posted Jul-04-2005 12:42 PM            

My whole knee was sore, and hard to bend a few days after the bone bruise occurred........Is that normal? I would think that an internal bone injury wouldn't make the whole area sore?

When you went back to running, was your knee still sore? Did you change anything to keep the injury from recurring?

Did you do any hill workouts? I understand the decending of the hill is tough on that kind of injury.

Any other information you can add? I did a search, and there's not a whole lot of information out there about bone bruises.

Thanks

Never Quit

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posted Jul-04-2005 04:47 PM               

Now, as far as cadence, breaking down stride,
etc., go., I have been able to cut my speed down
without breaking up my form. However, let's
assume that wasn't the case. If I were a new
runner, there's not much to break down, and my
speed should be picking up, perhaps slowly, and
the stride will be adjusting to keep up. After a
base-building period of probably 16 weeks or so,
I would start to add in some tempo and hill sessions,
eventually perhaps VO2Max, and stride will adjust
accordingly. If I were an experienced runner, I would
find it hard to believe that 12-16 weeks of reduced
pace running would really have a lasting effect on stride.
Further, I would expect that if the regimen of low
heart rate running were followed absolutely rigorously,
by about 8 weeks in, I should be pretty close to my
original long distance training pace anyway. After
base-building period, I could then make a choice as
to how I wanted to proceed.

On a separate note, I thought I'd post today's results
from my 10 mile run as my pace is slowly improving
and my distance is extending before my HR starts
increasing significantly:
10:27/128, 10:11/135, 10:24/137, 10:40/138,
10:50/137, 10:48/137, 10:56/137, 10:49/138,
10:57/139, 10:58/138
Further, I started earlier today and the temp range
stayed from 82-90 deg with just over 90% humidity
and heart rate was not difficult to keep under control.
Immediately after my run, I switched over to cycling
and I was able to jump into a 27 mile ride on an old
mountain bike at around 17 mph, no problem staying
under 140. Things are improving on all sides.
It will be interesting to see how things go when I
return home to the big hills, but slightly less heat
and humidity.

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posted Jul-04-2005 05:03 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Never Quit:
Hi Jessie: I came across your coolrunning thread and noticed a keyword BONE BRUISE.
I'm in the process of healing mine, as the ortho. Dr. said to take eight weeks off. So, it'll be a total of 12 weeks since I bruised the knee before I can get back into running. The mistake I made was when I went to see the Dr., he went over the xray and MRI with me........when he said no surgery was needed I was on top of the world! Then he told me about the bone bruise, and still being happy, I just wanted to go back home! I never asked any pertinent questions! Boy, talk about a lost opportunity! I'd like to ask your opinon on a couple of things:

My whole knee was sore, and hard to bend a few days after the bone bruise occurred........Is that normal? I would think that an internal bone injury wouldn't make the whole area sore?

When you went back to running, was your knee still sore? Did you change anything to keep the injury from recurring?

Did you do any hill workouts? I understand the decending of the hill is tough on that kind of injury.

Any other information you can add? I did a search, and there's not a whole lot of information out there about bone bruises.

Thanks

Never Quit

---

Ah, yes, I still feel the effects of the bone bruise today.
I stopped running completely for 12 weeks. Cycling
hurt it. Breast stroke swimming hurt it. The only
thing I was able to do for about 6 weeks was freestyle
swimming with a pull-buoy. You're right, there is very
little bone-bruise info to be found and most of it is associated
with aging, very little to do with trauma-induced bone
bruises. Mine was severe and had associated micro-fracture
and osteonecrosis (basically a piece of dead bone
which makes it turn into a piece of cut wood).
I had been experimenting with several exercises (aqua-jogging,
the elliptical trainer, the recumbent exercise bike, light
jogging, etc.) but I found that most things were irritating
it, either during exercise or later. After about 12 weeks
(which was the period after which my ortho told to start
sampling running again), I decided to follow back up with
the ortho to ask what I should do, since I was still getting
the pains (although in reduced fashion) on periodic
occasions. At that point he told me that I would probably
still feel it for about a year and that I should get back
running again, carefully building up, and only cut back
if the pain started to grow or become more frequent,
which it hasn't yet. I still feel it from time to time, but
it's getting better. Where I live, there are no runs without
big hills except for the treadmill and the track, so in some
sense, most of my training is hill training. However,
I am currently doing the process of Maffetone base-building,
so all of my runs are slow and easy, which is very
consistent with how I need to recover. One thing I have
learned since I have started to mix in cycling and swimming
is that the swimming is the perfect post-run recovery
exercise, especially for the bone-bruise injury. The cycling
has seemed to be a very effective supplement as well.
I did compete (if you want to call it that) in a sprint
triathlon a few weeks ago, in which I did everything at a
bit faster pace (but still not fast - the 5k at about an 8
minute mile, my slowest ever) and that didn't seem to
do any damage. If you were to take a look at my running
log going back to February, it will give you kind of a
chronolog of what I did in recovery.

