Did another 3 miles today. Couldn't find my watch but I know I am slow. Went out in a rotten mood came back feeling better. Running is really good for me.
I am so glad that I started running in the winter. I hope I can keep this up when its hot I am a weenie when it comes to heat. I may have to move. My winters are mild so I go out in a fleece and come back in a t-shirt and my first reaction in the house is "who turned up the heat" My husband just started running too. We alternate days.
Now that I've managed 5K I need a new goal. Any ideas? Should I go for distance or time?
Hi hikerchick, I know what you mean - I just started running last October and I wonder how I'm going to fare in the heat this summer too. I have no problem running in the cold (to a point), but I'm not sure how I'm going to feel in August.
As to whether to focus on distance or time, all the advice I've read for beginning runners is to not worry so much on speed, just get used to running consistent distances each week. I usually run 4 times a week, with one of those runs being a longer run, since I'm trying to build up my endurance to the point where I'll be able to run a half marathon. I'm up to 8 miles on my long run, and the shorter runs are usually between 4 and 6 miles, depending on how I feel, how much time I have, etc.
woohoo 4 miles today. Still a long way to go to get back to the long runs I was at a month ago.
I am running a new running technique. It turns out I was collapsing the pelvis and letting the thighs turn in and pronating a lot more than I used to. I've been running 3 times with concentrating on retraining my step and I think it is getting somewhere but it is exhausting.
I...hate....heat. I already run in the early mornings so I can be home before dh leaves for work but in the summer I find it cruicial. The only thing is I do the Hood-to coast relay so I have to get used to some heat. I try to do at least one miserable late afternoon run a week when it is warm out to acclimate.
That being said, it was so nice to run in sunshine today...first time in AGES
hiker, just focus on distance for awhile, speed will come. Whatever you do dont increase both at the same time. After awhile if you want to, you can add 1 speed session a week, but the bulk of your running should be done at a comfortable pace. There are some experts who believe that for the first year ALL of your running should be done slowwwwww. But that would be boring!
ennay, how did you figure all this out about your stride?
Two miles again for me today. Couldn't decide between 2 and 3, so I ran 2, and came back and got my dogs and walked them one--they are now quite elderly and can't run more than a block. 30 seconds faster than last time, although still quite slow, much less hacking up of nasty goo, and I got treated to a beautiful sunrise! A decent run.
physical therapy--once they pointed out that I was rotating in while stretching, I started playing around with it and its like my body kind of remembers the old stride but my muscles are weak. They have been doing alot of work to get my hip muscles stronger to help.
Only problem now is I have been trying to wear my new orthotics for a few hours a day to break them in and they HURT. That doesnt seem right
so sad, it was beautiful this morning (4.15 miles)...gorgeous sunrise and what..next week we go back to dark
I did 7 (very) hilly miles with running club tonight. I was surprised at my speed considering I've now done 32 miles in 3 days, I was under 9 minute miles on a tough route. I'm taking a rest day from running tomorrow though.
I've also found races for the next two weekends that I fancy. One is a hilly 14 miler and the other is a hilly 20 miler, both in beautiful parts of the country. I'm going to use them as measured training runs rather than races, hopefully the scenery will distract me from the hills! And the day after the 20 miler I'm going to go white water rafting before I come home from Wales (where the race is)
I'll have to come back and check that link a bit later when I have more time. I do feel a bit weird running downhill! White water rafting sounds fun, Helen, and you're so brave to sign up for those hilly races!
Today I ran 4 miles on a route with some hills. I didn't take any walk breaks, and I kept a good pace (for me) the whole time. I'm pretty happy with my run today! It was very windy, though! I was a bit worried before the run because my right ankle was swollen. I broke it a few years ago and it used to swell up quite a bit (it always looks a bit bigger than the other one, and it has metal in there holding it all together!), but I hadn't seen it swell this much in a while. Still not sure what was going on, and it hurts a bit after the run. I'll probably take it easy tomorrow or do the elliptical instead.
3.75 miles for me tonight. It was one of those awful runs when you feel like you're running through molasses. Oh well, those happen from time to time. At least I went out.
Lisa - take it easy on your ankle, but it should be fine. It sounds exactly like mine (full of metal, a bit bigger than it should be), mine swelled up once, the very first time I ran 5k straight, and I was hobbling round for a week or 10 days, since then it's been fine and takes anything I chuck at it.
I usually post in the runners thread in the 20-something forum, but I see there's also a running thread here.
So here's some background on me: Last year I finished the Chicago Marathon. My husband and I did it together and we finished in 5 hours and 56 minutes. We didn't train for it as well as we should have, but it was one of our goals of things to do before 35, so we figured that we might as well do it. Anyways, I was so proud of myself and my body for what it could do. (We also did the Nike 5K run and Chicago Half Marathon (finished that in 2 hours 21 minutes).
