticker is my goal for 2017 and progress to date:
    exercise.png
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    @9voice9 Did your Strava Fitness and Freshness start showing the decline in "Fitness" since the start of April?

    Mine did, and I've just asked about it in the support forum.
    https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/216918477?page=2#comment_115000056450

    I wonder if the Strava boffins borked something.

    Runalyze shows my fitness going up very nicely.
  • amc2509
    amc2509 Posts: 219 Member
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    Just managed a short run yesterday as I could only fit it in at midday and it was really hot!!!! Hoping to get another run in today...


    3/5/17 4.7K
    6/5/17 5K
    9/5/17 2.7K (TOTAL for May 12.4K)

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  • ddmom0811
    ddmom0811 Posts: 1,878 Member
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    @zdyb23456 - I agree with audio books while running! I’m always listening to a book in the car and like to listen while running too. Sometimes a book just isn’t a good running book (since I run in the dark, alone). But other times I get totally lost in the book and need an alarm set to remember - oh I have to go to work today! The other thing I have found I enjoy is the Zombies run app. When I first of it a few years ago on here I thought “No way! that is totally not me!” But then @iofred mentioned the space run, which is by the same company. So I’ve done a few of those runs and you can turn off a zombie chasing you. With all that being said, I also go through periods when I need music instead of books while running.

    @9voice9 - I had a similar situation with my running in March and part of April. For me it was a head thing — I was worried about my heart because of my 3 friends having heart attacks. Now that I know my heart is good I am seeing improvement again. I am really bad about checking stats in Strava or Garmin. Just don’t seem to find the time.

    @jessicamcb - what a cute baby in your profile pic!

    Another nice run this morning - where the humidity isn’t too bad! My ladies cycle group is tonight - 21 miles.

    5/1 - 4 miles + strength training
    5/2 - 3.5 miles
    5/3 - 21 miles cycling
    5/4 - 5 miles + strength training
    5/5 - rest day
    5/6 - 34 miles cycling
    5/7 - 43 miles cycling
    5/8 - 4.6 miles + strength training
    5/9 - rest day
    5/10 - 4.5 miles + cycling 21 miles


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  • amc2509
    amc2509 Posts: 219 Member
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    Still hot today but I felt much better... it's crazy how some days your body just says no and on other days it feels fine! So glad to have gotten out today, but I've a meeting in just over an hour and a VERY red face right now!!


    3/5/17 4.7K
    6/5/17 5K
    9/5/17 2.7K
    10/5/17 5.1K (TOTAL for May 17.5K)

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