Ran through Holladay to mouth of Big Cottonwood and back. Averaged around 6:45. I tested out my new running toy, a metronome. Here is an article that explains the concept but it really isn't any different than how cyclist's monitor their cadence. At a ~6:30 pace my cadence was a 82 and at a 5:30 pace my cadence was 90 (180 steps) which is about what I expected. As this article describes, around 90 sounds optimal. Running efficiently at that speed will take some work, however.
- If you are below ninety (180 steps per minute), you are likely
overstriding and should work on increasing your leg turnover rate and
shortening your stride (see below).
- If you are above ninety (180 steps per minute), you are better off
working on increasing your stride length while maintaining your cadence
(see below).
I will have to test is out a little more but I think this will be best used on a flat course or track because it is a difficult to stay on cadence when you are running up or down hills. Or I think it will just be helpful as added motivation, similar to a treadmill, to maintain a pace during a tempo run.
In total I visited the gym (downloaded from their site) 253 times last year. As you can see below, there is a direct correlation between injuries, cold weather and my visit frequency. Unlike many goals which aim to increase frequency, I hope to cut my visits down to 120 or less (of course yoga and/or strength training visits should be excluded). Staying on top of my physical therapy and wearing my warm tights should make this achievable.
Despite the months of injuries I still managed to set PRs at every distance this year; so the gym isn't such a bad place after all.
Happy New Year!
|
|
|
Month |
Visits to Gym |
Status |
1-Jan |
22 |
Cold outside |
1-Feb |
25 |
Injured |
1-Mar |
31 |
Injured |
1-Apr |
23 |
Half Injured |
1-May |
21 |
|
1-Jun |
11 |
|
1-Jul |
7 |
|
1-Aug |
18 |
Half Injured |
1-Sep |
25 |
Injured |
1-Oct |
28 |
Injured |
1-Nov |
25 |
Half Injured |
1-Dec |
17 |
Cold and post race |
Total |
253 |
|
|