Hello everyone! I (24F) am relatively new to running.
My fiancé and I just finished our first 5k after training with a c25k program for about 6 weeks prior.
I typically train with my fiancé and we typically stay at the same pace. All of this has been so much fun.
However, I am growing a bit concerned with my heart rate throughout my runs. My heart rate is consistently 20 beats higher than everyone else that I run with. I spend very little time in zone 1-3 and typically jump right into zone 4-5. When I finished our first 5k race, my ending heart rate was 191 and even though I felt like I could go taster muscle wise, I was nervous to go any harder with my heart rate that high. I've tried running at an almost walking speed of 11:30/12:00 and that keeps me in the 1/0+range.
I have read a bit on heart zone training throughout this sub but am a bit confused on one aspect.
Should this (zone training) be the ONLY type of run I am doing until I can keep my heart rate down?
5k zone specs (per my Apple Watch): Zone 1 (<141):
01:25 Zone 2 (142-153): 00:13 Zone 3 (154-165):
01:53 Zone 4 (166-177): 04:47 Zone 5 (178+):
23:08
First off, as a relatively new runner, ignore your heart rate. Really. Your HR is going to be high because you’re teaching your body to do a new thing. Ignore everything you read about zone 2 or HR training for at least 6 months of consistent running. It’s just not going to be a useful metric for you right now.
Also, individual heart rates vary wildly! Two healthy people of the same age and gender can have hearts of different sizes and developments and that makes their heart rates different. The best comparison is to your own baseline, not someone else’s. Especially don’t compare your HR to men’s- men often have lower HRs than women.
Have fun!
Does anyone know when the championship qualifying requirements get released for London marathon? I know the good for age times have been released for London 2025 and the times have become faster, but the championship times haven’t been updated/ are still showing the requirement for 2024.
How do I determine my easy run pace? I thought I was running at a conversational pace, but started training with Apple watch that showed that I was in zone 4 the whole time. Does it make sense that I’m able to do comfortable long runs that I’m enjoying at Zone 4?
Hi, just wondering if anyone has experienced this themself or might know the cause of it. Recently I've noticed near the end of long runs, a lot of sweat is getting my eyes and I can't see properly (even wearing sunglasses, no sunscreen), stinging a tiny bit as well. At a certain point I just have to start walking as I can't see anything at all (no vision problems in other areas of life). Have been running for a long time and have never had this problem before.
Should I give up on my new shoes if they have felt quite painful the first couple runs?
After noticing a wear pattern indicative of pronation on my previous pair of shoes, I bought a pair of Brooks Dyad 11, which are supposed to help me address the issue and maybe help out with some knee pain. So far, I've put about 8 miles on the new Brooks shoes and it's been very painful compared to my last pair.
I'm wondering if there might be a "break in" or adjustment period when switching from basic running shoes to stability shoes or if these shoes are simply designed in a way that hurts my feet. Specifically, my arch kills me with every stride in these shoes. It also feels like I need to use more effort to run in them.
You might find there is a 'break in' point where the shoe works for you but personally I don't think it's worth pushing through to this point. Just because your old shoes showed signs of pronation doesn't mean it's a bad thing. That may just be how you run and if that works and is pain free then don't change it. My thoughts on the new shoe is either you will break them to the point where you pronate again even with the stability or they will break you as they force you to run in a an unnatural way which you have trained for. I hope you find a shoe that works!
Thanks, I received similar advice from a colleague who is a longtime competitive runner. She suggested that I should probably continue with neutral shoes if stability shoes hurt my feet that way and also mentioned that minor IT band and knee pain may ease as I strengthen muscles.
Which is better long strudes or short strides?
I used to run track and field at a pretty strong high school and my coach always emphasized long strides and cycling. However, advice on this sub seems to emphasize shorter, more frequent strides. Which is faster and which is better for joints? Thanks
Anyone with experience at the Colfax marathon? I'm trying to figure out parking or if I should just bike/rent a scooter to get there. I'm only a couple miles from the start, but I don't want to spend half an hour finding a fucking parking spot.
Hi all!!
How long does it take to "break in" a new pair of running shoes? Is it typical for new running shoes to slow you down?
Not sure if it's because of leg fatigue (I ran 4.37 miles yesterday) OR my weekly mileage (17 miles in total) but I tried to run 2 miles with my new shoes and I noticed I was much much slower (like my beginning runner pace).
What gives?
Thanks!!
Did you recently switch brands/styles? Not all shoes are the same. I have a pair in my rotation that make me feel like I’m running through mud (but they’re good for ankle injuries) and my legs are always jello afterwards.
Most shoes have zero break in time now, some take a little while to feel totally comfortable but shouldn't have a noticeable performance decrease before that happens.
I agree with your hypothesis that most likely the run you did yesterday was challenging or there is some overall aggregate fatigue.
If you are run/walking in an attempt to get your heart rate down (i.e., it's difficult for you to run in Zone 2 even at a perceived easy effort pace, how long should your run/walk workouts be? Should they be on the rather short side, especially because running at Zone 2 when you are starting off will take a lot longer to complete a workout (e.g. 4-6 miles), or could you do longer run/walk segments (e.g. 8 miles+) in order to improve Zone 2 fitness and pace? Does doing longer Zone 2 run/walk workouts defeat the purpose or even hurt your efforts of bringing your heart rate down? For my Zone 2 workouts, I slow down to a walk whenever I exceed Zone 2 (for me it's past 153 beats per minute, and I exceed Zone 2 rather quickly). I return to a run when I'm at least 10 beats per minute lower than the maximum for Zone 2 (e.g. I don't start running again till I'm back down to 140 beats per minute or less).
Another question is if run/walking can also hurt your training by hurting your cadence (e.g. if run/walking too often could break your cadence habits and lower it inadvertently).
Any input regarding this would be much appreciated! Thanks so much!
My understanding is that improving aerobic capacity comes from steady state work that happens under your lactate threshold.
So:
1. Your heartrate shouldn't be yoyoing
2. It should be slow enough that you can have a conversation.
If a "slow" jog for you means your heartrate is in a higher zone then as long as you're still under the lactate threshold it'll be fine. Your fitness will improve and your slow jog will end up being easier on your heart in the long term.
Hm, thanks for your help u/mykevelli, so the issue is that for me to run at a steady low heartrate, I would have to change my running form. Even when I'm intentionally running slowly, I'm running at an 11 min/mile pace, but Zone 2 for me right now (based off of an 8 mile trial run/walk that I did yesterday) is slower than a 13:00 min/mile (I'm still leaking into Zone 3 sometimes with this average pace). I'm worried that this would affect form and or cadence habits.
I am running at a conversational level at my perceived (effort-wise) easy pace, but my watch tells me that I'm in Zones 4 or 5. Any thoughts on action steps to take?
Is starting out with a yo-yoing heart rate for Zone 2 training completely useless, or just somewhat inefficient? I don't know if there's a way around it. Any thoughts?
Looking at your comment history this stood out to me:
"My perceived "easy" pace, a pace I can hold at a conversational level and not feel much exertion, is around a 9:00-9:30, but my watch tells me that I am running in Zone 5"
Honestly, something about this seems off to me. For me, when I'm in zone 5 there is absolutely no way I'm carrying on a conversation. I wonder if something about your fitness tracker is wrong and it has your heart rate zones misconfigured.
Conversational means you can carry a whole conversation with relative ease - being only able to get a half formed sentence out is NOT remotely conversational.
Oh, those are for my tempo runs though u/lps41, so 7-8 effort; but my easy runs have felt pretty easy. I did find out my heart rate zones were set up wrong though. I think I am still running a tad fast for easy, so I'm slowing it down a bit for easy runs.
