Almost another day off

Monday was a day off. It was hot and I didn't even do stretching or strength training. Today should have been a 10km day but Rosie wanted to come out and walk and I didn't feel like walking alone. It was a very light workout but I followed it up with strength training and stretching. It is a bit too early to start tapering for the half marathon on May 19 so I've got to put in some hard workouts this week,

Data                    Value     Unit
Duration                 0:43:50
Sampling Rate            5         s

Number of Heart Beats    4216      beats
Recovery                 -19       beats
Minimum Heart Rate       77        bpm
Average Heart Rate       96        bpm
Maximum Heart Rate       107       bpm
Standard Deviation       4.2       bpm

Minimum Pace             11:45     min/km
Average Pace              9:50     min/km
Maximum Pace              8:41     min/km
Distance                  4.5      km

Minimum Cadence          52        rpm
Average Cadence          61        rpm
Maximum Cadence          67        rpm

Walker Unfriendly Los Angeles

Today was my long workout so I decided to go 10 kilometers out and 10 back for a 20k walk. The forecast was for heat, possible winds and dry--not ideal conditions. There is a good walking, jogging path along Santa Monica Blvd. in Beverly Hills that has trees for shade and houses to block the wind so I headed out. However, 10 kilometers out turned out to be the middle of UCLA. I didn't turn on the altitude feature which was a mistake, there were lots and lots of hills along the route. To make things interesting I decided to return via Sunset Blvd. Another mistake, the sidewalk cuts in and out and walking on the street was somewhat dangerous.

I took along 4 bottles of my honey/salt drink and a single packet of Crank e-Gel. I took in one 8 ounce bottle per 5 kilometers and the e-Gel at the 10 kilometer mark. I was taking it slow and keeping well hydrated but it never got all that hot. Here's how it went:

Data                   Value   Unit
Duration               2:28:35
Sampling Rate          5       s
Running Index          48
Energy Expenditure     1367    kcal
Number of Heart Beats  20813   beats
Recovery               -31     beats
Minimum Heart Rate     89      bpm
Average Heart Rate     140     bpm
Maximum Heart Rate     160     bpm
Standard Deviation     10.4    bpm
Minimum Pace           33:20   min/km
Average Pace           7:24    min/km  (11:54 min/mile)
Maximum Pace           4:28    min/km  ( 7:11 min/mile)
Distance               20.0    km      (12.43 miles)
Minimum Cadence        40      rpm
Average Cadence        69      rpm
Maximum Cadence        91      rpm

Lap     Time         Lap Time   Speed Avg of Lap Avg from Start  Dist     Dist from Start
01. A  0:08:57.4     0:08:57.4  7:19  9:25       9:25            0.963    0.963
02. A  0:16:34.0     0:07:36.6  7:41  7:45       8:35            0.988    1.951
03. A  0:24:04.2     0:07:30.2  7:24  7:35       8:15            0.998    2.949
04. A  0:31:32.6     0:07:28.4  7:19  7:37       8:05            0.995    3.943
05. A  0:39:03.7     0:07:31.1  7:53  7:36       7:59            0.997    4.941
06. A  0:46:59.6     0:07:55.9  7:53  8:09       8:01            0.981    5.922
07. A  0:54:09.7     0:07:10.1  6:27  7:23       7:55            0.982    6.903
08. A  1:01:17.0     0:07:07.3  6:58  7:16       7:50            0.998    7.901
09. A  1:08:32.6     0:07:15.6  7:24  7:19       7:47            1.001    8.902
10. A  1:16:04.7     0:07:32.1  7:08  7:35       7:46            0.999    9.900
11. A  1:23:52.3     0:07:47.6  7:30  8:05       7:47            0.978    10.878
12. A  1:31:22.5     0:07:30.2  8:00  7:35       7:46            1.000    11.878
13. A  1:38:35.3     0:07:12.8  8:00  7:23       7:45            0.992    12.870
14. A  1:46:07.4     0:07:32.1  7:35  7:33       7:44            1.003    13.874
15. A  1:53:03.7     0:06:56.3  6:15  6:52       7:40            1.018    14.892
16. A  1:59:53.6     0:06:49.9  5:36  6:46       7:37            1.021    15.913
17. A  2:07:00.8     0:07:07.2  5:00  7:14       7:35            1.001    16.914
18. A  2:13:54.4     0:06:53.6  6:49  6:47       7:33            1.017    17.931
19. A  2:20:42.5     0:06:48.1  6:23  6:47       7:30            1.019    18.951
20. A  2:28:12.7     0:07:30.2  9:13  7:31       7:30            1.008    19.959

Although I felt that this was an exceptionally slow workout, especially with the hills and waiting for traffic lights, (I kept walking in circles while waiting for the light to change) it appears to be a fairly decent walk. In fact I was faster than the marathon goal pace I originally set for myself when I started racewalking about nine months ago.

