To race is but a dream...

[shadydaz]

I've had a few days off to reset, essentially waited for my resting HR to drop again, which it did yesterday. Went for a 10km last night, couldnt keep the HR down or the pace to anything like the usual, I even stopped at one point. It was a terribly ruin experience, I also felt like a baby elephant all the way round, heavy and unco-ordinated. It was the worst run for a while, I know first run back after a couple of days is always a bit challenging but this was different level. All sorts of niggles etc came knocking on the door, including the groin issue gain. The groin is still sore this morning. I have a glute problem on the left side and a quad problem on the right side, this says to me there is some kind of imbalance somewhere maybe. Even my arms were sore last night, in the respect of lactate build up in the muscles from the running action, never had that before, even on a long run carrying fluid, i wasn't carrying anything last night.

Not sure what is going on but I don't feel good.

15/07/20
Resting HR 46
Running
14.01km
77:15
5:31 min/km
Ave HR 133
Max HR 150

16/07/20
Resting HR 50

17/07/20
Resting HR 51

18/07/20
Resting HR 40

19/07/20
Resting HR 43
Running
10.04km
55:33
5:31 min/km
Ave HR 145
Max HR 159

Book a physio appointment for next Monday. Hopefully can get a few of these issues sorted out, not sure about the groin though, that's burning as i am sitting here typing so K- Tape will be back out and some strength/stretching/yoga on the cards this week.

Darren.

[TheEd]

Hi Daz .. has there been any improvement in, as how you now feel .. it is a bit of over training .. so the body has asked for a break

TheEd

[shadydaz]

Hi Daz .. has there been any improvement in, as how you now feel .. it is a bit of over training .. so the body has asked for a break

TheEd

Much improved thanks.  I realised already it was down to overtraining. Going to keep the every other day runs for the next few days.  Last night I felt a lot more comfortable but was still only managing 5:30 pace at 140BPM ish so more time needed.

I've added a few things into the routine to support strength and conditioning. So for the time being, the pre-run routine is now 20 mins yoga to activate and stretch out the hip flexors. Then 5-10 mins of dynamic warm ups to fire the muscles and get the HR up a bit. In addition, back to the K Taping to offer support.  This was all successful, I ran without issue other than having to it very casual to keep HR down. 

I've ordered a new roller and some resistance bands which will enable me to add in some strength excrecises for the legs going forward.  I also did weigh myself one morning earlier this week as discussed, I am indeed still 68KG on the money, I suspect the weight I thought I had put on was just water!

20/07/20
Resting HR 43
yoga finishing with press ups and a plank - total 60 mins

21/07/20
Resting HR 40

Yoga 25 mins

dynamics  5mins
Running
14.15km
77:19
5:28 min/km
Ave HR 141
Max HR 171

Last km was 100m on/100m off strides, 5 reps.

Strength HIT - core and upper  15mins

Yoga and foam roller 30 mins.

The HRH has now stabilised under 45 for the last 4 or 5 days, the lowest and most consistent it has been for a while  (it is 41 today). I will just give myself a few more days of consolidation and recovery with the intention of starting two more weeks of high volume blocks in before my holiday week. That gives another two runs at least to gauge how the body is recovering based on the HR/pace comparison at 140BPM, as well as how I feel of course, before stepping into anything of a higher intensity.  

Please let me know if this sounds OK.  If I'm doing anything wrong.

[TheEd]

Hi Daz .. if the HR is down consistently .. then this is more likely muscle fatigue .. increased protein intake can assist muscle recovery, so another thing worth considering

on we go TheEd

[shadydaz]

Hi Daz .. if the HR is down consistently .. then this is more likely muscle fatigue .. increased protein intake can assist muscle recovery, so another thing worth considering

on we go TheEd

I already do, I recently purchased a new premium quality (within the product range) Protien whey Supplement from Bulk Powders and take two per day, one for first breakfast, one in the evening post excercise.  For a few weeks i was using a cheap alternative from Tesco (this is where the fatigue may have built up - due to the standard of the supplement not being effective for me) I will maybe review the dose and adjust it upwards for a week, or take the whey with Semi skimmed milk rather than water to up the calorie intake.  Calorie intake seems to be OK though as weight has remained consistent for a few months.  I am 7 months meat free now too, that experiment is sitll ongoing and the "fresh food" diet is developing well and is well rounded.  Still taking vitamin supps too but have moved to taking them in the evenings so the body uses them more effectively during sleep, rather than in the mornings.

