I´m almost 27 and I work all day sitting in fron of a computer. I haven´t run non-stop more than one kilometer since I left highschool; that doesn´t mean I´m a fat assed slob, I´m quite fit and right on my weight, I do excercise almost every day (but not running or any long winded stuff)
So a couple days ago I signed in for a 10 Km race due for November 12th… :dubious:
I like challenges, and I´ve been itching to start running for a long time and this seemed like a good excuse; however I woke up at 8 and went out with my brand new racing shoes and after about 500 meters I was gasping. I think I ran too fast and last nights pizza was taking revenge. All in all I did about 1.5 Km with a couple stops, most of all my quadricepts didn´t seem to approve my ambitions.
So, I plead to the fitness oriented portion of the Teeming Millions for some training advice for this.
What´s a good program to get in shape for the race?
Run slower than you think you should be-- I mean, really plod along at first. If you feel like you’re starting to lose your breath, slow down more.
If you start to feel like you’re getting shinsplints just stop for the day and ice it and take some ibuprofin. Trying to run through that will be bad. Don’t add on milage too fast. If you only manage to get to doing 7 k regularly by race day, well, the race itself will be your long milage-adding moment that week (I did a 12 K in spring, and I AM a fat bastard and in training only got up to 5 miles at a time, tweaked a quadricep, didn’t run for 3 weeks, and then did the 12 k cold and was fine except for some knee pain that day).
I wholeheartedly second capybara’s sentiments. I have started running three or four times over the past five years or so. Every time but the last I quit shortly thereafter, because I pushed myself too hard right off the bat and wound up hurting myself. It was never anything major, just some niggling injury that was enough to make it “too difficult” to keep up the pace, and too easy to just give it up.
If you are like me, you still remember how far and how fast you used to be able to run in high school, and figure you ought to be able to pick up more or less where you left off. Well, you can’t. However much you think you should be able to do, cut that in half and start there. As soon as you feel like you can add some more distance, or some more speed, resist the temptation for a few days. In this case, slow and steady really will win the race.
As a 42-YO fat-assed slob who’s just started training… warm-up before and stretching after are your friends. Before running, start off by taking a brisk 5-minute walk (at about 4MPH, if you can time it). After running, walk a few minutes more, then do leg stretches. Hold eac stretch for 10 seconds or so. If you don’t know how to stretch properly, get somebody at your local gym to explain it.
Also, as already said, run slower than flat-out. Flat out doesn’t last, you have to learn what you are capable of sustaining over time. You’ll probably want to decide how fast you want to run the race, calculate the time involved, and start running for that length of time when you train – initially you should run slower, perhaps even a lot slower, and of course you’ll cover less distance. Work up your speed as you train.
If you can manage it (time-table wise and economically), getting a professional to supervise you (or at least give you tips and “de-brief” you on your training experience every so often) is a good idea (although certainly not absolutely necessary, you can DIY)
I´ll try to keep all that in mind. As for shin splints that didn´t bother me at all; maybe thanks for my daily, brisk walks to and from work everyday (2 kilometers in 20-something minutes).
What stoped me was mostly the cuadriceps saying no more; more precisely the rectus femoris, I think I should exercise that muscle more than the rest; after 1.5 kilometers I felt as I was going to fall on my face…
Ah, just go slower-- the front of the leg hurts at first. It worse after the first day of fencing class! A shorter stride will help. Go slow. And don’t go up or down any hills-- stay level for a while.
The thighs still hurt, I´m wondering if it´ll be safe to go running again tomorrow morning; that is to say in 7 hours, and considering I still have to work for another 3 or 4 hours that may not be such a good idea anyway…
Thanks for the advice, Carpincho (that´s how we call capybaras over here)
I saved this link from ages past, maybe it’ll help you a bit, with some modifications (you’ll have to push yourself a lot harder than the plan to make 10K in 6 weeks). Anyway, here: The Couch-to-5K Running Plan.
Thanks, that´s more or less what I was looking for; instead of 3 times a week I plan to run every day at least, I hope that won´t hurt too much. :dubious:
That stuff works OK, I just came back from the park and I´m not feeling half as miserable as on Sunday.
Since I´m aiming to twice that distance I´ll try to go running twice a day or at least once, instead of thrice a week; I´ll also add another 10 minutes to the rutine.
Now if you´d excuse me Mr. Sweaty Stinkinson is going to take a shower.
Every day probably wouldn’t be such a good idea. Waaaay too easy to overdo things and hurt yourself. Body needs time to recover from the punishment, you know. Every other day would be a safer bet.
Of all the physical things I’ve tried, running seems to be the easiest way to overtrain with.
So far I´m doing OK, only the calf muscles have some light, lingering soreness from one day to the other.
I´ve settled a simple but intense training program, I began by running for 60 seconds and walking 90, this first week I´ve added 10 seconds to the run legs every day, so I started with 60/90 and now I just did 90/90 (running/walking) for half an hour. I have to check the distance but I think I did 4 or 5 Km in 15 minutes. The next week I´ll add 20 seconds per day, the following it´ll be 40, etc… So the simple plan is to double the run time every week this way:
1st 60 seconds, plus 10 seconds every day (6 days a week)
2nd 120 sec.
3rd 240 sec.
4th 480 sec.
5th 960 sec.
6th 1920 sec. (ready for the race)
I´ll have to see what should be the correct increase on the walking segments for each week.
Today I had no problem in meeting my expectations, as a matter of fact I felt better during the running legs than walking (although I moderated myself to prevent injuries) I only felt tired on uphill stretches, but to finish the day off I made a two blocks long uphill sprint back home!
It´s quite gratifying to see a big improvement since just Sunday when I ended up wrecked after running a fraction of what I did today.
I´m so confindent that I´m planning to make a 10 Km test run this Sunday just to see what time I can do, I won´t push me too hard though, just nice and easy to get to the 10K line.
Oh dear, I did the 10K today, not straight running of course it was 110/90 (R/W) but I learned a few things:
The park at 8 AM is not the same as the beach at 11 AM, the heath and sun were a bad factor.
I should have looked for a trail with less uphill stretches (this one had about 3 or 4 Km of those)
I have to ask for advice on how to prevent blisters, I got one the size of my thumbnail half way throught the trail
I´m not doing this ever again, or untill next Sunday.
All in all I did a very disappointing 1:15, pathetic; at least it gives me something to improve from.
I think I´ll take a couple days off while the blister heals.
I ran 10K again today, I made the distance in 15 minutes less than last Sunday.
The Running/Walking ratio this time was 3:40/1:30, it´s strange, but after the 7th kilometer I was feeling less tired than I was on the first two or three, at some point I was even singing “We Will Rock You” as I ran! Maybe I hit a good rythm after the first 7K, “Don´t Stop Me Now” (Queen again) seems to be a good tempo for me.
Tomorrow is the race, the last three weeks I couldn´t run much because of pain on my left ankle and knee. As a matter of fact I spent two weeks without running at all, the last one I´ve trained a bit, managed to run 4 Km nonestop even; not bad and I could have kept going but I didn´t want to put much strain on my ankle.
