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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

6/20/11 - 6/26/11

Mon: AM 2.5 miles / PM 8.14 km
Tue: 11.46 km
Wed: 8.15 km
Thu: planned rest day
Fri: AM 3 miles / PM 8.17 km
Sat: 7.29 km
Sun: 16.18 km

Total: 8 runs, 68.24 km, 8.53 km/run

Mon: AM: This is only the second double I have done this year.  I did my hip exercises prior to my morning run.  I ran on a treadmill at work in my vibrams - do all my treadmill runs @ 1% incline.
PM: Never got in a rhythm - felt like I was reaching down and out with my left leg (pelvic twist?)

Tue: This was supposed to be a moderate-hard aerobic run - 6-7 miles @ 7:00/mile pace.  The result was just over 7 miles @ 7:15/mile pace.  The last few miles ended up being just hard.  I think I was a little to sure of myself prior to the run.  I will remember this run next time and stick closer to 7:30 pace for now.

Wed: Easy run.  I could tell I was tired because my average heart rate was 147 (high) at 5:16/km pace

Fri: AM: Easy run on treadmill at work at 8:23/mile pace.
PM: Progressive run from 8:30/mile down to 7:45/mile.

Sat: Short easy run.

Sun: First time I have done 10+ miles since November (at least)!  My legs were beat up as I did a 6-mile hike in Rocky Mountain National Park (1400 ft elevation gain) the day before.  I did not push the run at all as my legs had the "lead" feeling.  5:24/km pace with an average heart rate of 146 (shows I was tired!!!).

Overall, I accomplished my goals for the week.  I wanted to hit 40+ miles (ended up with 42.4).  This is the second time I reached 40+ volume in a week in 2011.  I also wanted to be smart about it and not increase intensity, which I did (I actually backed off the intensity).

I really focused throughout the week on my form.  I began the week feeling likemy pelvis was twisted.  What I mean when I say this is that I felt like when I was facing forward, I was slightly twisted to the left; my right quad, hip, pectoral and shoulder were all out in front of my left.  Add to this that my left knee has the tendency to collapse to the outside, I felt like I was "taller" on my right side.  This made me feel like I was "falling" to my left side.  I wanted to feel like I was "running tall".  I tried to stay uniform in my stride from one side to the next.  I focused on: 1) keeping my knee above or just on the outside of my foot through push-off, 2) firing my quads and hips through push-off, 3) keeping my shoulders and hips level, and 4) having my footfall for each stride occur directly below my hips.  In doing all these things, I noticed my left achilles tendinitis flared up, but I'm not sure why.  I'm keeping tabs on it to make sure it doesn't get worse as right now it gets a little tight on some runs.

This week I am shooting for a 2nd week in a row of 40+ miles.  I should be able to accomplish this without any injury risk.  I want to continue to focus on the things mentioned above as well as running efficiently - midfoot strike without causing any additional stress on my left achilles.

I tried sleeping in my bed one night and I woke up with a sore, stiff lower back.  So, I have been sleeping on my floor at home.  I have a therm-a-rest on top of my rug on my hardwood floors.  Needless to say, it is "firm" support.  Ha ha!  I must say though that my back has not felt this good in a year+.

I am starting to consider myself a runner again...

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