Cycling Plan: Week 3 - Complete

Another hectic week with house stuff, helping out at my parent's house, and mother's day cooking. I only got in my spin class, but was able to get all three of runs in, but as the title of this post notes, this is "CYCLING" training, not running training. I actually did plan on riding, but I am trying to learn about bike maintenance and messed up a couple things this weekend. For starters, I bought new wheels, cassette, new tires, and a trainer tire. Unfortunately, I did not buy extra tubes, and for my 1st tire installation, I punctured the tube, so I cannot use the wheel yet. Also, I am having trouble installing the cassette. Basically, my new back wheel is a nightmare right now. Going to pick up some tubes and give it another go tonight hopefully. I am also nervous about swapping wheels, since I haven't done that before, but I am sure I'll get through this.

Swimming
No time as usual.

Cycling
Only got my insane spin class in. It was literally 90% intense hill work, with 80% of that being seated with higher RPM. It was insane, but I felt awesome the next day. Plus it's good to see some of my endurance creeping back, although it would be a lot better if I were doing my actual cycling training.

Running
I got all three runs in this week. It really is so much easier to get my runs in when all I need to do is put on shoes and go. My speed work went well as usual. The tempo run however, did not go as well as I would have liked. The added hills were just too much for me to try and speed up my pace. My long run was alright. I was running a slower pace and cadence initially because the first half was running with someone else. I felt completely fine after the first loop we ran. Then I continued on to do a second loop. I guess I didn't realize how tough the hills on the route was, because I was not able to increase my speed or cadence much on the second lap. Oh well, this just shows I have a long way to go.

Strength
I only got in one legit strength session, and it was pretty tough because it was right after my spin class. I still managed to get the full workout done though and it felt really good.

Nutrition
As you can see, I did alright with logging and macros, but I slipped up Friday night through Sunday. I will be using this new view to help keep myself more accountable.

Final Thoughts
A pretty tough week but still managed to find some extra time to workout. Depending on feedback from realtor, we might be starting to wrap up the sale of our home soon, so I am hoping to have a couple weeks where I can focus on workouts before I get hit with an insane week of moving EVERYTHING to storage and a friend's house.

Interim Plan: Week 1 - Complete

As I have noted before, I am in the process of selling my house and moving. So this past week and the next week are devoted strictly to that. I still have a workout plan, but I am not in any way trying to force myself to stick with it, because honestly, most of my days when I am not at work at spent from dusk until dawn doing moving stuff. At least I am getting some good strength building with this.

Swimming
I didn't get any swimming in, although there were some days I really wish I had the time. My muscles were achy all week.

Cycling
I was able to get a 30 min cadence ride in this week. I was even able to bump up another level of resistance for almost half of the ride. I am really excited for cycling training to start in 2 weeks.

Running
I was able to get an outside run in. I had the following goals: 1) Run outside 2) Run for 30 minutes without stopping 3) Start retraining myself to gauge cadence and pace. I achieved all of these. I learned that over 1.5 years without running outside, I have lost most of my ability to gauge cadence and pace outside. However, it was a good start and I am hoping for an improvement on my next run. Also, I had forgotten how hilly my route was, and for having run on treadmill at incline 0 for many months now, it was quite a shock to my legs. I maintained good form though and had no knee issues. My feet and legs were completely dead after the run though. Fortunately, I have been doing enough strength training and cardio that my recovery was almost 100% the next day.

Strength
I didn't get any formal sessions in this week. However, I have been lifting 100lb tanks, yard equipment, furniture, building stuff, and the list goes on for my move and home sale, so I got a lot of strength work in, even if it wasn't structured.

Nutrition
I did pretty well with nutrition this week. I did horrible logging it, but I maintained good eating habits and even lost some weight! I hope to continue this progress, but hopefully with being more consistent at logging my food.

Final Thoughts
Overall a very successful week, as I wasn't sure I would have any time to workout. Next week will be the same. I cannot wait for this to be over.

Building Plan: Week 20 Complete

This week concluded my building plan after I had gotten physical therapy for my stress fracture and knee injuries. My base level of strength, flexibility, mobility, and cardiovascular level are all at levels I am happy with. I had hoped for a little better, but I also did miss a lot of workouts due to the impending move. I got in two runs this week, and although I was dead after each, it felt good to exercise.

