Recovery Run

I was supposed to do 70 minutes at a "recovery" pace.  I'm not sure I did it right.  I went slowly.  But 70 minutes sure seems long, even when done slow, for something I'd call a "recovery."

I chose to do it on the treadmill.  The club has limited the treadmills to 60 minutes max, so I had to run for an hour and then reset/restart for the final 10 minutes.  I focused on trying to keep my HR around 120-125 over the first half hour and under 140 over the final 40 minutes.  Turns out, I had to keep my pace at around 9:15-9:30 in order to accomplish that.  I kept my wind through the run, meaning I could have carried on a conversation -- passed the "talk test" -- even towards the end.  But I have to admit that it was fatiguing on the legs, even at the slow pace.  That's why I'm not so sure I'd call this a "recovery" workout. 

Burned 800 calories according to Nike+, which also dead-reckoned my distance as 7.45 miles and average pace as 9:23.  According to the treadmill itself, I covered 7.25 miles at an average pace of 9:39.  Pretty close.  I'm kinda digging the Nike+ gizmo now. 

I didn't listen to music during the run.  Instead, I occupied my mind with working out stride rates vs pace.  Here's what I figure:

At 6 miles per hour, my pace is 10 minutes per mile and my stride rate is 164 strides per minute, which makes my stride length at that pace around 38 to 39". 

At 6.7 miles per hour, my pace is 9 minutes per mile and my stride rate is 168 strides per minute, which makes my stride length at that pace around 42".

At 7.1 miles per hour, my pace is 8:30 per mile and my stride rate is 171 strides per minute, making my stridge length at that pace around 43 to 44".

And at 7.3 mph, my pace is about 8:15 per mile and stride rate is 173-174 or so per minute.  That calculates to a stride length of 44 to 45".


Those were the only speeds on the treadmill where I did a stride count, but I could probably plot those and the corresponding pace/speeds and maybe predict what my stride turnover is or needs to be at higher speeds. I imagine stride length starts to reach a maximum and additional speed is gained with quicker turn over.  During these slower runs recently, I've been concentrating on and working hard to avoid lengthening my stride and not heel striking.  You'd think that would put a greater strain on the calf, but it actually seems to be that my calves feel better if I'm landing on my mid/forefoot and using the calf as a shock absorber rather than rolling through the midfoot and levering off the calf.  When i think about my form and try to imagine running for the hips and lifting the legs rather than propelling off the calves, it seems to relax me.  Not sure if there's biomechanical science behind it or not.  Maybe it's psychological.

I've not heard from Mike yet this evening, so I don't know what he intends for me to do tomorrow or through the weekend.  I'm anticipating some speedwork tomorrow and maybe a rest day on Friday before a middle-distance "long run" over the weekend and/or maybe a short pace run.  That'd just be my guess.  I'd like to work in a spin class tomorrow or some strength training.

After several days of feeling "thick" and being disappointed at not finding results in the 'get-lean' objective, I felt trim today.  I couldn't resist checking the scale, confirming I'm starting to see drops below 144...finally.  I ate well today and I've managed to avoid any wasted calories this evening.  So I'm hoping to see a payoff on the scale tomorrow.  It's coming up on 4 weeks since my cholesterol disappointment.  I'm planning on getting a recheck next week to see if losing 2-3 lbs and making sure I'm being honest about my heart-healthy diet is having any short term influence.  I'm not expecting it to, but it will give me ammunition to show the doctor that despite doing everything I can, naturally, my cholesterol just won't respond and I should merit a coronary calcium screening to see if my cholesterol level is wreaking any havoc on my arteries.  If it is, it certainly is doing so without symptoms, 'cause my heart and lungs are feeling great.