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[This message has been edited by leitnerj (edited Jul-04-2005).]

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posted Jul-04-2005 05:16 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Supplanter:
Fascinating thread. General and specific questions for leitnerj and anyone else:

Do you heed Maffetone's injunction against strength training during the base period?

Thanks,

Jim

---

Forgot to answer this one. Definitely a good question.
I always continue my upper body workouts - bench
press, shoulder and back workouts (rows, pulldowns,
pull-ups, shoulder press, etc.), and bicep workouts.
Do they interfere? Who knows? I don't do any leg
workouts because my legs stay very large and
strong almost no matter what I do (perhaps from
years of doing squats with 500 lbs and more), so
I don't like do anything to strengthen them. When I
last did focused leg strengthening exercises, I
ended up having to get larger pants, and I'm not
interested in that. It's easy for me to say, but I
probably would cut out the leg-strengthening exercises
during the base-building period unless you are just
doing some of the standard exercises to strengthen
your quads, adductors, and abductors to avoid
knee injuries and so forth.

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posted Jul-04-2005 06:19 PM            

I am myself very much a new runner still. After losing 60 pounds two years ago, last year I decided to "do a marathon!" to help maintain my weight. I was 43. Not pretty. The MCM you, lj, finished, I crapped out of with a knee sprain at Mile 16. This was after a summer of battling shin splints the whole way.

So I resolved to learn how to run instead. I worked on my form and balance, and decided:

This year, 10Ks.
Next year, 10-milers and halfs.
Two years from now, a marathon.

A problem is that I've found faster running to strain my legs (shins esp) much less than slower running. Among other things I've tried to add in cross-training, and my legs feel better this year with more total weekly exercise than last year. (I didn't understand about recovery workouts last year, or much of anything. Yes, I know: classic.) But I've probably been doing too much medium and high-aerobic running this year to meet Maffetone/Hadd specs. I'd really like to run a 45-minute 10K by mid-October (which would be "45 by 45"), but this thread has me inclined to delay any speed work until much later in the year than I would have otherwise. And to slow way down for now.

I also got sick and then lazy over the winter, but that time is gone.

Thanks,

Jim

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posted Jul-04-2005 07:36 PM               

Yesterday I ran a 5K...and beat my PR by 2:53!

That's the largest race over race improvement I've ever seen.
I posted a long description + details here:
http://www.coolrunning.com/forums/Forum3/HTML/030063.shtml

I'm not saying this validates Maffetone or even that I'm doing it right. It was just very surprising to me when I saw the number on the timer as I approached the finish.
I was starting to think last week my low HR training runs were a waste of time but now I'm not so sure...

------------------
-Andy
Currently training for climbing Rainier Aug. 20!
Competing in 5Ks

[This message has been edited by Iapetus999 (edited Jul-04-2005).]

[This message has been edited by Iapetus999 (edited Jul-04-2005).]

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posted Jul-05-2005 11:36 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by leitnerj:
The best way to keep in range (that I have found) is to start at a good 10 beats below and every time you edge up about 3-4 beats, bring the speed down, perhaps 0.1 mph.

---

Jesse,

Thanks for the reply. I took the advice and it seemed to do the trick. At least for now.

Of course, the heat and humidity has finally broken and running conditions are more ideal (my treadmill is in a non-temperature controlled environment).

I will continue to monitor and hopefull be able to post some PR's in the coming months.

Thank you for taking the time to answer this and all of the other questions posed to you.

Ed

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posted Jul-05-2005 07:48 PM            

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posted Jul-05-2005 09:44 PM            

My times also vary greatly as the distance gets longer. While I have been running approx 4-5 years, it sounds like I may need a new approach.

Questions:

1) Do I have to run all runs sooo slow for the buildup period? Can I do some speedwork?
2) Could it benefit my half marathon time in Sept or should I start in the off season?

