Sports & Fitness The Running Thread (All Abilities)

How's everybody doing?

I got a new injury to add to the growing list, but thankfully it's only ever one injury at a time.
Strained my hip flexor/groin/lower an area doing short sprint fly runs.
Did hit a new lifetime PB, but will have to ease off top speed for a little while to let it recover.

Been working on strength to weight ratio lately and going well, getting stronger and lighter.

 

Great work on the PB @Ace in the Hole and the power to weight work, bummer you picked up another injury though. Hopefully this one won't take long to come good.

We just got back from a short break in Daylesford, had a nice relaxing time. Managed to map out and squeeze in a half marathon trail run up there on Saturday morning along part of the Goldfields Track. I ran from the north side of Daylesford, around the lake then followed Wallaby Track to Sailors Falls and back to Daylesford.

Probably my toughest run yet, lots of steep up & downs so hard to get a rhythm going. 21.7k and 540 vertical meters, 99% off-road on rocky double track and nice single-track. I walked most of the ups and the downs were too steep to really let fly on. Absolutely loved it though, and pulling up fine after these runs too now, so I'm definitely getting stronger. Time to start pushing out the k's a bit more now on the weekend long runs I think.

Relive 'Morning Run'

Instagram post by Numbnuts • Oct 6, 2017 at 10:11pm UTC

Instagram post by Numbnuts • Oct 6, 2017 at 10:32pm UTC

Instagram post by Numbnuts • Oct 6, 2017 at 11:00pm UTC

Treated myself to a 90 minute massage at our favourite Spa afterwards ;-)

 

Good stuff.
Bet that 90 min massage felt so much better after your running efforts.

 

Would have felt better if I'd stayed awake through most of it

 

Great to see everyone is still keeping at and @Ace in the Hole , hope you recover swiftly and congrats on the PB.

@Propagate, great to see you are ramping up the volume with no more injuries.

I've been very consistent keeping my 5 kms to around 20 minutes for the past 5-6 weeks(4 runs a week) with no injuries and not even proper tired afterwards but i do get a bit of a nagging pain from my right shin. Completely disappears when i run on a soft surface or do a bit of proper stretching though.

Haven't had a sports massage in over 4 years now so might as well go for it and i'm pretty pretty sure i'll be adding fartleks or maybe some HIIT to my lifting and core days moving forward.

PS: There is a group called sweat elite that i follow on FB that puts the stats,habits and routines of the running elites... check it out if interested, some great info and motivation too

 

Took Emma for her first trail run this morning, we walked all the ups and ran the flats and downs. She did amazing, but most importantly. she loved it!

It helped that I took her to my favourite spot and it was a cracking day.

Video - Instagram post by Numbnuts • Oct 14, 2017 at 11:45pm UTC

Video - Instagram post by Numbnuts • Oct 15, 2017 at 12:14am UTC

...and I couldn''t resist trying out my new Yoga skills on a deserted beach ;-)

Instagram post by Numbnuts • Oct 14, 2017 at 11:44pm UTC

Hope some good runs were had by all on this fine spring day!

Anyone run the Melbourne Marathon, or any of the other Melbourne runs today? Sensational day for it.

 

Cracked off my next goal distance at the weekend, I ran a 30k on Saturday morning, 31k all up.

Mixed terrain, mainly dirt back roads, a little bit of trail and about 6k of tarmac road.

I ran from home to my favorite cafe which is in the foothills, so it's pretty much a continuous uphill route with a couple of big hills thrown in and I got picked up at the cafe (after a HUGE breakfast).

250 vertical meters of climbing and a shade under 31k, total time door to door 3 hours and 6 minutes, very pleased with that.

I'd have gone under 2 hours for the half marathon but I hit the first of two big climbs at the 19k mark and that slowed me right down, I hit 21.1k at 2:06. I picked up a bit after that and was on target to go under 3 hours for the 30k then hit that second big climb at 27-28k, by which time my calves decided to call it a day so I was reduced to running the last couple of k's up that hill as a run a bit, walk a lot, run a bit and hit 30k at 3 hours and 25 seconds before "cruising" along the flat last k to the cafe.

Absolutely stoked to say the least, considering I couldn't run one kilometer when I started in January, I have to say though, I could not have gone any further. The wheels had fallen off completely by about 29k, it was emergency mode to get the last couple of k's in from there.

I felt pretty good the rest of Saturday, did a heap of work in the garden then off for a massage.

Sunday morning though, I rolled out of bed and couldn't move! I literally shuffled to the dunny, my calves were destroyed and my lower back was very tight. I shuffled around the house for 10 minutes then eased my way into a bunch of yoga stretches and within 20 minutes I was tip top. Just tight in the top of my calves and they twinge a little walking but ease off as I work them. Spent the rest of the day gardening again.

I didn't have a great night last night though, couldn't get comfy, felt like someone had punched me in the kidneys. Not sure if it was the run or the pretty brutal sports massage to be honest, better once I was up and moving this morning.

All in all I'm stoked I made the distance, stoked that I did it in a not too shabby time for a beginner and stoked that I've pulled up remarkably well. Maybe I'll pull this whole marathon thing off after all! (and who knows where to from there).

Rest week this week, then slowly start the long runs again then look toward 35-38k as the next target distance sometime around the end of November.

Hope everyone else is still getting out and getting the k's in?

Cheers.

 

Well done you are an inspiration. I had fallen off the wagon but back to shuffling this week

 

Thanks @Heinz57 First time any one has called me an inspiration, cheers. Amazing what a bit of dedication and consistency can do. Hope you get back onto that wagon mate!

