TT Running Club

“I went out with the intention to run a slow 7-8 miler today. About 6/10th into it I caught up with a running buddy (who is a friggin gazzelle and 11 years my senior) and decided to hang with him for a while. We ran about 1.5 together and our routes parted. I was about one min ahead of my normal pace so decided to see what I could do a 5miler in. I ended up missing my PR by 8 seconds, this was my fastest 5 since saint pattys wknd of 1999!”

“atta boy!”

“Sweet!

I have not run since my illness... 9 days and counting. I hope to get out for my weekend 13.1 miles this Saturday. It will make me feel normal. This bug really sucked.”

“thanks MikeP.

yogi, go easy on your run. I can realte to the frustration of being too ill to run, sucks for sure.”

“I was off for several weeks this winter. Tweaked my knee trying to learn how to ski when i wiped out into a snow fence and the ski popped off funny. Even though I still did cardio, eliptical, swimming laps, etc, i still lost a TON of running fitness, just now starting to get back to something I consider reasonable.”

“Friday: Nada... coughing from my bought with pneumonia
Saturday: Hiked in the Shenandoah National Park all day. Got caught in a thunderstorm. Really wiped out. Crashed on the plane ride home.
Sunday: Get up in the morning. Crank out 10.5 miles but I am stiff and coughing. Go climbing for 2 hours... but I am tired and S-U-C-K
Monday: Run 4 miles. Slow but no breathing problems. Legs are stiff from the hiking.
Tuesday: Crank out 6.2 miles. I exit the house and my legs feel like rubber bands... really solid running. No breathing problems. I got a little tired the last mile and a half so flipped on a few songs by "The Cult" and cranked it out.

I am feeling GOOD. I think this sickness stuff is BEHIND ME!

I hope and pray that NONE of you ever come down with this. I was almost totally shut down for two weeks... terrible!

Wednesday plan: Crank out 10 early am and then go climbing around 6pm for 3 hours. Can't wait!
last edited: 6/03/08 6:45:24 PM”

“Dam yogi talk about hitting the ground runnin'! I have heard you gripe about being old and crunchy, well if this is what I have to look forward to then bring it on (minus the pnuemonia).”

“Started back up this morning after more that a year off and I surprised myself a bit. I did not expect to be able to run as far as I did. I estimate I ran about 5 miles, however I do not know the time I started and finished but I was not worried about that today. I just wanted to see how far I could make it.

Back in the saddle again.”

“sweet! take it slow and steady... go easy on those knees. i am mr "ramp up too fast" and i'll tell you it's the road to bad things.

i went out for a temp run today but it was like 88 and 100% humidity or something stupid like that. i cranked through a bottle of hydralite and was dying when i cranked into the driveway some 5 miles later. i was really overheated... terrible. i drank some more hydralite and some ice water and cooled down soon enough but it was a hard run. it builds mental thoughness but i am certain i didn't get near the training effect i would have had i gone out in the morning when it was cooler. still it is better than not running...

hey birch... you are quiet about that hydralite is sent you. sounds like you didn't care for it. well, it's good to experiment. the carb boom is awesome. i still have a hard time getting it down but it doesn't trigger the gag reflex... i mean i would not choose to eat one as a snack or something, but it's way better than the powerbar gels or the cliff gels i was playing with.”

“yogi, sorry if I left the impression that i didnt like it. I thought it was quite good. I drank both packets after running (I rarely drink while I run these days) and was very pleased with how I felt. I will probably bring a few packets with me for the RRG marathon hike. I wish I had one today. I did a 5 mile run with my neighbor at 730 and it was hella hot and humid. I did find that a glass of water and numerous heinekin after a hot run feels great. Thanks again BTW for the hyrdalite.

I agree about the mental toughness. My goal is to run the whole summer outside and no treadmill. Tomorrow is another 5miler, I plan on running about noon, when it;llbe good and hot. I will hate it I am sure. Ihave a PT test sunday, thankfully it early so the heat wont be so bad.”

“i am constantly amazed by that stuff. i drink straight water and i am pissing like a race horse but i drink the hydralite and it's like water into a sponge. it's quite remarkable.

looking forward to seeing you guys in the red in a few weeks!”

