OT - Running

[Joe P]

Justin,

Are there any trails nearby? I am lucky to have a lot of trails near my house so I can stay off the roads. In these times of distracted drivers, I don't trust anyone. It would only take a small swerve to hit you, somebody looks down to read a text and wham it's all over. Too risky for me!

 

Trails are usually a more forgiving surface too.

 

Regards,

Joe

[Dave Ferris]

Good for you Phred I just looked back at my log and I last did a 13 miler on Sunday 1/13 of this year. Seems like longer then that. I haven't run over 8 miles in months with this damn toe thing. My overall mileage is WAY down right now.

 

Did incorporate about a mile of uphills on this trail detour on my 7 miler on Monday. It was a rare late May rain here and I was slip slidin' around in the mud coming downhill...great fun.

 

Yeah Justin, that sucks man. Been there before although haven't fallen and scraped up anything ...yet. I try to take routes that have the last interaction with cars-side streets, trails, parks, etc.

 

Although I had a close call last week on my road bike. I was coming down this very steep hill to a stoplight that is the entrance for a popular supermarket and restaurants. I hate this particular area as there's always a lot cars but it's kinda hard to avoid on my otherwise fairly mellow, scenic route.

 

I was in the far right bike lane and some idiot comes up on my right passing me while I'm still in the bike lane. I'm riding the brakes the whole way down this steep hill yet still going easily 24-26 mph. The lane is fairly wide and I was straddling the LH line a bit and this crazy man comes within a few feet of me. Scared the sh*t out me ! The light was red, he kept going and made a right into the shopping center, totally oblivious to me. If I had veered even a tad to the right when he was coming up on me, he would have hit me.

 

I've ridden through this dicey intersection probably over a hundred times and this was the first real close call. All it takes is one time though. That's why my preference is the mountain bike on the trails. The road bike gives you a good fitness/ cardio base though.

 

You are definitely more exposed on the the road while biking as opposed to running but still anything can happen at any time. I thought all the a**holes were here in LA but I guess it can happen anywhere..even in a place like Maine.

 

Try running against traffic. You can at least see what's coming at you. I almost always try to avoid having cars at my back while running. Cycling you can't help it.

 

Well...off to the gym to do about an hour and then if I have the energy maybe a couple of miles with my dogs afterwards.

[justin_havu]

I usually run against traffic, and in the past 3 or 4 years that I have been running, I've never had that kind of thing happen. And where I am right now, there really aren't that many trails, and up here, the time of day usually makes a difference--if I run in the early morning or evening, traffic usually isn't that bad. Also, I have a few different routes planned depending on the mileage that I want to cover, so I could do an easy 3-miler, or challenge myself with a 6-miler, or anything in between, but I'll be taking it easy until my knee heals up.

 

Oh, and after 3 or 4 years of running, I'm so used to pavement that it really doesn't bother me at all.

[Phred]

Hey all, just a quick update. I did the Ottawa half marathon last week, and ran 1:44:21, and am super happy. I could have gone faster, but it was nice to finish in relative comfort, and have my legs heal quickly.

 

Part of the reason I eased up on the race pace is that I have registered for a few different types of races this year. On May 18th I did a VERY short triathlon. It's called a try-a-tri, and intended for people who have never done a triathlon before. I probably should have gone up a distance level, as I finished 2nd overall out of 250 people. Anyway, it did the trick, and I am very interested in doing more. I have one (a longer one) coming up next week.

 

I am also going to do a spartan sprint race the following week. Basically a 5k race for idiots that want to climb walls, run up ski hills, and crawl through mud, and lift cinder blocks, and throw spears, etc... while they run 5k .

 

Happy running all...

[stepay]

Hey all, just a quick update. I did the Ottawa half marathon last week, and ran 1:44:21, and am super happy. I could have gone faster, but it was nice to finish in relative comfort, and have my legs heal quickly.

 

Part of the reason I eased up on the race pace is that I have registered for a few different types of races this year. On May 18th I did a VERY short triathlon. It's called a try-a-tri, and intended for people who have never done a triathlon before. I probably should have gone up a distance level, as I finished 2nd overall out of 250 people. Anyway, it did the trick, and I am very interested in doing more. I have one (a longer one) coming up next week.

