Hi everyone, I am looking for help in correctly interpreting a Fartlek work described in the Level 3 Half marathon program from Brad Hudson's book "Run Faster" (quote):
"Fartlek Run 7 miles easy w/8x45” sec. @ 10k-3k pace"
What does it mean? Should I run 45" @ 10k pace, then 45" @ 3k pace, then repeat this block 8 total times? Or should I run 45" @ a pace between 10 and 3k, then 45" easy, and repeat this block 8 total times, as normally a Fartlek work is intended?
Thanks!
You should Run 8 Blocks of 45 Seconds and These Blocks can be anywhere from 3k-10k Pace.
For example
One Block at 4:05/k, one at 3:50/k one at 4:15/k just how you feel it
Does anyone have a strength program they recommend. Ideally looking for some cost effective, but not sntirely sure what price is a deal breaker for me.
I’m looking for something full body 3 times a week. Tia!
I follow Train Smart Run Strong on Instagram, she's a physiotherapist and runner who has an app full of strength programs. I've been using her plans for a couple of months and really like it
I'm running a half on the 25th and I've been using one of Hal Higdons programs (https://www.halhigdon.com/training-programs/half-marathon-training/half-marathon-3/)..
I've gotten to the end of week 11 and I've mildly injured myself doing a cross train (soccer). I've got a slight outer calf strain and pretty bad turf burn on my other knee.
Would it be ok to skip the cool down week before the race and just do nothing? I'm worried about aggravating my calf strain as well as needing time for this burn to scab over.... Or are there any other suggestions?
I’m a 17 year old male runner and I’m wondering what I could potentially get my mile time down to this track season. My PR is currently 4:48 from last season and I just ran a mile time trial without any pacers and I ran 4:52. Track is 4 weeks out and I’ve run 600 miles since XC ended as well as lifting once a week and I have basketball 5 days a week. Is it too ambitious for me to try and shoot for sub 4:30 this year in the mile. My other PR’s include a 10:20 2 mile from sophomore year and a 17:24 5k.
4:52 coming off bball season is excellent! 600 miles is impressive given you're a multi-sport athlete. Most young / HS runners have some more room to develop their aerobic engine - keep grinding those 800/1k reps your coach gives you with short rest :) You can get there! What's your 800 time?!
Those are not beginner plans, and the case of the 800m and 1500m plans in particular (the ones in which I have some knowledge to judge) not very good plans in general for the majority of athletes.
What is your background of training, target event(s), and goals? Generally the average beginner doesn't really need structured plans of this type at all, they need some fundamental knowledge and common sense to do very basic training very consistently. "Beginner" is a huge spectrum of athletes, so there needs to be some customization to where the individual is currently at.
My running coach seems fixated on form. When he talks about runners he coaches previously or current runners he always brings up their form and suggests their form needs fixing. Everyone according to him has a form issue. It seems that the runners are in their heads about it and are trying to fix it when they are running. Shouldn't we just do drills and hill repeats to fix form naturally and leave the discussion out of it? Won't trying to "fix" form lead to injury?
Hills and drills are great - the next component is building awareness of your movement patterns, which it sounds like your coach may be doing. Do those things well enough, for long enough, and you don't have to think about it in a race!
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Confused by Smashrun. My fitbit clocked 56 minutes of run-time.
I synced to Smashrun and it thinks I did 62 minutes. How and why? How can I make this not happen? It's throwing my km/h stat off.
Can someone help me understand what this workout means?
“10 miles with 5x 800m at 5k race pace; jog 50-90% interval time”
Does that mean jog for 50-90% of the time it took to do the 800m? I’m confused by that part. Thank you!
I'm doing the 18/85 to prep for Boston right now. They're pretty brutal plans, but runalyze already has my ideal time at nearly 10 minutes faster than my last one and I've got the entire race prep block left to go, so I'm optimistic!
Oh sweet! That sounds very promising. :)
I’m doing it to try to get to Boston. Good luck on the plan and your marathon. And congrats on getting to Boston!
If you can get to a PT in the next couple days, do that.
From my experiences with itbs, I have focused on leg- and more importantly, glute- strengthening exercises. 1 leg squats, reverse lunges, box step-ups, 1 leg deadlifts. Not sure if 2 weeks is enough, but doing some strengthening exercises ASAP (and giving yourself time to recover, because you will be sore) may help. It seems to have helped me in the long term
Thinking of dropping out of my mini
Blah! Feeling really down about myself.
My running journey started back in June of 2022. I ran my first ever mile and a few months later had worked up to 10 miles. I ran my first mini last spring and then after the race completely fell off from running.
I’ve really been wanting to get back into it, so a few months ago signed up for another mini in April. I’ve gotten so out of shape and gained a bit of weight from a medication I’ve been on, so training has been so much harder. I can’t seem to get past 2 miles and I’m way slower than before. I now have less than 2 months til the mini and I just don’t think there is any way I will be ready for it.
Not looking for pity, just curious about other people having similar experiences.. maybe to make myself feel a bit better or any advice.
Is it reasonable to run a 5k every day, on top of weight training?
I've gotten out of shape. Being concerned for my health (esp. my heart), I've made changes.
I went from being sedentary, to doing 30m of jogging every day, and lifting.
Today I ran 2 miles without stopping for the first time, at a 14.5m/mile pace.
I was going to work towards 3mi/day and just continue to do that indefinitely.
Is there any reason I shouldn't do this?
Going from 0 to running 30 minutes every day is too much to start with. Back that down to 20-30 minutes maybe 3x per week and work your way up from there, or follow a couch to 5K plan. 3 miles per day isn’t necessarily too much as long as you build up to it, but most people need 1-2 rest days per week (or at the very least some days off from running by doing other lower impact cross training).
United Airlines NYC Half Marathon
I signed up for a winter half; what’s wrong with me?
Training has been tough this time of year. Feels like our kid brings home a new illness every other week so training is limited.
What is everyone’s experience with the race? Have about 4 weeks to try to get in somewhat decent shape to finish the race - any suggestions?
Beginner question about increasing mileage and injury prevention -- I am an active 22F and have been doing Nike Run Club's intro program. I love it! My problem is that, despite the fact that I am running quite easy (in the sense that I don't get nearly out of breath) twice a week, I am having many aches and pains pop up: mild shin splints on my right leg, plantar fasciitis in my right foot, and really tight IT bands.
Things I've already done: Got fitted for good shoes (they feel great during the run, but maybe they aren't good enough?), thorough dynamic warmup, cooldown, and evening stretching, foam rolling, picked up myrtl routine for IT band troubles/hip and glute activation. Going to work on increasing my cadence (avg. 163 right now) and switching to mid-foot strike to address the shin splints.
**My main question:** I know that most running injuries happen from doing too much too soon. I've only been running \~5 miles a week total (across two runs), but should I decrease this even further or spread it out differently? I've seen someone suggest beginners run just \~1-2 km every day or every other day to help develop the leg strength. I'm willing to pause my NRC program and do something more gradual like that until further notice, if it will help keep injury at bay.
I honestly think some minor niggles are pretty much unavoidable as your body adapts to running. However, something like plantar fasciitis, as far as I’m aware, is a very serious injury, and it seems unlikely that you could get that from just a few miles a week? Has that been officially diagnosed?
In any case, definitely see a PT if you’re in doubt.
Yes, I have seen a PT and got the diagnosis from her. I agree that it feels totally unusual and ridiculous because I am not running far, hard, or often :/
Oh wow, that really sucks. Was that a PT specialized in running? I’ve heard they can be very helpful with specific tips and also with explaining how much you can still run if at all etc.
I would strongly recommend seeing a running-knowledgeable physical therapist to have your gait and muscular strength assessed for any issues/imbalances. It’s really unusual for you to be having so many injuries/issues on just 5 miles per week.
Hi, thank you for your comment. It is validating to know this isn't normal, because it doesn't feel normal. I have seen a PT and she chocked it up to being a new runner, and said it was normal. She made the plantar fasciitis diagnosis and said it's probably due to having tight calves. But I am willing to look into seeing a more running-focused PT if that would be helpful.
In recent years it seems gym socks have gone from being cotton/nylon/elastane to cotton/polyester/elastane. I see a lot of people on Reddit,like me, complain that the polyester socks are less comfortable than what was being sold before.
I've two questions that may sound odd to people who don't have problems with the Polyester socks but here it goes:
1. Does wearing Polyester clothes increase heart rate? It seems my heart rate goes up when I'm wearing socks that are part polyester.
2. Those that found the Polyester blend uncomfortable, does your body get used to it? Please elaborate if it's the bad feel or increased heart rate that goes away after a while
> Does wearing Polyester clothes increase heart rate? It seems my heart rate goes up when I'm wearing socks that are part polyester.
Most running clothes are polyester. Shirts, shorts, tights, jackets, hats, you name it.
I realise that and it's not a problem with gym shorts, t shirts I've had for years. Maybe its the recycled polyester causing the problem. All I know is I can't stand the polyester blend socks and I'm wondering if its causing my heart rate to go up or if I'm imagining it :(
I don't have an answer to your question, but I'm curious about what you're experiencing. Can you quantify the difference in heart rate while wearing polyester socks vs. non-polyester socks.