Swimming
Did not have a chance to even be near a pool. Hope this will change soon.

Cycling
As with swimming, I didn't really have a period of time where I was home long enough and not busy enough to hop on my trainer.

Running
I got in two runs! If it wasn't for the gym temperature, I am certain I could have completed both runs without stopping briefly to walk. My cadence was a little lower than I would like, but with the weather starting to warm up, I need to be outside and starting to work on hills. I will also continue to work on increasing my speed. With the soon shift from treadmill to outside, I am expecting my runs to be much more difficult.

I have found that the treadmill does an amazing job at helping with kick-back, so my form and pace have been pretty solid. I am hoping that I have enough cardiovascular endurance and strength to handle the outside SPM and pace.

Strength
I didn't get any strength sessions in, but I was lifting over 1000 lbs each day, Thursday through Sunday, because of getting ready to move. I am so sore right now.

Nutrition
Eating healthier and better was the theme of this week. I had moderate success and lost a little over a pound thanks to it. I will be trying to keep this going.

Final Thoughts
As I mentioned, this was my last week of my building plan. Since I don't see myself having much time the next two weeks to workout much due to the move, I will just exercise when I feel I have enough energy and won't injure myself. I cannot wait to start cycling training, which is up next after this 2 week taper!!

Building Plan: Week 19 Complete

Another hectic week. I started off the week with time to exercise, but that quickly changed. Massive snow storm with wet and heavy snow over 12" killed me. Then lots of moving and staging stuff for getting ready for home sale. I was happy I got in the workouts I did though. They were really good sessions.

Swimming
I got in a relaxing swim this week. I was feeling pretty tight and it did wonders loosing me up. Surprisingly I got only 50 yards under my last swim that I was doing a larger effort on. This tells me that something is wrong with my form when I am doing regular swim sessions. I'll have to see if I can get someone to film me one of these times.

Cycling
No cycling this week. I didn't have time.

Running
I got in a warm-up run and one run session. I am transitioning off of my cadence training after next week and so I tried doing a 30 minute run without stopping. Although my cadence was around 170, I felt pretty good overall, and I wasn't have crazy HR spikes. I am ready to get back into full running training!

Strength
I only got in one session this week. However, My entire Thursday through Sunday was lots of lifting of furniture for moving and home staging. Still tons to do.

Nutrition
From a caloric standpoint, I did pretty well this week. I also did much better with my macros. However, overall nutrition wasn't that great.

Final Thoughts
I have one more week left of my building plan. I have achieved a lot and although I didn't hit every goal, I have come a long way and am set for all of the training I have coming up.

Building Plan: Week 18 Complete

This week started out really well, but tapered off quickly. All of my workouts went really well though and I felt great. However, with getting ready to list my house and move, that took priority over working out. Then again, I got a pretty insane workout over the weekend from all of the cleaning, repairs, lifting and hauling I did.

Swimming
Finally got a swim in and it felt awesome. I definitely could have pushed myself harder, but it was purely to make sure I could still go 30 minutes without stopping and to loosen up from my prior workouts.

Cycling
Got 2 warm-up rides in. They felt fine as always and I am looking forward to the upcoming week to get in actual rides; trainer rides, but still going to be longer sessions.

Running
I got in one running session, a week 7/8 cadence run. It was really tough. The heat in the gym did not help, but it wasn't just that. I have found that I have really hit a plateau with running. My average cadence is actually going down lately. It doesn't matter if it's a 10 min warm-up or an actual session. Granted, my running consistency in the past few weeks has been sub-par, but I didn't expect to drop cadence this much. I am considering stopping the cadence training and focusing on endurance training while still trying to keep a higher cadence. With my move coming up soon, I am not sure I will get much better at workout consistency over the next 3-4 weeks. But I will try.

Strength
Got 2/4 sessions in and they were awesome. I definitely like the new challenging workouts. I am looking forward to next 3 upcoming sessions.

Nutrition
I am still overeating like crazy, and I don't expect things to get dramatically better until I move, as I will be trying to get rid of as much food in my house as possible before the move.

Final Thoughts
Even though my amount of workouts was low, the quality was really good and I am still seeing great benefits from my workouts, especially my strength sessions. Again, with my impending move and home sale things are rather chaotic and my goal over the next few weeks is to really get as many workouts in as I can, with a focus on strength.