I have to admit....I'm scared

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posted Jul-05-2005 09:56 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by kimike:
I have just found this thread and think it is interesting. I have always been of the belief that to get faster, you need to train faster. The problem is my times have been stagnant all season.

My times also vary greatly as the distance gets longer. While I have been running approx 4-5 years, it sounds like I may need a new approach.

Questions:

1) Do I have to run all runs sooo slow for the buildup period? Can I do some speedwork?
2) Could it benefit my half marathon time in Sept or should I start in the off season?

I have to admit....I'm scared

---

I know the feeling. If you truly want to follow this approach, you
will have to eliminate all speedwork during basebuilding. It may help
or hurt you for your HM - it all depends on what kind of mileage you
put in and how you progress, which can be entirely different for
everyone. My feeling is that you should either ditch any expectations
for an extreme improvement for this HM or you should wait until
after you've completed the HM before beginning in earnest. While
some may see benefits very early (I did, as well as some others
who have posted), I believe more have to put in some time before
the whole package starts to kick in. I really feel this is something
you start in the off-season, when you've got nothing to lose, unless
you have just reached that point where you're wondering, "what can
I do to end this slump?" Best of luck and feel free to post your
questions and progress. If you haven't seen this link that I posted
previously (there's a lot of stuff to sift through, that's for sure), take
a look: Mark Allen - Ironman Online

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posted Jul-05-2005 09:59 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Iapetus999:
Hey guys.
I've been following this thread with interest.
After my last 5K last month, I decided to change my training to use a Maffetone approach (got the book etc). For the last few weeks I've been training about 20 bpm slower than usual.

Yesterday I ran a 5K...and beat my PR by 2:53!

That's the largest race over race improvement I've ever seen.
I posted a long description + details here:
http://www.coolrunning.com/forums/Forum3/HTML/030063.shtml

I'm not saying this validates Maffetone or even that I'm doing it right. It was just very surprising to me when I saw the number on the timer as I approached the finish.
I was starting to think last week my low HR training runs were a waste of time but now I'm not so sure...

---

That's great to hear such good progress, Andy, whether it's due
to following a Maffetone approach or some other factor. It's nice to
see that at least it didn't slow you down! Have you been doing the
MAF tests every three weeks or so and what are they indicating,
if anything?

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posted Jul-05-2005 10:05 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by wvdad:
i have decided to try the half marathon in parkersburg in late august. i am starting on week 4 of the cool running half for beginners program.today i ran 3 miles my heart rate magically jumps on mile markers.first mile 140,second mile 155,third mile 165.the funny thing is i feel most relaxed and in the zone at about 165.is it possible that is about 75 percent for me or just comfortable to me because thats where i train at mostly.right now i feel like i could run a 9:00 min pace all day(very figurative speaking).if i go with maf training and my times go way down and i biuld up to the half. will i be able to run at a higher rate for the half in order to get a decent time.goal #1 is to finish,goal #2 is around 2 hrs to 2:15.by the way got a new pair of grid stabil mc's today and my first run felt great in them.

---

I certainly do believe that 165 is the most comfortable for you because
that's what you're used to. The place where that's likely to make things
difficult for you is around mile 10 or 11. As I said earlier, if you've got
a target race coming up, it's not the best time to start this form of
training unless you just don't care how well you do. However, if you're
not used to running distances longer than 10 miles, following this approach will help you to extend your distance if you find it difficult
doing the longer runs. The decision is yours, but in either case, good
luck, and let us know how things go.

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posted Jul-05-2005 10:12 PM            

Because of a long workday, I decided to do a 45-minute run on the treadmilll at the gym downstairs as a break before dinner. And I decided to run it EASY. At 44 my raw MAF rate should be 136, and I should probably dock the 5 for "have been injured," which takes me down to 131. I've been running 9-mm foundation runs since Spring, and 10-mm long runs, to the extent that "long" means anything. (So far, max run 1 hr.)

So I set the treadmill for 6mph as a starting point (after a walking warmup). Five minutes in, my heart rate was 140! So I dropped a half MPH and it dropped a few points, so I dropped it all the way to 5mph. This brought me in at 132 for awhile. Eventually I dropped speed all the way to 4.5mph to keep it in the 132 range for the rest of the 45 minutes.