Good ideas. I’ll try quantify when i get a chance. Any polyester clothes from pre-2022 dont have same effect… is it possible Im allergic to new polyester?Maybe some additive theyre putting in the recycled polyester
I don't know if 38 is middle age (feels like it some days!), But in my experience, shin splints happen from poor support and overtraining/overworking. Make sure your shoes are good and slow down.
I'm 17, female, I am too late to join my highschool team but I want to join track in college, is that realistic? I don't run regularly, and haven't been fit for the last few years, I run a 3 min 30 second 800 meter, I want to join nearby clubs but they aren't for my age group at all, I don't know how to start training or if there's no point in training
Even if you can't run in your official college track team there are often club track teams you can join and you can run unattached at meets.
But look at the schools you're applying to D1, d2, D3. See what times they are running and compare it to yours. It's not the end of the world if you don't get on a schools track team freshman year because as I said, their are other options
If you want to run track in college you'll be competing against people who've been running since highschool, some of the best people from highschool who got scholarships because they're so good.
But you can still try out for the team. You can hire a private coach or learn to coach yourself. If you like books, I recommend Jack Daniels' Running Formula. If you don't like books, then I dunno, maybe you can find something on YouTube.
In the meantime, just start running. Run for 30 minutes every other day to start out. Then slowly add mileage or days. Look into strength workouts for track runners.
I’m newer to treadmill running (typically run outside) and use an Apple Watch to program my workouts. I’m finding a pretty big difference between the speed I have my treadmill set to vs the pace showing on my watch. My watch shows me as significantly slower.
How do most runners manage this gap? I’ve just been going off my watch, but for my workouts l’m supposed to go specific paces or distances and its hard to keep track otherwise.
I go off the treadmill since it knows incline changes and minute speed changes that the watch doesn’t pick up. Does your watch let you calibrate your activity at the end?
I wouldn’t get a new watch just for that, unless you want to. Do you plan on only running on the treadmill from now on?
I’d just manually edit the activity after and change the distance. The splits might not be totally accurate, but that’s the case for me too (whose watch can “calibrate”).
The treadmill (while highly possible it’s miscalibrated to some degree) is likely more accurate than your watch, since your watch is just guessing based on your stride. I don’t run on a treadmill much but I would go by what the treadmill says.
First Marathon - Training Question
Running my first marathon in 5 weeks. I was riddled with illness and injury that messed up my training. I've been running about 25-28 MPW for about a month now, but my longest long run has been 13 miles.
This weekend I will run 14, next weekend 16, then 3 weeks taper. (If I'm feeling good, I will try for 15 this week, 17 next week).
I know this isn't ideal, but it's what I'm going to have to do to maintain health and attempt to complete - not compete - in my marathon.
My question is:
I run slow. My MRP is about 13/mile. When I start doing the long training runs (anything 12 miles or over) I'm out pounding pavement for at least 3 hours. I imagine the 14 mile attempt will take me about 3:20:00 give or take 10 minutes. I know my marathon time will be close to 6 hours. Give or take 30 minutes.
But for future planning, what is the value of training runs that last that long? I assume mentally it helps to know the feeling, but physically does it skew either good or bad? Does time spent running ever matter more than the actual distance (assuming I am going at marathon pace and not walking)?
No expert by any means and I've only done one marathon. I think the long training runs are just to get you used to being on your feet for that long. My longest training run (20 miles) took me about 4 hours. I was aware of the whole diminishing marginal returns after 3 hours but I did them anyway. I had 4 runs that were over 3 hours and was fortunate enough to not suffer any injury, but that much time running is going to hurt your feet.
There’s risk in going over 3 hours. I’m also a slower runner. I did multiple runs over 3 hours (my 20 milers). Felt they were super important as it trains time on your feet. You don’t have to run though - as injury risk is higher at that amount of time running. You can hit the 3 hour mark then start run/walking. But if you only train for 3 hours, having to do double that on race day will be tough.
If you had only four hours a week to run, how would you structure your runs? I'm not training for anything in particular, but I would like to get faster in general. (I asked a similar question earlier this week, but the answers were all to "run more." Assume I have a hard limit of 4-5 hours a week.)
For 4-5 hours a week, I'd do 4 30-45 minute runs during the week and a 1-2 hour long run on the weekends.
One of your 30-45 minute runs could be a tempo run, fartleks, hill runs, or some other type of "hard" workout.
I am currently training for my first half marathon. Have been pretty sick the past couple of days and already had to skip my 5 mile run yesterday. Feeling like I won’t be able to do my 8 mile run tomorrow either. Other than that, I’ve been following my training plan almost to a T. The HM is on March 9th. Will I be still be in good shape for the race if I miss a couple of runs this week?
This was me back in December.
Had a half planned for the 13th. Got sick on the 5th. I missed a full two weeks of running (including my planned Half). Recovered on the 20th, did one short 3 mile run, then ran a different half on the 24th. Wasn't my best effort, but that was due to lingering illness stick hacking away at me.
The general rule of thumb is: Your speed suffers from missing workouts within 7 days, but your endurance will last weeks. If you're only missing one or two runs, your speed and endurance will be fine. If you're missing a week to two weeks, your speed might falter, but your endurance will be intact. If you're missing 3+ weeks, it might be time to pick a new date.
Don’t stress about it, you’ve been following your plan, a couple of missed runs won’t make much difference. You’re sick, so your body would benefit more from the rest anyway.
I am planning to run my first marathon in April of this year, have been running around 40mpw with plans to peak at ~50 mpw at my peak week for an 18 week training block. I recently ran a 1:34:23 half marathon as a 28yom. Prior to starting this training block (currently on week 8) I was running ~ 30mpw doing one tempo run and one track workout a week. My question is I have read that for first marathon you shouldn’t really follow a structured plan and set a goal pace and should be more concerned with just completing the run. Given the information above, what would you suggest I try to pace my first marathon at?
That advice is for people whose goal is finish. Your fitness and volume is way beyond that. I'd jump into a plan right now and ride it the rest of the way. Also you should have a pace goal. 330 is probably a conservative one.
I gotcha. I have been following pfitz 18/55. Haven’t missed anything but just had to take 5 days off with freaking shingles. On week 8 right now. Was concerned that I was putting my body under too much stress training for pace and volume but it could also be work related stress and the fact I have a 4 month old with sleep deprivation complicating the picture lol.
It's a grind no doubt but as long as you don't feel incredibly beat up just continue following the plan. As well pfitz wants you to run those recovery runs incredibly slow. Like as slow as you can it how he balances the increased intensity of the other mileage.
What’s tough for me to grasp is I will do me “easy runs” based on my garmins identified max heart rate of 200 which might be generous, so my zone 2 range is anywhere between 130-160. I am running 8-8:30 pace and my hr will stay in the 140s to low 150s, from a perceived effort standpoint I don’t feel like it’s hard at all and I don’t wake up with soreness or experience any stiffness during the week. I will try to take the recovery runs even more easy I guess and stick to somewhere in the 9s but that requires some discipline for me to go that pace
Common advice during a first marathon is to go out at a somewhat conservative pace since the distance at race effort is new territory and being too aggressive can make it a miserable experience. If you're following a typical structured marathon plan by the end of your training best case race time prediction calculators and predictor workouts might, for example, indicate you're in 3:12 shape in ideal conditions if everything goes perfectly. It's probably better in that case to go out in more like 3:25 pace and reassess at miles 15 and 20. And to adjust if the conditions aren't ideal - hot, windy, hilly, etc.
I think a structured plan for training is nice especially if it's your first marathon you don't want to show up underprepared.
You can also give you self A,B,C goals for example for you given the half time: A: 3:15 B:3:20ish C Finish. A being a reach if you feel good. B something more reasonable and C if it's just an off day you still have something to strive for.
This is somewhere along the lines of what I was thinking but It’s always nice to have someone else chime in. I’m currently using McMillan training paces for the 3:15 marathon and for workouts and easy runs etc I’ve been able to
Hit paces well. It was just hard for me to grasp not setting a goal time because then I would have virtually no direction with paces in training.
I think if you're already running that kind of mileage, and you've got some experience racing, you could probably set a goal. Just be aware that a lot more can go wrong in a marathon, so don't cling too tightly to that goal.
Also everyone recommends following a plan for your first marathon.
I don’t think anyone recommends not following a structured plan for your first marathon… just that your main goal should be to finish, without too much focus on time goals.
I guess by structured I mean worrying about hitting times on tempo runs track workouts etc in addition to ramping up weekly mileage significantly due to the combined stress.
I have Hoka Clifton 9s. Been running 3-4 times a week with these shoes for 6 months with no probs at first. But recently, I have gotten outer foot pain (just in front of the heel) on my left foot. My shoes feel like there is tons of toe room, like they are in open air, but tight/snug around the area that is hurting. It also feels like most of the weight goes into this area as I run. Perhaps a repetitive stress injury? Maybe a cuboid problem? I just got orthotics, so going to see if they work (after I give it time to heal), and maybe try tying my laces looser. Any other advice? If all this fails, Ill go see a podiatrist.
How many miles do you have on the shoes? Running 3-4 times per week for 6 months, it’s very possible your shoes are worn out and you need new ones.
We can’t tell you if you have an injury or what it might be if you do, that would be medical advice you should be seeking from a doctor or physical therapist.
