Mileage Reporting 16th Week of 2013

LOL yeah will be my first DNE... well maybe second now I think about it. But the first one I didn't do because I later found out about a race (and parade and fair) in my new-to-me home town that was the same day, and the other was a 2 hr drive. So I still raced that day, just a different one.

~DNEtristan
 
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10.1km (6.3mi) to finish off the week....It got really cold this morning, it was down to 5C (41F), and yes, to my standards, this is really cold !!! At least I won't whinge in Sydney, when it is down to 15C (59F) :stop:. Feet took about 5' to warmup, mainly because I ran the first km in mud, but once warm, it was all good
 
Ergh. 7.33 miles on the week. Didn't get in yesterday's run. The river running plan changed to driving my wife and kids to her Turkish ESL classmate's house for a visit, because my wife wasn't sure of the way there, and then running the long way home, starting with a nearby nature reserve. But the plan changed yet again when I got invited in for Turkish tea (which led to fitful sleep), and then my daughter was deathly afraid of their little schnauzer-terrier and insisted on sitting on my lap, making me a prisoner. Our toddler son, of course, just thought it was funny when the dog barked at him. After about an hour my daughter finally loosened up and began playing with the other family's daughter and son. By that time, it was getting too late to get my run in. Oh well. This family could be good picnic partners--their kids are about the same ages as ours, and the husband likes to talk MMA, so we got that in common, sorta. So the missed workout was worth it, and with my new flexi-time schedule of 6 or 7 workouts per week, make-upable today. I'll try to get in my run down to the river later. Supposed to be rainy but warm, up around 50F / 10C (it's all relative Andy). May have to break out the new running shorts I got for Xmas.

Thanks for the info Tristan & Nick, will look into this if the racing bug bites me again. Right now I'm enjoying the freedom of having no expectations once again. But if and when my running fitness improves, I may reconsider. I'd like to keep chipping away at distance and pace, and then when I can run a racing distance at a decent pace, I may jump in, provided it's a small race and my wife approves.
 
Didn't get in yesterday's run.
Sounds similar to my day. Daughter's track meet was much longer than anticipated. Barely got done in time to pick-up long lost husband from airport. He was 40 hours sleep deprived and hungry, so seemed best to stay home and prepare dinner, which he still managed to help me do. Then, I had just enough time to take care of animals and seedlings, plus a little warm up for tomorrow's flute recital. Am planning on a run this morning.
 
6 mi hike at Pinnacles NP...was trying to see the wildflowers, but lack of rain earlier this year put the kibosh on that...if nothing else, it was a good workout (summarily undone by some excellent BBQ and pecan pie)
 
8 mile recovery run, STG with a fair amount of rough asphalt, but I think either I was still pretty tired or my soles may have been a little more stimulated from Thursday's run than I knew, because I ran that route for my 12 miles about 4 weeks ago without this much difficulty. Hubby ran with me and took off his shoes for about 1/2 mile. He says it's much easier to catch me when he has shoes on. :D He also chased off the 2 loose dogs that were in attack mode. Medium small, but muscular brutes.
 
That's a long swim session!
Thanks.
I'm kind of proud of my effort. Qualifiers: I was striving for smooth and slow and easy breathing. There were maybe 10 laps working in on the kickboard to get a bit more leg exercise, though I find that more tiring in some respects than just freestyle.
Also, I do take *tiny*breaks at the wall, like one or two big slow breaths, before I go again. It's been a long road getting to the point of not running out of breath, but I"m stubborn. I wonder if there are actual physiological changes that take place when we train our breathing this way? In any case, my heart rate used to shoot up even on the most relaxed lap; now I'm finding that it no longer seems like so much work, and I'm not convinced that it's all conditioning and aerobic capacity, as I started swimming with a fair amount.
If the wall weren't there (i.e. open water) I'm not sure I could keep it up. Looking forward to taking baby steps into swimming open water this summer, if the weather ever warms up enough to heat the lakes around here. In the meantime, I just found out that my area has a public outdoor pool with 50 meter long lap lanes, open lunch and evenings in june.
 
Thanks.
I'm kind of proud of my effort. Qualifiers: I was striving for smooth and slow and easy breathing. There were maybe 10 laps working in on the kickboard to get a bit more leg exercise, though I find that more tiring in some respects than just freestyle.
Also, I do take *tiny*breaks at the wall, like one or two big slow breaths, before I go again. It's been a long road getting to the point of not running out of breath, but I"m stubborn. I wonder if there are actual physiological changes that take place when we train our breathing this way? In any case, my heart rate used to shoot up even on the most relaxed lap; now I'm finding that it no longer seems like so much work, and I'm not convinced that it's all conditioning and aerobic capacity, as I started swimming with a fair amount.
If the wall weren't there (i.e. open water) I'm not sure I could keep it up. Looking forward to taking baby steps into swimming open water this summer, if the weather ever warms up enough to heat the lakes around here. In the meantime, I just found out that my area has a public outdoor pool with 50 meter long lap lanes, open lunch and evenings in june.
I read somewhere that aerobic capacity is activity specific, so while your heart and lungs were in good aerobic shape when you began swimming, due to your running, the muscles you use in swimming probably weren't.

