Edit: Thought maybe I’d add a title.
MadMayoite Dena and I decided a tempo run on the (relatively) flat greenway was in order this morning. Normally, a tempo run for me means completing my local loop as quickly as I can without suffering too much. “Consistent effort” is a little tough with all the steep hills in my neighborhood, so it’s really more of a less-extreme fartlek, I suppose; always either preparing for the next hill, climbing the hill, managing the descents, etc. So a flatter route can be a nice change of pace.
I have a theory about speed. Or Maybe it’s wishful thinking. You know how effortless fast runners make their pace look? I would be flailing around like a desperate maniac trying and failing to keep up. Common sense would say that it looks effortless because they’re in such good shape. In my continuing efforts to think more sense than common, I wonder if that’s backwards. What if the fast ones make speed look effortless not because they’re in great shape, but rather speed is not generated by all that extraneous effort? Maybe they’re fast because they’re smooth and efficient. So today, on a flat, I tried to hold on to a fast (for me) pace and figure out how to make it less effort-full.
I think I’m starting to get it. It seems like a little extra leg swing, faster cadence, and my nemesis, rhythm, are enough to pick up the pace considerably. No giant steps or intense arm swing needed. But why should such a little extra umph be so tiring? Or is it not that tiring, and I’m just being a baby who needs to suck it up? Anyway, after a mile warmup at about 9 minutes, I managed between 7-7:15 for another six miles. I don’t know how long I could hang on to that; I finished tired but not beat. I just kept telling myself “this isn’t that fast. This isn’t that fast,” trying to be as efficient as possible.
Oh, right. My feet. The whole point of this blog. I obviously have more to learn about avoiding extraneous movement, as I have a bit of a hot spot on my left footsole between the big toe and second toe. Since that’s the first and second metatarsal, I’m now coining the phrase, the “One-Two Hot Pad.” No blister or anything, just a reminder that I’ll (nor you, probably) never really master the basics, and need to check in now and then. Other foot issues, all the right: I re-broke my Art Class second toe kicking a root. I was wearing aqua socks, FWIW. Aside from bruising and an inability to crumple a newspaper with my toes, it hasn’t been an issue. I also think I might have had a mild case of sesamoiditis. I consulted Dr. Groucho, asking, “Doc, it hurts when I do this, what should I do?” “Stop doing that,” he replied. This being landing with more pressure on the ball of my foot. I stopped, rested, it went away. At any rate, the feet are in fine shape, especially considering the pace increase.
OK, next up, what? Cranky, counter-intuitive, alienating post? A limerick? Flowery prose extolling the beauty of running? Fart jokes? I do it all, folks.
My formgoes all to hell when I speed up. Not in a good way.
Jamoosh: I think living in a very hilly neighborhood forced me to figure out the basics of speeding up out of necessity. The hard part is realizing you don’t have to do as much as you think you do. I also think there’s at least one minor form adjustment to make to compensate for speed: because the ground is passing by underneath you more quickly, you have to kick the foot out in front a bit so that by the time it touches down, it’s underneath (not behind) you. If you kick out at all at a slower pace, you’ll land on your heel.
If your feet are moving in a circular motion, the bigger the wheel the faster you go (assuming the cadence stays the same). The bigger the wheel, the farther out in front of you your foot will travel, but it will still land underneath, not in front.
I’m still guessing here; and “the wheel” obviously doesn’t have to be all that big, since ac of running-down.com is fast but also advocates small girly steps. It was his 40th birthday yesterday, btw. Dude is all old and stuff.
My new speed mantra is “spin the wheels!” In my head it sounds like “pull the strings! pull the strings!”
First of all as a 4:45 marathon speed demon doing a 9 minute mile warm up is not even a goal of mine. I don’t do a 7-7:15 minute anything related to running except maybe trying to get my key in the door after my long run.
But I am working hard on stride and yesterday (yes, the alternating “good run” day) was productive. I am thinking perhaps I am still over striding a bit. I added more lean and more cadence and it seemed better. Less jarring on the legs. But it still feels very awkward and I wonder what my stride will evolve to by the end of the Boogie Run Marathon on June 12th.
blah, blah, blah…maybe I need that fart joke you referenced.
Viper: it gets really fun when it starts to sound like “abandon ship! abandon ship!”
Chris: My marathon PR is a 4:17, and that was with a shortcut… part of my whole latest obsession with speed is realizing that people I can beat at a 5k kick my tail (by an hour, in some cases) in marathons. The fact that I struggle to bring my shorter distance speed to longer runs makes me think I’m working too hard to go fast.
Re awkwardness, that probably is an indication you’re doing something right. Smoothness is all that really matters. If you want to check your stride, keep stepping fast but stop moving forward. Trot backwards. Go forwards again. You’ll see what I mean.
Re fart joke, I was just looking at a recent food bill… I think an alienating rant is bursting to com out.
I would suggest I am too mature for such jokes but I just got off bus duty.
I said “dooty,” tee-hee, “dooty.”
Thanks for the marathon reference regarding differences in pace depending on distance. Relatively speaking I am a bit faster when I push myself on my 3.5 or 4.5 mile route, but were still talking 9:30 mile pace. But, heh, I am running…and loving it!
Today was my personal best barefoot, 7.5 miles total, and my persoanl worst, the last 2 miles. I guess I expect too much maybe but I was all about thinking how great my form was up through 4 miles (tap, tap, tap, lift, lift, lift) but then I kept struggling to maintain my form and as I wandered along the result was sore feet which, of course, resulted in worse form. Try again tomorrow…