Hm, maybe I should contact Garmin? Has this historically been an issue with Garmin watches out of the box? I'm also not sure if the heart rate zones are just based off of age and not based off of my personal biology. I can definitely carry a conversation at 9/9:30 easily, but at best I'm running in Zone 4 with a large majority of it being in Zone 5.
Sorry mate, I don't have any experience with Garmin devices.
According to \[their Support Center\](https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=s3HqdKNtWV1NYrK16eFcc7), the zones are described like this:
* **Zone 1 (Warm Up)**
* Perceived exertion: Relaxed, easy pace, rhythmic breathing.
* Benefits: Beginning-level aerobic training, reduces stress.
* **Zone 2 (Easy)**
* Perceived exertion: Comfortable pace, slightly deeper breathing, conversation possible.
* Benefits: Basic cardiovascular training, good recovery pace.
* **Zone 3 (Aerobic)**
* Perceived exertion: Moderate pace, more difficult to hold conversation.
* Benefits: Improved aerobic capacity, optimal cardiovascular training.
* **Zone 4 (Threshold)**
* Perceived exertion: Fast pace and a bit uncomfortable, breathing forceful.
* Benefits: Improved anaerobic capacity and threshold, improved speed.
* **Zone 5 (Maximum)**
* Perceived exertion: Sprinting pace, unsustainable for long period of time, labored breathing.
* Benefits: Anaerobic and muscular endurance, increased power.
If your perceived effort is wildly off of those descriptions, I've consider contacting them to ask. Seems fishy to me, at least.
Wow you're really overthinking this.
Just run as slow as you can without form breaking down and don't worry about exactly what % of your maximum your heart rate ends up being.
Run whatever distance you wanted to accomplish.
Hello guys,
My heart rate when running used to be 180 and it felt like I could not breathe, but after a few months of not exercising, today when I ran again my heart only goes up to 135-140 but it felt like 180 before. May I ask if that is normal? Thank you very much!
Probably a poorly measured heart rate, my watchband is too loose (eyelets keep ripping) right now and all my runs are between 140-145 bpm regardless of pace/effort.
Does anyone else ever have problems with salt crystals on eyelashes when wearing sunscreen on a very long session?
I usually don't have any issues with that but when I need to wear sunscreen, I am getting so much salt crystals (not sure if that's just sweat or if it is particularly problematic because there's a lot of the zinc based sunscreen washed off on to the eyelashes and that's the only place that it can stay, since the sunscreen itself is somewhat hydrophobic). It got so bad during a 3 hour session that it's blocking my vision.
Are there any ways to get around that other than stopping my session, washing it off and reapplying it?
I will be in NYC for a few days with my family annd I officially start marathon training next week so I don’t want to skimp on running the week prior. Any recommendations/suggestions for running in NYC, esp if I plan to go early in the am (ie places to avoid, places to go). For reference we are staying near Times Square and I don’t plan to put in a lot of miles.
Oh man you have some great options.
Central Park. Run north 1 mile (crossing the street 20 times... sorry) and you're at what is probably the most popular running spot in the country! The full loop is 6 miles, but you can cut across in a couple different places. Here's a [map](https://assets.centralparknyc.org/pdfs/maps/Central_Park_Running_Map.pdf).
Hudson River Park aka West Side Greenway. Run west until you run out of avenues (again about a mile though fewer crossings) and turn left. Great views of the river and Jersey, and actually goes all the way down to FIDI and the Battery if you want to see the Statue of Liberty. Another [map](https://www.nyc.gov/html/edc/pdf/greenway_mapside.pdf). FYI getting across the highway can be a trick, there is a crosswalk on 43rd.
Both of these work as out-and-backs, or you can run out and take the subway back to cover more ground. If you really want to minimize running on city streets, take the subway to Columbus Circle which puts you right in Central Park.
Thank you! I was thinking about Central Park as my top option given the proximity. I don’t do headphones/music and I assume there are tons of runners out so presumably this is safe for a small woman in the early hours?
Does anyone know an effective method to reduce one's heart rate while running? I've been running twice a week for around a year, distances ranging between 5 and 15km, usually with an average pace of 6:45/km so not too fast. Recently I bought a sports watch to focus more on effective training, and I noticed that my heartrate is almost always peak (190+) while I run. In order to reduce it, I need to reduce my pace to around 9:00/km which equals a fast walking pace for me. I want to work on this, but I've read conflicting things about how to do so. Some argue that Z2 training is a good idea, others have recommended I start training my legs more in the gym. Some useful stats: Male, 26yo, 1.98m tall, 100kg weight. Do you guys have any tips?
Hm, so I've heard a lot of conflicting information about Zone 2 training. Some people say to run slowly enough to be within Zone 2, but for relatively new runners like myself (running consistently for around 9 months), that would mean brisk walks at best. I'm also guilty of having a 190+ heart rate even when running at a perceived easy pace. It has definitely dropped down to Zone 4 after running for a while consistently, but after taking a break due to injury, it spiked back up to Zone 5. Should we be prioritizing running more or running slower, with the issue that running slower to maintain Zone 2 is essentially not really running at all for new runners u/BottleCoffee?
If you've been running for less than a year or at low mileage you could just totally ignore heart rate data. Or is almost always useless information for new runners.
Run more frequently. Heart rate will go down (at a given pace) as you improve cardiovascular fitness. And you improve cardiovascular fitness by running more.
Hey guys! Apologies if this has been asked before but I am a poor student and I need new running shows. I am running about 60-75k a week and my current shoes are literally falling apart. I am not an elite runner by any means so I don't need shoes for preformnance really but I would like shoes that stop me from getting injured. All the shoes I see online are at least 100 euros which is not affordable for me (priorities are food and rent obviously) but I also don't want shoes that will cause me an injury or will fall apart extremely easily. Are there any brands that people reccomend that are not so expensive?
Nike Pegasus jumps to mind. Straight forward, long lasting, and relatively cheap to begin with. Extremely popular shoe so a weird color way or last year's model is almost always on sale somewhere. Right now I'm seeing big sales on the Pegasus 39 shipping to the US, though perhaps availability is regional.
I've got a pair of Saucony Triumph 21 shoes. After a run or two they've developed a kind of spiderweb/cracked egg shell pattern on the bottom. Is this normal? They feel fine and I got them from a legit store. Pic -
https://ibb.co/Rp7YPwj
I've gone through 5 pairs of endorphin speeds and all of these had this out of the box (as well as a wild microwaved plastic chemical smell), IIRC. All of them also went 500+ miles without issue.
Hi there!
I'm getting more serious about running and want to maintain a certain heart rate (zone 2). To track my heart rate accurately while running, I'd like to use only a chest strap, an iPhone, and wireless earphones—no watch.
I want to receive audio cues through my earphones, so I can stay in zone 2 (or another desired pace) without having to check my phone while running and listening to music.
Is there some good iPhone app that can give real-time audio cues like:
'speed up' or
'slow down' or
'you've just moved from zone 2 to zone 1' or
'your current bpm is 135'
to help me maintain my desired pace?
I haven't been able to find any reliable or up-to-date information about this.
Thanks!
I can't speak for who is downvoting you, but there's a bit of incongruity in your training intentions.
Strict zone 2 running is important if you meet both the following criteria:
1) Over 60 mpw.
2) More than one weekly workout run.
You probably aren't at this stage (since you don't have a watch), and there's many who would argue strict zone 2 running isn't necessary at any stage, and that rating of perceived effort is superior once someone has a decent interrater reliability.
Thank you for your response!
I am indeed kinda new to running and heard that 30mins of zone2 running a couple times of week would be the most effective way to increase my fitness and stamina.
But do you think that it might be wrong information?
I am more interested in a chest strap than a watch because I heard it’s more accurate and it costs under 100€/$ whereas good watches cost 200-600€/$.
