July 23rd, 2010
But it’s ok, nobody’s playing funeral music over here. Besides, I think this is only the third quality session I’ve ever cut short, so I was due. Today’s fun was supposed to be 8×800@10k pace w/1min rec’s.
The hamstring injury had me nervous as it hadn’t completely left the building. And while I’d said I wanted at least one perfect hamstring day before attempting this session, tomorrow and Sunday are going to be “feels like” high 80s by 6am, so it was now or never. And it feels much better, so I thought it worth chancing.
When I left the house at 6:30am, it was “feels like” 82, deeming 10k pace a concept rather than an absolute – I just needed to manage 8 at “whatever”. I had a 2.5mi warmup which included some strides, then I stretched the hamstring, jogged a bit more and began.
In the end, I completed 5 of them, the first 4 pacewise went 7:05, 6:59, 6:58, 6:58, then I gave the hamstring a long stretch which had the opposite effect as intended, making it announce its presence, so the 5th one fell in at 7:18 and at that point, it was time to pack it in. Honestly, it was the hamstring, feeling cooked from the heat and a bad attitude.
On the bright side, I managed almost 18 minutes of effort-filled running, so it wasn’t a waste by any means, just not the most efficient bang for the buck. But I feel better than if I hadn’t done anything hard this week.
Injury Reflection
I think I know how I got the hamstring injury in the first place. It’s no secret I’m always on the hunt for improving my form and something I’d been playing with recently was stride length. A couple sessions ago (the one before I strained it) I’d noticed that if I increase my pushoff and lengthen that back leg, I gained some speed. The problem, I think, is that my hamstring wasn’t accustomed to supporting this exaggerated movement. Live and learn. That’s a potential byproduct of experimentation.
Pace or Effort?
There’s an interesting thread going on at MRT about whether you get the same workout running slower paces in hotter weather. I’m of the opinion that you don’t get an equivalent workout in poor conditions. Not to say you don’t get benefit, just that you get more improvement when you’re able to fire on all cylinders.
With this in mind, I don’t see myself having the outcome I want for the RNR Philly Half (aka Distance Run) in September, which is a PR. So if you look at my At The Races page, I’ve removed the note “goal race” from that one and added the Philadelphia Half Marathon in November to the schedule. It’s a tad slower course than the September Half, but I’ll have another 2 months to train and in cooler weather, so at least I’ll have a clue about where I stand. Right now, I’m so mixed up with the sludge and my last races, that I don’t know what to expect.
But this is not a boohoo situation! It’s a “try to see clearly and plan accordingly” type of deal. I know good things will come, but it’s a matter of time. This is all about discovery and realization and frankly, even though I whine a lot, I love it. Yeah, I get frustrated not moving ahead the way I’d like, but running is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before – the way it unfolds is such a mystery. It keeps us on our toes, gives us a menu of emotions to choose from and makes life exciting. How many things can you say that about?
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I love your positive spin on your “failed workout” as you referred to it. You are so right about all of it!!
Wow, I was reading along here and at the end that really gave me pause “…running is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before – the way it unfolds is such a mystery. It keeps us on our toes, gives us a menu of emotions to choose from and makes life exciting. How many things can you say that about?”. This is absolutely beautifully worded! I love your attitude and the conclusion you arrive at. I will quote you if I may.
Jodi, don’t know why I’m upbeat even though the workout went wonky, usually I’d be seething, lol.
Martina, you can quote me anytime! I’m just flattered you’d want to. Thanks, girl!
i’d definitely view the work as a non-fail. you got in some quality work! and i love your last sentence. soooo true and it’s what keeps me out hitting the streets every day.
and now that i’ve been running with you i get a kick out of actually being able to picture you running down the river. i’m like “i was there!” haha
I agree with the cutting-short decision. Been there/done that. I’ve had some track workouts where I simply stepped off the track when I felt a twinge, and generally whatever it was was gone the next day.
I don’t know about the effect of slowing down to account for the heat. Since I tend to be on the fast end of the range of paces for easy runs normally, I have plenty of leeway when I slow down and still get the benefit of that workout. Perhaps it has more of an impact on pace-sensitive speed. There, though, it might work to shorten the worksegment and increase the number. So instead of 1000s do 400s with a short rest. I find the latter can be done at my target pace and by keeping the break short I get the benefit. But doing something like a 20 minute tempo run might be too much, and I don’t know whether one gets the physiological benefits if she has to slow the pace down because of the heat.
Given the temperatures we’ve been having, I think it’s a good idea to downgrade the PDR, however slightly.
I like your sentiments about running, particularly as a reminder to an old-timer that each run is like an unhappy family.
Karyn, yep, fun that you know exactly where I’m talking about now! In fact, I do my intervals right where I saw you on that second day. :-)
Joe, “each run is like an unhappy family.” Love this. Though if that were true, I’d stop running to get away from them. And yeah, you had already called it on downgrading PDR after the heatstroke thing, though I wanted to pooh-pooh it, you had it right.
Thanks for the MRT link, a forum which I need to more closely monitor since there’s some good posts and input there. Reflecting on the ‘is effort equivalent to pace’ thread prompted me to throw in my $0.02, and as you’d sparked my initial thinking through your blog post I thought I’d copy:
Generally speaking a runner should ideally train in the environment as close as possible to their goal race – naturally including temperature & humidity. In training for Chicago from Houston through the summer I use the dreadmill for my speed work, and runs at goal marathon pace. However, to maintain my sanity I run outdoors extremely early in the morning two to four times per week, naturally including the long-run, and face dew points consistently near 74F.
Under such conditions Houston summer runners are obviously forced to slow-down versus ideal running conditions, owing primarily to the diversion of blood away from the active muscles. While runners may maintain an equivalent effort versus their intended faster target pace, I believe runners who exclusively run in such conditions are adversely altering their stride dynamics and neuromuscular patterning for their goal race, and therefore need to utilize the dreadmill for speed work – at minimum. Consequently, runners who consistently run under equivalent Houston conditions through the summer should incorporate the dreadmill to enhance their training.
Yep, treadmill is definitely a way to beat it. If it’s like this next year, I’ll consider joining a gym.
Looked like it was going OK until the hammy intervened. Bad Hammy!
My take on the effort/pace thing: If it’s wind or hills, effort counts. If it’s heat, you’re screwed, because your heart’s so busy sending blood to the skin for cooling.
I agree with your assessment on heat vs wind/hills. Hey, good luck with the pacing gig on Sunday, I know they’ll love you!
I hope the hammy is good for the weekend’s running. Some hammy strengthening exercises (once the pain is gone) should help prevent a recurrence.
You’ll get the same cardiovascular benefit training at slightly slower paces in hot weather. The effort is the same but the pace slower. For neuromuscular benefit though, it’s good to run at the required pace, so I like Joe’s idea of shortening the effort portions of an interval session (he suggests 400s). You could have a drink bottle and one of those water sprayers to cool yourself down a bit during a short walking rest (30-60 secs) between 400s. That way you can get a lot of running at the required pace for a little less HR stress. Another option is to do sets of 400s with a longer break between sets. So, your 8 x 800 might become 2 sets of 8 x 400. Avoid the temptation to go faster in the 400s because they’re shorter than 800s
I haven’t been on MRT so I haven’t seen the discussion about hot-weather workouts. I tend to agree with you that you aren’t getting as much of a benefit in the heat. Doing a long run 1:00/mile slower than normal long run pace, which might be 1:00/mile slower than marathon pace seems really far off from the actual goal. I hope the hamstring heals 100% and I like that you are being realistic about your goal for the PDR. Who knows, you may just surprise yourself, though.