Sunday, April 12, 2015

When you can only pick one...or two

I've heard countless times that you should only pick one or two things to work on per training season. Only one or (maybe if you push it) two. Not three. And certainly not EVERYTHING. When you push yourself beyond the recommended "one or two" you run the risk of getting burnt out, getting injured, and/or getting disappointed. Well today the focus was on cadence and form, and overall it wasn't a bad run...

It wasn't my best pace, but I said yesterday that I wasn't going to focus on pace for this run. Plus...
I didn't check the weather before I started, but a mile into the run I was sweating profusely so I looked at the humidity level...
82%! I've run in more humid conditions, but not recently. Summer temperatures will be here before I know it :(

About 3 miles into the run I tired to capture a picture of the sunrise...

And took a mid-run selfie...

I maintained my cadence by using my metronome app set for 180 bpm...

It kept me at roughly the same pace for each mile, but there were some miles that had a longer walk break than others...

I felt "OK" with my ability to maintain a mid-foot/forefoot gait throughout the run. There were a few occasions when I caught myself heel striking, but only a few. Although I might be getting better at remembering to focus on how I land, my ankles are still very weak, especially my left one (a lot has been going on with the left side of my body recently). So tomorrow, along with yoga, I'm going to do more of the physical therapy exercises for my knees and hips, and continue to incorporate ankle strengthening exercises into that routine. 

I'm going to spend the rest of the month focusing on form and cadence so that I can be ready for my full training when it starts. I have 17 days until I start my official training, but only 8 more days of running! So, like so many things in my life, the key to success is quality over quantity. As much as I would LOVE to run more that's not a reality for me right now... maybe in a different lifetime I'd be able to spend as much of my time running as I do thinking about running ;)

"Quality over Quantity" also applies to swimming since I only have 2 more swimming days before Swim Miami on the 19th!!

How was your long run this weekend?

If you couldn't run, what other sport/activity would you spend most of your time doing? (swimming for me)

What's the greatest number of consecutive days you've spent running? (I try not to run on back-to-back days, but I think the most I've run consecutively is 3 days)

6 comments:

  1. Such a good idea to focus on 2 things per workout! I think I've run 3 days in a row too...more than that and I end up injured!

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    1. Not worth the risk at all! Sometimes I envy people that can run every day injury free... but I'm going to try and keep myself busy with cross training so my non-running days are as fun as my running days ;)

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  2. The metronome app helped me so much when I worked on increasing my cadence. Eventually it just becomes second nature. My long run was great this weekend. Last one before Boston!

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    1. Good Luck at Boston Angela!!!!!! I hope you have a great race!

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  3. My long run was cut short but it was still a great run, I agree with you quality beats quantity every time. As long as you are enjoying yourself improvement will follow! Happy Monday!

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    1. I'm sorry you had to cut your run short (I hate when that happens) but at least you still had a great time :)
      I'm trying to be patient during this period when I'm working on my form because I know that in the long run it will help me improve my speed. Plus I am so tired of injuries I'm willing to try anything to stay injury free :)

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