To Infinity and Beyond - Becoming a Better DopeyBadger (Comments Welcome)

[DopeyBadger]

I'm curious about what exercises are in McMillan legs. I looked back and saw that this is the program that you had to pay for and got a bazillion of short videos for them. Presumably you're not doing all of those exercises at once. Are they more focused on stability and accessory muscles rather than pure strength?

The 36 exercises are broken into 6 exercises per 2 week cycle for a 12 week total cycle. So just doing the first 6 exercises at the current moment. On a day by day basis (or for me at the moment a week by week basis) the workout increases in rep length. Then the following new set of 6 exercises builds (in some manners) on the previous exercise set.

For Week 1/2, I have the following 6 exercises:
1) Plank to down dog w/ toe taps
2) Wall drill singles - pistons
3) Box Jumps
4) Isometric Lunges
5) Eccentric Single Leg Squats
6) Plank shoulder taps

No weights used for any of the exercises. Occasionally, a step/chair/box is needed.

The Isometric lunges and Eccentric Single Leg Squats were my hardest ones to complete in the beginning. But I've gotten better with them. Still can't really do the ESLS on my left leg nearly as good as my right.

In total, they've been taking me about 15-25 minutes.

 

[flav]

The easiest thing to do is a simple reset dependent on how much time remains prior to their goal race.

I find that these days, this is the hardest since I do not know what is happening with the race and the goal just got downgraded because too aggressive for my current maintenance shape.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I find that these days, this is the hardest since I do not know what is happening with the race and the goal just got downgraded because too aggressive for my current maintenance shape.

But if you just keep the same race date, and either do the race (because it happens) or a time trial (because it doesn't happen) then it removes that uncertainty. That only leaves the question of current fitness. The easiest thing to do is a 1 mile time trial. Do a warm-up of 10-20 minutes. Run a mile at near full effort, but not maximal. Then do a cool-down of 5-10 minutes. Use that mile time to get a rough idea of current fitness, good goal pacing, and reasonable future goal time for the HM. If you have say about 16 weeks until the race, then I'd do the 1 mile time trial now, and then again in like 7 weeks or so to reassess the training paces. I don't like to change the pacing structure once inside 8 weeks to race day because it doesn't allow for enough time to adapt fully to the change.

Alternatively, just use a recent race time from the last 3 months like a 5k or 10k. Then use that as a judge of current fitness on which to build a pacing scheme. But it's important to note, that even in my particular case where I ran a 5:42 mile, I'm not currently training at the same paces as a 5:42 mile would suggest. One because the T+D has skyrocketed since then, and two because my fitness level isn't the same as even a month ago. So I'm allowing myself to ease into the pacing. Going too slow (especially on easy days) from ideal pacing will rarely hurt you on race day because the large majority of the recreational racing we do is aerobic based (HM is 95% aerobic). So going too slow is perfectly fine. But going too fast will catch up to you.

I will say though. What ever happens in a recent mile time trial, 5k race in February, etc. doesn't completely dictate what will happen in the HM a few months from now. I've had plenty of occasions for myself and others where they trained for "X" and ended up running "X - some amount of time". I've run 5ks were all three mile splits were mile PRs. Which means I didn't have to be able to run or train like it in training for it to be possible on race day. So maybe the data currently says your goal was too aggressive, but maybe the week prior to the race after a good training cycle it won't look nearly as aggressive anymore.

 

[avondale]

The 36 exercises are broken into 6 exercises per 2 week cycle for a 12 week total cycle. So just doing the first 6 exercises at the current moment. On a day by day basis (or for me at the moment a week by week basis) the workout increases in rep length. Then the following new set of 6 exercises builds (in some manners) on the previous exercise set.

For Week 1/2, I have the following 6 exercises:
1) Plank to down dog w/ toe taps
2) Wall drill singles - pistons
3) Box Jumps
4) Isometric Lunges
5) Eccentric Single Leg Squats
6) Plank shoulder taps

No weights used for any of the exercises. Occasionally, a step/chair/box is needed.

The Isometric lunges and Eccentric Single Leg Squats were my hardest ones to complete in the beginning. But I've gotten better with them. Still can't really do the ESLS on my left leg nearly as good as my right.

In total, they've been taking me about 15-25 minutes.

