notesonrunning

Notes

There are days when putting your shoes on for the run itself is a big effort. Today was one such day. When the procrastination monster strikes and push you on the backfoot, it’s easy to fade out and forgot about the training or whatever the heck we are trying to do. I have failed to tackle the monster on most occassions but when I do what works for me is envisioning the mindspace I would be in after the run.
I started following Kilian Jornet over an year back. By then, he had already established himself as the most decorated trail runner in the history of the sport. For those interested, here’s his profile. Couple of weeks back Kilian and a bunch of other accomplished ultra-runners took part in a challenge to run continuosly for a period of 24hours in Måndalen, Norway. Even though he came short of breaking the record set by Yiannis Kouros in 1997 who ran 303.
These are basic types of runs which are practiced by runners everywhere. Recovery: Easy-paced short run with focus on recovering after a hard run on an earlier day. Base: Short to moderate length run to build on aerobic capacity, endurance and running economy. Long: As the name say, this one should be longer than any of your other runs. Make room for one of these per week.
Here are few pre-run workouts to do when you’re not anxious enough to just get started with the run :) Split each of these over 30seconds or so. Knee Hug: relaxes the glutes and hamstring muscles Quad Stretch: stretches out the knee, quad and foot Leg Pull: works by grabbing the shin and pulling it up Leg Swings: the easiest and most fun warm-up drill, opens up the inner thigh Reverse Lunge with twist Upper body stretches: relaxes shoulder muscles The idea of doing these exercises is to loosen up your body and prepare yourself better for the run.
A tempo run is when a level of effort on pace can be maintained over considerable amount of time - roughly an hour or so. It is little slower than your usual 5k race pace.These are also referred as anaerobic threshold or lactate-threshold run, meaning the fastest one can run on aerobic respiration. Why should we include tempo runs in our training? They help to boost our lactate threshold and improves Lactate Inflection Point.
I am never more aware of a moment than during a run. Every stride of the run syncs with each breath. It doesn’t mean I am no longer encountered by random thoughts in my head but in that moment somehow it is easier for me to acknowledge them and move forward. They don’t stick. And if I do get distracted here are two questions that help me get my focus back:
After completing one of my runs few days back I looked up the NRC app for the run summary. That’s when I first learned about Cadence. Your cadence is calculated by the number of steps taken per minute. An ideal value is 180. Having a low cadence means you’re spending more time with your feets in-air displacing your body mass, so you tend to hit the ground much harder than if you had a high cadence.
It’s all relative. Probably the first concept of running I was made aware of is that a runner always deals in comparatives. Better Smarter Faster How you’re feeling on your run today doesn’t dictate your next run because no two runs are ever the same.
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