The Fitness thread

VirtualAdept said:
Back of calves, so between ankle and knee, got it a couple of hours after doing a 25 minute run.
Hard to describe the feeling, since it doesn't hurt so much as feel a bit tight... like I say, it feels like I've recently had cramp, but its gone away, ya know?
Its disappeared today, so I'm not overly concerned, but I definitely didn't wanna run myself into a problem.
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Then it's probably nothing (or more accurately DOMS). There's a LOT of conflicting information on this but the best summary seems to be it affects some people more than others ;)

Lots of people find foam rolling helps with this but it's actually unclear whether it does or not. Personally I like it. But then I seldom get DOMS ;)

Cool, whats that? :LOL:
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Concept2?

One of these http://www.concept2.co.uk/indoor-rowers/model-e

I used to use one a lot but I haven't played with it in a year or so. Annoyingly my wife can beat my 10K time on one ATM.
 
VirtualAdept said:
Thats spot on actually, it wasn't much of a hill but it was long, and I have increased in pace slightly.
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Steady as you go. It's just your body adapting, it takes time.

As Phil said, what you are almost certainly experiencing is DOMS. Get used to it, as he said it is sort of normal when you are making your body do something it isn't used to. You just need to recover properly and press on.

Are you doing any stretching *post* run? If not you will benefit from it. Hamstrings, calfs and maybe some one legged squats to improve strength and stability. Pre-run stick to dynamic warm-ups, get the blood flowing and muscles warm but avoid deep stretching. Youtube is your friend for good stretching technique. This won't necessarily prevent DOMS or hasten recovery but it will stop you tightening up like a drum skin whilst your body sorts itself out.
 
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I've only been doing the five minute warm down walk as per the podcasts, though it tends to be a little more than five mins.
 
Half way down page 3? Srsly?

Sigh...... :)

Been lazy lately as my physio says not to run so I've just been hitting the rower. Made it through 7 episodes of Homeland before I decided it was just a mashup of Manchrian Candidate and Dangerous Minds (you know, the other thing Mandy Patinkin did).

Anyway, first race on Saturday. I have a final check with my physio tomorrow but I bet I'll be running ;) Breaking myself in gently with the Westminster Mile. Kind of wish I were doing the 10K on Sunday instead. Especially now Mr Farrah has pulled out leaving it w-i-d-e open........
 
Since my last running injury and rib episode I have been really struggling for form. Legs have felt like lead and I just couldn't make them work any harder. Cardio wise I have felt ok, yeah not where I was 8 weeks ago but improving.

During my injured period I had noticed that the aches and pains in my legs which I usually get with recovery never really went away fully. This was a niggling thought at the back of my mind. Alongside this I have had a long held suspicion that the statin (cholesterol lowering drug) I have been taking for more than a decade as one of the diabetic holy trinity (Insulin obviously, ace inhibitor & statin) may have been hampering recovery. One of the possible side effects of statins is muscle fatigue and/or pain. I've discussed changing the one I on a couple of times with my GP but in the end just left it alone.

Anyway, after a real struggle of a run on Sunday my legs were wrecked despite a very easy pace. Sunday night I did a bit of research into the possible effects of the statin on muscle recovery and performance and decided to suspend taking it for a week or two to see what difference it made to matters. Monday my legs were still tired a.m. but by evening I was noticing a marked improvement. Tuesday was the real eye-opener, they felt great. Circumstance prevented me running until Wednesday early evening but by then my legs were fresh as daisies, I was raring to go. Despite it being a hot night I managed a 40s/km improvement on my last run and it was definitely my cardio performance which was holding me up. In short I felt great.

This morning, the legs were a bit tired, tonight feeling good though. Now I know this may be a psychological reaction to stopping something that I have concerns about, it is too soon to know. I'll see how the next few runs go and and then start taking them again to see is the previous effects return. However, I'm feeling very positive about things at the minute, like a veil has been lifted. I foresee a long chat with my GP coming up.
 
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JonathanRyan said:
Sounds like some good news @ChrisJ_SLH :)
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Early days but i'm very positive. I need to establish if I am still hypercholesterolemic without the Simvastatin. If I am, I need to find a solution to that. Either another statin (which doesn't give me the side effects) or another solution.

JonathanRyan said:
Stupidly I'm now looking at another "ultra".
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I admire you enthusiasm but have a realistic strategy for getting there. Little steps add up to big distances surprisingly quickly.
 
