I think it’s worth considering, but not a primary concern. If you shorten your stride, but maintain speed, you cadence must have risen.
Play with it, see what’s comfortable. My cadence for most endurance, tempo/threshold kind of running is around 180, drops to 170 for easy runs, jogs, and can go up over 200 if Im really going for it for a short period.
You can count cadence, get it from a watch or foot pod. I think iphones can measure it also. But as I say, it’s not really significant of itself.
I’m looking for some advice. I’m gearing up to do my first 70.3 in July (I trained for this race last year and it got cancelled). I’ve done a marathon, multiple half’s, and several Olympic/sprint tri’s, etc. So not a total newb. I used the TR run workouts last year, they seemed okay. I’m interested in using the Garmin workouts this year (heard lots of positive feedback from folks on here). Do you sign up for a plan on Garmin Connect, or do you just insert the recommended workout that pops up on your watch for that day? How do you build in the long runs (considering a hybrid, us TR for workout frequency and time for long runs, but do the suggested Garmin workouts for the shorter stuff). I plan to run 3 times per week with a brick at least every other week, making it 4 runs).
@DanF I have been using the Garmin Suggested Workouts. I have laid out my own durations to try to maintain some control of it. My personal plan is to run 4 x week all summer. I’m kind of following a general BarryP plan, with a max run of 30% of my weekly duration. I shared my google sheet below. I am thinking I am going to max out my long run at 60 minutes before a couple sprint distance triathlons in June and move it out to 75 minutes for my half distance in September.
I have been tracking my Garmin Suggested Workouts here:
I have been bouncing between following both Garmin Suggested runs and bikes and just the runs. I am leaning towards following both for the summer. Still undecided.
nah…
just run natural…
My natural cadence on most runs is 190+
on the track all out is 220+
Tempo is 200+
anything between 180-200 is fine…
The shorter legs the higher the cadence…
I would be more concern if you are dragging the heels or heel striking…
If you can, since you are just starting, try to “prance”. With this I mean run on your “toes” or push with the front of your feet. Make an effort on your initial runs, and eventually it will become natural…
A friend of mine used the “gramin coach” for a while.
He liked it at first, but he already outgrew it.
I dont think is better or worse than TR. Although TR can be brutal sometimes.
That’s basically what I did. I used the free Garmin Coach, McMillan 10k plan and a bit of the half mara plan.
Tied into a TR HV Olympic plan and a FD plan. When TR called for a run I did a scheduled GC run “instead”. I will admit that Inbasidally abandoned the Half Mara plan when I got to the FD plan as I couldn’t juggle it all or run nearly so frequently and I needed to prioritise bike and swim by then.
180 cadence is pretty optimal - strava reports mine - I assume it comes off the Garmin. I think we are all heel strikers unless we make the effort not to be - has been a lot of this barefoot running stuff and midfoot striking but there are as may cons as pros. I found when I was running well that I landed on the outside of my midfoot at 5k pace (which was about 16:30 so 5:25/mile) but even when I was running well inside 2:50 for the marathon at 6:20/mile pace for the marathon I was still heel striking - it’s no bad thing - a lot of the midfoot running stuff was just there to sell minimalist shoes
I had to change because my shoes were not lasting enough…always wearing off on the heel area.
I dont think I was a heel striker parse more of a heel dragger… but not anymore… my shoes now wear off in the front and outer sides… better? No idea, but they now shoes last way longer than 6 years ago.
But what you said is correct… heel striking is not generally bad. There are quite few fast runners who heel strike…so not the end of the world, plus a marketing thing (like over pronation shoes, that are now mostly extinct).
In the past I’ve got suggested workouts without a plan being loaded. Have you tried using these, or did you use what was suggested based on a plan that you had selected? It seems the suggested workouts would have no idea how to periodize your progressions without an end date/goal in sight???
Suggested workouts only goal is to maximize fitness (VO2max). They will cycling through “hard” weeks and “easy” weeks as you progress through them. I think it is perfect for the off season. It keeps things interesting and varies workout types and training zones.
Yeah, I am an engineer at heart and love a good spreadsheet! I was also coming back from knee surgery and wanted to lay out a plan to build slowly and not overdo it.
I love the TR runs. I would pay extra to be able to have them available on my watch without having to program them. Does anyone know a training peaks plan with similar runs? I absolutely hate the Garmin coach runs
No, but I’m losing the love of the GC plan ones. Nothing wrong with them, I’ve just got my own ideas now. Three easy runs, two club runs and a long run.
I’m thinking I’m going to put your hard work to use! I have a consistent history with tendonitis in my left foot. Running has always been something I’ve enjoyed, but have to be very careful with!
Good luck! I did no intensity for around 2 months after my surgery. After that I started adding strides, or 10 second pickups, about every 5 minutes during most runs a couple weeks. Towards the end of the 3 month build I started adding a some intensity. The slow build was brutal! Luckily, I was cleared to ride hard only about 1 month after my surgery, so I was able to fill in some of the intensity on the bike. So far it has worked for me. I hope whatever version you come up with works for you!
And for me, heel striking caused me to pronate more as I used to get huge callouses on my big toe and ball of my foot. Since switching to a more Midfoot strike with a faster cadence I no longer get them.
How many tris have you all done that had a long pavement run out of the swim to t1? Back when I first started, the big xterra regional qualifier had an almost 1/4 mile run on exposed aggregate concrete. First time coming off if that race with bruised feet convinced me to change my footstrike.
Strides should be a ramp to hard and focus on form. If the form drops at all, stop and start again after the next rest period. Strides are about form, not going hard.
You mentioned a fartlek style run where you do a different pace for a bit. Those are great.
Some other style runs you can do a tempo progression where you ramp the effort by 5-10s each interval distance.
You can show up at a track and run speed work. Try to be as consistent as possible once you have a few 400s done.
For some other variety, there’s CityStrides where you try to run every street node in a city. Or see if a local running store has group runs to meet other people. This last one is really good at making sure you understand that easy pace should mean you can hold a conversation.
Great wo today at the track…
I am so glad we had perfect weather in FL today (45F, breeze).
4x200 @ mile pace (5:30, so about 40s)
4x1k @ 5k goal (18:30, target was 3:45 per, did them all on 3:40 ish, steady and not feeling like I wanted to die)
4x200 @ goal mile pace (5:15, so about 38s, on target, last one was a 32).
So… I have an admittedly superficial goal of improving my body compostition this year. I know the answer is also squarely related to my sugar addiction (admitting it is step one?) - but with the amount of riding that I do and an inconsistent core/strength training program my body tends to look the same over time.
It seems like running can’t hurt with this goal since it’s weight bearing. I’m actually enjoying the 7 runs I’ve been on and it’s feeling like it’s something I might stick with as I really do need to do something other than ride bikes at this point.
Anyone notice any significant body comp improvements after starting to run?
I was also coming back from knee surgery and wanted to lay out a plan to build slowly and not overdo it.