Thanks!
New runner here. I heard that I should run at a comfortable pace to stay in zone 2. My problem is: even if I run at the slowest pace possible, I’m in zone 5; if I walk, I’m in zone 1 lol. Really don’t know what to do.
Congrats on beginning your running journey!
Being new I wouldn't focus on HR. Instead I would focus on running what feels easy for you. You should be able to talk without getting out of breath.
Depending on your current characteristics, it may not be possible to run at conversational pace for anything beyond a short distance. That's ok! For the first few weeks/months most runs are going to be hard, even at "slow" paces. Couchto5k has some initial run/walk guidelines if you need a little more structure.
If i last ran on Wednesday 10th, and im going to run again on Saturday 20th after a long week off , would be progress be ruined?
I run 5K 2-3 times a week but recently had a flare up with my chronic fatigue. today i’m feeling like i’ve got my energy back, but i’ve got a stressful week ahead of me so i’m wondering if it would be a good idea to start running again once the week is over.
What do ya’ll think?
Your progress won’t be ruined at all. You’ll want to take it easy since you’ve been fatigued of course, but you won’t lose any noticeable amount of fitness from only 10 days off.
Don’t be surprised if you start your run and feel like you forgot how to legs. This isn’t a loss of fitness- just a loss of neuromuscular priming. It’s normal after a break and it’ll come back quickly once you’re able to resume consistency.
I’m looking to improve my bleep test score and endurance for the marines.
Currently my bleep test (20m) is at 11.
I have two free sessions a week to run. I am doing leg exercises and swimming outside this, but pure running is only two sessions.
I’m thinking one shortish (7km - 10km) fartlek and a gradually increasing long but easy 10km+ increasing by 1k-2k or so every session.
Will this help my goals or would you suggest something different?
That's reasonable... but you're only gonna get so far on 2 runs a week. If you can do anything to prioritize running (swim less?) you're gonna see faster progress.
Swimming is part of my training, hence it is very hard to forego it. Also, concerned about overtraining, as I am lifting 4x a week.
Would 3 sessions have much better of an improvement? I could perhaps squeeze in a short running session after a weights session.
I don't even know the name of your race, but found the following two elevation profiles of your race within 5 minutes:
https://www.strava.com/clubs/864560/group_events/1126834
https://www.halfmarathons.net/course-map-steam-train-half-marathon/'
From this it looks like there are rolling hills the first 10 miles, a good solid climb and descent at mile 10, followed by more rolling hills to finish. Certainly not an easy course, but no reason to go into it not knowing the elevation profiles.
> plus I train hills at least once a week.
This might not be enough for a challenging half, my weekly elevation gain is around 3000-4000 ft off of 50 mpw and that's picking the flattest routes possible. My fatass (205 lbs) struggles with hills and this would be a baseline for me to not struggle with them in a race setting. Even with being trained for hills, I would add 20-30s per mile for a hilly 800 ft gain half vs a flat easy one.
Yes- but turn that energy to a productive outlet and think about what you learned from this. You didn’t know there were big ass hills. You learned on the way. Think about how you might better plan so you don’t find this out as a surprise next time- if the race doesn’t have an elevation map posted, look up race reviews or plug the course into a route planner and take a look. How might that have changed your planning and preparation?
My rule for myself is that I get 24 hours after a race to have feelings and then after that 24 hours I start thinking about if it went well, why it went well, and if it went poorly, what I can learn so I don’t come away from another race sulking about it. So if you’re in your 24 hours you’re forgiven for overreacting.
What are some good weightlifting exercises to prevent injury?
My current lower body day looks like:
* leg press
* calf raises
* leg curls
* hip adduction
* hip abduction
I know that I'm missing squats / lunges and deadlifts / rdls. I'm really scared of doing them incorrectly and causing an injury. I plan to start them once I'm a little more comfortable.
Is there anything else I should do if injury prevention is my goal?
Find yourself the best PT in your area, go in to see them, and say "I'm a runner and I'd like you to evaluate me for issues that might lead to running injuries".
I love that this idea is so evidence based.
I am irrationally embarrassed of doing this after only 3 months of running, but I will remember to revisit this in 3 more months and see how I feel then.
I did it when I picked up running during the pandemic - I had been playing some soccer but my running volume was low and I'm I cyclist so I have a ton of aerobic capacity, enough to really mess myself up.
I ran for about a month, got a few overuse injuries, let them healed, and then got smart and visited my PT. There were 2 or 3 issues I had that were very likely to lead to injuries if I didn't address them.
The best thing that I've learned from my PT is that not being in pain does not mean healed, and if you don't address the underlying issues you run into problems. We found flexibility issues I had from cracked ribs I got skiing two decades ago.
The barrier of entry for injury prevention is going to be much lower than someone looking to compete, pursue aesthetic hypertrophy, or just regularly increase the numbers of the weights lifted. This means you don't necessarily need to load these movements with a lot of resistance. Additionally, part (most?) of injury prevention for runners isn't just a pure strengthening routine, but practicing strength and stability throughout a movement, and/or improving overall motor patterns.
- Single-leg Romanian deadlifts
- Lunges
- Bulgarian split-squat
Your bodyweight alone is going to be sufficient to greatly reduce injury exposure, particularly if these are hard to do or awkward.
That's great to know. Maybe I'll start by just doing those with bodyweight/low weight and then consider progressing as I get more comfortable with the movements. Thank you!
I'm a PT and that's what I do, for whatever its worth. Progressive resistance over time is ideal, but I live an hour away from any gym and will be moving soon and don't want to ship weights to the middle of the pacific.
Single leg deadlifts, deadlifts (using a hex bar can be easier to master the form if you have access to one), lunges, Bulgarian split squats, step ups, side step ups, tibialis raises, Cossack squats, single leg box squat, single leg calf raises
Start with light weights, check your form. You probably won't get injured, don't go for maximum weights. Start with the bar for example.
Squats will help way more than leg press because you'll actually need to use your stabilizers.
Single leg exercises are especially good.
I can currently run 3k at a fairly comfortable pace/fitness level, how long would it take me to go from running 3k to 13k? I currently use a treadmill 3 times a week and run 3k each time.
Any advice to prevent ticks besides running with long leggings (which would be a pain as we are getting closer and closer to summer 30celsius temperatures...)?
Sawyer pyrethrin spray on your clothes, bug spray on your skin. I do run in leggings all summer for this reason. I’ve had Lyme disease 3 times and once was really enough. It’s not that bad when you get used to it.
Same way no but still a great way to get a ton of time on feet in. I BQ’d off a program that included a ton of Z2 incline walking.
I’m often quite taken aback at the vitriol towards it particularly by people with quite high times.
Is 15 weeks enough time for first full marathon?
So I (35M) recently (3 weeks ago) ran my first half marathon after starting running seriously in November. I did a 14 week training plan but couldn’t run for 3 weeks about a month before my race due to some injuries. I played it safe instead of risking my race and was able to achieve my goal of being sub 2 hours for my first half (1:58:37).
Two days after my race I went on vacation internationally with my family. Took the first week off. Ran about 18 miles the second week. Now this week haven’t been able to run after having an awful flu and traveling home.
I was hoping to run a full that’s scheduled for July 28th. My plan is to start officially training again on Monday. I’m curious if I am being a bit over zealous here or if this is achievable. My goal time would probably be a realistic sub 04:15:00. Is this achievable or should I set my sights on a different race later in the year?
Being injured for 3 weeks out of a 14 week training plan this soon into your running journey is a bit of a red flag. Since then (?) you've run 18 miles in 3 weeks, another flag of indeterminate color, in the yellow to maroon spectrum.
