Sports & Fitness The Running Thread (All Abilities)

I think this is what pushed me to complete my first 5k run . However, have not been running fro m sunday as am under recovery mode now. The knee are feeling lot better today . May be I will get back to running from next Monday...

 

Well, last week i think i overstretched a bit. Thursday night badminton for 2 hours and then Friday I run+walk 5k , Saturday did legs workout after a long time , so my hamstring were very stiff . Sunday morning again did a run+walk 5k , sunday evening badminton for 2:30 hours . Monday morning I was literally not able to walk and still feel my Achilles Tendons stiff .Hamstrings are better . I think i need to rest this week so that my Achilles tendons are recovered before I go back to running. Decided not to play badminton this week as well. Will do only weights.

 

Does any of you take protein or magnesium supplements after running ?

 

Did the husky sprint triathlon on the weekend. Missed my goal time by 2 and a half minutes, still happy. So many incredible amateur athletes there! Motivated at the moment to ramp up training to the next level.

Basic goals for the year are to run a half marathon (maybe Sydney), get my goal sprint triathlon time and maybe do a standard distance if I get time. Also aiming to get the run cadence to 170 as I'm hitting averages of 160s most runs now. like to do a half IM next year as a mid term goal.

Oh and just have a good time getting it done.

Nope. Just shovel in as much fruit and veg as I can. Plenty of elite sports people avoid supplements altogether so there's no need for them in general IMO.
Marketing for all that stuff is pretty strong and when I was younger I did take protein and creatine while lifting weights. Now believe general diet and training is 90%+ of it so just focus on that, why waste time on potential 1%'s?

 

great work @Hodor my cadence is back down to 145 ish. I got slower and slower times trying to work on getting the cadence up so I just thought bugger it and went back to my old loping style, my times went up, HR down and perceived effort dropped back down.

@Ideacrash I don't supplement, I have a pretty clean lifestyle food wise so I don't think I'm missing out on anything. From time to time I do have a glass of Greens+ powder but generally because I had a very severe case of shingles in my face about 5 years ago that I never fully got over. I almost lost sight on one eye to it. If I do too much or get too stressed my face starts to tingle again and I know I'm pushing too much and a little run down so I'll dump a few glasses of Greens+ into me for a few days and wind the exercise back a little until the tingling passes. That was brutal, I've never been that sick in my life and and I've never got anywhere near back to the fitness I had before it. It took 18 months before I could do any sort of exercise without getting laid flat again and it's left me not able to just get that last little 2% effort that makes the difference when you're really going all out. If I do manage to get close to an all out effort in something then I immediately get flu like symptoms for a week or so and tingling and pins & needles in the face again for a month+. Must have done some pretty major nerve damage I guess.

 

Interesting. Definitely feels different, my times have continued to improve with my cadence. Ran a 23:30 5km a couple of weeks back which was unthinkable 3 months back. Infact I struggle to not speed up with the higher cadence.

 

ideacrash, I take supplements after a run and I take magnesium to relax my muscles, also helps with cramps which I never get now. I'm a stocky sort of build and don't stretch enough so I find the magnesium is great for me. I'm also in the gym 5 days a week before work so I have a Protein shake at work instead of a morning coffee. Being Vegan I reckon I have a pretty good diet but i'll always take supplements to compensate from what I'm missing in food. Could be doing bugger all for me but I'm happy and at my age to still be doing what I'm doing something works!!!

 

@Ideacrash , no need to supplement when you are on a healthy diet. Just eat more healthy stuff in case you are really racking up the miles.
I personally have protein shakes after my daily sessions but that's about it and that's to maintain muscle weight as i do a bit of lifting. Otherwise, i'll have to eat a few more serves a day of chicken or salmon or ...

@Hodor , congrats on doing the triathlon.
As for improving cadence, speed work is great for that. One or two 10-15 minute sessions a week would make a massive difference but don't over do since they are really hard on the body especially if you haven't run all out in a while. 200 meter repeats are a good starting point.

I don't count my cadence and i only do 5kms or so these days and an odd 10km or so run every few weeks but those speed sessions made a noticeable difference to my running.

As a side note, core workouts are pretty fundamental too in running. A good strong core translates to better form which in turn translates to more efficient running.

 

Thanks Paul, Lots of that aligns with what I'm trying to do. When work allows I do some group sessions which are speed based and always include some core work. Work and a baby name it tough to fit in everything I would like, I'm improving which is great.

My watch counts my cadence so it's easy to track.

 

Thanks Guys, well am having a good diet apart from missing breakfast ( however, atleast I have a cup of milk and a coffee at a minimum). Sometimes have a decent beakfast.

when ever my partner gets a chips packet home I finish it . Very rarely drink frizzy drink or alcohol.

Taking one multi vitamin tab per day in the night at this stage.

 

Time to get serious again, I've dropped back a bit after the marathon. Not for any particular reason, more a culmination of lots of little things.

I was pretty tired after it, so did a few short easy runs and missed a few long trail social runs.

I've also had the urge to get back out on the bikes now that the first big distance has been ticked off, I missed my riding buddies so there goes one full day per weekend again,, Going to try and find a balance between the two now so I can get my bike fitness back up and keep the running gains, still want to work toward a 50k trail run next but will take my time getting there and build the bike strength back up along side.

