Re: Term Limits?

ounce Sat Mar 21, 2020 6:09 pm

Hmmm. Humor. If only. Seems like I have to create a new character or situation. I'll have to think about that. Maybe the union rep for the body.

I did get out this morning and ran 2 miles. It was 54 degrees, overcast with a north wind of 10, although I never felt it except for the start and finish because I was running on an east/west road with trees and houses on the north. This was the first time I have ran with the sun up since the Half on January 19. It gave me a chance to run on a different road in the daylight, so I can sniff out sidewalk problems that I can't see in the dark.

This was an out and back run, because it was cooler and I didn't want to walk a mile back home in the cooler weather. I am trying to keep a level body temp and not get chilled. Cadence waa 163

2 miles, 27:29, 13:45 pace, 138 avg HR, 153 Max HR, 81 avg cadence
1. 14:00, 130 bpm
2. 13:29, 146 bpm

I wanted to run, today, not shuffle. This may be the coolest temp until November. I warmed up pretty quickly and just ran well for the first mile and 14 was a good split, although 13:59 would've been really nice. I got into a groove on the 2nd mile and just tried to hold it as long as I could. I wasn't really taxing everything, but everybody had to shut up and just let my mind run this mile. Everybody pulled their weight...or my weight, as it were.

I had no wobbling, no muscles were whining, but the breathing was at max, but not a sprinting max. I might could've ran another half mile, but it would've been slower.

You know, I'm pretty surprised by the run because of my anemia. I think that's why I pushed on this run. I wanted to see what my handicap is. I have the RBC to run 2 fairly hard, but don't have the endurance to do 3, yet. Plus, as mentioned earlier, I wanted to run as far and as hard without sprinting because I was tired of shuffling. Tired of the HR running my running.

Pretty nifty. 6 miles running and 3 walking, this week.

No idea about next week, but it'll be warmer. Right now, it's showering. So, +1 point for getting the run in, this morning.

-30-

I'll be taking ideas or storylines for whatever character or situation that may pop in our heads.

nkrichards Sun Mar 22, 2020 10:35 am

Oh, with the TP situation and the Moms/parents suddenly thrust into a situation where they have to occupy/educate their children we have lot's of options for humor. And lots of stories about people stepping up and helping others as well.

Nice HR for a quicker 2 miles! I can see evidence of improvement already!

And nice week...great start for sure.

Keep at it...

ounce Wed Mar 25, 2020 8:57 am

Yeah, well, nothing comes to mind yet. But when it DOES.......look out!

12 - Term Limits? - Page 35 9k=

(from the minor league team Chattanooga Lookouts collection)

Thanks on the quicker 2. I'm getting there and beginning the acclimation process. Supposed to get to 90, today, and be cool for the weekend and a day or two after.

-30-

So, I'll write about Monday's 2 mile run and write about today's on another post.

It was 71 degrees, Monday morning, or 17 degrees warmer than last Saturday's 2 mile run. Should prove to be an interesting comparison. Cadence was set at 163, but Polar only measures cadence with 1 foot. Unknown as to which foot it counts.

2 miles, 28:45, 14:21 pace, 141 HR avg, 149 Max HR, 79 cadence
1. 14:14, 136 bpm
2. 14:25, 145 bpm

I have forgotten my Polar website password, so I don't know how much my cadence slipped in the 2nd mile, but it did slip.

Below is Saturday's run:
2 miles, 27:29, 13:45 pace, 138 avg HR, 153 Max HR, 81 avg cadence
1. 14:00, 130 bpm
2. 13:29, 146 bpm

I'll imagine the weather was the cause.

ounce Wed Mar 25, 2020 9:19 am

I can now blame Nancy for today's run. I saw that she ran 3 miles in her last post and I thought, "Well, let's see what happens." I'd have to slow down the cadence, but the legs will take care of the 'when.'

It was 72 degrees, this morning, without any breeze. Cadence at 163.

3 miles, 44:15, 14:43 pace, 134 avg bpm, 144 Max bpm, 77 avg cadence, 1st half pace, 14:47, 2nd half pace 14:39
1. 14:57, 129 bpm
2. 14:31, 135 bpm, 74 cadence
3. 14:38, 138 bpm

When the split for mile 2 showed up on the watch, I happened to catch the 74 cadence. There was never a time when I didn't think that I would complete the 3, which would be the result of doing it slower and watching the HR. So, it would seem the hemoglobin is not bad and probably within the therapeutic range. I would imagine it's not fully recovered, since I have such a high RBC production ability.

But, I'm encouraged. Thanks, Nancy, you get the blame!

Michele "1L" Keane Wed Mar 25, 2020 1:35 pm

Obviously, I missed a lot while I was gone. Hope that bruise is pretty much gone and that you are well on your way to a full mend. I'll try to keep up a bit better.

ounce Wed Mar 25, 2020 2:04 pm

No worries. I checked in a month ago, today. My affliction, while medically 'concerning,' was more hat than cattle. Bruise has completely vanished, as of Sunday, and I'm working on getting back to 16 now.

Thanks. Mark's situation is hat and cattle.

ounce Thu Mar 26, 2020 10:14 am

Last night before bed, I became curious about how my resting heart rate was returning to normal, since being discharged on February 27. So, I strapped up and attached the watch. I used the HR strap because it's more accurate than the HR measurer on the watch.

The average HR for the sleep was 51 bpm with a lowest of 43 and highest of 93 around the 6th hour. The 93 was interesting, but the other two figures were good to see.

