ILX running running thread

My legs are still pissing me off, btw, even after a few days of rest. I walk several miles, every day, fast -- I really thought they'd be able to adjust better to running!

jeff's post remnded me that i've wound up doing my long runs in the rain for the past 2 weeks. i whine, but i might actually like it better than sun! so cool! makes me feel so alone and rebellious somehow!

ugh i got stuck in a sleety downpour two days ago which really sucked. still finished tho. if its warm enough its okay and running when its overcast and ~about~ 2 rain is awesome u feel like its u against the incipient storm but the big problem is that constant rain makes it a lot easier to be like eff this and not go out

glasses in the rain really are a problem. not being able to see far is fine if you're on a quiet trail or road, but on a busier one it's a little scary. i have the option of wearing contacts, though, so if it seems that it might rain i wear them just in case.

i run along a canal so a busy road isn't a problem - i tend to wear prescription shades when i run, whether it's sunny or cloudy, they help block stuff out - but if it's raining heavily i do worry about randomly slipping over all the time.

I run on a plaza by the Hudson in Manhattan -- there's a little over a mile where it doesn't approach the street or cross with the bike path, and I normally go back and forth -- so there's no scariness related to anything fast-moving ... but it does get busy and crowded some days, so I feel like I should be able to see everything, just in case.

My groin muscle is still acting up. Haven't ran in a month. Winter will probably be here in 2 weeks.

man i wish i liked running more. really struggling to "train" ie stay in basic fitness for this 5k in a month. but when a friend suggests a 5k-10k-5k run-bike-run in the autumn, i don't think "oh god no", but "mmm sounds tempting!"

that actually does sound fun! bet your legs would be jelly by the second run though.

i reckon i would find it fun, it's just the training that suxxxxxxxxx.

OK so I've decided to start running and well . . . am excited but scared. I'm following a beginners plan and have the perfect spot to run at right along Boston Harbor. Will be checking in here now for tips etc. Eek!

haven't run at all since i moved 5 weeks ago :(

Running is so easy and so accessible, and I would like to fitten up a little (esp while on break from dance classes) but my feet have been so bad that I just can't. Every time I sit on an air-conditioned subway train, my tendons have seized up by the time I get to my stop and I'm limping like a moron. I don't know how people can walk and run for fun and not be in constant pain.

I might srsly need to go to a podiatrist, it's kind of out of control to turn down invitations to hang out w friends because they're going to be walking all day and I just can't.

Also my roommate makes fun of me for avoiding walking, even tho she's way lazier than me about everything else.

:-( GO see the Doc - that sounds horrible.

heels? i have to wear inserts in my normal walking shoes or else they cramp up whenever i stop moving at all. there are like no shoes i can wear in the world. high arches + large, narrow feet.

and any time i've ever worn heels my tendons do the seizing thing but i thought that was normal

i don't know what happened yesterday, i was doing my warm-up walk before running and i had pretty intense pain in my calf/shin, esp. the left leg. for like 15 minutes! when i started to run it went away

Nah, I wear sensible old-lady shoes with conservative 1" heels -- almost flats but with a tiny bit of arch. And no pointy toes, either. It's not a shoe thing, except in the sense that I guess I could wear sneakers instead.

But I have two sets of insoles in my sneakers as well, and it doesn't make my bones ache any less.

laurel, get some orthotics, asap!

xp huh

another 8.5k today, in heat this time. feeling v good about this at the moment.

wooo 8.5 miles, new record.

tho - there is a worrying gap between what my lungs/heart/brain can do and what my feet/toes/legs can do. I had various leg problems in college, so I'm constantly paranoid about something bad happening on a run.

I did 30 miles over 3 days (12-9-9) this Sat-Mon, and it was some of the hardest running I've done in ages. Even though NYC was rainy, it was humid and too sweaty. Still, iatee, if it helps, the more you run, the stronger you get (legs and heart/lungs). There's also nearly always a warning: if you feel a twinge (sometimes runs from your calf up to your butt), or like it hurts to walk after you've stopped, either lay off a little, or try to find dirt / grass. Makes a huge difference.

It's odd to me that people avoid running in winter and start in summer. Soooo much harder to run in July-August than December-January. Sure, leaving the house is a bitch in winter, but you're warm in 3 minutes...whereas it takes 2 hours to cool down after a run in summer.

Does anyone else need to vaseline nipples?

