The Official Thread for Runners

[lambdacoug]

I hate being fat.

I took a week off because my knees/shins were sore.

Tried running again last night and shut it down after 1 minute. Knees were killing me.

Just to heavy to run at the moment.

But I walked 2.2 miles out of frustration.

I know the feeling of hating being fat. I got fed up with it to the point that I had surgery. I didn't start running until I'd lost 30-40 pounds, and even then it was hard. I couldn't imagine starting back when my BMI was 40+. Stick with it though, walking is really good exercise, and will help you get to the point that you can run without killing your joints.

[The_Douger]

Walking is better than doing nothing.

[happyone]

I hate being fat.

I took a week off because my knees/shins were sore.

Tried running again last night and shut it down after 1 minute. Knees were killing me.

Just to heavy to run at the moment.

But I walked 2.2 miles out of frustration.

Don't let it get you down. Just keep on doing something.

This is my own experience and everybody is different, so take FWIW, but even after all the time I've been walking I still have problems with my knees and hips. I normally go for a 6-7 mile walk/jog every day, but Sunday (I limit my self to 3 miles and I don't jog). Everyother day(nomally MWF) I'll jog 3-4 miles of that 6. I find if I do more than that, my hips and knees remind me that I'm no longer on the low side of 50. I don't know if its athrites(SP) or just the fact I carried so much wieght for so long. It took a while for me to accept that fact.

When I just walk the six miles takes me about 1:20 minutes. When I jog the three miles it takes about an 1:08 - 1:10 depending on how far I jog, so I'm not going a whole lot faster jogging than when I'm walking.

Once again good luck

[bluegoose]

Keep up the good work, Tick. Like others have said, don't feel like you've settled for having walked 2 or 3 miles instead of jogging. Just consider it a tweak in your training program. Better to back off a little and avoid making an injury worse than to have to shut it down completely for several weeks.

You might consider doing some specific quad and hip strengthening exercises. I think it would be helpful with the aches and pains in the knees that come with starting a new exercise routine.

As for me, I did my second track workout of the season this morning. 8x400m with 200m jog/walk recovery. My goal was to keep each 400 under 1:36 based on Jack Daniels formula, and I was able to do it on each of them. I was pretty pooped by the the last set.

[Pheidippides]

I hate being fat.

I took a week off because my knees/shins were sore.

Tried running again last night and shut it down after 1 minute. Knees were killing me.

Just to heavy to run at the moment.

But I walked 2.2 miles out of frustration.

Let your frustration drive you, and there's no shame in walking. I do it all the time. Sometimes you just have a bad day, week or month, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Bluegoose, them's some fast 400s.

[Eddie]

I am a moron.

I was out of town for work the other day. I hadn't taken my running shoes, but had some shorts and a t shirt. I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep, had seen a paved trail just out the door where I was staying and really felt like getting out for a run.

I decided to go barefoot - just for kicks. Not too far. Not too fast. Just an easy outdoors run being careful to watch for glass or sharp rocks.

I ended up covering a couple of miles or so. My feet weren't ready for it and now I've got some blisters. I'm going to have to remember to take running gear when away from home from now on. On the bright side, my legs feel great.

[bluegoose]

Bluegoose, them's some fast 400s.

Thanks. I wouldn't say they were fast, but they were consistent.

Here's me in purgatory:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/224866794

For some reason I really enjoy 400s. 800s are tolerable, but for some reason 1200s absolutely kill me.

[Pheidippides]

Thanks. I wouldn't say they were fast, but they were consistent.

Here's me in purgatory:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/224866794

For some reason I really enjoy 400s. 800s are tolerable, but for some reason 1200s absolutely kill me.

I'm with you. 400s and 800s are great. 1600 repeats murder me. 200 repeats also.

I say that, but I had a set of 10x800 (400m recovery) last Tuesday. With the warmup and cooldown it was 9.5 miles of interval work. I was trying to keep the 800s to under 3:30 (and did so) but it absolutely fried me.

Edit: I'm also cracking up at your heart rate. I can't even get there anymore. I just got my LT retested and it's 159. My entire HR range has shifted downwards again - my RHR is 34 now. Not sure what to make of it, but as long as my HR stays under my LT for this next race I don't care what the numbers are. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/221756668

[bluegoose]

I'm with you. 400s and 800s are great. 1600 repeats murder me. 200 repeats also.

I say that, but I had a set of 10x800 (400m recovery) last Tuesday. With the warmup and cooldown it was 9.5 miles of interval work. I was trying to keep the 800s to under 3:30 (and did so) but it absolutely fried me.

Edit: I'm also cracking up at your heart rate. I can't even get there anymore. I just got my LT retested and it's 159. My entire HR range has shifted downwards again - my RHR is 34 now. Not sure what to make of it, but as long as my HR stays under my LT for this next race I don't care what the numbers are. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/221756668

I'm a little confused by your map for that workout. It looks like you start and finish at the same spot, but the elevation goes from 28 feet at the start to 168 feet at the finish. What am I missing here?

Thats a good workout. averaging between 3:15 and 3:20 for 10x800 is very fast. I would definitely say that 800s are more tolerable on the road or on a trail than at the track. But there is no way around the fact that you earned that workout. I hope you had a big bowl of ice cream to celebrate. I would have.