This morning, I did some stretching and leg lifts. First time since February 24, the Monday I worked out with my new bruising. February 25 was when I went to the ER.

I'm just about to figure out things that I can lift that are not heavy, to start. That can be a challenge, but I've enlisted a dinner table chair or two to be the weights. Starting out, it's just to get the muscles not involved in running acclimated to the motion and stretch.

That's the news for today. Keep your distance when replying! silent

nkrichards Thu Mar 26, 2020 11:29 am

ounce wrote:I can now blame Nancy for today's run. I saw that she ran 3 miles in her last post and I thought, "Well, let's see what happens." I'd have to slow down the cadence, but the legs will take care of the 'when.'

It was 72 degrees, this morning, without any breeze. Cadence at 163.

3 miles, 44:15, 14:43 pace, 134 avg bpm, 144 Max bpm, 77 avg cadence, 1st half pace, 14:47, 2nd half pace 14:39
1. 14:57, 129 bpm
2. 14:31, 135 bpm, 74 cadence
3. 14:38, 138 bpm

When the split for mile 2 showed up on the watch, I happened to catch the 74 cadence. There was never a time when I didn't think that I would complete the 3, which would be the result of doing it slower and watching the HR. So, it would seem the hemoglobin is not bad and probably within the therapeutic range. I would imagine it's not fully recovered, since I have such a high RBC production ability.

But, I'm encouraged. Thanks, Nancy, you get the blame!

Happy to take the ~~blame~~ credit for the 3 miles Doug. Nice job adjusting the pace and staying at an appropriate HR. Progress.

ounce wrote:Last night before bed, I became curious about how my resting heart rate was returning to normal, since being discharged on February 27. So, I strapped up and attached the watch. I used the HR strap because it's more accurate than the HR measurer on the watch.

The average HR for the sleep was 51 bpm with a lowest of 43 and highest of 93 around the 6th hour. The 93 was interesting, but the other two figures were good to see.

This morning, I did some stretching and leg lifts. First time since February 24, the Monday I worked out with my new bruising. February 25 was when I went to the ER.

I'm just about to figure out things that I can lift that are not heavy, to start. That can be a challenge, but I've enlisted a dinner table chair or two to be the weights. Starting out, it's just to get the muscles not involved in running acclimated to the motion and stretch.

That's the news for today. Keep your distance when replying!

I find my resting HR data interesting to say the least. I'm sure some of the fluctuation is due to simple issues with devices etc but I can see differences that I can associate with stressful situations. My resting HR varies slightly from day to day but usually averages in the upper 40's for the week. Not sure how my device calculates the averages for a 24 hour period as I often have a much lower HR even when relaxing in my chair. My resting HR was slightly higher during carrot planting....not unexpected. BTW We finished yesterday. cheers

As far as weights...Katie's gym closed and so she's doing some of the Beachbody videos at home. She only has a couple sets of dumbbells and didn't have the right weight. So she improvised with two cans of spaghetti sauce one morning. Whatever works I guess.

Good to hear that you're progressing with both your running and your weight lifting.

Take care.

ounce Thu Mar 26, 2020 10:39 pm

nkrichards wrote:
ounce wrote:I can now blame Nancy for today's run. I saw that she ran 3 miles in her last post and I thought, "Well, let's see what happens." I'd have to slow down the cadence, but the legs will take care of the 'when.'

It was 72 degrees, this morning, without any breeze. Cadence at 163.

3 miles, 44:15, 14:43 pace, 134 avg bpm, 144 Max bpm, 77 avg cadence, 1st half pace, 14:47, 2nd half pace 14:39
1. 14:57, 129 bpm
2. 14:31, 135 bpm, 74 cadence
3. 14:38, 138 bpm

When the split for mile 2 showed up on the watch, I happened to catch the 74 cadence. There was never a time when I didn't think that I would complete the 3, which would be the result of doing it slower and watching the HR. So, it would seem the hemoglobin is not bad and probably within the therapeutic range. I would imagine it's not fully recovered, since I have such a high RBC production ability.

But, I'm encouraged. Thanks, Nancy, you get the blame!
Happy to take the ~~blame~~ credit for the 3 miles Doug. Nice job adjusting the pace and staying at an appropriate HR. Progress.
ounce wrote:Last night before bed, I became curious about how my resting heart rate was returning to normal, since being discharged on February 27. So, I strapped up and attached the watch. I used the HR strap because it's more accurate than the HR measurer on the watch.

The average HR for the sleep was 51 bpm with a lowest of 43 and highest of 93 around the 6th hour. The 93 was interesting, but the other two figures were good to see.

This morning, I did some stretching and leg lifts. First time since February 24, the Monday I worked out with my new bruising. February 25 was when I went to the ER.

I'm just about to figure out things that I can lift that are not heavy, to start. That can be a challenge, but I've enlisted a dinner table chair or two to be the weights. Starting out, it's just to get the muscles not involved in running acclimated to the motion and stretch.

That's the news for today. Keep your distance when replying!
I find my resting HR data interesting to say the least. I'm sure some of the fluctuation is due to simple issues with devices etc but I can see differences that I can associate with stressful situations. My resting HR varies slightly from day to day but usually averages in the upper 40's for the week. Not sure how my device calculates the averages for a 24 hour period as I often have a much lower HR even when relaxing in my chair. My resting HR was slightly higher during carrot planting....not unexpected. BTW We finished yesterday.

