The "Running" Thread

[Major Harris]

You would have been faster today without yesterday's workout. With your prep & dedication, you are going to be ready for your half and surprised by your success.

edit- Was today's run a simulated race or an actual race?

simulated. just me, going as fast as i felt i could.

mooka: monte is right...the hills will only make you stronger. just be sure you're not "braking" on the down hills. and lean forward a good bit on the uphills so you're not striking heel and rolling forward.

[Corcaigh]

Question for you guys: My new apartment is surrounded by hills. There's a college with a nice track and a park with a trial within 2 miles, but some of the hills are pretty steep to get to them and it feels weird to drive my car somewhere to go for a run.

I've been joggingg up the hills and walking down them. Its really taking a toll on my legs though. I don't know how to run on inclines or declines.

I wouldn't feel bad about driving to go for a run. The important thing is that the run is fun and not a chore. If you'll run more and enjoy it better by going to the park then do it.

Including hills will make you stronger for sure but might make the daily run tough to enjoy in the early stages.

I drive to the trail to run ... Because it's a nicer place to run, it's much kinder on the joints meaning i can run longer and harder and recovery is faster, and there's no traffic (in my neighborhood the driving is so bad that it would be a matter of when not if that I would get hit by a car.)

[Teller]

Absolutely bullcrap run tonight. Only 3.3 miles, granted all hills, but it took me 37 minutes.

I wanted to do 4x100s when I was done, but only did 2.

Oh well. Tomorrow is a new day. I have runs like this sometimes.

[Corcaigh]

Absolutely bullcrap run tonight. Only 3.3 miles, granted all hills, but it took me 37 minutes.

I wanted to do 4x100s when I was done, but only did 2.

Oh well. Tomorrow is a new day. I have runs like this sometimes.

Yeah. The important thing is to have fun. The more I get into this the more I'm happier to cut short a bad run and lengthen one or pick up the pace where it's going great.

[Major Harris]

first tempo / strider today. warmed up w/ easy 1.2 miles, then went 3 x 10 minutes hard w/ 2 minutes walk in between to re-focus. then 5 minutes hard at the end. in total i covered 5.42 in 46:30.

h_h, whenever that happens to me, i just remind myself, no matter how bad it is, unless i'm injuring myself, it's always doing good and beats watching sportscenter and drinking beer. keep at it.

[Teller]

h_h, whenever that happens to me, i just remind myself, no matter how bad it is, unless i'm injuring myself, it's always doing good and beats watching sportscenter and drinking beer. keep at it.

Most definitely. I'm getting better at realizing bad runs happen, and that I just need to work though them. It's encouraging too to look in the mirror and see a 205-pound guy who's making the effort, instead of the 270-pound beer-guzzling POS (my words) that you kind of refered to.

I think I'll go with a long run at an easy pace tonight. Get my wheels back under me, and work from there.

Thanks for the encouragement!

[Major Harris]

i wasn't referring to you, more me from years past. good luck on the long run tonight.

i would encourage you to look in to the HR monitor stuff, found here: http://philmaffetone.com/180formula.cfm

if it peaks your interest, i'd suggest waiting until you're done racing for the year. it's quite frustrating to start, but if you give yourself several months, the benefits are great.

[MattFancy]

Absolutely bullcrap run tonight. Only 3.3 miles, granted all hills, but it took me 37 minutes.

I wanted to do 4x100s when I was done, but only did 2.

Oh well. Tomorrow is a new day. I have runs like this sometimes.

I had one of these Friday morning. The heat got to me on my last mile. The first 4 I got done in 40 minutes, took me 13 minutes for the last mile. This heat is a ***** to run in.

[Teller]

if it peaks your interest, i'd suggest waiting until you're done racing for the year. it's quite frustrating to start, but if you give yourself several months, the benefits are great.

I'll have to look into it after this season. It seems like most of the guys that are having more success than I am (which is basically all of you ) are using this, or some similar variation. Thanks for that.

I had one of these Friday morning. The heat got to me on my last mile. The first 4 I got done in 40 minutes, took me 13 minutes for the last mile. This heat is a ***** to run in.

Yeah, I was pretty excited last night because it was only 74* when I started. I have been running in temps between 88-93 or so. But while the air temp was much better, the humidity was absolutely oppressive. Dry heat doesn't bother me much anymore. I've learned to almost enjoy it. But humidity stops me in my tracks.

No excuses though. I need to adapt to the conditions and get my work in. And I will.

[Corcaigh]

My evenings are going to be busy for the next few months and so today was my first weekday morning run in quite a while. Got in an easy six miles on the trail before breakfast. While it sucked getting out of bed an hour before I wanted to, it's certainly a great way to start the day.

[Major Harris]

corc, if i don't run in the morning, i generally don't run. i was done with my 5.3 miles at 6:15 this morning.

[MattFancy]

Do any of you guys use gel packs during your runs?

[Major Harris]

Do any of you guys use gel packs during your runs?

i did when i ran my 1/2 last year, and plan on using them again. i don't during my runs now, because they're either shorter (4 to 6 miles) or on the long runs, i'm not going hard.

[Forehead]

Well, color me annoyed. I ran that Friends of the W&OD 10K this past weekend, as I posted earlier. Not a fan of the organization that went into this. When I went to sign up at the running store, the person in charge had locked their keys in their van, so no one could sign up until a spare set was delivered.

They posted the official results today. Somehow, despite being 31 and living in Woodbridge, I was recorded as being 23 and living in Alexandria, so I might not even be able to claim my results on athlinks.

[Corcaigh]

They posted the official results today. Somehow, despite being 31 and living in Woodbridge, I was recorded as being 23 and living in Alexandria, so I might not even be able to claim my results on athlinks.

Contact the race organizer and ask them to fix it.