ILX running running thread

Halfs = A 10 mile tempo run plus a 5K race
Full = Conserving my energy for 20 miles then a 10K race.

The former is much more unpleasant for me. Too close to the redline for too long. Fulls have their own drawbacks, of course, but I much prefer them over halfs.

a marathon is the best preparation fo a half-marathon. when i ran my last marathon in 1990, a couple of weeks later i did a half-marathon. it was so easy. my best time ever: 1h25 for 21 km.

aaaaaaand i fucked up my ankle a bit. Back to three mile jogs for me for a few weeks i guess

Aaaaaaand now runners knee. I gotta pace increasing my mileage more intelligently; my lungs and heart can take more but my joints get pissed.

been getting back into it hehe

thumbs-up.jpg

how's it going lag@@n?

I have another stress fracture lolsob. Second one in two years. In a boot now.

aw shit no! same bones? any idea what's causing that?

Heel was last year, left leg. Tibia this year, right leg. Don’t know the ultimate cause yet. I was MUCH more conservative this year with my mileage and intensity. It was a very surprising diagnosis, that was initially thought to be a calf strain. I went through two months of PT before we realized that it was not getting better at all, MRI revealed the fracture.

I’ve upped my calcium and will probably end up getting a bone density scan. Not sure what else to do beyond that. I’ve got a few more weeks in the boot and then no load bearing exercises for 6 weeks. Then I’ll start run walking and building my way back up to whatever I fracture next year!

damn dude. wishing a speedy recovery and working solution to issue. we keep orthos busy at ilx.

yeah, mend soon jeff. maybe it’s time to start moving more towards trail races?

I live in a city! Not many trails around here that I can get too. Ultimately if it doesn’t work out next year, time to explore other hobbies.

ah yes, good point! um, more treadmill time maybe, at least for your more intense sessions?

the only other thing i can suggest is looking at your running technique. moving from being a heel-smasher to trying to run as lightly as possible on my forefoot made a massive difference to me. used to get a lot of knee and shin problems, but since i switched about 4-5 years ago i haven’t really had any significant injuries, at least nothing that’s stopped me running. that might not help with stress fractures though, and obv i don’t know what kind of technique you have either

i went running this morning :)

but then i had ~GI problems~ and had to walk it back in the whole time praying i wasnt gonna have uh a problem

Larfed grimly at *running* cause yeah man I know that sadly

Now the nights are drawing in here in the UK, how do ilxors cope with running at night?

Not a huge amount of streetlighting around by me and some of the paths underfoot are strewn with fallen branches/leaves at the moment so not sure I'd feel confident running in the dark.

i see people headlamp running sometimes which is undeniably dorky but gets the jog done i guess?

I almost always wear blinky lights and a reflective vest. I have a head lamp but I typically don’t have an issue with seeing where I’m going. I’m more concerned about getting hit by cars or bikers.

I only run at night! Here in Texas it's just too damn hot to run before the sun sets, and I hate getting up early so I never go in the morning. Are you running in roads or on trails? The extent of my night safety precautions are wearing a white shirt.

i run on paths and very quiet streets before dawn, and i use a petzel or bd lightweight double-led headlamp. if i was on many roads i'd maybe wear a reflective vest, but i'm not. my vests and windbreakers have a little reflectivity built in.

One risk of running around twilight is that critters are very active... I've come very close to tripping on possums and raccoons streaking across the trail.

if i'm running somewhere that's not lit i use one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ledlenser-SEO3-GR-Torch-Green-Test/dp/B00BXMSE3O/

takes AAA batteries, has a decent run time and it's plenty bright enough for off-road (i use it running home through the woods every night). they can feel a little bit uncomfortable at first, but i've obviously killed off all the nerve cells in my head cos it doesn't bother me at all now.

a decent handtorch would also be fine though if you don't want to look as dorky as me. even some of the little ones are really bright now

headlamps, esp lil LED guys are just so handy to have. worth having one in the glovebox imo

handhelds are a plus because unlike the headlamps, they don't blind oncoming traffic on the trails

the other drawback with headtorches is that if it's foggy, or if it's cold enough for you to see your breath, the torch will just illuminate the mist directly in front of your face and you won't be able to see the trail at all. but you can just remove it a carry it in your hand instead of course

The headlamps are usually quite directable to the ground ime, and encounters with runners and walkers is usually really good.

The only blinding-level people I encounter are always bikes with 600-1500+ lumen abominations (they do have good uses elsewhere). My opinion there is - if u can’t make it with 200-300 lumens on a reasonable road/bikepath, you’re either going 30 mph or need your eyes checked.

What is fog?

if the trail isn't level, all front-facing lamps are going to end up blinding traffic coming in your direction... a good reason not to stress too much about angling them properly, you can't win. the ones with their lamps set to strobe are the only ones who really irritate me. love those lamps with the gentle pulse setting where the lamp fades in and out.

Doing night rides with other people, it’s kind of an arms race. Doesn’t matter how bright your lights are, if you have someone behind you with more lumens, you feel like you can’t see shit in front of you because of the shadow

Xp

I just get a fix on the next stretch of trail and keep going with my eyes closed until the bright lamps pass by, it's kinda fun

i run w a headlamp in the dark sometimes, an adventure

just went for an 8-mile night run :) nearly a full moon though, so plenty of light really

love it

8 mile road race yesterday. Wasn't sure how it'd go post-Christmas but managed a respectable 52:56

good going gp, that's a solid time. how are the joints today?

Yeah nice, gp!

I dont run much but i feel like i should do something like that (but sloowwer).

haven't been doing a lot of running myself recently what with one thing and another, but i was easing off a bit anyway as i've had a few visits to the cardiologist who's concerned that i might have some sort of heart defect (was initially referred to him after some dizzy spells last christmas). had an mri scan just before christmas, have been called back in to discuss the results with him next week. have a dreadful feeling that he'll ask me to cut my running right back, going to be a major thing for me if that is the case :(

Yeah, that would be difficult! Take care tho.

I would love to do any amount of running at this point. As mentioned up thread, tibia stress fracture. I did the boot for six weeks, went to PT, got cleared to run/walk, which I did conservatively for a few weeks before the symptoms returned. Follow up MRI, fracture not completely healed, no more running. My bone density scan came back normal, so not the issue there, but it just seems the placement of the fracture is making it hard to heal. Trying some sort of bone stimulator next, maybe back in the boot, crutches worst case scenario.

oh jeez jeff i'm sorry :(

what a fine bunch we are

What does an ortho guy dude do when you outline what an outlier you are in terms of volume (im obv making some big assumptions there sorry)? Is your doc an ultra specialist?

Or ortho woman sorry all

And i dont know running- who would be considered a volume outlier,where’s normal anymore?

First sub-40 10K yesterday in Newport 10K.

Was also the first Newport Marathon and a great day all round.

Damn, that’s moving. I’ve done sub 20 5k’s but no way I could manage two of them back to back.

Having brand new shoes helped and I always find that the adrenaline/crowds you get in an event like that gives you another five to ten percent.

Oh I’m back to running. After my third MRI, finally clear that the stress fracture has completely healed. Now a conservative come back, run/walking for a bit, working my way back up to continuous running. Looks like a full is out for this year though.

nice work GP! and hooray Jeff!