0.87 miles.
Second short recovery run. So far so good!
Second short recovery run. So far so good!
ROTD Run Of The Day : post yours
- Thread starter Seraphim
- Start date
First run in awhile, and coldest run since Boston in 2016. No beanie, no gloves, but three layers up top. I don’t think I started sweating until 2.5 miles into a 5K. Nice to have cool weather and some rolling hills to run here in the Village of Pinehurst.
0.87 miles.
It was dark, cold and wet but my leg feels stronger and the run was good!
It was dark, cold and wet but my leg feels stronger and the run was good!
Good going Tiny. I miss running. I must have missed it in this thread but , if you don't mind, fill me in about your leg.
Thanks!
I don't mind at all. I started running again around April of this year after maybe 5 years off. The first run of just over a mile was tough, everything hurt, even my head and I had no wind but things improved quickly apart from a niggle in my right knee. I ignored it, the knee got worse and my limping runs caused me to over compensate, pulling a muscle in my left hip flexor.
I couldn't walk for a few days, limped for 2-3 weeks but recovered without issue. I started out slow next time, short 0.87 mile runs every other day as I'm doing at the moment, gadually increased frequency and distance to 2 miles a day, 6 days a week. I felt so good that I went from there to 5 miles a day, 6 days a week in just six weeks. Everything was great until it wasn't. On the first cold day of the year, a Friday near the beginning of October, I ran particularly hard and fast, maybe 5-6 minutes a mile pace and felt something in my upper left thigh. The following day it hurt when I went for a walk. I ran another 5 miles the day after that, more pain and the next day it hurt to put weight on my left leg again, the same area as before, left hip flexor. I gave it a few days, tried a short 2 mile run for a day or two, the pain got worse so I stopped again and so it went, the runs getting shorter and shorter but the pain never improving. In the end I finally accepted reality and rested properly.
Three and half weeks later and we're up to my first post in this thread, four days ago. During this injury lay-off I've done some reading about running (I didn't know people had written so much on the subject) and found that the best way to measure mileage is weekly, not daily as I'd been doing. Also, there's this theory of the 10 percent rule, in which you increase your weekly mileage by no more than 10 percent of your current mileage (with some exceptions). I also read that 15 to 20 miles a week is the most beneficial. More than that can begin to have a negative effect. The legendary boxing trainer, Angelo Dundee said 3 miles a day, no more, no less.
So that's what I'm planning to work back up to, around 19-20 miles a week, but gradually. It's said that slow and steady wins the race and I'm hoping it will be without injury this time around!
Your right about a point of diminishing returns on mileage, although that point is different for different people. When I first started running I did so to improve my game at tennis, baseball, basketball etc. and I found it did and that benefit increased with my mileage until I started running more than six miles a day, more than thirty a week. Then my quickness started to slide. I was getting better and faster at running at the expense of quickness and explosiveness at other sports so I backed off. Ten, twelve years later Im playing less other sports and my friend talked me into running my first road race, I was immediately hooked and I truly began running to get better at running.
All these rules of thumb vary from individual to individual. A lot of it is theory and opinion. Angelo Dundee says 3 miles, no more no less. Manny Pacquiao used to run 6 miles a day, probably he still does and it didn't hurt his stamina much! I've not seen many boxers throw as many punches as he did over 12 rounds at his peak. I'm sure there are people who do marathons again and again and never have a problem. It depends on the why, I think. My intention is to run for the rest of my life, so as to keep my cardiovascular system in top shape for as long as possible. For that I need a healthy, strong body that isn't over stressed or over trained. Others will have different motives.
You say you miss running. I can see why. Anything replaced it?
No, I've had lifelong back issues that began when I was 8 with a spinal tumor and other back related surgeries as a teenager all of which went south on me ending my active life around 8 or 9 years ago. Ended up disabled officially although I spent years and a good portion of my retirement funds fighting to fix it and stay working.
But back to running. There's running to get fit and improve your all around athleticism, then there's running to be the best runner you can be. They're kind of mutually exclusive.
Yeah, I've found that to be the case. The 'running to be the best runner you can be' has a way of taking over though, lol. Moderation's harder than it sounds. And I thought running made my thinking clearer, haha.
Another run today. Calling it “Pinehurst Trot.” Just 5K along train tracks amid tall pines on sand and pine straw after overnight rain.
Just curious, I preferred to run, as a matter of fact golf, ball everything physical, I preferred late afternoon or early evening. I liked to time it so it was just getting too dark when I finished. That led me to ask the fellow who organized all the major road races why they were always early in the morning . His reply was it was simply logistics. Less traffic to manage and redirect early in morning rather than evening. He went further to tell me that late afternoon early evening is when the body performs best and its why Olympic finals are scheduled so. It got me interested enough to research it and everything I found confirms that.
I don't know why I felt the need to post this except that going from being very active to doing absolutely nothing leaves me with a strong compulsion to talk about it..at least.
Pardon the ramble.
I don't know why I felt the need to post this except that going from being very active to doing absolutely nothing leaves me with a strong compulsion to talk about it..at least.
Pardon the ramble.
0.87 miles.
First week of recovery complete. All is good!
First week of recovery complete. All is good!
0.87 miles.
A swifter run today. Everything feels great!
A swifter run today. Everything feels great!
0.87 miles.
Chugging along nicely!
Chugging along nicely!
Glad to see you're improving and enjoying it. Remember the old saying though, speed kills. As a rule of caution, don't increase distance and speed together. Up your mileage until you've got a new consistent distance for a few weeks or so then drop back to your old distance every third or so run but at a faster pace. But I'm not a coach or anything, just a little knowledge picked up.
Thanks for the advice! I have to remind myself of this often, I struggle to run slowly.
0.87 miles
Awful weather but the run was awesome!
0.87 miles
The weather was as bad as yesterday but even colder so gloves and an extra pair of socks were needed. My leg is now back to 100% and there was an extra spring in my step as I dodged the puddles. A bruised toe the only negative apart from the weather, a great end to the second week of recovery runs!
The weather was as bad as yesterday but even colder so gloves and an extra pair of socks were needed. My leg is now back to 100% and there was an extra spring in my step as I dodged the puddles. A bruised toe the only negative apart from the weather, a great end to the second week of recovery runs!
Very common, struggling to run at a slower pace. Sometimes more exhausting, mentally. The best advice i ever got about pace is if you can't talk, have a conversation, without gasping for breath, you're going to fast. I would talk to myself at various points of my solo runs. People passing by probably thought I was crazy. As your conditioning improves the pace you can do that at will increase too.
P.S. the conversational pace advice doesn't apply to speedwork, obviously.
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I read this very thing a few weeks ago. I was and still am a little skeptical. An increase in heart rate and breaths taken should go up as you run to deliver the oxygen to the muscles that need it. The harder you work, the bigger the increase. But I generally agree. Don't over do it and breathe easy.
The article I read said that you should be able to recite The Star Spangled Banner. I sometimes use the expletive filled drill sergeant songs from Full Metal Jacket as my mental runnning rhythm. Maybe I'll try singing them out loud next time, lol.
As long as we're on breathing, if you can work a rhythm, your exhales should be quicker maybe explosive is a good word, and shorter than your inhales. I would inhale for two strides then a deep, short exhale on the third. This way my exhale would be on a right stride then left, right left etc. It didn't take long for the rythm to be almost instinctive. One or two runs. I was told it helped get more oxygen in. I worked that pattern out for me but my running buddy had a different one.
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