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GAF Running Club |OT| - Couch to Marathons, All abilities

Fistwell

Member
Showing signs of overtraining, mood swings, hard to find sleep, elevated resting hbr. Energy has been a little low, the heat isn't helping. Legs feel solid though, haven't felt shins or knees or ITBs or anything. I proactively massage with some cream after most runs, dunno whether it's helping but it feels good so why not.

Wanted to put more volume in this week, but cutting quality sessions till I feel better. This was my last week in this training block, was going to take it easy for most of next week and finish with a semi TT on Sunday. I'll see how I feel by then, if I'm rested enough I'll do it, if not I'll just do another easy long run.

Starting to seriously back-load pace specific work towards the end and into the tapper. I don't think that's too much of a problem. If I'm well rested by then, marathon pace should feel pretty comfortable. If not, well, guess I'll have to readjust what my marathon pace should be! And that's OK too.

How's training going for all you Fall marathoners?
 

KiKaL

Member
Hurting pretty bad today. Did my first Ultra distance race over the weekend for the Toughest Mudder Midwest. It's an obstacle course race where you have 8hours to complete as many laps as possible of a 5-mile course with 16 obstacles. It started at 12am just to make it a little more difficult. Seeing a thousand headlights and blinking strobes running through the woods was a pretty cool experience.

My goal was 6 laps for a total of 30 miles but up feeling pretty good and I hit 7 laps for a grand total of 38miles in 7 hours and 47 minutes. The extra 3 miles was due to failing 3 obstacles and having to run penalty loops. Having a time limit and laps really helps push you. You kind of end up focusing on the lap itself and not the big picture. I am still trying to figure out if I want to sign up for a 50k in December but I feel like this race did check the box for completing an Ultra Marathon.
 

Fistwell

Member
Hurting pretty bad today. Did my first Ultra distance race over the weekend for the Toughest Mudder Midwest. It's an obstacle course race where you have 8hours to complete as many laps as possible of a 5-mile course with 16 obstacles. It started at 12am just to make it a little more difficult. Seeing a thousand headlights and blinking strobes running through the woods was a pretty cool experience.

My goal was 6 laps for a total of 30 miles but up feeling pretty good and I hit 7 laps for a grand total of 38miles in 7 hours and 47 minutes. The extra 3 miles was due to failing 3 obstacles and having to run penalty loops. Having a time limit and laps really helps push you. You kind of end up focusing on the lap itself and not the big picture. I am still trying to figure out if I want to sign up for a 50k in December but I feel like this race did check the box for completing an Ultra Marathon.
Hey you're that guy! Great job. Sounds all sorts of horrible though! :)
 
Showing signs of overtraining, mood swings, hard to find sleep, elevated resting hbr. Energy has been a little low, the heat isn't helping. Legs feel solid though, haven't felt shins or knees or ITBs or anything. I proactively massage with some cream after most runs, dunno whether it's helping but it feels good so why not.

Wanted to put more volume in this week, but cutting quality sessions till I feel better. This was my last week in this training block, was going to take it easy for most of next week and finish with a semi TT on Sunday. I'll see how I feel by then, if I'm rested enough I'll do it, if not I'll just do another easy long run.

Starting to seriously back-load pace specific work towards the end and into the tapper. I don't think that's too much of a problem. If I'm well rested by then, marathon pace should feel pretty comfortable. If not, well, guess I'll have to readjust what my marathon pace should be! And that's OK too.

How's training going for all you Fall marathoners?

Lol just recovering from my latest half marathon adventure last Sunday before I put my body in marathon training mode for CIM 2017. Technically my coach wanted us to start marathon training yesterday, but I knew that I should probably rest/active recovery for at least a few days before I rev up again. So my current plan is to jump into marathon training head first starting Thursday if I survive my easy 4 miler tomorrow and the weather cooperates enough after work.

The fitness I've gained/lost(?) during my taper/race should hopefully carry me through, well at least according to Stravistix and Strava fitness/freshness meters it shoulddddd- but I don't really know exactly how much stock I can put into those even though I do use them!
 

panda-zebra

Member
I think the old run follows my actual path a bit better, you can see where I've moved out of the way of someone or just drifted to one side of the pavement or another. The new 5k is probably giving a better estimate of the actual road distance I'm covering.

