First of all it's not my intention and never was to belittle anyone or their accomplishments. I'm simply curious.

So as most of you already know I'm from Hungary, so I know very little about life and running in the US. I've learnt a lot from your posts and comments, but I still have questions.

In my country there are separate so called "endurance hikes" and trail races. They are separate events, but sometimes the same event would have a hike and a running race. These hikes are somewhat similar to orienteering, you get a description of the course, bring your map (and maybe compass) along and walk/hike the course. The distance varies from 5K to +100K, there are checkpoints, there's usually a time limit and you receive a badge and a certificate if you finish within the time limit. There's no competiton, though. Everyone gets the same stuff.
Trail races are organized for runners and the cut-offs are set accordingly. Even on tough courses or in rough conditions people are expected to run most of the course. Most of these races are chip timed and overall and age-group winners are announced, male and female.

Some years ago there weren't many trail races, so runners would appear at those "endurance hikes" and run them. At first, organizers (and hikers/walkers) weren't happy about that, but most of them got used to it and now even offer a head start to runners. This allows slower runners(beginners, the elderly, etc) to take part and run/walk as they please. Nowadays, most avid hikers would also run the flat/easily runable parts of the course, so the distinction between trail runners and hikers gets blurred.

So the question is: Is it similar in the US or do trail events mean both running and hiking/walking?

I compared the Bandera 100K onlykelsey  posted about and one of our toughest trail races, and the top finishers' times are almost identical which makes me think the difficulty of the courses is also similar. However, the cut offs are way too different (24-hours for 100K is for hikers here), which makes me wonder if those events are in fact for both hikers(power-walkers, walkers, etc) and runners. Is that so?

Current Mood: curious

While I’ve done dozens of runs beyond 26.2 miles, and a few trail runs up to 6 hours or more, I finally I got my first official taste of the Ultra world this morning.

Read On: http://brianrunner.livejournal.com/

Current Music: Queensryche: Man Down

I ran in the Arizona Road Racers Summer Series #3 4-mile race today, nicknamed "Four on the Fourth". The race was an out and back on the banks of the New River in Peoria, AZ; out on one bank, cross the river, back on the other bank, cross the river again, and head to the start/finish line.

Before the race, I jogged 15 minutes at a 14:11 pace to warm up.

The weather Thursday and Friday was overcast, and it rained for a while on Friday, which brought the temperature at the start of the race from what would have been the high 80's down to the high 70's, but raised the humidity to about 50%. The Sun was shining brightly with nary a cloud in the sky. That Sun is a killer for me. I had hoped to finish the race at an 11:45 to 12:00 pace; I didn't come close. First mile was 12:01, and the second was 12:17. Then it all came apart, with the third nile at 14:11 and the fourth (1.02 according to the garmin) in 14:08, for a 13:54 pace.

Total time was 52:34, for a pace of 13:09 (52:39 for 4.02 miles on the Garmin: a 13:06 pace). At least I finished strong; the last quarter mile of the 4th mile pace was 11:04 and the .02 mile pace was 8:08.

That was good enough for 2^ndof three in the 65-69 age group.

I ran the "Go Fourth" 8K, a small club race (about 300 runners) run on the Mount Vernon trail in Alexandria, Virginia this morning.( Read more... )

Good morning runners! (I'm pretty sure that still fits for the runners across the pond) Here's the daily training thread!

I'm up this early because my Fourth of July plans got completely changed last night. I'm leaving for Boston in a few minutes. My best friend, whom I haven't seen in over a year, is there for the weekend and that's an opportunity I just can't pass up. I'll be arriving sometime around 9ish. I already mapped out a 4 mile route around where she's staying and I haven't a clue what else is going on today. Tomorrow I'll hang around Boston, watch insane_bassist's race and get a run in along the Charles.

So what is everyone else up to today, training and otherwise?

And this has been stuck in my head for a few hours. It seems appropriate for today. And it's from one of my favorite bands, Carbon Leaf:


And once again, GOOD LUCK to all our runners who are racing this weekend! Can't wait to read those race reports Sunday/Monday/whenever.

