Building A Better Bumblebee

Mark B wrote:Low HR Run: 8.24 miles

Weather: Mostly cloudy, a couple of showers, breezy. 54° Gear: Testers, shorts, T, jacket, hat. Fuel: Just water.

Boy, oh boy. When I started running after my warm-up walk, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it a mile. My legs felt so dead after yesterday's speedy stuff that I wasn't sure what I'd be able to do today, or if I should even try.

As it turned out, it was a surprisingly good run. Huh?

I fell into an easy pace that was so measured I was even able to make it through my first mile ravine without having to slow an walk. My HR was amazingly consistent, and often exactly on my target. I even was able to control my heart rate after it rose while going uphill and bring it back down again. It's been a while since I've been able to do that.

My paces were slower than they have been on this route, but who cares? I accomplished a steady effort. I wasn't looking forward for the run to be over, even though my legs were STILL pretty much dead.

Did not expect that. Maybe all my fast-twitch fibers were so exhausted they couldn't butt in and try to get my to push faster, leaving my slow-twitchers to run the show. Apparently, the slow twitchers know what they're doing. It may have also been helped by core work I've been doing, which has improved my form and activated my butt muscles (I can actually feel them working when I run. Whoa!), and by some stretches targeting the hip flexors - especially the psoas.

Whatever it is, I'm pleased.

Walked first and last 5 minutes. Average HR for entire run: 134

It's all of the above.  You have a run where everything came together.  As far as the butt muscles, do you feel them engaging on flat, uphill, downhill or a mixture.  I'm sure I won't believe you, so maybe get Alita to verify on y'alls next run.

ounce wrote:Would the swooshers let you take the pair that feels so good to a race?

Nope! Contractually obligated to NOT display them, just like how I can't identify them or photograph them. Secret!

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:Did not expect that. Maybe all my fast-twitch fibers were so exhausted they couldn't butt in and try to get my to push faster, leaving my slow-twitchers to run the show. Apparently, the slow twitchers know what they're doing. It may have also been helped by core work I've been doing, which has improved my form and activated my butt muscles (I can actually feel them working when I run. Whoa!), and by some stretches targeting the hip flexors - especially the psoas.

Whatever it is, I'm pleased.

Walked first and last 5 minutes. Average HR for entire run: 134

It's all of the above.  You have a run where everything came together.  As far as the butt muscles, do you feel them engaging on flat, uphill, downhill or a mixture.  I'm sure I won't believe you, so maybe get Alita to verify on y'alls next run.

Probably true. It also reflects improving overall fitness. Getting control over the heart rate is one of the signs it's working.

Ass for the other question, I'll just say that I'm pretty much perceiving them all the time. I've been deficient in that area all my life, so it's kind of an odd sensation.

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:Did not expect that. Maybe all my fast-twitch fibers were so exhausted they couldn't butt in and try to get my to push faster, leaving my slow-twitchers to run the show. Apparently, the slow twitchers know what they're doing. It may have also been helped by core work I've been doing, which has improved my form and activated my butt muscles (I can actually feel them working when I run. Whoa!), and by some stretches targeting the hip flexors - especially the psoas.

Whatever it is, I'm pleased.

Walked first and last 5 minutes. Average HR for entire run: 134

It's all of the above.  You have a run where everything came together.  As far as the butt muscles, do you feel them engaging on flat, uphill, downhill or a mixture.  I'm sure I won't believe you, so maybe get Alita to verify on y'alls next run.

Probably true. It also reflects improving overall fitness. Getting control over the heart rate is one of the signs it's working.

Ass for the other question, I'll just say that I'm pretty much perceiving them all the time. I've been deficient in that area all my life, so it's kind of an odd sensation.

I also have lazy butt muscles...  What exercises do you think were most helpful?  Do you have to concentrate on engaging them during running or now that they are stronger do they kick in on their own?

When/where is Alita's event?  Are you doing it with her or just helping with training?

You're hoping to be ready for the ultra near Yachats in July aren't you?

Nice progress by the way...

nkrichards wrote:I also have lazy butt muscles...  What exercises do you think were most helpful?  Do you have to concentrate on engaging them during running or now that they are stronger do they kick in on their own?

When/where is Alita's event?  Are you doing it with her or just helping with training?

You're hoping to be ready for the ultra near Yachats in July aren't you?

Nice progress by the way...

So many questions! I'll tackle them in order.

