Good luck!
Good luck! 49 is definitely better than 70, IMO.
I went to Spin class—first exercise in over a week thanks to my illness. I have to say, it was miserable. But the Saturday morning Spin class is the most popular and there’s even usually a waiting list, so I felt like I couldn’t walk out after reserving a bike.
So, at least I did it.
My mom won a medal! And a patch, and a gift certificate for one of those Road ID things, and the announcer made a big deal about it being her first race. (I think she should frame her number and her medal!)
I… finished. 
I’m considering seeing a doctor, becuase I just feel I ought to be recovered enough to run again and I cannot for the life of me seem to get enough air. I came in at 47ish - the results aren’t up yet and I was more concerned with the people clapping for me, so I didn’t catch the exact time. I’m glad it was under 50, though, because I was worried about that. It was a lovely course, although it did drizzle all the way and my hands are really cold now that I’m done. The overall winners were all NCAA athletes home for Christmas - we had Stanford and Duke and UVA and Northwestern and all these places, and I think the winner was fifteen minutes and something, which is just ridiculous. On the other hand, some of them old people are damned fast - the over 70 men’s age group winner ran this thing in 18 minutes, I think.
It was fun, and I wasn’t last, and I finished, so I feel pretty good about it.
Thank you guys so much for your support and camaraderie through all this. There are definitely days when I only went out there because I wanted to be able to come in here and say I did my run.
Now I want to rewind the clock a little bit and erase the trouble I’ve been having extending my distance - that day I ran 20 straight is the last “good run” I really had, I think. I want to go back to that - do 20 minutes on that same route for a few days and try to not allow myself to walk, and start building back from there. I’m signed up for the Pittsburgh Half Marathon on May 3, and my training program starts in the second week of February if I remember right, so I need to be able to comfortably run 3 or 4 miles by then. But don’t worry, I’ll whine all about it in here.
Yay, **Zsofia **and Zsofia’s Mom!!!
Zsofia, ya dun good.
You probably need more recovery time from your illness.
Being sick can take more out of you than you think. Depends on what it was. When I had chicken pox at the age of 31, it took me over a year to rebuild.
College athletes running 15 min+ is actually just a workout for them.
A good College 5K on the track can go well under 14 at the championship meets.
The young man who set a new California State Meet course record(high school cross-country) in 2007 ran 14:24 for 5K.
We’re a quiet bunch at the moment.
I went for a longer run today (planning to do 50 minutes). Being a longer run, I can explore some new places a bit further away. Now I live in a hilly area, which makes running harder, but one benefit is that there are lots of pedestrian underpasses and lots of open spaces, so I can go a long way, sticking to paths the entire way.
I was doing pretty well, so I extended myself a bit and did a full hour. Although that was definitely my limit: at 55 min I was still going fine, but at 58 min I was slowing a bit, and at 59 min my running was down to about my walking speed. Was this “the wall” that I keep hearing about?
Captain Klutz, was the issue physical or mental? Sometimes for me, the wall is a mental one, particularly when I’m trying to increase to a new time or distance. It’s a mental block. Other times, I hit a mental wall when I’m bored with my running routes and can’t be arsed to run the same route one more goddamn time.“Hitting the wall” physically, or “bonking” is something else altogether and has to do with running out of…something. Glycogen? Someone else more educated will hopefully come and chime in.
I have been quiet because recovering from my illness has been brutal. Like Zsofia, I can’t for the life of me get enough air into my lungs while working out. I’ve run twice in the past week, and done 2 Spin classes. Tomorrow will be the first time I see if I can do something on consecutive days—that’s how run-down I am. Pre-illness, I was generally 3 or 4 days on, 1 day off.
Hope the rest of you are doing well!
Good job, Captain Klutz. How was your breathing by the end? It sounds like you did reach your limit.
Hitting “the wall” usually means that you’ve depleted your body’s glycogen supply. This typically occurs at about 1.5-2 hours of running at marathon race pace assuming you start with a full supply. This can be extended through a combination of (mainly) training, diet, inherent physiology and consuming a carbohydrate source during the run.
Typically, a runner hitting the wall will go from(just for example)6:00/mile pace to 9:00/mile pace or even being forced to walk.
I’ve been quiet lately, I took a week or so off when I was in TX, and then holidays, scheduling, blah, blah, blah.
Been getting back into it, and today ran for 35 minutes straight. I had more left in me, but I had to get ready for a party. It was the first time on the treadmill, usually I like actually running somewhere; my speed is faster in a real run- 8-9 minute mile, but I can only go maybe 20 minutes.
