Still surprising myself

[JaySeeSkinny]

I felt as if a cold was coming on Monday evening so decided to sacrifice my Tuesday morning run for extra sleep. And Tuesday I was fine - which I was pleased about. But how to squeeze the missing run back in? I opted for a mini-streak on Wed, Thurs and Fri. But nothing too drastic as I don't want an injury. So Thursday's run was a deliberate, really slow bimble, aiming at staying in zone 2 which for me means keeping my heart rate under 115 bpm. Something I've found impossible to date. Just to see if I can. Worked perfectly, counts as a run and Garmin told me I had a recovery time of 8 hours - and didn't really have a workout! Still marginally faster than walking though.

And then Friday I dug out "Stepping Stones" from c25k+. Just out of interest. I discovered I can't keep my cadence down that low. 155 steps per minute, I did try. But no it's not for me. I did do it, but let rip after the 35 mins. It was - needless to say - another slow run. And that got me thinking - I am slow, but I have a decent cadence. That means I have a short stride. But lengthening your stride is a sure way to injury. So I guess I'm just stuck with slow!

[AnnieW55]

You're not alone! I'm on the slow side but my average cadence over my last five runs has been 176 (for runs of 5, 8, 12 and 16k). Averages this year are high 170's - low 180's. I never could do stepping stones and struggle with some of the other lower cadence apps out there - I just thought it was because I couldn't find the beat!

[Oldfloss Administrator 60minGraduate]

Slow is a good thing to be stuck with... go you

[Joy57 Graduate10]

I must look out the the stepping stones & stamina podcasts on my phone and try them again - haven't used them for about a year. Maybe tomorrow - I need to do the 4k of the last week of Ju-Ju's plan

[Joy57 Graduate10]

I used it this morning. At the start 155 felt ok for me but as the run went on I was probably doing 165 to 170. I am short therefore I am slow! 4k done today, only the final10k of the plan to do now.

[JaySeeSkinny Graduate10 in reply to Joy57]

My very slow run this morning had me averaging 174 (including walking breaks). On my faster runs I average 185 - there's no way I can run at 155 any more. Looking back at a few stats I seem to have increased my cadence, but got slower! Must be taking baby steps.