Thanks! I had to look up the "pistons" exercise - I have never heard of nor seen that one. It looks plyometric. At one point I was focusing on trying to do single-leg squats all the way down to the floor (well, just above the floor). I could get it with my dominant leg, but the other leg never got that good; and well, if you don't keep doing them, you lose it eventually. They definitely are hard.

That is an interesting mix of exercises, for sure.

 

[kbenson13]

Billy, I'm sure you've said it somewhere previously and I'm sorry I missed it, but what McMillan program are you doing exactly and would you recommend it to others (is it "Marathon Legs")? How many days/week are you doing the exercises and how long does it take to do them?

Thanks!

 

[DopeyBadger]

Billy, I'm sure you've said it somewhere previously and I'm sorry I missed it, but what McMillan program are you doing exactly and would you recommend it to others (is it "Marathon Legs")? How many days/week are you doing the exercises and how long does it take to do them?

Thanks!

I'm doing two different McMillan routines right now. I'm doing a combination of LIIFT4 (any of the three upper body types) + McMillan Runner's Core. And secondly, I'm doing McMillan Marathon Legs.

McMillan Runner's Core is a series of 9 videos that are like "live" workouts. Each time I do the workout, I follow the video. These last anywhere from 10-25 minutes. I've never actually done videos 7,8,9, but I have done 1-6. Right now I just started video 2. I do this 1-2 times per week and typically during a morning/evening opposite of a different workout. It costs $5 per year. I'd say the cost to benefit ratio is worth it on this series of videos.

McMillan Marathon Legs is a collection of 36 videos of which you're supposed to do 6 videos (to make 1 workout) every 2 weeks (for a total of 12 weeks). These are not "live" videos of the workouts, but rather a 10-15 sec video clip of each individual move within a workout. So I watched the videos the first couple of times, and now I just follow the print out and watch TV instead (once I move to Week 3/4 then I'll watch the new videos instead of TV). I have managed to put each of the 6 clips in succession to make it easier for myself to watch 1 video instead of 6 separate ones, but it still isn't "live" since you do way more reps in reality than they do in the video. I'm still on Week 1/2. I do this twice per week immediately following what I deem to be the two hardest workouts of the week. Thus far (again it's early on for me), the workout takes anywhere from 15-35 min. It costs $40 per year. I can't speak to the gains of this series of videos because it's too soon to judge. I am definitely getting stronger in the specific moves and the progression is working well for me. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't expect more for $40. The $5 videos that are live are a way better value. I mean I get why there isn't "live" videos for this since every workout is suppose to be additional reps above the last workout, but it's still kind of disappointing. So whether this one works or is worth $40 is still undetermined to me.

 

[DopeyBadger]

17 Weeks to go + HIM Base Mid Volume Cycling + (LIIFT 4 + McMillan Core/Legs)

7/6/20 - M - OFF
7/7/20 - T - Shasta (60 min; 60 TSS) + McMillan Legs
7/8/20 - W - 45 min @ Easy Run w/ 8x30s reps
7/9/20 - R - Tunnabora (60 min; 65 TSS) + 40 min Easy Run w/ 2x20s uphill reps + McMillan Legs
7/10/20 - F - LIIFT4-Shoulders + McMillan Core + Mount Field (65 min; 62 TSS)
7/11/20 - Sa - Cumberland (75 min; 78 TSS) + 30 min Brick Easy Run
7/12/20 - Su - OFF

Total Run Miles - 11.9 miles
Total Run Time - 1:58 hours
Total Run TSS - x TSS

Total Biking Time - 4:16 hours
Total Biking TSS - 265 TSS

Total Strength Time - 1:48 hours
Total Strength TSS - x TSS

Total Training Time - 8:03 hours
Total TSS - x TSS

Tuesday
Shasta is a cycling ride with some 20s sprints behind it. So some real raw power was thrown down. I set PRs for wattage for everything from 1 sec to 39 seconds. Topping out at 650 watts. It's unknown whether I would have been higher if not for the ERG mode. I followed that up with the Week 1/2 Day 4 of McMillan legs.