 

I am also going to do a spartan sprint race the following week. Basically a 5k race for idiots that want to climb walls, run up ski hills, and crawl through mud, and lift cinder blocks, and throw spears, etc... while they run 5k .

 

Happy running all...

 

This thread needs a bump, and I'll do so with my kids' running stories.

 

The last time I mentioned them, my daughter had run 22:06 for her PR as a sophomore in HS (5k) and my son had just finished a successful 7th grade season despite having mild asthma (which has now been cured with the removal of his appendix! - I have another thread on that). So, here are their updates:

 

My daughter (now a HS junior) qualified for the regional track meet in the spring (when still a sophomore) by running the 1600 meters (9 meters short of a mile) in 5:23...up from her PR as a freshman of 6:16, so quite an improvement. So far this year in cross country (5k), she has lowered her PR to 21:05, and she has adjusted her goal of 20:something to 19:something by the end of the year. They run on a famously fast and flat course on Saturday, so her goal could be realized then.

 

My 8th-grade son lowered his 2-mile cross country PR to 12:10 on a difficult course on Saturday to finish first for his team for the first time ever. He then had his appendix attack on Monday night and had it out at 6 a.m. Tuesday morning, eliminating his breathing problems completely. His goal by the end of the season is to break the school record of 11:25. Hopefully he will have enough time to get back into the running and make that happen. Doc says he can start running again on Wednesday if he has no pain, so that should be enough time.

 

I currently have a KNEE injury to go along with my chronic calf problems and have not run since Labor Day. I'd rather see the kids continue to improve though.

[e-keys]

Stepay, hope the knee heals quickly. How did you injure it. Is it a running related injury. Sorry if you posted about it in an earlier and I missed reading it. (I'm training for a few upcoming events myself, just curious)

[miden]

If we were meant to run we would have four legs

[stepay]

Stepay, hope the knee heals quickly. How did you injure it. Is it a running related injury. Sorry if you posted about it in an earlier and I missed reading it. (I'm training for a few upcoming events myself, just curious)

 

I went for a run on Labor Day with my daughter as school was out and she needed to run that day even though the cross country team wasn't meeting that day. My knee (inside of the knee) started hurting so that I was limping the next morning. It has SLOWLY gotten better since, but it's not good enough to run on yet.

[eric]

Hey guys, I have not scanned to see my last post, but I recall several contributions to this thread when I was training for my first half marathon a year ago. That one went really well and I surprised myself.

 

I too sustained an unknown knee injury earlier this year that led to ortho visits, xrays, meds, PT, etc. and it stopped me from productively running for about 3-4 months. AWFUL! I think all the rest and other treatments healed it and I've been able to get back on the running routine for the past 6 weeks, but I really lost a lot of my training stamina. I was consistently running 5 miles almost every day and it was a breeze to do it under 40 minutes without even thinking about it. Now that I'm getting back into running shape, I really have to push myself to hit 8 min miles and I had been more in the 7:30 range.

 

I'm planning to do the half marathon again this November, but really doubtful I'll be able to match my time from last year. Injuries and falling out of the momentum of regular running are a bummer!

[steadyb]

Injuries and falling out of the momentum of regular running are a bummer!

 

I totally agree. Nothing more frustrating than after FINALLY having got yourself motivated to get healthy and really get into exercising (running, weights, hiking, swimming, ...whatever you choose), only to then be derailed by an injury.

 

It's like, "Really?!?!? why couldn't that happen during all those months I was mostly just sitting on my ass, instead of now that I'm trying to do something about it!"

 

Good luck in the marathon in November!

[stepay]

Hey all, just a quick update. I did the Ottawa half marathon last week, and ran 1:44:21, and am super happy. I could have gone faster, but it was nice to finish in relative comfort, and have my legs heal quickly.

