Official Strava/Runkeeper Thread

[Subby]

digamma - congrats on winning your age group. For me, that's as good as winning the race.

[digamma]

Heh. When my wife and kids picked me up at the finish, my three year-old son of course asked me if I won. I told him no, but I was pretty close.

Fast forward an hour or so as we're walking around the zoo. He asks, "Daddy, why are you losing so much?"

Me: "Losing what?"

Him: "Your races. Why are you losing? When are you going to win?"

[hoopsguy]

Originally Posted by digamma

Heh. When my wife and kids picked me up at the finish, my three year-old son of course asked me if I won. I told him no, but I was pretty close.

Fast forward an hour or so as we're walking around the zoo. He asks, "Daddy, why are you losing so much?"

Me: "Losing what?"

Him: "Your races. Why are you losing? When are you going to win?"

Thought of this post when I was reading the following article: Sub-Elite Runners Chase Improvement - NYTimes.com

[digamma]

Enjoyed that article. Thanks for posting.

[AnalBumCover]

A really bad flu kept me out of running for the past several days. But good thing I caught it now instead of later because this week starts my first week of my Half Marathon training.

I'm using the Hal Higdon's Half Marathon Intermediate training program for a few of reasons. The schedule fits with my busy weekday schedule leaving the long runs on the weekends, it doesn't really change how I've been planning my runs now, and I had already signed up for a 5K race and a 10K race that happens to fall in line with the program.

I'm going to give it one more day's rest and hit the pavement tomorrow night.

[Icy]

Damn i'm through a bad patch and will use this post as self therapy.

In the last 2 weeks i have run only twice, stopped to control my diet and feeling like shit because that, but at the same time, finding new excuses every day to keep on not doing anything about it.

I guess the main issue it's been a really busy schedule at work, we are releasing tons of new stuff, the company is growing crazily, from 30 employees to 65 in the last year and my responsibilities are also growing at the same pace. It has me pretty excited and enthusiastic, but i end working over 10 to 12 hours per day and i'm so tired at least mentally if not physically, as i'm sitting all those hours in front of a computer along some trips around Europe and for example next week i'll expend 9 days in Canada.

On top of it, my second kid (10 months old) is giving us a lot of work, as every small kid does, my wife is so tired and complaining about it so when i'm not working, i'm trying to help at home as much as i can, but i have no time for myself at all, besides surfing some sports sites when i'm "working" to relax a bit.

Talking about the wife, she also going through a rough time too, tired of being just a housewife and depending on me both on the economical side and on driving her to every place she wants to go. She has epilepsy on a very soft way, but that doesn't allow her to drive a car for example and that was the cause of leaving her work 3 years ago. As our economical side has improved a lot, we have thought about buying a large house and moving to another part of the city, maybe to start a new life, but on the other side, leaving the center where we live now, close to shops, kids school, etc would mean more issues with transport that would also fall over me.

It also puts a lot of pressure on me, as she has a lot of mood changes and ends firing against me because my work hours and specially the work trips.

Then come the small excuses i put myself, like winter is coming, it's cold outside when i would have the time to run (too early in the morning or late at night), i'm so tired so i can't wake up 1 hour before my family to run when it would be a good time as it wouldn't affect the time i dedicate to them nor the time i dedicate to work.

In resume, i have a very stressing l¡fe right now and can't find either the time or the mental energy to think about running or dieting...

... but it must change from today, I was in a very good path, losing weight and improving a lot my running, can't just throw it all as i'm doing right now.

[Poli]

Still a little dinged. Didn't run. Boo.

[Subby]

Icy -

When you are in that place it is so hard to get out of it. It's such a spiral. All I can offer is that just going outside and walking a mile will make a huge difference. And often those first few steps turn from walking to jogging and then to running, and all of a sudden you have gone three miles and feel incredible.

You can do it. Winter is your bitch.

[Umbrella]

Good call on the shorts guys, made a world of difference.

Another beginner question. I am on my third week, and feel like I am progressing very slowly. I was able to finally do all of the day 1 C25K runs for the first time without stopping (yay, baby steps), but it took me multiple tries to get there. My schedule has been run, day off, run, day off, run, 2 days off.

