Sunday Night Wrap

My last blog reported a good day throwing the shot…maybe it was a bit too good.  It was going so well that I probably took a few more throws than I should have.  Both the elbow and the shoulder let me know they weren’t very happy and I was more sore than usual for the next couple of days.

I took an extra day of rest, then threw the 18# ball (standing) inside at HealthQuest a little on Friday.  I maxed at 31′ (new PR) and was hitting 30′ regularly which is good, so I think the arm is OK, no serious damage.  I videotaped my glide this morning (not throwing any weight) and it looks much improved.

The running this week went well for the most part.  This is my 3rd go at these intervals, and I completed the only one out of the six that I had previously been unable to finish (three 800s at 10 mph).  Today was hills (after legs!) and it was pretty brutal.  I have to keep reminding myself to back off a little.  I don’t want to get to the point where I dread doing these runs.

Sticking to the Program

Nothing too exciting to report, but thought I would wrap up the week.  I’ve been able to keep the left arm in pretty decent condition despite two more shot put workouts this week.  That’s the good news.  Unfortunately progress remains slow and uneven.

I threw the 12# ball both times, and each time my standing throws were in the 37-39 foot range; decent but not quite where I would like them.  Had one glide over 40′ on Wednesday,  but today they were no better than my standing throws.  Last throw of the day today I got the 4k out to lifetime best of 46′ standing, so that was a mini-victory.  Took some more video this morning, so maybe I can get some answers from that.

I’m convinced that I have enough strength to get the 6k out over 44′, but  I just can’t seem to hold things together yet.  I’ve got three more weeks of training before I will have to rest up for the Santa Barbara meet.  If I can just stay healthy I think that  should give me enough time to figure it out. 

My workouts at HealthQuest are almost completely shot put dominated right now.  I’m doing things that I think will help my throwing, and I’m not doing anything that I think will bother my shoulder or my elbow.  It’s pretty limiting, but I just have to hang in there for another month. 

The running is going well.  Did hill runs, a two mile fast/slow interval program, and 1200 repeats all at a better pace than last time out.  I was going to start doing some sprinting, but decided to wait until next week.  The hamstring is doing much better, but I still feel it from time to time.  I figure at this point there’s no sense in pushing it.

Heart Rate Training

Saturday’s cardio run was substandard.  That made two poor runs in a row, but rather than be stubborn, push myself too hard, and try to match previous runs, I used the heart rate monitor on the treadmill and stayed in my intended training zone.

That seemed to help, because I ran some good intervals on Sunday: three 1000 meter runs at a better pace and with less rest in-between than when I did this workout two weeks ago.  YEAH, that’s more like it!

I really like being able to track my pulse on the HealthQuest treadmills.  I think that it gives me a much more accurate analysis of how I’m progressing and how hard I’m pushing yourself.   But I did have one concern.

On my “easy” days when I’m not running intervals to build my anaerobic conditioning, my goal is to train at the upper limit of my aerobic capacity (80% of maximum heart rate).  According to the standard heart rate tables, this would be 136 beats per minute (BPM) for a person my age.

But I feel comfortable pushing into the low 140’s and have been using that as my cut-off point.  Given the two poor runs I had this week, it got me thinking that maybe I was pushing a little too hard on my easy days.  To know for sure, I would need to get a more accurate reading of my actual maximum heart rate (MHR).

The standard way to approximate MHR is to subtract your age from 220.  But there are a number of ways to get this information personalized.  One of the easiest and most widely accepted is the Karvonen Method, which factors your resting heart rate (RHR) into the formula.

So for the last couple of mornings before I got out of bed in the morning I took my pulse.  What I found is that I have a low RHR (47), and this means that my MHR is higher than average.  Using the Karvonen method my 80% of maximum actually calculates out to 145 BPM.