Now, I should say that I don't own a HRM, so I got my pulse by grabbing the grips on the treadmill. And the treadmill warned me that I shouldn't do this. But it was the only pulse-related feedback I had. And I don't usually run on treadmills either.

Which brings up the other thing: it was physically uncomfortable to do this. My shins protested more than they have all year. My stride felt all wrong. I don't know how much of it was not being used to the treadmill and how much not being used to the speed, but it gave me intimations of the Bad Old Days of last summer.

FWIW, the 6-minute treadmill miles felt effortful aerobically in a way the 12 and then 14-minute miles did not. OTOH, the slow miles felt hard musculoskeletally in the way the somewhat faster miles did not.

NOT saying "This sucks." I'll even keep at it. Just offering a data point or, if you prefer, kvetching.

Best,

Jim

------------------
Very First Steps - My training journal, broadly conceived
Unqualified Offerings - Trying to Be Amused Since October 2001

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posted Jul-05-2005 10:21 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Supplanter:
Ooh, that hurt.

Because of a long workday, I decided to do a 45-minute run on the treadmilll at the gym downstairs as a break before dinner. And I decided to run it EASY. At 44 my raw MAF rate should be 136, and I should probably dock the 5 for "have been injured," which takes me down to 131. I've been running 9-mm foundation runs since Spring, and 10-mm long runs, to the extent that "long" means anything. (So far, max run 1 hr.)

So I set the treadmill for 6mph as a starting point (after a walking warmup). Five minutes in, my heart rate was 140! So I dropped a half MPH and it dropped a few points, so I dropped it all the way to 5mph. This brought me in at 132 for awhile. Eventually I dropped speed all the way to 4.5mph to keep it in the 132 range for the rest of the 45 minutes.

Now, I should say that I don't own a HRM, so I got my pulse by grabbing the grips on the treadmill. And the treadmill warned me that I shouldn't do this. But it was the only pulse-related feedback I had. And I don't usually run on treadmills either.

Which brings up the other thing: it was physically uncomfortable to do this. My shins protested more than they have all year. My stride felt all wrong. I don't know how much of it was not being used to the treadmill and how much not being used to the speed, but it gave me intimations of the Bad Old Days of last summer.

FWIW, the 6-minute treadmill miles felt effortful aerobically in a way the 12 and then 14-minute miles did not. OTOH, the slow miles felt hard musculoskeletally in the way the somewhat faster miles did not.

NOT saying "This sucks." I'll even keep at it. Just offering a data point or, if you prefer, kvetching.

Best,

Jim

---

I can honestly say that in your first few weeks of doing this,
"this sucks" is a good description. About a month or so ago,
I had the thing down at around 3.8 mph just to get it under 145!
Now, I can sustain around 5.5 mph at under 130. You don't want
to use the handgrips, other than as a first test case. It will be
really screwy.

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posted Jul-05-2005 10:31 PM               

Yesterday (resting heart rate 46):
10:27/128, 10:11/135, 10:24/137, 10:40/138,
10:50/137, 10:48/137, 10:56/137, 10:49/138,
10:57/139, 10:58/138 (avg pace, 10:43/mile, avg HR: 137)

Today (resting heart rate 44):
10:03/130, 10:13/137, 10:35/137, 11:10/138,
11:12/137, 11:38/137 (wait at stoplight), 10:59/138
(avg pace, 10:52/mi, avg HR: 136)

The course was virtually the same. Note the climbing begins
already in the second mile and the average pace is slower over
7 miles than it was over 10, in cooler temperature. Dramatic?
Perhaps not, at these relatively short distances, but noticeable, yes.
This would become much more significant over distances over
about 14 or 15 miles.

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posted Jul-06-2005 02:57 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by leitnerj:
That's great to hear such good progress, Andy, whether it's due
to following a Maffetone approach or some other factor. It's nice to
see that at least it didn't slow you down! Have you been doing the
MAF tests every three weeks or so and what are they indicating,
if anything?

---

Honestly until last weekend I hadn't noticed any progress at all in my runs. If anything they were getting slower to keep the same HR.
However since I'm on a Rainier training plan that requires anaerobic workouts(not much air up there) I haven't kept to a strict plan except for running. I've got 6 weeks before my climb. They recommend 3x1hr aerobic workout at 75-85% + 1x35min anaerobic climb with weight. After the climb I'm going to take some time off and then seriously look at my running.

