ILX running running thread

so ilx...i've started running lately, have been about 8 days out of the last 12 or so. i'm wondering about how to start testing myself or how to try and increase the distances i'm going. i started off doing about a mile (pathetic, i know) and now i'm up to about 2.4 miles. i'm basically adding on little bits to broaden the circle of my route. is that what everyone does or is there any science or other basis behind it?

that's about what i did when i first started running regularly. i ran along dalston canal, which you probably know, and basically when i felt able to go further than my usual, used the bridges as stageposts and just added a couple more. (and i always used to do it in two stages, ie stop to stretch/catch breath at the turning-round point.) it took quite a while iirc to get above my starting amount, but it happens fairly naturally, and the realisation that you can suddenly do twice/three times what you could do before is a tremendous motivator.

also i often go early morning, should i be eating beforehand? i tend not to as the less buffers between waking and running the less chance of losing my motivation. i guess a banana or something would be good?

i can't eat anything substantial for a few hours before running...guarantee of stomach cramps while out. if i'm running in the morning it's usually on an empty stomach, if in the afternoon i've usually only had breakfast.

finally what pace do you guys tend to do? i feel like sometimes i'm going too fast, 2.4m took me about 20 mins this morning, i know that's not v fast by a good standard but isn't it better if i ran more slowly for longer, fitness wise?

it is. going too fast is probably more of an issue than going too slow for beginners - i'm still crap at pacing but it was a bit of a duhhh moment when i realised that not pushing myself so much speed-wise would mean i could run further and for longer. i'm only a casual runner though (which is actually key in my approach to it) so i don't really time myself ever.

do any of you do situps or similar at home? i feel like it'd be good to do a few of those in the evenings...i'm running for two main reasons, general health and to lose a big old beer gut i've been developing...but thought situps and stuff might help with reason 2.

crunches >>>> sit-ups, which don't really seem to have any discernible effect on anything as far as i can tell.

you said you were running almost every day - i think alternate days might be better, to give your body a chance to recover. and do resistance exercise (push-ups/crunches) on the non-running days if you want.

i'm absolutely itching to go for a run but i'm at the tail end of a cold and still blocked up - sinus/breathing issues are the main thing that can totally fuck up a run for me and in this state it'll just end badly. ugh.

Lex is right - at this point the danger is burning out or getting injured by doing too much. As long as you run a few times a week and gradually up your mileage, then you're only going to get fitter.

well....i did just ignore that advice as i was keen to go, but once i'm back at work will be all too easy to not go every day.

i just did 3 miles in about 25 mins...i tried going more slowly but i think for the last stretch (i had my route planned) i kicked into a faster stride...

Got my second cortisone shot yesterday! Hopefully this one will get me through the marathon. Only a month away.

i go m-w-f sometimes sat or sun
i also bike to work when i can, but that's only about 4 mi -- not enough to count as real exercise for the day

As far as days go, I do M-W-Sat. I should be doing M-W-Th-Sat, but leg just isn't allowing that.

had my first bit of pain today, on the right hand side of my groin was v sore to start off. i guess stretches and perhaps better trainers at some point...

no expert but if it's groin it's stretching not trainers

also don't hurt yourself! you will find it difficult to make this a habit if you push too hard and hurt yourself at the beginning. then running = ouch instead of running = yay.

lex and seandalai offer great advice. the first two things any new runner should learn are go slow—slower than you think you should, probably—and don't do too much. i've spent the last 10 years in an on-and-off again cycle of running, and at the first signs of fitness i ramp up my mileage and the frequency of my runs and inevitably get burned out within a month. since may ive been running two miles, five times a week. i want to do more, but i feel like it's even more important to establish it as a long-term habit, so my plan is to do that for the rest of the year and see where that gets me.

(i've been reading this thread since may, figured i might as well pipe up.)

first half marathon done! 1:57:27

a lot harder than I expected it to be. hit the wall around 10 miles and ran the last three feeling like my right leg was going to pop out the socket. still - first half marathon done, here's to the next

― /killfiles self (cozen), Sunday, September 5, 2010 2:11 PM (6 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

BAH, i also finished my first half-marathon on sept 5 and it took me two hours and seven minutes. mainly because i have been basically unable to practice since the 10k i did three months ago because my right knee basically stopped working. also i had a head cold. this was really annoying.

my dad - who used to be able to finish marathons in like 2 hrs 40 said 'well, it being you, i'm amazed you weren't walking'

Ha, my half Mary pr is 3:11. I had issues. I swear I'm not normally that slow.

I've done a half mary in 2:17 I think, but felt I was really slow. I'd be happy to try for under 2:05-2:10 but who knows, I haven't run one in years. And my last run was a few minutes short of 11 hours but that was 37+ miles so HEY

i want to do more, but i feel like it's even more important to establish it as a long-term habit, so my plan is to do that for the rest of the year and see where that gets me

yeah this is my attitude too. i don't really think of running as training for anything, just something i wanted to fold into my lifestyle. i don't see myself taking part in races any time soon.

(currently run either once or twice a week, about 8-9km each time. one thing that keeps me on the wagon is the knowledge that if i take one or especially two weeks off, it's astonishing how quickly i can lose stamina, and the next run after that will be pretty hellish.)