Building Plan: Week 15 Complete

Another week down! It was a crazy week and I was not home much and my work schedule prevented me from working out at lunch time. However, I was still diligent and got a good amount of workouts in. What is most important is that I didn't miss my strength sessions. My goal for the upcoming week is to not miss any runs, but we shall see, because with any luck I'll be dealing with potentially new home stuff.

Swimming
No time for swimming again. This is still a point of frustration, but my schedule has not permitted me to get to a pool. To make matters worse, I am not sure I'll get to the pool this upcoming week either. I am sure going to try though.

Cycling
I was able to get a cadence ride in last night. I was nervous about doing this because I didn't want to be too exhausted for my strength session. That was silly, because of course I was, but I pushed through and did awesome with my strength session. Also, I am feeling more comfortable than I expected with my new resistance at 90 RPM. I didn't expect to be increasing this for another week or two, but I will be increasing this week.

Running
Although I did not get more than 1 full cadence session in, I still ran 3 times. I have gone back to doing warm-up cardio before my strength sessions. Therefore I was able to get in two 10 minute runs. My cadence was alright for both. With the strength sessions, my legs have been a bit more tired, so it's been tougher to get the turnover I need. This is alright though because my average SPM is increasing even though my legs are tired, showing my strength is improving.

Strength
I hit all of my NTC workouts this week. I feel amazing after doing them, and I keep seeing great improvements in functional strength, mobility, and muscle strength.

Nutrition
I logged almost 100% of everything I ate this week. This was challenging because I didn't always make good decisions; whether it be from stress, needing something quick and easy, or just giving into cravings. However, getting almost everything logged helped me mentally a lot, so I am going to keep focusing on that and with any luck, over the next few weeks my bad habits should start to decrease considerably. On a really good note, my soda consumption is down exponentially! I am no longer drinking or craving Pepsi Max, only drinking Coke Zero when I have Rum and Cokes (a couple times a week), and having a ginger ale when my stomach is upset (this seriously works wonders for me).

Final Thoughts
Overall I am seeing improvements each week. My strength sessions are really having positive effects on all of my cardio workouts. I look forward to keeping up this momentum and once my life schedule isn't as hectic, I'll be able to fit in more cardio sessions.

Building Plan: Week 12 Complete

What a week! I started off pretty well, and ended with a minor injury. I started off the week perfectly. I was a bit more exhausted than usual from my Wednesday run, so I had taken Thursday off. For my Friday run, I forgot my usual running shoes so I used a pair I have used in the past, but they did not have my orthotics. This was not an issue since I was running more forefoot and midfoot. However, this caused more muscle impact than I had realized. So when I did my Saturday, lower and thigh intense strength session, I hurt myself. I was feeling too lazy to drive 30 minutes to the gym to swim, so I had done a trainer ride and stretched. However, this only made everything worse and Monday I couldn't do anything. I am still hobbling. So Week 13 is going to be focused on flexibility, blood flow, and being loose.

Swim

I should have swam Thursday to help recovery from my tough Wednesday run. I should have swam Sunday after my legs, back and right foot were doing bad from my Saturday strength session. I did no swimming, and am suffering for it.

Bike

I got 2/3 sessions in. Despite how my legs felt, my 2nd session felt really good and I was able to maintain my cadence with no problem at my current resistance level.

Run

My Wednesday run was rough. The gym was way too hot and I couldn't hydrate quick enough. Overall, it was a decent run though. My Friday run went extremely well, considering I was in different running shoes than I usually wear. Plus I didn't have my orthotics. Overall though, this wasn't a problem since I was fore and midfoot striking. The shoes I was wearing were considerably lighter than my main pair, and I had no issues with turnover, allowing me to easily hit my 180 cadence and have my pace considerably faster than usual. However, I was not able to do my Sunday run due to my injury on Saturday.

Strength

I was able to get 2/3 sessions completed. My second session was focused on lower strength, with targeting of inner thighs and quads. The workout seemed to go well, although extremely tough. However, this workout injured me because I was not aware of how weak my muscles were from my run the prior day.

Nutrition

I did terrible with my nutrition this week. I had a little more stress than usual and therefore at horribly. To make it worse, I did not log most of the junk I ate. I will be working to dramatically improve this issue.

