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That you don't clean up properly after running.
Or you're doing 10miles at tempo ..ie 10mile pace as part of a 13?!
Surely you're using tempo loosely here?
Tempo = some pace associated with some race distance.
Threshold = 10 mile race pace.
Let's leave it at that.
My 10 at tempo is usually somewhere betweem mp and hmp. Yes i am naturally beautiful and i do have my own office.
I have to get my payback for years of people getting agitated by my use of the phrase "marathon pace", having taken Moz's definition as theoretical based off HMP.
I even started "disguising it" on strava posts
Thanks - some lovely images there.
For reasons I don't understand when I was 40 I could exercise aplenty and not sweat much or any at all but now I'm 50 it pours off me - on a gym bike I'm starting to think I need to take a towel with me because my top is simply washing my face after about an hour.
I did a crossfit class at lunchtime today for the first time in ages and was properly sweaty (my mascara still stayed on though). I can report I am still terrible at burpees but ok at skipping.
Never used to give either a second thought, but now I'm checking humidity readings etc
You certainly think/worry about stuff more with age.
I remember turning up at a really tough hilly half at about 21, hands in pockets, stupid long shorts, yawning on the start line thinking, this'll be fine.
These days I have to seriously consider long races and get up for them!
Much like the Kenyan kids, building their aerobic engines running 10k to and from school everyday.
Skinny, after I finish a spin class the floor around my bike and me are drenched in sweat. I tend to put this down though to working very hard.
Good going David, definitely on for a sub 40 in a 10k race.
Still just taking it easy, 5m planned over lunch.
The other thing I have been keeping a secret DT style is that I have been trying to adopt front foot running as the Manchester physio said my heel striking would exacerbate the foot nerve pain thing. This does seem to be mainly successful in the foot pain but is very hard on my soleus muscles which are grumbling like hell on every run.
Anyhow tonight was a local Scottish 5 mile race so I decided as my running had been light I would see if running in a group could drag my new running style round 5 miles in sub 35 - not an ambitious target but perhaps an amuse bouche to encourage me to aim for a 10k at end of summer.
Quite unexpected Skinny race report follows!
Flattish 5 miler on quiet country roads with a field of about 100 people. Weather was cold but dry and not much wind.
Decided to wear my racers (Nike Lunaracer 3) but no watch as
a) I had no idea what pace I could run at
b) Finishing was more important than the time and
most importantly of all
c) I don’t own a watch at the moment and I certainly wasn’t going to carry my iPhone round 5 miles.
No warm up because my foot and calves are at their limit with 5 miles but I did a bit of arm swinging to try and at least engage my heart and lungs before the off.
The start was one of those where everybody suddenly starts running and I was about in midfield but chugged along quite comfortably although I was a bit disappointed with quality of runners I was trotting beside and I could hear various watch wearers telling each other they were going too fast. I certainly wasn’t and as we approached the mile marker my pace seemed to pick up slightly and I moved through this pack and another couple of runners who were clearly pacing fuckwits.
Past one mile my soleus muscles were starting to remind me that front foot running is not their cup of tea but I had a taste for it now and between miles 2 and 3 I up my pace and move past another 8 people a couple of which I recognised from my proper running days so that was encouraging.
At just after 3 miles my soleus muscles felt like they might explode so I decided that discretion was sensible and ran flat footed for majority of last two miles - no one passed me, I didn’t pass anyone.
Just before finish I heard a woman shout ‘32nd’ to me as I ran past and I guessed that was about right and I’d probably run about 34 mins. I was hanging on a little at the end so the slow first mile probably saved me from blowing up.
Provisional results now in and I was actually 22nd ( so good news on position, bad news about my hearing) and ran it in 32:30 or 6:30mm.
So a liberal sprinkling of race day magic and there might even be a sub 20 min 5k lost in there somewhere.
I've stretched like crazy but I’m going to get a physio massage my calves before end of week and drop back to 2 and 3 milers for a while again.
Fingers crossed you wake up feeling good.
(I'm a forefoot striker, and would suggest some racers with a slightly built up heel to reduce the load on the soleus.)
Thanks. I am doing single leg bent knee calf raises as I recognised straight away that my soleus couldn't stand the strain. Seems okay for about a mile and then 3 miles seems to be it's limit.
Reading articles on the web they seem to suggest that 2 to 3 miles could be the most you should do for about a year before your body adjusts. As I haven't been able to run at all this timetable is fine for me but wonder how long it took you as obviously I'd like it to be less if possible?
How long did calf tear take to heal?
Thanks both. It did DT (although I was a little nervous that if my calves or foot gave out they would run past me later as I limped home!).
I was nervous as hell getting out of bed but everything feels okay - can even run up and down stairs without discomfort.
Muddy re the heel I'm currently still doing my training runs in my Brooks Ghost shoes and I was actually wondering if heel was too high. I'm still struggling to get a consistent 'land' and experimenting a bit with how to get the best land going downhill rather than a slide (leaning forward slightly more seems to do trick) so it's very much a work in progress but that's much better than where I was.
Someone from work was there last night and saw me after a mile and 3 miles whilst I was still front foot running and said my form looked really good so that was encouraging.
Skinny - I had two weeks completely off running, saw the physio after the first week. I then spent 3 weeks building back up with 5min run 1 min walk etc before I could start full training again. So I'd say 5 weeks, during this I was doing 3 sets of calf exercises and glute work 2 days on 1 day off.
I wouldn't say my form is perfect but it definitely feels a lot better and more midfoot then I used to, the leaning forward definitely helps and concentrating on landing my feet underneath me. I find shoes make a big difference, I struggle in my ultraboosts however my form feels really good in Nike Pegasus. I race in On Cloud Xs which are a 6mm drop and feel the best of them all. Hope that helps!
Great news, Skinny! Good to see you back at the races. Have you considered getting some uber-cushioned shoes? I've been wearing Hoka's for a couple of years now (for training, I mainly race in Adidas) and haven't had an injury or niggle to speak of (Sod's law that I'll get one now). They're not to everyone's liking and they can look a bit clumpy but I seem to get on well with them.
Good work on the nearly 10K, DH. Looking good for the sub 40 10k.
Nothing of note really for me. Need to decide what I'm doing this spring/summer.
I just got a bit nostalgic and looked up the last edition of the TTT. Annoyingly my 5m and 10m times are still the same!
I'll hopefully start to put that right in 2 weeks with the 5m race. Local 10k sunday, very hilly and just a bit of local fun. Shame as the forecast is absolutely perfect racing conditions. I managed 39.46 last year for a course pb despite having been drinking at a friends 40th the night before. Hoping to beat that this year, though as London was a week later this year I am not as well recovered going into it.
Okay DT and Muddy - attached is the very out of date TTT - have a look and tell me which times are out of date and I'll update and publish whenever anyone gets a PB - I'll drop the number of prizes etc because it's just too out of date now and I'll update the best ever WAVA using Power of 10.
If anyone else notices an out of date PB then let me know - we are all obviously older too.
I think it only shows current active members on the thread although some are much more active both in the thread and running than they were previously - for a lot of us those PBs look like lifetime PBs :-(
Cheers, Skinny
So you were able to do a full training programme of front foot running after 5 weeks of bent leg calf exercises and glute work? Thanks that's encouraging although I'm already taking longer than that.