sadness or euphoria

I posted here a few months ago thinking something was horribly wrong with me because I couldn't run farther than a mile without having to stop for a walking break. Thanks to all your brilliant advice, I ran (without any walking breaks!) a 5 mile race on Thanksgiving, and a 5k this weekend.

The advice that helped the most was to just slow down. So I have been running about a 10:30/mile pace (slower on longer runs) pretty consistently since September.

I was wondering if you all had any insights on how to build up speed without it being too painful. Or is the answer, to borrow a turn of phrase, "Just do it!"?

I know some of you on here have GPS watches you use for training so I'm looking for some opinions/reviews on them. I'm looking more at Garmin though I think I'll probably overpay because of the name. Aren't they like the iPod of GPS? heh. Though the reasons I'm looking at them are because I have a GPS by them for my car which I enjoy and has served me very well and partly because I am a fan of their cycling team.

I don't need anything too fancy since the winter has just barely begun and I won't be running outside anytime soon. I'm kind of looking at the Forerunner 50 and 205 because they're both fairly economical but the 205 looks better for not too much more. But, looks and price are nothing compared to quality.

Even if you don't own a Garmin, let me know how you enjoy your GPS watch. This will be my first one so I'm not at all familiar. I don't want to walk into a store to just be sold to instead of a caring opinion (not to say all running stores are like this!).

Thanks in advance!

yesterday- i ran the 12k of christmas, the 5k version, i did it in 32.07- second best 5k for me this year- i hadnt run a race or ran more than a mile on the treadmill ( but i play soccer 3x a week)since the Torchlight 8k- which was 98 degress outside at 6 pm in seattle and i did that one in 55.01 Sorry to those who didnt like me singing to the GLEE sound track- you all can suck it I had fun, I ran with my sister who almost broke the 30 min mark for the first time at 30.27- and she has been running - like every day- crazy kid- It was a good race- a surprose gradual hill and then the gradual down hill- i only wish that i had also Ibeatjohncurley.com but he didnt race this one- next year john you are going down!

One of the local running stores is offering this service immediately before the marathon next month:

Stay out of the elements and let us pamper you with everything you need before the PF Chang's Rock N Roll Marathon. Take advantage of our exclusive buses which will transport you directly to the Warm Zone. The WARM ZONE will provide you with the following:

• Dedicated UPS truck stationed at the Warm Zone for a gear drop to save you time.
• Optional bus transportation to the start.
• Private parking garage for Warm Zone participants who opt to ride our buses. The bus pickup will be located a short walk from the finish line.
• Very close to the starting lines: 1/4 mile in front of the marathon start and 500 feet from the half marathon start.
• Lots of port-o-potties
• Indoor comfort out of the cold
• Bagels, muffins, yogurt, coffee and other pre-race nutrition
• Complimentary running gloves, Body Glide, sunscreen lotion, safety pins, energy gels, & fluid replacement drinks
• Massage therapist from Performance Massage on hand to help you loosen up

And it costs only fifty bucks. I'm inclined to pass.

Good morning runners! Here's the daily training thread!

My park is covered in snow and not particularly run-able. After work I think I'm heading into town where they took care of the streets a little better and running for about an hour. I'll get about 7 or so miles in. And I'll be shoveling, that totally counts as cross-training!

So how is everyone else starting off their week, training and otherwise?

And it's Monday so, how was your weekend? Highlights? Lowlights? Anything you wanna brag or bitch about (or both)? The NYC weekend was fantastic, better than anticipated, which is saying a lot. Weekends like this you hate to see Monday roll around. For more, see hbfs's comment below.

Seems appropriate after this weekend:


Discuss... and HAPPY RUNNING!

I read a lot of running blogs, and I get a good deal of inspiration from all of them, but Catra Corbett's Dirt Diva blog takes the cake for me in matters of inspiration. This woman is amazing.

For those of you who don't know who she is, she's a former addict/alcoholic who took up running about 15 years ago, and quickly became an ultrarunner. She's completed over 250 ultras now, including well over 50 100-milers. Every year on her birthday, she runs as many hours as the years she's been around. This year she turned 45. So she ran for 45 hours with the help of some friends, for a total of 130 miles. You go, girl. I want to be like you some day.

http://trailgirl.blogspot.com/2009/12/it-will-be-ok.html

I'm considering getting the Feelmax Osmas.

Has anybody tried them out or any of the other shoes by Feelmax?

What are your thoughts?