Discuss... and HAPPY RUNNING (and HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!)

Brisbane grandmother and keen athlete Ruth Firth is in training to compete in the World Masters Games in Sydney in October. Ruth Firth will be the oldest competitor at the Games, which focuses on getting people involved no matter what their age or ability.

Transcript

( Read more... )

Current Mood: amused

As many of you know, my medium/long-term goal in running is to make it through Bandera 50K in January 2010.  I'd love input on training from anyone who routinely does either ultras, or trail races of 30K and more (and of course the rest of you, too.) 

I've been trying to only make a training plan for one month at a time, at the beginning of each month.  This month my goals are (1) to go from 21 miles/week to ~30/week, (2) to get a few more miles on trails, and (3) to meet my weekly mileage goals in 5 days, instead of 6, whenever possible.  I ran 6 days a week the last two weeks, and my legs are really tired and heavy.  I can feel something twinge in my knee, and what feels like the start of a shin splint again.  I think having two rest days for a while would be good for me.  If I do these things, I'll be at ~100 miles for July, with ~30 on technical trail, and ~20 on a sort of greenbelt trail.  I've been subscribing to the "two-long-runs-back-to-back-to-teach-you-endurance-and-recovery" school, so the bulk of my miles come in a light trail run on Saturday, and a technical trail run on Sunday.

That takes me through to August 1st, but I'm not sure where to go from there.  From that point I'll have about 19 weeks until the race, and maybe 16 until taper.  I think I'll need to take a cutback week in the beginning of August after a pretty intense July, and then start moving towards 40 mile weeks.  Do you think I can stick with 40 or 50 mile weeks so long as I make a long trail run of 3+ hours every 3 weeks or so?  I think, realistically, I need to be ready to be on my feet running/walking 12 or 12:30 miles for 7 hours in the 50K, so could just add a half hour every three weeks and be ready, I hope. 

In case anyone wants to see proof of my finish line mix-up, here are the photos from the Seattle RnR Marathon...because once is just not enough for me!

( Show me the bling! )

Good morning runners! Happy start of the holiday weekend (for the Americans here at least, yes I'm kinda biased)! Here's the daily training thread!

Yesterday's run was brutal, definitely the hardest I've done in a long time. The pace definitely indicated this. But I got a solid 4.5 miles in and, more importantly, my Achilles has not been giving me any issues during my runs. The heat training, which has caused me to slow my pace considerably and limits the distance I can run, has helped me not overdo it mileage wise as I transition back to running. Today I'm looking to do a little more, about 5 miles, and I will be dressed more normally -- just a long sleeve shirt. I'd also like to get about an hour or so on the bike and some lifting a la CrossFit (75 reps of 75lb power snatches for time).

So how is everyone else kicking of their weekend, training and otherwise?

And it's Friday, so what are your plans for this weekend? And you Americans, how are you celebrating the Fourth of July? BBQ? Beach? Fireworks? Firecracker runs? For me, it looks like the plans I was hoping on all week have fallen through. That means I'll mostly likely be hitting up my parents' friends' BBQ around the block in the afternoon and then biking down to Jones Beach to watch the fireworks display (along with what seems like everyone else in the tri-state area).

Also, GOOD LUCK erismichelle, boyknife, brianrunner, and anyone else not on the calendar who is racing this weekend!

Discuss... and HAPPY RUNNING!

A few months ago I decided to run a half-marathon. However, as one of my coworkers kindly reminded me, I've never raced anything longer than a 5K. I've done training runs up to 8.1 miles, but no longer races. So I decided to run an 8.4 mile race on July 19th. The route overlaps with the area where I do about 90% of my current running, so I'm not freaked out about the distance or how I'll do. Mostly I just want to get a feel for what a longer race feels like.

