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Treadmill MAF

February 7, 2014 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
Cray-cray day: the snow from yesterday went NOWHERE - and upon waking, it began to snow even more! The morning was good, but weird: I saw one patient - a HS girl, who braved the conditions to make it. THEN, I went to PICK up my friend/old roommate Matt so he could come to his PT appointment! The snow was deep: 6" and brutal to drive in unless you had a FWD. We worked together for a full 90 minutes, then I drove him home!

After that, I drove straight to yoga for a good hr-long class with Chels. Not too crowded because of the conditions. Then, after that, rather than try to run in that shit, I came home, cleaned up, and went to a coffee shop to work on my iRunFar column. Had a big window seat on Willamette St, watching all the people struggle in the snow. :-)

I wrote 'til 6ish, then headed to work to run on the treadmill. I set up the camera system so I could watch myself in real-time, then set-up my laptop to watch "Roadhouse".

I strapped on my HR and decided, "Might as well do a MAF test!". Warmed up for 2mi, then ran 5mi at 150. It was WAYYY easier to do MAF on the treadmill, because the HRM we have is hooked into the treadmill display, so I was constantly watching it. I'd allow it to bump between 148-152. If it stayed at 152, I'd bump it down 0.1mph.

While running and focusing on relaxed, deep-breath running, I was also working on my stride. I've been having a LOT of "hamstring" pain again. I "thought" it was from overstriding/narrow striding, but...it's pelvic/SIJ again. Even BEFORE this run, I was having pain while sitting (on a soft chair at the coffee shop!). WTF! Hamstrings don't do that.

I didn't quite figure that out this night, but I worked on a strong R hip extension, the hip hinge, and getting a bit more heel recovery (again, because I thought it was "hamstring overuse").

The MAF test went pretty well:

6:43
6:46
6:55
7:02
7:10

This was a legit test. Now it was clearly faster because of the 'mill (as opposed to a soft, uneven bark trail), but it was also warmer. And there was little/no cheating. My last true MAF test I was averaging 153-154 HR. Because it would never go over that point for more than a few seconds (and would go under 150), I would estimate the AHR on these miles to be at max 151-152.

For being a week+ into my return, and having stride "issues", it's solid. BUT...it really must get into the low-6s. That's the only way I see I can compete on long ultras: I need that aerobic fitness!

Did a slow cooldown mile, then did some foam rolling. I analyzed my stride (this week's vids, vs vids on my computer from 2012). In general it's a lot better - WAY less SWIVZ!

Finally left at 8ish to freezing rain coating the truck. #clusterfuck