I guess that's what I want at the end of the day so I'll just have to accept the challenge of my unfairly gained PRs!

That older run looks to have a bit of GPS wobble or jitter, you see it more often on phones than watches, zig-zagging and scribbly-looking lines at worst or just weird unnatural wandering.

BTW, I'm heading down that way for a parkrun (preston park?) and the 10k in November.

Showing signs of overtraining, mood swings, hard to find sleep, elevated resting hbr. Energy has been a little low, the heat isn't helping.

Here, take these: ���� �� �� �� �� ��

How's training going for all you Fall marathoners?

Got a race a week for the next 4 weeks and a week off before the marathon. Doubt I'll run much or at all besides those. Mostly be concentrating on non-cardio activities, particularly heavy sessions of elliptical thumb-based work coupled with major index finger flexing from the 6th onward. Some sleeping, some eating, as little actual work as possible as usual.

The fitness I've gained/lost(?) during my taper/race should hopefully carry me through, well at least according to Stravistix and Strava fitness/freshness meters it shoulddddd- but I don't really know exactly how much stock I can put into those even though I do use them!

A really fast marathoner (sub-2:30s) I was talking to before my last told me to expect good 5k/10k times 2-3 weeks after the marathon given all the training and conditioning. He probably thought I had more of a structured approach to the race, but he wasn't wrong - 5k PB after a fast 10k on a tough course and a course record on a tough 5k when taking it easy as I had a 20-miler in the afternoon. Just a shame I got carried away and didn't give myself much rest after that and burned out :)
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
A few months ago I started cardio training, and my coach gave this routine: 5m warmup, and then 10 intervals of 30s sprint/1m recovery jog (and 3-5m cooldown at the end). This is the beginner version, the moderate increases it to 15 intervals when you are good enough to do 100% sprints and 50% jogs (without walking of course).

I decided to increase it to 12 just to ease it in, since I never felt fully at 100%-50% performance but still didn't feel TOO exhausted after 10 intervals. So far so good.

In the past weeks I neglected it somewhat, been very busy, but I restarted it recently and I want to keep at it buuuut, problem: ankle pain getting worse. I've felt occasional pain and soreness in my left ankle (usually after sitting/lying down for a while and then getting up, it's usually better after I move a little) but it was never a big deal, only lately my Achilles tendon has been hurting too, which never happened before and is scary as fuck. I should note, I also do martial arts (my cardio goal is to increase stamina and performance in this training) and did NOT stop/neglect this training, all the time I had went to this and not the cardio training.

I know at least three people practicing the same art who tore their Achilles and were out for months. One of them had been ignoring pain in his Achilles for months so that was kind of on him, but another had no prior sign too.

I wonder if it's safe to even keep running... :( I'm probably overreacting, but I'm scared. Seeing my physio on Friday so hopefully I'll be able to get some advice. I hope putting some sort of ankle support will help.
 
A really fast marathoner (sub-2:30s) I was talking to before my last told me to expect good 5k/10k times 2-3 weeks after the marathon given all the training and conditioning. He probably thought I had more of a structured approach to the race, but he wasn't wrong - 5k PB after a fast 10k on a tough course and a course record on a tough 5k when taking it easy as I had a 20-miler in the afternoon. Just a shame I got carried away and didn't give myself much rest after that and burned out :)

Hmmm, that would actually make some sense since I set my mile-PR last year two weeks after marathon during a time trial and have been falling 10-15 seconds short as of April or so; the last time I tried to run a fast mile.
 

Aikidoka

Member
A few months ago I started cardio training, and my coach gave this routine: 5m warmup, and then 10 intervals of 30s sprint/1m recovery jog (and 3-5m cooldown at the end). This is the beginner version, the moderate increases it to 15 intervals when you are good enough to do 100% sprints and 50% jogs (without walking of course).

I decided to increase it to 12 just to ease it in, since I never felt fully at 100%-50% performance but still didn't feel TOO exhausted after 10 intervals. So far so good.

