ILX running running thread

Do it!

Fun/interesting thread, though the imperial units are a bit confusing for a European mainlander.

I started running (again) in March, taking it on more seriously and with more discipline than before. Bought new shoes, Mizunos. My pair of Saucony shoes were 6 years old and gone a bit too hard. Still miss them though, I'm not too fond of the Mizunos yet.

Anyhow, started out with 2.5 to 4 km runs in March, went from 4 to 10 km in April (which is too steep I've been told), was ill for a week in May and am now doing 8 km laps. I found it pretty amazing that metrics (I use Runkeeper) seem to suggest I still haven't fully recovered from my respiratory infection even though I feel I've been over it for quite some time now.

Pace was about 7:00/km when I started and is currently close to 5:30/km. Not sure where I'm heading but I think I'll continue with building my endurance for the next three months before I'll start working on my speed.

I use Runkeeper

Will you be on my runkeeper team? It helps me to see/read about other people running, on this thread and on runkeeper.

ZS, if you don't mind cross posting your workouts, you should join dailymile if you are looking for that type of support.

i echo harbl, i can't run nearly as fast as you all, both for endurance reasons and also for fear of restimulating my shin splints. i'm taking a small break since i had tiny twinges at the end of my last run (or jog, more accurately), and it's making me antsy! running seems to reset my sanity index, which then starts to tip over until i can run again.

keeping my speed down has made me able to run for longer, though, and the net effect is that i end up running greater distances.

Will you be on my runkeeper team?

http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg611/scaled.php?tn=0&server=611&filename=1z7wx.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=640

Lolworthy end of 5k face.

Anyhow, started out with 2.5 to 4 km runs in March, went from 4 to 10 km in April (which is too steep I've been told), was ill for a week in May and am now doing 8 km laps. I found it pretty amazing that metrics (I use Runkeeper) seem to suggest I still haven't fully recovered from my respiratory infection even though I feel I've been over it for quite some time now.

Respiratory stuff lasts for a long, long time beyond the point where you feel acutely crap. Was it your chest?

If I get a chest infection I cough for months. If you're prone to them I'd advise you to think constantly about how exposed your chest is, even if you're not cold. Esp when running. Be wary too of sweaty tshirt after a run, few mins and that's basically cold water.

Personally I wouldn't sleep without a shirt on, tho I am particularly stringent on this stuff cos I have chronic health stuff.

Respiratory stuff lasts for a long, long time beyond the point where you feel acutely crap. Was it your chest?

Yes, raspy coughing came from deep down :(
That only lasted for 2 days though. Then a throaty cough that lingered for about two weeks.
On sweaty shirts: I've got a couple of those "dry fit" type shirts, they're fantastic. Thanks for the info, Ronan.

ZS, couldn't find yr Runkeeper account through your email so I sent you an invite instead, hope it came through.

weird, I don't see it! hmm...here's my runkeeper URL, maybe that'll work: http://runkeeper.com/user/Z2S5

had a great run this morning. was feeling hungover but i taped up my leg and went to the gym. the bandage really made a difference! was able to get up to 4.8 mph and ran for an hour(i know yall are fast but i haven't been able to go above 4.5 without feeling some shin splinty twinges).

Hooray for no shin splints!

i gotta run 55 min today but it's 93 so i'll wait until 7 pm when it's 89. i was gonna try for 5 miles but i don't think i'll make it in this heat!

I did 12 miles of trail running today. On an actual trail that I had to leave Chicago to get to. Only fell on my face twice.

also my new coworker, who people think is my twin bc she's the same height and has glasses and blondish hair, was planning on maybe doing the same half marathon program i might do so i guess i should. we could run sometimes after work before going home to get it over with. the reason i'm not 100% sure about that is 7:30 am saturdays in july ugh. i like to run in the evening.

i find running trails that are at all technical kinda irritating, if its a nice even path then it p cool tho

It was nice to change it up some. That is once I stopped tripping. Also nice because it was all ver shaded by the trees. Most of my long runs will be back on Ye old lakefront path.

i wish there were trail running at least reasonably close to me. i think when i go home to WA this summer i will go visit the trails every day. although the treadmill does seem to induce zen-like running in me.

i only ran 40 min instead of 55. it was still 90 degrees and i was coming downhill and my knees were hurting so i just walked. oh well!

i've been out of commission all week. :-/ I had my normal soreness in my legs after the last time i ran. the next night, i played softball and ended up sprinting around center field quite a bit. i didn't think it would be a big deal but i have been LIMPING around the last 3 days. all the pain is up in the thighs. crazy. only this morning have things finally calmed down to the soreness i was feeling the day after i ran. anyway. i hate being this fragile, it seems like every time i get into a groove of running every 2-3 days, something immediately happens that prevents me from running for a week or two.

had a two-week gap due to being away and weather and stuff, only exercise was some 5-a-side football last weekend, but i just totally smashed a 5 mile run this morning. really weird too, my first mile was over two minutes faster than my fastest ever mile in nike+, I didn't feel like I was running at pace at all. v strange. i've lost a bit of weight recently cos of exercise and so i'm wondering if i'm starting to feel the benefit of that in my pace.

I feel you. Dropping some pounds seems to have had a profound impact on my speed/stamina.

Nine miles this morning, felt pretty good.

do you all do one day on and a day off? i do, but lately i feel like i want to run every day. though i suspect this might lead to injury. opinion on it seems mixed.

I usually run 5 days/week, sometimes move up to 6 but I can't sustain that because I'm crap at time management.

