What do you think about a TENS machine? I bought one at the Expo.

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation is a real mixed bag. It seems to be highly variable from patient to patient.

Be aware that cell death occurs at the application point so moderate your use long term.

I had a unit while in hospital and it did nothing for me both in terms of pain relief or muscular stimulation. However, I had an enormous amount of nerve damage and it was done as a "lets try everything" kind of deal.

Thanks for the info HC!

Hi All! I hope your day of rememberence is going well...we had a large 5k race commemorating the fallen and it was a very intense and patriotic gathering.
I ran my fastest 5k yet, but it was overshadowed by today's significant date patriotic outpouring- the race was small beans in comparison....

There was over 3,000 participants, well over the projected amount,and I managed to come in at 45th overall with a time of 21:48, but it's still kinda hard to revel over my accomplishment on such a profound day...

Here's a couple of pics:
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...memberance.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...sethatdied.jpg

God bless the fallen

Congrats, I can only imagine the emotion of running that race!

Amazing race, gathering with people is a way to honor, whether you run, pray, sit in silence, we all honor in different ways - great time!

Nice way to remember the fallen.

Can't think of many races with a better cause behind it.

And nifty PR.

HC, you called it,

So SW, when are you going to step up to the big boy races??? :D
Anyone can hold thier breath sprint for 3 miles. Let's see what a 10K does for ya. ;)

LOL....I fell for that in May when I ran my first 10k- that's the race I injured my Achilles and couldn't run for 6 weeks :mad:

But seriously, I've been increasing my weekly mileage and have been thinking about entering a 10k in November, so we'll see. Till then, I've pre-paid for 2 more 5k's :p

Did someone mention this was addictive?
 

Hi Abby,
You have now discovered the racers' dirty little secret. Although we try very hard to keep it a secret so that others just think we are dedicated to fitness, the ugly truth is that we simply can't stop :p.

Great job on your race. It sounds like you planned it out, and carried it out perfectly. As you are now experiencing, after a great race you start thinking: hmmm, maybe I could go a little faster, maybe if I had hit that hill a little harder... next time I will go out a little faster (or slower), next time I won't get trapped behind that slow-poke, next time I'll move up in the starting pack, next time... next time...

Wed: "easy run"
 

SW, I thought about you this morning as I was finishing up my 6-miler. The last half mile is a perfectly angled downhill (not to steep). As I hit the top of the hill I decided to just push it out and run as hard (without a total sprint) as I could. I hit 7:20 min mile and I thought to myself: Wow SW does this for 3 whole miles, how awesome must that feel :p.

Nice.....I forced myself to sprint the last 3/4 mile of a 5.5 mile run yesterday, felt absolutely amazing.

Who's registered?
 

I know several of you have completed your races, but there were a couple more "planning" for a race. So have you picked a race and registered yet? If not... why not. :rolleyes:

Fall is usually racing season, so what's your plan?

Me? The Mission Inn 10K Nov. 13.

I do two runs during the week usually 6 milers and then I do a long run on Sunday. This weekend it will be 16 miles. I'm working my way up to a marathon. I've already done 18 once. Anyway, for my 6 milers I can usually do them at an average of 8:30 to 9 min miles. But for my long runs they hover at an average of 9:30 to 10 min miles. I wish I could do 7 min miles. I could qualify for Boston. I don't have any races planned until the Flying Pig Marathon next may. I hope to increase my speed by then.

yauncin, some thoughts: While wanting to qualify for Boston is a terrific goal-too much too soon.
As you're wanting to race a marathon as opposed to just finishing, you will need more mileage. Add one day of running and two days of cross training. Take one day a week off for better recovery. You're on the right track with the long run, add a semi-long run (9-10 miles, work up to it) midweek and include 20-25 minutes at tempo pace during one of your six milers.

I reccomend you do some racing before your first marathon. 10-15Ks will give you some speed and efficiency and a 20K/half marathon or two will give you experience at maintaining a fairly high effort for a long period of time.

Sample week
Sun-long run (16-20)
Monday-off
Tuesday-cross train 1/2-3/4 hour
Wednesday-semi long (9-10)
Thurs-6 mile including tempo
Fri-cross train 1/2 -3/4 hour
Sat-6 miles (easy pace)
total=37-42 miles plus cross training
Do not try to jump up to this right away, build up to it over the next 2-3 months.