“saturday i ran 15 miles... a little more than my 13 miles. i was feeling pretty good but it was a hot run. i felt strong the rest of the day and didn't conk out. great success!

so i drive to wisconsin to see if my cottage is underwater... it's fine so i mow the grass, have a little dinner, watch the sunset, and spend the evening watching movies until i conk out on the couch.

i get up the next day (sunday) feeling great. i fiddle around the house then get in the truck and drive back to chicagoland, arriving around 1pm. i am really up for a good run... no problems from the 15 the day before.

so i figure what the hell... i load up on fluid and decide to push it and see if i can crank out another 15. it was easy before... i feel strong... go for it.

...well needless to say i made the 15 miles but the last two miles were, shall say... less than fun. i was really tired and my legs were totally shot. i went out to fathers day dinner at ted's montana grill (awesome!) and when i got home crashed!

today i am actually feeling pretty good... but i can tell it was too much.

that's a pr for me of sorts... longest back-to-back days and i am sure that first 15 mile run was a pr for time (did not run my watch, however). i am taking today off and perhaps do some light jogging tomorrow evening when i get home... but nothing tough... taper for the marathon hike this weekend.

the good news is that my knees feel great even after this abuse. i seem to have put the knee pain thing way, way behind me.

if i -were- to run the rest of the week i am betting i could have a pr for miles per week easy.”

“i think my knees would boycot my body if I put them thru ONE 15 mile day. !!”

“thats HUGE yogisan. Good for you.

I am sitting here trying to muster the motivation to do 5....
last edited: 6/16/08 2:31:26 PM”

“I am back in, however not up to Jim pace yet. I pulled a 6 miler this morning.

Would like to get back to the 10 a day if I can.”

“A 6 is a good solid distance, esp in this heat and humidity wk.”

“My back-to-back 15 mile runs a few weekends ago left me feeling confident so I figured today I would go for a 20...30 pct bump from my longest run of 15. Yeah, I know... Unwise but I figured #&%!$ it. Of course I left at 11 so I could enjoy the full heat of the cloudless day. Well, I made it but I would call those last 2 miles "speed stumbling" (a fast jog... 12 min miles or something like that). It took A LOT of concentration to not stop. I drank 3 liters of Vitalite plus stopped to refill so I prolly went through a gallon+ of fluid. I put down some recovery drink when I got home (chocolate milk... Thanks birch) and am wolfing down a huge bowl of cottage cheese. A few cramps and a fair amount of pain... Clearly too far but with a little more training I could see this as a distance I could work with. The hot day (78-80 w no shade) prolly made it worse than it really was.
last edited: 7/05/08 4:01:45 PM”

“good for you yogi! Its fun to mix things up and challenge yourself. How far did you end up going? You absolutely rcok! I cant wait till I am old like you LOL.

I did 10 yesterday at an 8:22 pace it was very fun. I got to the point though at mile eight that I realized stopping would hurt more than going. I was absolutley smoked last night. I too hit the heat of the sun, nice red tint to the skin today.”

“Sorry. I read my post and it was unclear. I ran 20 miles which is 30 percent more than my longest run. Crazy.
last edited: 7/05/08 9:08:33 PM”

“I broke my PR on a 5miler today!! 36:28 it was only a 2sec difference but my old PR was 9 years ago. I hadnt planned running fast today (yesterday I ran 5 miles of trails for the first time in a year and did a 4 mile road march with a heavy pack so I figured my legs would be feeling heavy.) but the weather was perfect. 80 with low humidity and a super breeze. Now its time to go back to work....”

“wholly jumpin geezsus! well now you know where you are at relative to that benchmark. it's amazing how you can do something really hard and think you will be worthless for a hard effort and then torque it out. well done sir. you have been constantly layering on speed and there is only one way those improvements come about: a boat-load of hard work. i like to say the only way to run faster... is to run faster.”

“thanks yogi, if I could just combine my speed with your endurance.”

“Another banner day for running. High 70's and the humidity is about 40% add in a nice breeze its just perfect. It must be something in the air cause I am running far faster than usual of late. I just blew my old PR for 5 mile outta the water, down to 35:14. The last 8/10's was rough.”

