Here’s what’s been going on in my tri life lately. I feel sort of lost now that the Turkey Trot race has come and gone. I have no goal for which to aim.
I did a somewhat hard 9 mile run and a couple of treadmill workouts the week after that race. The 9 miler went okay, but I really dragged on the treadmill. My legs were just dead. I figured I needed to let the muscles rest. So I took a few days off…it was very nice being lazy!
Then I did another treadmill workout and it went well. A fellow tri blogger by the name of Bruno posted that he watched himeself in a mirror while doing a treadmill workout. He noticed that at a faster cadence, he bobbed up and down less. So, I set up my webcam while I ran on the treadmill, and I noticed the same thing. Faster cadence is surely the key to not only faster running, but also better running economy (less up and down = less energy wasted). And if you are using less energy, you’ll be the one who slows down the least 🙂
I took that new treadmill footage and examined it frame by frame using Microsoft Movie Maker (which comes with most Windows computers). I am definitely landing with my foot too far in the front of my body. I’m not heel striking, but my foot is not quite landing under my hips. There’s also a definite right/left imbalance going on with my whole body. (I am aware of this in swimming as well). Very useful to see see yourself running on camera. I still don’t know how to correct my running flaws. I will keep you posted.
I’m still trying to lose those 10 extra pounds, which I fear may have grown to 15. To tell you the truth, I am afraid to step on the scale. My jeans still fit me, but they are tight. Here’s a strategy I’m currently using: do my workouts in the evening, about 90 minutes after dinner. I hate the feeling of working out on a full stomach. Knowing I have a workout yet to do helps keep me from eating too much for dinner.
When I do my treadmill or trainer workouts in the evening, I’ll turn my webcam on. You’ll see the little eyeball image above the “About Me” section whenever my webcam is turned on.
Here’s a screen capture from my webcam …that’s me blogging. I just now finished a Spinervals workout (The Uphill Grind).
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Hi Carol, glad to hear you felt the different when running in a faster cadence. I would be interested to know if you also noticed a drop in heart rate while running in a faster cadence.
This weekend I am going to a swim/run clinic, and one of the things they'll do is to film us running and make comments about our technique. Since I know you'll be interested in the topic, I'll try to post something on Sunday about their findings.