ChrisJ_SLH said:
I admire you enthusiasm but have a realistic strategy for getting there. Little steps add up to big distances surprisingly quickly.
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Don't worry - I really do have a plan ;)

It's another lap based, time limited "ultra". So I can go and run for an hour, lie down for a bit, see how I feel etc. Crucially I'll never be more than 2 miles from the support team so if there's a problem somebody will spot it for me. Also, there's cake at the support desk.

I'll be using it as a way to practice nutrition while running - I've never exercised for more than 100 minutes continuous without access to water and snacks and I know that as you push towards 2 hours you need to start fuelling on the run. It's something I need to get right before Paris so a couple of longer supported runs this autumn will be perfect.

But first, tomorrow. Let's see how I cope with mass starts and thousands of people in my way.
 
@JonathanRyan I have a Camelbak I use for longer runs (>10km) and generally speaking if plan on running for more than an hour I will take a gel at 40 minutes and then one every 20~30 minutes after. If you start to feel hungry/thirsty it is usually too late in my experience, don't get to the point in the first place.

I ran again today, fourth day of the statins. It went really well, the signs are that the last run wasn't just nocebo. I finished strong after 5 miles with negative splits and my legs feel great now.

Good luck for tomorrow and remember to run to your own pace and not those around you.
 
ChrisJ_SLH said:
@JonathanRyan I have a Camelbak I use for longer runs (>10km) and generally speaking if plan on running for more than an hour I will take a gel at 40 minutes and then one every 20~30 minutes after. If you start to feel hungry/thirsty it is usually too late in my experience, don't get to the point in the first place.
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This is good advice.
 
ChrisJ_SLH said:
Good luck for tomorrow and remember to run to your own pace and not those around you.
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Haha, yeah, I tried that.......

Typical first race - I had a plan, I knew my splits, I knew how I wanted to race and I knew not to push it since the physio had only told me I was only 80% fit.

Then the klaxon went off and all I could see in front of me was a pace car....... Came off the line much much too fast, thought I was about to die when I saw the 800m to go mark and then spent the next 400 watching people pass me. Surprisingly when I checked my stats my pace was pretty even apart from the ridiculous start. I'd decided anything under 8 would be good and I'd be really happy with 7:30 for my first race. You can imagine how pleased I was with 6:47. Until I saw a 10 year old narrowly beat that :)

1-mile-pace.jpg
 
Nice ;)

Just trying to decide whether to enter a 10K in 3 weeks or so. Looks a good distance to have a go at.
 
Well, had to odd weeks of not running thanks to a vsn at work doing s number on my back, but lo I hit the trail again yesterday, completed the 25 mins I'm at.
All in all I'm rather happy with that
 
BTW anybody who is near London and likes to run.......The City Mile on 22/6 is now free. Everybody welcome - at the Westminster Mile the times ranged from 4:32 to 32:00 ;) Even if you're quick, there's a good chance you'll get beaten by a 10 year old. Lot of fun.

http://www.cityoflondonmile.co.uk/
 
Thought I'd bump the thread to see how everyone is doing.

Personally, I've bagged a couple more 10k's and feeling tip-top. Working back up to 10 mile now and trying to shift a bit of blubber before holiday in August.

I've also learnt a couple of things in the last week....

1. My tight lycra running shorts don't chafe when I wear them without underwear. :)
2. My tight lycra running shorts are a bit graphic when I wear them without underwear.:oops: :$
 
I've switched to HIIT running for a few weeks. Right from the outset, I've been able to run faster for a lot longer than I've ever done in the past.
 
So it looks like I'm almost back to full fitness. Physio told me to run 2.5 miles today. Somehow in my head I translated that to 5k. Then I thought I'd take it really easy and just run for 30 mins instead. Ended up at 5.5k in 29 mins which felt really good.

Also, it turns out I've been "selected" to run a 10K with Michaela Strachan (srsly, I'm on her team and she's older than me so I should be able to keep up). It probably goes without saying that I'll be dressed as a tiger. http://www.justgiving.com/tigerbalm
 
JonathanRyan said:
So it looks like I'm almost back to full fitness. Physio told me to run 2.5 miles today. Somehow in my head I translated that to 5k. Then I thought I'd take it really easy and just run for 30 mins instead. Ended up at 5.5k in 29 mins which felt really good.

Also, it turns out I've been "selected" to run a 10K with Michaela Strachan (srsly, I'm on her team and she's older than me so I should be able to keep up). It probably goes without saying that I'll be dressed as a tiger. http://www.justgiving.com/tigerbalm
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Make sure you learn the Scouting for Girls song about Michaela Strachan so that you can sing it to her all the way round, lol.
 