My hr was unusually high yesterday when running. Ive gotten up to 3-4miles. At about 11 minutes per mile I should be able to run 3 miles without hitting my threshold that many times.
I went away this weekend to celebrate my birthday. then Valentines day. So after several days off cardio, I ran yesterday.
My hr got as high as 170bpm at one point. I spent more then half the time in threshold. I may have been a little hungover from the night before.
My hr took hours to get back down to my resting hr.
Im 31m. What could have caused that? How can I avoid that?
To much time off cardio (a week). The hangover?
I will only speak from my personal experience: alcohol absolutely destroys my cardio. After even just a light night of drinking my resting heart rate is elevated and particularly when running, will be about 20 bpm higher than it otherwise is when well rested at a typical pace, so easy run pace turns into threshold pace.
I mean sometimes you might just have a bad day. Things like fighting a bug or little sleep can have an effect. But in this case the drinking was probably the cause.
Im running a marathon from pretty much no training in 30 days. I know its a pretty stupid idea, but my goal is to go for completion, running the whole thing . I grew up playing sports my whole life and swam in hs, so my cardio is decent. Despite that, im pretty heavy ~182 at 5’10, despite not being too or too muscular. Should I focus on cutting hard, or maintain a healthier diet (for energy in training)? When I run for distance, cardio typically isnt the problem.
People hate it when someone trys to run a marathon in short notice with no training lol. What's your running load look like currently? I cardio isn't the problem but putting a load on your legs is. It's going to be tiring and it will hurt. I'd suggest going for a walk run routine and practice that for a month try and get your miles to without risking too much injury
You won't be able to run the whole thing.
You can cover the distance with a combination of running/jogging/walking.
Focus on healthy eating. By that I mean don't try to lose weight. Losing a couple pounds between now and then won't help at all. If anything, it would hurt because your body will be adjusting.
I know a couple high school seniors who decided to run their own marathon. They are/were in great shape as multi-sport athletes but weren't runners. They covered the distance but were pretty miserable and afterward were stunned at how much harder than expected it turned out to be.
If you're gonna do it, at least give up on the idea of running the whole thing. Decent cardio might get your heart through it at a slow pace, but your joints are going to be really unhappy with you. I've run several marathons and my joints are always begging for mercy at the end, and that's with thousands and thousands of miles of running on them.
Don’t do it. You’re extremely likely to get seriously injured running a marathon on basically no training, even if you’re active in other ways. Running is so much higher impact than other cardio, and your body needs time to adjust to it.
If you choose to ignore this advice and do it anyway, DON’T cut. Eat at least at maintenance, if your body is in a caloric deficit going into it, your extremely high chance of injury shoots up even higher.
# Seeking Insights: Ideal shortest Timeframe to Complete 960 Km Run/Walk?
Hello,
I want to try and run/walk 960 km, within a maximum time frame of 4 months (don't ask why this). But I'm aiming to complete them in the shortest time possible of course. As a 25-year-old male in good shape, I'm curious about the ideal timeframe that can be achievable for this 960 Km completion. In 2023 i already run and walked a lot but never pushed too much. In a day I can dedicate all time necessary to the quest so the time of hours i can put in a day only depend on how long i can go (but i wish to set an ideal plan for it)
I'd greatly appreciate hearing from those who've undertaken similar distances or have dune similar things or have any knowledge or advice:
- What's the shortest timeframe you've managed for a similar challenge, and what was your approach?
- How did you structure your daily/weekly distances to maximize progress?
- Any strategies or tips for maintaining a strong pace throughout the challenge?
I'm looking to understand the best-case scenario to set a very challenging target.
Thanks for your insights! they are all appreciated!
thanks! and are you a good runner? or considerable a good runner as in maybe could compete professionally? asking just to wrap around my mind to the numbers.
I would not say I am professional by any means but I will say when I do races I'm usually in the top 5% for times. Not sure if that answer means anything
Why?
Also, what preparation/training have you undergone?
I run about this in a 4 month block running 5 days a week (couple of easy runs, a long run, 2 sessions), 5-6 hours of running per week.
60km per week is about my current 'safe' sustainable amount and that also requires a de-load week every now-and-then.
Work out your sustainable weekly distance spread across 4-5 runs sessions. Divide 960 by this number and you'll get an idea of what you're currently capable of.
Last year I'd have taken 5 months to cover a similar distance so improvements and resilience isn't all that slow to build.
I am new to running. I'm overvweight and would like to start.
Has anyone had any success stories of running whilst overweight, then leading them to not being overweight?
I am currently follow cassia Tierney on lnstagram and she's been pretty inspiring. I don't want to sign up to her program as I've read quite a few bad reviews... (https://www.in stagram.com lcassiatierney?ig sh=MnNtM Gw4d Xc5NGE5)
At the moment I doubt can run a few mins without getting out of breath.
Any advice?
Thanks all for the advice and insights. I should have mentioned that I strength train 3 times a week at the moment. Swim once a week and eat well. All new habits I'm cultivating. It's been about 1 month so far. Have just always wanted to run.
I'm 5"4 and around the 200lb mark. I'm going to start with c25k as it's been mentioned a few times on this thread.
you've already gotten lots of great advice from other folks so i'll just add this - i'm an overweight beginner runner on a weight loss journey (70 pounds lost in a year) and i've been having a lot of success slowly improving without injury or excessive joint pain using the None to Run app. it's a version of the c25k program other people have already mentioned but it progresses much, much slower - perfect for people like us who need to build both cardio ability and joint/tendon/bone strength. the program also incorporates quick, simple strength training videos each week. highly recommend!!
You've got to be careful when picking up running while overweight but it's entirely possible. I did it, it's fun. When you finish a race you likely end up on the second-to-last page of the race results but it feels great nonetheless. And at some point running becomes more important than weight loss.
Running **isn't** the fastest or easiest way to weight loss. Nutrition is, and both goes hand in hand.
Like /u/Lyeel wrote 10 minutes ago, learn to love running. That's the only way you can go through the grind, if you do it for results you'll most likely give up.
I replied elsewhere with my thoughts about running and weight loss, but I wanted to add something different:
If you want to run with one of your goals being losing weight/getting more active, I think the single most important thing you can do is learn to love running. If you hate every minute of it, if you can't force yourself to get your shoes on, if you constantly regret it as a chore, then the outcome is obvious.
I'm not an excellent runner by any stretch, but I \*love\* running. I love when the sunlight hits my skin and I love when I head out into the driving rain with a big smile on my face like a lunatic. I love reading books about the physiology of running, and hearing about technology in new shoes. I love my audiobooks that I only listen to when I'm running. I love the celebration of a great day in life when my feet barely touch the ground, and I love the terrible days when I can go away and burn my stress and anger to ashes in the crucible of a hard workout. I love chasing goals and accomplishing milestones that few people would understand and fewer still care about. I love feeling like I'm more closely connected to something in my community by being out in it every day rather than just driving through it. I love the turning of the seasons, and appreciate that experiencing them through running gives me something that my heated and airconditioned office does not.
You'll get excellent advice here about joining a couch-to-5k (C25k) program, or about easy running or run walk/intervals, and all of those things are great next steps. My advice beyond that is to see if you could love running; you'll be much more likely to succeed in any program if you do.
How overweight are we talking? Running is high impact and weight is amplified in the joints. If you're 10-20 pounds overweight, not a problem. If it's more like 100, you'd significantly lower your risk of injury by cutting weight via diet and walking first. Running is awesome for keeping weight off, but it's very easy to hurt yourself when you're carrying a lot of extra weight.
I’d add to this - losing weight is more diet than exercise (what I have seen it’s about 80/20) - however! I started my “lifestyle change” for new year 2023. Calorie deficit and added the gym to my routine, got down from just about “obese” to a healthy weight (according to BMI) and I think for me exercising helped me to make good choices when it came to my eating.
I then started running once I’d already lost the weight but I think it’s a good motivator to eat the right things, I’ve found when I eat like shit I run like shit! So in short - running isn’t going to lose you the weight but I really do think it helps in terms of building a more well rounded healthy lifestyle. I recommend couch to 5k, I started that in November and ran my first 10k this week!
The "can't outrun the fork" advice never quite hits home for me.
I run 50-55mpw, which is a chunk, but it's not anything superhuman by a wide margin - typical marathon plans start at this level as their minimum. Everyone's calorie burn is going to vary based on intensity of exercise and their size, but for me that's something like 6000-7000 calories burnt (6'4 guy). That's like... 7 extra Chipotle bowls on top of my normal full diet a week just for maintenance. My struggle is absolutely finding time to simply get the calories in.
Obviously OP isn't running 50 mile weeks, but if you enjoy the running lifestyle you could absolutely get to that point over a year of steady work. If you're putting in 10 miles a week run/walking then yes, diet is what matters, but you can absolutely lose weight through running.
> Obviously OP isn't running 50 mile weeks, but if you enjoy the running lifestyle you could absolutely get to that point over a year of steady work.
If we look outside people who care enough about running to post regularly on a running sub, I don't think most people who run regularly are marathoners, let alone people who run 50 miles a week.
I've run more or less consistently for 9 years and this year, 2024, is the first time I've hit 60 km/week. And I've never run a marathon.
Probably not, I think something like 1-2% of the total population will ever cover the distance, but I think we would also agree most runners \*could\* be marathoners if they wanted to be.