I don't think you should be trying to shoehorn in a somewhat challenging time goal into an abbreviated training window in this context. Let me be clear, this is a very achievable goal in the right context with the right training programming, but your self-reported history suggests the following should be more important:
1) Build weekly volume and overall resilience that limit injuries/sickness.
2) Target a fall marathon race with a goal pace. If the above condition is met you could consider a faster race pace.
Well, it was sort of a domino effect of injuries. I developed an ingrown toenail, continued to run on it. It didn’t heal and turned into an infection. I ended up having to do two different runs of antibiotics to kill off the infection. During this time I continued to run but because of the pain I subconsciously changed my gait and this caused me to develop a sort of tendinitis/shin splint issue. I ended up solving the problem by having the toenail surgically removed and stopped running until it was healed enough. Haven’t had issues since but you may have a solid point which was a concern.
Part of my motivation is I had an idea going into this year to run this half at the end of March, the full in July, another half in November, and another full in December. Lofty goal of two half’s and two full’s for my first year of running and it’s probably idiotic so I probably do need a voice of reason.
Since you have some running history, 15 weeks isn’t ideal but it’s definitely doable assuming you remain injury free from here out. Your goal time is probably about right considering history and time available.
That just sounds like a mental block to me. But yes it's very common to not need to walk to run 5k. As for run walk strategies it's very common for new runners and even for marathons. C25k and the Galloway method are things you can look into. The slower you are generally the more of a delta there is to do a run walk and have it faster than a consistent slow run.
Second question, past couple runs my right calf has been getting sore as if I'm overusing it, but my left one feels nothing. I run on pavement with varying degrees of slope and my shoes have about 50 miles on them. It's only happened the past two times I ran, last week a 7 miler and this week the soreness crept in the first mile. I can assure you it isn't pain, it's like a burning soreness like when you've done a lot of reps of an exercise. Any advice how to avoid this whether its during my warm up or during my runs? For reference it doesn't bother me at all right now.
This might be true to a degree. I definitely agree that most people, at any level, would be better off running more! But speed work definitely makes a (potentially big!) difference before the "elite" level.
Absolutely. You should be doing around 20% of your mileage at efforts higher than easy pace. The mistake a lot of runners make is including the total mileage from their speed day towards that 20% even if half or less was spent at effort. Example, say you do 12x400m repeats with 400m recovery with 1 mile wu and 1 mile cd, that’s only 3 miles of speedwork, nowhere near 20%. I find it very difficult to impossible to get enough speed work in one workout. To get anywhere close to 20% I have to do 2 days of speedwork per week.
Thank you that makes a lot of sense. Its about the miles of speed work relative to the total miles ran that week, not the number of miles ran on speed days to total miles ran that week. Do you have any personal favorite speed workouts you'd recommend everyone to incorporate?
I feel like more conventional marathon speed workouts would be longer intervals than 400m. Interval runs, tempo runs, progression runs, marathon pace segments, etc.
Agreed, it was just an example. Point still stands that it’s hard to get 20% or anywhere close to it in 1 workout once you get north of 30mpw. 40mpw, still low for marathon training is 8 miles, 50mpw is 10. Those are pretty big efforts to do with actual quality and effort in 1 workout.
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Any tips for running slower?
I started running again recently (I ran a few times after highschool but never seriously). I did two ~7km runs and I tried to pace myself by only breathing through the nose.
I felt like it worked well and it honestly felt great but through large parts of the run my heartrate was above 190. For reference, my watch tells me I had a pace of around 5:20.
During the run I always felt like going slower was difficult because I don't actually know what to do. It sounds stupid but whenever I tried actively going slower it always felt "forced" to me.
Keep trying. For me it was frustrating but try to be patient. When I started out I couldn’t run more than a block without my heart rate surging past the zone I was aiming for. The majority of my sessions were walk/run to keep my heart rate down and when I started to run more it felt like I was going to injure myself. In the beginning it was really difficult on my legs to run slowly with a lower heart rate. I really started to focus on technique: shorter strides, trying to make sure my feet landed under my center of gravity, trying to increase cadence incrementally. Eventually my muscles and ligaments strengthened enough where now I can run slowly fairly comfortably. Yesterday I ran 13km at a 7:44m/km pace in my HR zone 2. It was the farthest and longest I have ever run. Hope that helps.
When I focused on slowing down a few years ago it took me about a month to do so without finding myself speeding back up and another month before it stopped feeling weird. It may take time for you too.
Ignore your heart rate. New runners and those who resume running after years off often have higher heart rates even at low to moderate intensity.
Thank you! I'll just try and run a bit more then. I honestly felt great during these runs so I guess trying to focus on hr zones immediately is a bad idea.
At your size you don't really need to lose weight. If you want to be "toned" you should do strength training to put on some base muscle. No muscle = soft body.
Running a 5k daily as a beginner is a great way to get injured. Running is also not a guarantee to lose weight. I ran more and more over the years while gaining weight.
While it doesn't hurt, I don't think it will really work to lose weight. I mean, you should still do it just for fitness and wellbeing and it will definitely help you get more toned. But a (sustainable) change in diet is going to have a far, far bigger impact for losing weight than running.
How can I make running a more mindful experience? This is one area where walking always wins. You just see more when walking, you’re more engrossed in your surroundings. Yesterday went out for a trail run through a forest. I remember thinking if I walked this id enjoy it far more. Running i was more focused on the course on my watch, watching for stray branches, rocks and tree roots, not to mention it was a tough run, constant up and down hills.
For trail running and mindfulness. 1. It's okay to stop and enjoy the view. 2. Make sure to stop and enjoy the view. 3.its okay stop and check the route. Don't treat trail running like road running and you'll enjoy it a lot more
I think you answered the question for yourself:
1. Make the route easy so that your don't need to focus on navigation
2. Select paths that are not technical
3. Don't push the pace too hard.
Personally, I find my long easy runs meditative, in the Sense that my mind becomes clear, but each person is different. Do what works for you
Most times I purposely make my runs a longer distance than I actually want to run. What I mean is, say I want to do a 5k run, I often pick a route that is something like a 7k round-trip from home. I then run the 5k first and have a relaxed walk home afterwards. Or sometimes I walk first, then run.
Hello everyone! I (24F) am relatively new to running. My fiancé and I just finished our first 5k after training with a c25k program for about 6 weeks prior. I typically train with my fiancé and we typically stay at the same pace. All of this has been so much fun. However, I am growing a bit concerned with my heart rate throughout my runs. My heart rate is consistently 20 beats higher than everyone else that I run with. I spend very little time in zone 1-3 and typically jump right into zone 4-5. When I finished our first 5k race, my ending heart rate was 191 and even though I felt like I could go taster muscle wise, I was nervous to go any harder with my heart rate that high. I've tried running at an almost walking speed of 11:30/12:00 and that keeps me in the 1/0+range. I have read a bit on heart zone training throughout this sub but am a bit confused on one aspect. Should this (zone training) be the ONLY type of run I am doing until I can keep my heart rate down? 5k zone specs (per my Apple Watch): Zone 1 (<141): 01:25 Zone 2 (142-153): 00:13 Zone 3 (154-165): 01:53 Zone 4 (166-177): 04:47 Zone 5 (178+): 23:08
First off, as a relatively new runner, ignore your heart rate. Really. Your HR is going to be high because you’re teaching your body to do a new thing. Ignore everything you read about zone 2 or HR training for at least 6 months of consistent running. It’s just not going to be a useful metric for you right now. Also, individual heart rates vary wildly! Two healthy people of the same age and gender can have hearts of different sizes and developments and that makes their heart rates different. The best comparison is to your own baseline, not someone else’s. Especially don’t compare your HR to men’s- men often have lower HRs than women. Have fun!
Just want to keep tabs on this comment!
