Saturday, April 29, 2017
Average Joe Give Away: Free Mud Gear Compression Socks
I picked up an extra pair of Mud Gear compression socks for myself to use with my experiment for recovery. Since I was buying myself a new pair I decided to pick up a few extra pair in order to give them away ($37 value) in a Give Away. There are 2 pairs of each size and I'll give both pairs away if I have enough entries. The Give Away will be from today to May 15 2017. I'll try and record the drawing so people can see that I'm legit.
So how do you sign up for this give away? Simple. All you have to do is comment on this blog post with just like a name or nick name, a way to contact you (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, email etc.)(if you win) and what size you are putting in for.
If you don't know what sizes there are then take a look at this picture or go to the Mud Gear website
Also the color that you are in the lottery for is the orange color that you can see here.
Now this isn't going to be a one comment is all you get, but if you want to increase your chances to win by sharing this post on Google+, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag of #averagejoefit. If you look I have other posts in all four tags. If you share on each of the four websites then you have 5 chances to win the socks.
So how do you sign up for this give away? Simple. All you have to do is comment on this blog post with just like a name or nick name, a way to contact you (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, email etc.)(if you win) and what size you are putting in for.
If you don't know what sizes there are then take a look at this picture or go to the Mud Gear website
Also the color that you are in the lottery for is the orange color that you can see here.
Now this isn't going to be a one comment is all you get, but if you want to increase your chances to win by sharing this post on Google+, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag of #averagejoefit. If you look I have other posts in all four tags. If you share on each of the four websites then you have 5 chances to win the socks.
Nutrition Advice: Dieting and Vitamins
When people diet they tend to eliminate certain foods that they either think is unhealthy or don't want to "waste" the calories on. Unfortunately when we eliminate certain food groups from our bodies we tend to get deficient in certain vitamins. Now actually a lot of people walk around with some sort of low level of vitamins, but dieting can send some from just being low to being deficient. What people don't realize is that being vitamin deficient can actually hamper weight loss and or muscle gain. Lets take a look at a few of the most common vitamin deficiencies and how they can effect weight loss.
Zinc: Helps the bodies immune system, enzyme support and can effect the thyroid. The thyroid can affect your resting metabolic rate (RMR) and being deficit in zinc might cause a plateau or slow weight loss down.
How to get Zinc?: Red meat, beans, nuts, dairy and whole grains. Even fortified cereal has it.
Iron: Now this is most common in females, but dieting could cause a deficiency in anyone. Iron helps transport oxygen in the body. Working out and have trouble catching your breath? Maybe Iron deficient. It can also cause muscle weakness, low energy levels and many other problems.
How to get Iron?: Red meat, beans, dried fruit, dark green leafy vegetables and cereals again.
D: Vitamin D we get from the Sun. Now you would think this wouldn't be something people lack, but they do. Vitamin D also helps the thyroid and just like Zinc the thyroid does regulation RMR. It also impacts bone health and immune system health.
How to get Vitamin D?: The sun is the easiest, but also milk, egg yolks, liver and fish.
Now the list above is by no means all inclusive or even all that could cause weight loss problems. It is important to eat a balanced diet that includes a little of everything.
You can find a lot of information on vitamins online by just googling it, but I found this and I kind of like the look of it. This isn't my list either.
Zinc: Helps the bodies immune system, enzyme support and can effect the thyroid. The thyroid can affect your resting metabolic rate (RMR) and being deficit in zinc might cause a plateau or slow weight loss down.
How to get Zinc?: Red meat, beans, nuts, dairy and whole grains. Even fortified cereal has it.
Iron: Now this is most common in females, but dieting could cause a deficiency in anyone. Iron helps transport oxygen in the body. Working out and have trouble catching your breath? Maybe Iron deficient. It can also cause muscle weakness, low energy levels and many other problems.
How to get Iron?: Red meat, beans, dried fruit, dark green leafy vegetables and cereals again.