Wednesday
I had another PT scheduled for Friday morning. So I wanted to use this workout as a gauge as to whether that PT needed to happen. As I discussed with the PT, if things continued to progress well, then there wasn't a reason for me to come in. I took the run nice and easy and did 10:16 pace for the first 25 min since it was a T+D of 165. HR was where I wanted it to be around a 133 without even looking. I then followed that up with 8 x 30s reps. Ranging in pace from 4:41 to 6:12. I didn't have any issues with my upper leg and so I cancelled the appointment when I got back home. Hoping that I have now put this issue behind me and can get back to what I love to do most.

Thursday
Early morning wake up at 4:00am so that I could start the ride. It was several shorter reps in and around Sweet Spot pace with the goal of working on leg speed. Tough to wake up the legs at 4am, but I managed.

That evening there was a super storm rolling in. So I rushed out the door to try and get as much as I could before the storm rolled through. I was able to get everything in and did my two 20 sec reps of uphill running. On the first rep, I was able to manage a 5:24 min/mile. Don't know the GAP anymore because Strava took that away as a free feature. As I crested the hill there were some neighbor kids giving me what seemed like sarcastic claps. So I was like, thanks guys. How about you join me for the next one? I only got one more to do. And they were like, yea we got this. So they started jogging down the hill with me and about halfway they started to bail. They were like, ah never mind man, you've got this. I was like, whoa what's going on guys, can't beat the old man now? LOL! So I decided to really try and let loose for the second interval and through down a 4:48 min/mile uphill. It felt really good. Honestly, this whole run felt really good and was a feeling like I was back. The pace wasn't all that fast for the majority (9:57 min/mile with 132 HR at T+D 158), but it felt smooth.

Friday
Woke up and did LIIFT4 w/ McMillan Core with Steph. Did Mount Field in the evening which was a ride focused on shorter intervals of HIM pace.

Saturday
Weighed in at 179.0. So only lost 0.5 pounds. Hopefully a sign of me correctly pulling back on the weight loss and not a plateauing.

Brick ride of 75 min at HIM pace and 30 min easy run afterwards. The 75 min at HIM pace felt nice and smooth. I included some warmup stretches prior to the 30 min at easy running pace because last week I didn't like how the transition felt. Something felt really off with the start of this run. Last week Sunday prior to my run when I was doing my first stretch which is simple standing butt kicks (not even running in place), I felt a bit of a pop above my left knee on the backside. Like a rubber band popping into place or from one place to another. It was noticeable during the run, but nothing that held me back during the fast finish. But during this day's run, it felt like the back of my leg wanted to pop for the first 1-2 min. The issue mainly subsided, but it definitely feel great. I've only felt that popping sensation one other time last year Summer/Fall when I was sitting on my chair at home with my legs on the foot rest and then moved to get up prior to a strength exercise. So I'm not really sure why it happened then or now, or what it really is. Best guess is an overstretched area that has a minor tear/strain or something like hamstring tendonitis. I iced it for the remainder of the day.

Sunday
Woke up and the area didn't feel normal. So I decided to take an off day instead. Spent the day icing and heating padding it. Hoping that an extra day's rest will return things to normal. Otherwise I'll just take the time needed to heal it since I'm not truly in the midst of training for anything. Just kind of play it by ear. So everything is on a temporary pause again. At least I got in 2 runs where things started to feel normal again.

 

[SheHulk]

Hi Billy I have a training question that might apply to other people so I'm asking it here:

I hope you're not mad but given that my marathon is canceled, I'm shelving the training plan you just took the time to write for me. It looks like fewer than 40 people have registered for that 10k I had for Labor Day also, so let's assume that is getting canceled too. In any case it's not something I can work myself up to follow a training plan for, more of a day-of decision whether to run it.

In thinking about what I can do to keep myself interested, I was thinking about trying to up my training base from 3-4 hours of running a week to 4-5 hours. Is that something that would help me improve as a runner, or not worth my time? At my age (49) and fitness level, and injury history (ankle issue that's mostly resolved maybe 90-95%) is that something I can safely do? What's the best way to do it? Increase run frequency from 5 days a week to 6? Add a little time to my daily runs but keep it at 5 a week? If I'm going back to sitting in a holding pattern I think it would just be more interesting to me if I can nudge that holding pattern up a bit. I had been sitting at 3-4 hrs a week for months already and the thought of just continuing like that is a drag frankly.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I hope you're not mad but given that my marathon is canceled, I'm shelving the training plan you just took the time to write for me. It looks like fewer than 40 people have registered for that 10k I had for Labor Day also, so let's assume that is getting canceled too. In any case it's not something I can work myself up to follow a training plan for, more of a day-of decision whether to run it.

