Intervals Vs. No Intervals

I was talking to my buddy about the marathon training the other day about running intervals. He only runs without walk breaks, I was trying to convince him otherwise. He says he feels like he has given up if he stops to walk. OK, we'll see how long that works for him...

Anyway, per my usual engineering mentality I did a little test of my own. Disclaimer: this is only two data points under not exact conditions so yeah it may not always produce the same results. There are lots of variables. But its a start.

Run 1: Saturday 8/4 8:52 PM No Walk Breaks 44:31 3.80 mi 11:42 min/mi
Run 2: Monday 8/6 8:32 PM With Walk Breaks 44:48 3.89 mi 11:31 min/mi

So, not that much different in time... slightly better with the breaks. Mentally I was thinking I could run harder since I had the break coming up on Run 2. I was always trying to conserve on Run 1, but that is also the furthest I have run with no walk breaks... so there is lack of experience there.

Anyway, I plan on keeping the breaks for the most part and just extending them longer... to say one mile. It would be nice to just run between the water stations in a race.

Darren

Marathon!

My buddy Tom was a cross country runner in high school. He rarely runs now, but once in a while we do a 5K together. Of course he still beats me. He IS several years younger and probably 50 lbs lighter too though. LOL

So out of the blue the other day he says he wants to do a marathon. He even looks up a training program online, which really surprises me. He doesn't spend much time on the internet. And as the father of two boys under 10, it isn't like he has a ton of free time these days.

I had really never thought about doing a marathon. But since I managed to do my first half marathon this year, I don't consider it outside the realm of possibility. Yes, I have been wishy-washy about what kind of racing I want to do, but running is something I know I like doing. So why not? One more thing I can do and say I have done!

Is it a 'hell yeah!'? The race itself, probably not. But I see it as a means to propel me further toward my 'hell yeah!' goal as long as I do it right! :)

Darren

Running Help

I have been trying to start running. That has proven to be much more difficult for me than I thought. I guess 40 years of not running is not an easy thing to overcome! I started having foot issues, so I went to a podiatrist and got custom orthodics. That helped the foot issue but it seems my shins just will not get stronger. They tire out quickly as I start to run. I am ~210 lbs, still a far cry from the 270 I was at one point but still pretty heavy. It just seemed like something was not right. I partially blamed the knee surgeries I had a couple of years ago, my left leg atrophied a bit and I can still tell it.

Enter Youtube! My chiropractor suggested I try a different running form, and to check out the Crossfit site for videos on the Pose technique. She also suggested to look at Chi running. I looked those up the other night and found a lot of great info on what might be going on. I think I am extending my leg too far in front of my center of balance and basicly stopping myself with every stride! This video was the best I found about that:

Since I started adjusting to keeping my stride short and landing midfoot I am sseing a lot of improvement immediately!

My overall time is not faster yet, but my shins dont feel like someone has been driving nails in them at least!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/20142434

Videos to check out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrOgDCZ4GUo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkUqkdPQHis

Darren