Training, heart rate, training smarter, fatigue, endurance, base building. These are all things that have been consuming my mind lately when it comes to running.
I want my old legs back, the pre-injury ones that didn't hurt and ache in so many places. I finally feel somewhat more confident about the pain where my stress fracture was after seeing my sports injury doc on friday. After some poking, prodding, some ART, he said quite confidently that he doesn't think I have a new one, but possibly just some residual pain and mild inflammation around the old stress fractures. Usual cocktail of Aleve, icing, and lots of stretching have become a daily occurrence.
When running, I don't have as much tenderness in the stress fracture site however, it's my calves that are super tight... and seem to loosen up a bit once I've warmed up, but it's still awkward, even to walk sometimes. Stretching, rolling, icing, using "The Stick", increasing mileage slowly all seem to be helping somewhat, so hopefully this will go away soon enough.
I've made some goals for 2009
• Lower Body Fat % -- keep the numbers a secret, but they're written down :)
• Continue with weight training
• Cycling trip in Quebec
• 2500km total for the year → includes biking, swimming, running
• Hit 30k distance (hopefully in a race)
• Train smart, not necessarily more
• heart rate training
The last 2 are biggies for me this year.
Yesterday, I went out for an almost 7k run that wasn't great -- it felt hard. Sidewalks were iced over, covered my a thin layer of snow, and ice chunks from the plow all over the place. Made for a tough run, finished feeling like crap. This after not running for 2 days! Today, I only had enough time for a short 4k run, same thing! My legs felt heavy, I was working hard for such a short run, and feeling frustrated (HR avg 167, HR max 175). I know that there will always be good days and bad days, but the last few weeks have been going downhill.
I want lungs and a heart that can keep up with my feet. I've always had a naturally high heart rate. My doctor has worked with me, done a battery of tests, and has told me just to monitor it. As long as I'm not feeling dizzy, faint, etc, then I'm fine. I never have felt anything negative, other than a little shocked and disturbed at the numbers starring at me from the Garmin's display, but I can never seem to maintain my breathing or keep a reasonable heart rate. If I understand this whole heart rate thing correctly, the more fit you are, the less hard your heart has to work. So it would be possible to lower my HR with proper training... right?
I used to smoke, but have quit over 3 years ago now. Now with running, biking, doing weights, I'd like to think I'm in better shape than I was then, but I still struggle with the heart rate and breathing.
Here I am, January 5th, less than 3 months away from what I hoped would be a 30k race, but I think I'm well off the mark of being ready. I'm not giving up, or taking the easy way out. If I keep pushing myself to follow this 30k training plan, I'm not sure I'll be happy with the results. There will be other races. I'm prepared to take a step back from training for this specific race. I will continue training, but hopefully learn some things along the way.
You'll notice that one of my goals is to train smarter, not necessarily to see how much mileage I can stack up -- this is also why i didn't pick a distance goal for "running only" this year as I want to keep up with the cross-training. I am willing to stop focusing on pace and mileage to gain efficiency and endurance.
This is lining up perfectly to BR's post both yesterday and today on passably able and exertion. I feel like I'm "not able" and going full out every time I lace up, and I want to work towards changing this.
I want to start this quest with real heart rate training. I've had my Garmin 305 for almost 2 years now, love it, and wear the HRM always. I want to do more than simply wear it and record my average and maximum. I want it to help me train, I want it to help me become a better and more efficient runner. I want to rebuild a solid base if I have to.
Once again, reaching out for any tips, advice, recommendations from all of you. Any recommendations on books that I can pick up, or training plans that I can use that will be based on heart rate rather than pace or distance? Any info, advice, comment, slap upside the head is appreciated :)
Whoever said that running was only a pair of shoes and the road ahead obviously hasn't read my blog.... lol.
27 comments:
I'm with you on the less miles. I briefly thought about going for 1000 miles for 2009, but I really want to be smart about my running.
I haven't heard about any training plans based off HR, but I haven't been looking either.
I thought this was going to be a post about Thumper the rabbit.
It sounds like you know what you have to do, you just feel frustrated about it. You are making the right decision by focusing on training smarter. Don't let a couple of bad workouts get you done - the weather is crappy, which makes everything feel harder. I'm sure you will be back to having great runs against soon.
I totally hear you and went through the same thing after my stress fracture. I am sure the old legs will be back soon I am certain of it. Best wishes for a strong healthy 2009!
I love how you said the road ahead hasn't read your blog... it makes me think while we've constantly got to push ourselves to improve, we've always got second chances if we don't succeed as quickly as we'd like. And that's inspiring and reassuring to me!
Wishing you all the best for your 2009 plans!!
Have you considered going for some HR testing? It's where they run you on a treadmill and check your oxygen levels (and other things) at regular intervals so that you can determine your actual, specific max heart rate, rather than just using the standard tables and equations. Ask at your RR store and someone there will know who to send you to. I haven't done it myself but apparently is a must if you want to train accurately by HR.
I like where you head is with these goals. No reason to go nuts if it's not going to help you reach your smarter goals.
