Search the Community

So, I've been following my own training schedule to increase my distance to do a marathon after failing my first attempt and a coworker and avid runner seems scandalized that I would run over 22 miles preparing for a marathon. My plan actually over-shot the distance initially to give me room to miss runs and fall short of my total distance, but I'm so far staying pretty much on schedule (I've shaved a kilometer or two). My question is, if I'm recovering and the distance increases aren't crazy high is there a reason I SHOULDN'T run farther? Everything I've read has said that total distance run before a marathon is the #1 thing that correlates to fewer injuries. Running a greater distance would help both my mindset (I can tell myself I ran that far before) and my endurance. I'm just not getting his concern.

OK, time to speed it up. I'm training for a half marathon in November and I have no doubt I'll get the distance in, but I want to tick my speed up a little. From a bit of research it seems the two things that will kick up my speed a notch are sprint training (which trains short twitch muscle fibers giving me anaerobic speed over short distances) and fartlek (teehee) training which raises VO2 Max (the oxygen efficiency in your muscles for distance). To sum up research in a few sentences and grossly simplifying things: Sprinting will improve my over all pace slightly, my "gear switch" to a fartlek, and the final sprint at the end of the race. Farklet training will increase my VO2 max allowing me to run faster overall AND get me used to speeding up the pace for a while then recovering at a slower pace. This results in an overall faster average pace. So I'm going to do a little of both for the four week challenge. Sprints: I'm going to train sprints on Mondays during my short run (7-8km). I'll be doing a ~2k warmup run and then hitting the track at a nearby school. For whatever reason they have 110 meters marked off clearly so I'll do that. 3 sprints at about 70% of effort and jogging around to the line again, then 2 sprints at maximum effort and walking to recover. Then I'll have about 3k left to run as a cool down. Fartlek: I'm going to train fartleks on Wednesday with my medium runs (9-11km) and include a 1 minute fartlek every 3 km. On top of this I need to keep to up my lifting (I got injured doing marathon training as soon as I dropped the weights - I'm convinced that's no coincidence) and get my distance increased to 22 km (over 13.1 miles). I've got spreadsheets because I'm me here. I'm not using the lift schedule on there. I haven't set up my October schedule yet (which will be easier), but here is September.

He lay the map out on the table, relief washing over him. It had taken him over a month to locate this map and now that he saw it he knew that it had been worth the effort. It wasn't some cheap map without any detail. Whoever had made this map had slaved over the minor details making it almost feel alive in his hands. There was a possibility there was more to this map than the naked eye could see. Looking at the map he knew he wasn't quite ready for this journey. The green mountains had many legends. He had heard mention of zombies, trolls, as well as some that spoke of trails that changed every time you went there. The last one sounded crazy, but wizards claimed to have detected many types of spells at work on those trails. The spells had a wide range, from sapping the energy from your limps, to bringing to life your worst nightmares. He knew he had demons, and he had to make peace with them before he could attempt the journey. Quest #1 Run a total of 150 miles I've made even larger plans up ahead now that I'm so excited about running - 10k and 25k already signed up for! I did the math and if I stick to the 10% increase each week I will run exactly 150 miles! +3 STA Quest #2 Wear leg weights and keep 2 full water bottles and a 3 liter water bladder in bag at work In June and July I am likely going backpacking, so time to get comfortable with heavier weight. I'm going to start with my bag weighing 8 pounds, and end with my bag weighing 20. My goal is for me to get used to 40 pounds (I plan to try for 10 days without resupply in june). +4 STR Quest #3 Average 10 minutes of meditation per day There's some anxiety going on in my head, and it's been going on for close to a decade. Time to wrestle those demons and loosen up on my approach to the world. sub quest - Meditate everday, even if it is only for 5 minutes. +1 WIS+3 CON Life Quest Read Chirunning, The Cool Impossible, and Eat and Run The last quest I finished with was Born to Run (AWESOME BOOK) and it mentioned these three. The first 2 are about proper running form, and the third is about running and good nutrition. I know there are a lot of paleo lovers on here, but for me, that includes no meat. It's the same for this running, an AMAZING ultramarathon runner. Time to learn from the guru's. Sub-Quest - +1 DEX for videoing running technique 3 times during the challenge+3 WIS Motivation - I didn't talk about my motivation during the last challenge, but it comes down to this - On September 20th, 2004 my best friend had his 16th birthday. It was a big deal, so we decided to go camping to celebrate. Through a series of events during that camping trip he fell to his death, and I have spent the majority of the last 11 years blaming myself, and feeling a HUGE amount of anxiety. The blaming is generally called survivors guilt, but the anxiety was from his reasoning for the series of choices he made that led to his death. The blaming is gone, but the anxiety is still there. Also, on the day he died and his birthday, I tend to turn into an asshole. Last year a friend got me to sign up for a spartan sprint on september 20th. I didn't even realize until a few months beforehand what the day was, but when I did it, IT FELT SO GOOD! I wasn't wallowing, I was doing something. It was a new feeling for me. Now I'm chasing that feeling.

