Building A Better Bumblebee

XT: New therapeutic core exercises! (Oof)

My sports medicine doctor gave me a whole new set of exercises to strengthen my core and get things working in a more-coordinated fashion. I figured they might be a bit more challenging than the core work I had been doing, but holy cow... he seems to have found ways to target my weakest areas. That's good, but still. Wow.

Sets of 3, 12-10-8 of:
-Modified side-leg lifts, with knee bent to shut off the quads, which were "helping" before.
-Double-leg bridge "marching" while keeping pelvis steady.
-Supine leg lift, keeping my TA engaged and my pelvis aligned
-Prone leg lift, same as above
-Half-squat using theraband around knees.
-Single-leg heel raises. (My addition)

Also, he had me side-stepping with a theraband around my knees. I'm still deciding if I can do it more or less in one spot, or if its better to scuttle around the house sideways like a crab.

Finally, he has me doing a psoas stretch that's sort of like the warrior pose in yoga, except both the hips face forward, or a standard forward stance in karate. Most fun is keeping my pelvis in what the doctor called the "Michael Jackson alignment." I understood it immediately, and boy can I tell that psoas is tight. How'd that happen? Probably too many years at a desk...

Coordination on some of the exercises is tricky, but that only shows how much I need it. Shutting off the quad in that side leg lift was an eye-opening experience.

Mark B wrote:

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Wow - HR seems high need to get that in check

Yup! I think it was mostly because I'd been mostly idle for the past month as I nursed my knee. Hopefully things will get back in the groove soon. I'm pretty confident it will. My legs just wanted to go faster than my cardiovascular system wanted.

Agreed, Mark.  Sometimes, you just have to ignore the heart, if the other systems are working and otherwise asymptomatic.

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:170!!!!!!  Great Caesar's Ghost!  What in the hell are you trying to do?

See Superman vs Batman on March 25 at your local theater.

I don't know... sub-11? But I did pass one of those radar speed signs on my run.

It said 5 mph.

The two I always pass say, "Please Slow."  How much slower does that thing want me to go????

Funny that you posted this.  While on my bike ride yesterday I went around a sharp corner and saw a newly installed radar speed sign...it said 10 mph.  I pushed the pace and got it up to 23 mph before I passed it.  I was traveling at a safe speed...the speed limit was 25.

I always laugh at the speed warnings while jogging.  It's kind of fun when biking.  I can sometimes break the speed limit.  I don't of course!

****

Thanks for posting your new exercises.  I'm going to have to take a closer look and try some of them.  I'm getting kind of bored with my old routine.  I'd like to have someone evaluate where I'm at and work up a new routine for me.  It helps to have someone that can target the exercises to your weak areas and make sure you are doing them correctly.

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Wow - HR seems high need to get that in check

Yup! I think it was mostly because I'd been mostly idle for the past month as I nursed my knee. Hopefully things will get back in the groove soon. I'm pretty confident it will. My legs just wanted to go faster than my cardiovascular system wanted.

Agreed, Mark.  Sometimes, you just have to ignore the heart, if the other systems are working and otherwise asymptomatic.

Sometimes, yes. And it's tough to run slow at Nike, anyway. Don't know what it is about that place, but it's a performance enhancing location. (It's also where I've run my two fastest 5Ks, so there's that.)

I get to go back twice next week, since they want to get some miles in the prototypes they're testing. Looking forward to it.

nkrichards wrote:

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:170!!!!!!  Great Caesar's Ghost!  What in the hell are you trying to do?

See Superman vs Batman on March 25 at your local theater.

I don't know... sub-11? But I did pass one of those radar speed signs on my run.

It said 5 mph.

The two I always pass say, "Please Slow."  How much slower does that thing want me to go????

Funny that you posted this.  While on my bike ride yesterday I went around a sharp corner and saw a newly installed radar speed sign...it said 10 mph.  I pushed the pace and got it up to 23 mph before I passed it.  I was traveling at a safe speed...the speed limit was 25.