Because the route is so accessible, I decided that I'd like to give the course a try this Sunday. If I include the distance to/from my apartment as a warm-up/cool down, this will be a 10.1 mile run. I want to run it this way because I've been dreaming about hitting the double-digits since I was 15 (seriously!) and I think I'm finally up to the task. I plan on taking it slow and steady and I will definitely bring water with me. Would it be a good idea to bring energy supplement like Gu or a shot blok or something else with nutritional value with me?

I've never had anything but water with me on a run before (including the 8 milers) but I realize that it might be wise to experiment a bit before my upcoming races to see what feels best for the longer distances. (10.1 miles, by the way, will probably take me around 100 minutes if I stick to an easy pace.)

Thank you runners!

On my short morning jog, I thought a lot about cars coexisting with trains, bikers, and pedestrians.  I like to think of myself as a very conscientous pedestrian; I know when I have right of way, but don't expect the cars to know that.  When driving, I always give right of way to pedestrians when they have right of way or are in danger.  I always wear a flashing light when it's dark, and reflectors and light colors all the time.  I never, ever run with headphones, and am generally very attentitve.

I still often find myself in situations that are dicey as a runner.  I'll stop and look both ways before entering a cross walk, step out, and 2 seconds later narrowly avoid being mowed down by someone without lights on going 45 in a 15 mph school zone, or I'll make eye contact with a driver who's stopped, acknowledge them, step out, and then have them hit the gas.  Bats out of hell drivers aside, a lot of these situations arise when the driver and I seem to be communicating past each other.

This week, I've been using bike hand signals , but I'm not sure it's helped much at all.  In fact I think it actually pisses people off and make them WANT to mow me down.  Maybe because cyclists have such a (partially well-dserved) bad rep around here.

Have you guys found anything that works?  The only thing that's helped a bit is alerting the local police to what's going on in the crosswalk in the school zone... occasionally they have a cop sitting there watching for people speeding.  Of course, if Texas would just build freaking sidewalks, a lot of these problems would be avoided...

I didn't see a post for June monthly mileage totals.

How did everyone do? Did you meet your goals?

I was doing my cool down walk home from my run this morning and this old hispanic guy in a late model van slowed down next to me and waggled his eyebrows at me.

Seriously full on bushy eyebrows wiggling like live snakes. Then he gave me a jaunty wave and drove off.

It was only not creepy because it happened so fast and the wave was so jaunty. But it was THIS close to being shudder inducing.

Current Mood: confused

First and foremost, thank you all *so much* for the help regarding running in the heat and humidity. I'm just going to suck it up, make sure that I am hydrated, and do what I can in terms of running. Even if it means that I get out there, run half a mile, and have to walk the rest of what I've got, I'm determined to get out there and adapt to the heat. Thank you again!


Now...a thought came to mind and I better address it. My little sister, who is currently 13, is coming to visit me through almost the whole month of July. She currently lives near Albuquerque, NM, where it does get hot, but cools down significantly in the evenings/throughout the night/mornings. She's in middle school, but is on the high school track team and, now, the cross country team. She gets to visit me in Austin, TX, so long as she continues to keep up with running practice.

That being said, her coach has told me she needs to get in at least 3-6 miles 5+ days a week, maybe more. She'll be on the treadmill a lot, I imagine, because she'll be even less adapted to the humidity than I am. I believe she could probably be just fine doing all the training she needs to on a treadmill (although she may dread it as much as I do).


But would it be to her benefit as a competitive athlete to even bother trying to run in the heat and humidity? She won't actually compete until she gets back in school (the fall season, obviously) and by that point, temperatures will be cool again.

My main concern is the mileage she's supposed to get in - running in the heat will definitely slow her down and lessen how many miles she puts in. I don't want to negatively impact her training while she's here by encouraging something that might not help her.

Any suggestions?

Thanks again!

Interesting article at the NY Times.

If the video there won't play, try it here.

I just got pretty severely dehydrated... After a pedicure, in 60 degree weather, on a day I didn't even run. I only had a glass of water today.