As far as weights...Katie's gym closed and so she's doing some of the Beachbody videos at home. She only has a couple sets of dumbbells and didn't have the right weight. So she improvised with two cans of spaghetti sauce one morning. Whatever works I guess.

Good to hear that you're progressing with both your running and your weight lifting.

Take care.

Yeah, it's so neat to tie a HR to a situation. I'm going to do the sleeping HR again, tonight.

Coronavirus update
92 of 254 counties in Texas have at least 1 confirmed case.
1,396 cases, 18 deaths, 21,424 tests, 28.7 million people.
Dallas County - 303
Harris County - 185 (Houston)
Travis County - 119 (Austin)
Tarrant County - 90 (Fort Worth - think DFW airport as to where Fort Worth is)
Bexar County - 84 (San Antonio)

Not sure why Dallas has so many.

The Dallas-Fort Worth MSA has 7.5 million people and is the 4th largest MSA.
The Houston MSA has 7 million people and is the 5th largest MSA. Harris County is the 3rd largest county for bodies.

ounce Fri Mar 27, 2020 8:59 am

First off, I'm a Trekkie, but I don't have cable nor streaming. CBS All Access started a whole month free on March 23 to April 23. I saw this because I follow Patrick Stewart. I signed up and can (and will) cancel it anytime before April 23. Now, I'm able to see "Star Trek: Picard" and will follow with "Star Trek: Discovery."

I've watched 4 of the 8 Picard shows and it's good. So, I've copied the link from Stewart's FB page, in case y'all wanted to check it out.

https://www.cbs.com/all-access/?cbscidmt=picard&promo=gift&ftag=AAM-05-10aib5h

-30-

The RHR curiosity of mine produced a RHR of 55 bpm average, a low of 47, and a high of 89, last night.

-30-

This morning, it was 75 degrees with a dew point of 70 degrees. There was a nice south breeze, but only a grand total of a mile is north/south of my usual route. Though still muggy.

I forgot my gnome, so no 163 cadence (81 as Polar says) today. Cadence was based on muggy conditions. I was not anticipating a good time.

3 miles, 43:32, 14:29 pace, 130 avg bpm, 138 Max HR, 76 avg cadence, 1st half pace 14:18, 2nd half pace 14:40
1. 14:07, 125 bpm, 75 cadence
2. 14:27, 132 bpm, 72 cadence
3. 14:50, 133 bpm

As reported yesterday, I did some stretching, which included some modified squats. The legs were protesting a bit due to yesterday's stretching. It took 2 miles quiet the protests.

On the other hand, it was a good run to acclimate and to have a low HR.

Plus.....an unintended occurrence.....it was a whopping 43 seconds faster than Wednesday's 3 mile run with a lower HR.
3 miles, 44:15, 14:43 pace, 134 avg bpm, 144 Max bpm, 77 avg cadence, 1st half pace, 14:47, 2nd half pace 14:39
1. 14:57, 129 bpm
2. 14:31, 135 bpm, 74 cadence
3. 14:38, 138 bpm

There's another reason why I ran 3, this morning. It's supposed to be 60 on Sunday morning and I want to see how much faster the cooler temp will make me. I'm going to bet 30 seconds to 60 seconds faster per mile.

Should be cooler all next week on the order of 6-8 degrees cooler. Still above seasonal of 75.

Y'all behave.

ounce Fri Mar 27, 2020 11:30 am

We have a stay at home edict in Harris County. Seems like it's a lot like other parts of the country. Take out or delivery restaurants only. If you're not one of the 'essential' businesses, you're closed. This isn't all over the state because the state is big enough. There are more cases reported in Louisiana, than Texas. So far, anyway.

The local paper, The Houston Chronicle, posted online a comparison of 2019 traffic to 2020 with a radar counted machine on the Katy Freeway at Voss, which is almost a mile west of me. These are eastbound vehicles

They write:
"Harris County’s stay at home order that went into effect Wednesday sent traffic volumes sliding from their already unprecedented levels, Houston TranStar data shows.
Eastbound Interstate 10 at Voss, where local officials have one of the most reliable readouts of traffic via a radar traffic counter, logged about one-third the typical number of trips on Wednesday and Thursday, the data showed. TranStar officials attributed the drop to Houston and Harris County ordering residents to stay home, leading to fewer than 44,000 vehicles using the freeway Thursday."

In the month of March for 2019, traffic on this stretch never was lower than 99,000 vehicles. The rodeo was cancelled, so that's part of it to early March, 2020.

Houston Transtar has the traffic map that your average person uses and the highway cameras for us and TV.
houstontranstar.org

Mark B Fri Mar 27, 2020 4:59 pm

ounce wrote:No worries. I checked in a month ago, today. My affliction, while medically 'concerning,' was more hat than cattle. Bruise has completely vanished, as of Sunday, and I'm working on getting back to 16 now.

Thanks. Mark's situation is hat and cattle.

Moo.

Also glad to see you back to running now, even if three miles is a bit of a stretch.

SPEAKING OF STRETCHING...

Nancy, you said you can't figure out how to keep your cadence up while running slow. I can tell you that I had *plenty* of time to figure that out when I was doing all my low HR running a few years back. You'll never believe how simple it is.

Ready?

I mean, REALLY ready? Because it'll blow your mind.

Brace yourself.

Are you bracing? Good. Better sit down.

Sitting down? Good, because here it comes.

Any second now.

Take smaller steps.

Yup. That's it. I kid you not.