In the past weeks I neglected it somewhat, been very busy, but I restarted it recently and I want to keep at it buuuut, problem: ankle pain getting worse. I've felt occasional pain and soreness in my left ankle (usually after sitting/lying down for a while and then getting up, it's usually better after I move a little) but it was never a big deal, only lately my Achilles tendon has been hurting too, which never happened before and is scary as fuck. I should note, I also do martial arts (my cardio goal is to increase stamina and performance in this training) and did NOT stop/neglect this training, all the time I had went to this and not the cardio training.

I know at least three people practicing the same art who tore their Achilles and were out for months. One of them had been ignoring pain in his Achilles for months so that was kind of on him, but another had no prior sign too.

I wonder if it's safe to even keep running... :( I'm probably overreacting, but I'm scared. Seeing my physio on Friday so hopefully I'll be able to get some advice. I hope putting some sort of ankle support will help.

The pain in the ankle might be indicative of a pronation problem with your foot which can lead to tendonitis, which can be helped by certain shoes or changing your stride. With your martial arts comment (is it kendo?), the sudden movements from the balls of your feet definitely fatigues your calves (from my little experience with kendo, I remember it being particularly rough on the back leg calf.), so maybe they simply are not recovered by the time you start sprints. Fatigued calves also contribute to tendonitis.

Sprinting really works out the muscles, so maybe it would be best to do more slow endurance training for a bit till your body has acclimated to the routine. This will also let you really focus on your stride and ensure you don't have any bad habits. I hope the physio gives good news!
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
Yes, it's totally kendo haha. Been doing it for over a decade without any pain in the Achilles though. Running is more recent but I was still doing it fairly regularly for weeks without issues. Must have been a bad warmup recently or something.... grrr :(
 

Fisico

Member
Showing signs of overtraining, mood swings, hard to find sleep, elevated resting hbr. Energy has been a little low, the heat isn't helping. Legs feel solid though, haven't felt shins or knees or ITBs or anything. I proactively massage with some cream after most runs, dunno whether it's helping but it feels good so why not.

Yup that's what happened to me as well when I was overtrained :p
Legs are always ok and when you start running you have no difficulty whatsoever, the "hard to sleep" phase is the worse, gotta slow down on your training :(

How's training going for all you Fall marathoners?

Still stuck on a god damn treadmill as it's >30° every single day where I live, welp.
I also have to deal with 1h max running session which is ok for now but might be annoying in a few months as the race date approach (it's 29th October)

Still on three training a week, trying to keep that 80/20 approach usually with a full 1h low pace training (~12km/h), a 50mn low-mid pace (~13km/h on average) and a 1h bicycle training (37-38km).

These past few weeks after finishing running I also do some 15-25mn bicycle, it's less tiring, easier to maintain low heart rate and gives a bit more volume, I think I'll miss it once I'll go outside again to run.

I need to register to a 10k to see where I stand very soon, 37:30 should be achievable imo, don't want to bother with a half so I guess ~1 month before the marathon I'll do a special training 1h bicycle + 1h running which should be enough I think.
 

Fistwell

Member
The fitness I've gained/lost(?) during my taper/race should hopefully carry me through, well at least according to Stravistix and Strava fitness/freshness meters it shoulddddd- but I don't really know exactly how much stock I can put into those even though I do use them!
It's early December, so you still have three months. If you were starting from scratch (base building) it'd be short, but being in decent shape from a recent half I'd think that's plenty of times to prepare. What's your goal time? JD places your recent semi as equivalent to a 3h55 full.

Here, take these: ���� �� �� �� �� ��
The question marks mirror my doubts and uncertainties! How do I hold all these �s?? :)

Got a race a week for the next 4 weeks and a week off before the marathon.
That's a lot of racing. Are racing-racing or taking some of them as specific (not completely all-out) workouts?

A really fast marathoner (sub-2:30s) I was talking to before my last told me to expect good 5k/10k times 2-3 weeks after the marathon given all the training and conditioning.
Yeah I'd be interested on TT'ing a 10K a bit after. I'll look around if I can find an actual race. There's the one on the December 31rst that I ran last year, but that's 3months, not 2-3 weeks, I might try to find another in October.

