Go Hard

I've the use of technology in my training. Back around the turn of the century I had the bees-knees in heart monitor and cycle computer combination. Since then training has always been tracked electronically. The amount of data accumulated is enormous, but what happens when that technology fails? What are the best strategies to handle this? How can we still get the best out of training without functional technology? So here I present the ultimate guide to running when technology fails... GPS stops working: Whether it fails to lock onto the satellites, just doesn't work or is completely inaccurate the solution is the same. Don't use it. Run anyway. Stopwatch fails: The battery may have died, you forget to press start or accidently hit stop during the run without realising. Don't use it. Run anyway. Pedometer carks it: Don't use it. Run anyway. Power meter has no power: First we'll go beyond the arguments of what a running power meter is really measuri...

A week? This is quite a foreign concept to me. Years of rotational shift work of varying rosters that could be 8 or 9 day, or even 6 week cycles with the added fun of often been being swapped around every month has absolutely no link to the traditional 7 day week. There are pros and cons in this. Having a family throws the typical 7 day week at me, but that seems to serve to eliminate any sort of pattern or routine I could otherwise develop. It certainly creates plenty of challenges to training. It doesn't necessarily make it harder, just a different set of challenges than those working Monday to Friday. Over the last couple of years I've been having trouble holding down structure in my training. Sticking to something fairly strict keeps leading to problems with over training and fatigue or injury. Backing off and being comfortable with taking recovery as needed has led to a lot of skipped training. It's been difficult finding the right balance. Sleep and extra hours at w...

With my first week more of a struggle than I hoped, the following week was a big step up. The running felt so much better and easier. I made a conscious effort not to push the boundaries, but the improvement was substantial.   The most important change is I am finding it easier to maintain proper technique throughout all my runs. Of course I am still having moments when I fall back into the habits of the last few months, but it isn't a battle through most of a run. The pace on my easy runs has consistently fallen into the faster end of the range, plus feels easier. The weakness in my hamstrings and glutes is highlighted on the hills. I have to fight my body's attempts of looking to what it thinks is the easy way out, which is to cut out the last push of the drive on each stride. Consistency here will bring big returns after a few months. On that note, I have already experienced improvement in holding that technique through a long run. This week's long run covered 2...