True fact: I can do 180 steps per minute at any pace; I just have to adjust my stride length. It means a lot of pitter-patter running, but it reduces impact. It also helps with barefoot running, because you can imagine having a big pavement impact is not what you're trying to achieve.

nkrichards Fri Mar 27, 2020 8:14 pm

Mark B wrote:
ounce wrote:No worries. I checked in a month ago, today. My affliction, while medically 'concerning,' was more hat than cattle. Bruise has completely vanished, as of Sunday, and I'm working on getting back to 16 now.

Thanks. Mark's situation is hat and cattle.

Moo.

Also glad to see you back to running now, even if three miles is a bit of a stretch.

SPEAKING OF STRETCHING...

Nancy, you said you can't figure out how to keep your cadence up while running slow. I can tell you that I had *plenty* of time to figure that out when I was doing all my low HR running a few years back. You'll never believe how simple it is.

Ready?

I mean, REALLY ready? Because it'll blow your mind.

Brace yourself.

Are you bracing? Good. Better sit down.

Sitting down? Good, because here it comes.

Any second now.

Take smaller steps.

Yup. That's it. I kid you not.

True fact: I can do 180 steps per minute at any pace; I just have to adjust my stride length. It means a lot of pitter-patter running, but it reduces impact. It also helps with barefoot running, because you can imagine having a big pavement impact is not what you're trying to achieve.

OK...fair enough. But... my HR goes up much quicker when my cadence goes up. The real problem may be my lack of patience but don't expect me to admit it anytime soon. Maybe...just maybe...this would be a good time to give it an honest effort.

***
Enough about me. This is Doug's blog!

Enjoy the cooler weather Doug!

ounce Fri Mar 27, 2020 11:03 pm

nkrichards wrote:
Mark B wrote:
ounce wrote:No worries. I checked in a month ago, today. My affliction, while medically 'concerning,' was more hat than cattle. Bruise has completely vanished, as of Sunday, and I'm working on getting back to 16 now.

Thanks. Mark's situation is hat and cattle.

Moo.

Also glad to see you back to running now, even if three miles is a bit of a stretch.

SPEAKING OF STRETCHING...

Nancy, you said you can't figure out how to keep your cadence up while running slow. I can tell you that I had *plenty* of time to figure that out when I was doing all my low HR running a few years back. You'll never believe how simple it is.

Ready?

I mean, REALLY ready? Because it'll blow your mind.

Brace yourself.

Are you bracing? Good. Better sit down.

Sitting down? Good, because here it comes.

Any second now.

Take smaller steps.

Yup. That's it. I kid you not.

True fact: I can do 180 steps per minute at any pace; I just have to adjust my stride length. It means a lot of pitter-patter running, but it reduces impact. It also helps with barefoot running, because you can imagine having a big pavement impact is not what you're trying to achieve.
OK...fair enough. But... my HR goes up much quicker when my cadence goes up. The real problem may be my lack of patience but don't expect me to admit it anytime soon. Maybe...just maybe...this would be a good time to give it an honest effort.

***
Enough about me. This is Doug's blog!

Enjoy the cooler weather Doug!

He LIES!!!! Um, I remember trying to short step and it caused my quads to get tired sooner. Maybe I was relying more on the quads to make the short steps rather than another muscle group, which also makes my HR increase. But I don't really care about the HR increase because I know it'll reduce as the heart gets better at it.

These whippersnappers, Nancy. What are we going to do with him? Next thing you know he'll be telling us that the best way to run faster is

OMG

How many times will I hit Return?

Let me see if I can practice my keystrokes

Almost there

I'm past ready.

Here's the answer

RUN FASTER!!!!

nkrichards Sat Mar 28, 2020 12:58 pm

ounce wrote:
nkrichards wrote:
Mark B wrote:
ounce wrote:No worries. I checked in a month ago, today. My affliction, while medically 'concerning,' was more hat than cattle. Bruise has completely vanished, as of Sunday, and I'm working on getting back to 16 now.

Thanks. Mark's situation is hat and cattle.

Moo.

Also glad to see you back to running now, even if three miles is a bit of a stretch.

SPEAKING OF STRETCHING...

Nancy, you said you can't figure out how to keep your cadence up while running slow. I can tell you that I had *plenty* of time to figure that out when I was doing all my low HR running a few years back. You'll never believe how simple it is.

Ready?

I mean, REALLY ready? Because it'll blow your mind.

Brace yourself.

Are you bracing? Good. Better sit down.

Sitting down? Good, because here it comes.

Any second now.

Take smaller steps.

Yup. That's it. I kid you not.

True fact: I can do 180 steps per minute at any pace; I just have to adjust my stride length. It means a lot of pitter-patter running, but it reduces impact. It also helps with barefoot running, because you can imagine having a big pavement impact is not what you're trying to achieve.
OK...fair enough. But... my HR goes up much quicker when my cadence goes up. The real problem may be my lack of patience but don't expect me to admit it anytime soon. Maybe...just maybe...this would be a good time to give it an honest effort.

***
Enough about me. This is Doug's blog!

Enjoy the cooler weather Doug!
He LIES!!!! Um, I remember trying to short step and it caused my quads to get tired sooner. Maybe I was relying more on the quads to make the short steps rather than another muscle group, which also makes my HR increase. But I don't really care about the HR increase because I know it'll reduce as the heart gets better at it.

These whippersnappers, Nancy. What are we going to do with him? Next thing you know he'll be telling us that the best way to run faster is

OMG

How many times will I hit Return?