“atta boy Birch! I can't get any kind of routine going for some reason, i've been lucky to get 10-12 miles a week in.

Off to a good start this week though - put down three miles with good intervals on the last mile today over lunch.

It's 93 and partly cloudy with 11% humidity here, so that's probably only slightly hotter/worse than your 70 with 40% humidity.”

“Talk about burning up the route! Nice birch.”

“keep it up Mike, it'll come. That's some hot sun!!”

“yep, it was, and as I've been 'off' a routine of late, i ain't used to working out in the baking sun!

I've just been struggling to get in a routine, tried for a while to work out in the mornings, but my body just doesn't work well before 7 am.

just need to sack up and take the HEAT.

:)”

“Hey guys! Congrats on your time birch!

So, i have a question. Do those of you who do long distance running ever get burned out? I just did my first half marathon and havent been able to get myself to go out and run more than 3-4 miles at a time in about a month now. I just cant seem to get the motivation and frankly just dont feel like running. I spent so much of my time training that now I'm just feeling lazy and feel guilty about it. Is this normal, and how to I find motivation to get out there again and do some more races?”

“Ran last 2 mornings down here in Sarasota on the beach. It is hard work! Sand is rock hard, but the humidity you have to cut through. I have a hard time breathing. Got 7 miles this morning though.”

“Hey em - maybe try doing something else for a few weeks, like bikeing or swimming and just mix in a short run maybe once a week. I think it's fairly normal to hit those plateaus after coming down from a big goal/event. But also - set yourself another goal, maybe a 10k or even a 5k out a month or two - go ahead and register for it - that way you've got someting to focus on from a mental standpoint - and it gives you a sense of purpose to your workouts.”

“Thanks Roam, i mean, um, mike. ;)

I thought about signing up for a 5 or 10k, but the problem is that i feel like those races are not a huge challenge for me since I can already run those lengths fairly easily. I will never be someone who will place either, so I'm not really in it for the competitiveness of it. The next half around here is in January and I plan on doing that, but thats a long time away! But... I guess it would be good for me to do something before then just to get me running miles again.”

“yeah, treat the races as additional training outings and race against yourself - use the adrenaline boost of race day to go for PR times.”

“embear, sorry its taken so long to reply. My computer was sick.

Mike hit it on the nose. Ramping up and training for an event (especially something like your first half marathon) requires lots of training both physical and mental, Plus all the excitement prior. The finish can be kinda anti-climatic. I havent had it with running but did with adventure racing (lost all desire in competing or even following it). Switching it up and seeing if you miss it is a good plan. You can always restart running. Good luck.”

“I did NOT hit her on the nose!

;)”

“well, one week does not a habit make, but its a good start. I made my goal this week of lunchtime runs on Mon, Wed and Fri. Didn't rack up tons of miles, but i did make the miles i'd targeted, just over 3 miles on Mon and Wed and 4 today. So, i'm happy with this. Next week, I plan to do the same thing.”

“I have not seen this thread pop up in a while. Can you ppl feel the cool-running season yet? We had a day this week when it was NOT in the high 80s... Low 70s... Man did I crank out a solid 10k! Cooler still will be better but it is about this time of year when I realize how baked I have gotten running in the summer.

...My own fault. If I was not so darn lazy and got out of bed to run in the early morn I would miss the grief. Still, it builds mental toughness but I can't say it provides a lot of training effect.”

“isn't anyone running?

i replaced my ipod shuffle (old model) with a new model. outstanding form factor for running. i got some sony headphones as well... really nice ones that should say put better than my current setup. i love running to music!”

“I am running 5 miles 4 times a week, but right now it is inside on a treadmill. It is just too hot to run outside.”

“I'm FINALLY done rehabbing my pulled hammy from a few weeks ago. Took forever to get it back to normal. Trying to get back up to where i was before, slowly but surely.

We're still hitting high 80's here around midday. The morning are definitely NICE but I just cannot make myself get up and go exercise - never have been a morning person.”

“75 and sunny yesterday

50 and drizzly/cloudy today.

60 and sunny would be dam near perfect, but I'll take what i get.”

