Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with run

Getting back to training after mid-plan overtraining symptoms?

activitystory — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:45:42 -0800

Marathon training filter: How long has it taken you to recover from the symptoms of overuse and get back to your training plan? I'm currently using Hal Higdon's Intermediate II training plan to prepare for the 2008 NYC Marathon (my 3rd). It's been a big step up in mileage for me (I'd only been running 2 or 3 days a week for previous marathons, but I'm running 5 days on this). I took it slow and increased miles no more than 10% to get to where I am now. I am an avid stretcher and practice yoga several times a week, and am very cautious about injuries. My shoes were purchased near the beginning of training and seem to be just fine. This is week 8 (half way) for me, and I've had absolutely no problems, until...

I accidentally ran 18 miles when I should have run 16 on Sunday, at the end of a week where I had to rearrange a couple of runs because of travel. Nothing strange happened, but I was totally spent during the last few miles. Afterward, I stretched and took an ice bath. Then, I took Monday off, and went out for a short how-do-I-feel jog last night... My outer-calves felt very week, and the outside back of my left knee was a little... pinchy? Not excruciating, but definitely a sign I should take it easy. It feels a little like the time several years ago where I had IT Band problems, but nowhere near as painful. On the way home from my run, I stopped by the gym and stretched out a little: rolled out my quads and IT band, rolled out my shins and calves, and stretched the front of my legs. Iced when I got home.

Has anyone had a similar problems during training for a specific race? How many days/weeks did it take you to get back on track? Did you feel like your base miles reset or diminished? What worked for you? How did you decide to get back into the training plan?

Based on all I've ever read, this is a pretty common problem (I've been fearful and cautious about it for some time), and I understand that rest, ice, and stretching are usually the remedy; what I'm looking for is actual stories from actual runners about what impact this has had on their training. Did you bounce back in time to train for the race without further incident?

Spira shoes: fact or crap?

middleclasstool — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:06:34 -0800

Spira running shoes: horseshit? I'm looking for personal experiences running with them, particularly running marathon distance, but I'll take any solid data on them. Are they snake oil, or good shoes for running?

Where in Philadelphia can I go to use a treadmill for free?

jrichards — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 07:33:08 -0800

Where in Philadelphia can I go to use a treadmill for free? I generally run outside, but the hot weather is killing me. I don't want or need to join a gym, but I would love to be able to use a treadmill once or twice a week. Does anyone know of anyplace in Philadelphia that would allow me to use their treadmill or pay a drop-in fee? I live right across the street from Pennsylvania Hospital, but they don't have anything available. I know there are unused treadmills all over the city! Does anyone know of a hotel or physical therapy office in Center City that might be willing to share?

I am sick of babysitting creaking old printers.

By The Grace of God — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:31:49 -0800

I want to buy the Leaflet-o-Matic 5000 printer of awesome. I want a printer to print runs of hundreds of survey cards with addresses, etc. and leaflets for a political campaign. It should be a laser black and white, fast and reliable, with a capacious paper tray, duplex would be nice but not necessary. Network printer capability and plays nice with Macs, please. Budget of about £200.

I am in the UK if relevant. Many thanks!

Run Across Canada?

913 — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:54:36 -0800

Let's say I wanted to run across Canada next year, what would I need to start doing to be able to? Hypothetically speaking:

I start on the West Coast next May - by my calculations if I run a marathon distance everyday (Terry Fox style) it would take about 140 days.

Now, I would have a couple of friends driving behind me in a van for the entire distance, food would be taken care of, as would a place to sleep for the night.

What would I, a guy who runs 10k races now, have to do in order to run across Canada? Training, mental preparation, etc.

Let me have it!

How many Boston Marathon runners qualified and how many ran for charity?

csimpkins — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:07:36 -0800

Is there any way to find out the percentage of Boston Marathon runners that qualified for the race vs. the percentage that gained entry through other means (charities and such)?

Need a new workout to get my hockey legs (and lungs) back!

liquado — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:53:39 -0800

I'm (stupidly) starting playing ice hockey after 20 years off the ice (I'm 33). After the first game last weekend, I'm apparently in far worse shape than I thought -- and need some ideas for new workouts to get my game on. I'm 5'11", 225, and run 5k/life weights 4-5 times a week. I'm also an occasional 10k runner, so I've got some legs, but I was just about dead after playing == not sore, but waaay out of breath, wheezy, etc.