No, I do have to treat my thighs, however. Have you ever used Body Glide? It's fantastic.

http://www.bodyglide.com/

I considered running today but it's still 91 degrees at 7:30 pm, so forget it. I need to renew my gym membership b/c it seems like in Chicago there are like only 20 days of outdoor running weather.

i've been doing 5k every other night for awhile now, probably going to up it to about 6 before the summer is out.

i just use vaseline, need it for my thighs and upper arms on longer runs because my clothing seams tend to bug me.

i'm 9.5 miles away from my monthly mileage goal, and all of a sudden it's in the eighties and i'm traveling for three days and aaaaaah i'm afraid i won't finish. it would be rotten to miss the goal by a few miles.

I need to renew my gym membership b/c it seems like in Chicago there are like only 20 days of outdoor running weather.

because the other 345 days are too cold.

Figured might as well ask here - anyone dedicated to running but absolutely hate it? I go because I have a couple of friends who I can run with at a local track, but man, I haven't liked it anymore over the last year I've been doing this (though I stopped for about 6 months due to the cold weather). I guess I'm doing it for health or to cure boredom, but I thought by now I would be more mentally into it. Of course that I'm completely out of shape and can barely jog a quarter of a mile straight adds to it (mostly I have to walk, admittedly), but I feel more motivated out of masochism than anything else. It just totally feels wrong.

then stop

do something else

Oh I hate. Every single step. I have some delusions of getting fit though. Ain't working though.

I used to absolutely hate it, but I wanted to lose weight and feel better and have more stamina. And then it became tolerable. But then at some point I started liking it.

I will probably be back to the second stage when I start up again.

i don't exactly enjoy the actual process but i figure that if it doesn't hurt it's not having any effect - like there's no point if i don't push myself and end up gasping for air and feeling like i'm about to die. and i REALLY enjoy the clear-headed and physically strong feeling i get afterwards, both immediately and in the next few days, and i'm not going to get to that if i don't go through the pain. plus it's a really virtuous kind of pain anyway.

I'd say I like it around half the time, and the other half is what I have to pay to build up the stamina that allows me to like it. But I never know how I'm going to feel about it until I'm a couple miles in. (Also, I started running to lose weight, and it didn't really work! I lost like 5 pounds 3 years ago but my metabolism has totally adjusted to it.)

this thread is making me feel guilty for how ridiculously long i've been using shin splints as an excuse

has anybody ever heard of/tried Chi Running

i have now done a five mile run. thank you ilx

It's weird, but running actually seems like a middling activity in terms of weight loss -- good insofar as it's easy to get out and do, but maybe not all that big of a calorie-burner for a beginner? I dunno.

I've totally slid backward on this, which is worrying me -- even taking every third day off or so, there are mornings where I can only get a few hundred yards before my knees or ankles go wrong or wobbly and I start worrying about injuring myself. Maybe I just don't have the joints for it. It is so frustrating, though, to go out in the morning, ready to go, and have your knees cut you off before you can even break a sweat, instead of the couple miles you were hoping for.

Should I be doing leg exercises to strengthen and stretch everything in the meantime?

Or get your gait looked at, at the running shoe store?

You should always always stretch, always. Someone who's more of an expert can say when that shd be -- I think stretching is more beneficial in the beginning-middle of a run once there's actually blood flowing to your extremities, but only a quick stretch to get the kinks out in case your hip or knee has locked up or whatever.

Do a full-out stretch for flexibility only AFTER your workout is done; loosening up all your tendons and joints could make you MORE injury-prone if you were going to keep working hard after.

Yeah, gait analysis is on the agenda (and new shoes), though I'd be surprised if it were that far off, since up until recently I could manage a mile or two at a time -- I actually feel like I'm going through and eliminating one weak spot at a time, like first it was shins, then they strengthened up and it was thighs, then they strengthened up and it was foot pain, then that passed and now knees.

(I think I'm okay stretching-wise -- I'm just wondering if I should be doing leg lifts in my spare time or something, to strengthen up around the knees)

new shoes helped me a lot when i was having knee pain--they were just old

also yes, do lunges etc. because weak quads are a source of knee pain also

i think i will pick up running again next week. i am frustrated at myself!

i really really should do gait analysis. every time i start running after eg a 2-week gap, i'm basically limping for at least a day afterwards with that stabbing pain in my right foot that i mentioned upthread - but if i run a few days later and keep it up, it just stops happening. i stretch too but probably not "properly" but nothing too terrible seems to have happened yet :/

q.

are all the ppl who have recurring pain problems with running in this thread all people who have taken it up in their 20s/30s?

I had no pain when I was a regular runner in my early 20s, but now I can't get up and walk to the subway without having foot pain of several different types. Currently battling another recurrence of plantar fasciitis in one foot, but even when that's gone, everything else will still ache.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/health/nutrition/25best.html?ref=style

yup only took it up in my 20s. apart from that occasional stabbing pain i don't have any other serious issues though, esp not the knee ones, and i'm not even that professional or careful when i run. that said i don't run much more than 8k twice a week.