I've known for a while my run cadence is really slow. Lumbering, even. I go through bouts of trying to speed it up, and tonight was another.
After a slow start, I got settled in. Depending on how granular you want to get, my pace was pretty steady for about 3 k (.5 to 3.5), but my cadence started about 85, and gradually dropped off. I could feel it happening, and was working, churning, pushing those legs to turn over, even deliberately shortened my stride, and it didn't work.
This was a fast run pace for me. I maybe could have gone another K, but I think I'd be regretting it. Those middle K's were just under a 6:20 pace, and the fastest K was 6:12. I don't often run that fast.
What I've been feeling in the right shoe is now showing up in the left shoe. Time to go shopping.
Seeing myself in the snug bike jersey on the weekend has had a bit of a galvanizing effect on me. Eating habits are changing. I either need to up the workouts, and I don't think I can, or I need to take in fewer calories.
My run cadence is something I've been trying to work on lately too. My coach has commented that I need to step it up but it is a really tricky thing to work on. I've noticed that when I'm tired it is very easy to fall back into the old familiar rhythm. Best of luck with it!
ReplyDeleteYou have way cooler stuff happening outside your building...or else I just completely miss if this stuff goes past my office building.
Aw, why are you beating yourself up? It's really hard to keep a constant cadence without music and most music has a lower cadence than 180 bpm (90). Your 85 really isn't that far off that. With your height, you naturally have a longer stride and lower cadence. Why fight it? For those of us with petite geometry, baby steps and a higher cadence come more naturally but what is missing is strength.
ReplyDeleteI know from swimming with you that you have strength, endurance and cardio. I know from biking with you that you have power in those legs. I know from running with you that you have really defined calf muscles and that your LSD pace matches mine comfortably. Win! Win! Win!
One thing about mutli-sport training is that we get pretty good at many things instead of being excellent at one thing. Still a triple-win in my eyes.
Another thing about multi-sport that struck me while volunteering at the IMYYC finish line last year is that (in my limited opinion), average age group triathletes appeared to be heavier, more muscular and more powerful than average runners. You have to be powerful to last 15h:21m:01s all at one go, Keith!
Now that I'm dabbling in all three sports, I can honestly say that swimming makes me hungriest of all. Your snug bike jersey had a galvanizing effect you say? Focus! You excel at swimming. You like wine. We live life. Triple win again, lapping everyone sitting at home on the couch.
Back to your run: See those grey rabbit ears on your graph? The second half of your run was UPHILL!!! Yes, uphill. It's natural for your cadence to drop toward the end of a run, uphill, at the end of the day and in the heat. Runkeeper says it was 64% humidity. That's very un-Calgary-like. Oh, and you mentioned your shoes don't have any cushioning left. That's like running in wooden clogs. Be kind to yourself and go shoe shopping! 6:25 min/km is a whole minute per km faster than our LSD pace. Blistering! Whazzap?
We were both playing with cadence at the same time but you didn't know it. I was trying out my Finis Tempo Trainer Pro on my RUNcommute. I hope the tempo trainer will encourage me to glide & reach less, cut out the cuppa tea and dig in with short choppy strong fast strokes following your advice. Pacing is much easier when your footfalls land in sync with a beat (music) or a beep (somewhat annoying after 90 minutes). I think you would like it... it's a techie thing and you are welcome to borrow it to play around with cadence.
Thanks for being my swim mentor! We haven't run together in a while... I would love to experiment with cadence with you. (Sorry for the novel.)
I love commenting novels! Comments period. Thanks for all the encouragement.
Delete