Yup that's what happened to me as well when I was overtrained :p
Legs are always ok and when you start running you have no difficulty whatsoever, the "hard to sleep" phase is the worse, gotta slow down on your training :(
Yeah, no workouts till I feel recovered, only low intensity jog-runs. To rebound on your "no difficulty whatsoever," yes, energy has been up and down, but easy runs have felt particularly effortless.

Still stuck on a god damn treadmill as it's >30° every single day where I live, welp.
I also have to deal with 1h max running session which is ok for now but might be annoying in a few months as the race date approach (it's 29th October)
The heat does make it tough. Would run early morning or late evening help a bit?

Still on three training a week, trying to keep that 80/20 approach usually with a full 1h low pace training (~12km/h), a 50mn low-mid pace (~13km/h on average) and a 1h bicycle training (37-38km).
You seem to be producing pretty solid race times on relatively low mileage, that's impressive. Are you planning long runs closer to the race, or will it just be the 1hr cycling +1hr running sessions?
 

panda-zebra

Member
A few months ago I started cardio training, and my coach gave this routine: 5m warmup, and then 10 intervals of 30s sprint/1m recovery jog (and 3-5m cooldown at the end)

...

I wonder if it's safe to even keep running... :( I'm probably overreacting, but I'm scared. Seeing my physio on Friday so hopefully I'll be able to get some advice. I hope putting some sort of ankle support will help.

If I was doing that and feeling some some of ill-effects like you have, I'd try a strides workout than straight all-or-nothing efforts. If that made no difference I'd quit the fast stuff altogether and just plod, but definitely keep moving. I've had an iffy ankle area for a year or more now, full rest, races and all-or-nothing hill sprints are what bother it most. Keeping moving, even if it's just hilly walks, help manage it.
That's a lot of racing. Are racing-racing or taking some of them as specific (not completely all-out) workouts?

I might skip the first one, a half, it'd be nice to do but means getting up early and disturbing everyone when we're away for the weekend. 5 mile I just want to beat last year's time as it was my poorest effort in a race and that time stands out as being a bit shit on my list of race times, so I'll go for that. 10k race is a big club meet-up and I'm organising lots of stuff on the day, if I have one good race in the rest of the year it'd be nice to be here. And after that it's that 24 hour thing where I'll mostly be walking/crawling/crying or just sleeping in the van. 2 weeks after that should be enough time to at least let me trot 'round the marathon and enjoy it, but if I miraculously feel up for it I'll give it a proper go.
 

fester

Banned
How's training going for all you Fall marathoners?

On week 14 of an 18 week training plan and I'm pretty beat up. Two more weeks that include some key workouts before the taper finally kicks in. If I can fight off a nagging knee and achilles issue I'm hoping to pull off a solid race in Oct.
 

Fisico

Member
The heat does make it tough. Would run early morning or late evening help a bit?

Nah it's hell here, temperature never goes below 26-28° and even when it does you have an abnormal high level of humidity which still makes it a torture.
Asian summer climate is a nightmare for a winter person like me :(
(I like to run when it's 0° outside)


You seem to be producing pretty solid race times on relatively low mileage, that's impressive. Are you planning long runs closer to the race, or will it just be the 1hr cycling +1hr running sessions?

I would love to, running in the street is a pain (only concrete, lots of people/cars/bikes/etc and the air quality is probably so so) and there's no forest or anything near where I live.
The 1h cycling +1h running in one session at race pace should still get me to ~40km / ~14km which is arguably a bigger effort than an half marathon so it's not too bad.

Both the treadmills and bikes in the sports club i go too are capped at 1h so that's the upper limit I can go to during training (maybe I could switch machines, but that would be "cheating")

Overall I don't think I've ever been enough prepared for a marathon, I never ran much more than 1h while training and I never ran any distance between half (only during races) and marathon which is why I'm slower at half and marathon than I should be if I follow some VMA tab
But I'm improving and that's ok as time has never been my first objective.

I can confirm on the "better time at 10k a few weeks after marathon" as well :p
 
It's early December, so you still have three months. If you were starting from scratch (base building) it'd be short, but being in decent shape from a recent half I'd think that's plenty of times to prepare. What's your goal time? JD places your recent semi as equivalent to a 3h55 full.