Final Thoughts

Despite the injury and nutrition, it was a very insightful week where I learned a lot about my body, my training, and impacts from workouts and variations in form. Week 13 is going to be treated as a recovery week, and then Week 14 I will get back to running. If I am feeling better later in Week 13, I might try to do a run, but I will be overly conservative on any decision.

Building Plan: Week 10 Complete

And another one bites the dust! I completed Week 10 and feel awesome. I took 2 rest days, but I am really excited that the second rest day didn't really feel necessary, and in hindsight, I should have at least tried doing some stretching or yoga. I had an amazing running week, and I continue to make strides in my strength training.

Swimming

I was able to get a longer swim in after my Sunday run. As usual, I felt amazing afterwards. To my surprise, my shoulders and legs were not as fatigued as they usually are after my run. I was therefore able to double my normal swim distance. Granted, it was only 800 yards, but I am a fan of improvement. Although my arms felt better, my rotation was much slower than usual, which made my pace a bit slow. It's always interesting how perceived progress and how one feels can be very different than the truth. This is one reason I really like technology. It helps keep me in check.

Cycling

Not much to say here. I got in no rides this week. My rest days fell on the cycling days. I am hoping to get at least one of my cycling sessions in this upcoming week.

Running

I not only got all three of my runs in, but I have dramatically lowered my overall effort during the runs. I felt good during and after each run, and recovery was amazingly fast. I definitely attribute my stretching and strength training to this, in addition to my new running form. If you don't remember what I am referring to, you can see my Running Recovery Plan - Cadence. I will be moving onto Week 7/8 of the plan. I am going to try the optional plan to see if I can handle it or not. If I can't, I'll revert to the normal Week 7/8 plan. My cadence has dropped slightly from 180 to upper 170's, so this is something I will need to focus on this upcoming week.

Strength

Again I got two of my three sessions in. My third session fell on a rest day, although I probably could have done this workout. This is actually exciting, since most weeks I need that second rest day. This is the first week I have not. As a note, my strength training is still focused mainly on functional strength. Once my recovery plan is completed, I will be starting to focus on muscle strength.

Nutrition

I missed some meal logging over the weekend, but for the most part I got everything logged. I did have a pretty bad binge weekend though due to some severe stress. I know stress eating is not an excuse, but until I can fully alter that habit, it's what I am stuck with. Sadly, it's usually an unconscious thing that I only realize after I have already started or done it.

Final Thoughts

I am looking forward to an awesome week. With any luck, my recovery plan has 4 weeks or less left. I am so excited to be back running and I can't wait to get back into triathlon training. Hope everyone is doing well with their goals!

Building Plan: Week 9 Complete

Another solid week of workouts. I had some extra muscle soreness during the week, so I had to take 2 rest days, but aside from that, I did really well with my workouts. I also did much better with nutrition and logging my meals. I am really pleased with my continued progress.

Swimming

I still have not been able to find time yet to get more swims into my schedule. As my body gets used to my actual planned training schedule demands and my cat gets healthier, I will be able to schedule more time to swim. I was able to get in one swim in this week, although it was short and intended to both push myself after already being exhausted from my run, as well as act as a shake-out to aid in recovery. And it served its purpose perfectly! As I am writing this, I feel amazing. And that was just after a tiny 4 x 100 yd swim. Although, that swim felt like a nightmare though. I was struggling to rotate my arms and kick my legs. I had wanted to get in at least 800-1200 yds, but I had to stop because I felt like I was going to pass out.

Cycling

I got in no cycling this week. It fell on the 2 days I needed to take as rest days. This is fine, however, as my reason for cycling right now is to just cycle and lightly work on cadence.

Running

I got in all three runs! I am so pumped about this. I am also psyched that I did fairly well. I was a bit disappointed that my cadence was so much lower than I really wanted it to be, but that is why my plan is designed to extend an extra week or so if needed. I am expecting my cadence to get closer to my range during Week 10. One thing I am noticing though is that the increased speed and duration are starting to see some strain on my knees. However, it only occurs when I drag my leg back in my kick-back for my stride. This shows a breakdown in my form and thankfully is easy to immediately correct. Once my cadence training is over, I will be starting to adjust the treadmill to incline of 0.5, and then to 1 to more closely mimic the resistance of self-propelling myself forward when running outside on a flat course or track. This might actually be a good article to explain in more detail later.

