Friday, November 18, 2016

TMTS and landscaping

I am barefoot most of the time, both inside and outside of the house.  I have taken the dogs for walks barefoot (1.25 miles. 2 km).  The soles of my feet are quite ready for running.  As I posted earlier, I was very enthusiastic about running my intervals in the driveway.  Excited to be rebuilding.  Then it happened, and I should have known better, did know better but thought I was immune to it, Too Much Too Soon (TMTS).

You see, the soles of my feet are well conditioned for running barefoot.  I am right about that.  I wear pretty much only "zero-drop" footwear (my Xero sandals are my favorite).  I have moccasins for working in the yard which have leather soles -- not the rubber soles.  Even when I am not barefoot, my feet function as though they are bare -- from a function perspective they are unhindered.  The TMTS?  Oh, well, hmmm, that has to do with STRESS LOADING.  Despite all the time I spend in bare feet, the stress load of running is at least 2.5 times that of walking (up to 4X at higher paces), and there is really no way to condition for that kind of loading except by doing so GRADUALLY.  Going from zero to a half-a-mile (0.8 km) of sprint intervals is TMTS, apparently.  I really kind of knew that, but I was hoping I'd get a pass on this one.  I did not.  My feet complained very loudly about it.

I have not spent the time since my last post being idle.  I finished our primary landscaping around our house which involved moving six cubic yards of mulch (4.6 m^3), planting almost 30 plants, trenching drainage, overseeding grass areas, distributing pre-emergent, and leveling places in this new lawn with topsoil.  Physically demanding labor, spending hours per day for a week.  At my age, every one of those days was counted as a workout.  We have the grandchildren this weekend, and all my energy and time will be spent on them.

Next week I will begin anew.  This time, I will slow my pace (reduces the loading) and continue the intervals.  I will listen more closely to my body as well.  I now know that I get ZERO passes on being foolhardy.  OTOH, with my formerly torn left bicep ready for regular workouts, and my hamstring recovered, I will revamp my exercise routines to be more rounded and complete.

Keep moving!  (just do so, wisely) 😁

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

A Run & Stretch workout, and a PT workout the next day

I  know that I said I would take it slow, and only do two interval sets on my first running workout this week.  Here's the deal: I decided to do the intervals on my S-shaped driveway which is a little more than 100 meters from the garage door to the street.  I have measured it with my surveyor's wheel.  I was excited and started my workout -- the first one on my new Forerunner 630.  The first two sets had some expected discomfort, but less than expected.  I ran sets three and four, and the right leg had warmed up and felt good.  Then it hit me -- in my excitement to do the intervals on my drive, I forgot the heart-rate monitor which also has the tech for the running dynamics!  I admit to being a bit of a fitness-tech geek, but I am only interested in stuff I can really use in my training.  I went inside, put on the monitor, and re-did the four sets, in essence doing the same mile workout I did previously (but about 20% faster this time) which had me hurting for a couple of days afterwards -- but I got my running dynamics on that second four sets of intervals!  LOL!  I did follow-up with a good stretch routine.

The hamstring held up well, though it did voice a light opinion or two the rest of the day.  I awoke this morning, and was in the midst of taking the dog out, making coffee, serving coffee, and cleaning up after coffee when I realized I had no discomfort in the back of my knee.  I was excited for my PT workout!  The PT workout went very well, which included 20 minutes on the Nordic-Track and two sets of bridges and squats, both using the stability ball.  Stretching is a daily activity now, post-workouts.

The new running dynamics of the Forerunner 630 over the old 620 include a ground-contact balance check.  I suggested such a measurement four years ago, and although I do not claim to the the originator of this implementation, I am glad to see the information available.  I am just a little outside the green (good zone), with a 51/49 split favoring the left side, which might have something to do with the right leg issues.  It also measures the economy of the stride, taking a ratio of vertical oscillation (how much one moves up and down during the stride) to the stride length.  I scored very well on that one, as I am a pretty "flat" runner, typically oscillating only two inches (five centimeters)  during my stride.  Having the Forerunner 630 is like having a coach, and good running form is the most important aspect of injury-free running.

A little note on the re-attached biceps:  I did my three super-sets with both arms (one super-set is 10 reps of curls palms-up, 10 reps palms-down, 10 reps of palms-in).  I am glad to say it is time increase the intensity of the workout.  I will probably go with pyramid sets, starting at level six.  The number of reps in a pyramid set is the square of the level number.  I will "build" a pyramid with each type of curl, each type done in concurrent sets.  PT for the biceps is over; I am working out again!

I am looking forward to the run session tomorrow...