More training focused and feeling good

Getting comfortable being uncomfortable, it's all good

If you monitor my social media at Twitter or Instagram (@timhakr), I guess it makes it official. I signed up for the 14 mile Xterra trail run at San Tan Regional park this November. 

I have been training for this over the past few months getting my lungs and legs in shape. Officially signing up for it makes me accountable for my training now. 

This past weekend I was able to get my longest (LSD- long steady distance) run in so far. It was a little cooler than normal due to the monsoon storm the night before. The storm also made it muggy.  I was able to get the 6.25 miles in.  

Standing water cutting off access to some trails, due to the monsoon storms 

This is normally a smoother incline, yet water has cut a big divot in it. 

I turned around the next day and did a cross training workout of mountain bike riding of 16.42 miles. The monsoon rains this year have really affected the trails out here. The mountain bike trail/hiking trails in Usery Regional park were either washed out or the rains and winds have changed them a lot. A few trails were not accessible due to standing water. 

This week started adding a little bit of strength training into the mix and other drills. 

I have a few mental goals I am aiming for and I will touch on those in future posts, so follow along. 

Figured it out, kind of, still looking to get new shoes

So last week I was brought down by a blister on my right heel. The rest of the week, I focused on other training without running. Wearing flip-flops as much as possible. 

The blister is healing well. I was able to get a short but very effective training run in on Saturday morning. Focusing on power and speed, getting my heart rate up in Zone 4.  The muggy weather made it tough, but the workout was just what I needed. 

In the process the night before, putting out my shoes, I noticed the laces were broken on my right shoe. This is what was causing the slipping/rubbing on the right heel causing the blister. 

I swapped shoes, to an other pair I often run in, and no slipping. I guess I could have replaced just the laces, but there wasn't time, so I opted just to run in the other shoes. It worked out perfect. 

Broken laces that caused the rubbing and the blister to begin with

The shoes I have been since running in. I am looking into getting a new pair of shoes not just or the training but the race in November. 

STRYD Running Power Meter

The STRYD running power based training system for runners. 
Find out how much power in watts you are creating while running. The footpod easily charges with the charging station you place the pod onto. I have been told you should only need to charge the pod once a month. This can differ though. Synch it with your smartphone and the STRYD app.

The center of the pod turns orange as is sits on top of the charging device. 

  I have the app on my smartphone, synched with BLE, and there it tracks my watts, time, average mile pace, incline, distance and steps per minute. I also have the STRYD footpad synched with my Suunto Ambit 2S. The initial set up, I had to pair the ANT+ device to the watch. In the fields also I activated the FOOTPOD and POWERPOD.  One of the screens I have it rotate through, I have the power in watts show up, so I know up the the second the power I am putting out while running. The STRYD power pod attaches and is worn on the shoe laces. 

In my training I use the STRYD Power Pod to let me know the effort being applied to my running / workouts.  

When connected to the STRYD Power Center you can analyze numerous aspects of your run and the data the pod collected. 

Statistics that appear in the Power Center after a workout wearing the STRYD Running Power Meter.

Leg Spring and Form Power, both of these I need to work on to get more efficient. 

Connects with Garmin, Suunto, Training Peaks, Strava, and 2Peak programs. 

Showing it here connecting to my Suunto account. 

To help increase my running efficiency I am looking at improving my leg spring stiffness, less energy to propel me forward.  In the case of the STRYD Power Pod meter the higher the number the better. (Yes, I need to work on this a ton.)  Also form power goes hand in hand with this. Lowering my form power number is what I aim to do also. The lower the number the better. 

Power meters are used in and have been used cycling and they are too used in running with STRYD. 

I am looking to do the Critical Power Test from the www.stryd.com/powercenter in the next week.