Strength

I got in 2 out of 3 sessions in this week. I had to skip my 3rd because I had used that as a rest day. My first session of the week was highly focused on legs. And man did that wreck me. I literally could not do a single thing on Tuesday, as my legs were shot. Not going to lie, it was a glorious feeling. I am so excited my legs are slowly getting stronger and I love pushing myself to the max. My second session was mostly hip and back stretches mixed with core strength. I also did a fitness test for my program. It was supposed to take 5 minutes, and it took me 15 and I was having trouble breathing. These fit tests are brutal. I was supposed to end with another leg focus routine, but I was too exhausted from my Friday run. I am going to repeat this program, as it is working really well. I am hoping one more 4 week session of this body weight program and I will be able to start moving to weighted routines.

Nutrition

I logged my meals every day! I didn't really meet my goals much, but I didn't really care about this. I am a stress eater and with the constant trips to the vet hospital every day, I am not going to remove my outlet right now. Once my cat is well, I will be working on changing my stress outlet to something more productive and beneficial.

Sleep

I am adding this section because it's so important. However, my sleep is awful. I have pretty much been passing out from mental exhaustion and my sleep quality is horrible. I don't expect this to change until my cat is better.

Final Thoughts

I going to be shooting for 3/3 for both strength and running for Week 10. Also going to be making sure to keep up with my food logging. Hope everyone is doing well with their goals!

My Running Recovery Plan - Cadence

As a little background, I had a stress fracture in my right foot and have been struggling with various knee injuries over the years. My stress fracture was a couple years ago, and I pretty much hadn't run since. I had been on crutches for over 6 months and the slightest activity would still cause my foot to swell up. However, I was able to start slowly building some strength back, but then my knees started to have lots of issues. Therefore, I had no choice but to head to a physical therapist. From my road to recovery in PT, spawned a running training plan.

Photo from runnersconnect.net

Going back in time, I used to be a sprinter and short distance runner. I was mostly a forefoot runner, with me being a little more mid foot during the "longer" distances. After college, I was in a severe car accident, followed by another bad car accident a couple years later. When I finally was able to run again, my pace was more than twice as slow as the past and I had lost all of my muscle and gained a substantial amount of weight. Ever since this, I have been a heel striker. To make matters worse, even though I did not over-stride, my foot never rolled all the way through, causing all of the impact to go to my knees. Therefore, all of the core strength I had worked on was worthless.

Why Cadence Training?

Cadence is how many steps per minutes, SPM, you take. The gold standard is 180 SPM. If you want more detail, I had a blog post about Running Cadence. When I was given the green light to start running again in mid 2016, the first thing I did was get my running form analyzed. Although my stride length was good and my upper body form was great, my foot strike was terrible. There are many ways to correct how you land or your foot strike, but the one I went with was cadence, as I only became a heel striker after being injured. For me, mid foot striking is more ideal. Keep in mind this is different for everyone. Meb, for example, is a heel striker and is a world-class runner. However, I have terrible joints from all of my prior injuries. Therefore, I need the impact from running to go onto my muscles, not my joints. Therefore, forefoot or mid foot is what I needed.

Cadence training is a great method to use for this, as typically the faster a person runs while keeping the same stride, the more your body will naturally go from a heel strike to a more mid or forefoot strike. This isn't the case 100% of the time, but is usually the case. As a note, cadence training is much easier to start out training on a treadmill, because the moving belt helps with kickback. But it's best to move outside when you can be more consistent.

My Cadence

My cadence was measured around 150. Therefore, going by the golden 180 SPM rule was the plan. As I have progressed in my initial training, I was able to get up to almost 10 minutes straight at just under 180 SPM while on a treadmill. Therefore, it was time for my plan!

My Plan

The plan is technically an 8-week plan. However, it's designed to with the idea that typically it will take 1-2 weeks of each progression. Therefore, the plan is designed to range from 8 weeks to 16 weeks.