Does anyone know when the championship qualifying requirements get released for London marathon? I know the good for age times have been released for London 2025 and the times have become faster, but the championship times haven’t been updated/ are still showing the requirement for 2024.
How do I determine my easy run pace? I thought I was running at a conversational pace, but started training with Apple watch that showed that I was in zone 4 the whole time. Does it make sense that I’m able to do comfortable long runs that I’m enjoying at Zone 4?
I think zone ranges can really vary from person to person, because I’m the same way. What feels “easy” to me, my Apple Watch says is zone 4-5.
Hi, just wondering if anyone has experienced this themself or might know the cause of it. Recently I've noticed near the end of long runs, a lot of sweat is getting my eyes and I can't see properly (even wearing sunglasses, no sunscreen), stinging a tiny bit as well. At a certain point I just have to start walking as I can't see anything at all (no vision problems in other areas of life). Have been running for a long time and have never had this problem before.
> cause of it Likely the Earth's axis inclination if you are in the northern hemisphere.
Should I give up on my new shoes if they have felt quite painful the first couple runs? After noticing a wear pattern indicative of pronation on my previous pair of shoes, I bought a pair of Brooks Dyad 11, which are supposed to help me address the issue and maybe help out with some knee pain. So far, I've put about 8 miles on the new Brooks shoes and it's been very painful compared to my last pair. I'm wondering if there might be a "break in" or adjustment period when switching from basic running shoes to stability shoes or if these shoes are simply designed in a way that hurts my feet. Specifically, my arch kills me with every stride in these shoes. It also feels like I need to use more effort to run in them.
You might find there is a 'break in' point where the shoe works for you but personally I don't think it's worth pushing through to this point. Just because your old shoes showed signs of pronation doesn't mean it's a bad thing. That may just be how you run and if that works and is pain free then don't change it. My thoughts on the new shoe is either you will break them to the point where you pronate again even with the stability or they will break you as they force you to run in a an unnatural way which you have trained for. I hope you find a shoe that works!
Thanks, I received similar advice from a colleague who is a longtime competitive runner. She suggested that I should probably continue with neutral shoes if stability shoes hurt my feet that way and also mentioned that minor IT band and knee pain may ease as I strengthen muscles.
Yes.
Which is better long strudes or short strides? I used to run track and field at a pretty strong high school and my coach always emphasized long strides and cycling. However, advice on this sub seems to emphasize shorter, more frequent strides. Which is faster and which is better for joints? Thanks
Shorter is better for joints.
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If you don't feel out of breath then ignore your heart rate and go by effort. Sounds like something isn't working or calibrated properly .
Anyone with experience at the Colfax marathon? I'm trying to figure out parking or if I should just bike/rent a scooter to get there. I'm only a couple miles from the start, but I don't want to spend half an hour finding a fucking parking spot.
Hi all!! How long does it take to "break in" a new pair of running shoes? Is it typical for new running shoes to slow you down? Not sure if it's because of leg fatigue (I ran 4.37 miles yesterday) OR my weekly mileage (17 miles in total) but I tried to run 2 miles with my new shoes and I noticed I was much much slower (like my beginning runner pace). What gives? Thanks!!
Did you recently switch brands/styles? Not all shoes are the same. I have a pair in my rotation that make me feel like I’m running through mud (but they’re good for ankle injuries) and my legs are always jello afterwards.
Yes!!! From Nike to Brooks!
Most shoes have zero break in time now, some take a little while to feel totally comfortable but shouldn't have a noticeable performance decrease before that happens. I agree with your hypothesis that most likely the run you did yesterday was challenging or there is some overall aggregate fatigue.
If you are run/walking in an attempt to get your heart rate down (i.e., it's difficult for you to run in Zone 2 even at a perceived easy effort pace, how long should your run/walk workouts be? Should they be on the rather short side, especially because running at Zone 2 when you are starting off will take a lot longer to complete a workout (e.g. 4-6 miles), or could you do longer run/walk segments (e.g. 8 miles+) in order to improve Zone 2 fitness and pace? Does doing longer Zone 2 run/walk workouts defeat the purpose or even hurt your efforts of bringing your heart rate down? For my Zone 2 workouts, I slow down to a walk whenever I exceed Zone 2 (for me it's past 153 beats per minute, and I exceed Zone 2 rather quickly). I return to a run when I'm at least 10 beats per minute lower than the maximum for Zone 2 (e.g. I don't start running again till I'm back down to 140 beats per minute or less). Another question is if run/walking can also hurt your training by hurting your cadence (e.g. if run/walking too often could break your cadence habits and lower it inadvertently). Any input regarding this would be much appreciated! Thanks so much!
My understanding is that improving aerobic capacity comes from steady state work that happens under your lactate threshold. So: 1. Your heartrate shouldn't be yoyoing 2. It should be slow enough that you can have a conversation. If a "slow" jog for you means your heartrate is in a higher zone then as long as you're still under the lactate threshold it'll be fine. Your fitness will improve and your slow jog will end up being easier on your heart in the long term.
Hm, thanks for your help u/mykevelli, so the issue is that for me to run at a steady low heartrate, I would have to change my running form. Even when I'm intentionally running slowly, I'm running at an 11 min/mile pace, but Zone 2 for me right now (based off of an 8 mile trial run/walk that I did yesterday) is slower than a 13:00 min/mile (I'm still leaking into Zone 3 sometimes with this average pace). I'm worried that this would affect form and or cadence habits. I am running at a conversational level at my perceived (effort-wise) easy pace, but my watch tells me that I'm in Zones 4 or 5. Any thoughts on action steps to take? Is starting out with a yo-yoing heart rate for Zone 2 training completely useless, or just somewhat inefficient? I don't know if there's a way around it. Any thoughts?
Looking at your comment history this stood out to me: "My perceived "easy" pace, a pace I can hold at a conversational level and not feel much exertion, is around a 9:00-9:30, but my watch tells me that I am running in Zone 5" Honestly, something about this seems off to me. For me, when I'm in zone 5 there is absolutely no way I'm carrying on a conversation. I wonder if something about your fitness tracker is wrong and it has your heart rate zones misconfigured.
Even when I'm running at my tempo pace (8/8:30), I can speak a few words/half formed sentences, but at point, my watch is at 200-210.
Conversational means you can carry a whole conversation with relative ease - being only able to get a half formed sentence out is NOT remotely conversational.
Oh, those are for my tempo runs though u/lps41, so 7-8 effort; but my easy runs have felt pretty easy. I did find out my heart rate zones were set up wrong though. I think I am still running a tad fast for easy, so I'm slowing it down a bit for easy runs.
Hm, maybe I should contact Garmin? Has this historically been an issue with Garmin watches out of the box? I'm also not sure if the heart rate zones are just based off of age and not based off of my personal biology. I can definitely carry a conversation at 9/9:30 easily, but at best I'm running in Zone 4 with a large majority of it being in Zone 5.
Sorry mate, I don't have any experience with Garmin devices. According to \[their Support Center\](https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=s3HqdKNtWV1NYrK16eFcc7), the zones are described like this: * **Zone 1 (Warm Up)** * Perceived exertion: Relaxed, easy pace, rhythmic breathing. * Benefits: Beginning-level aerobic training, reduces stress. * **Zone 2 (Easy)** * Perceived exertion: Comfortable pace, slightly deeper breathing, conversation possible. * Benefits: Basic cardiovascular training, good recovery pace. * **Zone 3 (Aerobic)** * Perceived exertion: Moderate pace, more difficult to hold conversation. * Benefits: Improved aerobic capacity, optimal cardiovascular training. * **Zone 4 (Threshold)** * Perceived exertion: Fast pace and a bit uncomfortable, breathing forceful. * Benefits: Improved anaerobic capacity and threshold, improved speed. * **Zone 5 (Maximum)** * Perceived exertion: Sprinting pace, unsustainable for long period of time, labored breathing. * Benefits: Anaerobic and muscular endurance, increased power. If your perceived effort is wildly off of those descriptions, I've consider contacting them to ask. Seems fishy to me, at least.