At what distance, or for what types of training or races do people start to find it necessary to use camelbacks or hydration/fueling belts? Does anyone have any particular advice on their use?

I've been using gels and energy beans on my longer runs but have yet to carry my own fluids because the group/coach I train with has hydration stops.

Anyone have experience with the POSE method?

http://www.posetech.com/

I just found out about it and it looks interesting.

Secondary question: Anyone try Chi Running?

xposted to trigeeks

I have been having recurring problems with ITBS for the last year. After my last half-marathon in October, I screwed up my left leg so badly. I was limping and walked a lot of that half-marathon to finish. I have been taking time off since then. Yesterday, I decided to try a short run to see how my IT band is doing from the advice I received from this community.

I wanted to run a full 20 minutes. My IT band began hurting around 15 minutes, but I was able to go the full 20 minutes. I came home, took some IBU Profin, and rolled out my IT band twice. My leg doesn't hurt today, which is awesome!

I think I'm going to try to run three 20-minute runs this week and see how my leg holds up. I think this time, coming back from this injury, I'm going to be really slow, adding only 10% for each week. The 20-minute run was like a gift from the running gods. I even renewed my Runner's World subscription as positive thoughts in the right direction.

Hopefully you will be able to access this amazing film across the pond. I found it thought provoking, inspiring, a little damning and pessermistic in places. But definitely worth a watch. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/running-to-the-limits/4od#3018091 Let me know what you think...?

Greetings, runners! Please tell us about your past training week and upcoming goals

**This is a weekly thread maintained by myself, posted every weekend. Runners of all ages and abilities are encouraged to use it to document their training and goals. Feedback is also encouraged, which helps keep a sense of community - thanks!

**reminder: at the end of the month, I will be posting the 'Training Year' thread. For those that need info and preparation, the last couple years threads are in the memories section. I look forward to reading through the results for 2009!

Even though I don't always want to, I still run every day after school, even in the cold. I want to be in shape and ready for track season, and not even snow will stop me! I do have a confession though...I have not been running the distance my coach has told me to. Our coach wants us to run 6 miles on mondays, 5 miles on tuesdays, 8 miles on wednesdays, 5 miles on thursdays, and 6 miles on fridays. Honestly, I think that is a bit much for track training, considering the longest race in track is the 2 mile. Does anybody agree or disagree? Let me know. I have been running 4 miles on monday and friday, 3 miles on tuesday and thursday, and 4 or 5 on wednsday...is that enough for now or no? Let me know!!

A bit kudos goes out to dreamingwriter for being so strong through her broken ankle from soccer!!!!!!! I love you girl, stay strong!!!

Couple questions about heart rate training; I'm brand new to the heart rate thing, since I just got my Garmin 305 about 3 weeks ago.  So far I've just been recording data to see what it looks like, for the most part.

I've discovered that my resting heart rate in the morning is between 54-57 bpm, and my max is around 208.  Apparently it's weird that my max is that high and none of the standard heart rate zone stuff matches up with me (the standard calculators say my max should be 193).  I used this guide to create a little chart that says which zones are what based on my max/resting.  Chart looks like this:
Zone 2, 60-70% of max (148-163 beats/min)
Zone 3, 70-80% of max (163-178 beats/min)
Zone 4, 80-90% of max (178-193 beats/min)
Zone 5, 90-100% of max (193-208 beats/min)

It looks like on most of my runs when I'm not paying attention to heartrate, I'm running around 185-194 beats/min so mostly zone 4.  Speed workouts put me in the upper 190s/lower 200s, sometimes up to 208 but not very often (usually up to about 203-204).

So here's my question:  Sources I've read keep saying that easy and long runs should be at 65-75% of your max.  Two weeks ago I did a 9 mile run while trying to keep my HR under 170, and it was the hardest workout I've ever had.  I think I was using different muscles trying to run that slow, my feet got beat up from my shoes... I didn't feel like I was exerting myself that much, but my muscles sure did.  My muscles were killing me.  KILLING.  Is that really how a long run is supposed to be???  I've been running for almost 2 years with long runs and stuff and I've never done them that slow and they don't feel that way normally.  Why on earth is it that much work to keep my heart rate low?  Does that mean I'm hideously out of shape, or am I doing something wrong or something?

I have to run 11 miles tomorrow and I'd like to be doing this right so I'm actually getting something out of the training... advice?  I've still been doing kind of a sloppy job with my other runs, so i suppose I should start making sure my tempo runs are in the right zone(s) as well.