Legend: WU = Warm-up | CD = Cooldown

Week 1/2

• WU walk 2 min
• (Run 5 min, walk 1 min) - 3 Sets
• CD walk 2 min

Week 2/3

• WU walk 2 min
• Run 10 min, walk 1 min
• Run 5 min
• CD walk 2 min

Week 3/4

• WU walk 2 min
• Run 10 min, walk 1 min
• Run 5 min, walk 1-2 min
• Run 5 min
• CD walk 2 min

Week 4/5

• WU walk 2 min
• Run 15 min, walk 1-2 min
• Run 5 min
• CD walk 2 min

Week 5/6

• WU walk 2 min
• Run 15 min, walk 1 min
• Run 5 min, walk 2 min
• Run 5 min
• CD walk 2 min

Week 6/7

• WU walk 2 min
• Run 20 min, walk 1 min
• Run 5 min
• CD walk 2 min

Week 7/8

• WU walk 2 min
• Run 20 min, walk 1 min
• Run 5 min, walk 1-2 min
• Run 5 min
• CD walk 2 min

If you feel this will be too easy or not challenging enough, then you can do:

• WU walk 2 min
• Run 25 min, walk 1 min
• Run 5 min
• CD walk 2 min

Week 8/9

• WU walk 2 min
• Run 25 min, walk 1 min
• Run 5 min
• CD walk 2 min

If you feel this will be too easy or not challenging enough, then you can do:

• WU walk 2 min
• Run 30 min, walk 1 min
• Run 5 min
• CD walk 2 min

Again, this plan was to just fix my foot strike. However, the concept of this plan can be used to help run faster, longer. Good luck with your training!

Building Plan: Week 7 Complete

What a week! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, are enjoying Hanukkah, or just enjoying some time off from work. I had one of my most successful workout weeks in a while, and I am hoping to keep this momentum. I had great running sessions, although my strength sessions were lacking again. I also did much better with cross training.

Strength Training

I only got in 1 of 3 full sessions. I did my usual daily stretches, but that doesn't make up for the 2 days missed. I will be making a bigger effort to make sure I am getting these strength days, as I feel this week was successful because of strength from last week.

Running

I hit all 3 runs this week! I continued my cadence week 5/6 plan. I'll make a post later showing the training progression plan. However, I will note now, and when I post, that this plan was specifically to help correct a running form issue I developed over the last few years due to my injuries and is not a plan I'll be building on. I will be building on my mileage, but this program was focused on my stride and foot strike.

Sunday I was able to get outside and run at a local track. It was an extremely tough run though because I have not run outside in a long time, so my SPM was much lower than I wanted. I was excited to learn the only open-to-public track in my county is the one somewhat near me. I'll be going here a lot more, as there is no substitute for outside running. Don't get me wrong, I have been making incredible strides with the treadmill, and it has been really good to get me going, but I need to wind, extreme temperature changes, and soon, hills.

Cycling

I was got in a cadence ride on my trainer. These rides are still destroying me. I am not too concerned though, as I have no been focusing on cycling or my cycling cadence much. However, I am not going to just hop on the bike to ride and burn calories, so I chose cadence. I am still hoping that once I get my running and strength consistent, I'll be able to bump up to at least 2 cadence sessions a week.

Swimming

I only did a short swim after one of my runs. It was 10 minutes and I was focused on form, especially arm rotation. I did this for two reasons. The first is that I usually recover exponentially quicker when i swim after my runs. Secondly, I wanted to push my shoulders, as they were already tired from my run. I think I did pretty well, and my goal is to always get in a swim after at least one of my runs, if not more.

Final Thoughts

Overall this is one of the best weeks I have had in a while. I plan on continuing this momentum. I'll definitely be adding another week of my Cadence Week 5/6 to my schedule. Although I don't have any running races or triathlons planned for 2017 yet, my dad wants to do the City to Shore ride again, but with the Century distance (100 miles or 160 km). So I'll be training for that.

Building Plan: Week 6 Complete

Well, this ended up being another week of struggle. Constantly exhausted despite getting more sleep. On a good note, I am still seeing improvements in strength and running.

Strength Training

Got 2 of my 3 sessions completed. NTC really knows how to kick my butt. Since legs and core are so important to me, it's really nice that their programs all have that as the focus. They don't neglect other areas, but the focus is core and legs. I am definitely getting better with more of the advanced routines. I still have a ways to go, but it's nice I can do them now, as I couldn't even partially complete them a couple weeks ago.