 

That's some awesome progress @Propagate and great to see your are taking rest/recovery pretty seriously. Probably one of the main reasons why you are progressing this quick so nicely done

Yesterday was the first time i've done a speed session in 3 years... Slotted it just before doing my usual core workout. The aim was to raise the heart rate and get them legs turning quick.

It was a blast but stopped myself after around 2kms as i still don't know where I stand speed wise... Did a few laps of warm up and then started with 2*450m repeats at around 80-90% sprinting pace and then 4*200m and it was too windy at points so was an awesome hard workout.

Definitely adding speedwork to the weekly schedule!

 

Thanks @paulF

Speed work is good, I stopped doing mine a few weeks back as it was taking too much out of me and I was pulling up a little sore for the long runs.

I'm thinking I'm going to carry on as I am just now and keep increasing distance, (distance was my primary goal, then speed). Once I've knocked over my first marathon distance and have my base a bit more solid I'll start adding the speed day back in and work on getting the Marathon time down a bit.

Based on Saturday, I'm felling pretty good about going the marathon distance by February, and I'd like to aim at cracking 4 hours, then maybe spend next year trying to get that down to 3.5h.

 

That sounds like a really good plan @Propagate, you'll smash it by February for sure based on your previous progress.

 

If anyone likes to read books on running/runners I've just finished David Clark's book "Out There".

I really enjoy autobiographies, particularly sports related ones (and to niche it further, particularly ones where people have completely re-invented themselves or turned their lives around through sport or endurance).

I've read all the big name ones, Scott Jurek, Dean Karnazes, Rich Roll etc and read a help of self published regular Joe ones.

I really enjoyed David Clark's though, and can highly recommend it to anyone into these types of books, or anyone that just likes a good non-fiction read.

He was a 320lb (145kg) high functioning alcoholic drug addict that went from successful entrepreneur to bankrupt and the story of how he overcame it and became a legendary Ultra-marathoner! Inspiring stuff, the guy is a bit of a legend these days. I love reading/seeing how people can change their lives so drastically, he's like two different people. Quite amazing.

https://www.amazon.com/Out-There-St...9398223&sr=8-1&keywords=david+clark+out+there

 

Good read below emphasizing the importance of strength training for running and in particular long distance running. Hope everyone is doing well

To Make It To The Next Level, Strength Training Is A Must - Sweat Elite

 

I've just started running again so enjoyed reading through this thread. I've never been much of a runner, always slow and just pick up some Km's when I find myself facing down a fun run or something a bit longer (done a single HM, Marathon and half ironman). Never trained for greater than 6 months with any kind of focus. This time I am doing a session or two with a running group each week for speed training (motivation as much as speed) and getting in some other runs, will introduce cycling and the odd swim once the body gets used to running a bit.

Google Rob Mackinnon for a different approach to cramps.

Basically he found that the cause was often dysfunctional nerve impulses (even in well hydrated/nourished athletes), by introducing a strong sensation (taste) these could be overridden and prevent/cease the cramp. Think of the old pickle juice to prevent cramps remedy, the pickle juice doesn't actually contain anything that stops cramps, it is however a strong taste. When I listened to a podcast with Rob he was developing a drink to stop and/or prevent cramps, working on the most effective taste that was still drinkable while exercising.

 

Did a tough hill run on Sunday, ended up full of cold Monday....

Was doing a bit of reading up on cadence. Seems 180 is the magic number and should aim for 170-190?

I checked my Garmin data, seems I'm loping along around 142-145.

I did a test run yesterday and lifted my cadence, shortened my stride. My heart rate was same but I felt like I was working much harder.

I was bushed by the turn around so lengthened the stride for the return and felt a lot easier.

On looking at the data, I'd ended up about 10-12 seconds per k faster than my normal pace, but in both directions (i.e. fast cadence and slow cadence ended up the same splits). I was a lot more tired at the end than usual and I must have over lengthened the return stride as Garmin showed an average cadence of 139 for the entire run....

Might try a metronome app on the phone and slowly increase the cadence a few beats per week, see how that goes.

 

Good stuff @Propagate

Read about the magic number before and even though it does make a lot of sense, one thing that always puts my mind in doubt about the 180 number is the fact that these studies were conducted on Olympians who live and breath running unlike most of us...

Even though i never count my cadence but i can feel the difference on different training days and shorter stride, quicker cadence is the way to go but it takes months on end to get efficient at it and it takes a fair amount of fitness to be able to maintain it.

You will also need to decouple your breathing from your cadence and most probably changing your running form to make sure you are landing on the middle/balls of your feet(torso leaning forward, slight ankles forward lean,engaged core...)

Not easy but definitely the way to go to improve ones running. You can use a metronome and set it to say 160 at first and trying to increase your foot speed and take it from there.

 

Some marathon runners go above 200 cadence.

There are a few variables from my reading rather than a magic number. Seems in general better runners have higher cadence.

I'm around 150 myself, aiming to hit 160 in a few months. Ran on sand mainly today, was a punish, feel good for it now. Focusing on getting long runs to 10km and doing some pace work each week.

 

Hey Guys
Don't want to be a stick in the mud but what's wrong with just putting the runners on and going for a long run and not worrying about heart rate, cadence, stride etc. Simplify it and don't put so much pressure on yourselves. Enjoy!!

 

Having some targets keeps me running. I enjoy running, if I don't have a target or goal I find myself making excuses.

Nothing wrong with just running, just trying to keep myself going so it might as well be something helpful