D: Vitamin D we get from the Sun. Now you would think this wouldn't be something people lack, but they do. Vitamin D also helps the thyroid and just like Zinc the thyroid does regulation RMR. It also impacts bone health and immune system health.
How to get Vitamin D?: The sun is the easiest, but also milk, egg yolks, liver and fish.
Now the list above is by no means all inclusive or even all that could cause weight loss problems. It is important to eat a balanced diet that includes a little of everything.
You can find a lot of information on vitamins online by just googling it, but I found this and I kind of like the look of it. This isn't my list either.
Friday, April 28, 2017
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Monday, April 24, 2017
Sunday, April 23, 2017
Beyond General Fitness: Running: Recovery Experiment Final
So about a month ago I had read several articles about how compression gear could aid in muscle recovery. The only thing was that the articles seemed anecdotal at best and didn't have me convinced that it was accurate. So I decided to test it out on myself. My first post about it was 03/22/2017, then I did a follow up post after testing compression gear 04/08/2017.
To recap my schedule from my earlier posts:
The test will be as follows.
Run 1: 7 mile road run on pavement or concrete. No assisted recovery
Run 2: 8 mile trail run on packed dirt and mud. No assisted recovery
Run 3: 9 mile road run on pavement or concrete. Compression socks applied post run only.
Run 4: 10 mile trail run on packed dirt and mud. Compression socks applied post run only.
Run 5: 11 mile road run on pavement or concrete. Epsom Salt bath post run.
Run 6: 12 mile road run on packed dirt and mud. Epsom Salt bath post run.
So I have finished the final run. Now the final run was supposed to be a 12 mile run, but I ended up doing 13.3 miles as I thought about how Spartan Beasts were a minimum of 13 miles. So I decided to do more.
The only thing that might have thrown off the results of my experiment is that I did do a Leg strength day on Tuesday before. I figured I would have been recovered by Friday, but as the run was hard from mile 6 on so I clearly wasn't recovered.
To recap from my prior runs I was sore for several days post no assisted recovery runs. With the Compression socks post runs I had little to no soreness in the calf and feet the day after the run. Although I did have knee and hip soreness post 10 mile run.
Now for the longest two runs to date. After both runs I felt pretty sore by the end of the day. The soreness was from the waist down. I will say that after the Epsom Salt bath on the 11 mile run I wasn't all that sore the next day. A little sore, but nothing to bad. Although after the 13.3 mile run even with the Epsom Salt bath I was very sore come Saturday morning. The soreness was better after moving for a bit, but any time sitting for a while caused the soreness to return. Now the second day post run I will admit that the soreness has gotten quite a bit better. The soreness after sitting for a bit seems to have abated and mainly the soreness I feel is muscular in the quads, hams and calves. Very little joint soreness is felt. It seems that my prediction on the post from 04/08/2017 was mainly accurate. It seems that any recovery assistance is better the none at all.
In conclusion what I have learned and what I will do from this point forward on all long training runs is a combination of things. It seemed that Compression gear seemed to enhance recovery at the location of the compression only. Epsom Salt bath seemed to enhance recovery as well, but as the entire lower half of the body is covered in a bath it seemed to also be location dependent. Doing both might provide additional recovery, but the most important thing I learned was to not do a leg strength workout the same week that I am going to run 12+ miles.
To recap my schedule from my earlier posts:
The test will be as follows.
Run 1: 7 mile road run on pavement or concrete. No assisted recovery
Run 2: 8 mile trail run on packed dirt and mud. No assisted recovery
Run 3: 9 mile road run on pavement or concrete. Compression socks applied post run only.
Run 4: 10 mile trail run on packed dirt and mud. Compression socks applied post run only.
Run 5: 11 mile road run on pavement or concrete. Epsom Salt bath post run.
Run 6: 12 mile road run on packed dirt and mud. Epsom Salt bath post run.