My goal is to try and get my first sub-4 hour this year after failing to get it last year with a 4'29'56 after my quads flared up. Basically, I've been preparing all year specifically for this race as it left a bad taste in my mouth despite the overall achievement of having actually finished my first.

The way I've broken down my overall training year was that Jan-August were all aerobic base building for me, with the hopes that I can go and actually hold the equivalent 9:00 pace for the entire duration. We'll see how it goes!
 

mdsfx

Member
I have just over 5 weeks left until the Chicago Marathon, but boy am I making things hard on myself. A vacation and the Chicago Triathlon put me behind on my long runs. Longest I've done is 16 and I'm aiming for 18-19 this weekend, followed by a 22 just 3 weeks before the race.

This should be interesting...
 
I set a goal to run 300 miles a month for this entire year. This morning I dragged myself to a total right at 300 for August. I really don't think I have it in me to start another month tomorrow (and continue through December).

I'm not overtrained (I don't think), and I'm not injured. I'm just extremely bored of it, and mentally drained. The same routes, the same streets, day after day, week after week. And now it's back to being dark for most of the time I'm running in the morning. It's lonely and isolating. And I've got travel for work this month that's going to make it extra inconvenient.

Assuming I take 5 days off (which is about average for a month), and knowing that September only has 30 days, I have to average 12 miles a day, every day I run. And while I know I can do it, I am losing the desire.

But, it's a goal I set. And it's a goal I know I can accomplish, if I just stop bitching and get on with it. There are only four more months. It would be cool to end the year knowing I did it. But I am asking myself more and more these days, what's the point of this?
 
I have just over 5 weeks left until the Chicago Marathon, but boy am I making things hard on myself. A vacation and the Chicago Triathlon put me behind on my long runs. Longest I've done is 16 and I'm aiming for 18-19 this weekend, followed by a 22 just 3 weeks before the race.

This should be interesting...

You'll be cutting it close but you'll do your last long run with enough time to do a proper taper, I think.
 
My pace is down by minutes but I think I have a handle on my injured foot so I'm going to see how a half marathon race goes this Sunday. If that works out, I'll press on for the October marathon... if not, I'll take a few weeks off and work on strength while finding another race in spring.
 
I have just over 5 weeks left until the Chicago Marathon, but boy am I making things hard on myself. A vacation and the Chicago Triathlon put me behind on my long runs. Longest I've done is 16 and I'm aiming for 18-19 this weekend, followed by a 22 just 3 weeks before the race.

This should be interesting...

Oh snap, yah. You are cutting it pretty close to the vest, but here's to phoping that you'll be fine!
 
My pace is down by minutes but I think I have a handle on my injured foot so I'm going to see how a half marathon race goes this Sunday. If that works out, I'll press on for the October marathon... if not, I'll take a few weeks off and work on strength while finding another race in spring.

Sounds reasonable. Good luck on your half!

Your reactions have me even more concerned lol. Do you guys taper longer than 3 weeks? If so, does that ever feel like too long?

No, never done a taper longer than 3 weeks (I usually do a 2 week taper). A taper period of around 2-3 weeks is what's most common though, so you'll be fine :)
 

Fistwell

Member
I set a goal to run 300 miles a month for this entire year.
That's a lot of miles. I assume that's more than what you used to do, have you plateaued on aerobic adaptation or are you still seeing changes?

My pace is down by minutes but I think I have a handle on my injured foot so I'm going to see how a half marathon race goes this Sunday. If that works out, I'll press on for the October marathon... if not, I'll take a few weeks off and work on strength while finding another race in spring.
That sucks, coming back from injury is never fun. Best of luck!

Your reactions have me even more concerned lol. Do you guys taper longer than 3 weeks? If so, does that ever feel like too long?
Not an expert, but 3 week taper sounds fine. I'd be more concerned over going into a marathon with a single long run over 20 miles. That's fine too, but a few more would have probably helped. And about cutting it close, I think it takes about 3 weeks to reap the benefits for your long run (citation needed).

I wouldn't lose sleep about any of it. You have a solid general physical condition. Your training as you have laid it out will help you. Doing things a little different could have helped and made a small difference, but nothing dramatic. Stick to what you have, run within reason on the day, and you'll do great.
 

