pfernandes@mastodon.social is running, writing, and photographing his weekly half marathons around Portugal and Spain. The photos are lovely; the routes and descriptions make me want to hop on a plane to Lisbon.
I admire athletes who can do amazing feats, but this seems crazy. Crazy, as in, someone should have stopped her from continuing.
One surprising thing on that list: A movie about my HS x-country team! Not my year but didn't know there was a movie about it at all.
I recalled one . . . silly and not on lists: Run Fatboy Run
This was a surprise to me:
"While many newer distance runners tend to focus on flashy long runs, the distance of the longest run was not strongly correlated with a BQ. Comparing BQ runners and all other athletes, the distance of the longest run was 20 to 22 miles across each marathon. But, the base mileage was higher for BQ runners, bearing in mind that base volume matters more than the distance of any long run. BQ runners at CIM averaged 65 miles during their peak week, while the rest of the field averaged 50 mpw. Similarly, Chicago BQers averaged 57 miles during peak week, compared to the rest of the field’s 41 mpw peak week."
Obviously, I need to change my name to Kip Something!
Pretty cool.
Well, the article consists of interviews with some elite runners . . . so, I understood what they meant.
I have my Strava set to private. I only make virtual races public.
But I am really only using Strava to collect data and pass that data on.
As the Born To Run guy says, mind and body don't speak the same languages! Often true for me. I too, have run myself into stress fractures while certain I was listening to my body.
Yes. One we trusted. Haven't had that since I stopped cycle racing. The more I've learned and experienced, the harder it is for me to trust a coach.
I can easily think of times I likely should have rested or slowed down but wanted to keep a number high.
For me, metrics are a net positive, but I've often done counterproductive things because of them.
The overtime blurb:
New York Times Best Seller
Over 5 million copies sold
For David Goggins, childhood was a nightmare - poverty, prejudice, and physical abuse colored his days and haunted his nights. But through self-discipline, mental toughness, and hard work, Goggins transformed himself from a depressed, overweight young man with no future into a U.S. Armed Forces icon and one of the world's top endurance athletes. The only man in history to complete elite training as a Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller, he went on to set records in numerous endurance events, inspiring Outside magazine to name him The Fittest (Real) Man in America.
In Can't Hurt Me, he shares his astonishing life story and reveals that most of us tap into only 40% of our capabilities. Goggins calls this The 40% Rule, and his story illuminates a path that anyone can follow to push past pain, demolish fear, and reach their full potential.
I'd recommend Trainer Road paired with one of the cycling platforms -- you can do the workouts while "riding" on group rides or solo on a virtual cycling platform, e.g. Zwift (pay), IndieVelo (free), or MyWhoosh (free.) Zwift has more "carrots" and many, many more people and groups than other platforms.
I use IndieVelo, because I tired of Zwift's worlds and my favorite type of group rides went away. I found the routes, worlds, and real people quite engaging for a long time. I suspect you'd find Zwift more engaging than other platforms. Zwift has training plans for all sorts of goals.
IndieVelo is mostly bots, but there are some real people, and the bots are more like real riders than on other platforms. The interface is much more intuitive and easy to use than MyWhoosh (horrible interface) or Zwift.
The nice thing about Trainer Road is that it will give you a plan and change the plan and workouts as you go along. That auto-customizing felt good to me, and I made some fitness gains. Using Training Peaks requires that you add a training plan from someplace -- a coach or some free one you find. I didn't use a coach and felt like it was dull and clumsy. Other people love it.