After the marathon we stopped running, but we signed up for the Shamrock Shuffle in Chicago (an 8K race on March 25) so I have to do 5 miles. So I started up running again 4 weeks ago. For a while, I had a mental block over running anything greater than 3 miles, but last week I ran 5 miles and it felt great! So I guess, the running bug is back in me.
I ran (or should I say jog since I am so slow) 5 miles today. I did it in 61 minutes, about 2 minutes slower than last week, but hey some days it is like that. My husband was trying to pressure me to run faster , but I saidNO WAY! I know my pace, and I'm not trying to kill myself. He wanted to run a 10min/mile pace...Ugggh, no...that is not happening....at least not yet. Am I wrong? To me it seems impossible to go from a 12 min to a 10 min pace right now. I can do an 11:45 min pace if I am running 3 miles, and he's asking me to run 5 miles at a faster pace than that! After I finished running (he finished about 15 minutes earlier than I did), he said that he thinks that I can run at an 11 minute pace. Why can't he just understand that I am slow. Man, I'm just happy to be able to run 5 miles, and now he's harrassing me about speed. He said that he believes in me and nows that I can do it, he just thinks I need to push harder.Sure, I want to get faster, but I can't do it overnight. I feel if I go faster than I won't be able to do 5 miles, but I know I can do 5 miles at the pace I ran today and it was comfortable. Thursday I'm going to do some speed work on the treadmill (run two minutes at 5.5mph, then 2 minutes at 6.0 mph, and continue the cycle for 30 minutes).
you should not push pace too hard during training, especially with a limited consistent running base. MAX one time per week you can incorporate structured speedwork after a good warm-up.
The pace you train at should be considerably slower than your race pace. Since you are just restarting "comfortable" is exactly the pace you want at least 80% of the time.
You should not increase pace and distance at the same time this early in a training program
Thanks for the advice. See you have an excuse. I'm 26 and I'm running at 12mile/minute! There's actually alot of people where I run who are older than me (50's-60's I guess) amd they pass me on the track. My goal is too eventually run faster than each one of them. My landlord is 56 and he qualified for the Boston Marathon. I know I should just be happy that I am out there running. I don't know why I'm so slow...I used to run track in highschool and I was pretty darn fast (not that I can remember any of my times, but I do have a trophy!)...I used to blame my slowness it on my weight, but I've seen people bigger than me run faster than me, so I guess I just have to accept the fact that I am a turtle.
Illene, did you always run at 12min/mile pace? if not, what did you start at and how long did it take you to get to 12min/mile?
I was reading some posts on runner's world and while they say build up base mileage, alot of people seem to suggest adding a tempo or interval training in there to increase speed.
I'm don't know if I would consider myself "in training". I'm just running. I don't know, it's funny because now that I know I can run 5 miles I don't really feel as if I am training for it.
This is my weekly plan:
Monday: Strength training (if I am working upper body, then I will also cross train on the elliptical or 4 run 30 minutes)
Tuesday: Run 5 miles
Wednesday: Strength training
Thursday: Interval training (3 miles)
Friday: Strength training
Saturday: run 5 miles
Sunday: Rest
Does this seem good. I'm trying to take the advice of not increasing distance and pace at the same time. So does this look fine? I was also thinking about increasing my mileage by 0.5 miles (or maybe 5 minutes) each Saturday.
Oh, I'm doing BFL strength training, but not the cardio.
I run at 9 minute mile pace or faster and there are plenty of older people who run faster than me too! I think one over 60 broke the 10 mile world record (for her age) in a local race the other weekend - 60something minutes. That would be vomiting pace for me!
Some people are naturally faster than others. However fast you are you can get a bit faster with training, but some people will always have the advantage there, sadly.
Increasing by 0.5 miles on a Saturday should be fine to build your distances up.
I'm a bit worried I'll always be a turtle too, but I've made lots of progress with my speed, I think. I've been working more on increasing my distance because of preparing for the 10k, but my speed sort of naturally increased along with it as I'm getting more fit and dropping weight. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a "back of the pack" girl and probably always will be!! I won't be running alongside my 6 or 7 minute/mile husband anytime soon.
Today I wasn't going to run because I woke up quite ill and ended up coming home early, but I felt much better this afternoon...so....I ran 5 miles! Woohoo! That was the first time I've gone that far without stopping or walking at all, so it's a bit of a milestone. My legs were definitely wobbly jelly at the end, but I took it quite easy and ran at an even slower pace than normal (about 12:45 minute miles). I'm just trying really hard to work up to running a whole 10k, no matter how slowly. Running nonstop for a little over an hour -- I never would've imagined I could do that while still weighing 200 pounds!
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and to Cool Runners .... I agree with ennay don't push your pace, you'll just injure yourself...
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