I always laugh at the speed warnings while jogging.  It's kind of fun when biking.  I can sometimes break the speed limit.  I don't of course!

****

Thanks for posting your new exercises.  I'm going to have to take a closer look and try some of them.  I'm getting kind of bored with my old routine.  I'd like to have someone evaluate where I'm at and work up a new routine for me.  It helps to have someone that can target the exercises to your weak areas and make sure you are doing them correctly.

My pleasure on the routines. I was startled at just how much doing something as simple as bending my knee changed the impact of a side leg lift. I was joking with the doctor as he showed me this, "What? You mean you're not supposed to lift your leg with your TFL?" He laughed, said no, though it's how a lot of us do it.

The other thing that surprised me was the partial quats with the theraband around my legs. Holy cow, could my quads feel it later in the day!

Confession: If I'd realized there was a radar sign there*, I might have sprinted. I probably will next time.

*-Oh! I just realized that the section of road with the radar sign is an official Strava segment, called... speed check! Ha!

Hike: 1.5 miles

Weather: Party cloudy, mild. Gera: Lone Peaks, street clothes.

Out to Whipple Creek Park with Alec and Alita for a school photo project, trying to find something out there that looked like an Ansel Adams photo. He had some luck with that, and we got a bit of fresh air. My knee decided it didn't really appreciate the hilly nature of the trail, which was a disappointment, but it eased up on the downhills and didn't bother me afterward.

The time is estimated, since we stopped to take photos and didn't stop the timer.

Dynamic Testing: 4.5 miles

Weather: Partly cloudy, a cool breeze. About 44° Gear: Prototypes, shorts, T, jacket, hat (doffed)

Back to Nike to put some more miles on the prototypes. This time, I decided to do two laps of the nearby Geoff Hollister trail, which meant I got to watch some very fast people whizzing by. One pair was running the opposite direction as I was, and they went by 4 times in a little over a 1.5 mile lap. Show offs!

Anyway, the run was good, and I was thinking the perceived effort was higher than it should -- until just now, when I looked at my splits. 11:01, 10:35, 11:01, 10:38. I swear it's true -- I simply cannot make myself run slow at Nike.

To prove that, I knew the speed radar sign was there this time and goosed it. It registered 8 mph before the radar picked up a truck coming up behind me. (Pretty sure I wasn't doing 22 mph.) I know my Garmin said I hit a 6:21/mi pace at one point, and Strava says I set a new course record for that segment of 41 seconds. Good thing I'm not competitive, since I'm going back Thursday.

Walked first 4 minutes, last 5 minutes from where I parked.

Average HR for entire run: 145 Max HR 169

Mark B wrote:Dynamic Testing: 4.5 miles

Weather: Partly cloudy, a cool breeze. About 44° Gear: Prototypes, shorts, T, jacket, hat (doffed)

Back to Nike to put some more miles on the prototypes. This time, I decided to do two laps of the nearby Geoff Hollister trail, which meant I got to watch some very fast people whizzing by. One pair was running the opposite direction as I was, and they went by 4 times in a little over a 1.5 mile lap. Show offs!

Anyway, the run was good, and I was thinking the perceived effort was higher than it should -- until just now, when I looked at my splits. 11:01, 10:35, 11:01, 10:38. I swear it's true -- I simply cannot make myself run slow at Nike.

To prove that, I knew the speed radar sign was there this time and goosed it. It registered 8 mph before the radar picked up a truck coming up behind me. (Pretty sure I wasn't doing 22 mph.) I know my Garmin said I hit a 6:21/mi pace at one point, and Strava says I set a new course record for that segment of 41 seconds. Good thing I'm not competitive, since I'm going back Thursday.  

Walked first 4 minutes, last 5 minutes from where I parked.

Average HR for entire run: 145 Max HR 169

Sounds like a very fun place to run!!