Still learning, developing and tweeking to try and optimise training and performance.

Hopefully the pools are opening soon and I can start to get some good cross training in with some cycling and swimming. Been off the bike for a while as i need to service it and replace one of the gear levers.

Darren.

[TheEd]

Hi Daz, if you a meat eater, red meat can be a massive assistance when there is muscle fatigue as well as assisting with iron

good luck TheEd

[shadydaz]

Hi Daz, if you a meat eater, red meat can be a massive assistance when there is muscle fatigue as well as assisting with iron

good luck TheEd

Been meat free for 7 months. Will look at getting some Iron tablets, the last blood tests I had though all come back spot on. That was Feb/March.

Darren

[TheEd]

Hi Daz .. how things going, have things started 'rebounding'

TheEd

[shadydaz]

Things haven't been great. I did a 10 miler on Thursday @140bpm. have had a headache since Saturday. No training at all due to this, it was a vomit worthy migraine over the weekend. No just a headache that seems to be lingering.

On the bright side, I did have a first consultation with a sports massage therapist. It seem my right glute isn't firing as well as it should be so have been given some homework to get by backside in gear. I also had some rehab therapy on the hams, quads and calves, including acupuncture on the left hammy as it was knotted more than a knitted cardigan. This will now be a monthly process as part of the training.

One concerning point to note is that the RHR has been steadily increasing over the last few days. I am putting it down to being headache related but there has been the occasional sneeze over the last few days so maybe have a very mild cold. It was up to 50 this morning.

Perhaps a gentle 6-8km tonight to get things moving again and see how the legs feel now they've had a good rest. I did up the protein intake to three shakes a day for the time being too.

Keep well, I will update the data when Garmin sort themselves out.

On a seperate note, I've ordered a 935. Coupled with the HR strap I should be able to analyse more dynamic run metrics such as balance, ground contact time, oscillation and stride lengths etc. The info will help you to help me iron out any imbalances that are found. hehe.

Darren.

[shadydaz]

22/07/20
Resting HR 40
Yoga / Strength - 60mins

23/07/20
Resting HR 40
Yoga/Dynamics 23mins
Running
16.02km
87:41
5:28 min/km
Ave HR 142
Max HR 173
Last km was 100m on/100m off strides, 5 reps.

24/07/20
Resting HR 40
Yoga 25 mins
dynamics 5mins
Running
14.15km
77:19
5:28 min/km
Ave HR 141
Max HR 171
Last km was 100m on/100m off strides, 5 reps.
Strength HIT - core and upper 15mins
Yoga and foam roller 30 mins.

25/07/20
Resting HR 40

26/07/20
Resting HR 40

27/07/20
Resting HR 40
Massage and accupuncture 60mins

28/07/20
Resting HR 40
Yoga 23 mins
strength - Glute Activation 21mins
Running
6.37km
34:25
5:24 min/km
Ave HR 144
Max HR 172
Last 0.3km was 50m on / 50m off strides, 3 reps.
Ave Stride Length 1.19m
Ave Cadence 155
Vertical Ratio 10.6%
GCT Balance 50.3/49.7
GCT 263ms

So, this is why a bought the watch. This new info has now been unlocked from the HR strap. It is particulary interesting regarding the balance of ground contact on the left and right feet. I though it would be worse. This was a trail run to keep it slow as had been off feet for a few days and am a bit sore form the massage. The vertical ratio was perhaps affected by this. It will be interesting to compare this against odd only data. I probably wont report this detail every run unless something unusual occurs but its another tool to measure efficiency and progress. Interestingly, on the last stride last night I hit 1:59/km and the balance corrected itself fully to 50/50. Vertical ration is something i perhaps need to look at to find the biggest efficiency gains. This reduced to about 5% when at hit top speed on the strides.