ILX running running thread

i'm permanently stuck in noob phase here, but i think that's the issue -- your body does not have the supporting muscles to endure that much stress on the muscles you use when you're running. pretty normal, i think.

i try not to push myself too hard because the consequences are painful, expensive to fix, and could derail me long term. my insurance sucks too.

My main tip for avoiding injury (apart from wearing proper shoes) is to do as little training as possible on concrete and as much training as possible on grass.

this is good advice. a couple weeks ago i ran 8 miles in vibrams (those funny looking toe-shoes) on pavement, and was aching for days afterward. about a week later i ran 8 miles in vibrams, again, but this time on a trail w/ loose gravel, wood chips and dirt. made all the difference -- i felt great afterward, no aching at all.

second run was at a faster pace, too

yeah ronan, didn't you just start running again after a long time? good shoes will help, but also easing into it. every other day may be a bit too much form the start. i had no pain at first when i started, then some weird bizarre pain about a month or two in as i started to up my speed and distance. icing immediately after run helped, as well as stretching and a little ibuprofen/taking days off when necessary. after a while it just went away and i haven't had any problems since. i think la lech is right, it may have been a matter of building up those muscles/support.

got no option but to run on pavement :(

same here really as regards pavement...i run through a park for part of my run but the grass is extremely muddy and swampy right now. even if it wasn't it's not very even.

yep tehresa i started running relatively recently, like around the end of august, but since getting shoes fitted all my muscle pains and twinges had stopped for a time. reckon yday was just a twinge tho, just ran my furthest ever today and felt fine, 6.02 miles in 55 minutes, back just as the sun has gone in and it's started to rain!

what do you all listen to when running? my life has inverted in that running is now the only time i listen to house or techno. got a serious rush of euphoria listening to this after about 4 miles today

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLJ60I56c64

there's a marina i ran around and it was a really sunny morning, love those moments when running. i actually feel a bit like am on drugs sometimes when i run < /embarrassing admission>

also do you say hello to other runners? i don't normally but today there were laods of runners out and a few did a sort of nod at me to which i nodded in return.

finally....do you guys hydrate much? i haven't had to yet but as my distances increase i feel like i might bring a few coins in my pocket and buy a bottle of water halfway around...don't want to be carrying it for long tho.

runners get a respectful nod from me; it always grinds my gears when I'm out on my bike and other riders don't reciprocate

no hydration either but that's only cos I've never run more than 7 miles solo and think the weight and inconvenience of carrying a water bottle would outweigh the benefits

80% sure I'm going to run the berlin half now after my dad says he's on board, so

... which should hopefully be good starter training for a late-year marathon, which I should really look into to getting registered for

had wild ideas of nyc...tho it's a long way off. we must try and catch up in berlin if possible...quite a few friends of mine are going too.

listened to the grandfather paradox today which worked okay, there are a couple of bit's that don't really work for running, i discovered.

this whole running lark is working out pretty well for me. i think i've only missed one, maybe two, days in the ten or so since i started. running about half of the time now which is actually about 2/3rds of the distance, i suppose. i love the mix of being knackered and invigorated afterwards.

Don't think there's much need to hydrate this time of year...

what do you all listen to when running?

i'd credit running w/ transforming my tastes most in the past 3-4 years. the more i run, the more i desire to listen to stuff with a driving, uptempo rhythm (house/techno, '80s dance/pop and current pop music in the same vein) or with a great rhythm or beat (rap/hip-hop) or that really pumps me up (metal/heavy rock) or that i can zone out to for 10-20 minutes at a time (jazz/minimal/ambient). most of my "traditional" indie rock stuff has gone out the window in recent years. not because i've decided to backlash against indie rock per se, but because i listen to lots of music when running and i tend to eventually sell cds that i skip over when running. taking mental notes in my head, i can say, hmmm, when was the last time i ~didn't~ skip a cat power song on shuffle? a couple years? ~puts cds on ebay~

so that's what i listen to (and don't). natural evolution of tastes thru running. i also find a lot of r&b falls into the rap/hip-hop realm, good beats, easy to listen to, stuff that my feet tend to fall into a natural rhythm with when i'm running.

