I did a 4 mile run last night, adding for the first time by Forerunner 305. I took about a week or so off of running and this was my first lengthy run since.
Goal: Zone 2 run working on getting foot strike directly below me, keeping cadence high and getting balance forward with the lean from my hips.
Results:
Avg HR: 136
Max HR: 164
Time: 48 mins
Dist: 4.32 miles
Avg Pace: 11:16
Overall: I'm definitely getting there with the stride. I could feel a vast difference between my old stride and the new stride. I found the old stride very uncomfortable and was much happier when I reverted to th ER stride.
I found that if I visualized that I was in a giant hamster wheel it helped get my stride regulated so that my foot falls were in the right place. It took me no time at all on the run to get my weight out in front of my feet so that once I was running, I seemed to just carry along - it was as if I was creating some momentum and slowing down is what takes work.
My quads felt a bit more like they were acting as shock absorbers rather than pushing me off the ground. I was able to to really feel my glutes working on the pull through of the foot.
All that being said, it was really hard to stay in Zone 2 because I couldn't believe how slow I still was. It felt so much better, but my speed was still the pits. So I found I kept creeping up into zone 3 trying to get my pace out of the 10-11m/ml range. I know, I know, base is about going slow and getting form right, but it was hard to know I was barely beating a speed walker and I was out for a run.
So after the half way point (it was an out and back) I worked in some intervals. Huge findings: I ran probably the fastest pace I've ever run except in a full out sprint for two short segments. And it felt unbelievably good. I found that running faster made the method easier for me (which I'm interpreting to mean that my cadence is too low when I'm running slower). My glutes really fired up and pulled me along the ground - it was really smooth - that's the amazing part. I had a sensation of like when a boat planes off in the water - as I got up to speed, it just became very smooth, and my legs felt like they were doing circles.
First interval my FR recorded about 8:56 pace for the interval which felt great, my AVG HR was 144 max 154 for 40 seconds. After about 5 mins back at 130 HR or so I ran a second interval on a relatively flat section. I ran 47 seconds at an avg 6:24 pace. I even was sub 6:00 for about 100 yards or so. Avg HR: 149 Max 163! I couldn't believe it. It felt really smooth, and amazingly there was almost no pounding of the road on me. The only thing I felt was the rising level of warmth in my glutes and my lungs. Otherwise, I felt great. Without counting windsprints, that's probably the fastest I've ever managed to just run.
So I settled out with about another 10 mins including some walking to get my HR back to into the 130s.
All in all - I'm making some progress with the method. I'll have to continue to work on the slow cadence issue and soon I'll try to add the heel flick. So far I've just let that go naturally.
I will also add that as of this morning, my legs were a little sore in a totally different way than running in my old stride. Much more manageable - focused more in the outside of my quads and my hip flexors and glutes.
Also, I found that when my foot contacted the ground, it seemed not to hit directly on the ball of my foot, but more on the whole forefront. As if the impact was spread all the way across my foot.
More soon.
I did a 4 mile run last night, adding for the first time by Forerunner 305. I took about a week or so off of running and this was my first lengthy run since.
Goal: Zone 2 run working on getting foot strike directly below me, keeping cadence high and getting balance forward with the lean from my hips.
Results:
Avg HR: 136
Max HR: 164
Time: 48 mins
Dist: 4.32 miles
Avg Pace: 11:16
Overall: I'm definitely getting there with the stride. I could feel a vast difference between my old stride and the new stride. I found the old stride very uncomfortable and was much happier when I reverted to th ER stride.
I found that if I visualized that I was in a giant hamster wheel it helped get my stride regulated so that my foot falls were in the right place. It took me no time at all on the run to get my weight out in front of my feet so that once I was running, I seemed to just carry along - it was as if I was creating some momentum and slowing down is what takes work.
My quads felt a bit more like they were acting as shock absorbers rather than pushing me off the ground. I was able to to really feel my glutes working on the pull through of the foot.
All that being said, it was really hard to stay in Zone 2 because I couldn't believe how slow I still was. It felt so much better, but my speed was still the pits. So I found I kept creeping up into zone 3 trying to get my pace out of the 10-11m/ml range. I know, I know, base is about going slow and getting form right, but it was hard to know I was barely beating a speed walker and I was out for a run.
So after the half way point (it was an out and back) I worked in some intervals. Huge findings: I ran probably the fastest pace I've ever run except in a full out sprint for two short segments. And it felt unbelievably good. I found that running faster made the method easier for me (which I'm interpreting to mean that my cadence is too low when I'm running slower). My glutes really fired up and pulled me along the ground - it was really smooth - that's the amazing part. I had a sensation of like when a boat planes off in the water - as I got up to speed, it just became very smooth, and my legs felt like they were doing circles.
First interval my FR recorded about 8:56 pace for the interval which felt great, my AVG HR was 144 max 154 for 40 seconds. After about 5 mins back at 130 HR or so I ran a second interval on a relatively flat section. I ran 47 seconds at an avg 6:24 pace. I even was sub 6:00 for about 100 yards or so. Avg HR: 149 Max 163! I couldn't believe it. It felt really smooth, and amazingly there was almost no pounding of the road on me. The only thing I felt was the rising level of warmth in my glutes and my lungs. Otherwise, I felt great. Without counting windsprints, that's probably the fastest I've ever managed to just run.
So I settled out with about another 10 mins including some walking to get my HR back to into the 130s.
All in all - I'm making some progress with the method. I'll have to continue to work on the slow cadence issue and soon I'll try to add the heel flick. So far I've just let that go naturally.
I will also add that as of this morning, my legs were a little sore in a totally different way than running in my old stride. Much more manageable - focused more in the outside of my quads and my hip flexors and glutes.
Also, I found that when my foot contacted the ground, it seemed not to hit directly on the ball of my foot, but more on the whole forefront. As if the impact was spread all the way across my foot.
More soon.