So I've got two goals with my running. I wan't to be able to run a 5K, but I also know that I need to work on my intervals/sprints. My body "type" seems to be naturally inclined to long distance running. I'm not in shape yet, but I've managed to work up to a 5K in about 40 min. on the treadmill (outside is a totally different story, but I'm working on it). I've also got an alternate training workout of doing interval "sprints" on the treadmill for 20 minutes: 1 min. walk-1 min. run (which is actually a jog - but at least I'm doing it). I started with the Academy Body-weight routine, and the warm up calls for 30 seconds of knee highs. So here's my question: Why if I can run a 5K for 40 min do the knee highs kill me in about 15 seconds? - I'm totally out of breath and my quads are burning! Any info about what is going on? Any insights, suggestions, recommendations to improve my ability to do the knee highs?

I've been going for walks every day for the past few months. I have a pedometer (sort of), so I know how many steps I end up taking, but I have no idea how much distance I actually cover. I don't need to know the exact distance, but it would be nice to have a general idea.

I started running last year, coming from a few years of moderate hiking. I was more or less following a plan that had long run distance increasing by a mile per week once you could run 3 miles. I kept getting hurt, and ended up increasing my mileage by maybe a mile per month on average because I had to keep cutting back to recover. By November, my longest run was about 5.5 miles. Then winter came, and I switched to hiking. This year, I said screw those “quick†mileage gains, and have been increasing by 1/2 a mile per week on my long runs since 4 miles, and 1/2 mile every 2 weeks before that. This has been a much more comfortable pace, and I’m now up to longer distances than I ever reached last year, and there are still 5 more months before winter. No injuries, no problems, even including the week where I went for a 4.5 mile trail run, got lost, and covered about 6 miles running before I walked the last mile and a half. I just took it easy the next week followed by a 5 mile long run because while I didn’t quite hurt myself, my body was telling me that I had been pushing it. I ran 6 miles again on Sunday (back to the normal schedule), and it was actually comfortable this time. I run 2-3 days during the week, for about 1-1.5 hours total, and then running about 16-17 minute miles during the long run on the weekend. I’d love to get down to 15 minute miles, but I’m already down from the 20 minute miles I had when I started last year. Even by the end of last year I struggled to get below 18 minutes. It’s a little frustrating to read about other people who can go so much further, so much faster. But I’m finding that by holding myself to small gains, I can actually make more progress than if I keep trying to jump ahead. Any others who are going fast by going slow?

Continuing to train for my upcoming 50K trail run (April 27th) This next six weeks, I will: * Continue to hit my weekly mileage goals, including a long run each week of 12-26 miles * Add a trail run to my weekly runs (even if there's crazy deep snow/ice) * Bring my dog out for the occasional short run (he can't keep a good pace for more than 3 miles but LOVES to run w me * Seriously engage in visualization this challenge and... run some amazing trails when I'm in Hawaii next month-- anyone have experience/advice trail running on Oahu???? --Inspired Fool

Greetings Fellow Rebels! I am New to the forums and this is my First Quest. My Main Quest is to: Prepare for my first Ultra-Marathon, a 50K (31 mile) trail race on April 27th. Missions to help me succeed at my Quest: 1. Add at least one trail run to my regular weekly running schedule 2. Ensure one long run (between 10-22 miles) every week 3. Practice strength training 1-3 times each week Additionally, my current Life Quest is to practice visualization and meditation at least 3 times each week in order to facilitate my personal growth and active creation of an ever-improving, passion-driven life. --Inspired Fool