------------------
-Andy
Currently training for climbing Rainier Aug. 20!
Competing in 5Ks

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posted Jul-06-2005 08:16 AM               

I look forward to running a race at the end of August to see how this all pans out.

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posted Jul-06-2005 04:53 PM            

But, can anyone tell me how this translates in racing? I'm confused, even after reading one of his books, I can't tell how much heartrate to allow myself during a 5k, 10k, half or full marathon.

IP: Logged

posted Jul-06-2005 06:10 PM            

I think you'll find different opinions on how this translates to racing.

As far as the 5k is concerned, if you are incorporating MAF tests every 3-4 weeks, they have been shown to correlate to the 5k distance as follows:

MAF 5K 5K
min/mile race pace time
10:00 7:30 23:18
9:00 7:00 21:45
8:30 6:45 20:58
8:00 6:30 20:12
7:30 6:00 18:38
7:00 5:30 17:05
6:30 5:15 16:19
6:00 5:00 15:32
5:45 4:45 14:45
5:30 4:30 13:59
5:15 4:20 13:28
5:00 4:15 13:12

I guess Maffetone did a bunch of research on a number of athletes and the above table represent his findings. If you wanted, you could actually carry that estimate out farther using a calculator like McMillan (http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/Running%20University/Article%201/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm).
For example, lets say you ran a MAF with average HR of 10 minutes. This projects out to a 23:18 5k. If you plug 23:18 into the calculator for a 5k, you will see your projected times for a wide range of race distances. The 1/2 marathon for the above scenario comes out to 1:47:42.

I think a lot of people might discourage the running of a race, though, based on HR alone. Given the anxiety/excitement of race day, your HR could be unusually high leading to underperformance.

The safer approach, rather than using tables and calculators, might be to complete the aerobic base building stage (signified by lack of improvement on a few consecutive MAF tests) and then shift to training with a little bit of speedwork mixed in. This might give you a better feel for the paces you can sustain in a given race.

Hope that helps.

IP: Logged

posted Jul-08-2005 08:59 PM               

May 23: 13:23/139, 12:48/142, 12:38/144, 13:00/144, 13:11/144

June 6: 11:51.36/139, 11:53.22/140, 11:55.59/140, 11:40.14/141,
11:37.38/141, 11:46.80/142, 12:02.89/141, 11:54.22/141,
12:21.18/141

June 30: 10:45/131, 9:43/138, 9:41/139, 9:52/139, 9:51/139

(all above were treadmill, flat incline)

July 4: 10:27/128, 10:11/135, 10:24/137, 10:40/138,
10:50/137, 10:48/137, 10:56/137, 10:49/138,
10:57/139, 10:58/138
(90 degrees, 95% humidity in Florida)

July 8:
9:39.74/133, 9:33.70/137, 9:33.66/137, 9:26.53/138,
9:13.80/139, 9:20.07/139, 9:43.87/138
(treadmill. drank 2 20 oz bottles of gatorade during run)
Yay! The whole run in the 9s. How long till I get to
the 8s? Can I get to the 7s? Probably more likely my
next time around next year, but we'll see. One inch at
a time.

I was debating whether to start doing some of the local
races, but after seeing today's results, forget it! I'm
doing a duathlon at the end of July and I'll hold out of anything
fast until then.

There is no question in my mind now - if you really want
results, you need to stay strictly under MAF (popping
over by a few beats here and there is fine, but not
any sustained running that way). And, you will likely see
even better results if you keep conditioning yourself to lower
heart rates. Incidentally, this is a good time to repost what
Pfitzinger says about building and aerobic base:
Pfitzinger on Aerobic Base
This is really no different from Maffetone, Hadd, Lydiard, or others,
except that he is non-specific about how easy the run should
be. Maffetone is very specific and if
you do it right and don't cheat one little bit or let your heart rate
grow later in a run, you will get results. How much time it takes
depends on the individual and his/her running history, of course.

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[This message has been edited by leitnerj (edited Jul-08-2005).]

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posted Jul-11-2005 09:58 AM            

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posted Jul-11-2005 06:26 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by wvdad:
thought i would drop a line and let you know i ran my furthest run friday. i kept my heartrate at 155 or less and couldnt believe how good i felt. i ran 9.5 miles and stopped because of twinging knee pain.took two days off and ran 6 this morning and it felt fine. cant believe how much better i ran with the heartrate being held lower. i also drank powerade about every 2.5 miles and call me crazy but it felt like a breathe of fresh air and my heart rate would drop to about 150 for a mile or so.but that could have been because of slowing down to drink without spilling it.still averaged about 9:45 a mile.by the way that was my first time ever drinking while running.