Let me see if I can practice my keystrokes

Almost there

I'm past ready.

Here's the answer

RUN FASTER!!!!

I know!!

I forgot to mention that my biggest problem with a faster cadence is that I breathe faster and hyperventilate. I know that I don't HAVE to inhale every time my right foot hits the ground but old habits are hard to break. Should I work on a faster cadence...and breathing as needed rather than rhythmically...Yes. Will I...maybe.

****

You mentioned that you're now on a Stay at Home order. The governor gave us the order on Monday morning. It's interesting to see who is taking it seriously and who is still ignoring it and going about their business. We're considered an essential business so are having more contact than I'm comfortable with but we are definitely limiting our non-essential social contact. Janice wanted to run but I opted to stay home. She's still having way to much contact including going to Portland which has a larger infection rate.

So far Jefferson County (Madras) has zero confirmed cases. But the neighboring county, Deschutes (Bend and Redmond) had 15 as of yesterday. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before it gets here as the communities are only 30 miles apart and have a lot of interaction. I've always chosen to shop local and will continue to do so. I know many people who are still driving to Bend to go to Costco...that has to be an active infection site!!!

***
Running today?

Mark B Sat Mar 28, 2020 5:32 pm

ounce wrote:
nkrichards wrote:
Mark B wrote:
ounce wrote:No worries. I checked in a month ago, today. My affliction, while medically 'concerning,' was more hat than cattle. Bruise has completely vanished, as of Sunday, and I'm working on getting back to 16 now.

Thanks. Mark's situation is hat and cattle.

Moo.

Also glad to see you back to running now, even if three miles is a bit of a stretch.

SPEAKING OF STRETCHING...

Nancy, you said you can't figure out how to keep your cadence up while running slow. I can tell you that I had *plenty* of time to figure that out when I was doing all my low HR running a few years back. You'll never believe how simple it is.

Ready?

I mean, REALLY ready? Because it'll blow your mind.

Brace yourself.

Are you bracing? Good. Better sit down.

Sitting down? Good, because here it comes.

Any second now.

Take smaller steps.

Yup. That's it. I kid you not.

True fact: I can do 180 steps per minute at any pace; I just have to adjust my stride length. It means a lot of pitter-patter running, but it reduces impact. It also helps with barefoot running, because you can imagine having a big pavement impact is not what you're trying to achieve.
OK...fair enough. But... my HR goes up much quicker when my cadence goes up. The real problem may be my lack of patience but don't expect me to admit it anytime soon. Maybe...just maybe...this would be a good time to give it an honest effort.

***
Enough about me. This is Doug's blog!

Enjoy the cooler weather Doug!
He LIES!!!! Um, I remember trying to short step and it caused my quads to get tired sooner. Maybe I was relying more on the quads to make the short steps rather than another muscle group, which also makes my HR increase. But I don't really care about the HR increase because I know it'll reduce as the heart gets better at it.

These whippersnappers, Nancy. What are we going to do with him? Next thing you know he'll be telling us that the best way to run faster is

OMG

How many times will I hit Return?

Let me see if I can practice my keystrokes

Almost there

I'm past ready.

Here's the answer

RUN FASTER!!!!

Well, OF COURSE it makes your other muscles react. You have to use different muscles to make it work. Doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Just a different thing. They adapt, and you get stronger.

And honest to Pete, you don't have to increase your speed to increase your cadence. I mean, you can, but it's not the only way.

Maybe the best way to experience it is to run barefoot. Short, light steps vastly reduces the impact - which is kinda the point - and allows you to eventually smoothly glide along. I got to the point to where, if the surface wasn't sharp gravel, I could run faster at a lower HR than in shoes. At or slightly above 180 steps per minute. Its sort of a flapflapflapflapflapflapflapflap thing, almost like your foot is stroking the ground pushing you along as if you were on a skateboard. (That may be more my flipper-like feet, but hey.)

Oh, and the breathing thing.. yeah. If you time your breathing on every right step, you'll be in a world of hurt. Part of low HR training that I did involved experimenting on how many steps to take when breathing. I think I settled on every four steps in general, but to really mess with my head, I'd try inhaling four steps and exhaling for five. That alternates the side you're initiating the breath and also clears out every last molecule of CO2 from your lungs. This is for cruising, of course, not racing at top speed. But you'd be amazed at how it feels.

nkrichards Sat Mar 28, 2020 6:21 pm

Mark B wrote:
ounce wrote:
nkrichards wrote:
Mark B wrote:
ounce wrote:No worries. I checked in a month ago, today. My affliction, while medically 'concerning,' was more hat than cattle. Bruise has completely vanished, as of Sunday, and I'm working on getting back to 16 now.

Thanks. Mark's situation is hat and cattle.

Moo.

Also glad to see you back to running now, even if three miles is a bit of a stretch.

SPEAKING OF STRETCHING...

Nancy, you said you can't figure out how to keep your cadence up while running slow. I can tell you that I had *plenty* of time to figure that out when I was doing all my low HR running a few years back. You'll never believe how simple it is.

Ready?

I mean, REALLY ready? Because it'll blow your mind.

Brace yourself.

Are you bracing? Good. Better sit down.

Sitting down? Good, because here it comes.

Any second now.

Take smaller steps.

Yup. That's it. I kid you not.