You've made one unbelievable set of changes in your life and you're a living example of getting a second chance at things. My sincere congrats for your accomplishments.
2009 is going to be a great year for you!
Great goals for 2009. Be proud of how far you've come and try not to put so much pressure on yourself. Unfortunately, we're only capable of what our individual body allows, and aside from taking care of it, we can't change our genetics.
Phew! I was feeling left out until you offered "slap upside the head", sistre! Because I got no advice, but I can DO the head slap, so:
*SLAP!!*
With all that work you're doing, I'm sure you're healthier than you think. There are times when you're training that things are going so badly (or so it seems) you can't help thinking, "Geez, if I get any 'healthier', I'll be dead."
But it's winter and it's gross outside and that can psych you out; and sometimes you just plateau; then you just keep pushing and the plateau yields a sudden gain, seemingly out of nowhere. The plateau itself sucks, but is part of the process.
It sounds to me like you're at a plateau.
Push through it and try not to get frustrated. It can be like a dam bursting. Looks fine until ... BAM! The water breaks through.
Plateaus can be just like that. All of a sudden - BAM! You're through and climbing to the next level.
Good luck.
I am living by Be Iron Fir by Don Fink. It has gotten me into the correct mindset for my 2009 training. It is a great book even if you do not plan on doing an Iron event.
We will both get smarter even if it kills us. :)
Good luck on all those goals! They're good ones!
And the thing about training smarter is ALWAYS a good idea!
Have a great 2009!!
Sounds like you've had a lot whirling around in your head. You have solid goals and a solid plan for 2009. "Train smarter" is some advice we should ALL take to heart.
I've always been intrigued by heart-rate training, but I don't know anything about it. I'll be interested to hear what you learn and how it affects your training. It will be a good thing!
Don't sell yourself short after a few crappy runs... you've had a lot of amazinvg runs since you've been on the road again too! I hope you get that bounce back in your step soon.
Your goals for 2009 look good! :)
I understand the concept of HR training, but don't have concrete info on it.
You said that you have high HR's, how high?
Yes you can decrease your overall HR, but you can also increase your Max HR with proper training. That's why I am curious on your high HR.
I need to get more goal oriented training myself. Good luck on the 13 week weight loss challenge. I joined in too..
I can't help you on the HR stuff, I haven't ever used my monitor (mostly 'cause the whole concept scares me LOL). I like the idea of training smarter though.
Hope you feel better. I hate injuries too. I forget that my body needs the rest too! But training smarter is def a big one for me. At first I wanted to push up my running but I don't think my body benefits from more miles. Probably just smarter training!
injuries stink. let's make 2009 an injury free year!
about your heart rate - mine is way too high per my HRM, but now I know it's because I have heart arrythmia and it picks up some of hte weird rhythms as extra beats. probably what's best is to somehow figure out what YOUR max HR is and then calculate back to zone 1,2,3,4,5 and not go off a chart.
Sounds like a good idea to train smart..I will give that some good thought.
Yes, it is possible to get your heart rate lower with training. My rest HR was around 73 bpm (unfit and a smoker as well - I gave up 6 years ago) and is now around 50 bpm.
Take it easy with the old injury.
And yes, I'm on the same training trip for 2009: Harder and smarter, not longer and more ... I wish you all the best!
I'm all about the less miles. More doesn't always mean better. Quality over quantity is what they say. Although I'm biased since I'm always using FIRST :P
So glad my nerd-erfic yammering was helpful for you.
It was my epiphany. Good training is NOT about the pace OR the distance you run. It's about putting in the proper exertion, resting properly, and repeating consistently. Using a HRM is a perfect way to ensure you dont overtrain (or undertrain).
You are on the right track homie. Good luck, Mel.
those are great goals for 2009! i cant wait to see you reach ALL of them :)
I can relate to trying to get back. My feet have a mind of their own also. Check out this article and see if it helps: http://www.marathonguide.com/training/articles/HeartMonitorTraining.cfm
Sounds like you have a great plan for 2009! Good luck with healing up.
Great goals for 09. I have no doubt you'll run a 30K race this year.
I'd agree, the last two ARE the big ones! If you're looking for any advice, a book that really helped me with running was ChiRunning. Since I incorporated some of those concepts into my running gait, I've been injury free...not "hurt-free" but definitely injury free! Knock on wood!
great goals for '09, especially the quest to train *smartly*. that is also why i didn't set a yearly-mileage goal. i didn't want to feel forced to log miles and push an injury or sickness.
i've been running with my hrm for 4 months now and i just calculated out my 'zones' and i try to stay within each of them depending on what type of run it is... ie an easy run = 65-75% hr, which for me is around a 150hr.
http://www.howtobefit.com/five-heart-rate-zones.htm
talks about calculating the different zones, although i would use a 'real life' max hr test and not one of the "formulas"
http://www.polarusa.com/us-en/training_with_polar/training_plan_bank
i randomly just found this. haven't looked at the training plan at all but i know you mentioned possibly looking for one and it may be worth looking into?
it doesn't seem like there is a whole lot involved with hr training, but it still manages to throw me for a loop sometimes :)
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