Great advice HC, I too will take them to heart... thanks :).

So I took off 7 days without exercise. All I can say is, my body was dead tired because I've been pushing it a bit too much and I really needed a rest. I was waiting until my body told me to go back to biking/running again. It happened on day 5. But then it rained for 2 days and was way too cold for my southern blood (low 60's).

So today I get out there and man, the legs felt real heavy and my breathing was labored. I think I performed better when I was exercising with tired, sore muscles. So I'm wondering what the heck? I'm guessing tomorrow will be better, but I'm kinda shocked that I felt that bad today. Nothing else changed; diet same, calorie intake, sleep, etc.

I really wish I could have started in 2 days ago; I think 7 days really screwed me up. :mad:

HC?

Vito, it's possible you're not really ready or you took it too easy. Did you do any light activity at all?

When you overtrain, it's possible to recover while still doing a small amount of exercise, say jogging a mile or so instead of running four. Swimming or cycling , being non-weight bearing, also aids in recovering.

"Did you do any light activity at all?"


Nada. So I guess the reason is "I took it too easy". Oh well, hopefully I didn't slip too much. At least I don't feel sore or tired tonight. I just couldn't perform today on the bike. I'll make sure to take in a nutritious breakfast tomorrow before I go tackle my workout in the morning. Thanks.

Well, it looks like I made out pretty good with my slothful rest after all. Yesterday and today I've put some serious crankin to the mountain bike and the legs have been strong and the breathing good. The best part is that I feel great afterward with no soreness. I'm feeling really fresh. :)

It looks like just getting past that first day was the thing...

Calf injury
 

BAh...went for a run yesterday and at my first turn around point I pulled something in my right calf. So I stopped, stretched a lil and tried again- nope, no go. Only ran about 3/4 mile before that happened.
Went home & iced it, feels better today, but still sore and I got a race on Sunday:mad:

I believe I injured the inner part of my soleus, just below the gastrocnemius. Got any advice HC?

Yes, ice and gentle stretching.

Forget the race. Calf strains can be the very devil to get rid of.
Cross train until pain free, then ease back.

Any idea what caused it?

I iced it as soon as I got home and every couple of hours that night. I also iced it the following day after I got home from work.
Did some light stretching this morning and it feels way better, I also took some ibuprofen the first two days.

I do know what caused it, first off, I didn't stretch too well before starting my run Tues. afternoon. I started off slow for about 3/4 mile, and once I got to my turn around point, that's when it happened. I think I pushed off too hard when I turned around- more like a forceful twisting motion.

It didn't hurt real bad a first, but after about 1/4 mile it did. I stopped, tried to stretch it and walked for a bit, stretched again and proceeded into a slow jog. At that point, I thought to myself "I'm done", the pain was getting worse, so I walked back to my car, stretched a lil more then went home. I took some ibuprofen, cracked open an ice cold beer and iced my calf.

I did run the previous weekend- ran 5.7 miles on Sat, and 7 miles Sunday and was pain free both days, so I don't know if that contributed to it or not.

You pulled it. No racing for you.

Ice, NSAIDs and massage with a stick. Hard and deep. The Stick or you can use a dowel or small rolling pin.

If cycling is pain free, do it. Otherwise swimming or Deep Water Running will do the job.

Crap, that sucks....I've already paid the entrant fee, perhaps just walking the course on race day?

No.
One of the reasons that calf injuries are so difficult to resolve is because it's near impossible to not use your calves.

Bummer, I guess I'll sit this one out, I've got another race the following weekend and hopefully I'll be healed up for that.

That's what I get for saving a few bucks and paying for a race too far in advance:mad:

That's part of racing. I never missed a race due to injury but missed a few due to colds.

HC, I've been jogging easy, got a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline's. I still have very slight soreness in one tiny area on both achilles, but they are healing nicely. Been getting better every week.

I read that it could take months for them to totally heal up, and running is OK so long as I don't overdo it. I think I'm down to the "stage 1" phase with the injury.

bummer again SW
 

So sorry!