So I have finished the final run. Now the final run was supposed to be a 12 mile run, but I ended up doing 13.3 miles as I thought about how Spartan Beasts were a minimum of 13 miles. So I decided to do more.
The only thing that might have thrown off the results of my experiment is that I did do a Leg strength day on Tuesday before. I figured I would have been recovered by Friday, but as the run was hard from mile 6 on so I clearly wasn't recovered.
To recap from my prior runs I was sore for several days post no assisted recovery runs. With the Compression socks post runs I had little to no soreness in the calf and feet the day after the run. Although I did have knee and hip soreness post 10 mile run.
Now for the longest two runs to date. After both runs I felt pretty sore by the end of the day. The soreness was from the waist down. I will say that after the Epsom Salt bath on the 11 mile run I wasn't all that sore the next day. A little sore, but nothing to bad. Although after the 13.3 mile run even with the Epsom Salt bath I was very sore come Saturday morning. The soreness was better after moving for a bit, but any time sitting for a while caused the soreness to return. Now the second day post run I will admit that the soreness has gotten quite a bit better. The soreness after sitting for a bit seems to have abated and mainly the soreness I feel is muscular in the quads, hams and calves. Very little joint soreness is felt. It seems that my prediction on the post from 04/08/2017 was mainly accurate. It seems that any recovery assistance is better the none at all.
In conclusion what I have learned and what I will do from this point forward on all long training runs is a combination of things. It seemed that Compression gear seemed to enhance recovery at the location of the compression only. Epsom Salt bath seemed to enhance recovery as well, but as the entire lower half of the body is covered in a bath it seemed to also be location dependent. Doing both might provide additional recovery, but the most important thing I learned was to not do a leg strength workout the same week that I am going to run 12+ miles.
Saturday, April 22, 2017
Beyond General Fitness: Running: Heart Rate Training Test Final
Over the last few months I have been doing a heart rate training. So I'll restate the theory around what heart rate training is and what we should expect. I will also talk about why my test probably wasn't the best and why.
Now how does one go about figuring out their training zones?
Well there are a lot of ways, but the most simple way is to take 220 and subtract your age. This method does have some inherent error in it, but it is a good starting method. I am going to use myself as example. As I am nearly 36 I'll use that, so 220 - 36 is 184. Now 184 bpm should be my maximum heart rate and we can now figure out the zones from that number. The zones are historically 90-100%, 80-90%, 70-80%, 60-70% and 50-60%. Now if you take 90% of 184 you get 165.6 so lets round up to 166 bpm so there is the highest zone or zone 5 166 bpm to 184 bpm. The next zone is 147.2 to 128.8 so lets round to 147 and 129.
I could figure the rest of the zones for myself, but TomTom has already done it for me, but now you know how it works. You can see that the numbers aren't 100% exact, but pretty darn close.
Now for the training method. For long distance runners it is touted to be best to train in zone 3. This is the aerobic training zone that you burn more calories and elevate your endurance and cardiovascular fitness.
In order to stay in zone 3 many runners will actually have to slow down. I find this to be very difficult as I feel like I am going to slow to be doing any good. Now this could be the fact that I was use to training in zone 4 instead of zone 3 up until this point. It could also be that the 220 - my age isn't all that accurate for me. (Italic area copied from Beyond General Fitness: Running: My Adventure In Heart Rate Training. Speed Test 1 on 03/19/2017)
Now since then I have read several articles about the accuracy of wrist heart rate monitors. They can be off by as much as 20%. Next there is the fact that the 220 minus your age has up to 20% error as it depends on your fitness level and other factors. So I could be trying to do a heart rate training with an error that could be as much as 40% error.
Then there could be the fact that I have also been testing a run walk combo while doing heart rate training and something occurred to me while running today. I might be trying to test too many things all at the same time.
