Just a quick one - after yesterday's aborted effort I thought I would try again. 41minutes this time so slightly slower, but that's fine.
I also noticed my heart rate was mainly in zone 4 creeping into zone 5 - surprisingly high! I am deliberately going slow enough to maintain a stilted conversation, 3 breaths in, 4 breaths out at a cadence of ~140.
Anyways, 15K this week - well chuffed! All non-graduates - it only gets better when you graduate it seems :-).
Well done, they all count 😊 today looks a much better day weather wise
Well done you.....
Because I am old young.. or should that be young old ?
Should I be monitoring my heart rate, breathing etc...the only check I do, when I come in... is to check my BP...and my resting rate is 116/118 over 70/75....Pulse usually 70/72 ?
You're doing great, well done
Sounds like you are making great progress. One tip, worth trying to increase your cadence a bit, I use a metronome on my phone that I can hear along with my music. Start at where you are now and creep it up slowly, you'll be surprised at the difference. Higher cadence doesn't necessarily mean higher speed, just higher leg turnover.. All good for foot placement and injury prevention. You can even practice standing still! I'm now upto 172, but as I'm tall it may take me longer to creep towards the so say magic 180. 😁
HI Andy - thanks for the tip.
I am not too worried about my cadence at the moment as:
- I am 6"2' so a lower cadence is expected, although yeah, 140-150 is pretty slow (AIUI)
- I tried to increase my cadence and I failed miserably to sustain it without shooting ahead
- when I did increase it without shooting ahead it was exhausting!
- Co-incidentally I looked at my legs whilst I was running and my leg was landing firmly under my hips and my leg was bent
I think I have pretty good form as I spent a bunch of time googling (i.e. a poor man's researching ;-)) and focussing on it at the beginning.
Albeit, good form in slow motion :-).
I will definitely increase it but for now I am all about the consolidation, then I think I will work up to a 10K and then cadence.
Er - that all sounds like a brush off - it isn't, I appreciate any and all advice, I really do, so thanks, very much appreciated.
What is this cadence malarkey you talk of? Am I missing something that I should be doing?
Hi mummybrummy (great name!). Cadence is simply how often (both) your feet hit the ground every minute. A study showed that most elite runners have at _least_ a cadence of 180, however, like most things, it depends on your individual properties.
I have a cadence of about 150 which is fine at the moment as I am doing very slow 5Ks. I expect my 'fast pace' runs will be around 170.
The _only_ value I see/read/hear about it is it helps improve form. For example, bad form can involve 'heel' striking' with an over extended leg, so your heel lands in front of you which is really bad for your joints, muscles, tendons etc. A way to deal with this is to increase cadence without increasing speed. The effect should decrease your stride length and either:
- your heel strike is now underneath the hips which is much better
- you land mid-foot underneath your hips
In other words, the key is landing underneath your hip - heel or mid foot is of lesser importance.
If you don't decrease your stride length whilst increasing your cadence then you will be zooming off into the distance.
As ever, I am happy to share this stuff, but I have only been running now for, what, 4 months? So take everything I say with a pinch of salt, pepper and whatever other 'hmm, not sure that is right' condiment you like :-).
Ha ha thanks....it's all veryscientific isnt it! Something for me to read up on when I get a minute
Week 4 Third Run 
Look out world - here comes a graduate!!
5k and Graduate!!
Week 3 for the third time!
