weekly check-in

[ilanarama]

How was your running last week? Now that (Northern Hemisphere) spring is on its way, do you have any races planned?

Last week I wrote up and posted a short history of my running life - how I got to where I am now in my running. I'd love it if the members of this community did the same!

Comments

[ilanarama]

A good week for me, with close to 50 miles and some solid workouts. A long run of just under 19 miles on Saturday, my first really long run of the marathon training cycle.

I have a half marathon on March 19th I'm looking forward to. This was my PR last year and I am hoping to improve on my time, although I am not sure I'm in quite the shape I was then.

[yvi]

I plan to start running again either later this week or next week at the latest. The temperature seems to stay over 0°C these days.

[ilanarama]

I have to admit, it would be a lot harder to keep my running up if I didn't live in such a moderate climate. Most winter days are above 0°C and even when it's colder, it's almost always sunny so it feels warmer. Good luck getting started again!

[temve]

Managed 40K altogether last week, more than half of that in one go - Saturday's run was the longest I've ever run, at 21.2K.

I now feel confident I can actually finish the half-marathon on the 13th, although how I'm going to do it without my radio I have no idea. Let's hope there are cheering people to entertain me!

Mind you, I'm also looking forward to scaling back a little after the half.

[ilanarama]

Congratulations on the distance PR! And I can't imagine racing with sound. The interaction with the other runners and the spectators is such a big part of it for me.

[temve]

Yeah, that's something I'm hoping for - I usually run on my own, and I find I do better when I have something other than my breathing to listen to. It relaxes me :)

[blnchflr]

19 miles is such an insanely long distance to me, I can't fathom running that far :o) !

[blnchflr]

I only ran once last week, but it was a good run \o/ ! Another 4K run/walk intervals, the running intervals feeling good, even though I felt I was running fast/pushing myself. I've been adding Ks very slowly, which taxes my patience, and maybe I could get to 5K faster, but doing it this way certainly works in that I always run faster than my projected times, and don't wear completely out/take days for my knee to feel fine again after runs.

I did even more biking last week than usual, too, so I'm ok with with it just being the one run. Maybe this week I'll make it to two, who knows!

Less good, I went to the doctor last week and had a chronic foot condition confirmed (pes planus transversu?), which is depressing as hell. It seems like I will still be able to run, but need expensive inserts :o(

[ilanarama]

Well, you run a little, you run a little more, you keep on running, and pretty soon you have run 19 miles!

[ilanarama]

Yay for good runs. And biking too, that all adds to fitness.

As far as the inserts go, I have read that expensive custom inserts have not been shown to be any better than off-the-shelf ones. I use a $60 pair (expensive for off-the-shelf but cheap compared to custom) of "Archmolds" which you can heat in the oven and bend to fit your feet. Superfeet is another popular brand. I dunno what is available where you are, though.

[blnchflr]

All the entries relating to my foot condition I have found in Danish running forums say custom inserts are not only better, but actually helpful, where as off-the-shelf inserts are unhelpful at best, worsening the condition at worst. I don't know whether I'll change my mind when I hear just how expensive they'll be, but I'm going to try for once (or rarely) to not throw money after the cheap option, only to have to get the expensive option later on after all.

While not in excruciating pain, I have constant discomfort in my foot, worsening after being too much on my feet, including running, and as I understand it, my condition is still in a fairly mild stage - I don't need it to get any worse!

[sophinisba]

Last week I was not able to stick with my plan of doing a longer run than the previous week, but I did do a total of about 18 miles, some of them fast, and I feel really good about that. This week is also off to a great start.

[afrikate]

I ran for a glorious 6.5 minutes this morning at the PT's office. I am now officially cleared to run, but I am supposed to be sensible about it. Heh. So one mile tomorrow morning. Maybe two. Definitely I'll stop at three...

[ilanarama]

Whatever works for you! I don't have the same foot condition as you - I have some ankle tendon problems that are worsened by not having enough arch support, so that is really all I need, nothing specific. I think it's smart to do what the doctor says.

[ilanarama]

Woo!

[ilanarama]

When I returned from injury I did several weeks of alternating running with walking - a week of 5 min run/5 min walk (three or four cycles, plus walking as warmup and cooldown) followed by slowly increasing the run and decreasing the walk portion. I didn't run continuously for maybe 3 weeks. This is a recommended program for return to running after serious injury.

[afrikate]

Thanks so much for the link. I've been using that program, and hopefully I can get back to running consistently and continuously without injuring myself.