We both knew it was pretty inevitable. So no worries.

In thinking about what I can do to keep myself interested, I was thinking about trying to up my training base from 3-4 hours of running a week to 4-5 hours. Is that something that would help me improve as a runner, or not worth my time? At my age (49) and fitness level, and injury history (ankle issue that's mostly resolved maybe 90-95%) is that something I can safely do? What's the best way to do it? Increase run frequency from 5 days a week to 6? Add a little time to my daily runs but keep it at 5 a week? If I'm going back to sitting in a holding pattern I think it would just be more interesting to me if I can nudge that holding pattern up a bit. I had been sitting at 3-4 hrs a week for months already and the thought of just continuing like that is a drag frankly.

If the goal is simply, "to keep you interested and avoid injury" then there's little reason you shouldn't be able to handle 60 min a day 5 days per week. Will you improve? Probably only marginally at best compared to 4 hrs per week. Especially if we maintain that during the week the actual training intensity and overall progression of the plan is constant between the two choices. But if the difference between "I'm interested" and "I'm not interested and this is a drag" is an extra 60 min per week, then do it. Because at the end of the day, we all do this sport for enjoyment in one matter or another. Having it being a mental drag won't help in the long term. The more you increase any of the days beyond 90 min is when you'll start to really nudge up the chance for injury as your body will perceive that duration differently than 60 min.

Beyond volume, consider what types of runs you'd want to do during this period of time. There are aggressive type runs and easier type runs. Like 12 x 400m at 5k pace is much easier than 3 x 1 mile at 5k pace. They're the same distance (essentially) and yet the bodies perception of them is way different. So during a non-training period where you're "trying to keep interested and avoid injury" just interject some very easy hard type runs once every week to two weeks. So even something like 6 x 400m at 5k pace is easier than 12 x 400m at 5k pace. Or 3 x 2 min at 3k pace is way easier than 2 x 4 min at 3k pace. Don't progress up to hard stuff because there isn't a point.

The other consideration is when training resumes. If you're at 4-5 hrs per week, and max training is say 6.5 hrs per week (based on availability), then you have a smaller window of building. Because of that and the extended period of time spent at 4-5 weeks, means you're not going to see a ton of gains by moving to 6.5 hrs at the tail of training. Whereas, once training resumes, if you immediately drop the training, and then resume, you leave yourself some room to go up and thus likely elicit further gains. Alternatively, if you're at 4-5 hrs per week and max training is 9 hrs per week (based on availability), then you have a much larger window of building and you're likely to see significant gains during that time. It's something I discussed a while back here:

Training Load Calculations (What happens when the next cycle starts?): Part 3

And see in my own data that I recently dug through using Garmin VO2max and the relationship with training load data that was discussed in the previous post:

What's next? Summer/Fall 2020 Training Plan

Boiled down, when training is too similar in a macro sense you're unlikely to see the gains you want over a long term period of time. Training is best done in periodization both in the micro and macro sense. So don't only consider what you want to do in this training cycle, but also what you plan to do in the next training cycle that follows.

 

[SheHulk]

So, if I'm reading this right, *if* training availability in the next cycle (the amount of time I have per week I'm able to train) were unlimited, then upping my base *could* help set me up for bigger gains in the next cycle. But if I have a cap on availability at 6.5 hours, then it's not worth it?

Also looking at those posts you linked to, maybe the best course of action is to actually continue following the marathon training plan, even if there is no marathon at the end? I thought it would be a lot of wear and tear if I'm not actually racing but maybe it's the best thing to set me up for the next training cycle, someday...

 

[DopeyBadger]

So, if I'm reading this right, *if* training availability in the next cycle (the amount of time I have per week I'm able to train) were unlimited, then upping my base *could* help set me up for bigger gains in the next cycle. But if I have a cap on availability at 6.5 hours, then it's not worth it?

Yes, base fitness is only as good as how much you can progressively build from it (dependent on time between base and peak). For instance, doing 8-10 hrs per week of base fitness, and then doing a max of 14 hrs per week is good. But doing 4-5 hrs per week of base fitness, and trying to get up to 14 hrs per week is a major major challenge. So there's a relationship between the volume of "base/maintain" and "training peak". It can swing as too much or too little.

