M: OFF
T: 6M
9:32, 8:43, 8:40, 8:26, 8:11, 8:06
890v3: 222M
W: 3M
8:15, 8:45, 8:34
890v3: 225M
Th: OFF
F: 3M
9:14, 8:27, 8:00
890v3: 228M
S: 1M
8:34 - Storm blew in.
890v3: 229M
Su: OFF
Week: 13M
Another pathetic week. Social schedule and heat were killing me. I do think I figured out why my motivation has been terrible the last couple months--vitamin and supplement change. And when I say "change" I mean "I stopped doing it properly."
So, over the weekend I got back onto a schedule with all the stuff I had been using. I'm sure it'll take a bit for everything to get back up to speed, but I think I need a little time to increase my miles to a respectable level anyway.
Also, I finally took my track bike out of storage and am taking it in for an overhaul/rebuild today for road riding--saddle, bars, grips, brakes, tires, etc. So, if you still have that bike/run schedule you mentioned awhile back I'd love to see it. I'm not sure how long the rebuild is going to take, but I want to get back on my bike ASAP.
The accident was a blessing. I was sick of my car anyway and was looking at a long list of expensive repairs.
Hope everything is good in Virginia!
I tried to leave a comment last week, but it must have gotten lost. I must have miss-keyed one of the spambot prevention characters.
ReplyDeleteWe all go through some down cycles in training. Stay persistent and you will eventually find yourself back on an upswing, and the next upswing will likely last longer and take you further along than you've ever been.
Things are going well here after a recent down cycle of my own. I lost almost 2 months of training due to the dreaded "calf-heart attack" or micro tears. The day after a difficult track workout, I went out for an easy 7 mile run. Everything was going fine until I started to approach another runner. Just before passing him, he started to speed up, and then I started to speed up. Instead of an easy day, I'm racing some stranger for 2 miles before finally dropping him. I might have been fine had I dropped my pace back down, but I decided to keep hammering for the rest of my run, and with about a mile to go my calf started to tighten up.
I tried to train through for awhile, and eventually ended up taking a month off with heavy bike work, yoga, and daily sets of calf drops (straight & bent leg).
I also got more serious about getting more vitamins & supplements from organic fruits and vegetables...more of a paleo diet, though I probably still eat too many unhealthy grains. I even added a chia seed drink 4 or 5 times a week (2 tbs seeds in 1 cup water mixing for 10mins + 1 cup of pomegranate juice...good source of omega3) and a tbs of black strap molasses in my coffee each day (for potassium & iron content).
After a seemingly sluggish transition back into running, things finally seem to be rolling along quite well.
I have rambled on quite a bit here. Have a good week!
Sorry about the calf. Those things sound terrible. Glad you're getting back on track. What paces were you running when you raced/dropped that guy?
DeleteThe last few months really caused me to pull my head out of the sand. I can't get away with half-assing my diet and supplements.
I came up on him at above 7min pace and was gaining quickly, so he must have been going around 8 pace. I figured he would speed up a bit when I tried to pass, which I think is a natural reaction, but I didn't think he would hang on for very long. I was impressed that he was able to keep dropping pace over that long of a distance, and we were at around 6 flat pace the last 1/2 mile or so. When I finally got around him, I told him "nice pace." He grumpily said "not fast enough" and that was that.
ReplyDeleteTruthfully, that kind of over use injury was probably in the works for quite sometime (with that encounter pushing my calf over the edge). I think I had been doing too much running "below the knees" and I probably had been neglecting my supplemental exercises too much, leading to some muscle imbalances.