Doubts...
Spent a good half hour talking with my phys ed teacher colleague at school today. He is resuming regular exercise after about 3 yrs off (quit coaching for arrival and caring of newborn, house built, etc., just real life), he mentioned that he is getting a stress test and full physical before resuming exercise, a good idea for anyone. Told him about my normal stress test last week, which made him say "Yeah, I should have picked up on this when you first told me about your heart rate stuff...the way you're running--you're anaerobic!" AAAAAahhhhh, sounds as bad as "overpronator" does to the uninitiated...
He basically told me that I am not building endurance or really burning fat if I take such frequent walk breaks. That I am not maintaining for a good 15-20 min at an aerobic level, approx. 50-60% of my max HR (which is approx. 183) and that ultimately, I am not doing my heart any favor by racing it up and down for every workout (speed workouts would be different, but they would be shorter in duration and not every run). I told him I really dig my one minute walk breaks every 3 or 4 minutes, and he told me to find another way to reward myself, lol, to eat dessert or something:-) But he would recommend running straight through.
He also told me that--and this is scandalous!!--he does not stretch before exercise nor does he advocate that with his students: rather, he does "dynamic" stretching--gentle rolling of ankles, moving of joints, maybe some--we called them this in dance class--grapevines ("dynamic" stretching as opposed to "static" stretching, which is the traditional stuff I do before & after a run). And yep, stretching after is a good thing (phew, I'm doing THAT right at least).
He was not prechy or judgemental, he gives me all the props in the world for getting out there and starting to run! He's just giving me his solicited thoughts on it all. I respect this guy. He was a track coach for years, before that he ran all kinds of races, 10Ks, etc., his dad was a track coach before him...the guy knows his stuff. He is clearly on the other side of the philosophical spectrum than the one I've been reading--fine, the world is more interesting with differing opinions by knowledgable folks, would be boring if we all only ate chocolate ice cream and all that. But it's completely at odds with the Galloway training (advocating frequent walk breaks) I am doing. Crap. The doubts are creeping in again.
I run 30 minutes tomorrow, and I will run--slowly--straight through. I've done it before. And I will continue to read up on this. Can't imagine running 13.1 miles straight through. But maybe it can be done. But I'd better take some more baby steps before, well, running a [Half] marathon.
I Leave You With This
Il y a 10 mois
6 commentaires:
Great post. I TOO don't stretch before running! NOPE! Nada! I have read that stretching before hand doesn't do any justice and can actually harm the outcome of a successful run! I just need to really work on stretching after ALL runs, religiously!
Okaaayy....so much to talk about here...
First about the walk breaks. I have read tons on both methods and the bottom line is that you have to find what you like. Really, what makes you happy when you go out and run? If you like the frequent breaks and you think it will help you to stay out longer then I wouldn't quit them all together. For me personally I was finding that my legs would ache after long (25+ minutes) runs without breaks. The aching would last well through the next day. To me that was a signal that I wasn't quite ready for non stop runs with no walk breaks. As soon as I added in the breaks my legs felt tremendously better (I also got new sneaks though so could be both). BUT, I don't like the short runs (3 or 4 minutes). I just felt like I was never getting started. I really, really like to run 10 minutes and then walk for two or three. It feels great to me, my legs feel great and I feel like I am keeping my heart rate up for a long enough period. For right now and through this spring this is the method I will use. Then I do plan to extend my running periods but still only up to 15-20 minutes straight with short walk breaks. I would keep experimenting to see what is working best for you.
I did start my short running career with a bit of physical therapy and talked at length to the therapist about stretching. She gave me five stretches that she felt have to be done before each run. She also believed in a static stretch but for at least 30 seconds to fully elongate the muscle. I have tried it both ways and my runs always end up going better when I take a few minutes to stretch the key muscles. I also always take at least five minutes to walk briskly to warm the muscles before running.
I sometimes stop and shake my head at all of the things there are to learn about running. Oh how naive I was last July when I simply laced up a pair of sneakers and headed out the door. So much to learn! I am excited to see what you decide about walking/running and stretching!
If Jeff Galloway says walk breaks are cool, then they are cool. I don't think anyone would argue that keeping your heart rate in the aerobic zone for longer is better for you. However, if you want to run injury free, and you don't mind stopping and starting, then walk breaks are just fine. The treadmill I bought five years ago had them programmed into it. As far as stretching goes, I don't stretch either. The problem with stretching is you have to be careful not to tear a muscle that hasn't elongated yet. I prefer the warm up exercises in the Chi Running book, although I haven't been doing those either.
I think my ultimate goal is to run my races without walking, but in the mean time, I take my walk breaks, and just accept the fact I will have to wait a little longer to build up that extra base.
You ordered a Garmin did you not? The 305 has a built in heart rate monitor and will help keep your level of effort consistent. I can point you to some web sites, if you need it, that will help you calculate your zones.
Interesting. Like with anything like you say there will be varying opinons, etc... you do have to go with what you feel ofcourse..I know for me, I've always felt weird suddenly stopping (somewhere in my subconscious I remember hearing that was bad to stop) but if you aren't going *real* fast to begin with then slowing to a walk I wouldn't think would be that bad... especially if it's helping you to run longer when you do run.
I don't stretch before running either. I've always been told it's bad to stretch cold muscles. Afterwards -- very different situation. But I don't really buy that you aren't burning fat just because you take walk breaks. Don't doubt yourself.
Experiment and do what feels good to you. As far as stretching, I try to stretch a little before a run because I always have a better run when I do. During our long group runs, they always have us run a lap around the track to warm up before stretching.
Enregistrer un commentaire