The February 2016 Running Challenge

5BeautifulDays wrote: »

@instantmartian I've been stalking the weather, too! I agree, 20 mph wind would not be awesome, at least not waiting around. I don't mind it while I'm running, though, especially if it's at my back...makes me faster, lol!

I am all for wind at my back. Wind in my face, however, makes me feel like I'm suffocating and made of lead! I ran a 5K a couple summers ago along the Atlantic City Boardwalk. The run was nice, the temperature was perfect, but the wind was awful! It was an out and back run, and on the way out the tailwind was great! On the way back, I had to walk bits of the race because I felt like I was running in water with a pillow over my face.

That being said, the temp looks like it's the same, but the wind gusts are down to 9mph. The running gods must have heard my pleas! Fingers crossed!

runner_girl83 wrote: »

Quick question before I head out.. Ive worked out that most of my playlist is songs for 160 bpm.. I thought I was taking little steps already (I'm pretty short and its more like a power walk for me )

Ive read about 180 bpm being an ideal goal to take shorter strides, avoid injury.. Go faster..

I'm just stuck on how it helps/ makes you faster..? Or is the idea for it to be more of a fast walk?

Spotify is telling me if I run to music at 180 bpm, i will be more of a 4:30 min/km runner?

Here's my take on the 180 cadence (and I accept the fact that I may be off base) Everything I've read about the magical 180 cadence references studies done with elite runners. I've not read anything about studies with the average runners like us.

My thought is that until you reach a certain speed, hitting that 180 mark is going to be very difficult. If I concentrate on it, I can hit 160 to 162 running at a 10:00 pace. When I ran a stride last night, I was up to a cadence of 180 to 190, but that was with a pace of 6:30. If my some magic I could keep that up, I'd be running a 2:50 marathon. That tells me that elite runners should have no problem at all hitting 180.

I do believe that increasing your cadence has benefits, particularly with regard to preventing injury. I've experienced it myself where I've had to increase cadence to less pain from an existing injury. I wouldn't, however, get hung up on trying to hit 180 if you're running 10 or 12 minute miles. Focus on quick, soft steps and you'll reap the benefits whether you're at 180 or not.

If you're using music to help increase your cadence, don't jump from wherever you are now to 180. Jump up in increments of 5 until the new cadence becomes second nature, then increase again.

Again, this is just the conclusion I've reached after reading a few articles and trying a few things out myself.

BTW, You're BPM won't tell you anything at all about how fast you're going because it's also dependent on your stride length.

I am away for a 1.5 days and there are 7 pages of posts to work through! WOW!! I am just going to reply to a few and may add a few more later as I work through all of it.
@skippygirlsmom - I hope Skip is feeling better! My daughter had seizures in high school too. Terrifying! Hang in there!
@runner_girl83 - if you go on Runnersworld.com and do a search on for glute strength there are lots of good articles. This is one of them that has examples of different exercises http://www.runnersworld.com/workouts/glute-strengthening-workout
Also my trainer has been having me do on leg squats watching in the mirror so I keep my knee straight. It was super hard for me initially but as we do it more I am getting better at it. Also watching myself in a mirror has been an eyeopener to see my ankle collapse in and my knee leading the way!
@kristinegift - love the new shoes and haul from the running store.
@xxx_Pink_Princess_xxx - how was the sports massage?
@Stoshew71, @ddmom0811, @5BeautifulDays - Like @7lenny7, I am slowly working through a pile of sweatshirts from my 'before' days that are now way too big on me. I leave them at the start or shortly after and don't look back. I always pack a change of clothes and leave it with my ride or at gear check because even if I am sweaty and gross, a dry shirt or sweatshirt helps me from freezing afterwards.

lporter229 wrote: »

angie_kins wrote: »

I've been having some motivation problems this week. I bailed out on two runs just minutes after starting, just couldn't get myself to do it. I'm trying not to dwell and just focus on my next opportunity, but does anyone have any advice for getting yourself to keep going when you don't want to?

Try not to focus on the rest of your run. On how long it will be, or how fast/slow it should be, or the hills you might encounter or whatever it is that is keeping your mind from letting you enjoy your run. Shut it all out and just focus on how good it feels to be running at that moment. Free yourself of any expectations for the run you are doing. I think that is what often bogs us down. Expectations of what we think we have to do or should be doing. Remember that nobody is forcing you to run. You are out there because you love doing it and you love how it makes you feel. When I start to get burn out in the depths of marathon training, I take a day and leave my Garmin at home and I just go run and set no expectations of how long or how far or how fast I will go. I just run until I feel satisfied with my run and then I head home, always feeling rejuvenated.