Get well soon.
I have an old friend who refuses to register for races anytime but the day of the race. For me that would give me an easy out (oh well, I've got nothing to lose if I don't run it) but somehow for him it was incentive... go figure :confused:

I did a 10K race thins morning. Wow, what a roller coaster emotional had run through my body. I signed up for this race 8 weeks ago. 4 weeks into training, I got plantar fasciitis. I have run or do any kind of cardio in the last 4 weeks. But because I signed up with a friend and I had told people that I would do this. So I have to.
I actually was scared but I kept telling myself in the worst case, I would walk. Just finish it.
And I did. I finished 10k in 1:10. I was surprised. I did it!!!! yay!!!!
Mai

OUTSTANDING Mai
 

Very well done 1:10 is a very respectable time, especially given the injury.

You know, everyone is scared during their first race - it is part of the package - but at least you had a good reason to be scared :p.
How did your friend do? So what do you think??? Gonna do it again?

I finally got around to registering for the Mission Inn race on Nov 13.

The race is a 10K, but my training plan has me doing a 10 miler about a month before. Today turned out to be the day (for a variety of reasons) and the 10 miles went really well. The course we ran today was pretty flat, and I have started running with a new partner (who is also my yoga instructor of several years) who loves to run and is probably a much stronger runner, but (lucky for me) coming back from some chronic injuries. Because of him I am pretty sure the pace was a little harder (9:40ish) but we took a couple of walk breaks to look at ducks, a newly remodled house, and a few other things along the way. It was a great run, but I have say that I didn't accomplish much else today :cool:.

Keep on keep'n on everyone :).

Thanks Pam, I have to say I like it. The spirit of the race is nothing I have experienced. I will do it again, maybe sometimes in Dec. I need more time to rest my heel.

My friend, she did well. I told her my tale so we did not run side by side. But she came out and run with me the last 200 yards. And I really need that to cross the finish line.

I think if I like to do races, I should train to run faster. Right? I am afraid that I can't go faster, or get injured. Injured suck. I don't want any of it.

Your training looks good. Do you try to set a PR or something?
mai

Hi Mai,
I am glad you enjoyed the experience, it is a bit addicting.

Consistency is really the key to training. Not running as hard as you can every time. HC will confirm this I suspect...especially for us older runners.

Once you are feeling better, add about 10% more distance or 10% more "degrees of difficulty" to your runs, no more. And if you don't feel up to adding more from time to time, that's OK. For me the point is to just enjoy my runs, not beat myself up. If I recall, for you just getting a nice consistent 6 mile run would be a great goal. Once you have the distance, then you can start adding the fancy training training stuff to get faster.

And yes, I am trying for a PR. ~9 min miles would be personal record for me.

Hey All,

I've decided to run a half marathon on May 5th (7 months from now)

I use to run, I did the couch to 5k podcast a little over a year ago and that helped get me familiar to running. This past year I re-prioritized my fitness goals and worked on strength training rather than cardio.

I'm starting my training program today. I've combined a lot of advice and training schedules for 5k, 10k, and half-marathons.

As the weather gets colder and leaves/snow starts to fall I'll be doing most the running on a treadmill, eventually hitting the pavement around February.

My Goals:

2 Months from today I want to be able to run 3 (10minute or better) Miles without stopping

3 Months from today I want to be able to run 6 miles without stopping

5 Months from today I want to be able to run 12 miles without stopping

7 Months from today I want to finish a Half-Marathon

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks,
Anton

Great work Mai, thats an impressive run, and yes, doesn't the race spirit feel great!

UrbanMule, we'll be rooting for you - a half marathon is impressive to even contemplate!

Abby

lastri, that's a very good time for the short time training and the injury. However, I would highly recommend you do no racing for at least 4-6 months while you rehab the heel and build your mileage to a level that will let you handle the stress without breaking down(which an injury is a sign of).
Restart with the Couch to 5K program. It will feel like a step backward but it provides the gradual buildup new runners need.
Don't worry about "running fast" or special training, your speed will improve as you fitness develops.
Before attemptimg high stress training, you really need to build a solid base to work from.

Urbanmule, same goes for you. Seven months to run a half marathon is doable but also the route to burnout, breakdown and injury. Even more so as you won't be running on pavement until just three months before.
Look at it this way: If you pour a concrete slab foundation, do you start building on it right away or do you wait for it to set completely?

Start the Couch to 5K again, run some 5Ks and build to a 10K by May. Look at doing your half in May 2013.

I'm going to keep running outside until the snow falls or it gets too cold, one of the gyms I can go to has a indoor track, would it be okay to use that as opposed to the treadmill?

I'm really motivated to accomplish this goal and know I can