weekly check-in

[ilanarama]

Hello, runners? How goes it? Did you race this weekend? Are you racing next weekend? How goes the change of seasons in your part of the world?

Here's your inspirational quote for the week:

"We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves...The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable." - Sir Roger Bannister

Comments

[ilanarama]

I ran exactly once last week - then came down with a cold. The only thing that's been running has been my nose. But I got 4 miles in today, and assuming I feel better in a couple of days, I will be running my sixth marathon on Saturday.

[nanila]

Sixth! Marathon!

I am so impressed by you, and the others on this community, who have reached such milestones. Best of luck, and I hope you enjoy yourself.

[ilanarama]

Aw, thanks! Marathons are easy - you just keep running and don't stop. :-)

[sophinisba]

Yay marathon! Go you!

[blnchflr]

Uurgh, I hope it's a quick cold with few lasting effects - very best of luck on Sunday!

[cyphomandra]

I hope you're improving and run faster than your nose! (um, apart from the anatomical difficulties this poses)

[willful_zephyr]

Poorly. Running aggravated my back last week.

Will try less distance, more speed, tomorrow. If that is a fail, make have to take up spin. [*pout*]

[ilanarama]

Hmm, if your back is bothering you, less distance AND less speed might be better. Best of luck. I find that running keeps my lower back problems at bay, but once they crop up, running doesn't help.

[willful_zephyr]

Perhaps... I was doing more distance less speed last time. I noticed that when I go slower, I bounce a lot more. So, I was bouncing harder for longer, aggravating a disc issue.

Next, I plan to bounce less for shorter, and evaluate from there. My spine doc says that running isn't intrinsically bad for it; but, I'll have to dial in how to do it safely.

[willful_zephyr]

Figured out it was keeping a certain form/posture. Gotta get my shoulders back, drop my hips, and keep the back straight.

I can't do that "shape" as slow speed. Was strange, my foot went numb during my warm up. As I loosened up, got going, and hit my stride, it got better.

Made me very happy to run without hurting myself. Sore, though. Takes a lot of effort.

[zulu]

I just got back to my couch to 5k schedule after taking two months off to go to Brazil and finish my thesis. I've regressed back to Week 2, but I've done that level twice this week, so I'll be advancing to Week 3 again on Wednesday.

[ilanarama]

Get back to it! *cracks whip*

[blnchflr]

I ran another 5K race, and cut almost a minute off my previous time \o/

[melusina]

Awesome -congrats!

[blnchflr]

Eh, my very slow time, but still it was very exciting :oD

[nanila]

That's good progress! Don't undermine yourself. :)

[ilanarama]

Yay!

[blnchflr]

I'm trying not to be too excited and think I can break 30 mins this year - do you know any sites with info on how fast one can realistically expect to progress in relation to amount of training? Too individual to be able to calculate?

[ilanarama]

I suspect that it's an individual thing, yeah, and probably impossible to quantify. But if you run more, you will certainly get faster (although you definitely will need to add the more running in a smart way, so as not to injure yourself).

[blnchflr]

Oh hai, randomly catching up on old comments:

There's no chance of me ever overdoing it, so no worries there, I think :oP

[sophinisba]

Awesome!

[blnchflr]

Thank you :o)

[melusina]

I was in recovery mode last week and only ran once - 3 miles on Saturday. But now that my tri season is over, I'm beginning a new training plan to get myself from 5k to 10k distances. I haven't run 10k consistently since I was in college, so this will be a big step for me! It's also step one in getting ready to do Olympic distance triathlons next season. My goal is to be running 10k by 12/4 - I'm going slowly because I've noticed when I add distance too quickly my IT band issues flare up.

The plan for this week is a 2.5 mile run tomorrow and a 3.5 mile run on Saturday, plus crosstraining in the pool and on the bike.

[ilanarama]

Yeah, adding mileage slowly is good. Do you use a foam roller? That's what my PT recs for ITB woes.

[melusina]

::shamefaced:: I don't, although I know I should. I also have a card for a PT that I've been meaning to schedule a visit with. My IT band has been giving me grief for 20 years - you'd think I'd do something about it!