However, because of the crippling pain in my calves, I took three days off before my run today. The calves got sore about a mile in, but not enough to stop me from running, and the pain went away after about another half mile or so. I'm wondering if I just need to do more rest days in between since I am so out of shape. I'm thinking for now trying 2 days off between runs, at least for the next week or so, and seeing how that goes. Did anybody else have this problem when they started?

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Icy

Damn i'm through a bad patch and will use this post as self therapy.

Icy, sorry to hear you are going through such a rough patch. I'm not really the best to give advice since I always seem to manage to mess everything up in my own personal life, but the only thoughts I can offer is to make sure to set aside the time for yourself that you need. At least for one activity, whether it is your running or biking or something else, it is important to not neglect yourself as well.

Originally Posted by Umbrella

Good call on the shorts guys, made a world of difference.

Another beginner question. I am on my third week, and feel like I am progressing very slowly. I was able to finally do all of the day 1 C25K runs for the first time without stopping (yay, baby steps), but it took me multiple tries to get there. My schedule has been run, day off, run, day off, run, 2 days off.

However, because of the crippling pain in my calves, I took three days off before my run today. The calves got sore about a mile in, but not enough to stop me from running, and the pain went away after about another half mile or so. I'm wondering if I just need to do more rest days in between since I am so out of shape. I'm thinking for now trying 2 days off between runs, at least for the next week or so, and seeing how that goes. Did anybody else have this problem when they started?

I won't say that everyone has gone through this, but I think most of us have. It is just a sign of using parts of your body that has been mostly dormant before, and not necessarily something to be worried about.

When you start up, it is going to be a little slow, it has to be. Especially your first several weeks of running. When you start out especially the recovery time is just as important or more important than the actual running. Your current schedule sounds fine to me. Three times a week with days off in between.

I would suggest that you look into rolling your calves after running and/or compression recovery socks, especially if you're having tightness or soreness in them after the runs. It will help your recovery a pretty good deal. The most often recommended ways to roll your calves would be with a foam roller or something like the Roll8Recovery.

[Kodos]

After a series of false starts with running over the past six months, I think I've found something that works. I've done a couple of short runs (1.5 miles) recently with no hip tightness in the days afterward. I'm hoping that I can slowly work up from that and not run into the problems I had this summer. Maybe I just tried biting off more than I could chew when I started out running 2.5 to 3.5 miles instead of working my way up? I guess I was under the illusion that since I was a runner in high school, that I could jump in at a higher level than other beginners. I'm hoping the new baby-steps approach works better.

[Subby]

Originally Posted by Kodos

After a series of false starts with running over the past six months, I think I've found something that works. I've done a couple of short runs (1.5 miles) recently with no hip tightness in the days afterward. I'm hoping that I can slowly work up from that and not run into the problems I had this summer. Maybe I just tried biting off more than I could chew when I started out running 2.5 to 3.5 miles instead of working my way up? I guess I was under the illusion that since I was a runner in high school, that I could jump in at a higher level than other beginners. I'm hoping the new baby-steps approach works better.

I think that's a great approach. I am in a similar boat - always running injured - and I think that starting too fast/too far/too soon has a huge impact. Look how incremental Ben was. It seems like he became a world class marathoner overnight, but in reality he started small and methodically worked his way up.

[FrogMan]

it is definitely the most sensible approach. I too started running only every other day, although I did start at about 3 miles per run. I still was careful not to push too hard in the first few months, then not too long. You gotta listen to your body...

FM

[Subby]

Here is a neat little calculator that can help you determine the cumulative increase in calorie burn for standing versus sitting at work.

http://www.juststand.org/tabid/637/default.aspx

I started using a stand up desk full time about a month ago and it already seems to have made a difference in my back and leg strength/endurance. The transition was kind of tough, but certainly worth it.

[Ben E Lou]

How does the Instagram stuff work on Strava? I have the accounts linked and took a photo during my run this morning, but it's not showing up. It just keeps saying "Syncing with Instagram. Refresh the page in a few minutes to see your photos" but it never does anything when I refresh, even much later.

