Ran a 5K today

Running shoes bought. I'm starting 5:30 tomorrow morning. The plan is to use the NHS C25k program until I can't stand the music any more. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Maq wrote:

Running shoes bought. I'm starting 5:30 tomorrow morning. The plan is to use the NHS C25k program until I can't stand the music any more. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

The Android app RunDouble has a good C25K program that does it by time or distance, and integrates with your built-in music/playlists very well.

Done! Totes did it! My first ever run.

Managed the full session without piking out so I take some measure of pride in that. I figure that if I can keep up with whatever level I'm at and keep pushing through, that's all that matters. My body will get fitter, I'll go further and faster, but the willpower requirement will remain the same.

A couple of things came to mind:

  • I really should eat a banana or something before I start. I felt like I was going to be sick when I tried to eat breakfast when I got back.
  • It's quite nice to do it at 5:30am when the park is empty, but I do have to be careful not to scare the crap out of the lone women walking their dogs. Having a large sweaty bloke walking quickly up behind you, breathing heavily.... This is East London. Everyone has Staffies and they're all trained to kill.

Ow Ow Ow Ow Effing Ow!

Maq wrote:

Ow Ow Ow Ow Effing Ow!

Hope that's not accompanied by the sound of a terrier chewing on you...

Maq wrote:

Ow Ow Ow Ow Effing Ow!

The second day after can be even worse. After that, though, you should be less sore.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:
Maq wrote:

Ow Ow Ow Ow Effing Ow!

The second day after can be even worse. After that, though, you should be less sore. :)

Going to try to gently run through it tomorrow. Will be "fun".

Well, don't feel bad taking a break for 2 or 3 days to get over the initial soreness. It takes a week or two to get your body used to training.

The majority of the advice I've seen recommends working through it as the pain disappears soon after you get started and the additional exercise massively increases recovery time and resistance to future aches.

Before you know it, Maq, you'll be missing that soreness. It's the bittersweet feeling of Progress Incarnate. Quite literally.

Maq wrote:

The majority of the advice I've seen recommends working through it as the pain disappears soon after you get started and the additional exercise massively increases recovery time and resistance to future aches.

As I've aged, my personal experience has taught me that "working through the pain" is a load of, um, bunk and hokum. (cough, cough, get off my lawn)
What works for me is to treat rest as just as integral to performance as hard workouts are. This is why I appreciate c25k and similar plans, they seem trivially easy, but those rest days keep me healthy and that keeps me consistently working out. Consistently working out is much more important than the quality of the workouts. Easy does it, as long as I keep doing it. (Again, this is just what works for me.)

Maybe my old bones & connective tissues don't recover from hard workouts or over-stressing the way they used to, but a gentle ramp-up to fitness is the only way I've ever gone from sedentary to fit. Whenever I try to force the issue, I end up either burning out or getting hurt. Consistent efforts below my maximum, on the other hand, pay off huge in the long run. The biggest difference is not between an easy and a hard workout, but between any kind of workout and not working out. Too much too soon often killed my plans and sent me back to the couch. Again, YMMV, this is just what works for me.

Muscles recover faster when they have good blood supply. This means you want to use them after you've damaged them. You definitely want to avoid a full workout until they're done healing. There are levels of recovery exercises - probably need to tailor them to how much damage you got from the event. If you're barely walking, well then, walking is your recovery exercise!

Don't let sore muscles lie in bed!

I meant to include the walking thing as an alternative but was posting from my phone quickly and forgot. I agree with Oso that if you are maybe 25 or older, working through the pain is a bad idea. I was really careful when I started training a few months ago not to overdo it. I was a bit paranoid because I went the minimalist shoe route.

So, yeah, walking and stretching lots on your off days is a great idea!

So based on the science from yesterday I made a point to keep the sore muscles busy: tried to keep as normal a stride as possible and not hobble; walked up the stairs/escalators etc. Felt a bit better for doing it.

This morning my legs were only mildly stiff and not particularly sore. Did the Day 2 run and took it at a slower pace - mostly because I think I was going out too quickly in the first place. Turned out just fine.

And I've just signed up to run a 5k on November 3rd. I shall be setting up a JustGiving page to raise money for my charity of choice (Mind) and pestering the crap out of people to donate.

Well, Dr has diagnosed me with chondromalacia. Anti-inflammatories (prescription strength) and physio are the prescription. Can still do my 1/2 marathon. Yay!!