Right now for my running, I feel like I could easily run 20 miles if it just depended on my heart and lungs, but my legs still aren't in condition for it. I also remember when I first got back from my bicycle travels, when I was averaging about 100 miles a day, I went for a run, and was surprised that my legs started getting tired after just 5 miles or so. Now, 20 years later, I'm in much worse shape aerobically, but running five miles is nothing.

That's why the whole idea of cross-training is kind of a myth. Cross-training for general fitness makes sense (that's why I do weights), but cross-training to improve one's performance in a specific activity seems to have limited efficacy, although I'm convinced greater attention to strength training my lower body has helped prevent running injuries.
 
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Did a 3.1 mile run at the beginning of the week, it was my first attempt at running that far bf. Was pretty satisfied with my effort, actually got right under 7:00 pace which I did not expect. I think that without some of the rough sections in my neighborhood I would be able to approach my shod 5k PR time. Feet were pretty beat up though, was walking very gingerly for a couple of days.
 
Did a 3.1 mile run at the beginning of the week, it was my first attempt at running that far bf. Was pretty satisfied with my effort, actually got right under 7:00 pace which I did not expect. I think that without some of the rough sections in my neighborhood I would be able to approach my shod 5k PR time. Feet were pretty beat up though, was walking very gingerly for a couple of days.
Be patient....don't set yourself back by tearing up your feet, if you can help it!
 
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Did a 3.1 mile run at the beginning of the week, it was my first attempt at running that far bf. Was pretty satisfied with my effort, actually got right under 7:00 pace which I did not expect. I think that without some of the rough sections in my neighborhood I would be able to approach my shod 5k PR time. Feet were pretty beat up though, was walking very gingerly for a couple of days.
Be careful though! Most recommend not even racing for a whole year while you acclimate to barefoot running. And even if you weren't racing that's still pretty much a race pace.
 
Sorry forgot to post my mileage for the week.
I got a huge pile of Zippo, Nada, Zero miles:(
 
I read somewhere that aerobic capacity is activity specific, so while your heart and lungs were in good aerobic shape when you began swimming, due to your running, the muscles you use in swimming probably weren't.
.
a

I agree in some respects, but I think swimming is way different in that you have to control your breathing in a certain way. From the beginning, if I were to only kick my way across or have my face out of the water somehow, where I could breathe mostly at will, I would not get out of breath. Sure, I would be working hard, but not out of breath in that tingly oxygen deprived way. 10-20 laps never felt like that much work to me once I could do it, and my instructor has told me my technique is good, but it's only been in the last few weeks that I"m not out of breath.
Learning to breathe out-out-out then in then out-out-out then in for long periods of time has been the challenge. Knowing when I needed a little extra in a lap so I should take more breaths, being able to hold my breath for longer periods, those are things that would not be important with many other activities.
Honestly, I haven't looked it up (and you're the exercise looker upper---you should do that in your spare time and get back to me ;) ), but it would surprise me if there were no physiological changes that take place in swimming that is specifically to do with oxygen uptake or something with breathing/diaphragm use that goes beyond just aerobic conditioning for a particular sport.
 
Be patient....don't set yourself back by tearing up your feet, if you can help it!

Be careful though! Most recommend not even racing for a whole year while you acclimate to barefoot running. And even if you weren't racing that's still pretty much a race pace.

I'm being careful not to push myself too hard, I've been doing barefoot running around the neighborhood off and on the past year, it was just never more than 1-2 miles at a time. I've kept an eye on my recovery time needed (for my soles), and it has gone from about 2 weeks down to around 5 days. I was just curious as to how I would do attempting that pace, so I figured what the hell. It did provide me with some valuable information about my progression, as I did not experience any discomfort afterward other than the soles of my feet. Although the sore muscles (particularly my calves) have gradually faded away into non-existance as I progressed, I was surprised that was still the case after this run.
 
a

I agree in some respects, but I think swimming is way different in that you have to control your breathing in a certain way. From the beginning, if I were to only kick my way across or have my face out of the water somehow, where I could breathe mostly at will, I would not get out of breath. Sure, I would be working hard, but not out of breath in that tingly oxygen deprived way. 10-20 laps never felt like that much work to me once I could do it, and my instructor has told me my technique is good, but it's only been in the last few weeks that I"m not out of breath.
Learning to breathe out-out-out then in then out-out-out then in for long periods of time has been the challenge. Knowing when I needed a little extra in a lap so I should take more breaths, being able to hold my breath for longer periods, those are things that would not be important with many other activities.
Honestly, I haven't looked it up (and you're the exercise looker upper---you should do that in your spare time and get back to me ;) ), but it would surprise me if there were no physiological changes that take place in swimming that is specifically to do with oxygen uptake or something with breathing/diaphragm use that goes beyond just aerobic conditioning for a particular sport.
Yah, that makes sense. I guess I wasn't paying enough attention to what you were saying. And I'm semi-retired from exerciselookerupping, so I'm happy to accept your explanation as the official version, especially since I can barely swim. I still think there's something to be said for having to get your arms and back in aerobic shape though. At least, I know I would have to adjust, even though my upper body is in OK anaerobic shape.