@lporter229 Love this^^^^^

I intended to run today, I really did and I may still later this evening. I was up early (4:30am) for a 4 hour meeting and planned to run after it. Unfortunately the bed was calling and Hobbes the Vizsla wanted to snuggle so instead of changing into my running clothes I took a 45 minute nap and puppy snuggle. It was wonderful so the new plan is for today to be an active rest day with a good walk (or slow run) later and use this as the start of my taper for next week's HM. I also didn't post my run from yesterday which was awesome - just short and quick, betweeen meetings... I hat it when work interferes with my running plans!
Date..........Miles.........Total
02/01.......4.15..........4.15 - Treadmill run at the hotel
02/02.......0.00..........4.15
02/03.......3.55..........7.70 - Treadmill run at the hotel
02/04.......0.00..........7.70
02/05.......4.12........11.82 - Yay for running outdoors!
02/06.......0.00........11.82
02/07.....13.20........25.02 - Surf City HM
02/08.......4.50........29.52 - Agility
02/09.......6.10........35.62 - +Strength Training
02/10.......0.00........35.62
02/11.......4.32........39.94 - +Strength Training
02/12.......0.00........39.94



These are my upcoming races, let me know if you are going to be running too:
02/20/16 - Special Edition Divas Half, Temecula, CA

Stoshew71 wrote: »

What kristine says is correct. You can keep quicker cadence (more number of steps) but still maintain a slower pace. Distance = number of steps X stride legnth. So say I take 180 steps and my stride length is 1 meter per step. Then how far would I travel in 60 seconds? 180 steps per minute X 1 meter per step = 180 meters per minute. So how do I increase my distance per minute? I can either increase the number of steps I take per minute or I can increase the stride legnth or i can do both. So if i could some how go 1.3 meters per step but keep 180 steps per minute then now I am running 234 meters per minute (or 14040 meters per hour or 14 km per hour or 8.7 mph).

So how do I keep my same number of steps but go faster (or just increase my stride length)? You pick your heel up higher. This is known as butt kicks. The higher you lift your foot off the ground the more power in your lift off which makes you go further during each stride. Keep the number of steps per minute or even increase the number of steps per minute and you natually go faster.

So why is 180 some magical number? It's more of an observation of more elite runners who run with a more trained and better biomechanics. The problem with us mortals (or recerational runners) is we tend to have a slower cadence (less steps per second) with an over stride (which means our foot lands further in front of us) which is the cause of a heel strike. because of all of this, our risk to injury increases.

I've heard the theory of keeping your cadence the same but changing stride length to vary the pace; it hasn't worked well for me. I have a faster cadence at faster paces. FWIW, my cadence tends to be in the low 170s on easy runs, but faster than 180 at 5K race pace. Garmin tells me cadence, but I don't typically look at it. Let's look at yesterday's speed work, which I recorded in 3 pieces:

2 mile warmup - average cadence 170
4 x 1600 at T with 200 recovery, plus 8 x 200 at I with 200 recovery - average cadence 187
3 miles easy - average cadence 174

I already knew I'm less efficient when I start running and until I get warmed up. But it looks like my easy pace was a bit more efficient after I was tired out by the speed intervals than it was before; how much is a warmup phenomenon and how much is a training effect from doing intervals, I don't know. I also don't know whether a 4 beats per minute difference is significant; I suspect it might not be.

By way of comparison, Wednesday's easy 6 was a 173 average cadence, and Sunday's easy 1.5 hours was a 174 average. Nothing surprising there. Most recent races - Winter Warrior Half, 188 average cadence; Resolution Run 7.5 miles with snowy surface, 176 average cadence; Reindeer Run 5K, 190 average cadence.

*shrug* Don't know what it means, other than if I'm going to run faster my cadence is going to be faster. For my purposes, I guess my cadence is close enough to 180 that I won't worry about it.

But thank you for the explanation of why we do butt kicks in the pre-workout drills.

The streak is alive, 100 days and counting

@skippygirlsmom I hope Skip is better soon - that would have been so frightening. I’m sure it was related to being sick with a high temp, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to see a paediatric neurologist to make sure everything is ok.

15.41 km @7:06 min/km; Av HR 141, max HR 153. What a difference a rest day makes. And cooler weather. A lovely 22.2C for my run this morning. And I have dropped a little weight. All coming together for a great run.

1 Feb 6.18 km
2 Feb sick
3 Feb sick
4 Feb Rest
5 Feb 11.13 km
6 Feb 6.62 km
7 Feb 19.00 km (long run)
8 Feb Rest
9 Feb 6.28 km
10 Feb 10.46 km
11 Feb 6.28 km
12 Feb Rest
13 Feb 15.41 km (cutback week)

Total: 81.36 km / 165 km

Races:
5 June Rocky River Run 21km
3 July Gold Coast Marathon

Trying to read and catch up on everyone's posts....
5ish miles today - cut it a bit short because it was getting dark, but somewhere between 5 and 5.5.
41 miles done, 59 left to go. We've got a dangerous windchill warning for the next couple of days, so probably no run until Monday or Tuesday

MorningGhost14 wrote: »

Guess that's why we run. So people don't get hurt.

Truth! ^^^^