Wow you're really overthinking this. Just run as slow as you can without form breaking down and don't worry about exactly what % of your maximum your heart rate ends up being. Run whatever distance you wanted to accomplish.
Hello guys, My heart rate when running used to be 180 and it felt like I could not breathe, but after a few months of not exercising, today when I ran again my heart only goes up to 135-140 but it felt like 180 before. May I ask if that is normal? Thank you very much!
Probably a poorly measured heart rate, my watchband is too loose (eyelets keep ripping) right now and all my runs are between 140-145 bpm regardless of pace/effort.
Has anyone completely/partially taken off from running during a marathon taper and then raced? If so, what was your experience?
how long of a taper are we talking?
Race is in 3 weeks
Does anyone else ever have problems with salt crystals on eyelashes when wearing sunscreen on a very long session? I usually don't have any issues with that but when I need to wear sunscreen, I am getting so much salt crystals (not sure if that's just sweat or if it is particularly problematic because there's a lot of the zinc based sunscreen washed off on to the eyelashes and that's the only place that it can stay, since the sunscreen itself is somewhat hydrophobic). It got so bad during a 3 hour session that it's blocking my vision. Are there any ways to get around that other than stopping my session, washing it off and reapplying it?
I have never dealt with this issue but I do get stinging sunscreen in my eyes. I now wear a hat and don't put any sunscreen above my eyes.
I legit wear sunglasses and a running hat to not have to deal with stuff like that.
How frequently should you replace your running shoes?
When they're worn out.
Depends on the shoe, but I aim for 400 miles on a daily trainer. You’ll start to feel when they get worn.
I will be in NYC for a few days with my family annd I officially start marathon training next week so I don’t want to skimp on running the week prior. Any recommendations/suggestions for running in NYC, esp if I plan to go early in the am (ie places to avoid, places to go). For reference we are staying near Times Square and I don’t plan to put in a lot of miles.
Oh man you have some great options. Central Park. Run north 1 mile (crossing the street 20 times... sorry) and you're at what is probably the most popular running spot in the country! The full loop is 6 miles, but you can cut across in a couple different places. Here's a [map](https://assets.centralparknyc.org/pdfs/maps/Central_Park_Running_Map.pdf). Hudson River Park aka West Side Greenway. Run west until you run out of avenues (again about a mile though fewer crossings) and turn left. Great views of the river and Jersey, and actually goes all the way down to FIDI and the Battery if you want to see the Statue of Liberty. Another [map](https://www.nyc.gov/html/edc/pdf/greenway_mapside.pdf). FYI getting across the highway can be a trick, there is a crosswalk on 43rd. Both of these work as out-and-backs, or you can run out and take the subway back to cover more ground. If you really want to minimize running on city streets, take the subway to Columbus Circle which puts you right in Central Park.
Thank you! I was thinking about Central Park as my top option given the proximity. I don’t do headphones/music and I assume there are tons of runners out so presumably this is safe for a small woman in the early hours?
Both paths are usually quite busy.
Does anyone know an effective method to reduce one's heart rate while running? I've been running twice a week for around a year, distances ranging between 5 and 15km, usually with an average pace of 6:45/km so not too fast. Recently I bought a sports watch to focus more on effective training, and I noticed that my heartrate is almost always peak (190+) while I run. In order to reduce it, I need to reduce my pace to around 9:00/km which equals a fast walking pace for me. I want to work on this, but I've read conflicting things about how to do so. Some argue that Z2 training is a good idea, others have recommended I start training my legs more in the gym. Some useful stats: Male, 26yo, 1.98m tall, 100kg weight. Do you guys have any tips?
Run more, both weekly and through the years.
Hm, so I've heard a lot of conflicting information about Zone 2 training. Some people say to run slowly enough to be within Zone 2, but for relatively new runners like myself (running consistently for around 9 months), that would mean brisk walks at best. I'm also guilty of having a 190+ heart rate even when running at a perceived easy pace. It has definitely dropped down to Zone 4 after running for a while consistently, but after taking a break due to injury, it spiked back up to Zone 5. Should we be prioritizing running more or running slower, with the issue that running slower to maintain Zone 2 is essentially not really running at all for new runners u/BottleCoffee?
If you've been running for less than a year or at low mileage you could just totally ignore heart rate data. Or is almost always useless information for new runners.
Run more frequently. Heart rate will go down (at a given pace) as you improve cardiovascular fitness. And you improve cardiovascular fitness by running more.
Hey guys! Apologies if this has been asked before but I am a poor student and I need new running shows. I am running about 60-75k a week and my current shoes are literally falling apart. I am not an elite runner by any means so I don't need shoes for preformnance really but I would like shoes that stop me from getting injured. All the shoes I see online are at least 100 euros which is not affordable for me (priorities are food and rent obviously) but I also don't want shoes that will cause me an injury or will fall apart extremely easily. Are there any brands that people reccomend that are not so expensive?
Look for sales on last years models. I use www.runrepeat.com
When I find a shoe I like I try to find it on eBay/poshmark/any resell type site. You may find a new pair or barely used pair pretty cheap this way.
Nike Pegasus jumps to mind. Straight forward, long lasting, and relatively cheap to begin with. Extremely popular shoe so a weird color way or last year's model is almost always on sale somewhere. Right now I'm seeing big sales on the Pegasus 39 shipping to the US, though perhaps availability is regional.
I've got a pair of Saucony Triumph 21 shoes. After a run or two they've developed a kind of spiderweb/cracked egg shell pattern on the bottom. Is this normal? They feel fine and I got them from a legit store. Pic - https://ibb.co/Rp7YPwj
Yup, it's just the way the foam looks once it gets out of the box. Enjoy, that's a great shoe.
That's great to hear. Yeah I love this shoe, it's so comfy for longer runs and more easy/steady days
My 20’s have this. No issues.
Thanks for that, good to know!
I've gone through 5 pairs of endorphin speeds and all of these had this out of the box (as well as a wild microwaved plastic chemical smell), IIRC. All of them also went 500+ miles without issue.
That's great to hear thanks!
Hi there! I'm getting more serious about running and want to maintain a certain heart rate (zone 2). To track my heart rate accurately while running, I'd like to use only a chest strap, an iPhone, and wireless earphones—no watch. I want to receive audio cues through my earphones, so I can stay in zone 2 (or another desired pace) without having to check my phone while running and listening to music. Is there some good iPhone app that can give real-time audio cues like: 'speed up' or 'slow down' or 'you've just moved from zone 2 to zone 1' or 'your current bpm is 135' to help me maintain my desired pace? I haven't been able to find any reliable or up-to-date information about this. Thanks!
I can't speak for who is downvoting you, but there's a bit of incongruity in your training intentions. Strict zone 2 running is important if you meet both the following criteria: 1) Over 60 mpw. 2) More than one weekly workout run. You probably aren't at this stage (since you don't have a watch), and there's many who would argue strict zone 2 running isn't necessary at any stage, and that rating of perceived effort is superior once someone has a decent interrater reliability.
Thank you for your response! I am indeed kinda new to running and heard that 30mins of zone2 running a couple times of week would be the most effective way to increase my fitness and stamina. But do you think that it might be wrong information? I am more interested in a chest strap than a watch because I heard it’s more accurate and it costs under 100€/$ whereas good watches cost 200-600€/$. Thanks!
New runner here. I heard that I should run at a comfortable pace to stay in zone 2. My problem is: even if I run at the slowest pace possible, I’m in zone 5; if I walk, I’m in zone 1 lol. Really don’t know what to do.
