The Running Thread

[Sparky]

The non fatties need to help us fatties get up and lose weight. Pick a park and exercise.

[Irving]

Rooskie, I've found that if you focus on a different one the things you listed, each time you run, all those things will improve. If all you do is long slow runs, you'll only make yourself a long slow runner. Someone told me that once, and I've found it to be true. For me personally, I NEED to run with other people to put variety in my pace; if I don't I'll just run at what is comfortable all the time.
coccw has a good simple technique to start with. Go to a track and sprint the straights and cool down around the curves.Any kind of fast andslow run is great for teaching your body to recover. Don't forget to run on hills.

[Rooskibar03]

Good advice. I've never thought to run with anyone for fear of slowing them down or killing myself keeping up. My Nike plus watch has interval settings, maybe it's time to explore those.

[Irving]

Definitely use the interval settings. Don't worry about running with other people too much. They may be at home sitting on their butt if they aren't running with you.

[Squeeze]

Currently been back in the running game. Also been trying to get to they gym. I have a nice pair of running shoes my wife bought me. They are awesome.

[Rooskibar03]

Good shoes were a game changer for me. I went to Boulder running and they have you run on a treadmill and record it. I pronate something fierce and needed supportive shoes and inserts but it was a whole new ball game when I got that sorted out.

[Squeeze]

Good shoes were a game changer for me. I went to Boulder running and they have you run on a treadmill and record it. I pronate something fierce and needed supportive shoes and inserts but it was a whole new ball game when I got that sorted out.

+1 on Boulder Running Company. That's where I went and it made the world of difference. It was cool to watch how I ran with my old running shoes vs. the new ones. Shoes are the key.

[Irving]

I am the same, for running shoes I need a lot of support. Despite that, I've still been some what successful with barefoot running.

[johngraves2]

What everyone has said. Do a whole lot of everything. During the week I run long distances, 6 miles monday, 4 wednesday, 6 friday a little slower than my race pace (i do any thing from a 10K to a half marathon try to do races around a 7:30 mile pace now). On the weekends I might go to the football field and run sprints or run a stadium. The key is to mix it up with long slow stuff sort super fast stuff and medium distance good speed. Sometimes I might slow it way down and run 10+ miles on a weekend but two days later try and do a really fast medium distance run.

One thing that I have found that helps me is hills, but I run up them really hard and back down really hard, going easy on the flat areas. Going down I really focus on opening up my stride and gliding down the hill. For some people this is hard because they do not have the leg strength to support their heavier bodies and this puts a lot of stress on the legs and ankles. I am a big guy and after taking time off from running i have to ease back into this mode of running or else it really hurts my legs and they just feel too unstable.

I would say i have the desire to run and am just recovering from more ankle issues (rolling them at work). after a month of getting back to it, it has come back quickly, in a few weeks i should be back to my normal running self. But for those just starting it takes a lot of time. Months and months to become a good runner.

Last advice, on days off, or days you don't want to run, ride the bike, can be stationary at the gym or one outside. It works the muscles very similar to running but not as difficult and with less impact stress. Really use the bike to help increase your endurance. You should be able to ride for twice as long as you can run.

[Irving]

There were two things in particular that helped me improve the most.
1) Army Runs. Get a group of people, at least 4, at most 10, and all run single file around a park, lake, whatever. The overall pace for the whole group is slower than usual. The person at the back of the line sprints to the front of the line. Rinse and repeat. Your recovery time is just however long it takes for it to be your turn again. On a 2 mile run, you'll end up doing 20 or more full on sprints.
2) 300 meter sprints. Anyone can sprint for 100 meters, at almost any level of health. 300 meters is a whole different ball game. Look up the FBI training program and see what the time is supposed to be and shoot for that. It was very difficult for me to get under 58 seconds. I can't remember if I ever got to 55 seconds. When we were doing that, we'd go on a run, and do at least 2, 300 meter sprints at the end. We'd sprint down, then walk back. I didn't recover all the fast and would usually have to stand around for a few minutes as well.