Sub 40 Min Training

[ihenman]

Hit a 30 Min yesterday for about 6K and then did a 35 Min Bike this morning at about 75% of MHR. Will hit the trail again tomorrow and do 30-35 more running as well as on Saturday and probably throw another bike in on Friday.

The shin is feeling better, I discovered something yesterday that I had never realized. While I was stretching the back side of my leg and calf by standing on the edge of a stair and letting my heels drop down I don't think I was "engaging" my calf enough in the stretch.

I tried that this morning and my calves feel a lot looser then they have before.

Is it smart to use the Biking as a supplement to running/impact training? I know it can help improve any muscle imbalances I might have b/w my quads and hams but I don't want to aggravate my shin/calves either.

-Ian

[TheEd]

Be careful on such stretching exercises mainly due to over stretching but certainly focus on calf 'looseness' to avoid the shin problems

cycling can be very beneficial for supplementary purposes BUT only when the cyclist has good technique ... this is highly important if you are to only work on the 'cardio vascular'

engaging the muscle groups of the legs and especially the 'quadriceps' can have a negative impact on running, due to the runner not getting sufficient muscle recovery between sessions due to the cycling

during days 3 to 8 of the 10 km programs it is important not to upset the balance of this period while adapting to the training, thereafter the days that follow the cycling should not have too much of a negative impact and then avoid cycling too close to race day on the program

hope this helps

TheEd

[ihenman]

OK, thanks for all that.

So from what I'm reading I should still run/cycle every 2nd day for the next bit until I'm feeling healthier? Am I on the right page there.

[TheEd]

you can run every 2nd day with cycling on the days that you are not running but you must aim to be cautious and not fatigue the legs during these rides, focus on good form and 'spinning' correctly ... aerobic, cardio vascular

if you achieve this you should be 'operational' real soon

TheEd

[ihenman]

I decided to lay off the bike the remainder of last week, was a long weekend in Canada so I ran Thursday and Saturday and will hit the trail again today.

Leg is feeling about 75% or so... It doesn't "pain" as per se, but it is tender if I push (which for what ever reason I test once and a while).

I am supposed to race a 10K this up coming Sunday, I am not sure if I should bother or not...

This week I was going to

Monday - Steady run 40 Min (8K or less)
Tuesday - Cycle in Morning 45 Min steady w/ focus on form & Cardio
Wed - Easy Tempo Run of 40 Min (10 min easy - 20 min at about 85-90% HR - 10 min easy)
Thursday - Off
Friday - 30 Min easy (6 K or less)
Saturday - Good walk with my dogs
Sunday - Possible 10K race

What are your thoughts on this... I would like to then introduce the Sub 40 Min 10K program after the race BUT modify a bit running 4 times a week and cross training twice rather then running 6 with 1 day off.

Thought I could replace the 30 Min easy run days w/ 30-40 min of cardio on the bike (easy in the 70%-75% HR range).

Ian

[TheEd]

Ian what you propose looks OK however I would consider taking a rest the day before the 10km and after the 10km .. walk the dogs on the Friday rather

keep icing the shin area
Apply ice to the shin area - for 10 minutes every 2 hours, in order to reduce the inflammation

and consider the following

Self-massage, using arnica oil or an anti-inflammatory gel, to the muscle only (along the inside of the shin).

please provide feedback as to how this goes

hopefully you can literally kick this problem into touch as it is always a point of concern for long-term running and exercise progress

TheEd

[ihenman]

TheEd,

yes I have contended with this type of problem off and on first when I ran b/w the ages of 15 - 20 and again over the past 2 years as I've tried to pick running up again.

This stint (Since this Jan.) has been the longest. I've often thought it was something mechanical OR over training.

I've been attempting to adjust my impact to a mid-foot strike and pick up some pointers from both the CHI running and Pose Running techniques.

I just recently purchased a HR/GPS watch and the information I'm getting from the HR monitor is quite eye opening.

I've been training too fast on easy runs and likely far to fast on stamina/tempo sessions. Today it was humid but tracking my HR I had to slow down a lot compared to what I would usually run an easy run at to keep it under 80%.

I will adjust my schedule maybe to

Monday - Steady run 40 Min (8K or less) - COMPLETED
Tuesday - Cycle in Morning 45 Min steady w/ focus on form & Cardio
Wed - Easy Tempo Run of 40 Min (10 min easy - 20 min at about 85-90% HR - 10 min easy)
Thursday - 30 Min easy (6 K or less) OR Bike
Friday - Good walk with my dogs
Saturday - OFF
Sunday - Possible 10K race
Monday - OFF
Tuesday - 30 Min Recovery Easy Run

Thank you so much for your time and input here on the forum! I don't know if you have a PayPal donate button, I'll look on the main site, if you don't you should

-Ian

[TheEd]

Hi Ian .. just a quick shoot off .. I should attach the paypal aspect as there is a plugin installed on the forums but had never activated it .. so will take a look

coming back to shins ... what shoe 'last' do you currently use, have you gone towards shoes that touch on motion control or have you no need for such

or does it come down to 'overuse' as you do mention running too hard on the easy days?

when you next run, monitor your 'arm carriage', I would be interested to hear how your arms swing etc .. you have a plumbline which runs down between your eyes across your nose and straight down through the middle of your chest to between your legs .. it will be interesting to see if you can note whether the hands come across this 'line' when you run?

Cheers for now

TheEd

[ihenman]

I run in a stability shoe (Sacuony Grid). I don't over pronate and my "wear" pattern is pretty normal. How ever I have a bad cracking in my right ankle and it turns in a bit so I wear the stability shoe & an insert in both of them for that reason.

It could be the overuse yes, I guess I'll tell over the coming weeks. It could be how my feet impact with the ground as well (if my right foot splays out at all).

I will monitor the arms next run. I try to pull back with my elbows and let my hands swing slightly inwards across my chest, although I am unsure if they cross my natural center line.

What you're saying is I show attempt to keep my hands from crossing over this line correct?

[TheEd]

OK .. let's work on the arms and the plumbline for now

as you are able to assist the feet a fair amount with better posture and arm swing

we should do it in little steps without drawing conclusions too quickly

till later

TheEd