more running

[jazzfish]

lolgaimans, which is more or less self-explanatory. Personal favorites include You get what everyone gets . . . and My stories.

For desfido, The Couch-to-5K Running Plan. My advice, distilled from everything people have told me: 1) it's a good plan; 2) drink before and after you run; 3) get running shoes, they don't have to be expensive but they do need to provide some support and cushion; 4) regulate your breathing and breathe out more often than you breathe in; 5) if you get bad shin splints, stretch the back of your lower legs by putting the balls of one foot on a curb and pressing the heel down for about ten seconds, then doing the other leg.

Me, I've been reasonably conscientious about getting out three mornings a week and doing just over two miles in just under 25 minutes. The past couple of weeks have been absolutely horrid: humidity of 80% makes it feel like I'm breathing through molasses. (Today was a delightful fifty-five degrees, and not overly humid.) Week after next I'll try varying my route, see if I can add length without too much elevation. I seem to have reached one of those pesky plateaus, though. Weight and size haven't changed since about February. Grr.

Origins in two days. It always seems to sneak up on me. This will be a weird year; as rbandrews pointed out, there won't be anyone from Blacksburg there this year. End of an era, or something.

Comments

[ancientsong.livejournal.com]

My sister and I were just talking about plateaus this morning (she has recently lost over 80 pounds and had been on a plateau for about three months). Her last few pounds didn't come off until she stopped exercising so much (she'd been training seven days a week). It turned out that that variant in the routine was what had to happen for her body to release the three pounds it just let go. Weird but there it is.

That calf stretch is one of the best. Too few of us do it and many should regardless of whether or not we run.

As for running in general, much as I enjoy doing it in the woods, I've had to stop. I ran, tripped over a root and took a bit of a nasty fall about a month ago and now I'm not so interested in doing it again. And, the sad thing is that I can't seem to run on asphalt or cement. I hurt inside of 100 feet (yet running in the woods on the soft soil and softer pine needles feels just fine). So, I've been thinking of going to an actual track to see if that might work for me.

Have a fabulous time at Origins. I'll miss everyone.

[jazzfish]

I've been wondering if it's just that I need to change things, so that my body says 'right! i'm supposed to be burning calories!' and gets back on the job. Something to poke at when I get back from Origins.

Oof. I can see where tripping like that could cause some serious aversion. I've been lucky so far, and I know where the uneven spots in the sidewalks are on my route. And, yeah, running on hard surface is a totally different feel from dirt/grass/what have you. A track might do it as long as it's not just asphalt (ie, an actual running track).

[jazzfish]

(and thanks for telling me about that stretch, this time last year!)

[ancientsong.livejournal.com]

That right! I remember that now!

OOH! Running!

[baranoouji.livejournal.com]

Best thing for shin splints, EVAR. I speak as someone who has marched and run plenty of miles in shit-awful boots:

Using that muscle that runs along the front of your leg, pull your toe towards your knee. Hold it until you get a bit of a burn. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat a lot. Do it at work, on the metro, while reading a book. This is basically the stretch you mention but without having to stand.

As far as drinking water, I'll quote Coach Eric from TJ Crew: "drink until you pee clear." (YMMV -- I take vitamins that make for a lovely fluorescent effect. :D)

I like to breathe 3 small puffs in and 2 small puffs out. This keeps my vocal cords from seizing up.

Your friend in plodding,
E.

Re: OOH! Running!

[jazzfish]

I try to do that one a couple times a day while I'm sitting around at work thinking "I really don't want to write any more about Thing X." I assume it's helping; I haven't had to stop running after fifty yards lately, at least.

*laugh* That sounds, um, gorgeous.

After a lot of experimentation I've settled on "four steps out, two steps in" so that I can keep breathing in and out on the left step and not get side stitches. (Evidence for the prevention of stitches is entirely anecdotal, much like that breathing pattern's ability to repel tigers.)

Plod onward!

[rbandrews]

Our beginner's running schedule has helped thousands of new runners get off the couch and onto the roads, running 3 miles in just two months.

Man, I could walk faster than that...

right

[cthulhia]

You walk at 5 MPH? Most people barely do 3 MPH.

I'm about to run my 11th annual 15K, and I still can't do 3 miles in 30 minutes.

My BMI keeps me from running significantly faster than 10:30 minute miles at my peak pace. (And usually more like 12:00, which is 5 MPH).

Re: right

[rbandrews]

No, read the quotation again. Three miles in two months is less than 5 miles per hour.