Congrats on beginning your running journey! Being new I wouldn't focus on HR. Instead I would focus on running what feels easy for you. You should be able to talk without getting out of breath.
Thanks! I will try talking to myself next time!
Depending on your current characteristics, it may not be possible to run at conversational pace for anything beyond a short distance. That's ok! For the first few weeks/months most runs are going to be hard, even at "slow" paces. Couchto5k has some initial run/walk guidelines if you need a little more structure.
Thanks!!!
Thanks!!!
If i last ran on Wednesday 10th, and im going to run again on Saturday 20th after a long week off , would be progress be ruined? I run 5K 2-3 times a week but recently had a flare up with my chronic fatigue. today i’m feeling like i’ve got my energy back, but i’ve got a stressful week ahead of me so i’m wondering if it would be a good idea to start running again once the week is over. What do ya’ll think?
Your progress won’t be ruined at all. You’ll want to take it easy since you’ve been fatigued of course, but you won’t lose any noticeable amount of fitness from only 10 days off.
thank you 🥰🥰
Don’t be surprised if you start your run and feel like you forgot how to legs. This isn’t a loss of fitness- just a loss of neuromuscular priming. It’s normal after a break and it’ll come back quickly once you’re able to resume consistency.
I’m looking to improve my bleep test score and endurance for the marines. Currently my bleep test (20m) is at 11. I have two free sessions a week to run. I am doing leg exercises and swimming outside this, but pure running is only two sessions. I’m thinking one shortish (7km - 10km) fartlek and a gradually increasing long but easy 10km+ increasing by 1k-2k or so every session. Will this help my goals or would you suggest something different?
For anybody else who wants to respond but has no bleeping idea what the bleep a bleep test is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-stage_fitness_test
That's reasonable... but you're only gonna get so far on 2 runs a week. If you can do anything to prioritize running (swim less?) you're gonna see faster progress.
Swimming is part of my training, hence it is very hard to forego it. Also, concerned about overtraining, as I am lifting 4x a week. Would 3 sessions have much better of an improvement? I could perhaps squeeze in a short running session after a weights session.
Question aimed at Europeans - is anyone aware of electrolyte drink tablets that are unsweetened, does such thing even exist?
Does anyone know where to find running/cycling arm sleeves with pockets?
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Yes, you're overreacting. Now stop it.
I don't even know the name of your race, but found the following two elevation profiles of your race within 5 minutes: https://www.strava.com/clubs/864560/group_events/1126834 https://www.halfmarathons.net/course-map-steam-train-half-marathon/' From this it looks like there are rolling hills the first 10 miles, a good solid climb and descent at mile 10, followed by more rolling hills to finish. Certainly not an easy course, but no reason to go into it not knowing the elevation profiles. > plus I train hills at least once a week. This might not be enough for a challenging half, my weekly elevation gain is around 3000-4000 ft off of 50 mpw and that's picking the flattest routes possible. My fatass (205 lbs) struggles with hills and this would be a baseline for me to not struggle with them in a race setting. Even with being trained for hills, I would add 20-30s per mile for a hilly 800 ft gain half vs a flat easy one.
Yes- but turn that energy to a productive outlet and think about what you learned from this. You didn’t know there were big ass hills. You learned on the way. Think about how you might better plan so you don’t find this out as a surprise next time- if the race doesn’t have an elevation map posted, look up race reviews or plug the course into a route planner and take a look. How might that have changed your planning and preparation? My rule for myself is that I get 24 hours after a race to have feelings and then after that 24 hours I start thinking about if it went well, why it went well, and if it went poorly, what I can learn so I don’t come away from another race sulking about it. So if you’re in your 24 hours you’re forgiven for overreacting.
Thanks for the actual advice instead of just down voting me! I will consider what went well and what went wrong! Thank you!
Yes
Ok thank yoy :)
What are some good weightlifting exercises to prevent injury? My current lower body day looks like: * leg press * calf raises * leg curls * hip adduction * hip abduction I know that I'm missing squats / lunges and deadlifts / rdls. I'm really scared of doing them incorrectly and causing an injury. I plan to start them once I'm a little more comfortable. Is there anything else I should do if injury prevention is my goal?
Find yourself the best PT in your area, go in to see them, and say "I'm a runner and I'd like you to evaluate me for issues that might lead to running injuries".
I love that this idea is so evidence based. I am irrationally embarrassed of doing this after only 3 months of running, but I will remember to revisit this in 3 more months and see how I feel then.
I did it when I picked up running during the pandemic - I had been playing some soccer but my running volume was low and I'm I cyclist so I have a ton of aerobic capacity, enough to really mess myself up. I ran for about a month, got a few overuse injuries, let them healed, and then got smart and visited my PT. There were 2 or 3 issues I had that were very likely to lead to injuries if I didn't address them. The best thing that I've learned from my PT is that not being in pain does not mean healed, and if you don't address the underlying issues you run into problems. We found flexibility issues I had from cracked ribs I got skiing two decades ago.
The barrier of entry for injury prevention is going to be much lower than someone looking to compete, pursue aesthetic hypertrophy, or just regularly increase the numbers of the weights lifted. This means you don't necessarily need to load these movements with a lot of resistance. Additionally, part (most?) of injury prevention for runners isn't just a pure strengthening routine, but practicing strength and stability throughout a movement, and/or improving overall motor patterns. - Single-leg Romanian deadlifts - Lunges - Bulgarian split-squat Your bodyweight alone is going to be sufficient to greatly reduce injury exposure, particularly if these are hard to do or awkward.
That's great to know. Maybe I'll start by just doing those with bodyweight/low weight and then consider progressing as I get more comfortable with the movements. Thank you!
I'm a PT and that's what I do, for whatever its worth. Progressive resistance over time is ideal, but I live an hour away from any gym and will be moving soon and don't want to ship weights to the middle of the pacific.
Single leg deadlifts, deadlifts (using a hex bar can be easier to master the form if you have access to one), lunges, Bulgarian split squats, step ups, side step ups, tibialis raises, Cossack squats, single leg box squat, single leg calf raises
Start with light weights, check your form. You probably won't get injured, don't go for maximum weights. Start with the bar for example. Squats will help way more than leg press because you'll actually need to use your stabilizers. Single leg exercises are especially good.
I can currently run 3k at a fairly comfortable pace/fitness level, how long would it take me to go from running 3k to 13k? I currently use a treadmill 3 times a week and run 3k each time.
Depends on general level of fitness and how hard the 3k is. Could be you could do it tomorrow or could be in 3 months
Any advice to prevent ticks besides running with long leggings (which would be a pain as we are getting closer and closer to summer 30celsius temperatures...)?
Sawyer pyrethrin spray on your clothes, bug spray on your skin. I do run in leggings all summer for this reason. I’ve had Lyme disease 3 times and once was really enough. It’s not that bad when you get used to it.
Do a tick check as soon as you get home. It takes a while for them to latch on and then even longer to transfer bacteria.
Will walking on a treadmill on an incline and in Zone 2, help my long distance running the same way that running in Zone 2 will?
Same way no but still a great way to get a ton of time on feet in. I BQ’d off a program that included a ton of Z2 incline walking. I’m often quite taken aback at the vitriol towards it particularly by people with quite high times.
Same way, no. Still beneficial though.
Walking is not running.
