Now that my first 70.3 is complete, I've been thinking about what I need to work on and what race(s) make sense for the rest of 2011. The main thing I need to work on is...
strength and flexibility. I had a gait analysis done a couple months ago and the instructor noted that I "run with my hip flexors." I've gotten similar data points from my PT and body work pros that all point to the symptoms of 20 years of sitting at a desk: overly tight/shortened hip flexors and weak glutes. You can really see it in my race photos like this one where I'm running with my legs close together like I have to pee:
I noticed that I look nothing like "real" runners with their nice extended gait...
I also think that weak glutes is what is causing my piriformis pain. When I'm good about doing my strength work, piriformis pain goes away (and my knees stop crunching when I strengthen my quads.) So...
- TRX class starts on Thurs and I'm going to keep it up through the fall. I hate spending extra $ on a class at my gym, but this is where I see significant improvements in strength.
- I'm also adding at least one yoga class per week and have been stretching every morning.
- Lastly, I'm committed to hill work. Today I ran a 6 mile route that ends by coming up the Lyon St stairs... I had to stop 5 times coming back up due to weak legs (and partly cardio). Pathetic. I'll know I'm in shape when I can run this route without stopping! Ditto for finding hilly routes on the bike (which isn't too hard in SF.)
The second big focus area is running.
I need a lot more mileage in my running shoes. I have been totally falling apart after mile 9... mostly it's major foot pain (and hip flexors, but hoping that my strength/stretch work will address that). At the end of the Honu run, I couldn't really tell what hurt... everything hurt. Back/quads/glutes/hams/hips/hip flexors/feet/ you name it. Probably makes sense to start building miles after I get at least a month, maybe two, of solid strength/stretch work so that muscularly I can handle the load.
Lastly, cardio efficiency. I totally get the need for lower heart rate work, and could see an improvement earlier this year. However, right now, given time constraints and trade-offs, I think building strength and flexibility needs to take priority. Lack of sufficient muscular base is my biggest limiter and the main cause of injury. I'd rather be a bit inefficient but strong, flexible and injury-free... at least for this year. But of course I need a good run base, and that can be low HR... will be talking with my Kona-bound coach to figure all this out.
And now the fun topic... races! I'd been thinking of either Pacific Grove olympic or perhaps Santa Barbara, followed by the Healdsburg half marathon in October. But this afternoon I was talking with my mom who lives in Florida, and complaining about how cold it's been in San Francisco. She said, "well, come warm up in Florida!" So while we were on the phone, I started surfing the web looking for races in Florida in the fall. Mom nixed the ones in August and September as too hot... so I kept scrolling until I saw Rohto Ironman 70.3 Miami on October 30. DING DING DING!!! Yeah, I know, I didn't think I wanted to train for another half this year. But this past week I've felt a bit aimless... and also thinking that I didn't want to lose all this good momentum after Honu. So I'm going to sleep on it (even though I've already checked out flights) and will decide tomorrow.
Whooop! Goin' to Miami. Palm trees. Heat. And this race is not a mass swim start (yay, with 2500 athletes that would be a nightmare) and may be wetsuit legal. And FLAT!! (I'm pretty sure.)
Um... ok... sounds like I've kinda decided already.
It sounds like you have a great plan in place! October is lots of time to rest and then train up again, PLUS to actually get some heat around here to train in!!!
Posted by: Molly | 06/13/2011 at 07:30 AM