My grandkids have ended their visit, and things are getting back to normal. Today was a wonderful Spring day. Sun temperature in the mid 50s (F), and shade temperature in the low 40s. A slight breeze that was a head wind going out and a tail wind coming back.
I drove to the East Pavilion in South Jordan and then ran south and back. There was a lot of trash along the path in the Draper section, and I picked up a big bag full. The Jordan River was high, and the path going under 123rd South was flooded and I had to turn around before my planned turn-around point (I made up the 1/3 mile at the end of my run). My legs did start to feel tired on the way back, and I switched from running 125 left-foot-steps and walking 66 lfs to running 66 lfs and walking 40-50 lfs.
I wore my new Saucony shoes for this run, and they performed well. They felt comfortable, and I have no blisters. I also wore my new Pearl iZUMi T-shirt for the first time. Being a turtle neck with a zipper, it felt warm, and I actually had to unzip the shirt to allow for air to flow under the shirt and cool me off a bit.
Allen, I've asked you this before but didn't get an answer, How do you count these lfs's walking and lfs's running? Do you have some sort of pedometer that counts the steps for you? Or do you count them in your head?
ReplyDeleteWhichever, it seems to keep you churning out the miles.
Hi Old Runningfox,
ReplyDeleteSorry I didn't answer your question when you first asked it. I count them in my head. Been doing it so long that it is a habit now. The important thing is not a precise number of seconds but a relatively short time.
Sometimes I'll get distracted by something and not know where I should be in my counting. So, I just guess at a likely number and count from there. Sometimes I'll be counting but not paying attention, and instead of stopping at, say, 125 lfs, I'll keep running and counting. Then, all of a sudden I realize I'm counting in the 130s or 140s. No, big deal, I just start walking and counting the walking lfs. As I mentioned above, the important thing is that I alternate running and walking for relatively short distances.
Counting seconds is just one way to determine how far I've gone. Last fall I ran a 3K, and I didn't count. I just ran until I needed to walk and then I walked for a few seconds or a minute and then ran again.
Before I got a GPS, I had a pedometer, but it didn't work very well. It missed a lot of steps. It's accuracy depended on where I hung the pedometer.
When I first read Galloway's article on alternating running and walking, I tried to use my GPS, but it was awkward to keep looking at it and forgetting the distance that I started running or walking. I decided to count mentally the steps. If I ran with a buddy and tried to keep a conversation, the counting method wouldn't work, but, I run alone and counting works for me.
Thanks for that explanation Allen. When I'm doing speedwork, particularly fartlek, I count up to ten, then another ten, and another, all consecutively, for as long as I feel to be flowing. When I start blowing I rest for a hundred metres or so.
ReplyDeleteI find that, just counting to ten several times, with the option of stopping after any 'ten', is better than counting to 20, 30, 50, or 80. My brain can accept 8 tens much easier than a whopping big figure like 80. Hope you can understand that!
I do understand it, and you've hit on the most important key of running: do what is best for your body and ignore comments that differ.
ReplyDelete