1) The exercise that finally got them firing was a side leg lift with my knee slightly bent (to avoid recruiting the quads or TFL, which is really easy to do otherwise). To keep me honest, I do it about six inches from a wall and trace my heel up and down on the wall to ensure that my knee is bent and the glutes are doing the work. I do a set of 12, 10, and then 8... and boy, can I feel it. I also do a leg lift while lying face down, making sure to flex my butt before lifting my leg straight up. I've also done "marching" bridges, where you do a bridge and alternate lifting feet as though you were waking, keeping your pelvis stable the entire time. And some other ones, too.

1a) When I'm running, I don't concentrate on engaging the glutes most of the time, but I do try to get the proper posture when running uphill. Knee over the mid foot, upper body over the knee, upright posture and head up. It gets those backside muscles working... and it seems that once they start, they start engaging more often.

1b) ANOTHER thing that helped was a psoas stretch. It looks a little like a lunge, but keep the pelvis tucked while you do it. That creates a stretching sensation in the top of your leg. When it loosens up, it allows your leg to trail back behind as you run...which allows the glutes to really start to work.

I really think it's been a combination of those things that's got the process started. I don't know if it'll keep up, but I hope so!

2) Alita is doing the six-hour event at Elijah Bristow State Park east of Springfield, Ore., on June 18. I should say WE are doing it, because I signed up for it, too. My goal is to do it with her. It'll also be good training for my event in July.

3) The event in July isn't on the coast at Yachats (though I really want to do that race one of these days). This race is back up at Mount Hood, on part of the course I ran when I did the 50-miler there three years ago. It's a 50K, so I'll be spared the very challenging second half of the 50-mile course. Still, it looks like my goal -- after getting to the starting line -- will be to beat the cutoffs and finish. It'll be a little more challenging thanks to my training delays this spring.

And thanks! I took today off as recovery, and will only walk tomorrow. That'll hit my goal mileage for Nike, and hopefully leave me fresh enough to run with Alita on Sunday and do my own long run on Monday. Kind of a back-to-back approach.

Walk: 4.4 miles

Weather: Overcast but no rain on the parade! 55° Gear: Testers

Walking with the Skyview Marching Band at the Hazel Dell Parade of Bands. Obviously not a vigorous workout, though I did pull a wagon of water for the band off and on during the event. Cross training, anyone?

The nice thing is these miles get me past my required minimum for the testing. Anything I get Sunday will be gravy and help make up for the weeks where I couldn't do as much.

Mark B wrote:Walk: 4.4 miles

Weather: Overcast but no rain on the parade! 55° Gear: Testers

Walking with the Skyview Marching Band at the Hazel Dell Parade of Bands. Obviously not a vigorous workout, though I did pull a wagon of water for the band off and on during the event. Cross training, anyone?

The nice thing is these miles get me past my required minimum for the testing. Anything I get Sunday will be gravy and help make up for the weeks where I couldn't do as much.

SHERPA DUTY!!!

So he was called Bobbie Alec or Alec Bobby?

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:Walk: 4.4 miles

Weather: Overcast but no rain on the parade! 55° Gear: Testers

Walking with the Skyview Marching Band at the Hazel Dell Parade of Bands. Obviously not a vigorous workout, though I did pull a wagon of water for the band off and on during the event. Cross training, anyone?

The nice thing is these miles get me past my required minimum for the testing. Anything I get Sunday will be gravy and help make up for the weeks where I couldn't do as much.

SHERPA DUTY!!!

So he was called Bobbie Alec or Alec Bobby?

Hm... both sound good...

Trails: 2.5 miles with Alita

Weather: Mostly cloudy, a couple of rain showers. 59° Gear: Testers, shorts, T. Fluids: Water

Off to the woods for a few miles with Alita. She wasn't feeling 100%, so we took it very easy and did a lot of walking, getting some more time on her feet. It also gave me more extra low HR stimulus on varied terrain, which I think will be helpful. A rain shower or two passed through but it was warm enough that it wasn't really an issue. It helped that it wasn't a downpour, either.

Average HR for entire run: 106. Max 134.

Long Run: 13.26 miles

Weather: Mostly cloudy, mild, a little muggy. 56-60° Gear: Testers, shorts, T. Fuel: Only water. S-Caps at ~60, 120 minutes.

Emboldened by my double-digit breakthrough last week (and painfully aware of how little time I have before my 50K in July), I decided to push the distance this morning on my long run. I took it slow and easy, because I need miles more than speed right now. I was pleased to see that my HR wanted to stay at or below my target of 138 for most of the run, though I let it rise so I could run up out of the greenway on fatigued legs rather than just walk it.

My paces were faster than my splits would suggest, because I got a series of text messages from my family and had to walk and deal with them. Nothing super-urgent, which was good, but it was kinda distracting. Oh well. Kept my effort level down.