Ghost

Chili Con Carnage!
That older run looks to have a bit of GPS wobble or jitter, you see it more often on phones than watches, zig-zagging and scribbly-looking lines at worst or just weird unnatural wandering.

BTW, I'm heading down that way for a parkrun (preston park?) and the 10k in November.

oh cool, Preston Park is the only Parkrun round here I haven't done, Hove Park is the biggest one I think, it's a nice course with a few hills to keep it interesting, then Hove Prom seems to be the one a lot of serious runners do because it's completely flat, all good fun though enjoy your trip!
 
I set a goal to run 300 miles a month for this entire year. This morning I dragged myself to a total right at 300 for August. I really don't think I have it in me to start another month tomorrow (and continue through December).

I'm not overtrained (I don't think), and I'm not injured. I'm just extremely bored of it, and mentally drained. The same routes, the same streets, day after day, week after week. And now it's back to being dark for most of the time I'm running in the morning. It's lonely and isolating. And I've got travel for work this month that's going to make it extra inconvenient.

Assuming I take 5 days off (which is about average for a month), and knowing that September only has 30 days, I have to average 12 miles a day, every day I run. And while I know I can do it, I am losing the desire.

But, it's a goal I set. And it's a goal I know I can accomplish, if I just stop bitching and get on with it. There are only four more months. It would be cool to end the year knowing I did it. But I am asking myself more and more these days, what's the point of this?

You didn't give much specific details so this is going to be more generic advice.

How's your sleep?
Do you track your weight?
What's your running history?
Do you only run easy pace?
Do you run the same distance each day? What's a typical week like?
Any races this year?
Do you have any down weeks?

300 miles of easy running per month over 4 weeks should look like: 80+80+80+60 or 90+90+90+30.

Your goal is just a number, don't fret if you miss it. Be sure you feel good. You should not feel that mental exaustion for too long. Take it very easy (with or without days off) for about a week or two. You should recover. If not, take it easier for longer. Don't double down or you'll dig your running grave. I'm still in mine.

You remember that snappy feeling in the legs when you're well rested? When you're running easy and all you feel like is pushing the pace faster? You have to feel like that again before you continue your goal.

Yes, part of long distance training is beating that "I don't feel like going on anymore" internal talk and running on tired legs and mind. It's alright to do this for period up to 1-3 weeks during the peak of a cycle or when adapting to higher mileage. Otherwise if you feel tired or sluggish all the time, you might be overreaching. Have you considered hiring a coach?

What's the point of this? Well, life has the meaning you give it to. Running wise, you'll have an incredible base in the future. If you want to target a specific race time next year, you should make great improvements once you lower a bit the mileage and add more intensity.
 
Your reactions have me even more concerned lol. Do you guys taper longer than 3 weeks? If so, does that ever feel like too long?

My last, which coincidentally was also my first, marathon taper was 3 weeks. So I think that's definitely enough time to run your 20+ miler, cut back and then rest up for your upcoming full.

Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor, nor coach, and completely blew out my quads during my first full sooooo take my advice for what you will! :D. Good luck!
 

mdsfx

Member
Pushed out 20 miles today and it went surprisingly smooth. Kept a comfortable pace, which I thought would put me close to 9min/mi, but I averaged 8:35 which is a good sign for finishing the race in under 4.

Edit: My lower back is angry :)
 

Fistwell

Member
Pushed out 20 miles today and it went surprisingly smooth. Kept a comfortable pace, which I thought would put me close to 9min/mi, but I averaged 8:35 which is a good sign for finishing the race in under 4.

Edit: My lower back is angry :)
Nice work! :D

I've been keeping things low effort this week, was shocked of the pace I pushed on my long run. Not fast by any means but it did feel pretty effortless, at only 20s/K slower than target pace. Am quietly hoping the added weekly mileage is starting to pay off, but will probably end up disappointed.

Anybody followed UTMB on Friday/Saturday? (go France!)
 

xxracerxx

Don't worry, I'll vouch for them.
Posted this in Fitness GAF but hope you guys can help as well:

Anyone have any recommendations on a running/workout shirt preferably with a side pocket for a phone?