Also looking at those posts you linked to, maybe the best course of action is to actually continue following the marathon training plan, even if there is no marathon at the end? I thought it would be a lot of wear and tear if I'm not actually racing but maybe it's the best thing to set me up for the next training cycle, someday...

Yes. You are more likely to be in a better position fitness wise in 2023 by stringing together multiple training plans then you are by simply maintaining. Each training plan presents the opportunity to get incrementally better. Whereas maintaining at a lower level of training is likely to only maintain fitness levels. So if you train hard from July to November vs do base training from July to November, then come April 2021, you'll likely be more fit in the case of hard training from July to November. Training is essence the act of stimulus -> recovery -> adaptation. If you don't provide enough stimulus (or more stimulus), then you reap less adaptation (or no adaptation). So by training hard in the Fall (even without a race at the end), you will garner more adaptation that you can then build off of towards 2021. That's exactly how I view training for myself. Whether there are races or not, I continue to put in the work so that come 2023 I'm better off than if I had not.

 

[SheHulk]

Ok you convinced me! I'm sticking to the plan!

 

[DopeyBadger]

? Weeks to go + HIM Base Mid Volume Cycling + (LIIFT 4 + McMillan Core/Legs)

7/13/20 - M - OFF
7/14/20 - T - Pioneer-1 (60 min; 60 TSS) + Brick - 20 min @ Easy
7/15/20 - W - 40 min @ Easy Run + McMillan Legs
7/16/20 - R - Pettit (60 min; 39 TSS)
7/17/20 - F - Tallac (60 min; 74 TSS) + McMillan Legs
7/18/20 - Sa - Boarstone (120 min; 97 TSS) + 40 min Evening Easy Run
7/19/20 - Su - OFF

Total Run Miles - 9.9 miles
Total Run Time - 1:37 hours
Total Run TSS - x TSS

Total Biking Time - 5:00 hours
Total Biking TSS - 270 TSS

Total Strength Time - 0:44 hours
Total Strength TSS - x TSS

Total Training Time - 7:22 hours
Total TSS - x TSS

Tuesday
The training week had to be all mixed up because Steph was working late on Thursday and Friday. So I moved the Thurs Brick workout to Tuesday and the Tuesday workout to Thursday. Although I dropped the sprint portions of the new Thursday workout and just made it an endurance ride in case the extra power output during the sprints was causing issues with the hamstring issue I've been having.

The cycling portion of the workout went well. Felt strong throughout and maintained a solid rpm. The easy brick running also started off fine as well. I did some dynamic warm-ups between the cycle and run just to make sure everything was primed and ready to go. And for the first 10 min everything was. And then suddenly on a bilateral basis both hamstrings just felt like they were going to snap. So I stopped and walked for a bit, and then tried to restart again. But I couldn't make it very far before I had to walk again because of the hamstring issues. I took some solace in that it was bilateral instead of just my left leg, so maybe just something else going on. I also thought maybe the 60 min of good hard HIM cycling prior was contributing to this feeling. The HRvPace was in a really good place (pain not withstanding).

Wednesday
So just a nice easy run. The WU felt good. No pain after starting. I actually considered still doing the sprints later in the workout because things were feeling normal again. Finally placed this hamstring issue behind me. Until I tried to run back up the hill towards home. At around 27 min into the run and on the way up the hill, my left hamstring again started to feel like it was going to snap. So every time it did, I would just walk for a bit. But no matter what I did, I couldn't get up the hill without that feeling. I ended up walking 4 separate times during the last 13 min of the run. So this time I thought, ok, it's just the hills that are causing the issues.

Afterwards I was able to complete the McMillan Legs Week 3/4 A workout without any issues. I felt like this workout was easier than the Week 1/2 one I had been doing prior even though it was a progression of sorts from the prior.

Thursday
Nice and easy endurance ride with the sprints dropped.

Friday
A challenging cycling ride that fell between HIM pace and FTP pace, known as the sweet spot. It was 89-94% FTP for 3 x 15 min. I maintained a 96rpm with 218 NP wattage. I felt the hamstring a little tiny bit, but never pain. Moreso a "heaviness" feeling.