i actually feel a bit like am on drugs sometimes when i run

hah. let me just say, the more you get to know people in the ultrarunning community especially, people who regularly run really long distances, you'll start to notice common threads. lots of former addicts in those circles -- drugs/alcohol, sex, gambling, whatever other vices one can name. running's a good alternative outlet for lots of folks. hello endorphins!

also do you say hello to other runners?

always! & it's easier when trail running, most are friendlier types than road runners ;)

finally....do you guys hydrate much?

depends on the weather, mainly -- i find that's the #1 variable factor in hydration needs. right now i can wake up and it's 30-40 degrees F outside, and i can drink a glass of water at the house and run 8-10 miles without any water during the run. once it heats up to 80-100 degrees in the summer/fall (howdy i'm from texas y'all) i go thru a 16-20 oz bottle of water every 3 miles or so & plan my run routes accordingly.

i dont listen to music hydrate or acknowledge other runners, it feels good but not like drugs

i forgot to mention i take several ecstasies before every run

u hug other runners

I haven't listened to music on my last 34 runs. I stopped so I can put my total concentration on my form and cadence.

I run with water in the winter, because you should still hydrate. Just a handheld.

I don't say high to other runners. In the summer there is just too many, and in the winter I just hate people.

The main guy in the Running the Sahara documentary was an ex addict. Kicked it and became totally obsessed with running and is a real asshole about it. Now he's going to prison for mortgage fraud. It all makes sense.

Speaking of running movies, saw the premier of the Hood to Coast doc last week. Fantastic. I hope I'm healthy enough to run a crazy relay one day.

find podcasts are the best material for running, don't fuck with your rhythm too much and you can get sufficiently /involved/ to forget the pain. between in our time and football weekly, that's three 40 min runs a week which is ideal for my needs

that running the sahara guy was the worst wasnt he

felt bad for the one chill bro who wanted to quit, prob just couldnt stand the other two

Right! Dude didn't want to run across the desert! No big deal!

xpost. I ran Hood to Coast a couple of years ago and hope to do so again this year. It was a blast. Nothing quite like running on a gravel logging road in the Oregon Coast range at three in the morning.

A team that I had a chance to join tried for this years lottery, but didn't get in. I don't think I would have been ready by then anyway. Six or seven miles 3 times is no problem. Problem is that as soon as I run and then stop, my it band tightens up beyond comprehension and I'm out until at least a day later. It would be easier for me to run 18 miles in one fell swoop rather than with several hour breaks in between.

woah, that looks awesome (hood to coast).

that running the sahara guy was the worst wasnt he

nah, he's a really nice guy, actually!

Uh, disagree. At least from the way he's portrayed on screen and from everything I've read about the dude.

He also lives in Greensboro, NC which is a moral failing in itself.

totally gonna watch this doc

its pretty terrible, the whole steez

Resurrecting yesterday's conversation: There's lots of discussion of fluid intake, its effects on performance and the many misconceptions about hydration over at the excellent Sports Scientists blog. A sample of their conclusions:

Therefore it is not the fluid you ingest that keeps you cool, but as we have written here before it is your metabolic rate, or how hard you are exercising, that really predicts your core temperature during exercise. Do not mistake what I am saying here, though---fluid plays a role, but only a very small one, and more importantly when we permit athletes to pace themselves they just slow down in the trials where they do not drink or receive very small volumes of fluid. The result is that they reach the same core temperature at the end of the time trial, but take a little longer to finish.