I set it for 4 MPH, and it seemed like a slow, very casual jog, but I was able to run probably the longest I have ever run in my life. I only did a little over two miles, which was disappointing because I can do that in less than twenty minutes, but I had reserves left today.
Which is better? And it appears that the treadmill tops out at 5 MPH, is that typical?
But yeah, it was cool today.
fisha, thats too slow. If you can maintain 8-9min pace, you should run that pace and work on increasing your distance. A slow pace like you were running not only won’t get your heart rate up enough, you are risking injury. When you slow that much, you change how your muscles are working.
Note: for those of you who are running 10-12 -14,etc min pace, this does not mean you’re running too slow, it’s specific to each person’s current pace.
ETA:And yes, you need a better treadmill.Topping out at 5 mph indicates a weak motor that not only won’t get you a good workout but will wear out faster.
**runner pat, **thanks for the answers. You’re right, I was running different.
An additional question, although I don’t think you can solve it over the 'net, too many variables.
It seems like I am running out of balance, but not extremely so. Now remember, I have never run before, so no one has ever critiqued me or my stride.
The reason I say this is because if there is any soreness, it’s on my left ankle, and it seems like my body is compensating-either causing that soreness, or reacting to it. I am left handed, perhaps the stride on that side is just a little bit longer, or I pull a little bit more, or push off a little harder.
Any ideas off the top of your head on how I can check to make sure I am running in good form, or should I have someone take a look at what I am doing, see if anything jumps out at them?
And yeah, I have never run on a treadmill before, this was at the gym, I’ll have to check if they go faster or not, you’d think they would.
fisha, most likely cause is the crown of the road. Next is leg length discrepancy. See your doctor or podiatrist. For running form, if you have a good running shoe store(running shoe, not sporting goods) , running club or college/high school coach. Any of them should be able to pick out flaws. Expertise may vary.
I would try the store first if one is available. The good ones will watch you run as part of fitting you to a suitable pair and should have no problem picking up flaws.
Thanks for the info.
My daughter and I ran the 28 minutes today, but only did about 2.5 miles. I was setting a slow pace to start, since I had a couple of problems with this distance earlier this week. Once I got poured on by rain, another tweaked a muscle in my left calf. Just short of half way through I felt the calf tweak again, but felt like I could run through it, so I did. Definitely affected my stride and took a bit off of our pace, but it was bearable. I’m feeling it now, though.
Will take the weekend off, then do another 28 minute run on Monday. Not sure if we’ll increase distance on Wednesday or not. Will wait and see how Monday goes and whether my daughter is up for a run after her practice on Tuesday night.
Net, haven’t run the regular stuff this past two weeks, but am happy I was able to get at least four runs in.
Too much snow and ice to run here. I am a sad panda and am doing aerobics instead.
Lorene, runner pat,
It felt like a physical thing: for that last minute my legs were suddenly very reluctant to cooperate. I don’t remember if my breathing was particularly affected, but the walk home was not a struggle.
Today I found that there is a local marathon - the Canberra Marathon.
It’s been run regularly for many years but I never knew about it before.
It’s being run on Sunday 19 April, which is just 14 weeks away. The site does include a beginner’s training program, which happens to be 14 weeks long - handy! But the longest run in that workout is 3 hours - I’ll be lucky to complete a marathon in less than 4 hours, so I suspect the program isn’t meant for total beginners.
The start time is 7am, which seems a bit early - is this a common starting time? It makes sense in that Sunday morning road closures won’t have much impact, and we’ll be running during the cool part of the day, but is still seems very early to get up on a weekend.
Yuck… I’ve been a bad runner, I haven’t run in about two weeks. Running is probably out of the question today and tomorrow, thanks to the rain. Sigh I hope I haven’t forgotten, I need to get in shape after my vacation. Why is it that my family says “Eat more!” when they’ve seen I’ve eaten as much as they have (and I’m about a foot smaller than they are)?
The Honolulu Marathon starts at 5 am. Almost all marathons start very early due to so many participants who are finishing in 4-6 hours(or more). Also local weather can be a reason.
For most newish runners, running beyond 3 hours leads to a huge increase in injuries. When you toe the starting line you will have a 2-3 week taper behind you along with the crowd support, both fellow runners and spectators.
The website states the beginner program is if you have been running half-marathons. I would really recommend you wait at least a year before attempting a marathon. You will build a base that will not only get you through the training but you will recover much faster from the race.