ILX running running thread

i've been enjoying morning running before the sun comes up. the sun is a giant red ball over the lake by the time i'm on my way home and it's totally rad.

xp On the bright side, you don't need a shower after.

Oh boy, I'm in that shower like gangbusters.

you have a shower at work? i wonder what percentage of people have a shower at work. i have never even seen such a thing.

we had a shower in the ladies' room at my old job but everyone thought it was weird and creepy and never used it

Really? I do work at a university and they're keen on getting people to bike to campus so there are showers all over the place. New clean ones with hot water and everything.

Gotta sit with a soggy towel by your desk afterwards though.

Anyhow, nonchalant owners of curious dogs that just want to sniff your round legs when your running C/D?

i guess the whole thought of being nude at work is really unsettling to me for some reason

dogs are c because they are cute

it's probably common at a college but this was an early 20th c. office building. it had been remodeled in the 70s or something, i think that's when the weird shower was put in. i don't think the hot water really worked in that building either.

People don't like showering outside their homes, in general I have a feeling. It IS a pretty vulnerable state, and schlocky horror movies not helping our mass consciousness about showers and/or being naked, here.

There's a shower in my dance studio, which is like having a shower IN A GYM, and no one but me uses it.

dogs are c because they are cute

Dogs are awesome, but aiiieee, that frontal approach thing they do where they come charging straight up then just stand waggling crossways in your path. No dodging the advances a friendly spaniel.

The work shower is better than our home one, I'm happy as bat in it.

as a bat.

Yeah I was gonna say, showering at he gym is w/e. Have showered there nearly every day this week iirc

gym showers are always great! good water pressure, temp, drain works right, etc.

i love showering at gym bc i have to pay for water at home!
also my gym showers are v v pretty.

meanwhile after a few days of quasi rest (i cheated and did a little bit of running on treadmill at gym yesterday bc i couldn't help myself) i think i have determined that it may be shin pain after all? i feel like such a hypochondriac but also i am kind of worried and frustrated bc i really just want to go runnnnnnnn outside and i can't.

I have a gym and showers at work. My employers want to make it comfortable for people to stay there as many hours as possible. I don't make use of any of the facilities though. I sometimes run home from work though, which requires just a quick change.

6.37 miles yesterday. Nice and cool. I felt like I could have gone several more miles. I'm at 28 for the month. Still on pace for surpassing 75.

Don't know how it compares with sites that other folks have been using, but http://www.goodrunguide.co.uk looks like an amazing site for mapping your runs and also logging them (also viewing climb profiles, keeping training schedules, checking out other peoples routes and all that stuff). Good for logging bike rides too. It's UK based - not really sure if you can join if you're abroad - but you can certainly map runs in the US and elsewhere, so might be worth playing with. You need to sign up to save routes, but you can take out a free trial membership to start with. It's definitely been designed by runners, the functionality is so good. Dunno why it's taken me so long to find really.

Lots of graphing functions and stuff too, totally geeking out here.

i finally had a 20 mile week! now have to work on going up from there, though - probably means running more often instead of much longer distances, though, i don't look forward to long runs like i used to thanks to living in a boring city. how i miss living near trails.

The Chicago Marathon is tomorrow. I thought I would run an (unofficial) half marathon in celebration. I'm previous long is 10 miles, I'm sure I can eek out another 3.1. We'll see.

You should be able to do that Jeff, just start slow and take some snacks and water with you.

I made it all 13.1. That's certainly not something I want to do every day. I finished in 2:04:54, which close the the time Sammy Wanjiru completed the real marathon today, 2:05:41.

congrats!

Good work Jeff! How are the legs now?

Uh, they feel like they weigh about 100 pounds each. I try to stay light on my feet and not hit the ground too hard while I'm running, but for the last two miles it felt like I was stomping with each step.

Still can't imagine running a marathon though. Even though all types of runners seem to finish.

Haha, I know the dead legs feeling well! Good luck with that tomorrow...

BTW, if you keep progressing like you have, you would seriously be able to do that marathon next year, no sweat.

