Setback today with a hamstring tweak, so no meet next week (:
Beautiful day, low 70ºs partly sunny, had the place pretty much to myself. Had planned to do speed, 400m race pace 200s - rest 90 sec - 100m, 3 or 4 sets with full recovery. I warmed up as usual and did notice the right ham felt a little tight. Had no issues the last time I was out running near race pace 250s.
I after a full warmup, I ran an uptempo 50m at 6.75 rolling, felt fine. Walked to the 200m start. Took off at race pace, about 13 low, rolling for the first 100m, after about 50m I felt something in my ham but continued then felt it again and stopped after 100m.
Went back to the shade and worked on it with the massage gun and bands. Then I tried another 100, not as fast. 15.03, felt ok. So, I decided to make this into a slower endurance workout and decided to try a 400m at 64 pace, 16 sec even splits. I started a bit too fast as I often do and after a 14.35 first 100m, I felt it again and pulled up. It's definitely a strain. It'll be at least a week, maybe 10-14 days before I can go full out. Not a serious strain but definitely one like I've had before in mid muscle. Usually no more than 2 weeks to recover. Could be running slowly in 2-3 days, probably do some hills.
It's a bummer because I was feeling pretty good, foot was ok and starting to get my weight under control. 141.9 lbs after workout.
So, it's back on the bike and will be probably running hills in a few days. I did a bike ride on the mountain bike last night and discovered a way to pedal that didn't stress my foot. I'll have to abandon the bike shoes and go back to pedals so I can push midfoot rather than forefoot to eliminate stress in the arthritic joint.
Sucks because I thought about running the 200m next week, since I'm not in shape to race a 400m. Could be pretty soon though. The ham will force me into longer, slower, conditioning work. Maybe do some over distance.
Anyway, pushing forward. I've managed to lose a few lbs by eating almost exclusively chicken breast and not much else, save for a cup of oat bran cereal and blueberries.
Flat pedal technology has come a long way, driven by mountain biking. They have larger platforms to reduce foot stress which also provides more options for foot placement. Importantly, they have traction pins which great work with the matching shoes. The shoes soles have a softer rubber so the pins really provide great grip. With a mid foot placement you’d be able to pull through the bottom as well as you can with cleats, engaging your hamstrings. Although that typically is employed on flats or sight grades not steep climbs where pulling up is preferred. You could even just pedal with your heel, I’ve played with that some, lower power and slower, cannot get as high of a heart rate but increases engagement of upper thigh at the expense of lower thigh. Highly recommend MTB traction pedals and shoes. I have them on 2 of my 3 bikes, I notice no loss of power on the trails. On pavement I do notice a loss as my preferred style for optimal power is pulling up as opposed to pulling through the bottom. No one really pulls up and pulls through the bottom on the same pedal stroke actually reduces power as it is to hard to coordinate properly (affects the downstroke where the vast majority of power comes from). They are constantly coming out with new versions, they don’t really wear out so you should be able to find used ones on eBay at a good price. Just check the model reviews. They score them on both traction and ease of repositioning the foot as that is important for technical trail riding. But for your application traction is what you need, and a large platform. Highly recommend them. But proper shoes to mate with them is key also.
ReplyDeletePedal review https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/buyers-guides/best-mountain-bike-pedals/
ReplyDeleteThere are some really cheap and probably crappy pedals on eBay so if you pursue this good idea to do your homework
ReplyDelete