Afterwards, I did the McMillan Legs workout and felt great.

Saturday
My weigh-in for the week and I was curious to see how it went after last week and only losing 0.5 pounds. Well, I'm doing to 177.8 lbs and lost 1.2 from the week prior. So back on track. That's a total loss of 6.2 lbs in 4 weeks. So the system of using 1700 calories as my baseline and then adding in whatever the workout says continues to work for me during this low period of training. I definitely feel fitter and feel like the McMillan Core/Legs workouts are giving me a stronger core.

I saw that my 40km best on Garmin for cycling was 90 min and felt like if I could maintain a solid rpm on my current setup for my bike that I could break that on this 120 min ride. It's important to note that if I simply changed my gear to something else that it would output a higher mileage (or faster pace) but because I work in ERG mode the wattage would remain the same. So in some ways this "40km PR" is really only comparable to myself and can't be extrapolated out. A closed system of sorts.

I was able to maintain a 96rpm during the 120 min ride. This gave me a 40km time around 1:28. But more importantly marks the longest I've been able to hold this higher cadence. I feel like my cycling is in a really good place at the moment. No issues with the hamstring at all.

That evening was the 40 min run. It was a whopping 168 T+D. Probably in my top 5 hottest runs ever. It was glorious. I'll admit that I actually waited till the hottest part of the day to get out there just because I wanted that increased challenge of heat on what was going to be a nice easy slow run. Since I struggled with the hills on Wednesday, I decided to try and only do downhill or flat. It had been nearly 72 hours since my last run, so I was hoping some of the issues might have been resolved. It wasn't to be. I made it about 31 min, at which point I went up a very very slight incline (2-3%) and my hamstring started to feel like it was going to snap again. So I walked it off. Then I restarted, and was only on flat ground when I was forced to walk again at the 35 min mark. Then I finished off the run at the bottom of the hill at 40 min. I walked the remainder home uphill.

I knew this was a bad sign. Even on a non-brick and seemingly as flat as I could find route, I was still having problems with the hamstring. I decided I needed to pull the plug again on running. But this time, I was going to pull the plug on all activities (cycling, strength, and running). I'm going to give it 10 days (till next week Tuesday) and see if I can run normally again. My thought process on stopping all activities is that while I'm not feeling any pain in the hamstring, the repetitive motion of the cycling could still be dampening my recovery process. And so I'd rather just stop everything then continue to drag this out. I figured for the purpose of looking back I should summarize the timeline of events.

Early May - Upper hamstring issue
May 29th - Last run due to upper hamstring issue (still able to run fast, but nagging issue was influencing cadence)
June 11th - Restart running with run/walk with G
June 14th - Noted that upper hamstring has improved but not resolved
June 28th - Noted that upper hamstring has improved but not resolved
June 30th - Ramp Test in cycling with excessive force applied
July 1st - 1st run with pace in 6 x 30s reps. Upper hamstring still present, but almost completely resolved. Reps were some of fastest ever. There were 11 runs prior to this covering about 3 weeks.
July 2nd - Upper hamstring has completely resolved. 1st run with zero pain since Early May. Very easy pace and felt like I was "back".
July 4th - Still no pain and completely resolved.
July 5th - During the warm-up of my left hamstring, my hamstring near my knee felt like a rubber band that someone had "plucked". Like it snapped from one place to another. It felt very stiff after that. No pain during the run and was able to do a fast finish without issue.
July 7th - Cycle with sprints. Set wattage PR from 1-39 seconds. No pain.
July 8th - Easy run with 8 x 30s reps. Very fast and smooth. Some of the fastest ever. No pain and felt absolutely great.
July 9th - Early morning ride felt great. Evening was easy run with 2 x 20s uphill reps. The second rep was an astounding 4:48 pace uphill. Felt great during and after the run. Did McMillan Legs afterwards.
July 10th - Noticed some discomfort in my left hamstring near knee during work.
July 11th - Hamstrings were very uncomfortable immediately upon starting the brick run. Felt like they were going to snap for the first 0.25 miles. The pain dissipated and wasn't an issue for the remainder of the run.
July 12th - Did not run because of uncomfortable feeling of hamstring the day prior as well as woke up with some stiffness.
July 14th - Had 80 hrs since last run. Hamstring felt good at start of brick run. At 10 min into run I had bilateral pain. Took walking breaks to ease pain.
July 15th - No hamstring pain until hills encountered at 27 min into run. Multiple walking breaks required.
July 18th - Had 72 hrs since last run. Hamstring felt good at start of run. Avoided hills as much as possible. On a very gentle incline, hamstring pain became noticeable again. Took walking breaks to resolve. Even on completely flat stretch the hamstring issue reoccurred. Walked uphill back home and decided to shut down the training for at least 10 days.