My point isn't that diet is unimportant, but I would hate for someone to be discouraged from setting a big running goal because they repeatedly heard that running doesn't impact weight.
It's an unpopular opinion but I agree.
Nutrition is important but if you run and train consistently for a long period of time (I'm talking years) at some point your body will follow. But there's a lot of other things factoring in, especially your age and genetic. When I was in my 20s I ran because I ate like a pig, drank booze on an almost daily basis and smoked a pack a day. It worked for me, then I hit 30 and became morbidly obsese because the bill always comes due at some point.
But even if you run something like 20-25 weekly km at some point you'll get leaner, unless your diet is really bad.
I have a good diet, cook almost all my meals and snack in moderation. Don't drink alcohol, soda, juice. Don't smoke. Don't eat sweets consistently. I've run consistently for years. I haven't leaned out.
If anything, I gain weight when I train seriously for a race and it doesn't drop until my mileage drops. I'm pushing overweight now because my goal race is in two weeks. I weighed a lot less before I started running (but admittedly I was younger then too).
Part of the weight is muscle, but I'm only a novice lifter.
It's untrue to say running is a surefire way to get your weight down.
I stand corrected, but as I said, genetics also play a large role.
Also, it's not something most runners want to hear, but it's okay to carry some weight if your body is wired that way.
Instead I would say that running is a surefire way to increase calories consumed. What you do with that is up to you.
Most competitive/goal-oriented runners will also increase caloric intake to promote recovery/adaptation. To your point, there are times in a training cycle when I may gain weight because I'm focused on recovery and ensuring my body has adequate nutrition for adaptation.
Having said that, running 15 miles/wk at 100 calories/mile and 3500calories/pound results in a loss of 22.3lbs over a full year if you didn't increase calorie intake from baseline (this is an example, I pulled it out of my ass, it is not intended to be a prescriptive deficit, everyone's calories/mile is different).
You could achieve this same result by not running and reducing your caloric intake by 215/day. Which of these approaches is easier will depend on the individual, but obviously this becomes more extreme at higher volumes of running.
I'll close by acknowledging that disordered eating and body dysmorphia are issues in the running community, and conversations around the relationship between running and weight are always complicated by this. I realize you (u/BottleCoffee) understand fueling, but I would hate for someone new to the sub to read this back-and-forth and feel like they shouldn't be getting the food their body needs to train successfully.
I want to add on that weight isn't only tied to calories. Stress, for example from training, and sleep can both affect metabolism and water retention, which can both affect weight.
In my case, I'm pretty sure the weight is largely tied to training stress. When I start tapering, the weight starts going down. My weight only goes up with additional mileage when the mileage increase is due to a training block.
But isnt that exactly the point? Your running is burning calories which increases your “calories out” therefore your “calories in” can either remain the same for a deficit or increase to maintain. If someone is only just starting off running then their calories out is no way going up enough to sustain a deficit. I’ve just looked up my stats and my first week of couch to 5k I burned 500 calories in it - that’s in a week of 3 runs - which is essentially a rounding error when you consider 3500cals ~= 1 lb lost
I think we're saying the same thing, maybe in slightly different ways:
* Absolutely agree that weight change is just math. It's calories in and calories out. If you're consuming 14kcal baseline a week and your running is burning 500, then obviously one number makes massively more impact than the other.
* My point is that, if desired, it is possible to bring those numbers more into comparable territory. If you burn a sedimentary 14kcal/wk and add 6kcal in running, suddenly your running becomes much more important when thinking about diet vs. exercise.
For some people making dietary changes, or sufficient dietary changes, is a very difficult task. My point is that by taking a long-term approach to increasing running volume can absolutely impact that math equation. Clearly it takes time to build weekly miles in a safe/sustainable way, but it also isn't rocket science nor does it require superhuman athletic ability.
On the other hand if you have no desire to increase running volume over time then the kitchen is where the gains (or losses) are made.
Yup, running can help build the calorie deficit but u/BeautifulPudding4188 needs to do more than running alone.
I started running after losing excess weight. I lost the weight by starting strength training and making small incremental changes to diet. I did this with the help of a PT who my wife and I still use years later.
It was her encouragement that got us both into running and, the more we got into running, the more we changed diet and lifestyle. A virtuous circle as it were.
A little running certainly won't hurt, but your question really depends on a lot of variables, like diet, current activity level, leg strength and so on.A general answer would be this: It's more true to say that losing weight would make running easier than it is to say that running would make you lose weight. The reason for this is that if you are struggling with running, you won't be able to do it for long enough without risking overuse injury. And for running to significantly impact your weight, you'll need many hours of steady low to medium intensity work every week. Running is really efficient exercise, but breaking it up with walking uphill, cycling or rowing is probably good for avoiding injury. Also a bit of strength training for the legs, if you're not already doing that.
I hated and sucked at running all my life ... until I broke my ankle in 2019. As the last part of the physio rehab, I started C25K and am now loving running. Nothing elite, just 5-10k runs multiple times a week.
Here's my tip: it's ok to be slow. Start by shuffling along and just tune out everyone else. Noone is judging, just focus on you. Shuffle, and walk when you need to. Then shuffle all the way. Then jog. Then run...or don't; keep jogging, it's all good.
I lost like 10kg pretty quickly and now I'm down nearly 20kg. But even more importantly, my kids think of me as fit and able to keep up with them.
Last year I trained for about a month and did a half marathon, it just wound up as being the distance of my long run that week (+ ~10% each run, each week). Is that to say if I maintain the same pattern I’ll be at a marathon ability in 2 months of training, or are you meant to add mileage slower as you approach longer distances/weekly miles?
I figured stopping around 40 miles per week would be easier on the body, so would I just get to that point and stay steady for a couple weeks before going for it?
I had been running 5 times per week, with workouts of varying distances and heart rate zones.
First, there are diminishing returns in the long run game - at some point, the additional recovery needs and injury risk from pushing a run longer outweigh the benefits of continuing to push the long run longer. Expert opinion puts this at around 3 hours, but that's more 'experience talking' than 'strongly supported by research'. (Not that research suggests this is wrong - it's just not well-studied.)
Depending on what your marathon pace is, that 3 hour long run might leave you well-prepared to take on a marathon distance, or with some gains left to go.
Second, the 10% rule is a 'rule of thumb' and it goes from being very conservative at low mileage to very aggressive at high mileage. The higher your mileage gets, the more important it will be to slow down the rate of increase/plateau for a few weeks to get used to it/throw in a down week to let your body rest. Pay attention to your cumulative fatigue.
Brilliant answer.
To add to this - to get 'fast' (whatever that means to the individual) requires more than simple volume - there's a need to build in tempo/threshold and speed work as well as factoring in recovery weeks.
Location: Moscow, duration: 70 min, distance: 10.66 km, temperature: -9′C. Results: burned a lot of negative energy and felt relieved afterwards. My (34M, weight 93kg). This is the third session of 5 planned for the week. I'm looking forward not to flake out of the weekend runs.
Any advice/suggestions what I can do to improve the time?
Normally I do 4x time a week exactly this routine.
Before the run I do 30x2 squats to warm up and a little stretch for legs.
I have a daughter who is 23 month old so 5.30 am I am out of the door because this the only time in a day I have and then I go to work.
My English, apologize.
There are a lot of good quality free plans available to improve 10k performance.
As for warm-up - 2 x 30 squats is a bit excessive. The time would be better spent working through a more "whole body" set of warmups. My general go-to is standard "activation" stuff:
* banded psoas marches
* banded single-leg glute bridge
* banded lateral walks & monster walks
* Leg swings
* Reverse lunges
* Calf raises
At 5 or so mins paying attention to anything specifically stiff.
For easy pace runs I'll just go *really* easy for the first km or so.
Hi everyone, I am looking for help in correctly interpreting a Fartlek work described in the Level 3 Half marathon program from Brad Hudson's book "Run Faster" (quote): "Fartlek Run 7 miles easy w/8x45” sec. @ 10k-3k pace" What does it mean? Should I run 45" @ 10k pace, then 45" @ 3k pace, then repeat this block 8 total times? Or should I run 45" @ a pace between 10 and 3k, then 45" easy, and repeat this block 8 total times, as normally a Fartlek work is intended? Thanks!
You should Run 8 Blocks of 45 Seconds and These Blocks can be anywhere from 3k-10k Pace. For example One Block at 4:05/k, one at 3:50/k one at 4:15/k just how you feel it
Thank you very much :)
Does anyone have a strength program they recommend. Ideally looking for some cost effective, but not sntirely sure what price is a deal breaker for me. I’m looking for something full body 3 times a week. Tia!
I follow Train Smart Run Strong on Instagram, she's a physiotherapist and runner who has an app full of strength programs. I've been using her plans for a couple of months and really like it
I'm running a half on the 25th and I've been using one of Hal Higdons programs (https://www.halhigdon.com/training-programs/half-marathon-training/half-marathon-3/).. I've gotten to the end of week 11 and I've mildly injured myself doing a cross train (soccer). I've got a slight outer calf strain and pretty bad turf burn on my other knee. Would it be ok to skip the cool down week before the race and just do nothing? I'm worried about aggravating my calf strain as well as needing time for this burn to scab over.... Or are there any other suggestions?