Hello Scouts! I'm new on your patch, putting on my metal helmet and feeling brave enough to leave my security blanket back with the Adventurers! In Chapter 3 my main quest was to comfortably complete my first 100km bike ride on the 20th of October. This will occur in the fifth week of this challenge. It is still the main goal right now but I will be aiming to create a bigger main goal before the end of this challenge. So, my three major goal are still covering the same areas: Training, Nutrition and Recovery. Training - STR 2 & STA 2 Week by week goals (Not sure how I will score this yet, it's a bit rough around the edges atm). 1. Get used to beautiful new machine Bike: 75-100km/4-5hrs, PTx2 2. Holidays! Bike: 150-175km/7-8hrs, PTx2 3. Holidays! Bike: 175-200km/8-10hrs, PTx2 4. Tapering Bike: 50-75kmkm/2-3hrs, PTx2 5. It's happening on Sunday!! Bike: 50-75km/2-3hrs, PTx1 6. Recovery Week Nutrition - CON 3 & WIS 2 Got to be smarter about what I eat. Turns out my body isn't such a fan of gluten... well, my gastrointestinal system isn't but my taste-buds LOVE IT! This challenge I want to be as gluten free as I can. Problems foreseen are usual holiday eating of more nice cakes, my birthday, weird emotional reactions to punitive challenges that backfire on eating. Consequently, this challenge to go gluten free will be about how it makes my guts feel. I will document all gluten I eat and if I suffer after effects I lose 0.5 points per occurrence. Put simply, I will not make myself unwell with gluten during this challenge! Recovery - DEX 3 I have been doing a lot of strength work recently and if I don't stretch or foam roll enough I get very stiff. I really want to create a better morning routine to get me going for the day. 10-15mins minimum Yoga/Stretching/Foam Rolling upon rising 5/7 days. There is a slight easy out in here as I usually do a Yoga class one morning per week, so it's more like 4 hard ones... SIDE QUESTS: Life - CHA 2 By the end of week 3 I will have a clean and tidy house. By the end of week 6 I will have maintained the clean and tidy... Fitness - WIS 1 Aid mental and physical well being by setting aside a period of time each week to plan: Food, exercise, bills, social commitments etc. This has fallen apart recently and I am much worse off for it.

Cutebug's Awesome Autumn Adventure! Challenge 1: Continue Hiking throughout the fall! Rain or Shine! (Probably lots of rain!) I am committing to hike at least once per week, as I have been doing over the summer. I will continue to monitor my elevation and distance, and get to Mordor. Challenge 2: Train myself to do a Back Bend from standing position! I can do a mean bridge but it's been over a decade since I've been able to get down there from standing position. There will be lots of balance and stretching exercises! I think strengthening my arms and legs will help with this. Challenge 3: MOAR push-ups! I'd like to increace the number of push-ups I can do in a set. My greatest achievement so far was 15, but that was a one-time thing. I'd like to be able to consistantly do 15 EVERY TIME. More, if possible. I'll probably also try to do a few sets. Personal Challenge: My super cool friend got me a machete for my birthday, which I am ridiculously excited about! I must do some bushwhacking! Must slash things! I'd like to do some more Geocashing (hopefully with someone who has a better data plan than me!) and maybe even some camping or something! Basically I'll use whatever excuse I can to use my new machete. Also, I got a super crazy bright flashlight so I should also make up an excuse to go somewhere dark. ADVENTURES! YAY!

My mission: to run the Marine Corps Marathon and not get picked up by the sag wagon (~12 min/mile). Goals: Run 5 miles at least 3 days a week Do a hill run at least one day a week Cross train at least 1 day per week Do a long run each weekend

Just signed up! My challenges are: - 3 runs (distance, intervals and tempo) each week, sticking to Furman paces (so no slacking!) plus at least 2 visits to the gym for cross-training - to shift the half stone I put on recently (intermittent fasting seems to do the job, as long as I train first thing on the low-cal days rather than leaving it til later in the day) - to build my mileage up to an 18 mile run by the end of the six weeks (I'm up to 13.5) as I've signed up for a 20 mile race and want to run a marathon or 2 this year. I've found in the past that my best running is on less mileage and more variety, hence gymming. I'm lucky to live just outside the Stoke area, so have good gym facilities and a local Parkrun every Saturday morning, plus lots of running routes through North Staffordshire countryside. I used to be a Personal Trainer/fitness instructor, so I know what I need to do. So, no excuses!