Wednesday, July 23, 2014

It's Definitely the Shoes

In my third post on this blog, I talked a bit about the new shoes I was trying. The Hoka shoes were a new experiment at the time and I was encouraged by the results. I had quit running regularly in 2009, with occasional attempts to return. But chronic plantar fasciitis stopped me in my tracks every time.

I tried all the known cures and palliatives, short of surgery. You name it, I tried it. But if I ran as much as a single mile, my feet would hurt for days. In fact, they hurt every morning whether I ran or not. But they started feeling consistently good this past winter, so I decided to try running again. Instead of returning to my trusty flat, minimalist training shoes, I got a pair of Hoka Bondi3 shoes.

After almost 3 months and a few hundred miles in these shoes, I can say unequivocally that they have been a miracle for me. Not only did the PF not return, but all the aches and pains I'd become used to have not returned. I get tired on long runs (like we're supposed to), but not achy and sore. My conditioning is the limiter now, not my joints and bones. Which is as it should be.

For you, *ahem*, mature athletes, consider a pair of these shoes if the aches and pains of regular running have you skipping runs or cutting your volume more than you'd like.

Friday, July 18, 2014

Bad Run Plan -- What Not to Do

Don't ever try this...

I had a long-ish run planned for this past Tuesday. So I decided to run the 4.5 miles to my son's high school and watch him play in a 7-on-7 football passing league game. I was running a little late, so I picked up the tempo a bit for the last two miles. Sat and watched the game for an hour, and then ran home.

The run home was painful and awful, every single step. Never found a rhythm. Felt sore and worn out all evening.

Bad idea to sit for an hour in the middle of a run.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

The Long(er) Ride

I finally made the time and mental commitment to do a proper long ride. I've done lots of 1, 2  and even a 3-hour ride. But 4+ is where the fatigue can really set in, and you separate the man in you from the...not man.

4:10 last Saturday, including an ascent of Mt. Diablo here in the SF East Bay. The plan was to sit just under goal half IM bike power for most of it, and push +10% or so on the climbs. Try to bring the whole ride in around 155 watts or so.

But I got a little carried away; just couldn't help it. At 2:15 I was most of the way up the mountain, sitting at 168 watts (NP average). And then power just started dropping. By the summit, I was at 165. After the descent, at 160. During the last hour home on mostly flats, I drifted all the way back to 152 average for the ride.

So, lessons learned.

Lessons:


  • Remember to eat. I need calories on these longer rides.
  • Stop to refill water. I was impatient and skipped a water stop on the way up. Was mildly dehydrated the rest of the day.
  • Pace more carefully. Have a plan; stick to the plan. It would have been a better workout if I had kept the first half under 160w, then picked it up for the last hour going home.
  • Finally...I do not yet possess the long-ride stamina for the event. My 60min power is on track -- I think I'm at about 210w, and my goal was to get to 200w. Based on that, my plan is to race at 160w. But I have to still do the longer rides to build stamina to hold that power and still run.


But, it's all going in the right direction.