"Aaaaaaah, **%^* ":@^** wind, *$^%£!!!
We've all been there. You go to do a really quick session, you're all keyed up, ready to really hit the boosters, and the wind hits.
Sirocco. Mistral. They sound so lovely. But they're just types of horrible wind. The dirty, crappy wind. If weight is public enemy number one of runners, then wind is a close second. The invisible demoraliser, the wrecker of Strava segment CR attempts, the git of all gits. And the wind hit me today, and for the first mile, I cursed the horrible wind. I cursed it hard. And then realised I was approaching the situation all wrong. I stopped worrying about pace, and began focusing on effort.
Perhaps the most important thing you need to know about running (and indeed, cycling), is that the body only recognises two metrics during exercise; time and effort. Our body knows how long we've been working, and how hard. But here's the kicker; DISTANCE, the holy measurement of all things running? Your body couldn't care less about distance.
Seriously. Your body doesn't know a mile from a kilometre. It couldn't care less if you've run for 50 metres or 50 miles. Only time and effort are relevant to your body's beautiful physiology, and they are inextricable linked. As one increases, the other decreases. If your effort drops, the time you exercise for can increase. It is vital that all runners and cyclists understand this, and this is where I found today's run so satisfying. To understand this, we need to look at effort levels.
Your effort level is determined by your heart rate. The faster your heart beats, the greater the effort you are exerting, and therefore, the less time you can exercise for. As a rough guide, your heart should beat at about 170-180 beats per minute during a 5k race. This drops to maybe 160-170 for a 10k, and between 150-165 for a half marathon. These heart rate 'zones' constantly feedback to you about the effort you are exerting. But it has no idea how fast you're going, and this is vital to get the most from windy sessions.
My planned session was a beauty; a 10k training session. 3 x 2 mile reps at my target 10k pace of 6:10-6:15 minutes per mile. Trouble was, when I hit the seafront, a 17 mph headwind hit me square in my lanky chops. I tried to maintain the same speed, but I felt my entire body redlining, and made a decision, at around the 1 mile mark, to focus on effort, and not speed. My heart rate monitor became my guide. I switched the session to 4 miles at 10k EFFORT, and it was a fantastic success. Take a look at my heart rate telemetry from the run
You'll notice at 1 mile, my hear rate reaches it's hardest working point, at 180 beats per minute. This is ridiculous for me. I cannot maintain this effort for very long (note, the younger you are, the more likely you can hold it for longer). This was part of a horrible mile where I fought the wind, panting, redlining, falling apart.
At 1.5 miles, I change it. I start targeting 150-160 bpm as my target effort. Now, the buffeting wind made this tough, but as you can see, I began to nail this in the second half of the run. It felt exactly like 10k training should; EXACTLY. A tempo 10k session in high winds, judged by effort. I finished with an average BPM of 160; my ideal race effort for a 10k.
So what's the rub? Well, sometimes you can forget about the time. Forget about the minutes per mile, and focus on effort.
Now, granted, the example I've given does require a heart rate monitor, but these are actually pretty affordable these days. If you can get a GPS watch with a heart rate monitor, I highly recommend you do so. Standalone heart rate monitors with chest straps are also good. But often, just running by feel is a lovely thing.
We struggle with our training, we throw ourselves into the technology that supports our training. But sometimes, it's good to listen our body. To feel the burn in the lungs, the ache in the legs, the pounding in the chest as we fight for that extra second off, that PB every time. We are runners, cyclist, triathletes, sportsmen and women, and time is our holy grail. I constantly chase the the mirage of the sub 18 5k at the moment. But do not forget that we can also feel joy in what we do. I actually felt proper elation as I used effort to guide my run, only glancing at the heart rate screen on my watch every minute or so to confirm what I was feeling. Stripping back to this from the countless types of data on my watch felt liberating. Stripping back again to NO watch at all would also be a lovely thing. Bring it to record the run. But hey, put it in your pocket and just run. See how it goes. Focus on the feel, the effort.
To wrap it up, I'll celebrate the comments of Nick '118' Webb, who, at last Saturday's parkRun, ran by feel as his watch strap broke. Guess what? He ran a 20: 28, with a 10:15 in the first half and a 10:13. That's feel, that's effort, that's proper running that. A great run from Nick during our parkrun mob match against Folkestone AC, who put the effort into coming to Hastings.