The running will be done on treadmill since that is all my ankle can take after the pins and plates in there.
 

Zoe

Member
You really don't want a pocket, the phone will bounce around too much. Get either an arm band or a fannie pack.
 

xxracerxx

Don't worry, I'll vouch for them.
You really don't want a pocket, the phone will bounce around too much. Get either an arm band or a fannie pack.

I have gotten so used to a pocket on my back right, since I currently run with a cycling jersey.

But any recommendations are welcome.
 
Any pockets, shirt or pants or otherwise, are no good while running because your phone can fall out pretty easily or everything swings around and messes up your balance. Before I got an arm band I was fine with just holding it.

If you're doing event races though I recommend just a loose long sleeve. I wondered why everyone had those when I ran a marathon in a tank, and then realized why the next day when my skin started peeling off from the sun.
 
Just getting back into running after a few years off. I lost about 90 lbs running in 2012 and in 2013 I ran a marathon. however I did not train or take precautions, I was stupid and caused myself some injuries that took a couple years to get over. Developed plantar fasciitis in my right foot, then in my left foot (not to mention knee issues).

Only felt healthy enough to run again at the end of 2015/beginning 2016 but I was in the throes of a relationship ending and a bunch of other personal problems that lead me to not only not run but I became very depressed and gained a lot of the weight back that I had lost in 2012.

I bought a treadmill off of a coworker back in march and have been slowly building up my foot and leg strength, under all this new weight and with my previous injuries, it's been really slow. But, on Monday I hit a milestone, did 4 miles on the treadmill and 6 miles outside, my first double digit run in I don't want to know how long.

So for the first time in a long time I feel like I am actually back. I still have the majority of the new weight to lose, which is my main goal right now, but I finally have the strength to go further without feeling like i'm going to injure myself.

I definitely felt my right foot ache a little during the run but nothing I couldn't tolerate. my biggest issue today is that I want to go running but I think I would be better off resting.

Thanks I just wanted to talk about it.
 

kottila

Member
All great suggestions, but any suggestions on shirts?

Get a flipbelt, I've used mine in training runs and races (I don't race with my phone if I can avoid it) and everything stays in place with no bouncing. Then you can wear whatever shirt you feel like
 
So any advice on what to do with an on/off again "runners knee?"

I'm currently training for my first ever marathon - Chicago on 10/8. Following a 20 week training plan and it was going really great up until about week 11 or 12.

I ran a regularly scheduled 18 mile run on August 19th with no issues.
On August 22nd I ran a planned weekday run of 4 miles. Halfway through I developed some knee pain, but it wasnt bad and I finished up my run. Day after that I had extreme pain and couldn't even think of running. Took a week off, rested, iced, stretched, did some strengthening exercises and then ran again on August 29th. Did a 4 mile run and I didn't have any pain. Next day, August 30th I tried running again and couldnt even make it 1 mile. Pain cropped up so i just stopped.

I ran this past weekend, did 13 miles, and the first 6 miles were pain free, but the second half was more of a run/walk/run/walk due to pain..again.

I feel okay today and I was going to attempt a run, but man I just dont know.

I think some of it might be in my head, and I want to be able to run the marathon but it just sucks.
 

littledipster

Neo Member
So any advice on what to do with an on/off again "runners knee?"

I'm currently training for my first ever marathon - Chicago on 10/8. Following a 20 week training plan and it was going really great up until about week 11 or 12.

I ran a regularly scheduled 18 mile run on August 19th with no issues.
On August 22nd I ran a planned weekday run of 4 miles. Halfway through I developed some knee pain, but it wasnt bad and I finished up my run. Day after that I had extreme pain and couldn't even think of running. Took a week off, rested, iced, stretched, did some strengthening exercises and then ran again on August 29th. Did a 4 mile run and I didn't have any pain. Next day, August 30th I tried running again and couldnt even make it 1 mile. Pain cropped up so i just stopped.

I ran this past weekend, did 13 miles, and the first 6 miles were pain free, but the second half was more of a run/walk/run/walk due to pain..again.

I feel okay today and I was going to attempt a run, but man I just dont know.

I think some of it might be in my head, and I want to be able to run the marathon but it just sucks.

