ILX running running thread

finally made it back to the wood-chipped trail for 3 miles in the vibrams. my feet have actually toughened up a little bit but that mix of medium-small river-washed loose rock on the trail is just painful enough to keep my gait short, my time a few minutes slower, and my endurance on edge. not an issue on concrete / asphalt.

i think i'm going to take a step or two back from ultra minimal and get a pair of altras for trails.

good to hear everyone's doing well, and map do let us know about your altras cos i really need to get some new shoes and definitely want something with a minimal amount of drop (currently running in a pair i must've had for ten years or something - zero cushioning left in them but i don't really care about that, but they are starting to look v. beaten up and shabby). really struggling to get out and run though - doing a pretty physical job all day long and the hayfever tablets i'm taking are making me drowsy as hell, so i just feel completely zapped when i get home.

i've had altras before (lone peaks from 2018-2019 iirc) and didn't care for them much tbh - they had a stiff collar that dug into my achilles tendons and idk the fit was weird somehow and they were pretty ugly. also the outer toebox started busting open several months in, which is always an issue for me no matter the shoe, but it happened a lot earlier than usual. i see people wearing altras EVERYWHERE now though. the company started in utah iirc (now they're based somewhere else), so there's hometown pride involved i'm sure, but my friend (who is crazy and runs ultras and 100ks multiple times a year) claims that they are higher quality now after they switched production to a higher-rated factory in china, no idea when that happened.

i'm also really interested in vivobarefoot trail shoes but i can't tell if they would offer more protection than the vibrams against loose, sharp rock. it seems likely. i wish i could try them on. they're also kinda expensive.

I got some of the new altra lone peaks and I like them quite a bit, I am becoming a barefoot shoe guy as well, one step away from raw red meat diet guy

the lone peaks are zero drop not barefoot, they're quite cushioned and comfortable, but I got some xeros for walking/running but I'm still quite a ways off from running in them. Even in the altras I'm not running too much, only short trails

I'm thinking about getting one of those foot activation mats, I'm going insane

lol welcome

When I need new running shoes, I go to 6pm.com and sort by my size and price low to high, then choose the cheapest pair in a color that I like. Saucony often have nice cushiony and light pairs for $30-45.

Yeah, I usually buy last year's model of shoes as they're generally half price or less once the new ones come out (as long as you don't care about which colours you get)

Did splash out for Alphaflys, Vaporflys and Tempo Next% in the sales earlier this year though (all half price) and they're all pretty awesome for road racing. Have got PBs in all three and my 5K PB is now down to 18:08 and fairly confident I can dip under 18 if conditions are good

and thus far, I've been running for two months injury free!

Spoke too soon here. Lower back pain started last Saturday. This is a new one for me. Probably going to have to take a few weeks off from running and google up some physical therapy exercises.

I know this will make me sound like a petulant child, but I just need to vent here: it's so incredibly frustrating that I'm trying to do something to improve my quality of life and it has seemed to be working really well. And I've been taking the time to actively warm-up for 15 minutes beforehand and stretch afterward. But maybe something I was doing was wrong. Or maybe it's entirely unrelated and I just picked up something heavy wrong without thinking about it. And now it feels like I'm back to square fucking zero. I went for a walk this morning just to keep moving, but it's nowhere near as rewarding.

it's the absolute worst feeling.

picked up new altra lone peaks yesterday, went up the canyon and did a quick 4 mile thing today - much happier with some sole and cushion.

Super happy to finally crack 38 minutes for 10K this morning with a PB of 37:53

Was slightly hilly course and quite windy so reckon there's some more to shave off.

After scaling things back to just walking for over a month, getting my lower back in shape with core-strengthening physical therapy exercises, and being very, very, very patient, I began to incorporate small stretches of jogging back into my walking routine. 1/3 mile, every other day - taking things very slowly. I'm happy to say that the back problems seem to be a thing of the past.

But after about two weeks of these baby steps, now I have a small quad strain! Possibly came from trying to add body-weight squats into my pre-run routine? It's bothering me enough that I feel like I have to completely stop running again and just add more recovery things into my daily physical therapy routine.