I have been not running in a row with the idea of not aggravating my shin splints but I think runners who are not injury prone can. Maybe try it out incrementally (run 2 days in a row, take the next day off, see how it feels, or go easy on the 2nd day or something)

Your body will let you know pretty quickly whether you're doing it right or not. Just make sure you pay attention to it.

My body is a goddamned idiot, so I develop plans to let it know how to react.

I run 3 to 4 times a week. If I run on consecutive days, I will alternate intensity. Easy workout would follow a harder one. I cross train twice a week, usually either stationary bike or rowing machine. One day a week I do some sort of unstructured weights routine.

Marathon training starts next weeks, so basically it's going to go like this:

Monday - Cross train
Tuesday - Speed intervals
Wednesday - Weights/gym
Thursday - Tempo run
Friday - Cross train or easy run
Saturday - Long run
Sunday - Rest

Hope you're enjoying your lazyass Sunday, Jeff!

my schedule says i have to run 4 days a week but sometimes i procrastinate in the middle of the week and have to run on consecutive days. i ran 4 days in a row last weekend and this weekend i will run 3 (sat, sun, mon). i am supposed to run for an hour today! i don't think i'm going to be able to do it so i'm gonna try for 12 minute miles just so i can cover 5 miles. yesterday i ran 20 minutes and it was tiring to me.

I had to do something today so I just did some at home physical therapy exercises. yesterday was too decadent to not do anything physically exerting today.

I did not follow my own advice up thread and went running for the 2nd day in a row, and for longer than yesterday. I'm regretting it a little but hopefully only for a little.

I'm doing about 9 runs a week at the moment (4 days of running to work and then back again at the end of the day, plus one long run at the weekend). Doing more runs is just a case of building up slowly. My advice if you want to start running on consecutive days is keep your effort low to moderate on the first day to leave yourself plenty in reserve for the day after and then gradually progress from there. If you start getting niggles, back off again.

i need to burn some fat

i think i burned a lot of fats today. i ran 5.24 miles on my 60 min run so i didn't even have to slow down to 12 min miles! my ankles and knees hurt from all the downhill running in the last 20 min though.

I'm finding it hard to run fast in training runs. Had a run tonight that was 2 miles easy pace (9:15) then 2 miles at my tempo pace (7:25), then 2 more easy. The first tempo mile sucked so bad. Second one was slightly better. But the effort was so hard. I thought it would be easier since I was able to run 7:00 min miles a few weeks ago in my 5K, but no, it never gets any easier.

nothing like the unexpected closure of one's running route and the ensuing adventure as you try to make a replacement up on the spot to make you run further than you ever have before! (just over 14k in just over an hour.)

that's a good distance at a decent pace!

i've pretty much plateaued at it for over a year now (though i don't mind this, i don't time or measure my runs except approximately)

my 5k is tomorrow at 8. i have run in the morning approximately 1 time this spring and it was at 10. i hate morning running! i think i can remedy it by getting up at 5 and having coffee and toast and then jogging from the parking lot so i can be warmed up. one thing i know is i can't maintain my goal pace of 9:21 mile! maybe it'll be ok since i haven't run since wednesday.

good luck w/the 5k!

xpost. That's basically what I do. Get up really early and have coffee and a waffle, then chill out for about a hour and a half before leaving. The only time I run in the morning is on weekends though.

9.5 miles today. Plan called for 2 easy, and then to do some speed work by running my tempo pace for 6 minutes then 1 minute of rest. Repeat 5 times. Then more easy pace for an hour. The intervals were tough, but not too bad. Only ran for 30 mins afterwards though. Stomach cramps. Blah.

I always feel fabulous after running. So how come it takes so much time convincing myself that I should go?

Harbl how did you decide on a goal pace of 9:21? My goals are always really stupid round numbers, like 7:30 or 8:00

because i picked a round number for the whole 5k which is 29 minutes! at least i think that makes 9:21.

i'm gonna join my local roadrunner's club bc they have races that cost $2

good luck harbls!

that was hard. it was so hot out already. my watch says 29:58 but i don't know the official time yet. the first mile i must have been going much faster than i wanted because the guy reading splits said 9:40 or something when i passed but i didn't cross the start mat until i felt like a minute in? i want to do a smaller race next time. there were too many people. also it was women only and raising money for uterus cancer or something so it was really like "you are all winners!!!!!!!!!!"

lol 29:59.1. at least it doesn't say 30 in front of it, then i would feel sad!

I'm sure a version of this question has been asked many times on this thread, but I'm thinking about getting into running after a ten year hiatus due to knee injuries. I used to play basketball and took a couple vicious knee-to-knee collisions that I'm pretty sure did it. Some sports medicine dude at a bar told me I probably have loose cartilage debris in my knee and that's probably just as good as seeing a doctor about it. I'm in good shape - do 3.5 miles on the elliptical 3 times a week and lift - but I'm really sick of the elliptical. Last attempts at running were done in shitty running shoes and led to my knee basically locking midway or shortly after.

I'm wondering if it's worth investing in decent shoes or a knee brace if I'm just going to realize my knee can't handle it after one run. I know I pronate and have fairly weak arches so is it worth going to one of these nice running shoe stores to have them tell me the best type of shoe? Are knee braces actually effective? I have a nice track literally right across the street from me that I never use... seems like such a waste.

I say yes. I started taping my leg up (shin splits) and it helped tremendously. Made a bigger diff than I thought it would. I also did the gait analysis thing, and it's free, so why not? Running shoes are a good investment.