Well on my blog post on 04/17/17 I posted that I was disappointed with the results of my heart rate training. I had done the math and figured what my pace was slower then prior. Although it seems that I was wrong now that I have placed the numbers on a spreadsheet.
Now that I have the numbers all together I can now see that I am progressing. After two months of heart rate training I have dropped nearly 39 seconds from my original test and 12 second off my second test.
The numbers speak for themselves and as you can see from the dates that I ended up taking a break from speed work and I even took an entire break from working out in November - December. You can see that I was running at these speeds in the past, but my heart rate average was very different. As you can see that I am doing the same speed and work at lower heart rates.
I also placed weather or not I did a strength rotation in the middle of the run. So I would run a half of a mile out and then back and then do strength rotation. Then running out at back again and if I was still getting that break in the middle of the run my numbers might be even faster.
I still am considering a VO2 test and a running gate test at some point and time to ensure that I am doing the correct heart rate and ensuring I am getting the most out of my training. I also want to get my gate tested to ensure I am running correctly and won't injure myself. I tend to worry about my knees.
I am going to continue the heart rate training now that I see the numbers together. It seems to be working.
As per the usual please visit my affiliates:
Mud Gear use AVERAGEJOE 5% at https://mudgear.com/collections/discount-eligible
Rock Tape at https://shop.rocktape.com/?rfsn=537256.6bbe1
Now how does one go about figuring out their training zones?
Well there are a lot of ways, but the most simple way is to take 220 and subtract your age. This method does have some inherent error in it, but it is a good starting method. I am going to use myself as example. As I am nearly 36 I'll use that, so 220 - 36 is 184. Now 184 bpm should be my maximum heart rate and we can now figure out the zones from that number. The zones are historically 90-100%, 80-90%, 70-80%, 60-70% and 50-60%. Now if you take 90% of 184 you get 165.6 so lets round up to 166 bpm so there is the highest zone or zone 5 166 bpm to 184 bpm. The next zone is 147.2 to 128.8 so lets round to 147 and 129.
I could figure the rest of the zones for myself, but TomTom has already done it for me, but now you know how it works. You can see that the numbers aren't 100% exact, but pretty darn close.
Now for the training method. For long distance runners it is touted to be best to train in zone 3. This is the aerobic training zone that you burn more calories and elevate your endurance and cardiovascular fitness.
In order to stay in zone 3 many runners will actually have to slow down. I find this to be very difficult as I feel like I am going to slow to be doing any good. Now this could be the fact that I was use to training in zone 4 instead of zone 3 up until this point. It could also be that the 220 - my age isn't all that accurate for me. (Italic area copied from Beyond General Fitness: Running: My Adventure In Heart Rate Training. Speed Test 1 on 03/19/2017)
Now since then I have read several articles about the accuracy of wrist heart rate monitors. They can be off by as much as 20%. Next there is the fact that the 220 minus your age has up to 20% error as it depends on your fitness level and other factors. So I could be trying to do a heart rate training with an error that could be as much as 40% error.
Then there could be the fact that I have also been testing a run walk combo while doing heart rate training and something occurred to me while running today. I might be trying to test too many things all at the same time.
Well on my blog post on 04/17/17 I posted that I was disappointed with the results of my heart rate training. I had done the math and figured what my pace was slower then prior. Although it seems that I was wrong now that I have placed the numbers on a spreadsheet.
Now that I have the numbers all together I can now see that I am progressing. After two months of heart rate training I have dropped nearly 39 seconds from my original test and 12 second off my second test.
The numbers speak for themselves and as you can see from the dates that I ended up taking a break from speed work and I even took an entire break from working out in November - December. You can see that I was running at these speeds in the past, but my heart rate average was very different. As you can see that I am doing the same speed and work at lower heart rates.
I also placed weather or not I did a strength rotation in the middle of the run. So I would run a half of a mile out and then back and then do strength rotation. Then running out at back again and if I was still getting that break in the middle of the run my numbers might be even faster.