200 Meters at 54 Seconds

Speed work with the Southern Cal Walkers at the Cal Tech track. Pretty much the same as most Saturdays. Once again we got video taped. I started doing 200 meters repeats but only got through one before being called in to help out with the camera. Elaine Ward showed me a problem, I'm picking up my feet too high and wasting energy. I spent the rest of the workout concentrating on this technique tweak, doing easy laps and being sociable.

There was one high point in the day, I walked 200 meters in 54 seconds. That translates to 4:30 min/km or 7:14 min/mile.

Head for the Hills

Today I started walking up LaCienega Blvd. to Sunset and came back down San Vicente. That's quite a hill. Here's what it looked like on the Polar software. Note that the altitude feature is turned on.



Pretty cool. Just past 5k I really opened it up and got my speed to under 5 min/km, about 8 min/mile. Now if I can only hold that speed and keep going further and further!

Unscripted 10K

Today I didn't really have a plan other than to complete 10 kilometers on the morning walk. It started with a very easy kilometer followed by a run, then easy, I saw Rosie walking the other way so I changed direction and walked with her for a while then headed up a gentle hill and sped downhill. It was a very enjoyable workout and even though I wasn't going for a hard workout, I did get in a few minutes of good speed work.

Here's how the Polar software shows it. Compare it with yesterday's steady 5K walk.



I put the cursor on kilometer 2 where I did my run. I didn't feel like I was pushing myself very hard or going fast, but I haven't worked on my running in a long time so I'm inefficient and my heart rate shot up. Last time I measured a run I was close to a 9 minute mile, this time it was 5:18 minute kilometer. What does a 5:18 min/km translate to in minutes per mile, miles per hour or other units of measure?



Looks like my running has improved but I should be able to walk a kilometer at this pace. In any case, it was a fun workout. Tomorrow I'm going to hit the hills in preparation for the Palos Verdes half-marathon.

Back to Normal

I was going to replace the battery on the foot pod but couldn't find the right type in the local store so I cleaned up the contacts with a pencil eraser and put it back together. It worked! I'm also pretty much recovered from Sunday's long walk so this is what a "usual" 5 kilometer morning workout looks like these days:



It is fun playing around with the software. Maybe I'll figure out how to turn on the temperature and altitude settings, though that doesn't seem to matter too much these days. The weather has been perfect every morning and there is virtually no elevation gain in my neighborhood course. However, hill work is in order if I'm going to do the Palos Verdes half-marathon.

For this workout:

Average Pace:   6:36   min/km  (10:37.3 min/mile)
Best Lap, km 3: 6:22.4 min/km  (10:15.4 min/mile)
Max Pace:       4:27   min/km  ( 7:09.7 min/mile)
Average Heartbeat: 144 bpm

Equipment Malfunction

This morning I set off to do my usual 10km workout. Oh boy, I was feeling that 30km Sunday workout. Not to worry, it takes a few days to recover from a long walk and even though yesterday was a rest day, I did do my strength training routine. I thought I'd check my old mile markers and see if the RS800sd would give me a vastly different pace but the autolap feature wasn't working. In fact it wasn't reading the footpad at all. At about 8 kilometers I decided to cut the workout short. The watch read a workout time of 53:51 but the distance covered was only 0.33 kilometers, obviously an equipment malfunction. Anyway, the distance, cadence, stride length and anything else that needs the foot pad wasn't recorded this morning. It did record heartbeat, Max 150bpm, Min 120bpm and average 138bpm. That seems a little on the low side but I've noticed that my heartbeat has been slowing down while my speed has been going up--I take it that's a good thing.