My Lactate threshold has crept downward a tad over the last couple of years. But I don't feel like my performance has suffered much because of it. I just think the body becomes that much more efficient and the cardiac output increases with consistent, hard work to compensate for the drop in the threshold heart rate.

When Steelblue is in shape, his HR is crazy high, but he can sustain those super high levels forever. Several times we have stopped to take a manual pulse check just to see if his HR monitor was working properly. Its weird to see 195 bpm consistently for an hour and him talking through it just like he were out for a stroll in the park.

[bluegoose]

My Lactate threshold has crept downward a tad over the last couple of years. But I don't feel like my performance has suffered much because of it. I just think the body becomes that much more efficient and the cardiac output increases with consistent, hard work to compensate for the drop in the threshold heart rate.

Stroke Volume, not cardiac output!!!

About 5 minutes after I sent that last message I realized the error of my physiological ways. Imagine those terror-filled 20 or so minutes with me thinking that cardiaccoug or ercoug would come along and read my post, passing it around to all of their colleagues as they LOLed at my amateurish statement.

I couldn't get to the computer fast enough.

[Pheidippides]

I'm a little confused by your map for that workout. It looks like you start and finish at the same spot, but the elevation goes from 28 feet at the start to 168 feet at the finish. What am I missing here?

Thats a good workout. averaging between 3:15 and 3:20 for 10x800 is very fast. I would definitely say that 800s are more tolerable on the road or on a trail than at the track. But there is no way around the fact that you earned that workout. I hope you had a big bowl of ice cream to celebrate. I would have.

My Lactate threshold has crept downward a tad over the last couple of years. But I don't feel like my performance has suffered much because of it. I just think the body becomes that much more efficient and the cardiac output increases with consistent, hard work to compensate for the drop in the threshold heart rate.

When Steelblue is in shape, his HR is crazy high, but he can sustain those super high levels forever. Several times we have stopped to take a manual pulse check just to see if his HR monitor was working properly. Its weird to see 195 bpm consistently for an hour and him talking through it just like he were out for a stroll in the park.

What you're missing is that the Garmin 910 isn't great at elevation and I don't have correction turned on. Don't believe anything you see there - if I gained a foot of elevation at any given point, it was only because I stepped up on the sidewalk.

What the 910 does very well, though, is interval workouts. I agree that they are easier on the road than the track - if for no other reason than mental fatigue - so I programmed it into the watch. It would vibrate at the end of every distance, which is why you see .50 and .25 splits precisely. I can't remember if the 305 does that too. I know the 610 does. I still think the 305 is about as much as anybody needs if you're not swimming.

I talked to the metabolic tech who did my LT testing (this was with the mask, not the actual blood test). Same place I've done most of my other tests so they have the results from the first time I did it in 2009 to now. He definitely says I'm in better shape, which isn't exactly surprising (in 2009 I was in my first marathon training cycle; I've run 5 since then), but he says the low LT isn't a big deal at all. When I compared that set of 10x800s to the last set I did (June of 2011 - ) I found that I did these at a slightly faster pace, but at a much lower heart rate both absolutely and relative to my LT at the relevant time. So that's good news.

[Joe Public]

I can't remember if the 305 does that too. I know the 610 does. I still think the 305 is about as much as anybody needs if you're not swimming.

My 301 does it, so I imagine the 305 does as well.

[Eddie]

...t would vibrate at the end of every distance, which is why you see .50 and .25 splits precisely. I can't remember if the 305 does that too. I know the 610 does. I still think the 305 is about as much as anybody needs if you're not swimming...

My 301 does it, so I imagine the 305 does as well.

The 305 does do splits - but I haven't played with that enough to know if the distances of the splits can vary (niku referencing .5 and .25 splits - for instance, when I'm doing 800's with a 400, my 305 shows me doing 2X400 back to back with a 400 rest. So I have to keep track of if I'm running through an interval beep or not.)

[Joe Public]

The 305 does do splits - but I haven't played with that enough to know if the distances of the splits can vary (niku referencing .5 and .25 splits - for instance, when I'm doing 800's with a 400, my 305 shows me doing 2X400 back to back with a 400 rest. So I have to keep track of if I'm running through an interval beep or not.)

On the 301, I can set the "interval" and the recovery separately by distance or time. With nikuman's workout, for example, I can set x number of 1/2-mile repeats with x number of 1/4-mile recovery periods in between. I can't vary the distances within each category, though (i.e., all "interval" distances/times and all recovery distances/times are the same).

[Eddie]

On the 301, I can set the "interval" and the recovery separately by distance or time. With nikuman's workout, for example, I can set x number of 1/2-mile repeats with x number of 1/4-mile recovery periods in between. I can't vary the distances within each category, though (i.e., all "interval" distances/times and all recovery distances/times are the same).

I don't think I've used the 305 to it's greatest capacity - and that's simply because I haven't gotten to know everything it can do. Especially if I know of a simple way to get what I want with what I know - such as setting laps at .25 and then just doing intervals in sets that add up to 400 (which is what I'm normally doing anyway).

Looks like I need to crack open the book and look at what the 305 can do when it comes to interval training - because it is even easier than I thought.