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Paris Marathon 2014
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Mattywarr - the immediately obvious thing from your Garmin data is just how low your cadence is. Ideally, you should be aiming for 180+ steps a minute. On occasions you were down to 146 on that hill. But if anything, you should increase your cadence on a hill, aiming for shorter steps not longer ones.
I think you are over-striding. This puts lots more pressure on hips and knees, wastes a lot of energy and isn't very fast. Does this strike a chord with you?
Other people on the thread have downloaded metronome apps onto smartphones and used the tones to run to. Through this, they have changed their gait into a much more effective stride. Perhaps something to consider.
Mattywarr - following on from what Tricky said, when you first try running at a cadence of around 180 you may think it is impossible. At first, it will seem like you are shuffling.
That was exactly how I felt.
I now find that all of my runs are between 174-182 - and if I do try running at a slower cadence the impacts feel harder.
Give it a go.
Cheers
Rest day today after 20 mile lsr yesterday wet windy and hail in the last 10 telling in time of 3:11:44 (54 miles for week). Weather looks much better today. Last weeks lsr was 23.22 miles in 3:38:06 .... Now that would be a PB by 2 mins for 26.22. 53 miles this week, 315 so far this year leaving 1699 left to hit 2014 target!
Matty - I totally changed my gait this time last year and it took me out of stability shoes and into neutrals. The first thing was the cadence - and yes you're right, you need to significantly shorten your stride which will feel odd for a while. The main thing to watch for is making sure that your foot strikes the ground below your knee, not in front of it...that way you can try for a flat footed/midfoot strike rather than on the heel. When I am tired I still heel strike but I'm working on it!
The other thing that helped with the efficiency was pulling my elbows back instead of pushing them forwards - it helps to keep the shoulders straight and increases efficiency again. It might be worth having a read of some chi running stuff - a lot of this is based on those principles. Put together, it has made a huge difference to my running
Effectively an overstride is a stall. The most efficient part of running is when both feet are in the air and you are flying. When you have slow cadence, you overreach forward with your leading leg, the heel crashes into the ground and because the leg is relatively straight, lots of energy jarrs back up into the leg (injury issues!). The you have to inject lots of energy from your trailing leg to lift you out of the 'stall'. Some runners compensate for this stalling by having an exaggerated bounce, so their energy is used to lift the body upwards.
The Garmin 620 measures this as vertical oscillation. The more energy you use going up and down, the less you are using for going forward.
So short, fast footsteps are inherently more energy efficient and lead to greater speeds in long distance races because you spend much more time 'flying' even though your feet hit the ground longer. Movement is continuous, not crash-stall-bounce-surge. Hope that is helpful to some. Happy rain free running today (fingers crossed).
mattywar, I run to music and I found it very useful to alter the tempo of everything on my playlist to 180bpm.* I used Audacity..no ' Pinky & Perky' voices..* If you don't like music, a tiny metronome for your belt is handy. ( I'm in the all-the-gear-but-no-idea pen
)
Thanks for the reassurance ATM, hopefully I'll make it round in about 5 hours so should be ok for my medal..
21 miles this morning ...... t'was a beautiful morning to run, went with the club so they pushed it a bit on the first stage, but about 7 of us split off and worked our way back up them hills of North London .... here's the workout: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/445949576
Following on from what YM said, and Tricky alluded to, when you overstride and allow you foot to hit the ground well ahead of your knee, you are effectively braking. This is the least efficient use of your energy as it slows you down and uses much resources to overcome and keep going forward. The very most efficient stride would be for your foot to hit the ground right under your body.
21 miles today in Glasgow sunshine , nicest run in ages
First ten in 9:25min average , next five at 9:00 average then five at 8:35 and a final mile blast at 7:59 ,, yes that's right after running 20 miles I put out a sub 8 min mile
Witness my magnificent negatative splits
I'm now at my mums getting carb loaded with shortbread and tea !
I don't know how to make it work .....
BC shirts have arrived and will be dispatched middle of the week. RS has man flu
Stand nearer the webcam , Scott...
This was the first of my 'big' weekends - and considering how I felt after 5+10+21 I'm totally in awe of what Emmy and Weedy achieved doing the Quad last weekend.
ok it works now!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/445949576
@TheJimbob - it was from days ago but yes, sorry, was in Bristol last night/this morning but will try and make it to the club in the next few weeks, sounds good!