Ladoes and gentlemen, I'm afraid I must confess... I've just finished wk7 of the c25k pdcasts from the nhs, 25 minutes at a time... week 8 is 28 minutes but, for the life of me I couldn't find any app (in the hurry I was in) that'd set that as a goal, so... I ran for half an hour.
AND IT FELT GREAT! Paced myself, didn't push too hard and completed the whole 30 minutes, no cramps the following day, so I'm rather happy with that.
On the downside, I was 296 metres shy of the 5k, but hell, given where I started, I'm happy with my progress.
 
Cheers guys. Can you recommend a good plan/podcast/app etc for the next step? I think the nhs to one but their music is godawful and once you're into long runs there's not much BUT the music.
 
Zombies Run :)

It's not a progression because it's just a 30 or 60 min run but it's distracting and fun. Also has random sprints.

You use your own music.
 
I didn't really follow any plan beyond 5km. I just aimed for 10%'ish increases each week in distance, the pace will improve too as you get fitter.

Mix shorter runs with longer runs and don't try increase each time you go out. Get your favourite tunes on and try out some new routes.
 
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Why do I keep running too fast?

I know what I should be doing - pick a pace and stick to it. Then I enter a race and it all goes out of the window :)

10k race at Brands Hatch was brutal. It was very hot, Brands is FAR hillier than you might expect and I'd never actually run further than 7k. But my physio said not to do any of that training nonsense, just rest and run it. Set off all excited like and flew down the first hill - really I should have started much nearer the front. Then after 4k or so it started to be a lot less fun. Struggled to 5 (in a new PB by some margin - yeah I was running too fast) and then hit on the genius idea of, you know, walking for a bit. Still managed to lap a bunch of people :D and was over the moon with a sub 55 minute finish (um, 54:59.....) but there's no way it was fun.

Couple of days later I was running the City Mile. Not quite as big as the Westminster mile but I got to see David Weir which was nice. Also, despite the heat, I felt a lot better in the race than I ddi at Westminster. I didn't feel like I'd actually had a heart attack by half way this time. And yes, very pleased to finish quicker too.

Now upping the mileage. Mainly by getting lost. Had to nip over to the other side of town today which should have been spot on 2.5k. I know that because on the way back it really was 2.5k. Going it was a shade over 5.....
 
Finally I made it to Parkrun this morning.

Anybody who hasn't tried this - give it a go. Very friendly and welcoming. Also, free ;) http://www.parkrun.com/

According to the email I just got I was second in my age group. However, when I looked into it more I found I was also last in my age group :) Mind you, I only got beaten by one 10 year old girl so I'll take that as a win.
 
I've had a looky at parkrun... cant say their site is terribly user friendly but, eventually, found a run local to me... Not gonna dive in just yet as I'm only just brushing 5k, but in a few weeks once I'm comfortable doing it regularly, I think I'll head over to my nearest one and make a pillock of myself.
 
VirtualAdept said:
I've had a looky at parkrun... cant say their site is terribly user friendly but, eventually, found a run local to me... Not gonna dive in just yet as I'm only just brushing 5k, but in a few weeks once I'm comfortable doing it regularly, I think I'll head over to my nearest one and make a pillock of myself.
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Yeah the website is a bit designed to death.

Everybody I know who has tried Parkrun has actually loved it.

BTW there will be no pillock making of you or anybody else. First runner today was home in 19:39. Last was back in 35:40 with the tail runner walking next to her. Slowest time (ever) on that course is 50:53. Everybody finishes. Everybody respects the effort runners of all abilities put in.
 
Been in touch with them, they seemed nice enough.
Ran y first 5k today, took 34odd minutes and I struggled.
I've not been hydrating properly this last week, I've not eaten properly either, so I'm not surprised I found it tough.

Didn't push myself hard or owt, just slogged on at as comfortable a pace as I could find and all that taken into account, I'm very happy :)
 
Wahaaaa, another 5k done. Wasn't appreciably easier but I was a bit quicker overall (though I'm still consciously trying I keep it steady; I ain't racing).
Had sore legs since Sundays run so I've done some proper stretches today and already they feel much better.
As ie said before, your encouragement and advice has been invaluable. Many thanks guys
 
VirtualAdept said:
Wahaaaa, another 5k done. Wasn't appreciably easier but I was a bit quicker overall (though I'm still consciously trying I keep it steady; I ain't racing).
Had sore legs since Sundays run so I've done some proper stretches today and already they feel much better.
As ie said before, your encouragement and advice has been invaluable. Many thanks guys
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It's time for Parkrun ;)
 
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