Compare then to now.

The ride yesterday included a climb I knew I'd done a few times before. It felt like I was getting good pace for the effort, and I knew I'd given everything I had to get to the top on one of the previous ascents.

That's all it takes to motivate a bit of geeking out with sporttracks. Two previous runs up the same hill were found. Drilling in to the Pinehurst/Moraga intersection as the start and the stop sign limit line where Pinehurst meets Skyline as the finish allowed a direct comparison.

October 5, 2008 - 21:45
November 18, 2008 - 23:32
June 21, 2009 - 21:58

On the October ride I followed my friend John up and then sprinted to the top at the end for King of the Mountain honors. You can see from the graph that I spiked my heartrate up into Zone 5. That ride was the one time I've ever fallen over on this bike -- because I couldn't get my foot clicked out of the pedal while I was sucking wind at the top having just crossed the finish line.

Yesterday I hit the beginning of the climb and decided to keep spinning it up because I could hear the crunch of gravel from someone right behind me. If they were going, I was going. That turned out to be John again, and he dropped back near the end and I spun it in without any finish line kick.

The two graphs are both highlighting the same start/finish section from the two rides. Most noteworthy difference is the cadence. First time I tried to grind it up in as high a gear as I could hang onto. This time I spun lower gears trying to keep at 85-90 cadence, but eventually ran out of gears near the top where it gets steepest.

Before:



After:



And there would be less empirical fail if I a) remembered my heart rate strap on Sunday and b) had both graphs be over time, or distance, and not a mix of both.

WOJ shop ride again

Did the Wheels of Justice Sunday night ride again. Great night for it. Clear and warm. Not hot in the open, not cold in the shade.

Forgot my heartrate strap. Could tell from the breathing that it was mostly 160-170 when I was making power. Worked on keeping the cadence up above 85. Seemed to work pretty well. It is tempting to blame struggles on the last few rides with the seat slipping back out of adjustment before it got loose enough for me to notice and put it back where it belongs.

Went to see the local tri

The local Tri for Fun had the first of 3 summer events today. Went to spectate at this one thinking it would be good prep for signing up for one of the later ones. At this point I'll say hell yes it was a good idea.

Now I know that they will likely start 15 minutes late, that the run course is somewhat confusing and volunteers may be learning their jobs as they go, and I'd probably be best off starting in my AG wave (M 40+) than in the last wave (for people worried about the swim). Although the following pic is no doubt the spot where I will be the most angst-ridden when my turn comes.

First hot day in a while

High 80's. Trails were jammed with people out enjoying a nice evening after work. That meant lots of people to chase and pass. Did 4 miles of trail at about 9:20 pace. Last time I was running at that speed the heartrate required was about 10bpm more. Not sure if I can give the high cadence work the credit.

Tacos al Pastor

They're good. But they are probably not a good idea right before a run. Oh no.

Sleep monster

Went to bed at 3:30 last night. Threw the whole day out of whack. Lately Sundays have been bike days but went for a run. Normally the dog would be happier with that, but tonight at the end of the run he barfed. Poor kid. Just his usual empty-stomach issues.

What's the deal with breathing.

For pretty much all of the running I've done in the last 3-4 years it was two footfalls per exhale, two footfalls for inhale. Maybe 1:1 when on tough climbs and moving slowly.

One thing that seems to have just spontaneously happened lately now that I've been working on maintaining higher cadence is that it will be 4 footfalls per inhale and then per exhale. Weird. Off to do some googling on respiration rate and running. Not something I've seen mentioned in the many running articles read over the last few years.

Good run tonight! Musta been the mocha and peanut butter cookie at Farley's on the way home from work. http://www.farleyscoffee.com/ideas/index.html

Hmm. After a bit of google this turned up and not much else.

"If you wish to experiment with modifications in your breathing rate, however, do so during less important runs and workouts. Based on my own research and coaching experience, when running at about 75% maximal heart rate (MHR), most runners average 30 to 45 breaths per minute. Although there are limitations in the method, for a rough approximation of your MHR, you could subtract your age from 220, in your case 163 beats per minute (bpm). Seventy-five percent of this would be about 122 bpm. As the pace quickens from 75% MHR, a pattern of two steps to inhale and two to exhale will allow more oxygen. This is about 60 breaths per minute. For intervals, a kick at the end of a race, or races lasting less than three minutes, try a pattern of two steps to inhale and one step to exhale. Any faster than this can create a state similar to hyperventilating.

Greg Tymon, MEd, CSCS"

Kind of interesting as it fits personal experience. The other thing I forgot to mention is that with this new 4 steps situation the breaths seem deeper. On the inhale it is almost like I'm puffing my chest out.

In spite of the high workload this weekend, tonight's run was fairly fast, and low effort to boot. Sub 9:00 miles on hilly trail to start was pretty good for me. Finished at about 10:00. Tired the dog out for sure.

Motorbikes are good excercise

For example, pushing one across a gravel lot is a good way to elevate your heart rate. Today in about 30 seconds of pushing I hit 173 bpm from a resting rate. That was about 10 bpm more than anywhere else in an afternoon of riding offroad at Hollister OHV park.

It ain't just sitting on the cushy seat and twisting the throttle:



This was some fun riding.

Consider a donut and a mexican scramble before your next ride.

Snuck in a Saturday ride for scheduling convenience this week.





Will be dirt riding tomorrow. Woo.

Running after dinner is teh awesome

Ran a harder, alternate version off of one of the usual loops. It was good. Took a bit more edge off the dog than usual.

Glucosamine placebo factor is at 9 out of 10

Certainly seems like my knees have been better lately. Someone mentioned that Trader Joe's sells glucosamine supplements, and they include both hcl and sulfate forms, hedging their bet nicely.

With the knee pain under control that left just my calf muscles bugging me and more focus on stretching has been good for that. Now I look forward to my runs to a degree that I haven't experienced in almost a year. Woo hoo, one might say.