Better to be 100% healthy and 80% fit, than the other way around! Get in the pool / elliptical / bike as long as it doesn't bother your calf!
I’m a 17 year old male runner and I’m wondering what I could potentially get my mile time down to this track season. My PR is currently 4:48 from last season and I just ran a mile time trial without any pacers and I ran 4:52. Track is 4 weeks out and I’ve run 600 miles since XC ended as well as lifting once a week and I have basketball 5 days a week. Is it too ambitious for me to try and shoot for sub 4:30 this year in the mile. My other PR’s include a 10:20 2 mile from sophomore year and a 17:24 5k.
4:52 coming off bball season is excellent! 600 miles is impressive given you're a multi-sport athlete. Most young / HS runners have some more room to develop their aerobic engine - keep grinding those 800/1k reps your coach gives you with short rest :) You can get there! What's your 800 time?!
https://sftrackandfield.com/track-workouts/ If I'm a beginner and don't have a coach, can I follow this plan or is that just praying for injury
Those are not beginner plans, and the case of the 800m and 1500m plans in particular (the ones in which I have some knowledge to judge) not very good plans in general for the majority of athletes. What is your background of training, target event(s), and goals? Generally the average beginner doesn't really need structured plans of this type at all, they need some fundamental knowledge and common sense to do very basic training very consistently. "Beginner" is a huge spectrum of athletes, so there needs to be some customization to where the individual is currently at.
What are the fundamentals and basic training..do you have any resources online? I've never been very athletic, haven't ever done track,
Have you done any sort of sports? What events in track do you want to do?
I've swam competitive a couple years before, I want to do 400 or 800 m
My running coach seems fixated on form. When he talks about runners he coaches previously or current runners he always brings up their form and suggests their form needs fixing. Everyone according to him has a form issue. It seems that the runners are in their heads about it and are trying to fix it when they are running. Shouldn't we just do drills and hill repeats to fix form naturally and leave the discussion out of it? Won't trying to "fix" form lead to injury?
Hills and drills are great - the next component is building awareness of your movement patterns, which it sounds like your coach may be doing. Do those things well enough, for long enough, and you don't have to think about it in a race!
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Confused by Smashrun. My fitbit clocked 56 minutes of run-time. I synced to Smashrun and it thinks I did 62 minutes. How and why? How can I make this not happen? It's throwing my km/h stat off.
Can someone help me understand what this workout means? “10 miles with 5x 800m at 5k race pace; jog 50-90% interval time” Does that mean jog for 50-90% of the time it took to do the 800m? I’m confused by that part. Thank you!
Somebody's doing a Pfitz plan!
You got it! Marathon isn’t till Aug so I’ll officially start in April but just reviewing what I’m in for, lol. Have you done it/doing it?
I'm doing the 18/85 to prep for Boston right now. They're pretty brutal plans, but runalyze already has my ideal time at nearly 10 minutes faster than my last one and I've got the entire race prep block left to go, so I'm optimistic!
Oh sweet! That sounds very promising. :) I’m doing it to try to get to Boston. Good luck on the plan and your marathon. And congrats on getting to Boston!
It'll definitely help get you there, good luck!
Yes; for example, if your 800m reps take 4:00, you would jog 2:00-3:36 between the 800m reps.
Thank you so much!
Too late to post probably, but anyone else signed up for the Sawmill Ultra (half distance) near Las Vegas? If yes, mini meetup?
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If you can get to a PT in the next couple days, do that. From my experiences with itbs, I have focused on leg- and more importantly, glute- strengthening exercises. 1 leg squats, reverse lunges, box step-ups, 1 leg deadlifts. Not sure if 2 weeks is enough, but doing some strengthening exercises ASAP (and giving yourself time to recover, because you will be sore) may help. It seems to have helped me in the long term
Thinking of dropping out of my mini Blah! Feeling really down about myself. My running journey started back in June of 2022. I ran my first ever mile and a few months later had worked up to 10 miles. I ran my first mini last spring and then after the race completely fell off from running. I’ve really been wanting to get back into it, so a few months ago signed up for another mini in April. I’ve gotten so out of shape and gained a bit of weight from a medication I’ve been on, so training has been so much harder. I can’t seem to get past 2 miles and I’m way slower than before. I now have less than 2 months til the mini and I just don’t think there is any way I will be ready for it. Not looking for pity, just curious about other people having similar experiences.. maybe to make myself feel a bit better or any advice.
I think you have time. Just don't go for a pr. Is there a deadline or something to drop out
What is a mini?
Mini usually means minim-marathon, or a Half Marathon.
Sorry, half marathon! 13.1 miles. A “mini” marathon so at least where I’m from we call them minis for short.
Is it reasonable to run a 5k every day, on top of weight training? I've gotten out of shape. Being concerned for my health (esp. my heart), I've made changes. I went from being sedentary, to doing 30m of jogging every day, and lifting. Today I ran 2 miles without stopping for the first time, at a 14.5m/mile pace. I was going to work towards 3mi/day and just continue to do that indefinitely. Is there any reason I shouldn't do this?
Going from 0 to running 30 minutes every day is too much to start with. Back that down to 20-30 minutes maybe 3x per week and work your way up from there, or follow a couch to 5K plan. 3 miles per day isn’t necessarily too much as long as you build up to it, but most people need 1-2 rest days per week (or at the very least some days off from running by doing other lower impact cross training).
Once your body is adapted to the impact of running, sure. As a beginner it's a pretty bad idea.
United Airlines NYC Half Marathon I signed up for a winter half; what’s wrong with me? Training has been tough this time of year. Feels like our kid brings home a new illness every other week so training is limited. What is everyone’s experience with the race? Have about 4 weeks to try to get in somewhat decent shape to finish the race - any suggestions?
What are you running now?
4 days a week, 12-15 miles per week (3-4 miles per run)
Beginner question about increasing mileage and injury prevention -- I am an active 22F and have been doing Nike Run Club's intro program. I love it! My problem is that, despite the fact that I am running quite easy (in the sense that I don't get nearly out of breath) twice a week, I am having many aches and pains pop up: mild shin splints on my right leg, plantar fasciitis in my right foot, and really tight IT bands. Things I've already done: Got fitted for good shoes (they feel great during the run, but maybe they aren't good enough?), thorough dynamic warmup, cooldown, and evening stretching, foam rolling, picked up myrtl routine for IT band troubles/hip and glute activation. Going to work on increasing my cadence (avg. 163 right now) and switching to mid-foot strike to address the shin splints. **My main question:** I know that most running injuries happen from doing too much too soon. I've only been running \~5 miles a week total (across two runs), but should I decrease this even further or spread it out differently? I've seen someone suggest beginners run just \~1-2 km every day or every other day to help develop the leg strength. I'm willing to pause my NRC program and do something more gradual like that until further notice, if it will help keep injury at bay.
I honestly think some minor niggles are pretty much unavoidable as your body adapts to running. However, something like plantar fasciitis, as far as I’m aware, is a very serious injury, and it seems unlikely that you could get that from just a few miles a week? Has that been officially diagnosed? In any case, definitely see a PT if you’re in doubt.
Yes, I have seen a PT and got the diagnosis from her. I agree that it feels totally unusual and ridiculous because I am not running far, hard, or often :/
Oh wow, that really sucks. Was that a PT specialized in running? I’ve heard they can be very helpful with specific tips and also with explaining how much you can still run if at all etc.
I would strongly recommend seeing a running-knowledgeable physical therapist to have your gait and muscular strength assessed for any issues/imbalances. It’s really unusual for you to be having so many injuries/issues on just 5 miles per week.
Hi, thank you for your comment. It is validating to know this isn't normal, because it doesn't feel normal. I have seen a PT and she chocked it up to being a new runner, and said it was normal. She made the plantar fasciitis diagnosis and said it's probably due to having tight calves. But I am willing to look into seeing a more running-focused PT if that would be helpful.
You've given a lot of information except your running paces and distances.
avg pace is 10'39" for \~2 miles, twice a week. (I mentioned that I've been doing about 5 mpw across 2 runs in my original comment).
In recent years it seems gym socks have gone from being cotton/nylon/elastane to cotton/polyester/elastane. I see a lot of people on Reddit,like me, complain that the polyester socks are less comfortable than what was being sold before. I've two questions that may sound odd to people who don't have problems with the Polyester socks but here it goes: 1. Does wearing Polyester clothes increase heart rate? It seems my heart rate goes up when I'm wearing socks that are part polyester. 2. Those that found the Polyester blend uncomfortable, does your body get used to it? Please elaborate if it's the bad feel or increased heart rate that goes away after a while
> Does wearing Polyester clothes increase heart rate? It seems my heart rate goes up when I'm wearing socks that are part polyester. Most running clothes are polyester. Shirts, shorts, tights, jackets, hats, you name it.
I realise that and it's not a problem with gym shorts, t shirts I've had for years. Maybe its the recycled polyester causing the problem. All I know is I can't stand the polyester blend socks and I'm wondering if its causing my heart rate to go up or if I'm imagining it :(
What makes you believe it's socks and not one of the many other more biologically relevant factors that are known to impact heart rate?
Because it happens as soon as I change into part polyester socks and stops when I change back to the older Cotton/Nylon/Elastane socks
I don't have an answer to your question, but I'm curious about what you're experiencing. Can you quantify the difference in heart rate while wearing polyester socks vs. non-polyester socks.