This is fine. Good times. Just going to keep it going until I get there. Running was really, really nice back in April/May/June. For the first time in my life, I was hopping out of bed in the morning looking forward to running, instead of thinking of it as a chore that I had to do in order to lose weight. I'd like to be able to get back into it without fucking myself up again. Preferably before the winter weather sets in.

pretty much this. stopped about a year ago with left knee problems. realised a month ago that my left knee was no longer hurting. about 5 gentle jogs later it is again 8(

in a boot

Following the last update, my back pain came back, which led to an urgent care visit last weekend. Turns out that I have a disc condition that requires an orthopedist.

😱 xp

What have you done forks?

And hope you get yours sorted peace

Just talked to the orthopedist this morning! She basically said it's no big deal and everyone my age has some degeneration and arthritis. The other doc had made my situation sound a lot more worrisome than it is. I get to check in with an actual physical therapist (instead of just youtubing it, like I have been), but I should be okay in the long run. I'm still just sticking to walking for the time being, but I'm fitting it in twice a day.

xp - torn plantar, been walking on it for months! orthopedist said a boot is the only reasonable plan forward.e

I'm training for my first 5k. I've been back to running about a month and I'm consistently running/jogging at least 5k each run, albeit at a slow pace. I've started working in some intervals. My first goal is just to get my time under 30 mins, but I think that's very much within reach. Today I did a total of 4.5 miles, including three intervals of running a half mile at a consistently sub-10-min-mile pace. Plan to do intervals every two or three runs and gradually increase the distance on those intervals until they cover the full 5k.

I'm feeling pretty good in my runs so far. Wondering if something more ambitious, like a 25 min 5k, is in reach? It's in November fwiw.

Hope you're both soon on the mend xps

man alive - doesn't sound unrealistic. Would suggest introducing some long, slow runs into your routine once a week. Maybe start by aiming to continuously run for 60-75 minutes but at a much slower pace than you'd normally run at

boot continues. anybody else done this for plantar? I'm concerned i'm torturing myself for no reason/payoff as nothing's getting worse but neither is it improving.

I had PF and invested ~ $50 on a pair of smartfeet. Took a couple weeks off, wore the insoles and problem was solved.

It takes a long time x10 for that shit to clear up, sorry :(

For PF I've had good luck in the past with those spiky rubber balls, running my foot back and forth over one while I sit.

yeah, i did that and the ice water bottle and daily stretching and all the other stuff. The theragun on the sole/heel helps a little. sigh.

I went to PT some time ago for a calf issue and told the therapist that I also had a sharp pain on the back of my heel, and that I must have banged it on something. She rolled her eyes and said no, you didn't bang your heel on anything. She knew it was PF, and administered some treatment (maybe it was the theragun?) on my heel that pretty much cleared it up immediately. Was pretty amazing. I asked if I could buy one of those for home use and she kinda laughed and said no, that's probably not a good idea.

she's wrong imo! they're inexpensive and effective with no downsides for use that i know of.

Might not have been a theragun, I recall it was something that was warm and vibrated. Maybe it was an actual vibrator! Might explain why she didn't think I should get one. In any event, it worked a charm, the only time I've ever seen quantifiable results from a PT session.

Just talked to the orthopedist this morning! She basically said it's no big deal and everyone my age has some degeneration and arthritis. The other doc had made my situation sound a lot more worrisome than it is. I get to check in with an actual physical therapist (instead of just youtubing it, like I have been), but I should be okay in the long run. I'm still just sticking to walking for the time being, but I'm fitting it in twice a day.

― peace, man, Wednesday, August 31, 2022 1:15 PM (two months ago) bookmarkflaglink

It took over a month to get an appointment with the physical therapist, but when I did, she basically confirmed that I was on the right track with the limited core exercises that I had been doing and added a couple of others. Since then, I've been walk/running three times a week (MWF) while keeping up with my twice-daily walking schedule every other day. It's been going GREAT with no recurrence of injury for the past two months. I've been adding the running back in more slowly and cautiously. I basically do a warm-up walk for 15 minutes, then switch off between running and walking - 1-minute run, 1-minute walk, 1-minute run, etc. In the past few weeks, I've been adding 2-minute running segments onto the end of that cycle each week. So I've been increasing my activity, but very slowly, making sure not to overdo it.

