Snot working for me.

Thursday 21st November 2013

Running (5.00 Miles / 00:47:37 / 00:09:30 per mile / HRZ2)

Fairly easy run tonight and one where I thought I would try something new.

Actually I tried two new things but gave up on one of them pretty damn quick.
I got both of these from the fantastic website http://www.nomeatathlete.com/
It's a great source of training tips and much more than just vegetarian writing.  I would seriously suggest checking it out.
But anyway, on to the new things I was trying.

Attempt 1 - Breathe only through your nose.  The purpose of this is for slower runs where it is important to stay within the lower Heart Rate Zones.
I tried it and maybe it was the cold weather or maybe it was just too difficult but I found myself suffocating on snot after about half a mile and struggling for breath even though I was running pretty easy.
Now I'm sure if I stick at it, I will get the hang of it and see the benefit - but literally I could not breathe and had to give up.
I might try it again on a warmer snot free day.

Attempt 2- increasing my stride rate to approximately 180 steps per minute.
I know that I don't have the quickest leg turnover and the prospect of moving the legs faster seemed a strange idea to me.  However it is supposed to help and also enable a more comfortable run at a lower heart rate.
To my surprise it actually seemed to work.  My legs were turning over quickly and I felt like I was taking little tiny steps.  Well actually I was taking little tiny steps.
I probably looked a bit funny, or maybe I actually looked a bit more runner-like.  I don't know and I don't really care.  It felt pretty good and I think I will try to stick at this one.

So the conclusion on all of this is that I will try to keep taking tiny fast steps and avoid drowning in my own snot.  Simple really.