Local Garda ... Running isn't good for shifting weight, because it causes you to gain appetite. It's for fitness. You need to do upper body work to shift your gut - pull-ups, that kind of thing. I run 3.5m four times a week, and my waist size doesn't go below 38ins, no matter what - because I can't be fucked to/afford to take out gym membership and do the stuff that will actually make me thinner.

my googling suggests that aerobic exercise is a good way to lose weight, but also combined with some strength exercises.

one thing i've noticed already is a real determination not to eat shitty food cos you think of the pain you endured to go running that day.

ha i went the other way- i DESERVE this!

my half mara was 2.40, which was slow but i wasn't racin anyone

last night on the way home after a few beers i almost got chips...then just thought......NO. am trying to replace fried breakfast on a sat with boiled egg plus smoked or pickled fish...pretty nice alternative!

hurray imogene pass run is over. i was srsly hoping to do under four hours injury free. i ended up 3:24:25, 17th in my age group out of 113.

would be so easy to fuck yourself up beyond belief on the way down-- and many did.

How was the weather on the Imogene Pass Run? Sounds like a pretty amazing race.

I had 18 scheduled today but only did 3.66. Leg started hurting, I suspect because I didn't give time for the cortisone shot to really take effect. I don't think I'm going to attempt a 20 next weekend. In fact I'm just going to run sparingly leading up to the marathon. I think I
Just need rest at this point.

Bummer. I planned an 8-mile for Saturday evening and my legs went leaden before I even made it one mile. Had to do 5 instead, with a couple minutes of walking here and there. Drinking a bunch the night before and then skipping breakfast is not a good running plan. Also, the trails have dried out after the torrential rains, but now they're hard-packed and feel more like concrete than dirt.

fwiw i think resting is the right call at this point, jeff. the fitness gains over the last 3 weeks are probably not that great, and far less important than having sound legs.

f.hazel the weather was PERFECT, completetely cloudless and relatively warm. it was probly mid 40s at the start, 50s at the top, then 60s back down in telluride. i never put on a jacket, just gloves and a superlight long sleeve.

the weird thing about the race is that the final 2 miles or so to the pass, _everyone_ in my area was walking. just a long long string of folks walking up a very very steep jeep road. the elite guys run the whole way im sure. anyway i made it my goal to run 30 or 40 yards every couple of minutes, but i had to back off pretty quickly, just not enough o2 over 12000 feet.

good view of crest of pass from a previous year. because the weather was so nice this year, there were waaay more ppl on the crest spectating/supporting. there were all kinds of air horns and car horns and a giant ass bell going off, in addition to the cheering. you could hear from below well down the mountain, it was super encouraging and fun.

i may have missed this upthread: how long's the imogene pass run? that's a spectacular photo.

its 17.1 miles. garmin had it at 16.8 mi as it usually undercounts on courses with lots of vert and hairpins. also i didn't reset the altimeter, so its about 400 ft low throughout

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/48799670

that's a little bit brutal and a little bit beautiful. or a lot of both, i don't know. cool.

this morning 3.7 miles in 28 mins...my furthest yet!

yer flyin

yeah rly! some ppl are just fast.

damn, i'll never try to run w/out socks again. :(

i'm not trying to sound like some sort of dickhead, but i really tried to slow down this morning, and felt like i was going slower. i think once i know the end of my route is near i kick into a pretty wild sprint.

I sprinted at the end of my run the other night and hit 10mph for the first time! For about five seconds. It makes my heart rate go scary high, so I don't do it very often.

There's definitely a point where slowing down makes running less comfortable.

yeah, holding back against the rhythym you feel like running doesn't help, but it does depend if you're heading out on a set course or whether you can turn round at any stage and head back i guess.

Ran 3 miles this morning at 5am after a self-imposed month-long exile from running. WOO!

Why the exile? Recovery?

Recovery, and also just taking a couple steps back to refocus on life, work, family, other things in general. I got a huge lecture from my wife about how running 37 miles at once was the most insane, stupid thing I'd ever done, that I was becoming obsessed with running, and needed to get myself in check. I wouldn't describe it in such extreme terms myself, but I think it's helped me to take time off and enjoy other things in my life, sans running. Which isn't to say I won't do this again, because I'm already planning my next ultramarathon. But I needed a few weeks of down-time to think about what I wanted to do next, and why I was doing it.

that's a little bit brutal and a little bit beautiful. or a lot of both

oh, its A LOT beautiful, the most beautiful place ive ever been. here's a pic i took of the downhill side of the pass after lunch- it was after 2:00 p.m. and not a cloud in the sky. imogene pass is on the flat bench at the top right, but actually behind the peak at the far right. you can see the jeep road switching back and forth up the valley starting lower left.

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr222/Chass3ur/IMG_1746_pshop.jpg

37 is very sane! What is she going to think when you are working on your first 100 miler?

needed to get myself in check

missus has done many marathons, half irons and an ironman, so outright lectures to me are few on this point. but i still have to fit in my share of housekeeping and childtending, no mercy. her attitude is "i do more than you, i fit it all in, why can't you?" i always tell her "because you are _amazing_, and faster than me." u_u

looks like a postcard. wow.

Haven't run in a week... debating on how much I want to before the marathon. I don't want to go in cold turkey, but I don't want to aggravate the ITB pain.

Sad because everyone else is doing their 20 milers this weekend.

i tried to do 16 today, ended up only 15 miles, and it sucked terribly. had to walk a bit. nothing specifically hurt, just overall my legs couldn't keep it up. ive signed up for denver rocknroll marathon for october 17, cant wait to get it over with.

anyone got any tips for warming up and warming down?

my right ankle is in SERIOUS PAIN after running about 4 miles this morning.

stand on steps with heels sticking out, put weight on one heel to stretch downwards then another- best stretch i found to help starting off

also running shoes.

my trainers are decent...they are running but a v old style, maybe not great overall.

matter more that they suit you tbh, if you've not done longer distances in them before it's hard to judge