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Jan 2015
11:46pm, 27 Jan 2015
1,256 posts
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Canute
FR I would expect that swimming has strengthened your hamstrings, especially if you have been using the kickboard.
However it is not clear why you should have DOMS in other muscles after your 20 miler –it was fairly fast for a training run, as Furman demands, but it was a similar pace to your recent marathon after which you reported that your legs suffered no ill effects. Maybe your recent intervals and tempo running have left you will mild residual micro-trauma, which has been exacerbated by the eccentric loading at footfall (especially in quads and calf) in the 20 miler. My overall impression is that you are currently coping well with the Furman paces. But remain attentive to the fact that you are pushing your body fairly hard at the moment.
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Jan 2015
9:18am, 28 Jan 2015
4,127 posts
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FenlandRunner
Canute, I've just had a thought, I wore a rucksack on Sunday and that would have changed my CoG and also added significant weight, I carried 1 litre of water (which is 1Kg) so probably more than 3Kg extra weight in total to propel.
Good news, legs feel good today 
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Feb 2015
6:42pm, 1 Feb 2015
1,259 posts
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Canute
Polarised training: Rebuilding week 1
Low Intensity run 374 min, 57.6 Km 6:23 min, 79% HRmax
Low Intensity elliptical 274 min;
High intensity 33 min, peak HR 93%
Total 681 minutes: Low intensity 95%, threshold 0%, high intensity 5%
The hope that I would be able to start marathon-specific training this week was frustrated by continuing mild respiratory symptoms. The incomplete recovery was confirmed by erratic resting heart rate, on several occasions more than 20% higher than usual. I considered it was best to adjust each day’s training according to how I felt, and as a result did quite a large volume of low intensity training on the elliptical.
Nonetheless I did mange three 2 hour runs. The first of these, on Thursday proved to be an epic. I set off intending to do an easy 90 minute run, but within 20 minutes, I encountered a freak squall that produced a short-lived blizzard. The wind suddenly picked up to gale force and the driven snow stung like hailstones on my face. I could see scarcely more than a few feet in front of me, but that mattered little, as despite my efforts, I was progressing little faster than walking pace. The squall lasted only about 2 minutes, but left me feeling shattered.
As rapidly as the wind had picked -up, it died away, and large fluffy snowflakes drifted slowly earthwards in a beguiling manner. I did not have the energy for more than a slow jog, and in any case, treacherous conditions underfoot made fluent running impossible. Nonetheless, I continued to jog onwards through the enchanting swirl of snow, and when I reached the turn-around point for a 90 minute run, decided to keep on in the outward direction. I arrived home well over two hours after setting out, with frozen feet and scarcely able to lift my pace above a jog, but nonetheless in that state of tranquil exhaustion that I remember from the late afternoon trudge back to camp after a long day in the mountains , years ago.
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Feb 2015
7:00pm, 1 Feb 2015
50 posts
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Dillthedog57
I had a similar run on Thursday Canute. I set off across the levels on a country road, which was a mistake because it was wide open to the elements. After being pelted by hailstones, I turned around, because I was fed up battling into the head wind at a desperately slow pace. Only to find I was still going into a head wind! I ran in 4 different directions, and all were into what seemed like a gale force wind. I have never been so glad to get back in the warmth, and to sit and steam next to my wood burner. I put it down as a character building exercise, I just have no idea what sort of a character it was building
Not to worry, today is the first day of the celtic spring, and so things have got to improve soon. Haven't they???
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Feb 2015
9:27pm, 7 Feb 2015
19,859 posts
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SPR
I experienced how the brain can affect performance in my XC races today. I usually start relatively slow and get faster, but today I started fast on purpose (but too fast) to try and stay close to some faster teammates and did the first mile in 6:06, next was 6:22, and after that 6:35. During this time I felt like I was struggling, teammates that I had my eye were long gone, and I was being passed by a few people, the next mile was 6:57 and when one more person passed me, I looked back almost hoping that there was a gap to the next group and I could relax and maintain my position, what I saw was a teammate that I usually beat in XC bearing down on me, suddenly my goal was to do everything I could to keep him behind me (even though consciously I thought he'd catch me eventually), and the rest of the race (1.76 miles) was run around 6:32 pace and I managed to overtake a few people that had passed me earlier in the race and make a significant gap to my teammate.
I don't think starting fast suits me, but it was interesting to realize that I had a lot more left than I felt I did, and makes me think whether the drop to 6:57 in the 4th mile was really necessary.
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Feb 2015
12:04am, 9 Feb 2015
1,292 posts
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Canute
SPR
Yes, you almost certainly could have maintained a faster pace in the doldrum period. The interaction between conscious and unconscious factors that dictate the choice of pace is intriguing. I continue to experiment with various ways of minimising interference from counter-productive conscious thoughts.. In recent times I have been experimenting with mindfulness – in particular, during high intensity periods, I focus on current sensations from my body encouraging a feeling of exhilaration with my pace while ignore conscious evaluation of how much longer there is to go
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Feb 2015
12:08am, 9 Feb 2015
1,293 posts
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Canute
Limbo again:
Low intensity: 33 min run, 259 min elliptical
High intensity: 38 min (1x3, 35x1 min)
Total 330 min: Low intensity 88.5%; threshold 0%, High Intensity 11.5%
The cold air has continued to play havoc with my airways and ears. Ever since early childhood I have been mildly asthmatic and also prone to earache in cold weather. This week both of these problems have been an issue. I have been quite wheezy; I continue to be almost totally deaf in my left ear and both ears are aching continually. To cap it all, I seem to have caught another cold. So I have only done one short run, in which I included a few strides to keep a bit of life in my legs.
Mainly I have done easy sessions on the elliptical. In these sessions, my HR is 5-10 bpm higher than usual at the beginning of the session, but falls a despite constant work-load over a period of 30 minutes. I hope this indicates that these low intensity session are actually decreasing my stress level.
Early in the week I listened with a sense of irony to the news items reporting the high death rate from flu this year, and counted the number of characteristics I share with the category of person expected to contribute to the increased death rate at this time of year. I am been feeling a bit of an old crock, but not quite ready to line up on a trolley in A&E waiting for a hospital bed in which to die. On the other hand, neither do I feel like a person ready to run a marathon in about 10 weeks time. There is no prospect I will be ready to race a marathon in April, so I will have to decide whether to simply run it as a social event, or to start a gradual build up towards an autumn marathon.
It is beginning to appear that my respiratory problems make preparation for a spring marathon impractical for me
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Feb 2015
6:53am, 9 Feb 2015
7,758 posts
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Boab
I am sad to read this Canute, you seemed to be making great progress until these series of setbacks. Could they be related? Is there an immune system response coming from the heavier training load and do you consider diet to play any significant part in the immune system stability? Or something else entirely?
I hope you can come out of this soon and get back to plan.
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Feb 2015
7:50am, 9 Feb 2015
4,251 posts
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FenlandRunner
Canute, with all the recent obstacles to training (cold, ice, snow) I'm starting to wonder if a serious marathon attempt is better scheduled for autumn. As you get to train in the summer and if to hot you just get up early?
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Feb 2015
9:38am, 9 Feb 2015
19,862 posts
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SPR
Canute - Sorry to hear things aren't going well. I think FR may be right. In terms of whether to 'jog' a marathon, I think it depends on how much it will take out of you. It may be better to focus on training and maybe do some shorter races to satisfy any competitive urges.
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