Now I've always been a naturally thirsty person. But since I've started running I drink more water than most people would consider humanly possible. It doesn't feel like the thirst ever actually goes away, but so far I don't have any medical condition that would cause excessive thirst. On a typical day at work I drink a glass before my run, a glass after, three bottles at work, And then 4-5 glasses between work and when I go to sleep. I hardly ever drink anything but water, except occasional OJ. I hate soda (seriously).

Is this normal at all? Maybe I should try drinking some stuff that isn't water? Gatorade? Salty foods make me sick so that's a huge possibility. I have an extremely low sodium diet; I try to get other electrolytes in like potassium but salt makes me want to throw up. I did manage to get electrolyte imbalance in a 5K, and considering that's only 20 minutes of my life, that's probably pretty hard to do. I bought six gallons worth of blue Gatorade powder last semester (only $20!) and I have a lot of that left, so that's definitely doable and cheap.

Or do I just need to suck it up and bring water with me everywhere I go?

So i was on my six mile jog and when i got home, i noticed that i had weird white stuff on my lips? Is it dead skin or what? And does anybody else get this?

Runner's World has an interesting interview with Sarah Palin about her running. I'll reserve my opinion about her politics, this not being a political forum, but I do have to say as a runner, she impresses me.

Here is the most important thing that I think she said in the entire interview; it's the last paragraph of the interview.

Is there anything else the world should know about you as a runner?
The only other thing I'd like to add is I've been very fortunate to be a recipient of all the efforts people put into Title IX all those years ago where girls got equal opportunity to participate in sports and extracurricular activities because sports growing up were my world. I'm so thankful for Title IX allowing equal access to these opportunities, and I'm a huge proponent of girls being able to realize what they're made of by participating in sports, and whatever I can do there I'm going to be doing.

( A couple more quotes )

Good morning runners! Here's the daily training thread!

This morning I woke up at 5:15 so I could go walking up at the HS track with my mom. She expressed an interest in getting back in shape so I said I'd go walking with her in the mornings (Hopefully sometimes it will be in the evenings instead!). We walked about 2 miles in a half hour which was a good workout for her and a good way to wake up for me. I got home and had so much energy that I shoveled a whole load of gravel into bags ready to take to the dump. Now I'm gonna make myself a fried egg sandwich. I'll wait til about noon to layer up and head back to the HS to do ~4-5 miles on the fields. It's already pretty muggy and is supposed to get to the mid-70s with high humidity today. AWESOME! (note the lack of sarcasm)

EDIT: Went out at 3:30, temps in the high 70s and pretty humid. Sweatpants, dri-fit undershirt, long sleeve black shirt, light grey sweat shirt, heavy dark sweatshirt. 4.55 miles in 49:00 (10:46 pace). There was definitely some walking interspersed with my dazed ambling, especially after the first lap. Note to self: need to start drinking fluid IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT WAIT until the first lap is done. Overall and awesome day.

So what is everyone else up to today, training and otherwise?

Since Fourth of July weekend is bearing down upon us, I am reminded of the time my cousin almost blew his entire arm off with a firecracker (he escaped with third degree burns on his left hand and melted his shirt to his arm). Do you have any funny/insane stories of explosives to tell? Or any other summer-y type mishaps/hijinks?

Discuss... and HAPPY RUNNING!

I've been running since January and though I have increased my endurance (I used to barely be able to go .5 miles w/o stopping and now I can do 5 miles) I had not gotten better on my minutes per mile. It varied anywhere from 12 to 14 minutes. It was okay, I accepted this. Then last week, I finally discovered the reason for my ammonia smelling sweat (thanks for everyone that answered that one) and started eating an apple 30 minutes before I went running. The first night, I felt the energy, but my running partner wanted to stop a few times so we did. The second night (we had just started 6 milers on the previous night) we ran all 6 miles without stopping and lowered our usual 12:30 minute/ mile run to 10:16. Tonight, my buddy had an injury so I decided to do 5 miles by myself. Not only did I do it all w/o stopping (I was really scared yesterday was a fluke), but I did a sub 9 minute mile!!! I never dreamed I could do that and thought I would be  running 13 minute miles for the rest of my life. Now...I must begin hoarding fruit.