 

Part of the reason I eased up on the race pace is that I have registered for a few different types of races this year. On May 18th I did a VERY short triathlon. It's called a try-a-tri, and intended for people who have never done a triathlon before. I probably should have gone up a distance level, as I finished 2nd overall out of 250 people. Anyway, it did the trick, and I am very interested in doing more. I have one (a longer one) coming up next week.

 

I am also going to do a spartan sprint race the following week. Basically a 5k race for idiots that want to climb walls, run up ski hills, and crawl through mud, and lift cinder blocks, and throw spears, etc... while they run 5k .

 

Happy running all...

 

This thread needs a bump, and I'll do so with my kids' running stories.

 

The last time I mentioned them, my daughter had run 22:06 for her PR as a sophomore in HS (5k) and my son had just finished a successful 7th grade season despite having mild asthma (which has now been cured with the removal of his appendix! - I have another thread on that). So, here are their updates:

 

My daughter (now a HS junior) qualified for the regional track meet in the spring (when still a sophomore) by running the 1600 meters (9 meters short of a mile) in 5:23...up from her PR as a freshman of 6:16, so quite an improvement. So far this year in cross country (5k), she has lowered her PR to 21:05, and she has adjusted her goal of 20:something to 19:something by the end of the year. They run on a famously fast and flat course on Saturday, so her goal could be realized then.

 

My 8th-grade son lowered his 2-mile cross country PR to 12:10 on a difficult course on Saturday to finish first for his team for the first time ever. He then had his appendix attack on Monday night and had it out at 6 a.m. Tuesday morning, eliminating his breathing problems completely. His goal by the end of the season is to break the school record of 11:25. Hopefully he will have enough time to get back into the running and make that happen. Doc says he can start running again on Wednesday if he has no pain, so that should be enough time.

 

I currently have a KNEE injury to go along with my chronic calf problems and have not run since Labor Day. I'd rather see the kids continue to improve though.

 

Well, my daughter lowered her 5,000 time to 20:18, so she's pretty happy about that. Time to break 20 now!

[Phred]

wow!! Fast time. Congrats to her

[stepay]

wow!! Fast time. Congrats to her

 

Update. My daughter got her 5,000 time down to 19:26 and helped her team qualify for the state championships for the first time for her high school in 7 years. She's either 3rd or 4th on her team depending on the week, so it's a VERY strong team. The top 7 all broke 20 minutes at least once during the season, and one girl got down to 18:44.

 

I last ran on Labor Day and injured my knee which is still healing.

[Joe P]

Congrats to your daughter, Stepay.

 

I am on my winter 5K-A-Day treadmill regimen, with an occasional 5 miler on the trail on the weekend, weather permitting.

[stepay]

Congrats to your daughter, Stepay.

 

I am on my winter 5K-A-Day treadmill regimen, with an occasional 5 miler on the trail on the weekend, weather permitting.

 

I'm envious. I can't even do my elliptical trainer with this silly knee injury...I've never had a knee injury ever. Fortunately it's not exactly the knee, but a ligament alongside the knee...it's slowly getting better, but I could see waiting until the new year before running again.

[Joe P]

Yeah, wait as long as it takes for it to heal - then wait another 2 weeks!

[Mike Davis]

First ever 5k today!

[Joe P]

Good for you, Mike. How did you do?

[Dave Ferris]

So with today's 10 mile run, my 2013 total miles run reached 1318. At least I'm getting consistent, my 2012 total was 1362. 2011 was 1607.

 

Like I've posted often in this thread, my stage 4 Halix Rigidus condition, (stiffing of the big toe joint..it's bone on bone, no cartilage left), along with just plain getting older, I turned 60 last June, has severely curtailed my running.

 

I'm doing the mountain bike at least once a week, often twice. So that is becoming a staple of my workout regimen. But consequently, it's probably 8-15 miles less a week I'm running. But something has to give. If I go ahead with the surgery where they fuse the joint of the big toe, clean out all the arthritic scar tissue buildup, it's a 3 month recovery before I'd be able to run again. He said probably 7 weeks before I could get on the bike...but that's no clips or hills, just easy pedaling on flat.