For me the bigger message is that if performance is a desired outcome, if the runner wants to go as fast as they can, then they should drink to thirst. Ingesting volumes that are larger than that have not been shown to produce faster performance times. If performance is not important, the evidence from where I am sitting tells me that ignoring thirst and/or ingesting very small volumes of fluid will result in a miserable day out, but will not cause you to get heat stroke or collapse---two conditions that result from mechanisms other than changes in fluid balance.

Personally, I try to keep well-hydrated during the day and don't take on any more fluid while running - unless I'm racing in warm temperatures. The caveat to all this is that I live in the UK; it's rarely too hot to run comfortably, and "warm temperatures" in a racing context means anything above 20 degrees Celsius.

its weird when i play basketball i get hella thirsty, when i run i do not, im pretty careful to hydrate before each too - prob has something to do w/the difference between fast burst type exercise and slow steady

oh fuck everything. thought a fortnight's hiatus from running would be enough to recover from tendonitis - hadn't had so much as a twinge of pain for 10 days. barely got a mile in before it came back and i had to limp home. advice? am i going to have to see a doctor? because i now i have no idea how long to rest it for...

also i meant to get a knee support but the range did my head in. can someone just pick one of these for me? http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dsports&field-keywords=knee+support&x=0&y=0 i don't know how cheap is adequate, basically.

also, what cardio can i do instead of running with my knee out of action? my body feels like it's going stir crazy here. (i don't have a gym membership - that's partly why i go running)

look into water running (seriously) - works the same muscles and will keep you in good shape, but has no impact force

full disclosure: you have to wear one of these

http://www.accreditedtrainingcompany.com.au/img-upload/deep_water_running_belt.jpg

ha that doesn't look bad at all.

also suggested on twitter: yoga, burpees, trampolining. have always wanted to try yoga so might sign up, but burpees seem the easiest to do w/o, y'know, having to leave my house and trek to a gym.

any advice on the actual tendonitis? i really want to know how long i'll have to rest it for to make it actually go away.

Where is the tendinitis again?

right knee

clarification: is it on the outside of yr knee, or underneath/beneath yr kneecap?

i *think* it's beneath the kneecap but it literally only hurts when i'm actually running (and in the aftermath if i put weight on it). sitting still now, no pain.

hmmmmmmmmmm

Under the knee would indicate Patellar tendinitis. I had that back when I started running 3 years ago. Custom orthotics probably resolved that for me. Or at least there was a correlation of when I got them.

I've also read that you should strengthen your quads.

you can get custom orthotics in any running store, right? is that the same thing as customised running shoes? i guess they'll be able to advise how long it'll be before i can run at all, too.

Custom ones where they take a cast of your feet come from a doc, most likely a podiatrist. Also, not cheap if your med insurance doesn't cover them.

You can get insoles like Superfeet in running stores. I wear those in my every day shoes.

yeah i just googled - NOT cheap O_O

i have no idea whether i'd be able to get them on the NHS though. i guess it's a doc appointment next for me then. sigh, i really hoped this problem would go away by itself.

any advice on knee support btw? the range available is really confusing me - seems like you can get them for anything between £4 to £30.

You can get insoles like Superfeet in running stores. I wear those in my every day shoes.

superfeet are good. i'd also check out powerstep

I haven't had much experience with knee support. If probably start with the one that is just a strap beneath your knee.

Serpentine AC have a good directory of reputable physios and podiatrists in London: http://www.serpentine.org.uk/pages/advice_health.html

It's always important to find a physio who knows something about running and isn't just going to tell you to take three months off.

Just ran 10.8 miles this morning, went with friends so we pushed each other a bit more. Legs ache but I am so pleased with it. I LOVE RUNNING.

jeezo! well done, R.

I went about 3 miles today, strangely thrilling in the sub zero foggy weather. I'm going a bit ahead of the plan La Lechera linked me to, not that i'm pushing myself too hard just that I'm enjoying it and it's kinda boring to walk half of it. I don't think I'm doing too much atm.

Just did 10 miles myself...no epiphany to speak of, but I'm slowly getting back into racing shape.