17 days after yanking a piece of glass out of my right foot I'm finally feeling better!  Dr looked at it last week and steri-striped it.  It was still bleeding this week so I made an appointment with my Dr.  She numbed me up (hilarity ensued when the lidocaine she was injecting lower in my foot started coming out of the cut) and dug around and lo and behold pulled out a good sized shard of glass. 

Youch!

That explains the pain, bleeding and cut refusing to heal.  Even after the lidocaine wore off I feel soooo much better.  OMG.  I'm giddy at the prospect of being able to run again.  Postively giddy. 

In fact, after she yanked out the glass my foot which had been bleeding pretty well stopped bleeding.  :)  Hooray!  I'm thinking I'll test it out tomorrow after my husband gets home for 4 miles or so.  

*sigh*

I was seriously going nuts not running.  I was prepared to let my dr do anything she needed to make it feel better.  I didn't even flinched when she said she wanted to poke around in the cut with a needle.  Whatever it took.

Good ending to a long 2+ weeks!

Hey guys!

I just wanted to post to encourage everyone out there who is on the fence about joining a running club to definitely do it, especially if there are coaches.

( This got a little longer than I intended. )

Basically, a coach is a great resource, and if you have access to one, I would jump on that immediately.

You guys DID warn me.  You did tell me to be careful doing training runs on a track.

( Knee Trouble )

Current Mood: frustrated

I ran 5 miles today
I'm supposed to run 5 miles on Friday
and 8 (or 9) miles on Sunday...

my friend is going to be in town for the weekend, she's busy on Saturday with family obligations but wants us to go out biking together on Sunday morning

I have to be at work at 1pm on Sunday...

so I'm wondering about pushing my 8mile run to Saturday so I can bike with my friend on Sunday
(I will have no time at all to run on Monday)

if I'm running the 8miles on Saturday (& it will be on the same trail that was miserable the first time I tried it- just because preferred other options are closed for the holiday)

should I

a. run Friday's 5 miles tomorrow morning?
b. go ahead & run the 5 miles on Friday then run the 8 miles the next day?
c. just skip Friday's 5 mile run entirely, do the long run 8miles Saturday and not worry about missing that 5 miles?

or should I not run the 8 miles on Saturday and instead

d. run the 8 miles on Friday and see what if any mileage I can squeeze in on Sunday between work and biking with my friend & her husband?

thoughts?

Hi! I've been a LONG time lurker here, with a comment every now and again. I can't remember ever seeing a question of this nature - and it wasn't in the memories. Any help ya'll can give me would be fantastic.

I've been running for almost a year now, with steady progress. I generally like running on my own, but I'll run with my boyfriend every now and again because he pushes me hard. However, lately, I have not been able to run outside at all. I've had to go to the treadmill for more and more runs, simply due to the heat.

I've only lived in Austin, TX, since October (where it is absolutely beautiful to run, right up until the last few weeks) and prior to that, I did most of my running in slightly-more-northern desert areas where at least it started to cool off when the sun went down. No luck out here whatsoever. The heat and the humidity are making it beyond difficult for me to run outdoors.

I haven't ran outside in two weeks now - my last outdoors run was a simple 3-mile where I typically do my 3-mile runs. It should have been an easy one, but the heat was so intense, that I had to drastically slow down and eventually walk the last .5-1 mile of it because I simply couldn't get any air - like how some runners, first starting out, push too hard and panic because they can't breath, that type of feeling.

I don't mind the treadmill I guess - I've been alternating between distance runs, hills, intervals, and so forth, listening to music or audiobooks - but I'd really love to get back outdoors.

Any tips on how to get adapted to running in heat and humidity? I know I'm not a patient person, but I am willing to do what it takes to get back to a point where I can run outside...I just don't want to wait until October again. :) Thanks!

*whew* It's harder and harder to motivate. Mostly because just running my usual distance feels like it's taking twice as much energy! Like those "dead leg" days or overtraining feels like - but every time.

I'm being very conscious of what i eat and drink in order to stay hydrated and fueled up, even for what many of you super-runners would consider a laughable distance!