“i have been running really strong this last two weeks -but- for some reason i have a lot of soreness in my legs and am not recovering as quickly. the doc just bumped up my statin 'script (doubled the dosage!) my liver stats were all clean and he wasn't expecting any problems but i wonder... guess i should give him a ring to be on the safe side?”

“maybe your just overdoing it a bit??? Slow recovery is usually a sign of overuse....

a lot of those anti-inflamatory drugs are super hard on your liver... (is a statin an anti-inflam????)

i think i've finally gotten myself back to where i was pre hamstring pull, felt really good today on my lunch loop, just a touch over 3 miles, like 3.2 or something, but it felt really good in the cool air.”

“Statin is an anti cholesterol drug, and they ARE hard on your liver. My LDL shot up like 3O percent... No clue why... So they pumped up the dosage. I am on the road this week so running won't be as simple to get in. I will take it easy and see if its just overuse.”

“Thats some nice running weather MikeP. Glad to hear that your recovery is about done. Mine have been sore lately. I had been neglecting stretching and running a bit too hard. I have added the hamster wheel back into my running. Not so much fun but I get my run done during lunch and I tend to run slower than on roads so I get a bit less stress.

I hope its nothing serious Yogi. Enjoy the rest.”

“yeah, it was nice,,,, started out cool, but warmed up quickly, but without the feeling of melting. I'd like to have a blue sky to run under, but i suppose one can't have idyllic conditions ALL the time. :)

take care Yogi - spring loaded cholesterol levels are a bit worrisome.”

“So hows everyone doing with their running this month? I guess the last time I posted I was totally burned out from the half marathon I did, but things are back in full swing now. I have decided to go ahead and try my first full marathon in April. I know its far away, but I am going to train really slowly so I will feel strong and healthy by that time.

I need a bit of advice from yall. First of all, do any of you long-distancers suffer from boredom during your long runs? I have started to listen to audio books on my ipod, but they fail to get me pumped up like music does. But while listening to music, I get bored of hearing the same songs over and over.

Secondly, what is your favorite carbo replinisher? I have been eating a fruit chew thingy after about an hour or so, but feel like maybe I need something more. I cant stand the goo stuff.

Is there any other advice you can give me? I am a little nervous and am doing this all on my own. I dont have anyone who is willing to train with me, and due to my crazy life, I run at weird hours and probably wouldnt be able to join a running group or anything around here.

Also, I live in San Diego and am training here, which is pretty perfect weather-wise year round, but I am running the marathon in hot, humid (or freezing and humid) Tennessee. I'm not sure if thats really going to be a problem.

Any advice/suggestions are welcomed!”

“You always pick the coolest places to live, em.

I'm running 4 miles on Pismo Beach in the afternoons when I have the chance. I'm totally entertained by the sights and sounds during my runs and wouldn't think of blocking any of that out with music. My regular 4 mile runs have always kept me in great shape for the mountains, so I've never felt the need to run any further than a 10k.

So I have no advice to give a distance runner - I just do it cuz it's fun and allows me to eat like a horse.”

“depends on when you are running the marathon. tennessee isn't hot and humid year round. other than that i can tell you that for me hot temps mean i will sweat more and run slower. high humidity means less sweat will evaporate and you will get more wet, cool less efficently, and probably run slower. i get annoyed from sweat in my eyes when it's really humid. good clothing choices help. i drink vitalyte when i run long distance (carried in a hydration back... camelbak Lobo... 3l). vitalyte is just electrolytes and not a lot of sugar... very easy to tolerate when i run. i'll crank through 3l on a 20 mile run. sometimes more. dehydration, even a mild case, really screws up my running.”

“My basement flooding has put running on hold for me at the moment. Late to bed (working downstairs til 12 or later) and up at 4 all week. I will be pulling an all nighter tonight and hope to get back on the path Sunday morning.

November is a 10K I want to run with friends. I can do that now, however I want to improve my time.”

“April in Nashville should a nice time to run the marathon - you doing the Music City?

Good luck embear - i run into the boredom thing too, an ipod helps but once i hit the hour mark, it just become monotanous - i'm curious to hear what others think about this and how they combat it.”