The Running Thread

[verb_to_trust]

Man, I gotta get up in the morning to get my miles. The humidity in the afternoon is really starting to suck. Got to 30 miles this week. Legs feel strong, just a little flat with my energy.

[Dev]

Ok so today I switched it up. I ran 5.6 km in 30:50. Then I drank some water and took a break. Then 1.9km in 9:39. Then water and break. Then 1.9km in 9:17. Total is 9.4 km in 49.46. This is an 8.5 minute mile which is my average now.

[Dev]

It hit 90 today. I'm lazy and stay up late on Friday nights so morning runs on Saturday usually don't happen. I ended up out the door at noon. 6 miles at 7:30 pace. It sucked. Tomorrow I plan for mp 8 miles to finish the week at 30 with a long of 10.

I'm going to crush some BBQ tonight....

Did you take any extended breaks during this run? Or was it all one run?

[Dev]

Sorry I missed your request for advice, Dev. But Daft did a great job in my stead.

There's 4 ways to increase speed:
Speedwork (tempo, repeats, fartleks), more weekly mileage, hills and losing weight.

You're already doing hills and I never advise losing weight without REALLY knowing someone, so speedwork and more weekly mileage is also what I would recommend.

I'm personally no good at fartleks. That is, I can't really shift from one pace to another in training. I don't know, some people just aren't great at it. I tend to lock into a pace early on, then just stay there. So a lot of these training plans that say, "EZ pace to start, then Marathon Pace/5K for the middle, then back to EZ pace" are no good to me. I do typically do a "finishing kick." That's something that's been ingrained in my training from early on.

So I tend to recommend tempo or repeats.

If you have access to a track. I'd recommend just doing some 800s (twice around) at 90% effort. They should be a bit quicker than your 5K pace. Try to start with at least 4 of them with 2 to 3 minutes rest in between. Warm up and cooldown with a mile around the track (~4 laps). With four repeats that'll be 4 miles total. Try to build up to 8 repeats.

If you don't have access to a track. You could find a half-mile loop (at a park or around your neighborhood) and essentially just do what I described above.

Tempo stuff would essentially be a harder effort at a shorter distance. So if you normally do your 4 miles at an 8:30 pace. Do 2 miles at a 7:30 to 7:45 pace, then try to increase your distance.

For weekly mileage, again, it's a little hard to gauge without REALLY knowing you. Some people can double their mileage in a week without batting an eye. Even people new to running. While others need to be very gradual. I'd recommend adding about 20% at first, seeing how you handle that, then adding another 20% a month or so later. I'd essentially just lengthen one or two of your 4-mile runs a week to an hour.

Honestly, there's a million ways to train. For instance, popular marathon plans vary from 3 days a week with a shitton of intensity to 7 days a week with only 1 day of running at 80% effort or more.

Just in general, if you really want to become faster/better, you should really bring more focus to your running.

That is, every run has a reason.

Tempo/repeats = leg turnover and increasing your VO2 max
Long runs/EZ runs = building endurance
Hills = strength

That being said, try to still make it fun.
For instance, I'll go do my favorite trail every couple of weeks, even if I'm training for a road marathon.

Thanks for the tips, R2D. Will keep all of this in mind

If you have access to a track. I'd recommend just doing some 800s (twice around) at 90% effort. They should be a bit quicker than your 5K pace. Try to start with at least 4 of them with 2 to 3 minutes rest in between. Warm up and cooldown with a mile around the track (~4 laps). With four repeats that'll be 4 miles total. Try to build up to 8 repeats.

little confused about this. would this look like 2 miles around the track, then the 800s, then another 2 miles around?

[daft twat]

I guess I'll call this major setback 1: Yesterday I did an "easy" 4 in the heat during soccer practice. As I was driving home, I flexed my left calf, which has been bothering me, and a goddam cramp locked in. Ever get one of these? Usually when I get them it's in my sleep. They typically last a minute. The muscle just contracts and I'm helpless and in excruciating pain. I was on the freeway. All I could do was scream. My 7 year old was panic crying because he didn't know what was wrong. It was awful. Now it hurts to walk. In my experience, the nagging pain lasts anywhere between a few days and a week.