The run went well. I felt a bit of soreness in my right ankle, but not significantly.

Note on the question "when do you feel your butt muscles working": I feel them when they start to fatigue.

Another note: I accidentally paused my watch for .56 mile (and about 5:30) so I added it on to my lyin' GPS data.

Walked first and last 5 minutes. Average HR for entire run: 134.

Yeah, those splits are good!  

Glad that you got that Half in the books.  Durn near half of the 50K.  Ice and stick-with-it-ness shall get you to the start line with your bride (with some tylenol as your post race food).

ounce wrote:Yeah, those splits are good!  

Glad that you got that Half in the books.  Durn near half of the 50K.  Ice and stick-with-it-ness shall get you to the start line with your bride (with some tylenol as your post race food).

Yep, getting there. I think I found a good, sustainable long-distance pace for now. It's just a matter of building on that and letting whatever mitochondrial miracles happen when the time is ripe.

And remember, we're talking TWO events. The first one is in mid-June. That's the six-hour event with Alita. Her goal there is to at least PR in distance beyond 13.1, and push it as far beyond that as she can. The second is the Mount Hood 50K, which is in July.

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:Yeah, those splits are good!  

Glad that you got that Half in the books.  Durn near half of the 50K.  Ice and stick-with-it-ness shall get you to the start line with your bride (with some tylenol as your post race food).

Yep, getting there. I think I found a good, sustainable long-distance pace for now. It's just a matter of building on that and letting whatever mitochondrial miracles happen when the time is ripe.

And remember, we're talking TWO events. The first one is in mid-June. That's the six-hour event with Alita. Her goal there is to at least PR in distance beyond 13.1, and push it as far beyond that as she can. The second is the Mount Hood 50K, which is in July.

Hmmm.  Twice the TAPER MADNESS!  Twice the fun!

Walk: 3 miles

Weather: Partly cloudy, warm. 65°

Stretched out my regular Tuesday walk by a half mile. It was a pretty day and the walk went well.

Hills: 3 x hill repeats, 5.08 miles total

Weather: Overcast, mild. 56° Gear: Testers, shorts, T.

Trying something different this morning: Hill repeats! I headed out to the biggest nearby hill (gains about 140 feet in .33 mies) and did three repeats. I worked up the hill steadily, keeping the HR as low as I could manage while still running, then eased back down the hill for the first two repeats and started again. On the third downhill, I let gravity take over and got up to a sub-7 pace. That took some concentration!

Finished the run off with a easy pace back to the house (with a few more smaller climbs).

Not easy, but not ridiculously difficult, either.

Makes for a fun elevation chart, though.



Walked first and last 5 minutes. Average HR for entire run: 134. Max: 158

We have elevation changes like that graph, except the Y axis labels are 50, 52, 54, and 56.

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http://www.365runners.com/viewtopic.forum?t=3078

Holy cow! I think I found the way to unlock/lock a forum.

Now, whether this old blog was locked automatically or by Matt, I have no idea. This is a test to see what happens when I add a post to it.

Mark B wrote:Holy cow! I think I found the way to unlock/lock a forum.

Now, whether this old blog was locked automatically or by Matt, I have no idea. This is a test to see what happens when I add a post to it.

Testing...

Mark B wrote:

Mark B wrote:Holy cow! I think I found the way to unlock/lock a forum.

Now, whether this old blog was locked automatically or by Matt, I have no idea. This is a test to see what happens when I add a post to it.

Testing...

Testing...

Mark B wrote:

Mark B wrote:

Mark B wrote:Holy cow! I think I found the way to unlock/lock a forum.

Now, whether this old blog was locked automatically or by Matt, I have no idea. This is a test to see what happens when I add a post to it.

Testing...

Testing...

Testing...

Mark B wrote:

Mark B wrote:

Mark B wrote:

Mark B wrote:Holy cow! I think I found the way to unlock/lock a forum.

Now, whether this old blog was locked automatically or by Matt, I have no idea. This is a test to see what happens when I add a post to it.

Testing...

Testing...

Testing...

According to this link: http://help.forumotion.com/t1709-some-limits-of-forumotion-forum, this should not be possible.

A tutorial I just found said Forumotion (the service we use here) locks a topic thread at 990 posts and automatically "splits" off another topic thread (that's what they call our blogs) to continue. It appears to be hard-baked into the system. They say it cannot be changed.

That this makes 995 posts in this thread, well... who knows.

Boo! I was hoping I could merge all my Bumblebee posts into one blog, but it refused to let me.

At least now we know.