[sophinisba]

I had a really hard time in the early part of last week, with the worst day being last Tuesday when I tried to run on the route where I'm supposed to do a 10K this Saturday. I've been getting really painful stitches in my side, which hadn't been an issue in a long time. I don't know if it's a change in the weather or anxiety about the race or my job or this cold I'm getting or what, but it hurt and I felt really discouraged. I got in a nice long run on Saturday though and I've been feeling a little more confident since then.

Total last week was about 15 miles. Planning on taking it easy this week in preparation for Saturday.

[ilanarama]

Huh, I haven't had side stitches in a long time but oddly in my trail race a few weeks ago, two of my friends had problems with it (who hadn't had them, either).

You don't, of course, need to take it TOO easy. I would suggest that if you don't have a particular program, that on your last run before the race (Thursday? I usually like a day off before races) you do some strides toward the end - smoothly accelerate to as fast as you can go with good form, hold that speed for 10 seconds or so, and then smoothly decelerate to easy pace. Jog easy until you feel like you've recovered, and then do it again. 3 or 4 of these is a good tune-up.

[sophinisba]

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll give that a try on Thursday.

[cyphomandra]

I had an actual proper training week last week, earthquakes and all! Four runs, with the longest about 12k - I'm still a couple of weeks off where I should be now (half-marathon end of October), but it's much better than I've been for a while. And daylight saving started Sunday, so there are now long sunny evenings to look forward to!

[ilanarama]

Yay! Stupid earthquakes.

Your icon is very pretty.

[gnomad]

Last week I started my All Running All The Time training program and am finding it super hard. I did the workouts for each day but then got to the weekend and it fell apart and hasn't quite come back together yet. I skipped an 'easy 4' day to crosstrain with a 4.5 hr bike ride (planned). Only, the ride sort of wrecked me more than I wanted, and I got to Sunday and knew I wouldn't be able to do a 7 mile run no matter how slow I shuffled (unplanned). I took a much needed rest day and vowed to do a long run on Monday except...I went out and ran 2 miles and found it super hard. IDEK. Anyway, I clocked in at about 15 miles total for the week.

I love training plans. They give me structure and actionable steps toward a larger, sometimes overwhelming goal. But I get...spastic when I skip workouts for one reason or another and I'm driven insane by my own insanity. And there are perfectly good reasons to skip workouts! Yet I freak out like the world is falling apart because I'm now Off Plan and, I dunno, the earth might start spinning backwards or something if I'm Off Plan. *hands*

[ilanarama]

Aw, I'm sorry it's seeming super hard! Is it because it's so much more running? If you're really getting tired all the time, slow your runs down. I know that's hard to do if you feel you're already running slowly.

Here, let me grab the earth and give it a good shove in the right direction. There. Now get back On Plan.

[gnomad]

Hee, thank you. I think it's a comination of more running and harder running. I've been trying to do speedwork at a specific pace and realizing that I'm just not ready for that pace yet. Alas. It's so weird how one day running will feel like the most brilliant thing in the world yet another day it'll feel almost impossible. And the whole time my numbers won't change at all...

[ilanarama]

Hmm, it's generally inadvisable to do both more and harder at the same time. You're supposed to first increase mileage, then intensity. And also, doing speedwork at a specific pace has never worked for me! I mean, I have never managed the paces I'm supposed to hit, ever.

[gnomad]

Ahh, yes, I think I heard of that sensible advice everysomewhere before. I guess I figured since the miles per workout were all things I'd done before adding more days wouldn't be so hard.

I mean, I have never managed the paces I'm supposed to hit, ever.

This makes me feel so much better! ;)

[losingit]

Running's going well.

I'm doing my first 10K on Sunday! I'm psyched, but also a bit nervous. On the website it says nothing about a given pace. Then the other night we get an email saying we have to be clear of a certain point by 9:30 - an hour into the race assuming we start running right at 8:30. This point is 4.1 miles in. (It's on an island that opens to the public at like 10 or so and the vendors start coming in on the ferry in their trucks at 9:30.) Based on my "go all out and see how long it takes you to hit 4.1 miles" run yesterday, I should be good...I've got 12 minutes of wiggle room. So fingers are crossed!!!!

[ilanarama]

12 minutes is plenty - you should be fine. Good luck!