I still am considering a VO2 test and a running gate test at some point and time to ensure that I am doing the correct heart rate and ensuring I am getting the most out of my training. I also want to get my gate tested to ensure I am running correctly and won't injure myself. I tend to worry about my knees.
I am going to continue the heart rate training now that I see the numbers together. It seems to be working.
As per the usual please visit my affiliates:
Mud Gear use AVERAGEJOE 5% at https://mudgear.com/collections/discount-eligible
Rock Tape at https://shop.rocktape.com/?rfsn=537256.6bbe1
Friday, April 21, 2017
Thursday, April 20, 2017
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Monday, April 17, 2017
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Saturday, April 15, 2017
Motivation 04/15/2017
Sorry for the lack of daily motivations the last few day. Just had a busy couple of days.
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Monday, April 10, 2017
Sunday, April 9, 2017
Saturday, April 8, 2017
Beyond General Fitness: Running: Recovery Test 2
Well it has now been four weeks since I started my Recovery Test. Part 1 is there and just to recap my schedule is:
The test will be as follows.
Run 1: 7 mile road run on pavement or concrete. No assisted recovery
Run 2: 8 mile trail run on packed dirt and mud. No assisted recovery
Run 3: 9 mile road run on pavement or concrete. Compression socks applied post run only.
Run 4: 10 mile trail run on packed dirt and mud. Compression socks applied post run only.
Run 5: 11 mile road run on pavement or concrete. Epsom Salt bath post run.
Run 6: 12 mile road run on packed dirt and mud. Epsom Salt bath post run.
So now I am post Run's 1-4 and my schedule was altered because of life. I was unable to do a trail run for my 10 mile run. So the only thing that throws off is how I felt after Run 2.
So after my first two runs I will say that I was sore. My quads, calves and knees were sore for several days post run. I won't say that I was in pain, but just sore like they had been worked.
Now after runs 3 and 4 I have used my Mud Gear knee high compression socks applied post run and shower. I will say that my calves and feet feel better then they did on the first runs. I had no calf or foot soreness or stiffness even the day after my run. I'm still having some knee and now hip soreness post the last two runs, but again it isn't pain. The compression socks of course don't cover the knee or the hips so I am not really surprised that they would still be sore.
I am starting to think that my experiment will simply be that any post run recovery is better then no recovery at all, but as a fairly scientific minded person I'm going to see this test through. So for my final two training runs I will finish the runs then before going to bed at night I will do a hot Epsom Salt bath before bed. I'm not sure if this will throw off the results as I am not doing it directly post run, but I have a life and run in the morning. I don't have time to do a soak until after my children go to bed.
We will see how the final few runs go.
I want to also plug my affiliated sites Mud Gear AVERAGEJOE for 5% off at https://mudgear.com/collections/discount-eligible
Also Rock Tape for all KT tape needs at https://shop.rocktape.com/?rfsn=537256.6bbe1
The test will be as follows.
Run 1: 7 mile road run on pavement or concrete. No assisted recovery
Run 2: 8 mile trail run on packed dirt and mud. No assisted recovery
Run 3: 9 mile road run on pavement or concrete. Compression socks applied post run only.
Run 4: 10 mile trail run on packed dirt and mud. Compression socks applied post run only.
Run 5: 11 mile road run on pavement or concrete. Epsom Salt bath post run.
Run 6: 12 mile road run on packed dirt and mud. Epsom Salt bath post run.
So now I am post Run's 1-4 and my schedule was altered because of life. I was unable to do a trail run for my 10 mile run. So the only thing that throws off is how I felt after Run 2.
So after my first two runs I will say that I was sore. My quads, calves and knees were sore for several days post run. I won't say that I was in pain, but just sore like they had been worked.