Well done Jeff! I know that feeling where all lightness and grace from your kick has disappeared into plodding. Are you aiming for a marathon as a concrete achievement? In terms of lifestyle / pain / non going mentally crazy, I prefer to run halfs for speed, cos it's a great distance, and one you can train at every day (a 45 - 90 min run is always good). The whole marathon, for me at least, I find a little straining, I get nervous, weird digestion issues, uncomfortable recovery etc. Having said that - if it's your goal, go for it! (Sorry if that looked negative - just saying that if you were happy today, the half type distance is one that gets better as you get faster, and a distance you can carry anywhere as you trian / travel etc).

I haven't decided yet if it is a goal for me. Right now I'm just focusing on increasing my monthly milage and a couple of 5k's I have coming up. And getting through the winter without lapsing into lethargy.

Totally agree with what Paul says about halves being a better distance than marathons for all sorts of v. good reasons. But by God, I do want to run a decent marathon one day...

Was a bit of talk on ChiRunning upthread. Not really looked into it before, but some of the videos on YouTube are quite interesting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkUqkdPQHis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADBBAxIBGRw

All sounds sensible enough, but has anyone come across any critiques of this method?

what he's talking about in the first video is what happens when you run barefoot, at least according to ppl i know that run barefoot.

basically the discomfort of heel-striking makes you assume a more neutral stride, which means landing with your foot flat or slightly towards the ball. and always underneath, too

Seems to be the way that the Road Runner does it too, must be something in it.

I got passed by a guy with no legs tonight. Actually, he had a pair of those fancy bionic legs. It was impressive.

Also, I took into account the 20 degree rule in which you should dress as if it were 20 degrees warmer outside. I had shorts and a long sleeve shirt on. What I failed to take into account is the lake front wind. It was alright after about 1.5 miles.

My calves are still sore from my 13 miles on Sunday. It may be stupid, but I want to try another 13 this upcoming Sunday.

Probably best to do a shorter one, just to give you a chance to recover properly, then go for it the week after. But I'm a great one for ignoring sensible advice like this.

Been trying to do some faster runs because I've got a 10k next month, first race I've done for quite a few years. Just doing it to gauge where I'm at, shouldn't really be too bothered about the time because I've been concentrating on building endurance, but I know I'm going to be a bit dissappointed if I'm all *that* many minutes outside my old pace. It's tough though, you don't realise until you start looking at your times just how much your cruising speed slows without any regular fast running. Think I'm going to have to start doing some reps once a week, really hard to force myself to do it though, so painful, so boring.

I tend to ignore sensible advice as well. It does not help that I'm just not having too many ill effects from running. Every time I go out I want to go longer and faster.

Smart run today, just a slow one along the cliffs, air was cool and still but the sun was bright. Birds were queuing up along the top waiting to launch themselves across the Channel for the winter. Listened to the 'Sky of Honey' disc of Aerial, took my time, did about 12 miles. Up again with the neighbour tomorrow, going out on the Downs, really looking forward to it. Man, I'm loving running so much at the moment.

Ran the Pumpkins in the Park 5K today. My goal was to get in under 25 minutes, but I made it in 23:48, which is a PR. I was basically cursing myself the whole time for making myself run hard. Regardless I got faster each mile, which is really quite amazing for me. Usually I'm a start fast and fade away type of guy.

I'm really looking forward to a nice and easy longish run tomorrow.

Nice going Jeff, those short distances are really brutal. That whole feeling of wanting to puke as you cross the line... Must be doing some good, right?

Tell me about it. I lined up between the 8 and 9 minute milers. For my 5k next weekI'm just going to pace myself with the 7 minute milers to see if I can break 23 minutes.

After that I've got two 8k's. The "Turkey Trot" and the "Rudolph Ramble". Ha.

I'm amassing quite the collection of technical shirts by participating in all these races.

I've got the "Mince Pie 10" coming up soon! You always get ugly and hueg cotton t-shirts after races in the UK, always go straight in the charity bag.

Ran another 5K today, finished in 23:05, about 40 seconds faster than last weekend. It was cold and rainy, so not as many people at this event. I finished 25 out of 412. Surprising.

This is in the fashion/fitness section, so make of it what you will

Dr. Robert M. Conenello, a sports podiatrist who tended to contestants of a multiday race in the Sahara. “A lot of them look at their toenails as useless appendages, remnants of claws from evolutionary times long ago. I’ve heard them say, ‘Toenails are dead weight.’ ”