---

Great job, it's a nice milestone to pass. There will likely be a point,
where everything just comes together and you don't even think about
distance anymore.

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posted Jul-11-2005 06:38 PM               

9:05.19/130, 8:39.30/137, 8:40.18/138, 8:40.37/139,
8:45.05/140, 8:48.32/140, 9:13.06/138
average pace: 8:50/mi, average heart rate: 137

It felt so good to be back in the 8s again! I don't expect to see
such rapid progress again soon, but I'll take 'em and post 'em when
I get 'em. Did the high volume weekend really give me a surge in improvement? Seems to be the case. The difference between
pace at heart rate is tremendous between hilly, hot, and humid
runs, and runs on treadmill (which are effectively slightly downhill
at 0 incline) can be enormous. Nonetheless, my pace has improved
on the same treadmill by more than 6 min/mi, at almost 10 beats
lower heart rate.

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posted Jul-26-2005 05:39 AM               

7/18:
Running: 71.2 miles
Avg. Pace: 10:17/mile

swimming: 5.3 miles
Avg. Pace: 37:43/mile

cycling outdoors: 73.1 miles
Avg. Pace: 3:46/mile

7/11:
Running: 73.6 miles
Avg. Pace: 10:34/mile

swimming: 5.0 miles
Avg. Pace: 38:41/mile

cycling outdoors: 46.2 miles
Avg. Pace: 3:49/mile
(ran one run this week with a friend, at higher heart rates, threw
my low HR pace of just a bit)

7/4:
Running: 65.6 miles
Avg. Pace: 11:07/mile

swimming: 4.6 miles
Avg. Pace: 38:31/mile

cycling outdoors: 105.1 miles
Avg. Pace: 4:00/mile

6/27:
Running: 43.5 miles
Avg. Pace: 11:28/mile

swimming: 5.2 miles
Avg. Pace: 38:41/mile

cycling outdoors: 77.6 miles
Avg. Pace: 4:03/mile

6/20:
Running: 40.6 miles
Avg. Pace: 11:28/mile

swimming: 5.6 miles
Avg. Pace: 39:48/mile

cycling outdoors: 100.6 miles
Avg. Pace: 4:09/mile

In prior weeks, looking back at the log, I let the heart rate get
up into the 150s and higher. Now, I have no problem whatsoever
running in the 130s, even for over 15 miles. At about mile 16-22,
I now let my HR get up to 145 on the hills, which is still consistent
with Mark Allen's formula.

Just as a reminder, for those interested in these things, my max
heart rate is 210. All of my training runs, before starting this approach
were at heart rates between 165 and 190.

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posted Aug-01-2005 07:03 PM               

So, today, I did a recovery run on the treadmill and decided to
do the next round MAF test, but I decided to change things around
a bit - run the first mile well under MAF (< 130) as a warmup,
the next a few beats under my target (my MAF is 145, but I
use 140 as a target) and then let it drift. Here were the results:
(mile split time/average HR over that mile):
9:38/127, 8:34/138, 8:27/140, 8:27/140, 8:26/141,
8:27/142, 7:59 (0.94)/144
avg pace: 8:38/mi, avg HR: 139

so for the last 6 miles (5.94 to be exact - that's where I hit
1 hour on the treadmill and ran out of time), I just kept the
pace at 7.1 mph and let the HR go. I did not hydrate during
the run and the effects really started to show up in the last
1.5 miles. Looking back at my previous MAF results, it's
a modest, but pleasant improvement. Just to recall, it wasn't
but about 8 weeks ago that I had to set the treadmill at
3.7 mph to keep my HR between 145 and 150, on just the
first mile! Today, in the third mile at 140, I was sub-8:30!
Incidentally, I'm in better aerobic shape now than I was
during the endurance test before my injury (12 mile treadmill runs at
60% VO2Max = 6 mph - my heart rate was 144 at the
start, drifting to 147 at the end, drinking 6 20 oz bottles
of fluids, constant temp of 78 degF). For the moment, my
primary focus is still the Tahoe Triple Marathon in October,
for which I'm not worried about speed, just staying fresh.
I also just signed up for my first half-ironman next May.

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[This message has been edited by leitnerj (edited Aug-01-2005).]

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