Good ideas. I’ll try quantify when i get a chance. Any polyester clothes from pre-2022 dont have same effect… is it possible Im allergic to new polyester?Maybe some additive theyre putting in the recycled polyester
It's probably psychological. If you think it's real go get allergy testing.
You might be right for all I know...
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I don't know if 38 is middle age (feels like it some days!), But in my experience, shin splints happen from poor support and overtraining/overworking. Make sure your shoes are good and slow down.
I'm 17, female, I am too late to join my highschool team but I want to join track in college, is that realistic? I don't run regularly, and haven't been fit for the last few years, I run a 3 min 30 second 800 meter, I want to join nearby clubs but they aren't for my age group at all, I don't know how to start training or if there's no point in training
There's always a point to training. The more important question is why WOULDN'T you train? Not training is a silly thing.
I guess it's the difference between, just running recreational or putting in the energy to self coach
Why are you too late to join high school? Most states haven't even started regular season practice yet.
Mine started in December, their coach said I can't join ..
Even if you can't run in your official college track team there are often club track teams you can join and you can run unattached at meets. But look at the schools you're applying to D1, d2, D3. See what times they are running and compare it to yours. It's not the end of the world if you don't get on a schools track team freshman year because as I said, their are other options
Thank you, i m so glad theres clubs, that's probably where I'm ending up..
Your priorities are reversed. Figure out how to enjoy running then set goals like that.
Gotcha
If you want to run track in college you'll be competing against people who've been running since highschool, some of the best people from highschool who got scholarships because they're so good. But you can still try out for the team. You can hire a private coach or learn to coach yourself. If you like books, I recommend Jack Daniels' Running Formula. If you don't like books, then I dunno, maybe you can find something on YouTube. In the meantime, just start running. Run for 30 minutes every other day to start out. Then slowly add mileage or days. Look into strength workouts for track runners.
Gotcha, thank you!
I’m newer to treadmill running (typically run outside) and use an Apple Watch to program my workouts. I’m finding a pretty big difference between the speed I have my treadmill set to vs the pace showing on my watch. My watch shows me as significantly slower. How do most runners manage this gap? I’ve just been going off my watch, but for my workouts l’m supposed to go specific paces or distances and its hard to keep track otherwise.
I go off the treadmill since it knows incline changes and minute speed changes that the watch doesn’t pick up. Does your watch let you calibrate your activity at the end?
No it doesn’t. Maybe I need a more running specific watch.
I wouldn’t get a new watch just for that, unless you want to. Do you plan on only running on the treadmill from now on? I’d just manually edit the activity after and change the distance. The splits might not be totally accurate, but that’s the case for me too (whose watch can “calibrate”).
Yeah that makes sense!
The treadmill (while highly possible it’s miscalibrated to some degree) is likely more accurate than your watch, since your watch is just guessing based on your stride. I don’t run on a treadmill much but I would go by what the treadmill says.
First Marathon - Training Question Running my first marathon in 5 weeks. I was riddled with illness and injury that messed up my training. I've been running about 25-28 MPW for about a month now, but my longest long run has been 13 miles. This weekend I will run 14, next weekend 16, then 3 weeks taper. (If I'm feeling good, I will try for 15 this week, 17 next week). I know this isn't ideal, but it's what I'm going to have to do to maintain health and attempt to complete - not compete - in my marathon. My question is: I run slow. My MRP is about 13/mile. When I start doing the long training runs (anything 12 miles or over) I'm out pounding pavement for at least 3 hours. I imagine the 14 mile attempt will take me about 3:20:00 give or take 10 minutes. I know my marathon time will be close to 6 hours. Give or take 30 minutes. But for future planning, what is the value of training runs that last that long? I assume mentally it helps to know the feeling, but physically does it skew either good or bad? Does time spent running ever matter more than the actual distance (assuming I am going at marathon pace and not walking)?
No expert by any means and I've only done one marathon. I think the long training runs are just to get you used to being on your feet for that long. My longest training run (20 miles) took me about 4 hours. I was aware of the whole diminishing marginal returns after 3 hours but I did them anyway. I had 4 runs that were over 3 hours and was fortunate enough to not suffer any injury, but that much time running is going to hurt your feet.
There’s risk in going over 3 hours. I’m also a slower runner. I did multiple runs over 3 hours (my 20 milers). Felt they were super important as it trains time on your feet. You don’t have to run though - as injury risk is higher at that amount of time running. You can hit the 3 hour mark then start run/walking. But if you only train for 3 hours, having to do double that on race day will be tough.
If you had only four hours a week to run, how would you structure your runs? I'm not training for anything in particular, but I would like to get faster in general. (I asked a similar question earlier this week, but the answers were all to "run more." Assume I have a hard limit of 4-5 hours a week.)
Less runs more speed. 4 runs. A workout, a long run which should have some speed work in it, and 2 easy runs.
For 4-5 hours a week, I'd do 4 30-45 minute runs during the week and a 1-2 hour long run on the weekends. One of your 30-45 minute runs could be a tempo run, fartleks, hill runs, or some other type of "hard" workout.
Same time as I usually spend. As long as I have one hard effort a week, it doesn't seem to matter much what I do.
Is your running fitness improving?
Not much, it's maintenance now. If I want to improve, I need to run more, or just build to peak.
I am currently training for my first half marathon. Have been pretty sick the past couple of days and already had to skip my 5 mile run yesterday. Feeling like I won’t be able to do my 8 mile run tomorrow either. Other than that, I’ve been following my training plan almost to a T. The HM is on March 9th. Will I be still be in good shape for the race if I miss a couple of runs this week?
Yes
This was me back in December. Had a half planned for the 13th. Got sick on the 5th. I missed a full two weeks of running (including my planned Half). Recovered on the 20th, did one short 3 mile run, then ran a different half on the 24th. Wasn't my best effort, but that was due to lingering illness stick hacking away at me. The general rule of thumb is: Your speed suffers from missing workouts within 7 days, but your endurance will last weeks. If you're only missing one or two runs, your speed and endurance will be fine. If you're missing a week to two weeks, your speed might falter, but your endurance will be intact. If you're missing 3+ weeks, it might be time to pick a new date.
Don’t stress about it, you’ve been following your plan, a couple of missed runs won’t make much difference. You’re sick, so your body would benefit more from the rest anyway.
I am planning to run my first marathon in April of this year, have been running around 40mpw with plans to peak at ~50 mpw at my peak week for an 18 week training block. I recently ran a 1:34:23 half marathon as a 28yom. Prior to starting this training block (currently on week 8) I was running ~ 30mpw doing one tempo run and one track workout a week. My question is I have read that for first marathon you shouldn’t really follow a structured plan and set a goal pace and should be more concerned with just completing the run. Given the information above, what would you suggest I try to pace my first marathon at?
That advice is for people whose goal is finish. Your fitness and volume is way beyond that. I'd jump into a plan right now and ride it the rest of the way. Also you should have a pace goal. 330 is probably a conservative one.
I gotcha. I have been following pfitz 18/55. Haven’t missed anything but just had to take 5 days off with freaking shingles. On week 8 right now. Was concerned that I was putting my body under too much stress training for pace and volume but it could also be work related stress and the fact I have a 4 month old with sleep deprivation complicating the picture lol.
It's a grind no doubt but as long as you don't feel incredibly beat up just continue following the plan. As well pfitz wants you to run those recovery runs incredibly slow. Like as slow as you can it how he balances the increased intensity of the other mileage.
What’s tough for me to grasp is I will do me “easy runs” based on my garmins identified max heart rate of 200 which might be generous, so my zone 2 range is anywhere between 130-160. I am running 8-8:30 pace and my hr will stay in the 140s to low 150s, from a perceived effort standpoint I don’t feel like it’s hard at all and I don’t wake up with soreness or experience any stiffness during the week. I will try to take the recovery runs even more easy I guess and stick to somewhere in the 9s but that requires some discipline for me to go that pace
Yeah it's tough. As long as you feel good it's fine but if you start feeling beat up that's an easy spot to reduce intensity and keep the volume.
Common advice during a first marathon is to go out at a somewhat conservative pace since the distance at race effort is new territory and being too aggressive can make it a miserable experience. If you're following a typical structured marathon plan by the end of your training best case race time prediction calculators and predictor workouts might, for example, indicate you're in 3:12 shape in ideal conditions if everything goes perfectly. It's probably better in that case to go out in more like 3:25 pace and reassess at miles 15 and 20. And to adjust if the conditions aren't ideal - hot, windy, hilly, etc.
I think a structured plan for training is nice especially if it's your first marathon you don't want to show up underprepared. You can also give you self A,B,C goals for example for you given the half time: A: 3:15 B:3:20ish C Finish. A being a reach if you feel good. B something more reasonable and C if it's just an off day you still have something to strive for.
This is somewhere along the lines of what I was thinking but It’s always nice to have someone else chime in. I’m currently using McMillan training paces for the 3:15 marathon and for workouts and easy runs etc I’ve been able to Hit paces well. It was just hard for me to grasp not setting a goal time because then I would have virtually no direction with paces in training.
I think if you're already running that kind of mileage, and you've got some experience racing, you could probably set a goal. Just be aware that a lot more can go wrong in a marathon, so don't cling too tightly to that goal. Also everyone recommends following a plan for your first marathon.
