Training Supplement – July 27, 2016

It was a hot week.  But, Kelly Clarkson promised that what doesn’t kill me will makes me stronger and a podcast reminded me that bad days are “the cost of doing business” if I want to get better.  My new heart rate monitor provided numbers on my running dynamics.  And, the Sweetgreen app made healthy lunches excuse-proof.

Clothing & Gear

Heart Rate Monitors.  Garmin HRM-Run Heart Rate Monitor.  Last week, I purchased a heart rate monitor for my Garmin 630.  In addition to heart rate, the HR monitor tracks a few running dynamics.

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  Vertical Oscillation.  This measures how much a runner goes up rather than out.  According to Wearable, “Typical oscillation is between 6 and 13 cm with the Paula Radcliffe’s of this world moving at the lower end of that scale.”  My VO was in the 10 cm range, which means I’m pretty average.

• Time Balance.  This metric is about how much time each foot spent on the ground.  I was fascinated to see that my left leg is consistently on the ground less than my right!  Why am I spending more time on my right foot than my left?!  My best guess: I’m still over-compensating for my left piriformis pain.
• Ground Contact Time.  This metric was pretty self-explanatory.  It seemed as though I was usually in the 250 microsecond range but it would be interesting to see if that number dropped during a race.

In the end, I can’t say I’m going to track any of these metrics.  It seems to me there are so many things I should improve before I start worrying about my vertical oscillation.

Compression Sleeves.  My calves were sore from running on the treadmill on Saturday.  I think the repetitive motion on the same incline stressed them out more than usual.  Even though I haven’t been convinced they help, I wore my CEP Compression Sleeves all day on Sunday to see if they would ease the recovery.  I’m not still not sure I would have felt any worse if I hadn’t worn them.

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Nutrition & Hydration

Energy chews.  Fuel 100 Electro-Bites.  I wanted a little something before my interval workout on Tuesday, so I snacked on these chews, which came in my November 2016 Stridebox.  I didn’t eat very many of them.  I liked the pumpkin spice flavor but they were very dry – like a graham cracker but not sweet.

Workout hydration and electrolytes.  I switched to Gatorade on Tuesday’s interval workout since I’ve been having some GI distress with Liquid IV in hopes that I would handle it better.  Nope.  In fact, it was worse!  I went back to Liquid IV the next day and my system liked it better but I’m not convinced it’s the solution.  I may go back to plain water for anything but long runs.

Nutrition. In addition to Pret a Manager, I like getting a salad for lunch at Sweetgreen.  But, the line is always so long.  Twice this week, I used the app to order and pay for my salad.  It was great!  Although now, I don’t have an excuse for not eating a healthy lunch.

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Routes

Hazards.  Since I started documenting some of the hazards I encounter on my runs last week, I thought I would share one that I deal with almost every day.  This sidewalk hazard has been around for so long that there’s lush vegetation growing around it.  The traffic cone is a nice touch, too.  It’ll be interesting to see if and when this section of sidewalk ever gets fixed.

Construction.  I thought it was a funny coincidence that there was an article on the property I was planning to track on a local news website.  Perhaps I can monitor the project’s progress for them, as well.

 

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Media & Motivation

Music.  “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You),” by Kelly Clarkson.  This song came on during one of my hot and humid runs this week and I hoped it’s message was true.  (My Spotify Discover playlist was a bust this week.  For some reason, I keep getting remakes of “Payphone,” by Maroon 5 as recommendations but so far, I’ve resisted buying any version). 

Books.  “Summer Reading List: Olympics Edition,” from Miles to the Trials.  I mostly wanted to bookmark this list so I can go back to it once I finish all the other running-related books I haven’t finished or started.

Podcasts.  “Justin Park,” from Final Surge Podcast.  I thought he told a nice story of following your passion to become a professional athlete despite obstacles.  My favorite part was where he talked about the “cost of doing business”.  If you want to get the best out of yourself, invariably, there will be days when you’re not at your best and you have to just accept that.

“Counties, Cities and Townships,” from Pace the Nation.  The opening discussion on training in the heat was timely for me since I’ve been struggle with that lately.  Like one of the hosts, I don’t like getting to a place in my training where I’m bargaining with myself in workouts because I’m struggling.  I don’t think that’s a good place to be mentally.  The interview with Matt Centrowitz Sr. was also enjoyable.  It was interesting getting a “peak behind the curtain” on what his son, who won the 1500m in the trials, might be going through leading up to the Olympics.

Runner Rankings.  The Spring 2016 Regional Runner Rankings from Potomac River Runners came out a few weeks or months ago.  I was 32nd in my age group, which is nice since I think I only ran two local races this spring – the Rock n Roll DC Half Marathon and the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.

Motivation.  “The five S’s of sports training are: stamina, speed, strength, skill, and spirit; but the greatest of these is spirit.” – Ken Doherty

Just as my training was coming together, the weather heated up and my progress came to a screeching halt.  (More on that in a few days.)  But, I’m trying to keep my spirits up.