Running

I use my Garmin 920xt's workout calendar feature to do my workouts because I easily forget what I am doing each day. It turns out my sync for last week didn't work, and I was supposed to be continuing my Week 4/5 running. I hopped on the treadmill, and started my run. After my 2nd interval, I was expecting to be done after my 2 min cool-down. Nope! Beep, beep, and go! Turns out I had my Week 5/6 schedule in there. Aside from the 41 hour recovery recommendation, I totally killed the run! I averaged 180-181 spm for all three intervals. I will definitely be doing Week 5/6 another week or so though, as I should not have that crazy of a recovery period after the run. I felt really good afterwards and nothing hurt.

Everything Else

I hopped on the spin bike a little and mostly did stretches and foam rolling. I was happy I did that much considering how exhausted and busy I was.

Final Thoughts

As usual, I will be trying to improve consistency. I have been having a heck of a time adjusting my workout schedule to all of the random chaos going on. I came up with a rolling weekly plan that should adjust pretty well to this. Now I just need time and energy. Hope everyone is doing well!

Running Cadence - The Basics

During my recent physical therapy in recovery from some foot and knee issues, I was able to get a full running analysis done. I had this done because my form has dramatically changed from my sprinting days in high school and college, and then again from my mid-distance running after college. It turns out that although I was not over-striding, I was landing solidly on my heel and not rolling my foot through to the toe. Therefore, I was having extremely heavy impact on my knees, with no real support from the surrounding muscles. I had some other issues too, but those were not related my running form. So, my PT prescribed that I do cadence training. Now, I haven't done cadence or stride training since high school. I therefore had to ask my PT for an initial training plan and also needed to do some research to refresh myself on cadence training. Since I had to do that, I figured I would share the basics.

What is Running Cadence?

Simply put, running cadence is the number of time your feet hit the ground in a given period of time, usually over 60 seconds.

You might also hear the term "turnover" used as well. However, it should be made clear that turnover is defined as how quickly your leg goes from the foot strike position back to the kick position, and then back to the foot strike position.

Determine Your Running Cadence

If you don't have a device that can determine your cadence, either film yourself or have someone else count how many times your feet hit the ground over 60 seconds. Personally, I use my Garmin HRM-Run to get my cadence. I have tested about 15 times now with the HRM vs. manually counting and they are the same each time.

As a note, some devices count only single foot strike, especially when using a foot pod. My Garmin counts both feet, which I highly recommend and is more accurate. I won't go into detail, but depending on muscle balance and many other things, there could be a large difference between the 2 legs or feet, which could cause a mess of other issues.

What Should Your Cadence Be?

Most elite runners are tracked as running with a cadence around 180 SPM, steps per minute, or higher. Some of the fastest runners set themselves apart by being able to keep the same stride length for their final kick, but dramatically increase their cadence.

However, from generally reported and tracked stats across most websites, the typical running is around 160-170 SPM.

I recommend being closer to 180 SPM due to the benefits, which I'll explain in the next section. But to be honest, it's more important to be consistent. Whatever your cadence is, you should have that cadence consistent for your run, not just have it as the average. For example, if your average cadence is 170, but you fluctuate between 160 and 180 on a relatively flat course or treadmill, you are opening yourself up to injury and probably have some sort of running form issue.

I will argue that your cadence should be the same regardless if you are on a flat, going uphill, or going downhill. Your stride length will be different for sure, and your pace will vary, but your cadence should be fairly unchanged. Also, your cadence should be the same regardless of the distance you are running.

Benefits of Improved Cadence

When it comes to running, and most sports in general, how well you do usually is a matter of how efficient you are at what you do. Cadence falls into this concept of efficiency. A consistent and improved cadence usually translates to a faster run times, less impact on joints, and more consistent paces. This makes your training more effective and you less injury-prone.

Final Thoughts

Cadence isn't the end-all-be-all. You need to make sure you have proper form when you make ground contact, that your turnover and kick-back are following correct form, that you aren't over-extending or over-striding, and that you aren't pushing yourself passed your heart rate limits or lung capacity. Just remember though that how your foot strikes, forefoot, mid, or heel, doesn't matter! As long as you are consistent and that particular form is not negatively affecting your body, you are good to go. As a personal example, I am trying to get back to forefoot and mid-foot striking; this is due to my bad knees though and needing my muscles to handle the brunt of my impact, not my joints. Happy running!