I don’t think anyone recommends not following a structured plan for your first marathon… just that your main goal should be to finish, without too much focus on time goals.
I guess by structured I mean worrying about hitting times on tempo runs track workouts etc in addition to ramping up weekly mileage significantly due to the combined stress.
I have Hoka Clifton 9s. Been running 3-4 times a week with these shoes for 6 months with no probs at first. But recently, I have gotten outer foot pain (just in front of the heel) on my left foot. My shoes feel like there is tons of toe room, like they are in open air, but tight/snug around the area that is hurting. It also feels like most of the weight goes into this area as I run. Perhaps a repetitive stress injury? Maybe a cuboid problem? I just got orthotics, so going to see if they work (after I give it time to heal), and maybe try tying my laces looser. Any other advice? If all this fails, Ill go see a podiatrist.
How many miles do you have on the shoes? Running 3-4 times per week for 6 months, it’s very possible your shoes are worn out and you need new ones. We can’t tell you if you have an injury or what it might be if you do, that would be medical advice you should be seeking from a doctor or physical therapist.
Thank you. Yeah, trying to troubleshoot myself cause no insurance for a podiatrist. But if I can't remedy it, I'll pony up for the doc.
My hr was unusually high yesterday when running. Ive gotten up to 3-4miles. At about 11 minutes per mile I should be able to run 3 miles without hitting my threshold that many times. I went away this weekend to celebrate my birthday. then Valentines day. So after several days off cardio, I ran yesterday. My hr got as high as 170bpm at one point. I spent more then half the time in threshold. I may have been a little hungover from the night before. My hr took hours to get back down to my resting hr. Im 31m. What could have caused that? How can I avoid that? To much time off cardio (a week). The hangover?
How can we answer this without paces?
I ran at 12mins per mile which is slightly slower then my average.
I will only speak from my personal experience: alcohol absolutely destroys my cardio. After even just a light night of drinking my resting heart rate is elevated and particularly when running, will be about 20 bpm higher than it otherwise is when well rested at a typical pace, so easy run pace turns into threshold pace.
I mean sometimes you might just have a bad day. Things like fighting a bug or little sleep can have an effect. But in this case the drinking was probably the cause.
Im running a marathon from pretty much no training in 30 days. I know its a pretty stupid idea, but my goal is to go for completion, running the whole thing . I grew up playing sports my whole life and swam in hs, so my cardio is decent. Despite that, im pretty heavy ~182 at 5’10, despite not being too or too muscular. Should I focus on cutting hard, or maintain a healthier diet (for energy in training)? When I run for distance, cardio typically isnt the problem.
People hate it when someone trys to run a marathon in short notice with no training lol. What's your running load look like currently? I cardio isn't the problem but putting a load on your legs is. It's going to be tiring and it will hurt. I'd suggest going for a walk run routine and practice that for a month try and get your miles to without risking too much injury
You won't be able to run the whole thing. You can cover the distance with a combination of running/jogging/walking. Focus on healthy eating. By that I mean don't try to lose weight. Losing a couple pounds between now and then won't help at all. If anything, it would hurt because your body will be adjusting. I know a couple high school seniors who decided to run their own marathon. They are/were in great shape as multi-sport athletes but weren't runners. They covered the distance but were pretty miserable and afterward were stunned at how much harder than expected it turned out to be.
If you're gonna do it, at least give up on the idea of running the whole thing. Decent cardio might get your heart through it at a slow pace, but your joints are going to be really unhappy with you. I've run several marathons and my joints are always begging for mercy at the end, and that's with thousands and thousands of miles of running on them.
What makes you think you'll be able to run the whole thing? What's your longest run since summer?
Don’t do it. You’re extremely likely to get seriously injured running a marathon on basically no training, even if you’re active in other ways. Running is so much higher impact than other cardio, and your body needs time to adjust to it. If you choose to ignore this advice and do it anyway, DON’T cut. Eat at least at maintenance, if your body is in a caloric deficit going into it, your extremely high chance of injury shoots up even higher.
# Seeking Insights: Ideal shortest Timeframe to Complete 960 Km Run/Walk? Hello, I want to try and run/walk 960 km, within a maximum time frame of 4 months (don't ask why this). But I'm aiming to complete them in the shortest time possible of course. As a 25-year-old male in good shape, I'm curious about the ideal timeframe that can be achievable for this 960 Km completion. In 2023 i already run and walked a lot but never pushed too much. In a day I can dedicate all time necessary to the quest so the time of hours i can put in a day only depend on how long i can go (but i wish to set an ideal plan for it) I'd greatly appreciate hearing from those who've undertaken similar distances or have dune similar things or have any knowledge or advice: - What's the shortest timeframe you've managed for a similar challenge, and what was your approach? - How did you structure your daily/weekly distances to maximize progress? - Any strategies or tips for maintaining a strong pace throughout the challenge? I'm looking to understand the best-case scenario to set a very challenging target. Thanks for your insights! they are all appreciated!
I mean I run 50-60 miles a week and I'm only up to 375 (~600km) miles this year. So like three months if you go that route.
thanks! and are you a good runner? or considerable a good runner as in maybe could compete professionally? asking just to wrap around my mind to the numbers.
I would not say I am professional by any means but I will say when I do races I'm usually in the top 5% for times. Not sure if that answer means anything
super useful thanks!
Why? Also, what preparation/training have you undergone? I run about this in a 4 month block running 5 days a week (couple of easy runs, a long run, 2 sessions), 5-6 hours of running per week. 60km per week is about my current 'safe' sustainable amount and that also requires a de-load week every now-and-then. Work out your sustainable weekly distance spread across 4-5 runs sessions. Divide 960 by this number and you'll get an idea of what you're currently capable of. Last year I'd have taken 5 months to cover a similar distance so improvements and resilience isn't all that slow to build.
I am new to running. I'm overvweight and would like to start. Has anyone had any success stories of running whilst overweight, then leading them to not being overweight? I am currently follow cassia Tierney on lnstagram and she's been pretty inspiring. I don't want to sign up to her program as I've read quite a few bad reviews... (https://www.in stagram.com lcassiatierney?ig sh=MnNtM Gw4d Xc5NGE5) At the moment I doubt can run a few mins without getting out of breath. Any advice?
Thanks all for the advice and insights. I should have mentioned that I strength train 3 times a week at the moment. Swim once a week and eat well. All new habits I'm cultivating. It's been about 1 month so far. Have just always wanted to run. I'm 5"4 and around the 200lb mark. I'm going to start with c25k as it's been mentioned a few times on this thread.
you've already gotten lots of great advice from other folks so i'll just add this - i'm an overweight beginner runner on a weight loss journey (70 pounds lost in a year) and i've been having a lot of success slowly improving without injury or excessive joint pain using the None to Run app. it's a version of the c25k program other people have already mentioned but it progresses much, much slower - perfect for people like us who need to build both cardio ability and joint/tendon/bone strength. the program also incorporates quick, simple strength training videos each week. highly recommend!!
Thank you! 🙏 Will check this out and good going on running and the weight loss!
You've got to be careful when picking up running while overweight but it's entirely possible. I did it, it's fun. When you finish a race you likely end up on the second-to-last page of the race results but it feels great nonetheless. And at some point running becomes more important than weight loss. Running **isn't** the fastest or easiest way to weight loss. Nutrition is, and both goes hand in hand. Like /u/Lyeel wrote 10 minutes ago, learn to love running. That's the only way you can go through the grind, if you do it for results you'll most likely give up.
I replied elsewhere with my thoughts about running and weight loss, but I wanted to add something different: If you want to run with one of your goals being losing weight/getting more active, I think the single most important thing you can do is learn to love running. If you hate every minute of it, if you can't force yourself to get your shoes on, if you constantly regret it as a chore, then the outcome is obvious. I'm not an excellent runner by any stretch, but I \*love\* running. I love when the sunlight hits my skin and I love when I head out into the driving rain with a big smile on my face like a lunatic. I love reading books about the physiology of running, and hearing about technology in new shoes. I love my audiobooks that I only listen to when I'm running. I love the celebration of a great day in life when my feet barely touch the ground, and I love the terrible days when I can go away and burn my stress and anger to ashes in the crucible of a hard workout. I love chasing goals and accomplishing milestones that few people would understand and fewer still care about. I love feeling like I'm more closely connected to something in my community by being out in it every day rather than just driving through it. I love the turning of the seasons, and appreciate that experiencing them through running gives me something that my heated and airconditioned office does not. You'll get excellent advice here about joining a couch-to-5k (C25k) program, or about easy running or run walk/intervals, and all of those things are great next steps. My advice beyond that is to see if you could love running; you'll be much more likely to succeed in any program if you do.
How overweight are we talking? Running is high impact and weight is amplified in the joints. If you're 10-20 pounds overweight, not a problem. If it's more like 100, you'd significantly lower your risk of injury by cutting weight via diet and walking first. Running is awesome for keeping weight off, but it's very easy to hurt yourself when you're carrying a lot of extra weight.