I may shut it down until Sunday. I hate to do that, but this is the last week of the school year too, so there is a ton going on. And it's just unbearably hot in the afternoons. I don't know. We'll see what the afternoon brings.

[Peeps]

i call those jesus cramps. simply because jesus is about the only thing i can scream to help alleviate the pain

im sure there are other ways to wake up in pain but damn if this isnt near the top of the list

[run2death]

If you have access to a track. I'd recommend just doing some 800s (twice around) at 90% effort. They should be a bit quicker than your 5K pace. Try to start with at least 4 of them with 2 to 3 minutes rest in between. Warm up and cooldown with a mile around the track (~4 laps). With four repeats that'll be 4 miles total. Try to build up to 8 repeats.

little confused about this. would this look like 2 miles around the track, then the 800s, then another 2 miles around?

No. 1 mile, 800s, 1 mile.

[run2death]

I guess I'll call this major setback 1: Yesterday I did an "easy" 4 in the heat during soccer practice. As I was driving home, I flexed my left calf, which has been bothering me, and a goddam cramp locked in. Ever get one of these? Usually when I get them it's in my sleep. They typically last a minute. The muscle just contracts and I'm helpless and in excruciating pain. I was on the freeway. All I could do was scream. My 7 year old was panic crying because he didn't know what was wrong. It was awful. Now it hurts to walk. In my experience, the nagging pain lasts anywhere between a few days and a week.

I may shut it down until Sunday. I hate to do that, but this is the last week of the school year too, so there is a ton going on. And it's just unbearably hot in the afternoons. I don't know. We'll see what the afternoon brings.

I get these when swimming laps. I got one once during an open-water swim. Luckily, I put on my wetsuit at the last minute, which was really buoyant. That was a very good thing because I was about 600 yards from the shore when it hit.

[verb_to_trust]

I'm feeling sick again. Can't ramp up the miles without feeling ill. My body is trash.

[Dev]

I'm feeling sick again. Can't ramp up the miles without feeling ill. My body is trash.

why sick tho?

[verb_to_trust]

I'm feeling sick again. Can't ramp up the miles without feeling ill. My body is trash.

why sick tho?

I'm not sure. But I seem to have upper respiratory problems and fatigue after ramping up my miles. Running through it seems to aggravate the problem. I feel like my body already does a lot to compensate for my situation so maybe I just need to get more sleep. That and more miles in the morning when it's not as hot.

[verb_to_trust]

Back at it today after taking an extra rest day. Fuck you body!!!

[guestT]

Saw a mama deer giving her baby a tongue bath on the 5 AM run. Then another deer, some geese (fuck geese), and a dumb turkey. And a million rabbits. I must give off chill, non-threatening vibes, because none of them ran away from me.

[verb_to_trust]

How's everyone been doing?

[run2death]

Unmotivated. It's 212 degrees outside. Beer is really cold. And my next race is still 3 months away.

[verb_to_trust]

Unmotivated. It's 212 degrees outside. Beer is really cold. And my next race is still 3 months away.

It's going to be a humid weekend here. I have 12 miles scheduled today but I'm waiting until the sun goes down and looping twice through a local state park.

[run2death]

I'm hitting my fav trail tomorrow morning.

Gonna try to stay motivated by going for some Strava KOMs.

[verb_to_trust]

I'm not familiar?

[run2death]

The Strava app has GPS segments with leaderboards. If you get the fastest time you get crowned "King of the Mountain." At first I though it was kinda lame, but it's actually a good way to stay motivated.

[verb_to_trust]

The Strava app has GPS segments with leaderboards. If you get the fastest time you get crowned "King of the Mountain." At first I though it was kinda lame, but it's actually a good way to stay motivated.

I'd be scared to try that. The competitive side of me would run me into the ground and try to force me above my ability. If I had less of an ego it would probably be helpful though.