Recheck the article. "Ten Percent Rule" ?! So, that would be about 18lbs for me.
Aren't they applying that rule to running? If you're walking, seems like you could do more. They also recommend against weighted jumping, so basically, the more vertical, the less weight: walking > running > jumping.
I'll keep at it, and see how it goes. My goals for running right now are more speed and power, rather than more distance. I'm going to try to avoid the short stride length, high cadence running. Weight loss will help, too.
That all makes sense to me.
I'm glad at least one person agrees with me that it's silly to adopt an artificially high cadence. Just let your body figure out the right ratio and focus on good, relaxed posture and powerful strides.
Last year I wanted to do distance just to see what I could do. I got up to 16 miles and that was enough. For me, I don't really like running for more than two hours, two and a half hours max. And I'm pretty sure it's stressful for my body to run much more than an hour. Cortisol, catabolism, and all that.
Now I'm back to wanting to be a faster runner. I still remember that day about a year ago when I was able to run aerobically at 8:50mm pace for 5-7 miles. Felt good. I want to be able to run aerobically at 8mm for an hour. I know, this isn't actually 'fast', but my stride feels so much smoother and powerful at this pace, compared to the 9:30-11mm range. Last year I got there just by running consistently at an aerobic pace. This year I'm trying to accelerate the rate of improvement by pushing the pace a bit and doing more fartleks. I did intervals a few weeks ago, and need to get back to doing more of those and/or hills too.
I've found that when weight lifting, I'll often be able to lift more weight after each rest period after each set. I'm not sure if the muscles are getting warmed up, or the neuromuscular connections are getting primed or whatever. It seems to be working for running, too. Maybe.
Priming the muscles helps. I think when you do it right, the second or third set out of a 3x3 or 3x5 protocol should feel the strongest. As you know, my favorite approach for the heavy lifts is to go up to 1-2RM, and then singles or doubles in dropsets down to straight sets 3x3 or 3x5. When I do that, sometimes the straight sets get progressively harder. For the medium weight lifts, or when I'm not up for 1-2RM and dropsets on the big lifts, I go straight to the straight sets. That's usually when the second or third set feels strongest, because the first set doesn't have the advantage of having been primed yet.
Yesterday I didn't have time for my ST but my legs were pretty sore so I was just going to do rows and chinups anyway. I'm experiencing what some of my readings have said would happen, that the better the shape I'm in, and the more I can push it, the more recovery time I need. I think I need to scale back my st workouts a bit, especially now that my running is starting to come along. So, maybe something like this:
Mon
Deadlift (high effort)
Rows & Russian Twist (medium effort)
Chinups (high effort)
Box Jumps/Plyo
Tues
Speedwork/hills/fartleks
Wed
Bench Press & Dips (high effort)
Overhead Press (high effort)
Bench Hops/Plyo
Thurs
Tempo
Fri
Squat (high effort)
Rows & Russian Twist (high effort)
Chinups (medium effort)
Box Jumps/Plyo
Sat
Long/easy run
Squats seem to interfere most with running. With deadlifts the effect isn't so noticeble. So it seems to make sense to do squats later in the week and use my weekend long and/or easy run as a recovery from the squats. I'm going to start doing 1-2RMs on the squats I think, now that my form feels pretty good, and really push them, along with the deadlifts, for a while. My upper body push workout is also pretty cluttered, and I may start going harder on the bench press again, to see if I can get my 1RM above 225, so it will help if I don't do squats then, or, minimally, like a few light sets, just to prime them for Friday. If I do that, then I'll give the power cleans a rest until I get closer to my 1RM goals for the deadlift and squats.
I'm going to run down by the river a little later. Beautiful day. Then play with the kids in our 12' metal frame pool. I can't believe summer is already more than half over.