Wow, just came to post something similar.. the exact same kind of thing happened to me...

I'm HOPING this is just "runner's knee", but I'm not sure now. I ran 23 miles last Saturday, felt fine, then on Sunday was running 12 when about 10 miles in I noticed some knee pain. I finished my run and then on Monday my knee was in pain just walking walking around. I haven't run since Sunday and it's killing me, and my knee goes back and forth from feeling better (in the mornings when I wake up it's like nothing is wrong) to feeling just as bad as it did on Monday. My pain is on my left knee at the bottom of my knee cap. This is especially worrying me because I've never had an injury/runner's knee before and I'm running the NYC marathon in November...

I have a doctor's appointment on the 18th (ugh) but am hoping to feel better before then, but not counting on it. Curious to see if anyone has advice as to what I should be doing to help it, as doing nothing every day when I would be running is killing me!
 
So any advice on what to do with an on/off again "runners knee?"

I'm currently training for my first ever marathon - Chicago on 10/8. Following a 20 week training plan and it was going really great up until about week 11 or 12.

I ran a regularly scheduled 18 mile run on August 19th with no issues.
On August 22nd I ran a planned weekday run of 4 miles. Halfway through I developed some knee pain, but it wasnt bad and I finished up my run. Day after that I had extreme pain and couldn't even think of running. Took a week off, rested, iced, stretched, did some strengthening exercises and then ran again on August 29th. Did a 4 mile run and I didn't have any pain. Next day, August 30th I tried running again and couldnt even make it 1 mile. Pain cropped up so i just stopped.

I ran this past weekend, did 13 miles, and the first 6 miles were pain free, but the second half was more of a run/walk/run/walk due to pain..again.

I feel okay today and I was going to attempt a run, but man I just dont know.

I think some of it might be in my head, and I want to be able to run the marathon but it just sucks.

Honestly it depends on what your goals are IMO. If your only goal is just to finish the marathon, then take it easy over the next few weeks through your taper and keep your fitness high with cross-training and strength training and see how your knee progresses from there. Get a massage, visit a chiropractor, heck maybe even xray and get some sort of professional consultation.

You've put in the work already with the marathon being so close, so your fitness level should be able to stay where it's at if you need to take some time off running beforehand. Maybe try a few more easy runs in between CT and strength just to see how it is and go from there.

If it still persists the week of, I'd consider deferring to next year if they let you or find another marathon. Good luck!

Pro tip: I had a severe case of runner's knee last year and mostly got rid of it through consistent strength training and keeping consistent mileage throughout the year of roughly 20-25+ mi per week in the offseason. So I suppose you can say that I speak somewhat from my experience?? YMMV. Also, not sure if it's related to my runner's knee, but my quads blew up during my first marathon last year lol!
 

Hyoukokun

Member
Just finished my first ever 10K race! I was pretty wiped out afterwards, but bounced back nicely with some fluids and food. My finish time was 53:01; better than my target (55min) but not quite as fast as I can go on a treadmill.
 

Fistwell

Member
Wow, just came to post something similar.. the exact same kind of thing happened to me...
Yeah that sucks. Had noticed something was up from your strava. Hope things turn out OK, but it's good that you're being careful with it.

In unrelated news, went on a semi TT yesterday to see where I'm at a month before my marathon. Went decent-but-not-great in 90mins (and 3 seconds ;_;). JD places that around 3:07 on the full, adjusting for not being that well trained for the extra distance, I think I'm looking at 3:15 and change. It was disappointing because recent long-easy runs had felt particularly good, I thought I saw signs of my aerobic engine getting better, and 90mins is what I used to run a cple of years ago off of 10K training. But, then again, went out and had way too many beers both Thursday and Friday, which I should know better and is not my age anymore. :3

So, eh, we'll see how target pace feels in the coming weeks. I have no pressure to perform really (other than pride!).

PS: running kinda hard for an hour and a half is tough and serious business.
 

panda-zebra

Member
But race day is race day. A 90 minute half is fast and hard, going out doing that on your own is serious stuff. You'll have the taper on your side and on race day you'll be all over it. I reckon if you ease in for a couple of miles and and do 94/95ish for the first half you'll be in well under 3:15. Good luck!
 
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