One thing that I've been facing this year is running in cold weather. In the past, I would just pack it in during the winter months, or switch to a treadmill. Looking back to the treadmill days, in the basement gym at my office, those were such dire times! I really hated treadmill running, particularly in that dungeon-like condition. So I bought myself some long-sleeved base layer shirts and a warm reflective hat and have been sticking to my routine as the weather dips into the 30s. If it gets too cold, I'll throw on a pair of gloves and I'm perfectly comfortable! Lip balm is key on these days though.

One thing that I've wanted to do for years is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Run. It's a 10k that, like it says, goes over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Maryland. It just took place again this past weekend. I've never been in shape enough to do a 10k. A lot of people do walk it, but I'd prefer to join as a runner. Anyway, hoping that can be a goal for next year.

That sounds fun. Do you get to stop at the gift shop in the middle?

I ran my first ever 5k last weekend and did it in 28:53, which was my best 5k time to date. Not an easy run - the first almost mile of it was upward sloped.

I think I prefer my lone meditative trail runs to races, don't like the feeling of a bunch of people running around me, thinking about whether they are or will pass me, etc. I also got really embarrassed by the people cheering. That said, it was kind of nice at the end, talking to the other runners, feeling of "we all did a (moderately) hard thing together." And it gave me something to train for. So maybe I'll do another in the spring.

Yeah, I don't think of myself as someone who would normally want to enter a race and participate in something with thousands of other people. In this case, the lure is the beautiful view. I drive over the bridge a few times a year, but don't get a chance to look out my window.

I miss the absolute suffering of racing. Being comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Races are not for me. Running really is something I do to be with myself and to compete with myself. Also I never know beforehand what distance I can do. Sometimes it's 10, sometimes 15 and 3 or 4 times a year I'll do a half marathon if I'm feeling good. But to able to say, 'on that specific day 3 weeks from now I'll run that many kms', nope.

also not a racer, also hate treadmills. they tend to help me reinjure myself for whatever reason.

i like the manual treadmill at the gym as a backup. i've been doing that for the last two weeks after it got cold and stormy. it was sunny yesterday and i finally made it outside for a run. it's my jam, i'll always come back to that as part of my routine. 3-4 slow miles, ideally with some uphill. nothing else makes me feel good like that.

I’m running the JFK 50 in western Maryland (what’s up with all the MD talk??) on Saturday. Biggest concern rn is the cold. And the monotony. Will report back.

Trial runs through the wooded area by the river feel kinda spiritual for me, very different vibe from a race, although some days I do try to beat/improve my time.

*Trail

trail runs are very good for the soul

looks like i'm going to be running on rock in moab for the first time in many months, very much looking forward to that though it's also hard there are some wild inclines there

Trial runs through the wooded area by the river feel kinda spiritual for me, very different vibe from a race, although some days I do try to beat/improve my time.

Map - Running on that rock in Moab sounds so cool. Enjoy

omg tobo73 let me tell you, it is so fucking cool lmao. the only weird part is jockeying with mountain bikers or the occasional ohv. going back this weekend! if anyone ever wants to run on the sandstone of the colorado plateau i can give you a few tips, moab area or escalante. there are spots i'm scoping out on google maps further south by bears ears / bluff and the navajo reservation.

anyway i have a weird sore forefoot thing going on. no idea how it happened. woke up one morning a few weeks ago with it. flexing my toes back brings an ache / soreness. walking with a bit of a limp. i can run on it without too much pain. it seems to be getting a little better, fingers crossed.

I've started sprinting a couple days a week and it feels so good

I’m running a marathon on Sunday. I did a 25k a few weekends ago and have been training very sporadically (maybe a week average since February), so you know, I probably shouldn’t be doing it but you have to stick to your word! Hoping to get a 4:30 time and then try take running more seriously next year and get a time with a 3 in front of it. I am really enjoying this though, it’s a fun game chasing pb’s

Has anyone tried the Brooks Ghost 15? Is it longer than the 14, or does it feel bigger because it is wider? Did you want to size down? (I assume the same would be true for M or W, but if you could please indicate, that would be great. Thanks.)

as a recap: 42km is a lot longer than 25km. But we did it