Now after runs 3 and 4 I have used my Mud Gear knee high compression socks applied post run and shower. I will say that my calves and feet feel better then they did on the first runs. I had no calf or foot soreness or stiffness even the day after my run. I'm still having some knee and now hip soreness post the last two runs, but again it isn't pain. The compression socks of course don't cover the knee or the hips so I am not really surprised that they would still be sore.
I am starting to think that my experiment will simply be that any post run recovery is better then no recovery at all, but as a fairly scientific minded person I'm going to see this test through. So for my final two training runs I will finish the runs then before going to bed at night I will do a hot Epsom Salt bath before bed. I'm not sure if this will throw off the results as I am not doing it directly post run, but I have a life and run in the morning. I don't have time to do a soak until after my children go to bed.
We will see how the final few runs go.
I want to also plug my affiliated sites Mud Gear AVERAGEJOE for 5% off at https://mudgear.com/collections/discount-eligible
Also Rock Tape for all KT tape needs at https://shop.rocktape.com/?rfsn=537256.6bbe1
Friday, April 7, 2017
Beyond General Fitness: Running: Run / Walk Combo Test 2
Well after my last test at 9 miles I was excited to see what this 10 mile run would have in store for me.
I decided to once again work at approximately the same times and so I walked at mile 2, 5, 7, 8 and 9. It was a little more walking, but my leg muscles were burning by the end and I thought it was best to take two extra walk breaks.
My walk breaks really didn't slow me down too much as you can see from the paces. Of course mile 3, 6, and 9 where my slowest because those are after I do most of the hill climbing as I get out of the giant hole I jog down into.
Even with those my over all pace was only 17 seconds slower then my 9 mile run. I feel that is fairly successful especially since I also did 3 strength rotations after 3, 6, and 10 miles. I did a total 55 Standard Pushups, 55 Military pushups, 45 C-Sit Abs, 45 A-Frame Abs, 30 burgees, 60 high knees, 30 lunges each leg and 33 60lbs squats. I thought I was going to not do the final rotation as I was physically tired, but not so tired that it stopped me. Once I started my final rotation I knew I was going to finish it.
In the end I am pretty much sold on the whole run walk combo. I haven't slowed down that much, it helps me keep my heart rate in the zone I am experimenting with and I feel good enough to crank out my strength rotations. I will continue my experiment for my final three distance increases at 11 and 12 miles.
I decided to once again work at approximately the same times and so I walked at mile 2, 5, 7, 8 and 9. It was a little more walking, but my leg muscles were burning by the end and I thought it was best to take two extra walk breaks.
My walk breaks really didn't slow me down too much as you can see from the paces. Of course mile 3, 6, and 9 where my slowest because those are after I do most of the hill climbing as I get out of the giant hole I jog down into.
Even with those my over all pace was only 17 seconds slower then my 9 mile run. I feel that is fairly successful especially since I also did 3 strength rotations after 3, 6, and 10 miles. I did a total 55 Standard Pushups, 55 Military pushups, 45 C-Sit Abs, 45 A-Frame Abs, 30 burgees, 60 high knees, 30 lunges each leg and 33 60lbs squats. I thought I was going to not do the final rotation as I was physically tired, but not so tired that it stopped me. Once I started my final rotation I knew I was going to finish it.
In the end I am pretty much sold on the whole run walk combo. I haven't slowed down that much, it helps me keep my heart rate in the zone I am experimenting with and I feel good enough to crank out my strength rotations. I will continue my experiment for my final three distance increases at 11 and 12 miles.
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Monday, April 3, 2017
Sunday, April 2, 2017
Motivation Picture 4/2/17
I am going to start a picture post a day with my words of wisdom on them. I hope you all like them.
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Beyond General Fitness: Running: Run / Walk Combo Test 1
I was doing some research on running for my next blog post when I came across an article at Runners World. After reading both that article and the one linked at the bottom of that article I thought that I would give it a try.