After nearly 7 months off the bikes I went out last weekend and rode a 20k MTB loop on Saturday afternoon, ran a 9k trail run Sunday morning (boy did my legs feel that after the first ride out again the day before), then a 60k gravel ride that afternoon. Was pretty bushed Sunday night ;-) Headed out for a 70k gravel ride early yesterday morning in the foul wind but had a ball, forgot how much I'd missed riding.

Lastly, I'm pretty time poor just now since the second puppy arrived, the two dogs can't be left alone together just yet so I have to forgo one Yoga class per week, (3 down to 2 now) so Emma can go instead and I can't get my mid-day runs from the office in as I can't leave the pair of the feral beats alone together at work yet.

So, needs must, I pulled the pin on a treadmill at the weekend, waiting for it to be delivered. I've been looking at the various virtual apps, RunSocial looks good and Zwift are also trialing a running version of the virtual cycling system. I just need a Bluetooth footpod. This way I can get my targeted runs in in the week easily at hoe with one eye on the dogs.

Should be good for rehab for Emma too, a niggling foot injury that has bothered her for almost a year and flares up every time she attempts to run again has just been confirmed as a muscle tear in the top of her foot. Doc has sent her to a physio, so an incline treadmill should help as part of her rehab.

I ordered a NordicTrack Commercial 1750. Seems to be the treadmill market is pretty stitched up here in Aus, the same model is a lot cheaper in the States and this is coming from Nordictrack themselves. The whole market seems to be stitched right up, but having looked at a lot of options, it was still by far the best reviewed machine in the Aussie price range it seems.It has a -3 to +15 incline, 22" wide belt (seems most are 20") and a long 60" belt which is good as I'm tall. A 3.85hp motor too so it's on the money in terms of a robust home treadmill before you start looking at dropping heaps on a commercial one. The model name of this one is "Commercial" but it isn't, it's a home one.

I had been watching the classified the last few weeks for an ex. gym sell off, they seem to ask around the $1000-$1200 for them but I guess it's a gamble as they could have been in use 10-18 hours per day, every day and be on their last legs, so I figured I'd go for a new, decent spec home one.

When the nights set back in I'll add either a Wahoo Kickr or a Tacx Neo smart trainer to the fold and get some indoor cycling Zwift action on. I do have a couple of ex. gym spin bikes that get a lot of use over winter but all my buddies are Zwifting now so looks like that's the way to go to keep some sort of social aspect going through winter training.

 

I have both a Magnesium tablet (daily) and have a spray bottle of magnesium oil that I make up which I use a few times a week. I find it has helped a great deal with my energy levels during my training. I am currently training for the Port Macquarie Ironman and it has helped me no end.

 

Is anyone else going to be at Port Macquarie for the IM this year?

 

I am still a sandstone man, need some more time to become Iron Man

 

Had my first proper go on the treadmill on Monday night. It has a nice soft bed so I thought I'd go back to barefoot for a bit to strengthen the feet up and help watch the form.

My plan was to do 1-2k easy barefoot then throw the runners on for the remainder of the workout.

I got quite into it though, found a rythm and pumped out a brisk 5k barefoot. It felt good.

WOW.. from the next morning to now I'm completely trashed, feels like someone has both calves in a vice, I literally can't walk, I'm shuffling along like a 100 year old man that's desperately trying to keep an epic dump in.

Schoolboy error I guess. Too hard, too soon again on the barefoot.

 

sorry to hear this . I think anything new we try we should ramp it up slowly . I always end up doing this mistake as well .

For a coincidence since it was raining outside , I tried to run on treadmill as well on monday. Surprised how slow I used to run on treadmill. Tried to match my road pace on tread mill and ran for about 2.5km . Felt really good after the run . Then went for an hour of Yoga session. Felt magic . I had played badminton on both sat and Sunday morning .So all the leg muscles were stiff . After yoga session i was feeling so light and refreshed. I have decided to perform yoga atleast once per week. Off-course , I would perform few yoga exercises to stretch after the run..

 

Yoga is awesome generally, and great for runners @Ideacrash I've been going 2-3 times per week for 7 months now plus using some of the poses as pre & post run stretches (especially pigeon pose) and it's worked wonders. I'm way more flexible and my core is so much stronger, I'm all-round stronger than I've ever been. Great fun now we're doing head and handstands too

 

I've been taking magnesium religiously every day after getting massive cramps in my last marathon last year. I don't know if it is helping or not though.

After a hard run (intervals or long run), I like to drink chocolate milk. Apparently it's got the perfect balance between carbs and protein! I sometimes take a protein shake, particular after a gym session, just to make sure my muscles get plenty of protein for regeneration. Anything to help when you're getting old!

 

thats really good, I cannot do all those advanced pigeon pose and head stand yet ... but even with the basic poses I can feel the impact on body and mind .

 

@Ideacrash it's such a long process with tiny incremental gains along the way. It was 6 months before I could even attempt pigeon without feeling as thought something would snap, and even now I can't go super deep into it, just the foundation. Same with head/handstands, I'm just a the the begining of being able to almost get it, strength, technique and time will get the rest of the way. Enjoy the journey, it's so good once you get passed the first 5-6 months and the poses become more accessible.