Hit 8 miles for the first time today! No problem either until the last quarter mile. Tired and a bit sore. Next week 9 miles!

Half marathon in my home town is same time as my daughter's last AYSO game. So won't be able to do that.

mudbunny wrote:

Well, Dr has diagnosed me with chondromalacia. Anti-inflammatories (prescription strength) and physio are the prescription. Can still do my 1/2 marathon. Yay!!

Woo!

And on the subject of half-marathons, I finished my first one this morning. Little bit sore, but a nice cool soak fixed that right up. Also, this is me.

That's awesome AnimeJ! I know you had some injury trouble, so Gratz! Good luck to you, goman.

Thank you kindly I had to give up 3 months of running this year for various injuries/surgeries, so finishing with a 12:11 average pace was pretty awesome

AnimeJ wrote:
mudbunny wrote:

Well, Dr has diagnosed me with chondromalacia. Anti-inflammatories (prescription strength) and physio are the prescription. Can still do my 1/2 marathon. Yay!!

Woo!

I went for a 13 k job on thursday night, and aside from some soreness in my knee that came and went, I was fine up until a long downhill part. By the end of that, my knee was killing me and I ended up shutting it down and walking the last bit. So, As long as I walk the downhills, and make sure I take the anti-inflammatories before the race, I should be fine as long as I stick to my 10 minutes jogging/1 minute walking pace.

And on the subject of half-marathons, I finished my first one this morning. Little bit sore, but a nice cool soak fixed that right up. Also, this is me.

It says that result does not exist.

Weird, worked earlier. Well, for anyone wondering, search on Bib Number 11004.

AnimeJ wrote:

If you have an mp3 player, and enjoy or at least don't hate techno/house/electronic type music, go download the Podrunner Intervals 5k program. 10 weeks, same as the others, but with good music and easy to follow chimes.

Thank you. I am cheasily [sic] motivated by the Pandora Hard Rock Strength Training station (basically stripper rock), but I'll eventually need some variety. More importantly, my wife needs some now. This looks like a great option; I just downloaded the iOS app.

On another note, we ran our first 5k this morning. About six or seven weeks ago she started the C25k app and I decided to train too. I've been less diligent, but I think cycling not-terribly-infrequently has helped me. I jumped from week 3 to week 7 to run with her, and we were both fine. This morning, we were two of six runners (there were ~100 walkers), and mostly kept pace. When she needed a break, I jogged in place or high-stepped it. I finished with about 3.5 miles, mostly at a slower pace. We have another in a few weeks.

Previously, I hadn't really been able to finish three miles without walking, excepting one time on a treadmill. I mentioned the details above to qualify this as my first full-run 3.1m/5k run.

Cheers!

That's great, muraii! When I get my replacement mp3 headphones, this is the first thing I'm going to put on them. Double Dragon all the way.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

That's great, muraii! When I get my replacement mp3 headphones, this is the first thing I'm going to put on them. Double Dragon all the way. :)

Danke sehr schoen. I'm not sure if I'll train for much-longer distances. I'm more interested in general fitness and cycling, in that order. But we'll see.

I currently have been only running 3-5 quick miles about 5 to 6 days a week. It's mostly a time and boredom thing for me. I did a fairly quick marathon about 5 years ago, so I know I could do long distance. I do enjoy running long distances when I'm in a group of at least 2. I just need a running partner who lives close to me.

I think it's pretty debatable as to whether it's healthier to do long distance training. It's very hard on your body. My guess is that it's healthier to do the 3 miles every day and eat healthy rather than consume lots of calories and do marathon training, for instance.

The true secret doesn't seem to be long distance training - it's ultra long distance training. Setting a goal of 150 miles means that you can't afford to shrug off damage from bad running form.

LarryC wrote:

The true secret doesn't seem to be long distance training - it's ultra long distance training. Setting a goal of 150 miles means that you can't afford to shrug off damage from bad running form.

Remember a Radio Lab featuring a woman who started running to counter seizures, who then had to run increasing distances to maintain the counteraction. At one point, after a brain operation, she was running 28-hour distances.

Hola.

muraii wrote:

Remember a Radio Lab featuring a woman who started running to counter seizures, who then had to run increasing distances to maintain the counteraction. At one point, after a brain operation, she was running 28-hour distances.

Hola.

I remember that episode! I <3 Radiolab