Yes, it's a good thing that you're not competitive...let us know if you beat your record on Thursday.

nkrichards wrote:

Mark B wrote:Dynamic Testing: 4.5 miles

Weather: Partly cloudy, a cool breeze. About 44° Gear: Prototypes, shorts, T, jacket, hat (doffed)

Back to Nike to put some more miles on the prototypes. This time, I decided to do two laps of the nearby Geoff Hollister trail, which meant I got to watch some very fast people whizzing by. One pair was running the opposite direction as I was, and they went by 4 times in a little over a 1.5 mile lap. Show offs!

Anyway, the run was good, and I was thinking the perceived effort was higher than it should -- until just now, when I looked at my splits. 11:01, 10:35, 11:01, 10:38. I swear it's true -- I simply cannot make myself run slow at Nike.

To prove that, I knew the speed radar sign was there this time and goosed it. It registered 8 mph before the radar picked up a truck coming up behind me. (Pretty sure I wasn't doing 22 mph.) I know my Garmin said I hit a 6:21/mi pace at one point, and Strava says I set a new course record for that segment of 41 seconds. Good thing I'm not competitive, since I'm going back Thursday.  

Walked first 4 minutes, last 5 minutes from where I parked.

Average HR for entire run: 145 Max HR 169

Sounds like a very fun place to run!!

Yes, it's a good thing that you're not competitive...let us know if you beat your record on Thursday.

It's quite a lot of fun. Especially with this test, when I'm given carte blanche to run wherever I want. Lots of places to explore.

I'll let you know on the time test.

Core and calves

Sets of 3, 12-10-8 of:
-Modified side-leg lifts, with knee bent to shut off the quads.
-Double-leg bridge "marching" while keeping pelvis steady.
-Supine leg lift, each side, keeping my TA engaged and my pelvis aligned.
-Half-squat using theraband around knees. (15-12-10 on this)
-Single-leg heel raises.

Also, a bunch of side-steps with theraband around knees. Maybe I should start counting them.

Psoas stretches  2 x 40 seconds each side.

Sent a note to my sports medicine doctor, since I forgot to ask how often to do these exercises.

The response? Daily.

Oops! Guess I'd better get cracking...

Cracking! Doing this daily is going to have a big impact, I think.

Sets of 3, 12-10-8 of:
-Modified side-leg lifts.
-Double-leg bridge "marching" while keeping pelvis steady.
-Supine leg lift, keeping my TA engaged and my pelvis aligned
-Prone leg lift, same as above
-Half-squat using theraband around knees.
-Side-step using theraband around knees.
-Single-leg heel raises.

Psoas stretches. (5-6 x 10 seconds left side, a few less on right side)

So, you're addicted to crack, now?

Drop and crack!  Not quack, you Oregon Duck (typed the wrong vowel, at first ), CRACK!

"Hey, man, got some crack?"
"Of course, I'm a plumber!"

ounce wrote:So, you're addicted to crack, now?

Drop and crack!  Not quack, you Oregon Duck (typed the wrong vowel, at first ), CRACK!

"Hey, man, got some crack?"
"Of course, I'm a plumber!"

Actually, I prefer a different spelling...



Time to get... KRACKEN

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:So, you're addicted to crack, now?

Drop and crack!  Not quack, you Oregon Duck (typed the wrong vowel, at first ), CRACK!

"Hey, man, got some crack?"
"Of course, I'm a plumber!"

Actually, I prefer a different spelling...



Time to get... KRACKEN

That should be easy to voice.  Obviously a Southern octopus.

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:So, you're addicted to crack, now?

Drop and crack!  Not quack, you Oregon Duck (typed the wrong vowel, at first ), CRACK!

"Hey, man, got some crack?"
"Of course, I'm a plumber!"

Actually, I prefer a different spelling...



Time to get... KRACKEN

That should be easy to voice.  Obviously a Southern octopus.

Time to get... KRACKEN ... y'all!!

Edit to add: OH!! Geez, it took long enough, but I finally got your joke!