I feel that this is a great test for an average runner who is attempting to going farther then ever before. As I was not a runner to start I have never ran 9 miles before in my life. I also know how I felt after the 7 mile and the two 8 mile runs that I had already done. I felt completely wasted and drained for the rest of the day on both occasions. So I expected as much after my 9 miles.
I didn't go to the extent of the writer of the article that I posted above as stopping every mile seemed excessive and I don't really feel warmed up and in the groove until after my first mile. So I didn't stop to walk until I had passed the 2 mile mark. I walked for approximately 60 seconds and I say approximately because I just looked at the clock time on my watch and walked until a minute went by. After walking I felt fairly rejuvenated and powered up the large hill that I run when I do my three mile loop. I then stopped at mile three to do one of my rotations.
Then I didn't walk again until mile 5. I was at a different location this time and ended up walking down hill instead of up hill. It again just gave me a recharged feeling and I was able to power through the hills again. I didn't stop until I did my second rotation just after mile 6.
On my final loop I ended up stopping just before mile 7 and again at 8 miles as my legs were burning and my left big toe was hurting. I had made the mistake of clipping that nail a little short at the beginning of the week and it was feeling better until this run. In the end though I finished 9 miles feeling really good. Good enough to do my finial rotation. I also had nutrition after every rotation and never once felt queasy or had any stomach problems.
As you can see from my splits you can't really tell when I truly walked. Someone could speculate it was at mile 3, 6 and 8, but in the end it wasn't those miles at all.
I think this is a great way to train and to keep from getting overly exhausted. I felt great for most of the day and even was able to play with my kids most of the day. I didn't hit a wall of exhaustion until my son went for a 3:00 nap. I was able to close my eyes a bit then.
I will be sure to try this again on my next run.
Plug for my Affiliates Mud Gear get 5% off with AVERAGEJOE at https://mudgear.com/collections/discount-eligible
Also Rock Tape for KT needs at https://shop.rocktape.com/?rfsn=537256.6bbe1
I feel that this is a great test for an average runner who is attempting to going farther then ever before. As I was not a runner to start I have never ran 9 miles before in my life. I also know how I felt after the 7 mile and the two 8 mile runs that I had already done. I felt completely wasted and drained for the rest of the day on both occasions. So I expected as much after my 9 miles.
I didn't go to the extent of the writer of the article that I posted above as stopping every mile seemed excessive and I don't really feel warmed up and in the groove until after my first mile. So I didn't stop to walk until I had passed the 2 mile mark. I walked for approximately 60 seconds and I say approximately because I just looked at the clock time on my watch and walked until a minute went by. After walking I felt fairly rejuvenated and powered up the large hill that I run when I do my three mile loop. I then stopped at mile three to do one of my rotations.
Then I didn't walk again until mile 5. I was at a different location this time and ended up walking down hill instead of up hill. It again just gave me a recharged feeling and I was able to power through the hills again. I didn't stop until I did my second rotation just after mile 6.
On my final loop I ended up stopping just before mile 7 and again at 8 miles as my legs were burning and my left big toe was hurting. I had made the mistake of clipping that nail a little short at the beginning of the week and it was feeling better until this run. In the end though I finished 9 miles feeling really good. Good enough to do my finial rotation. I also had nutrition after every rotation and never once felt queasy or had any stomach problems.
As you can see from my splits you can't really tell when I truly walked. Someone could speculate it was at mile 3, 6 and 8, but in the end it wasn't those miles at all.
I think this is a great way to train and to keep from getting overly exhausted. I felt great for most of the day and even was able to play with my kids most of the day. I didn't hit a wall of exhaustion until my son went for a 3:00 nap. I was able to close my eyes a bit then.
I will be sure to try this again on my next run.
Plug for my Affiliates Mud Gear get 5% off with AVERAGEJOE at https://mudgear.com/collections/discount-eligible
Also Rock Tape for KT needs at https://shop.rocktape.com/?rfsn=537256.6bbe1
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