True fact: I can do 180 steps per minute at any pace; I just have to adjust my stride length. It means a lot of pitter-patter running, but it reduces impact. It also helps with barefoot running, because you can imagine having a big pavement impact is not what you're trying to achieve.
OK...fair enough. But... my HR goes up much quicker when my cadence goes up. The real problem may be my lack of patience but don't expect me to admit it anytime soon. Maybe...just maybe...this would be a good time to give it an honest effort.

***
Enough about me. This is Doug's blog!

Enjoy the cooler weather Doug!
He LIES!!!! Um, I remember trying to short step and it caused my quads to get tired sooner. Maybe I was relying more on the quads to make the short steps rather than another muscle group, which also makes my HR increase. But I don't really care about the HR increase because I know it'll reduce as the heart gets better at it.

These whippersnappers, Nancy. What are we going to do with him? Next thing you know he'll be telling us that the best way to run faster is

OMG

How many times will I hit Return?

Let me see if I can practice my keystrokes

Almost there

I'm past ready.

Here's the answer

RUN FASTER!!!!

Well, OF COURSE it makes your other muscles react. You have to use different muscles to make it work. Doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Just a different thing. They adapt, and you get stronger.

And honest to Pete, you don't have to increase your speed to increase your cadence. I mean, you can, but it's not the only way.

Maybe the best way to experience it is to run barefoot. Short, light steps vastly reduces the impact - which is kinda the point - and allows you to eventually smoothly glide along. I got to the point to where, if the surface wasn't sharp gravel, I could run faster at a lower HR than in shoes. At or slightly above 180 steps per minute. Its sort of a flapflapflapflapflapflapflapflap thing, almost like your foot is stroking the ground pushing you along as if you were on a skateboard. (That may be more my flipper-like feet, but hey.)

Oh, and the breathing thing.. yeah. If you time your breathing on every right step, you'll be in a world of hurt. Part of low HR training that I did involved experimenting on how many steps to take when breathing. I think I settled on every four steps in general, but to really mess with my head, I'd try inhaling four steps and exhaling for five. That alternates the side you're initiating the breath and also clears out every last molecule of CO2 from your lungs. This is for cruising, of course, not racing at top speed. But you'd be amazed at how it feels.

So I just finished my attempt at an increased cadence, low HR, lower pace run. Nailed the cadence. Failed big time on the HR and pace. I don't want to take over Doug's blog anymore than I already have so I'll post the details on my blog.

I will add that I did count my breathing today. I started inhaling on 4 and exhaling on 4. I wasn't able to maintain that so switched to 3 and 3. That seemed to work pretty well and did accomplish alternating sides. It was hard enough to concentrate on that count so I didn't attempt to extend my exhale but I have read about that and it does make sense. This an exhausting run mentally. It took a huge amount of concentration to maintain cadence and correct breathing!!

Details in my blog...

(Sorry to hijack your blog Doug)

ounce Sat Mar 28, 2020 6:50 pm

No need to apologize, Nancy. Sometimes it's better to keep a subject matter in 1 blog.

I was going to suggest that you turn the volume on the gnome up, so it's commanding your attention. But however you figure it out.

No, I didn't run today. I was going to run tomorrow, after the front passes through, which it did at 3:30. Temp went from 80 to 68. Tomorrow, I'll run 3 miles to compare splits of 71 degree mornings versus 58-60 degree mornings. Oddly enough, low temps this week are not supposed to be 70 degrees or higher. More like mid-April temps.

I won't be pitter pattering tomorrow. I'll try it on Monday or Tuesday. Having troubles getting fired up for in-home exercising. I'll find a motivation, though, since I figure places will be closed for most of April, despite Trump's desire to get churches open on Easter. I understand why he wants to, because it's Christianity's biggest day of the year. So, collections will be high because the regular church goers and the once a year nod-to-God bunch will be there.

Mark, there may be an idea for a story...how houses of worship are doing without collections every Sunday? Some of the churches have mortgages, too.

KBFitz Sun Mar 29, 2020 10:33 am

You ask, Doug, in last week's Your Week in Training thread:

So, are you, Nancy, and I "People who have serious heart conditions"

Yes. Even so, I'm volunteering in my village to undertake tasks for our seniors as needed. I'll take extraordinary precautions when doing so -- principally to avoid infecting them, but also to reduce chances that I will encounter the novel corona virus. I'm confident that I would stand a good chance of overcoming covid-19, but we are indeed high risk individuals because of our heart conditions -- especially you and me because we have heart disease -- Nancy not so much because she simply a heart attack.

That's all I got.

Be well and of good spirits!

nkrichards Sun Mar 29, 2020 8:35 pm

KBFitz wrote:You ask, Doug, in last week's Your Week in Training thread:

So, are you, Nancy, and I "People who have serious heart conditions"

Yes. Even so, I'm volunteering in my village to undertake tasks for our seniors as needed. I'll take extraordinary precautions when doing so -- principally to avoid infecting them, but also to reduce chances that I will encounter the novel corona virus. I'm confident that I would stand a good chance of overcoming covid-19, but we are indeed high risk individuals because of our heart conditions -- especially you and me because we have heart disease -- Nancy not so much because she simply a heart attack.

That's all I got.

Be well and of good spirits!