I am the running man. And I ran by effort today. Try it yourself. You might be surprised...
We've all been there. You go to do a really quick session, you're all keyed up, ready to really hit the boosters, and the wind hits.
Sirocco. Mistral. They sound so lovely. But they're just types of horrible wind. The dirty, crappy wind. If weight is public enemy number one of runners, then wind is a close second. The invisible demoraliser, the wrecker of Strava segment CR attempts, the git of all gits. And the wind hit me today, and for the first mile, I cursed the horrible wind. I cursed it hard. And then realised I was approaching the situation all wrong. I stopped worrying about pace, and began focusing on effort.
Perhaps the most important thing you need to know about running (and indeed, cycling), is that the body only recognises two metrics during exercise; time and effort. Our body knows how long we've been working, and how hard. But here's the kicker; DISTANCE, the holy measurement of all things running? Your body couldn't care less about distance.
Seriously. Your body doesn't know a mile from a kilometre. It couldn't care less if you've run for 50 metres or 50 miles. Only time and effort are relevant to your body's beautiful physiology, and they are inextricable linked. As one increases, the other decreases. If your effort drops, the time you exercise for can increase. It is vital that all runners and cyclists understand this, and this is where I found today's run so satisfying. To understand this, we need to look at effort levels.
Your effort level is determined by your heart rate. The faster your heart beats, the greater the effort you are exerting, and therefore, the less time you can exercise for. As a rough guide, your heart should beat at about 170-180 beats per minute during a 5k race. This drops to maybe 160-170 for a 10k, and between 150-165 for a half marathon. These heart rate 'zones' constantly feedback to you about the effort you are exerting. But it has no idea how fast you're going, and this is vital to get the most from windy sessions.
My planned session was a beauty; a 10k training session. 3 x 2 mile reps at my target 10k pace of 6:10-6:15 minutes per mile. Trouble was, when I hit the seafront, a 17 mph headwind hit me square in my lanky chops. I tried to maintain the same speed, but I felt my entire body redlining, and made a decision, at around the 1 mile mark, to focus on effort, and not speed. My heart rate monitor became my guide. I switched the session to 4 miles at 10k EFFORT, and it was a fantastic success. Take a look at my heart rate telemetry from the run
At 1.5 miles, I change it. I start targeting 150-160 bpm as my target effort. Now, the buffeting wind made this tough, but as you can see, I began to nail this in the second half of the run. It felt exactly like 10k training should; EXACTLY. A tempo 10k session in high winds, judged by effort. I finished with an average BPM of 160; my ideal race effort for a 10k.
So what's the rub? Well, sometimes you can forget about the time. Forget about the minutes per mile, and focus on effort.
Now, granted, the example I've given does require a heart rate monitor, but these are actually pretty affordable these days. If you can get a GPS watch with a heart rate monitor, I highly recommend you do so. Standalone heart rate monitors with chest straps are also good. But often, just running by feel is a lovely thing.
We struggle with our training, we throw ourselves into the technology that supports our training. But sometimes, it's good to listen our body. To feel the burn in the lungs, the ache in the legs, the pounding in the chest as we fight for that extra second off, that PB every time. We are runners, cyclist, triathletes, sportsmen and women, and time is our holy grail. I constantly chase the the mirage of the sub 18 5k at the moment. But do not forget that we can also feel joy in what we do. I actually felt proper elation as I used effort to guide my run, only glancing at the heart rate screen on my watch every minute or so to confirm what I was feeling. Stripping back to this from the countless types of data on my watch felt liberating. Stripping back again to NO watch at all would also be a lovely thing. Bring it to record the run. But hey, put it in your pocket and just run. See how it goes. Focus on the feel, the effort.
To wrap it up, I'll celebrate the comments of Nick '118' Webb, who, at last Saturday's parkRun, ran by feel as his watch strap broke. Guess what? He ran a 20: 28, with a 10:15 in the first half and a 10:13. That's feel, that's effort, that's proper running that. A great run from Nick during our parkrun mob match against Folkestone AC, who put the effort into coming to Hastings.
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| Folken from Folkestone. Top effort from everyone. |
I am the running man. And I ran by effort today. Try it yourself. You might be surprised...
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