 

I'm living on the cortisone shots. The last 15 months , they were every 3 months in the left big toe joint. But I got some new orthotics from the podiatrist and they seem to help. My last shot was on 7/31..so better then 3 months.

 

On one hand I'm happy to still be averaging 25 miles a week...on the other, I'm getting so f..ing slow it's ridiculous. : Today's 10 miler, was in 1:44:35 which is a 10:28 pace... There are a ton of hills around here but I can still feel the first 45 minutes I'm in an old -geezer/plodding mode pace.

 

After that my stride opens up a little more, and I get more in the groove. I can usually manage around 9:15 pace on flats, but I feel like I'm working.

 

In my early 40s, on easy days, I used to run 7:30-8 minute miles with the same ease as brushing my teeth. Now to get to an 8 minute mile, I almost have to be running downhill or almost all out. Man it's sad.

 

But on to 2014. Main plan is just to keep a semblance of everything going.

[eric]

Wow Dave, that is awesome that you're doing 25 miles per week! Very inspiring! I average about 15-20, but more in the months prior to a big race. I did my second half marathon in November and I'm doing a bunch of different individual and team runs/obstacle course things in 2014.

 

My main goal this year is to keep it going post the half marathon. Last year, I had some knee issues and took some months off in early 2013, which was not good. I've been pretty consistent since August and I've definitely kept myself going a lot better after the big race compared with last year when I became sedentary essentially between Thanksgiving, Christmas and NAMM.

 

Keep it up!

[Mike Davis]

Good for you, Mike. How did you do?

 

Joe, thanks for asking (about my first 5k) I did 36:12, which I'm told is decent, not great, for a first race at the age of 60. I had started running in the park about two months before. I'm taking it easy as I get back into shape, and there's some definite progress there. I'll be doing another race in February! I'm sure I'll get my time down a bit.

 

I'm hooked.

[Joe P]

 

I'm hooked.

 

That's what happens, Mike. Keep running!

 

Regards,

Joe

[I-missRichardTee]

I wish I could run... but my knees without any warning ( big strong knees ) , no previous injuries started to give me trouble.

I do not want to discourage here, piss on that... but guys, moderation moderation.

[jogger]

Congrats to your daughter, Stepay.

 

I am on my winter 5K-A-Day treadmill regimen, with an occasional 5 miler on the trail on the weekend, weather permitting.

 

I'm envious. I can't even do my elliptical trainer with this silly knee injury...I've never had a knee injury ever. Fortunately it's not exactly the knee, but a ligament alongside the knee...it's slowly getting better, but I could see waiting until the new year before running again.

 

I had similar knee problem in past. For me, ligament sheath injury, stretching the legs more

cleared it up.

[Mike Davis]

Justin,

Are there any trails nearby? I am lucky to have a lot of trails near my house so I can stay off the roads. In these times of distracted drivers, I don't trust anyone. It would only take a small swerve to hit you, somebody looks down to read a text and wham it's all over. Too risky for me!

 

Trails are usually a more forgiving surface too.

 

 

Regards,

Joe

 

Central Florida is a great place for trails also. Definitely better than facing off with cars.

[Mike Davis]

Will Apple make a sports watch in 2014?

 

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/portable-devices/apple-iwatch-release-date-news-and-rumours-1131043

 

 

[justin_havu]

First run of the year a couple days ago--3.5 miles in 45 degree weather, which almost never happens in February, so it was every intention for me to take advantage of that.

[Joe P]

First run of the year a couple days ago--3.5 miles in 45 degree weather, which almost never happens in February, so it was every intention for me to take advantage of that.

 

Hey Justin,

 

Good for you. I am still treadmill-bound. But clocks change 3/8 - 3/9 so then I'll be able to hit my trail after work - as long as the snow melts!

 

Keep running,

Joe

[justin_havu]

Most definitely. There are tons and tons of hills around my house, and enough different areas I can go for more variety.

[justin_havu]

I'll be doing a 5K sometime in May. I have a couple different pairs of shorts (some Nike Drifit racing shorts and a couple of longer ones [mostly 5"]), but will be on the lookout for an inexpensive running vest/tank. Any favorites or suggestions?