So it turns out that I had intuitively been almost spot on in my training program.  I am still aerobic in the low 140’s and that’s why I can stay there without much problem.  And as soon as I push into the upper 140’s life gets pretty miserable pretty quickly.  Going anaerobic is just not my thing!

Training for a 1K run in not something I particularly enjoy, nor am I naturally predisposed to being good at it.  So I am trying to train as efficiently and effectively as I possibly can.  That means using any and all resources available, and heart-rate training has definitely helped.

For more information on heart rate training and calculating your maximum heart rate, try this site: heart rate training

Good Shot, Bad Shot

I’ve been able to keep my left arm going for a couple of weeks now, so I’m making progress.  I threw the shot today at HealthQuest and videotaped some of my efforts.  I can see I have plenty to work on, but I think things are heading in the right direction.

I’m doing most of my practice with the 4 kilo shot, even though I throw a 6k in the pentathlon competition.  I feel I can get more repetitions out of my arm that way, and it help me develop the speed I need to throw far.  I had personal bests both standing (44′) and gliding (48′) today.  I was also able to put a good group of glides together; previously it’s been a good 1st throw and then a meltdown.

Unfortunately I am not seeing as much progress with the heavier ball.  I used to always figure distance decreased about a foot for each extra pound I threw.  Today I was a couple of feet shy of that when I moved up to the 12# shot.  If my arm stays healthy I am going to have to get in a little more work and see if I can find where I’ve lost those precious inches.

Today I found that widening my stance helped me generate more power.  That’s what I was working when I hit the 44′ throw.  And while my glide throws were all better than my standing throws, I can see from the video that I’m way too high when I’m making the turn.  If anyone who sees this has any additional advice, let me know.  I know I still have a lot to figure out!

shot put practice

Then I went inside to run my intervals.  What a disaster that was!  I’m sure throwing out under the hot sun didn’t help, but I think my fuel tank was just empty.  It had been 5 hours since I ate breakfast (2 slices of wheat bread and some milk in my coffee) and I just did not have it. 

It was really depressing because Wednesday’s run had gone so well.  I even took a “forced ” recovery day yesterday (I felt fine but figured 7 days of running in a row was enough).  So I was all primed to run some awesome intervals, but instead got a major beat-down.  I sat down in my office afterwards and almost fell alseep!

So hopefully it was just lack of nutrition.  I’ll probably do an easy cardio run tomorrow and try another interval workout on Sunday.  This time with a little fuel in the tank.  I’m praying it goes better.

Left, Right, Left

Took three days completely off to drive Dominic back to school in Flagstaff.  Today the training program resumes.  Last week was interesting, some good, some not-so-good.

My right arm is STILL a little sore 11 days after the last time I tried throwing with it.  NOT GOOD!  Sensing that this plan might not be feasible, I went back and tried throwing with my left late last week.  That went surprisingly well.

I took some rubber tubing and did an extensive warm-up for my arm.  I iced both my shoulder and my elbow when I was done.  For the first time in a long time I didn’t experience any real discomfort after the session was over.  There may still be hope!

I limited myself to throwing the 4k shot, but the results were encouraging.  The best standing throw was 42.5′ and the consistency was good.  My first glide toss went an amazing 47′!!!  By far the best I’ve ever done.  Unfortunately my form fell completely apart after that, but at least now I know what’s possible.

I would like to break 43′ with the 6k; that would surpass the All-American standard for my age group.  The shot put is the only event that I’ve done this year that I haven’t surpassed the AA mark.  I know I can do it with some practice.  I just have to keep my arm happy so that I can put in the time I need.  Hopefully I can nurse it along for the next 6 weeks and be ready for the Santa Barbara meet.

Since I knew I was going to be missing a few days, last week I did 4 interval runs.  I was able to complete two of them and was close on the other two.  So I am right where I thought I would be.  I have two more to do, then I repeat all six workouts a second and a third time.

Hopefully I will see a nice, steady progression as my fitness level improves.  Fortunately I have until next spring before I have to run the 1000 meters competitively again.