I talked to my Primary Care doctor about my status as a cardiac patient when I went in for my annual physical a few weeks ago. I was planning a trip to Iceland with a friend in August of 2021. We wanted to snorkel in Iceland. They have strict rules limiting participants with certain pre-existing conditions. Anyone with Coronary Artery Disease is not allowed to participate. His answer was that even though that was my official diagnosis he said I could probably get away with checking no. But if the question was "have you had a heart attack" then I would have to check yes. They asked both...and require a doctor's signature for anyone over the age of 60. I might be able to check no but no doctor would take that risk. Sad

That doesn't really address our actual risk in this instance but in general I think it does. There is probably a good reason they are limiting participants with a history of cardiac issues.

OK...let's go run...

ounce Sun Mar 29, 2020 10:25 pm

nkrichards wrote:
KBFitz wrote:You ask, Doug, in last week's Your Week in Training thread:

So, are you, Nancy, and I "People who have serious heart conditions"

Yes. Even so, I'm volunteering in my village to undertake tasks for our seniors as needed. I'll take extraordinary precautions when doing so -- principally to avoid infecting them, but also to reduce chances that I will encounter the novel corona virus. I'm confident that I would stand a good chance of overcoming covid-19, but we are indeed high risk individuals because of our heart conditions -- especially you and me because we have heart disease -- Nancy not so much because she simply a heart attack.

That's all I got.

Be well and of good spirits!
I talked to my Primary Care doctor about my status as a cardiac patient when I went in for my annual physical a few weeks ago. I was planning a trip to Iceland with a friend in August of 2021. We wanted to snorkel in Iceland. They have strict rules limiting participants with certain pre-existing conditions. Anyone with Coronary Artery Disease is not allowed to participate. His answer was that even though that was my official diagnosis he said I could probably get away with checking no. But if the question was "have you had a heart attack" then I would have to check yes. They asked both...and require a doctor's signature for anyone over the age of 60. I might be able to check no but no doctor would take that risk.

That doesn't really address our actual risk in this instance but in general I think it does. There is probably a good reason they are limiting participants with a history of cardiac issues.

OK...let's go run...

Thanks, Kevin. Having your ruling clears up which side of the stripe I'm on. No disappointment as it is what it is.

Nancy, I don't think I could get away with checking no because the doc and I only have 6 months experience. They appreciate you checking yes. So many with worse conditions than you check 'no.'

-30-

It was 54 degrees this morning with a calm wind. I dressed in a long-sleeved shirt. I was looking forward to the run and seeing what I could with 17 cooler degrees around me.

I remembered the gnome and set it at 163. Today, I didn't do any of that pitter patter steppin'. I'll save that for one day this week.

3 miles, 41:11, 13:43 pace, 135 avg HR, 143 Max HR, 81 avg cadence
1. 13:55, 128 bpm
2. 13:40, 138 bpm, 79
3. 13:29, 140 bpm, 81

So, the amount of time in HR zones
060-119 bpm - 1:08 3.0%
120-139 bpm - 27:16 66.5%
140-143 bpm - 12:32 30.5%

So, I pretty much the 3rd mile in zone 3, except 1 minute (probably at 139 bpm) Wink

I was pushing the 3rd mile some because I felt the cadence slowing a bit, but it ended up being fine. I was also breathing at a harder clip, as well. But it did feel good.

Now, how does this compare to last week's runs. Well, let's take a look.

Friday - 75 degrees, no gnome
3 miles, 43:32, 14:29 pace, 130 avg bpm, 138 Max HR, 76 avg cadence, 1st half pace 14:18, 2nd half pace 14:40
1. 14:07, 125 bpm, 75 cadence
2. 14:27, 132 bpm, 72 cadence
3. 14:50, 133 bpm

Wednesday - 72 degrees
3 miles, 44:15, 14:43 pace, 134 avg bpm, 144 Max bpm, 77 avg cadence, 1st half pace, 14:47, 2nd half pace 14:39
1. 14:57, 129 bpm
2. 14:31, 135 bpm, 74 cadence
3. 14:38, 138 bpm

Monday - 71 degrees and 2 miles
2 miles, 28:45, 14:21 pace, 141 HR avg, 149 Max HR, 79 cadence
1. 14:14, 136 bpm
2. 14:25, 145 bpm

This data is how I can postulate that temperature plays a part in my running (plus the gnome). None of last week's runs went faster for all 3 splits. Never even dropped into the 13's.

This year, though, I'm going to try to make temperature less of a factor in my running because I've used it as an excuse for running slow in the Summer. You see, I think I had an epifaknee (that's for the editor to pull his beard out in frustration) that I could run when it was warmer about as fast as when it was cool. That occurred before my hematoma, last month.

But I need to get back to 16 mile weeks, first. Last week was 8 and I'm not ready to make a Nancy jump from 3 to 5 miles jussssst yet. If I can get to 12 by the end of April, I'll be fine. 3 4's or 4 3's.

nkrichards Mon Mar 30, 2020 1:28 pm

Nice run...again. Once again I'm impressed with your ability to keep your HR in check and keep your cadence relatively high while steadily improving your pace. I know that the cooler temps helped but you also made decisions that kept everything within your goal range.

Stay well...

ounce Tue Mar 31, 2020 2:36 pm

nkrichards wrote:Nice run...again. Once again I'm impressed with your ability to keep your HR in check and keep your cadence relatively high while steadily improving your pace. I know that the cooler temps helped but you also made decisions that kept everything within your goal range.

Stay well...

Thanks, Nancy. Well, I'll tell you. When I'm not trying to keep a low HR run (which means the cadence suffers), the chirp from the gnome keeps me at cadence, WHEN I'm not overdoing it. I DO watch the HR, though, to see how it is doing relative to the temp, the cadence, and the effort. Breathing effort and rate confirms hunches on HR effort and cadence consistency, but is not a decision statistic.