Really bummed that this happened, but looking forward to putting it behind me. I'd like to say that the 2x20s uphill sprint was the straw that broke everything. Clearly something was up on 7/5, but the run on 7/9 did me in. I felt like after 13 days off from running that 21 days and 11 completely easy runs should have been enough time before resuming some very short fast paced reps, but maybe it wasn't. I'll wait to see how I feel next week before evaluating the next step. I'd like to be 100% healthy before I start up again. My resting HR this past week (46) was the lowest it has been since November/December 2019. So although my Garmin VO2max hasn't budged all that much (by design), clearly my body was responding well to the training as a lowering of my resting HR is usually a sign of that.

 

[shellott-hill]

Sorry to hear about the nagging injury. I can relate to what it does to you mentally and physically. I am no doctor, but from what you describe, rest may be the best course of action.

Very cool about your resting HR. I think you may have found the fountain of youth!

 

[DopeyBadger]

Sorry to hear about the nagging injury. I can relate to what it does to you mentally and physically. I am no doctor, but from what you describe, rest may be the best course of action.

Thanks and agreed. Back to the PT tomorrow for some professional advice again.

Very cool about your resting HR. I think you may have found the fountain of youth!

LOL! Well good endurance run training leads to a stronger heart and higher stroke volume which in turn leads to a reduced resting HR. My resting HR pre-running from 2008 to 2012 was 80-103 bpm. Once I started running in 2012, it dropped from the 80s down to the 60s, and around 2015 is when it dropped down to the 40-50s range it lives most of the time these days.

 

[dis_or_dat]

Sorry to hear about your hamstrings. Wonder if the reps followed by hill repeats was a bit too much. Do you do a lot of stretching after work outs?

It’s a good time to heal right now since it looks like most races will be cancelled for the foreseeable future. At least you know your aerobic capacity is great and you’ve reached your timed mile goal.

On a side note: it was surprisingly easy to cut down on the running dramatically the last 2 weeks. I thought I’d be much antsier than I was.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Sorry to hear about your hamstrings. Wonder if the reps followed by hill repeats was a bit too much. Do you do a lot of stretching after work outs?

Thanks! Entirely possible. I think 7/5 was the warning sign. Then the combo of very short sprints in 7/7 (cycling), 7/8 (run), 7/9 (hills) was a cumulative "too much too soon". In the moment, nothing was an issue. But clearly afterwards it was.

These days it almost seems like I do more stretching pre and post run than I actually do running. I'd say the post-run stretching routine takes about 15 minutes these days which now includes the bevy of hamstring stretches the PT gave me.

It’s a good time to heal right now since it looks like most races will be cancelled for the foreseeable future. At least you know your aerobic capacity is great and you’ve reached your timed mile goal.

The silver lining for sure. I'd still like to do the winter time trial in either the HM or M. So I'm not taking that off the table at this point (just probably late November/December instead of 11/8). But having that flexibility is nice compared to a rigid race date. And also true that I can tell physically I'm in a pretty good place once the training starts in earnest. Happy to have set the mile PR earlier this year so at a minimum I can keep up the streak of setting a PR every year from 2012 to 2020 now.

On a side note: it was surprisingly easy to cut down on the running dramatically the last 2 weeks. I thought I’d be much antsier than I was.