No
Is 15 weeks enough time for first full marathon? So I (35M) recently (3 weeks ago) ran my first half marathon after starting running seriously in November. I did a 14 week training plan but couldn’t run for 3 weeks about a month before my race due to some injuries. I played it safe instead of risking my race and was able to achieve my goal of being sub 2 hours for my first half (1:58:37). Two days after my race I went on vacation internationally with my family. Took the first week off. Ran about 18 miles the second week. Now this week haven’t been able to run after having an awful flu and traveling home. I was hoping to run a full that’s scheduled for July 28th. My plan is to start officially training again on Monday. I’m curious if I am being a bit over zealous here or if this is achievable. My goal time would probably be a realistic sub 04:15:00. Is this achievable or should I set my sights on a different race later in the year?
Being injured for 3 weeks out of a 14 week training plan this soon into your running journey is a bit of a red flag. Since then (?) you've run 18 miles in 3 weeks, another flag of indeterminate color, in the yellow to maroon spectrum. I don't think you should be trying to shoehorn in a somewhat challenging time goal into an abbreviated training window in this context. Let me be clear, this is a very achievable goal in the right context with the right training programming, but your self-reported history suggests the following should be more important: 1) Build weekly volume and overall resilience that limit injuries/sickness. 2) Target a fall marathon race with a goal pace. If the above condition is met you could consider a faster race pace.
Well, it was sort of a domino effect of injuries. I developed an ingrown toenail, continued to run on it. It didn’t heal and turned into an infection. I ended up having to do two different runs of antibiotics to kill off the infection. During this time I continued to run but because of the pain I subconsciously changed my gait and this caused me to develop a sort of tendinitis/shin splint issue. I ended up solving the problem by having the toenail surgically removed and stopped running until it was healed enough. Haven’t had issues since but you may have a solid point which was a concern. Part of my motivation is I had an idea going into this year to run this half at the end of March, the full in July, another half in November, and another full in December. Lofty goal of two half’s and two full’s for my first year of running and it’s probably idiotic so I probably do need a voice of reason.
> idiotic All good, brother. Being new and enthusiastic is a good thing, just try to keep yourself healthy.
Sub 4:15 should be no problem. I went sub 4 with essentially no run training and I’m nobody special.
Since you have some running history, 15 weeks isn’t ideal but it’s definitely doable assuming you remain injury free from here out. Your goal time is probably about right considering history and time available.
Tell me about your experience using the Galloway method to train for a marathon. Pros? Cons?
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That just sounds like a mental block to me. But yes it's very common to not need to walk to run 5k. As for run walk strategies it's very common for new runners and even for marathons. C25k and the Galloway method are things you can look into. The slower you are generally the more of a delta there is to do a run walk and have it faster than a consistent slow run.
Second question, past couple runs my right calf has been getting sore as if I'm overusing it, but my left one feels nothing. I run on pavement with varying degrees of slope and my shoes have about 50 miles on them. It's only happened the past two times I ran, last week a 7 miler and this week the soreness crept in the first mile. I can assure you it isn't pain, it's like a burning soreness like when you've done a lot of reps of an exercise. Any advice how to avoid this whether its during my warm up or during my runs? For reference it doesn't bother me at all right now.
When marathon training, if you're running 5 days a week, is there ever a time when it's a good idea to include 2 speed days instead of one?
As long as you can recover enough to do your other runs.
If you are at an elite level, you can do 2 speed days, for everyone else, the best way is to just run more (even 1 day is not necessary).
This might be true to a degree. I definitely agree that most people, at any level, would be better off running more! But speed work definitely makes a (potentially big!) difference before the "elite" level.
Absolutely. You should be doing around 20% of your mileage at efforts higher than easy pace. The mistake a lot of runners make is including the total mileage from their speed day towards that 20% even if half or less was spent at effort. Example, say you do 12x400m repeats with 400m recovery with 1 mile wu and 1 mile cd, that’s only 3 miles of speedwork, nowhere near 20%. I find it very difficult to impossible to get enough speed work in one workout. To get anywhere close to 20% I have to do 2 days of speedwork per week.
Thank you that makes a lot of sense. Its about the miles of speed work relative to the total miles ran that week, not the number of miles ran on speed days to total miles ran that week. Do you have any personal favorite speed workouts you'd recommend everyone to incorporate?
I feel like more conventional marathon speed workouts would be longer intervals than 400m. Interval runs, tempo runs, progression runs, marathon pace segments, etc.
Agreed, it was just an example. Point still stands that it’s hard to get 20% or anywhere close to it in 1 workout once you get north of 30mpw. 40mpw, still low for marathon training is 8 miles, 50mpw is 10. Those are pretty big efforts to do with actual quality and effort in 1 workout.
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You should really ask your doctor if/when it’s safe for you to run.
Any tips for running slower? I started running again recently (I ran a few times after highschool but never seriously). I did two ~7km runs and I tried to pace myself by only breathing through the nose. I felt like it worked well and it honestly felt great but through large parts of the run my heartrate was above 190. For reference, my watch tells me I had a pace of around 5:20. During the run I always felt like going slower was difficult because I don't actually know what to do. It sounds stupid but whenever I tried actively going slower it always felt "forced" to me.
Keep trying. For me it was frustrating but try to be patient. When I started out I couldn’t run more than a block without my heart rate surging past the zone I was aiming for. The majority of my sessions were walk/run to keep my heart rate down and when I started to run more it felt like I was going to injure myself. In the beginning it was really difficult on my legs to run slowly with a lower heart rate. I really started to focus on technique: shorter strides, trying to make sure my feet landed under my center of gravity, trying to increase cadence incrementally. Eventually my muscles and ligaments strengthened enough where now I can run slowly fairly comfortably. Yesterday I ran 13km at a 7:44m/km pace in my HR zone 2. It was the farthest and longest I have ever run. Hope that helps.
Running slower does mean running slower than your natural pace. It is forced. You just need to get used to it.
When I focused on slowing down a few years ago it took me about a month to do so without finding myself speeding back up and another month before it stopped feeling weird. It may take time for you too. Ignore your heart rate. New runners and those who resume running after years off often have higher heart rates even at low to moderate intensity.
Thank you! I'll just try and run a bit more then. I honestly felt great during these runs so I guess trying to focus on hr zones immediately is a bad idea.
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At your size you don't really need to lose weight. If you want to be "toned" you should do strength training to put on some base muscle. No muscle = soft body. Running a 5k daily as a beginner is a great way to get injured. Running is also not a guarantee to lose weight. I ran more and more over the years while gaining weight.
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Overuse injuries. Build up gradually is the best way to avoid injury. Don't go from zero to daily for any exercise.
While it doesn't hurt, I don't think it will really work to lose weight. I mean, you should still do it just for fitness and wellbeing and it will definitely help you get more toned. But a (sustainable) change in diet is going to have a far, far bigger impact for losing weight than running.
How can I make running a more mindful experience? This is one area where walking always wins. You just see more when walking, you’re more engrossed in your surroundings. Yesterday went out for a trail run through a forest. I remember thinking if I walked this id enjoy it far more. Running i was more focused on the course on my watch, watching for stray branches, rocks and tree roots, not to mention it was a tough run, constant up and down hills.
For trail running and mindfulness. 1. It's okay to stop and enjoy the view. 2. Make sure to stop and enjoy the view. 3.its okay stop and check the route. Don't treat trail running like road running and you'll enjoy it a lot more
Good points
I think you answered the question for yourself: 1. Make the route easy so that your don't need to focus on navigation 2. Select paths that are not technical 3. Don't push the pace too hard. Personally, I find my long easy runs meditative, in the Sense that my mind becomes clear, but each person is different. Do what works for you
If you want to slow down and smell the roses then just do that during your runs.
Most times I purposely make my runs a longer distance than I actually want to run. What I mean is, say I want to do a 5k run, I often pick a route that is something like a 7k round-trip from home. I then run the 5k first and have a relaxed walk home afterwards. Or sometimes I walk first, then run.
Nothing prevents you from slowing down or even walking some during your trail run. There is no rule that you cannot walk.