Cadence is #1 for the brain. However below the neck, HR is #1 and can overrule the brain. The legs will (anthropomorphically) whisper or yell in the heart's (anthropomorphic) ears, when to do something. The brain can sweet talk the legs, if they are on good terms, to go faster or farther or both.

I figured out what makes my stride length shorter than anyone's. As a result of starting Chi Running 6 years ago, that shortened my stride because my heel doesn't go much past my knee. Once my cadence is consistent, I can lengthen the stride a bit by lengthening the tail end of the stride before picking up the trailing shoe to start a new stride. I had forgotten about that, until just now.

Nancy, I marvel that you breathe once for each stride or step (can't remember which). Sounds like a steam locomotive.

-30-

Okay. Today's run is from Dr. Pitter Patter's idea on one of the other threads.

It was 74 degrees and muggy, this morning ahead of a cool front. After passage, the present temp is 69 degrees with a dew point of 57 degrees and winds north at 15. Supposed to be in the 50's on Wednesday morning.

I ran when it was 74. I set the gnome at 170 cadence, instead of 163, for Dr. Pitter Patter's "You, Too, Can Run As If You Are Taking Baby Steps!" 3rd edition.

The goal was a mile or two.
0.37 miles, 5:53, 15:47 pace, 116 HR avg, 124 Max HR, 86 cadence (172 +/- 3 steps)

The first half was going just fine. My idea to let the lower leg do the striding seemed to be working for the first half of the run. Then. Then, the right hip flexor was protesting. Not whining, protesting. Then the lower glutes were whining. I could only see it getting worse, so I stopped.

Then, I reset the watch, slowed the cadence back to 164, and headed out again.
The goal was a mile or two.
0.36 miles, 5:09, 14:16 pace, 117 HR avg, 126 Max HR, 81 cadence (162 +/- 3 steps)

Wasn't that fun. The body was confused, although I could tell the cadence different. AND, if you noticed, I set the gnome for 1 step more, 164. I figured out a few years ago that if I tried a materially higher cadence that didn't work, I could return to the regular cadence +1.

Tomorrow, I will run again. Dr. Pitter Patter will probably encourage me to try it again. Suspect

nkrichards Wed Apr 01, 2020 10:34 am

ounce wrote:
Nancy, I marvel that you breathe once for each stride or step (can't remember which). Sounds like a steam locomotive.

-30-

Okay. Today's run is from Dr. Pitter Patter's idea on one of the other threads.

It was 74 degrees and muggy, this morning ahead of a cool front. After passage, the present temp is 69 degrees with a dew point of 57 degrees and winds north at 15. Supposed to be in the 50's on Wednesday morning.

I ran when it was 74. I set the gnome at 170 cadence, instead of 163, for Dr. Pitter Patter's "You, Too, Can Run As If You Are Taking Baby Steps!" 3rd edition.

The goal was a mile or two.
0.37 miles, 5:53, 15:47 pace, 116 HR avg, 124 Max HR, 86 cadence (172 +/- 3 steps)

The first half was going just fine. My idea to let the lower leg do the striding seemed to be working for the first half of the run. Then. Then, the right hip flexor was protesting. Not whining, protesting. Then the lower glutes were whining. I could only see it getting worse, so I stopped.

Then, I reset the watch, slowed the cadence back to 164, and headed out again.
The goal was a mile or two.
0.36 miles, 5:09, 14:16 pace, 117 HR avg, 126 Max HR, 81 cadence (162 +/- 3 steps)

Wasn't that fun. The body was confused, although I could tell the cadence different. AND, if you noticed, I set the gnome for 1 step more, 164. I figured out a few years ago that if I tried a materially higher cadence that didn't work, I could return to the regular cadence +1.

Tomorrow, I will run again. Dr. Pitter Patter will probably encourage me to try it again.

Doug...as far as my breathing pattern. I normally/naturally breath in when the right foot strikes the ground and out when the right foot strikes the ground again. It's not as rapid as it sounds. Works great when I'm running fast enough to breath hard but I obviously slow my cadence when I'm running slower...hence the problem. It's actually quite natural and works well unless I'm trying to get a high cadence easy effort run in.

Did your device track your stride length? I'd be curious to see the difference in your stride in the two runs.

I don't quite understand the need to run at such a high cadence. Your pace obviously slowed at the higher cadence and it was a similar HR so it wasn't an easier effort.

In regards to your glutes and hip flexor whining...this is why changing anything to do with your running form takes time and is risky...and why I wonder if it's worth the effort and/or the risk. If it ain't broke don't fix it! That said I may give the gnome a couple more tries before I give up.

I'm sure Mark will have an opinion that differs from mine...

Stay well.

Mark B Wed Apr 01, 2020 6:43 pm

nkrichards wrote:
I'm sure Mark will have an opinion that differs from mine...

Sheesh.

I've always had a higher cadence, I guess. I can tap a 180 beat on my chest even now. It just feels natural to me.

But... I'm a weirdo with an undiagnosed but unmistakable birth defect (skewfoot, 1 in 1,000 live births) who learned to run barefoot partly because he can't find shoes that fit, who can't walk as fast as his 4' 11'' wife when she gets going and whose only AG ribbon came when he was the one of two people in the age group. So you're listening to me... why?

Try different things to see how they feel; but ultimately, do what feels natural to you. It'll probably end up being the right choice.

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