Obviously, the extra weight I'm carrying isn't helping, and I have a touch of exercise-induced asthma (the phlegmy cough for the last three days has been unpleasant, to say the least), but I need some ideas for a new workout regime that will help me get some of the jump back -- sprints, ????? Thanks MeFiers!

Help me get an uninsured hit and runner

Wong Fei-hung — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 06:14:30 -0800

How do I make an uninsured hit and run driver pay? I want him off the street. I do not want to do this guy any favors. How do I notify the community of this menace. Saturday I was stopped at a stop sign and a driver making a sharp (think race car) left hand turn onto my street hit me head on and then ran. I only have liability coverage on my car as it is 11 years old and not worth the blue book value of the car at alittle under 1900 dollars.-

I got his license plate number, and he was caught/cited later. I also have his name, (suspended) drivers license number, year/make of his vehicle, the address he gave the police (and about 5 other addresses he has lived at in the past 14 years) and his birth date.

I also have his brothers name, and address (the address he gave the police). (I am planning on showing up at his hearing even if he does not.)This person is self employed as a painter and has been described to me as a functional alcoholic. I could not find his business listed in the phone book.

How can I figuratively, legally, make him pay for the 2,000 dollars in damage to my car? What are my options?

Please help me learn to run.

sequential — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 09:13:00 -0800

Please help me learn to run. For starters, I am built like a sprinter: big, muscular legs. I have never been a particularly good distance runner.

Next, I have a variety of foot related issues, mostly corrected through the use of the proper footwear and foot care. I have wide feet (EEEE). I over pronate. I have a history of blisters and calluses.

As part of my weight loss efforts, I began walking. Now I can walk at 4.4+ miles per hour, at steep inclines, for very long periods of time. I can fast walk at about 5 miles per hour, though I struggle to maintain speed at steeper inclines. Though I continue to train for fast walking, it's particularly stressful on my hip flexors.

Because of my schedule, I primarily workout on a treadmill. It is not clear to me if this is causing any issues.

I've tried adding running into my routine at various times, but within 30 to 60 seconds, no matter how much I warm up or stretch, either my shin splints act up (most common) or my hip flexors act up (less common). Though I have run a mile once since March (at 10'49") and a quarter mile (at 2'15"), I have not been able to repeat either performance.

After nearly six months of struggling to start running, it struck me: I don't know how to run. I am strong cardiovascularly (VO2max of 61) and have an abundance of endurance. How would you suggest I go about learning to run? I have looked into couch-to-5k programs, but none of them specifically address the fact that running is physically painful to me.

I am open to the idea of hiring a running coach, but wouldn't begin to know where to look or what to look for. I have hired a personal trainer to work on, for lack of a better phrase, my "smaller muscles"; think core muscles and secondary muscle groups that aren't part of the mirror or vanity muscles many people work on (hip flexors chief among them). I would love a specific training program that includes resistance training, stretches, warm up, cool down, and a variety of routines to choose from. (By variety, I mean a short work out, a long work out, and some flexibility to do HIIT or other types of work outs.) Most of all, though, I need to learn to the proper form.

For what it's worth, I am medically cleared to run by my physical therapist and my primary care physician.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

should you really replace your running shoes every 6 months?

esolo — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 18:42:45 -0800

should you really replace your running shoes every 6 months? I exercise 3-5 times a week. That usually includes a fitness class (e.g. step, weight training, etc.). I only run occasionally on the treadmill for 15-30min at a time. I have been told that your running shoes should be replaced every 6 months. Is that true? If so, what do you do with your old ones? Do you throw them out? Can you wear them as walking shoes? I currently have Saucony running shoes that are over 1 year old, but I have only used them in the gym, so they look pretty decent. It seems a waste to just throw them out.
Any advice from fitness trainers/buffs, doctors and everybody else would be appreciated! :)

Where to I take my running from here?

nickmark — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 12:44:12 -0800

I'm finishing up the Couch-to-5K Plan. What's the best way to keep building my speed and endurance on a treadmill? I'm familiar with the idea of increasing weekly distance by 10% every other week, and with track work for boosting speed… I’m looking to do a bit of both, ideally simultaneously (I'm okay if that means progress in each area is more gradual than if I concentrated on one).

