How am I feeling today?

Waking up to an unexpected shower wasn’t what we had planned to say the least. We were going to go over to Millsfield Pond in NH, just to see what they have done to the old camp and pay our respects on the bridge. Looking out the window changed our plans. I am a bit bummed about that, and with the rain, we won’t be able to do much of the outside stuff we have been working on. 

Which means more time to run hehehehehe. Although I might have gotten a bit too aggressive with the mobilization work last night, so we will see how the leg feels when I start my recovery run this morning. I will most likely run down to Pepin and take it easy coming back up the hill.

Planned Workout Description:  

Type: 

• Recovery Run – 40:00 minutes

Per Stryd: “Easy runs are an important part of balancing training intensity and recovery. Your target for this run is 65-75% of your Stryd Auto-Calculated Critical Power. You are encouraged to start out at the lower end of your prescribed range and progress to near the top of your prescribed range by the end of the run. While going above your prescribed range might feel easy in the moment, it is important to remember the purpose of an easy run is to promote recovery without adding additional fatigue.”

Today’s Running Focus

• Recovery

Why am I doing this run?

To get the body moving and keep adding miles to the totals. I am going to try to run easy, staying primarily in Zone 2.

What I Actually Did Today: 

• Pepin O/B – 40:00-minute recovery run

Did the workout go as planned?

It was raining when I got around to running, not hard, but enough that I left my glasses at the house, and yeah, I procrastinated getting my arse out the door. I read some more of Rich Roll’s “Finding Ultra” to see if I could get a little more motivated. I knew that once I got going, I would have a good run. It was just the getting going that was the problem.

Finally, I got out the door, and after reading an article about T-Rex arms, I wanted to try it to see how it felt on the run. At first, it felt kind of corny and unnatural because I have a naturally long and tend to let my hand be about halfway up the body, along with the elbows out to fend off anyone who gets too close.

I started out slow and kept focusing on the T-Rex arms and keeping the feet rolling from the heel through the big toe. I know a lot of stuff to keep track of, but that is the kind of stuff you can do on a recovery run. However, you purposely run slower on a recovery run and have time to experiment with different running styles to find what is more efficient. 

The first couple of miles were feeling really easy, and when I looked at the heart rate for them, I was in the 120s (yes, I was going downhill), something I usually don’t achieve for that long of a time. So, something about those two changes meant I was more efficient. I was surprised at the pace when I stopped.

Plus, the run felt easier than they have in a while. Even while coming back out of Pepin and running up Philbrick Hill, I didn’t experience the fatigue that I usually feel coming back up it. No temptations to stop and walk or any of that. I was just keeping the pace easy.

So, yes, the workout went as planned – once I got my arse out the door.

What did I learn today?

Yesterday I was reading an article about running form, and in it, they discussed T-Rex arms. I have always had a difficult time figuring out how to hold my arms while running and have attempted several different styles over the years. The author wrote about keeping your hands a little higher and creating a smaller fulcrum to allow you to swing them a bit quicker. It made a LOT of sense to me.

Since today was a recovery day, it made it easier to experiment and focus on trying something a little different. I was surprised at 1) how easy it made running with a quicker cadence, 2) that I couldn’t maintain that change without focusing on doing it, and 3) that it might be something that I need to make a permanent part of my running. 

It will take a few months to do it, but a simple change like this did seem to help make me feel more compact and not like I am lumbering along like I tend to do on most of my runs. Plus, my heart rate was a bit lower than it has been for similar efforts – all good things.

Injuries/Niggles: The left Achilles played nice until I started coming up the hill, and then it decided to grumble a little, nothing serious, but it doesn’t like long or steep hills all that much, so I need to play carefully on them. 

The right foot felt fine without me attempting to run with more of a forefoot landing. This working on the heel landing and rolling through to toe-off is much more to its liking. I also think that changing to more of a T-Rex arm swing is helping to keep the cadence a little higher, which in turn makes my landings a bit less jarring.

Weather: Light rain, 64°F, Feels like 68°F, Humidity 100%, Wind 3mph from N

Shoes: Reebok Energy 2 – No issues. They are simply comfortable and let me run with my own stride. 

Other Stuff:

Nothing.