Training for a half marathon, btw.
ETA: sorry about the formatting fail.

Good morning runners! Here's the daily training thread!

Plans changed a bit because of the late night we had yesterday and the impending blizzard we're supposed to get later. hbfs and I are heading into NYC probably around 12:30-1pm where we will do some lovely holiday-in-the-city stuff. I'm hoping that NYRR headquarters still allows runners to change and leave their stuff there while we go run in Central Park. We'll probably do the 6ish mile outer loop of the park and whatever the distance is from HQ to there (twice, obv).

So what is everyone else up to today, training and otherwise?

Selfish question! For those of you who live in or have been to NYC, what's your favorite thing to do/see/place to eat/place to drink beers/favorite anything? For those who haven't been, what is the one thing you'd WANT to do if you went?



Discuss... and HAPPY RUNNING!

I just thought that since THE ENTIRE WORLD is telling me that the DC/NOVA area is supposedly going to DIE under 16-24" of snow today, I would share it with you. I went out for a brief walk/run (um, does running in Uggs count? lol) and it was *awesome* - it's a bright as day outside and quiet! I will definitely be spending my Saturday running in the snow (right after I build a fort! :).

Also, a random question!

For the Nike+ / iPod users out there, has anyone had Paula Radcliffe (or some other interesting person) tell you 'Congrats on another 500k!' after every single run? I've tried resetting, reformatting, and replacing the foot-battery-chip, but Paula still isn't convinced that I'm not superhuman. I actually bought another plug for the iPod in case it's a hardware issue (which is looking more and more likely), but I'm afraid of losing my history. Any idea if all my runs will be wiped off the iPod, or if they're stored on the individual chip, or what?

So yesterday was my first treadmill day in a very, very long time. This obviously mean that it was also the first time that I've worn a running tank top and shorts since...oh, August. Between June and now I've managed to lose 35 pounds, and I've definitely noticed that my muscles and bones are more prominant now then they were before.

Well, after getting home from the gym last night I got out of the shower and looked in the mirror and saw a NASTY red/purple/black bruise the size of a silver dollar on my left collarbone. Apparently when I was running the first 4 miles of my 8, I wasn't running with my headphones on (which is typical - I put them around my neck and then slap them on on the second half of my run) and as a result they were bumping up and down on my collarbone, enough to cause this crappy bruise. I recall that it did hurt a little when I first started running, but then I obviously ignored it. This hasn't been an issue before because from September through now when I've been running outside, I've been wearing thicker tops and/or zip-up turtlenecks with my shorts or tights.

I wear the wrap-around type of headphones because the earbuds simply will not stay in my ears. Are there other types to try? I don't think I could deal with a thicker shirt while running indoors. Since I'm confident that this winter will bring more treadmill runs, has anyone had this happen before, and what else could I do to prevent it? I had to wear make-up over the bruise with a neck scarf to work because it looks like a GIANT hickey, and hi, I'm a senior manager. I can't be walking around with that crap on my neck - what will my employees think!?

Good morning runners! Happy weekend! Here's the daily training thread!

Today I am working at the zoo in the morning. At some point I want to get in at least 6 miles and also some strength training. Probably won't be til sometime later this evening though.

So how is everyone else starting off their weekend, training and otherwise?

And it's Friday so -- weekend plans? After work, which should end relatively early, I'll be headed to Philly to pick up the girlfriend. We're going to New York for the weekend as sort of a late birthday/early Christmas celebration. Seeing as she's never been to the city, I figure Christmastime is the perfect time for a first time. There will be running in Central Park, exploring the museums, Times Square, good bars, and a bunch of other fun things. I'll also show her around my hometown on Long Island as she's never been there either. Should be a stellar weekend.

Finally, a BIG GOOD LUCK to anyone racing this weekend or otherwise going for some sort of PR!!!



Discuss... and HAPPY RUNNING!

Good morning runners! Here's the daily training thread!

Today will I'll be running 8 or so miles, nice and easy, after work. I'll also be doing a ton of pull-ups and push-ups and something with the medicine ball and/or truck tire,

So what is everyone else up to today, training and otherwise?

Enjoy:


Discuss... and HAPPY RUNNING!

At the event a week and a half ago, they told us that registration for next year's race will be $145 for either the half or the full marathon; however, their web site says $135.

If you register by May 1, 2010 and use the code "OWNTHESTRIP", you will get a $10 discount off registration.

(Registration for the first 1,000 people to register on site at this year's race for next year was $95.)