Dynamic Testing (and chasing Strava segment PRs): 4.62 miles

Weather: Overcast but no rain. 53° Gear: Prototypes, shorts, T, jacket (shed)

Back to Nike again, testing out prototypes mostly on pavement, but with some time on a gravel trail, too. I learned there was a new Strava segment created just a few days ago. If I was lucky, I could end up high on the leaderboard! So when I got to the spot, I gunned it, not knowing how far it was. Oof. Ended up pretty gassed, but it was fun. Just checked the Strava leaderboard in anticipation... and saw I was 20 out of 22 people. Oh well. Still the highest I'll ever be on that leaderboard! :-)

Oh, I got a 3-second PR on the Speed Check segment. Woot! It was extra hard, since I'd already done the other segment. Still, I actually touched a 6:00 pace for a moment, so that's fun.

Knee isn't minding this at all, which is even better.

Walked first, last 4-5 minutes. Average HR on entire run: 146. Max HR: 172 (when I was hammering)


annndd...

Did this after my run, but it was easier than I'd thought it would be.

Sets of 3, 12-10-8 of:
-Modified side-leg lifts.
-Double-leg bridge "marching" while keeping pelvis steady.
-Supine leg lift, keeping my TA engaged and my pelvis aligned
-Prone leg lift, same as above
-Half-squat using theraband around knees.
-Side-step using theraband around knees.
-Single-leg heel raises.

Psoas stretches. (5-6 x 10 seconds left side, a few less on right side)

Your knee must be cooperating nicely if you can manage speeds like that without it complaining.  It is fun isn't it.

You are going to be one tough cookie if you do those exercises daily!!

nkrichards wrote:Your knee must be cooperating nicely if you can manage speeds like that without it complaining.  It is fun isn't it.

You are going to be one tough cookie if you do those exercises daily!!

Yeah, it's kind of fun. There's a lot of insanely fit people running around Nike (including Jordan Hasay, who I saw today), so it tends to encourage me to run faster than I might otherwise. I guess it's okay to do some uptempo work, right? A little lactate threshold work early in the process.

I'm pleased about the knee. So far, so good. I'm hoping it'll let me do more uneven terrain, like trails, soon.

And I've never done core work every day. I'm keeping the number of sets low for now, since I'm doing it so often. I'm already starting to feel the results. It's a good feeling.

XT: Core and calves (about 25 minutes)

I'm feeling the harder/faster run yesterday (a bit sore, though not in the knees), and it took more effort than usual to do my core and calf work this morning. Still, I can feel it stimulating muscles that haven't been stimulated much before, and I can feel them starting to respond.

Sets of 3, 12-10-8 of:
-Modified side-leg lifts (doc has me doing this 6 inches from the wall, using the wall as a guide to keep my course of motion straight, and with my leg bent to deactivate my quads. It makes me feel like I'm getting ready to pee on a fire hydrant.)
-Double-leg bridge "marching" while keeping pelvis steady.
-Supine leg lift, keeping my TA engaged and my pelvis aligned
-Prone leg lift, same as above
-Half-squat using theraband around knees.
-Side-step using theraband around knees.
-Single-leg heel raises.

Psoas stretches. (5-6 x 10 seconds left side, a few less on right side)

Dynamic Testing: 6.83 miles

Weather: Cool and breezy, a little sun, a little rain. 44° Gear: Prototypes, pants, long-sleeved T, jacket, hat (stowed)

My shoe analyst asked for more miles on the shoes today, if possible, so I took a new loop that went far beyond the Nike campus. Apparently the magic wears off with distance from the great Swoosh, since I was able to get my pace down (or would that be up?) into the 11s for much of the run. I tried to run as easy as I could and keep the HR down, since my goal was to do at least 5 miles. I ended up doing more, throwing in a trail segment in toward the end, and I tried but failed to break my PR on the "speed check" segment. It felt like I was going faster initially (Garmin data disagrees) but I couldn't sustain it the whole way. Doing it at the end of a longer run *might* have had something to do with that.

The knee was fine throughout. Woot!

Walked first/last 4 minutes from parking lot. Average HR 144, MaxHR 170.

Elite runner sighting: Shalane Flanagan! There were some other younger hotshots out there, too, but I didn't recognize them.

