Yesterdays 20.5k run was one of the best to my standards. I completed the distance in 1hr 42mins with an average speed of 12km/hr (i.e 5mins/km). When I started the run, I was bit uncertain about maintaining the speed throughout the course. But decided to keep up the pace till my legs could sustain and surprisingly I managed to achieve that. My modified training program is helping to improve my strength and speed. I wish to have this time officially recorded during the pondicherry half marathon which is scheduled on Feb 16th. Whatever it takes, I have decided to train hard and rip myself apart before my next marathon.
"You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming." - Frank Shorter
"It is very difficult to train for a marathon; but it is even more difficult to not be able to train for a marathon." - Aaron Douglas Trimble
Monday, January 21, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Try Again
I keep receiving weekly Bulletin from Better Life Unlimted. This week topic is "Try Again".
By Dr. Chet Zelasko
Did you ever watch a five-year-old try to skate? It doesn’t matter whether it’s roller blading or ice skating, they fall all the time. Then they get back up and try again. And again. And again. They don’t let failure stop them--they try again immediately. There’s a great lesson there.
If you’re going change the way you eat, you’re going to fail many times on the road to a new style of eating. You’re also going to sleep in more times than you should and miss your workout. That’s inevitable--but just like those kids, try again immediately. This is my business and I’m still trying to get it all figured out when it comes to eating. I don’t eat as badly as I used to eat and not as good as I’m going to eat.
We’re all works in progress and as long as we keep trying, we’ll ultimately succeed.
We can apply this theory to anything we try to learn. Don't give up easily, keep trying.
I am going to train until I crack sub 3hrs marathon. There is no guarantee that I could achieve this before I retire at 50, but I will keep trying.
By Dr. Chet Zelasko
Did you ever watch a five-year-old try to skate? It doesn’t matter whether it’s roller blading or ice skating, they fall all the time. Then they get back up and try again. And again. And again. They don’t let failure stop them--they try again immediately. There’s a great lesson there.
If you’re going change the way you eat, you’re going to fail many times on the road to a new style of eating. You’re also going to sleep in more times than you should and miss your workout. That’s inevitable--but just like those kids, try again immediately. This is my business and I’m still trying to get it all figured out when it comes to eating. I don’t eat as badly as I used to eat and not as good as I’m going to eat.
We’re all works in progress and as long as we keep trying, we’ll ultimately succeed.
We can apply this theory to anything we try to learn. Don't give up easily, keep trying.
I am going to train until I crack sub 3hrs marathon. There is no guarantee that I could achieve this before I retire at 50, but I will keep trying.
Friday, January 04, 2008
Observations on Treadmill Training
Every time I visit the gym, I can’t resist myself from running on the treadmill. I would work on overall body strengthening exercises combined with core strengthening followed by a fast 5k run. Primarily I make use of the treadmill for correcting my posture and improving the lactate threshold. Usually it takes 21:30 – 21:50mins for me to complete a 5k on a treadmill with an average speed of around 13.9km/hr. Whether its road running or treadmill running I have the style of taking longer strides. The distance on the treadmill is calculated only based on the time and speed but not on the stride length and rates. If my strides are longer, definitely I would be covering more than 5k on the treadmill in sub 22 mins. Recently with less intensity I broke my 5k PR on road in 21:51 mins which again contradicts with the treadmill timing. After doing some research on stride length and speed, I came across a good article on Treadmill Training.
Few interesting points from the article
The first study to evaluate carefully the kinematics of treadmill versus 'overground' running was completed in 1972 at Penn State University in the US, in a study of 16 male members of the university's track and cross-country teams(4). The runners were evenly divided between distance specialties, with five sprinters, six middle-distance runners and five cross-country runners, all of them required to run at three speeds at three different inclinations on both the treadmill and normal ground.
This groundbreaking study uncovered fundamental differences between treadmill and overground running. For instance, at relatively routine speeds of 3.35 and 4.88m/sec (119 and 82 seconds per 400m respectively), the athletes' stride lengths were absolutely identical on treadmill and firm ground; but when velocity rose to 6.4m/sec (62.5 seconds per 400m), treadmill stride length was about 5% longer than overground strides. The same situation occurred during uphill (10%-grade) running, with strides equal at moderate paces but about 8% longer on the treadmill when velocity rose to 6.4m/sec. During downhill running (10%), stride lengths on the ground and treadmill were equal at all speeds.
Not surprisingly, stride rates were lower on the treadmill during fast running both uphill and on the level: since stride lengths were longer on the treadmill, stride rate would have to slow down in order to keep speed at a constant level. Predictably too, 'support time' (the length in milliseconds of the stance phase of the gait cycle) increased significantly on the treadmill for all speeds during uphill and downhill running - and at the very highest speed during level running. Basically, the runners were trying to create more stability for themselves on the unstable, fast-moving and/or inclined treadmill by keeping their feet on the belt a little longer than usual. In fact, this effect may have been the cause of both the lower stride rates and longer strides: with the stance phase elongated, more propulsive force could have been created, broadening strides but trimming stride rate.
No wonder my stride length was longer on the treadmill at higher velocity.
Few interesting points from the article
The first study to evaluate carefully the kinematics of treadmill versus 'overground' running was completed in 1972 at Penn State University in the US, in a study of 16 male members of the university's track and cross-country teams(4). The runners were evenly divided between distance specialties, with five sprinters, six middle-distance runners and five cross-country runners, all of them required to run at three speeds at three different inclinations on both the treadmill and normal ground.
This groundbreaking study uncovered fundamental differences between treadmill and overground running. For instance, at relatively routine speeds of 3.35 and 4.88m/sec (119 and 82 seconds per 400m respectively), the athletes' stride lengths were absolutely identical on treadmill and firm ground; but when velocity rose to 6.4m/sec (62.5 seconds per 400m), treadmill stride length was about 5% longer than overground strides. The same situation occurred during uphill (10%-grade) running, with strides equal at moderate paces but about 8% longer on the treadmill when velocity rose to 6.4m/sec. During downhill running (10%), stride lengths on the ground and treadmill were equal at all speeds.
Not surprisingly, stride rates were lower on the treadmill during fast running both uphill and on the level: since stride lengths were longer on the treadmill, stride rate would have to slow down in order to keep speed at a constant level. Predictably too, 'support time' (the length in milliseconds of the stance phase of the gait cycle) increased significantly on the treadmill for all speeds during uphill and downhill running - and at the very highest speed during level running. Basically, the runners were trying to create more stability for themselves on the unstable, fast-moving and/or inclined treadmill by keeping their feet on the belt a little longer than usual. In fact, this effect may have been the cause of both the lower stride rates and longer strides: with the stance phase elongated, more propulsive force could have been created, broadening strides but trimming stride rate.
No wonder my stride length was longer on the treadmill at higher velocity.
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