My Running Journal 021810

Yesterday I laid out three goals
1. Metronome
2. Run faster.
3. Instead of a 2 miler, out and back, I am going to jog ¼ mile to warm up and get the hitch out of my giddy-up, and then run a mile for time.

Well, I completed goals 1 and 2. Goal three, not so much. I got a small quartz metronome. Now I can set a pace, and keep it. Every sounded “beep” should be accompanied by a left foot fall. This morning I set the metronome to 80 BPM. That is nice steady cadence, and works out to 160 steps per minute, and is 10 BPM slower than a “double time” count. Working out the math – figuring that an average slow running stride covers about 36 inches, works out to about 480 feet per minute, and an 11 minute mile. Which is pretty slow, but workable for right now – 80bpm is what I ran this morning. And I averaged 10:37 per mile – the first mile was at an 11:13 pace, and the second mile was at a 10:00 pace. So goal two was met as well.

Goal three, well, let’s say that the fatigue has started to stack up – it was hard to motivate my legs to lengthen out much more this morning – hip is still really tight, and it is making running from the hips painful.

But I finished faster than I started, and while I still don’t think I am anywhere near fast, I will get there.

Having the metronome allows me to really focus on form – and is a taskmaster as well. The idea behind using the metronome is to really set a cadence count that stays consistent – Chi runners use them, as do POSE runners. For the Chi runner, you assume your proper running form, get it into first gear (an easy trot) and count the number of left footfalls in one minute. This gives you a nice solid baseline – in my case, when I took the Chi-running intro, my steady cadence was around 88 bpm. So 80 bpm is a bit slower than my natural cadence – but this morning it felt faster than the cadence that I did earlier in this week. Pose runners aim for 90bpm – or about 180 footfalls per minute – again a military “Double time” is 180 footfalls a minute. In formation runs, 180 steps at 36 inches a step equals a mile in just under 10 minutes. A marathon at that speed would be done in 4 hours, 23 minutes. So I will increase my cadence to 88 and see what happens.

As far as increasing your speed, I know, at least as far as someone practice Chi-running is concerned, the increase in speed is not an increase in cadence. The increase comes about from increasing your forward lean as well as your stride length. I was trying to practice some of that this morning – leaning forward and allowing myself to fall forward, to increase my forward momentum. In order to complete a mile in 8 minutes at a cadence of 88bpm, my stride needs to lengthen out to 45 inches. This morning, my 11:13 pace mile means my stride was averaging just under 35 inches.

In addition to the metronome, I decided that getting some insulation on my legs was a good idea. I have plenty of long underwear which could probably work, but they are designed as base layers and have no wind resistance built in, nor are they designed with running in mind. Having the seams in the correct spot saves a load of chafing and pain down the road. I have been looking at ¾ length tights – with the tight only coming to below the knee, and not to the ankle, I avoid any snag that might occur, as I have a tendency to brush my heel across my ankle as I run. Plus, it isn’t cold enough for me to cover completely up. And I have great calves.

So I poke around my local store (Pacesetter Athletic on Woodstock). Really nice, helpful people who had no idea of what I was talking about. I asked for ¾ length tights, and they directed me to the women’s capris. Eyeroll. They suggested, since they didn’t have ¾ lengths, that I should buy a pair of full lengths and then have them hemmed. Really nice, helpful people, who operate a store dedicated to selling running gear, who have no idea about the products available. So much for supporting the local retailer.

I wound my way towards Next Adventure, to no avail. I remembered that there was a running store somewhere in that neighborhood, but then realized that I was thinking of the Bike and Hike… actually, the store I was thinking about is Portland Running Company. Oh well. I ended up down at the U.S. Outdoor Store downtown, as REI had been stripped bare of tights that would have come close to what I was looking for. I came home with a pair of CW-X Insulator Stabilyx tights. Not only are they ¾ length, but they are lightly insulated, have wind resistant panels on the thighs, and, like all of the other CW-X products, it has a suspension system akin to kinesiotaping – support bands of heavy elastic fabric. The ¾ lengths wrap the quadriceps along the lines of the IT band, region of the adductors, and some other key places. They fit very, very snug, and provide muscle compression, insulation, and wind resistance. Which is awesome. The only drawback, that I see, is the support that they provide. The support itself is great – strong webbing that helps hold things in place – but therein lays the problem. I am right at the beginning of my training, and need to get my body in shape to run. I could argue (and will) that by providing support externally, my body may not develop and learn the internal support needed. Part of my overall goal is to explore how far I can get without using any of the technology out there. I am conflicted about my nice new tights – I’m worried that they may make me lazy, complacent, overly confident, or dependent on them.

How far can I go as I am?