Usually do my "big" run on Sundays but to fit things in ended up going yesterday; deviated a little from the Hanson's plan and did 21 miles in just under 2.50, fastest I've ever run 20 (let alone 21) miles so currently feeling pretty good about it!
Followed some of the nutritional advice spotted through this thread and think it really helped, was sipping on a sports drink from around 5k and didn't have any issues with bonking or low energy; ideal.
Some great long runs being reported. I'm jealous of your abilities
That sunshine on the skin feels so lovely. I've got faint suntan marks in a vest shape after 14 miles on the canal. It felt really good, I could have done more but didn't want the injury to resurface. Hoping to up it to 16m on Friday. Physio exercises clearly working. Yeh!
Hoping I can still get a few weeks decent training done before a very short taper.
Perfect day for a run here too - blue skies, chilly but not cold.
Did my 3rd 32k of the campaign and they don't seem to be getting easier. The last 5k were tough.
Took gels from 30 minutes onwards at 30 minute intervals, managed 5 but I'm not sure that, had I needed to, I could have managed any more. Belly felt quite bloated.
When I'd finished there was so much salt on my face that Mrs O said I looked like a peanut. I think I may have a go at recycling next week
Great running folks. And it's such a relief to see the sun again.
Love reading reports of everybody's training progress. The sun was shining on the Essex coast today too. Managed 30k and it seems to be my legs aching rather than my groin. Yay! Not been able to do any long runs for last 2 weeks so hope hope hope this means I can up my mid-week runs too. Did some experimenting with gels too on the back of recent advice on these pages.
49 days ... the countdown begins. Getting excited.
17 miles for me which is my longest run to date. Went to fast for the first 3 and suffered for the last 3 ! Really need to get my nutrition strategy sorted as struggling to get the gels in at the rate recommended.
lovely day for it
Lots of big miles this weekend by the looks of things.
I did 21M this morning, first half with a friend, then second on my own, negative split, but 3h35 total (none of the sub 8mm here today!) Sunny up here too, which made for a lovely days running!
Some great long runs being banked, good stuff people.
Did a Brick session today, 22 mile offroad bike ride immediately followed by 10 mile run.
Great to replicate the heavy leg feeling, and was the hardest session for me so far this year.
SIS gel at 5 miles saved me. Tea, noodles and a bath made me human again. Once i had finished obviously.
Fabulous sunny but cold run in the forest this afternoon for me. TinkerBEL has made it of the death bed and got on to her bike to accompany me, which was very magnanimous of her. LSRs are so much better when there's someone to share it with. 32.5kms done, pacing OK, fuelling felt fine, HR stayed low. Was worried after a long and tough bike ride yesterday I'd be shot to pieces but finished quite comfortably.
Might consider trying some speed work over the next 4 weeks as the stamina part seems to be falling in to place and the body is holding out. Quietly pleased.
Nice data Jimbob - but do be careful with the setting off too fast and getting over eager. Easiest way to ruin a mara. For new marathoners, it has often been said that the marathon is a 10km long race, with a 32km amble to the start line. In other words, don't let enthusiasm and optimism take over cool, rational execution of a race plan. The best path is always even splits, steady effort.
Hmmm....pacing is probably my strongest point. Along with kicking ass. What, exactly, do I have to do to get a job as a pacer?
30 miles on the bike for me in the sunshine, felt good. Blasted up some hills and really enjoyed myself, here's hoping i increase the fitness without running and when the calf allows I'm ok on the mileage.
Well ill dine everyone on the LSRs... A good day to do them!
YM - you could be the 'Sub 4 or Die' pacer. Mind you, you may well be kicking my ass in Paris too.
Actually, all joking aside, I'd love to have a shot at being a pacer
10k race for me in the beautiful sunshine, hooray. Not quite a PB but happy with 53ish, especially after the 18M yesterday. Mr KS PBd by nearly two minutes and is now talking about a half marathon, woop! I reckon he'll go for the Norwich one. It's not til November so lots of time to train.
Tomorrow is my last proper day at work before I get two weeks of garden leave. Weird. V excited about being able to run in the daylight though.
YM, I am in awe of pacers. When I did Eton Dorney half marathon last year there was one pacer who was doing 1:58 and he crossed the line at....1:58, bang on. Amazing.