The baby has "popped" forward, which isn't throwing my balance off but *is* a strange weight bouncing. My stride has shortened, probably in reaction to it. My pace, which used to be a 9:30 mile, has gotten significantly slower at closer to a 10:30. That was over the course of maybe two weeks - I just *can't* seem to push myself any faster without feeling horrible.

The only warnings I got from my midwife were on overheating, exhaustion, falling, and dehydration. Not too hard to remedy - run in the early morning, walk when my heartrate is above 160, watch my step, and drink lots of water. Basically, I just have to take a few more precautions.

The looks I get are priceless!! I'm noticeably pregnant at this point. I remember reading somewhere about the early woman runner in the 60's (?) who got stopped by the cops because they thought she was being chased. I get those sort of looks - some look alarmed, some look puzzled, and I even got a disgusted "she's abusing her baby" comment. *sigh* Au contrair. I care enough about my baby to carefully exercise and not sit on my butt eating twinkies!

Good morning runners! Happy start of July too! Here's the daily training and other assorted nonsense thread.

Today is definitely a rest day for me. Yesterday I did the same exact 4.1 miles that I did on Monday. The only difference was that yesterday I did it at about 3pm while wearing four layers (2 sweatshirts and sweatpants). It was hot and it hurt, but in a general OMG SO HOT kind of way. What didn't hurt was my achilles! Everything is a little sore today which I'm not surprised by. I might do an easy bike ride and then massage and stretch a lot.

So what is everyone else up to today, training and otherwise? (and if your answer is a 10k, you are a CrossFitter today!)

And because today is the first day of July, it's time to look back at June. What was your final mileage total for the month? I managed a whopping 14 miles (in 4 runs) in June. It sucked and it was my lowest mileage total since August 2007 but it will have been worth it if I stay healthy and am able to build back up now with no setbacks.

Discuss... and HAPPY RUNNING!

I'm learning about heart rate training and I'm trying to understand how different zones should feel.

• 70-75%  of max heart rate. This is what most of the sites call a "base building" or recovery pace.
• 80-90% of max heart rate. This is for tempos and lactate threshold runs.
• 90% and up. For short intervals in speedwork and during some races (short races, right?)

Now here is what I've noticed:

• 158 or fewer BPM I don't even feel it really, I feel relaxed-- there is some effort but I just don't feel like it's "hard" at all. I could go like this for hours and hours-- it's not challenging at all.
• 159-167 BMP I feel good, just a little effort to keep the pace up, but I can go like this for a long time. I think I could go like this for 2 hours or a long run.
• 167-175 BMP I feel like it's going fast... I can hold this for about a mile or two-- but it's not really a good feeling anymore. I can't talk I need to really focus on breathing.
• 175-185 BMP I feel a little barfy and when I stop the blood rushes to my face and it's intense.
• 185+ BMP I have not gotten it to go that high yet. But I think it would happen if I did some speedwork.

I've color coded these to show how I think they match up. My resting heart rate is 69. I don't know what the max is. I guess like 190? So 75% of that is 148-- should I really be that relaxed during my runs? I think I'd get bored. I think that 75% should be about 167 ... but that would put my max heart rate at 222! That can't be right!  So, I guess I'm asking should I really be doing all of my run with such a low heart rate? What do different percents of your max heart rate feel like to you?

Hey!
is there anyone here who is vegan? or turned vegan?
Im not considering it but im reading an interesting book that suggests we should get all the energy we need from raw fruits and veg... im just curious? I always thought that if you didnt eat your carbs you would be very fatigued... i eat extra carbs (pasta, cereals, bread) the day before a big game because i thought you would need them? I know fruit contains carbs but would it be enough?

I have a friend who is doing a project in a summer class, and created this survey. It's only a few questions. I said I'd post it here for him because I thought this community would bring some good responses. I'll just cut and paste what he posted on RunningAhead. I'll pass on the responses to him. Thank you to anyone who participates!


( Questions on how you would choose between two races )