So--I'm feeling pretty good and haven't been suffering from blisters, knee pain, muscle soreness, etc. for several months now. It wasn't changing shoes, getting orthotics or tinkering with some other equipment that I believe is keeping me injury free, it seems that good technique finally did the trick. Too bad that the doctors that I saw because of my knee problems when I was running didn't read this article from medpagetoday.com:

EB: Correct Runners' Gaits, Cut Injuries with Sound and Mirrors

By Crystal Phend, Staff Writer, MedPage Today Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. April 30, 2007 Add Your Knowledge™ Additional Orthopedics Coverage WASHINGTON, April 30 -- Retraining runners' gait patterns reduces or eliminates common injuries, researchers said here. Action Points Explain to interested patients that although the studies used specialized equipment in a laboratory for biofeedback, the same techniques can be taught without it. These studies were published as abstracts and presented orally at a conference. The data and conclusions should be considered preliminary because they have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed publication. Runners with knee pain from tibial stress fractures or patellofemoral pain syndrome who underwent an eight-session biofeedback program reduced pain by 50% to 100%, said Irene Davis, Ph.D., of the Running Injury Lab at the University of Delaware in Newark. She noted that 76% of runners injure themselves in a year. "We know that this is related in part to how they run -- their mechanics." To prevent reinjury, changing gait mechanics is key, Dr. Davis said. She reported preliminary outcomes of gait retraining from two small studies here at the Experimental Biology meeting. Both studies included five runners who were having or were at high risk for two of the most common running-related injuries -- tibial stress fractures and patellofemoral pain syndrome. Each patient first underwent a gait analysis. Then, at each of eight sessions, participants ran on a treadmill while connected to biofeedback equipment. The sessions lasted 15 minutes initially and built up to 30 minutes over the two- to four-week study period. Over the final four sessions, the feedback was gradually removed. Runners were not allowed to run outside the laboratory during retraining to prevent them from reinforcing their old gait habits. The first study used this protocol for patients with tibial stress fractures, which the researchers had previously linked to hitting the ground hard on each footstep. These participants wore a shock-measuring device on their lower legs while running on the treadmill. A monitor displayed the force of each footstrike measured against what normal force should be. The patients were asked to constantly adjust the hardness of their footsteps to stay at or below normal force. Although all patients reported that the new gait pattern felt strange at first, by the end of the training program they had reduced the force of their footsteps by 50% on average. Follow-up visits at one month showed that the changes persisted. One patient who came back at one year had also maintained the new gait pattern, Dr. Davis said. The second study enlisted patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome, characterized by pain under the kneecap. Prior research indicated that these patients' hips rotate inward producing a knock-kneed running style. As these patients ran on a treadmill, markers on their legs provided feedback on the position of their knees. Again, patients watched their gait on a monitor compared to a normal gait and were told to keep their knees apart without letting them collapse inward. After the eight sessions, patients' kneecap pain dropped from five to seven points on a 10-point scale -- to zero in every case. At a one-month follow-up, all retained the new gait pattern despite returning to their normal running schedule. Many patients are prescribed cushioning footwear or orthotics to change the way the foot strikes the ground, but these are going to be ineffective if the cause is at the hip, Dr. Davis said. And cushioned shoes typically improve shock by only 10%, she noted. "As humans we are very adaptable," she said. "Retraining is better than foot wear or orthotic modifications." Although few clinicians have access to the kind of biofeedback equipment used in the studies, Dr. Davis said the same techniques can be used without it. "You don't have to have high tech equipment," Dr. Davis said. "Both of the protocols, I think, can be translated into the clinic." She said she has used a mirror for patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome. They watch the position of their knees as they run in place. "For people who are hitting the ground too hard, tell them to listen to their footsteps and ask them to try to make them softer," Dr. Davis added. She suggested enlisting the help of a physical therapist for gait analysis. Dr. Davis said one patient she retrained using a mirror had good results, but she said it is too early to speculate whether the results outside the lab would be as good as inside. She said her group hopes to complete a study comparing the two methods to see if the outcomes are similar. Meanwhile, the two studies are continuing to accrue patients with the goal of 60 runners. While gait retraining in the clinic may rely on patients' motivation to practice these techniques, Dr. Davis said she has seen no problems with willingness. "Runners are such a good group," she said. "They are so motivated to continue to run." "The hardest part of this, though, is keeping people [from] running outside the program," she said. The research was funded by the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Davis reported no conflicts of interest. Additional Orthopedics Coverage Earn CME/CE credit for reading the news. Primary source: Experimental Biology meeting Source reference: Davis ES "Running: A Threshold For Injury" EB meeting 2007; Abstract 189.2.