Happy to hear it! Hopefully it was also a bit refreshing to take a step back, so that you can reload for the home stretch now.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Well the PT agrees it was 50% bad luck and 50% the upper hamstring injury as to why the lower hamstring is causing issues. Possibly caused by the increase in pace, but she's not completely sold on that theory. Although she doesn't have a competing theory. But in the analysis, she found scar tissue on that exact location of the lower left hamstring (semimembranosus). She believes that this is an old injury. Possibly the occurrence when I stood up from the couch last year and felt the same pop. That time it was more minor and didn't cause any issues with training. I was able to continue to train but may not have properly treated it leading to the scar tissue formation. She thinks that as long as it happened within the last two years we should be able to encourage it to heal and possibly change from scar tissue. But we need to be hypercognizant of this because it has a reasonably high chance of re-occurrence and could become a more frequent thing. She thought I could return to flat running (no more than a mile) or cycling (only conversational effort), but was also fine with my plan to take 10 days off. As long as I still did her strengthening exercises. Follow up in 2 weeks.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Well not much of an update as I continue to hold off on training until next week Tuesday. I focused really hard this week on my diet and was hoping to maintain the losses to date. I dropped the oatmeal/cherries for breakfast, increased the eggs, and cut out most of the snacks. Weighed in this morning and was actually able to keep the ball rolling with another 1.1 pounds loss (down to 176.7). So that's 7.3 pounds down in 5 weeks. We'll see how much longer I try to lose weight before training really starts to increase for an attempt at a time trial in the winter and I focus on maintaining and fueling the training.

 

[DopeyBadger]

? Weeks to go + HIM Base Mid Volume Cycling + (LIIFT 4 + McMillan Core/Legs)

7/27/20 - M - OFF
7/28/20 - T - 30 min @ Easy + LIIFT4-Chest/Tri + McMillan Core
7/29/20 - W - Pettit-1 (60 min; 28 TSS)
7/30/20 - R - Baxter-2 (60 min; 40 TSS) + McMillan Legs
7/31/20 - F - 1.2 miles with G + 2.5 mile @ Easy + McMillan Core
8/1/20 - Sa - Baxter (90 min; 67 TSS)
8/2/20 - Su - 30 min @ Comfortable + 1.2 miles with G + LIIFT4-Back/Bi + McMillan Legs

Total Run Miles - 12.1 miles
Total Run Time - 2:03 hours
Total Run TSS - x TSS

Total Biking Time - 3:30 hours
Total Biking TSS - 135 TSS

Total Strength Time - 2:20 hours
Total Strength TSS - x TSS

Total Training Time - 7:54 hours
Total TSS - x TSS

Tuesday

Well after 10 days off it was time to test out the legs. I kept it easy and everything felt good on the downhills and flat. Thankfully the left leg lower hamstring was only barely noticeable on the uphill portion. So it didn't force me to stop which was a huge improvement. It ended up being 30 min at a 9:53 min/mile with a HR of 138. I decided to follow-up the run with a LIIFT4 and Core combo.

Wednesday

I decided to take it easy and did the Pettit-1 workout instead of a run. Plus, I opted to not do any strength workouts.

Thursday

Tried to ramp up the cycling back to a normal easy endurance level. I followed up that cycling workout with a McMillan Legs workout.

Friday

Run with G! We did 1.2 miles in 17:30 minutes (14:35 min/mile) using 30/30 intervals. She pushed me on the last interval to sub-8 pace and the leg was still feeling good. So I was hopeful. I decided to keep the workout going and did another 2.5 miles on my own in 24 min. The hamstring felt nearly 100% for the whole run, but not quite there.

I followed that up with a McMillan Core workout.

Saturday

Weekly weigh-in: 176.5 pounds. So only down 0.2 pounds, but I can live with that!

I decided to go with a 90 min cycling easy endurance ride. Everything felt good. I was able to hold a 94 rpm cadence.

Sunday

Everything was feeling fine and I was interested to see how the final run of the week would go. It went well. Like really well. I started off at my normally easy pace, but I decided to settle into a "comfortable" pace. Not easy, but not hard. Just something that felt good to keep holding. The first downhill mile was an 8:32, then the mostly flat second mile was a 8:20, then the uphill mile was a 8:04 with no hamstring issues, then the last 0.9 miles home with a traditional -17 sec GAP was a 7:56 (or 7:39 pace). In total, it was 30 min, 3.9 miles in 32 min at 8:14 min/mile pace with a HR of 147 bpm.

When I got home, G and Steph were waiting to go on a run. So I joined up with them for another 1.2 miles using 30/30.

That afternoon, I did a LIIFT4 Chest/Tri with a McMillan Legs workout.

So the week went about as well as I could have hoped. I scheduled another 2 weeks of easy workouts before making some decisions on what to do for the remainder of the Fall/Winter.