For the C25K, I've been on the slow side, because 10-minute miles make the math easy in terms of distance, speed, and duration of workout. I'm on a treadmill, and will be for at least the next few months, because the gym's convenient for my schedule and we're hitting winter in Minnesota. The advantage of the treadmill is that I can force myself to go at the chosen speed, meaning sustaining speed over distance is more assured (assuming I don't choose to slow down). The disadvantage is that it makes track-like work a bit tougher – I have to pick a specific speed, not just "sprint," but more than that is that I'd rather not be switching speeds every couple minutes, at least not every run, as it's distracting and I'm clumsy at it. Are there treadmill-specific suggestions out there?

Most training plans for beginning runners I’ve seen take you up to the 3 mile/5 K point and then you’re kind of on your own. Where can I go from here? It's obvious how to increase the distance, but I'd like to build speed at the same time, to keep the time spent on the treadmill from ballooning. I think a reasonable intermediate goal is to be able to do 5 miles at 8.5 min/mile, but I'm not sure how to (safely!) combine building speed and distance. Do I just bump up by 0.1 mph and an extra quarter mile every week or so? Are there plans out there I haven't seen? I'm not really looking to train for races necessarily, just fit a longer run into less time.

Yuma, AZ exercise - run, lift, and box

bangitliketmac — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 01:30:12 -0800

Where is a good place to work out and run in Yuma, AZ? I'm in Yuma, AZ for almost two weeks. Most importantly during this time, I want to get in some good running. If there is cool desert landscape or rocks to run by, that's a bonus. If not, I'll settle for not running next to a highway. I plan on running every other day between 3 and 7 miles. I'm interested in a good location to run that isn't in the boring streets. Hills vs flat doesn't matter.

Secondly, I wouldn't mind getting into a decent weight room a few times but don't want to pay $20/day type of fees.

Last, if there is any sort of mixed martial arts, boxing, muay thai, or boxing gym around here, I'd like to get in there to train a few times also. I can check the yellow pages of course, but would prefer a personal recommendation since the quality of these sorts of places can vary enormously.

Breakfast before or after morning run?

Cranialtorque — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 20:15:33 -0800

In terms of boosting metabolism and promoting weight loss, should I eat breakfast before a morning jog or after? If after, immediately after or is an hour later ok? I'm 35 year old former drunken slothlike fatass, but between biking, dieting, and sobering up, I've lost about 30 lbs in the past 2 years. (Most of the weight loss is from dieting, but the other things have obviously improved my health too.) I still want to lose another 15/20 lbs. I'm starting to add a morning jog to my routine, hoping to get in the habit of 20-30 minutes of jogging a few days a week. Always having breakfast has helped me a lot, and I understand its important because it lets your metabolism know you live in a time of plenty, not a time of famine. However, my routine is wake, shower, 20 min communte, breakfast, work. I've tacked the jog on at the beginning of that routine. By jogging on an empty stomach and not filling it for the better part of an hour, am I convincing my body that I'm in a time of famine and running from a predator first thing in the morning? I can't imagine cooking up some eggs then going running, would just a little pre-jog snack do the trick?

Obviously, my understanding of metabolism and exercise is rudimentary and fractured at best. Any advice and insights are welcome.

Are post work out shakes and twistched normal?

crewshell — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 22:22:13 -0800

After a semi hard run or other cardio / muscular endurance excerise I sometimes get the shakes, or muscle twitchs... and not in the muscles you would expect. What would cause this? I rowed alot in HS and College (did pretty well with it actually) and often after a REALLY hard erg work out the tip of my nose would tingle... which I could never figure out why. Also after my run tonight (2.6 miles in about 24 minutes) my hands shook (ever so slightly) while holding my drinking cup.. and i got an odd muscle twitch in my lip..

could this be a sign of something physically wrong (i've always been pretty active) or just .. my quirky anotomy?

Mapping my Runs

benjh — Mon, 28 Feb 2005 11:47:49 -0800

I am getting into running, and would like to start planning routes for my runs. I would like a good mapping application that will allow me to set a route, and have it tell me what the distance is for the particular route. The goal is to be able to set distances for routes that I end up back at the house within the certain distance. (ie. I don't want start running, end up 5 miles from home, and be exhausted.)

Question number 5588

PrinceValium — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 16:30:56 -0800

Why does my laptop run 10 degrees hotter when plugged into a ground fault circuit interrupter receptacle? The machine runs at 40-45C on battery, 45-50C plugged into a normal outlet, and 55-60C on the GFCI in my basement. Plugging into a surge protector doesn't seem to help. Why is this happening, and is there a hardware fix?