Sounds like a nice test for the knee with excellent results!

You'll have to do the speed test earlier in the run next time.  Nice job on the Elite Runner sighting also...maybe some of those young hotshots will be famous soon.  I hope you got a good look.

Cold and windy here still.  We even had some snow this morning for a few minutes.  Made it easy to head for the pool but I need to get some time on my bike.  I've managed to squeeze in my runs when the weather was decent.

nkrichards wrote:Sounds like a nice test for the knee with excellent results!

You'll have to do the speed test earlier in the run next time.  Nice job on the Elite Runner sighting also...maybe some of those young hotshots will be famous soon.  I hope you got a good look.

Cold and windy here still.  We even had some snow this morning for a few minutes.  Made it easy to head for the pool but I need to get some time on my bike.  I've managed to squeeze in my runs when the weather was decent.

We're having quite a wintry blast, aren't we? At least it's boosting the snowpack the mountains.

Boy, was I sore and tired after that run. Nothing like mixing it up!

XT: Core and calves

Sets of 3, 12-10-8 of:
-Modified side-leg lifts.
-Double-leg bridge "marching" while keeping pelvis steady.
-Supine leg lift, keeping my TA engaged and my pelvis aligned
-Prone leg lift, same as above
-Half-squat using theraband around knees.
-Side-step using theraband around knees.
-Single-leg heel raises.

Psoas stretches. (5-6 x 10 seconds left side, a few less on right side)

Walk: 2.6 miles

Weather: Mostly sunny, with a cool breeze. 52°

I'm feeling that extra-intense effort on Monday (wow, forgot what DOMS felt like) but it was a pretty afternoon and I thought a walk might help. My gait felt awkward -- possibly reacting to the new muscles I'm building in all that cross-training -- and my knee wasn't 100% happy. Interesting that it likes walking less than running.

Barefoot Run: 2 miles

Weather: Sunny and cool. 44° Gear: Bare feet, shorts, T, jacket and hat.

I forgot to start my Garmin until I was two-thirds of a mile in, so time is approximate.

An easy test run around the block, barefoot. I was stiff at first but warmed up after a bit. I decided to stop at two miles to err on the side of caution.

I kept my HR pretty much in my target range, which today translated to paces in the upper 10s to 11s. No knee complaints. Woot!

Average HR for time on Garmin: 135

Note: I'll be getting some testers on my doorstep in the next couple of days. I'm looking forward to mixing things up a bit. It's worked well for me in the past, and I'm hoping it helps this time, too.

---

Followed the run up with...

Sets of 3, 12-10-8 of:
-Modified side-leg lifts.
-Double-leg bridge "marching" while keeping pelvis steady.
-Supine leg lift, keeping my TA engaged and my pelvis aligned
-Prone leg lift, same as above
-Half-squat using theraband around knees.
-Side-step using theraband around knees.
-Single-leg heel raises.

Psoas stretches. (5-6 x 10 seconds left side, a few less on right side)

Busy day at work yesterday, so I didn't get my XT work logged, so just know that I did the following exercises yesterday and today.

Sets of 3, 12-10-8 of:
-Modified side-leg lifts.
-Double-leg bridge "marching" while keeping pelvis steady.
-Supine leg lift, keeping my TA engaged and my pelvis aligned
-Prone leg lift, same as above
-Half-squat using theraband around knees.
-Side-step using theraband around knees.
-Single-leg heel raises.

Psoas stretches. (5-6 x 10 seconds left side, a few less on right side)

Boy, it's amazing how much this works my core, hips and butt. And I think I'm starting to be able to perceive the tip of my pelvis, which will help a lot in making sure I'm not working against myself as I move.

Also, my new testers arrived yesterday! I haven't run in them yet, but they feel pretty good for casual wear. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to keep wearing them (I send back my fair share of shoes due to fit problems). And I need to get busy, because I need to do about 25 miles per week in these babies to make my swooshy overlords happy. I needed to start building, anyway. As long as my knee's on board, it's time to get moving.