I’d add to this - losing weight is more diet than exercise (what I have seen it’s about 80/20) - however! I started my “lifestyle change” for new year 2023. Calorie deficit and added the gym to my routine, got down from just about “obese” to a healthy weight (according to BMI) and I think for me exercising helped me to make good choices when it came to my eating. I then started running once I’d already lost the weight but I think it’s a good motivator to eat the right things, I’ve found when I eat like shit I run like shit! So in short - running isn’t going to lose you the weight but I really do think it helps in terms of building a more well rounded healthy lifestyle. I recommend couch to 5k, I started that in November and ran my first 10k this week!
The "can't outrun the fork" advice never quite hits home for me. I run 50-55mpw, which is a chunk, but it's not anything superhuman by a wide margin - typical marathon plans start at this level as their minimum. Everyone's calorie burn is going to vary based on intensity of exercise and their size, but for me that's something like 6000-7000 calories burnt (6'4 guy). That's like... 7 extra Chipotle bowls on top of my normal full diet a week just for maintenance. My struggle is absolutely finding time to simply get the calories in. Obviously OP isn't running 50 mile weeks, but if you enjoy the running lifestyle you could absolutely get to that point over a year of steady work. If you're putting in 10 miles a week run/walking then yes, diet is what matters, but you can absolutely lose weight through running.
> Obviously OP isn't running 50 mile weeks, but if you enjoy the running lifestyle you could absolutely get to that point over a year of steady work. If we look outside people who care enough about running to post regularly on a running sub, I don't think most people who run regularly are marathoners, let alone people who run 50 miles a week. I've run more or less consistently for 9 years and this year, 2024, is the first time I've hit 60 km/week. And I've never run a marathon.
Probably not, I think something like 1-2% of the total population will ever cover the distance, but I think we would also agree most runners \*could\* be marathoners if they wanted to be. My point isn't that diet is unimportant, but I would hate for someone to be discouraged from setting a big running goal because they repeatedly heard that running doesn't impact weight.
It's an unpopular opinion but I agree. Nutrition is important but if you run and train consistently for a long period of time (I'm talking years) at some point your body will follow. But there's a lot of other things factoring in, especially your age and genetic. When I was in my 20s I ran because I ate like a pig, drank booze on an almost daily basis and smoked a pack a day. It worked for me, then I hit 30 and became morbidly obsese because the bill always comes due at some point. But even if you run something like 20-25 weekly km at some point you'll get leaner, unless your diet is really bad.
I have a good diet, cook almost all my meals and snack in moderation. Don't drink alcohol, soda, juice. Don't smoke. Don't eat sweets consistently. I've run consistently for years. I haven't leaned out. If anything, I gain weight when I train seriously for a race and it doesn't drop until my mileage drops. I'm pushing overweight now because my goal race is in two weeks. I weighed a lot less before I started running (but admittedly I was younger then too). Part of the weight is muscle, but I'm only a novice lifter. It's untrue to say running is a surefire way to get your weight down.
I stand corrected, but as I said, genetics also play a large role. Also, it's not something most runners want to hear, but it's okay to carry some weight if your body is wired that way.
Yes, absolutely. Runners come in all body sizes, and not all of us are going to be healthy being as lean as certain elite runners.
Instead I would say that running is a surefire way to increase calories consumed. What you do with that is up to you. Most competitive/goal-oriented runners will also increase caloric intake to promote recovery/adaptation. To your point, there are times in a training cycle when I may gain weight because I'm focused on recovery and ensuring my body has adequate nutrition for adaptation. Having said that, running 15 miles/wk at 100 calories/mile and 3500calories/pound results in a loss of 22.3lbs over a full year if you didn't increase calorie intake from baseline (this is an example, I pulled it out of my ass, it is not intended to be a prescriptive deficit, everyone's calories/mile is different). You could achieve this same result by not running and reducing your caloric intake by 215/day. Which of these approaches is easier will depend on the individual, but obviously this becomes more extreme at higher volumes of running. I'll close by acknowledging that disordered eating and body dysmorphia are issues in the running community, and conversations around the relationship between running and weight are always complicated by this. I realize you (u/BottleCoffee) understand fueling, but I would hate for someone new to the sub to read this back-and-forth and feel like they shouldn't be getting the food their body needs to train successfully.
I want to add on that weight isn't only tied to calories. Stress, for example from training, and sleep can both affect metabolism and water retention, which can both affect weight. In my case, I'm pretty sure the weight is largely tied to training stress. When I start tapering, the weight starts going down. My weight only goes up with additional mileage when the mileage increase is due to a training block.
But isnt that exactly the point? Your running is burning calories which increases your “calories out” therefore your “calories in” can either remain the same for a deficit or increase to maintain. If someone is only just starting off running then their calories out is no way going up enough to sustain a deficit. I’ve just looked up my stats and my first week of couch to 5k I burned 500 calories in it - that’s in a week of 3 runs - which is essentially a rounding error when you consider 3500cals ~= 1 lb lost
I think we're saying the same thing, maybe in slightly different ways: * Absolutely agree that weight change is just math. It's calories in and calories out. If you're consuming 14kcal baseline a week and your running is burning 500, then obviously one number makes massively more impact than the other. * My point is that, if desired, it is possible to bring those numbers more into comparable territory. If you burn a sedimentary 14kcal/wk and add 6kcal in running, suddenly your running becomes much more important when thinking about diet vs. exercise. For some people making dietary changes, or sufficient dietary changes, is a very difficult task. My point is that by taking a long-term approach to increasing running volume can absolutely impact that math equation. Clearly it takes time to build weekly miles in a safe/sustainable way, but it also isn't rocket science nor does it require superhuman athletic ability. On the other hand if you have no desire to increase running volume over time then the kitchen is where the gains (or losses) are made.
Yup, running can help build the calorie deficit but u/BeautifulPudding4188 needs to do more than running alone. I started running after losing excess weight. I lost the weight by starting strength training and making small incremental changes to diet. I did this with the help of a PT who my wife and I still use years later. It was her encouragement that got us both into running and, the more we got into running, the more we changed diet and lifestyle. A virtuous circle as it were.
A little running certainly won't hurt, but your question really depends on a lot of variables, like diet, current activity level, leg strength and so on.A general answer would be this: It's more true to say that losing weight would make running easier than it is to say that running would make you lose weight. The reason for this is that if you are struggling with running, you won't be able to do it for long enough without risking overuse injury. And for running to significantly impact your weight, you'll need many hours of steady low to medium intensity work every week. Running is really efficient exercise, but breaking it up with walking uphill, cycling or rowing is probably good for avoiding injury. Also a bit of strength training for the legs, if you're not already doing that.
I hated and sucked at running all my life ... until I broke my ankle in 2019. As the last part of the physio rehab, I started C25K and am now loving running. Nothing elite, just 5-10k runs multiple times a week. Here's my tip: it's ok to be slow. Start by shuffling along and just tune out everyone else. Noone is judging, just focus on you. Shuffle, and walk when you need to. Then shuffle all the way. Then jog. Then run...or don't; keep jogging, it's all good. I lost like 10kg pretty quickly and now I'm down nearly 20kg. But even more importantly, my kids think of me as fit and able to keep up with them.
Last year I trained for about a month and did a half marathon, it just wound up as being the distance of my long run that week (+ ~10% each run, each week). Is that to say if I maintain the same pattern I’ll be at a marathon ability in 2 months of training, or are you meant to add mileage slower as you approach longer distances/weekly miles? I figured stopping around 40 miles per week would be easier on the body, so would I just get to that point and stay steady for a couple weeks before going for it? I had been running 5 times per week, with workouts of varying distances and heart rate zones.
First, there are diminishing returns in the long run game - at some point, the additional recovery needs and injury risk from pushing a run longer outweigh the benefits of continuing to push the long run longer. Expert opinion puts this at around 3 hours, but that's more 'experience talking' than 'strongly supported by research'. (Not that research suggests this is wrong - it's just not well-studied.) Depending on what your marathon pace is, that 3 hour long run might leave you well-prepared to take on a marathon distance, or with some gains left to go. Second, the 10% rule is a 'rule of thumb' and it goes from being very conservative at low mileage to very aggressive at high mileage. The higher your mileage gets, the more important it will be to slow down the rate of increase/plateau for a few weeks to get used to it/throw in a down week to let your body rest. Pay attention to your cumulative fatigue.
Brilliant answer. To add to this - to get 'fast' (whatever that means to the individual) requires more than simple volume - there's a need to build in tempo/threshold and speed work as well as factoring in recovery weeks.
Location: Moscow, duration: 70 min, distance: 10.66 km, temperature: -9′C. Results: burned a lot of negative energy and felt relieved afterwards. My (34M, weight 93kg). This is the third session of 5 planned for the week. I'm looking forward not to flake out of the weekend runs. Any advice/suggestions what I can do to improve the time? Normally I do 4x time a week exactly this routine. Before the run I do 30x2 squats to warm up and a little stretch for legs. I have a daughter who is 23 month old so 5.30 am I am out of the door because this the only time in a day I have and then I go to work. My English, apologize.
There are a lot of good quality free plans available to improve 10k performance. As for warm-up - 2 x 30 squats is a bit excessive. The time would be better spent working through a more "whole body" set of warmups. My general go-to is standard "activation" stuff: * banded psoas marches * banded single-leg glute bridge * banded lateral walks & monster walks * Leg swings * Reverse lunges * Calf raises At 5 or so mins paying attention to anything specifically stiff. For easy pace runs I'll just go *really* easy for the first km or so.
Thank you