[Alan T]

I think for me I had to make sure to mark the location in Instagram for the picture for strava to detect it was part of the activity. Once that is done it just automatically synced for me

[Chief Rum]

Finally uploaded a run to Facebook via Runtastic. Ran 5 miles this morning, burning about 580 calories.

Trying to make morning runs a regular thing.

[FrogMan]

Pretty solid 10k run this morning: 2k WU, 6k tempo, 2k CD

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/401765968

Tempo pace came down to an average of 7:08 per mile, very satisfied with that.

Was supposed to go out for an 8 mile or so run tomorrow but got invited by one of my FB friend (don't know him very well but both our sons swim for the same swimming club) to participate as a replacement in a 120 minutes fitness challenge to raise funds for a cancer research fund.

30 minute workout to help out the fund - Home

I'll be taking part in the "4x4 team challenge" which at first I thought would be that we'd each do our part on one of the machines (elliptical, treadmill, sationnary bike and stairmaster) but reading further, I learned we will ALL be rotating and everyone will be doing ALL four machines for 30 minutes each. Okay then, I guess I'll skip the morning run...

[Subby]

In case you were wondering what Lance is up to these days: Run Profile | 5miles | Times and Records | Strava

[Umbrella]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

Thought of this post when I was reading the following article: Sub-Elite Runners Chase Improvement - NYTimes.com

That was a great article. I'm just hoping I can someday become sub-"sub-elite".

[FrogMan]

I missed that article the first time it was posted, very intersting read!

FM

[FrogMan]

Reporting back about that team challenge I took part in over the weekend. That was an intense 120 minutes! And surprisingly, it was fun! I say surprisingly cause I still can't get my head around the fact that I enjoy cardio work. Used to hate it, with a passion.

Started with the stationary bike, then on to the stairmaster, then the elliptical and finally on the treadmill. I'd specifically asked to finish with the treadmill cause I knew if I was getting tired, I'd be able to will myself into going on.

A couple of those machines I don't get to play with very often, namely the stairmaster and the elliptical. I used to own a very cheapo stairmaster almost 20 years ago, when I was in college. It laid there collecting dust for a long while until I used it to death one Summer in 1995 or so, then sent it back to collecting dust in the basement until we threw it away a couple years ago. Now that I think about them workout sessions, I liked the feeling back then. Never realized it until now.

The elliptical, I had NEVER done before. The feeling was weird at first but I liked it once I got used to the movement. The treadmill, I let it all go and pushed through the fatigue. It was great!

Here's a picture of our team after the challenge. The younger middle guy who looks all fresh and clean is a representative from the gym I'm the second from right, sweatiest of the bunch, lol


They were also tracking how many calories you were burning with prizes for the teams who burned the most. Cause yes, it was a team challenge and all four members of the team rotated on all four pieces of equipment. Machines count came up to 1679 calories for me. As per my HRM, it's more like 1504, still a good afternoon's work

Not sure how well the treadmill was calibrated cause I saw the 3.1 miles mark at about 21:25 which would give me a pretty clear personal best and an amazing pace over the first five 5k. I had unclipped my footpod so I don't know about distance. Still, I had the machine set to 9.8 MPH for a long while there and while I was running hard, it didn't feel that fast, and I was on tired legs. Oh well, the burn was nice.

They said our team burned 5818 calories and the best at our gym burned something like 6000, we got close!

It was for a good cause, a local cancer research fund and we were sponsored by my FB friend's realtor's office.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Subby

In case you were wondering what Lance is up to these days: Run Profile | 5miles | Times and Records | Strava

Probably cheating somehow.

[HerRealName]

I just did a run with these..

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0036Z...r=8-3&pi=SL500

It's a hat with removable headphones. They worked out really well on a 30 degree, 20 mph wind morning. At least most of the snow and ice melted yesterday afternoon. .

[vex]

Not a fan of daylight savings. Haven't been able to run in 2 weeks because of the sun setting before I get home due to my work schedule/commute. Going to go join a gym tomorrow so I can at least stay/get in decent shape over the winter.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by vex

Not a fan of daylight savings. Haven't been able to run in 2 weeks because of the sun setting before I get home due to my work schedule/commute. Going to go join a gym tomorrow so I can at least stay/get in decent shape over the winter.

My wife has been struggling a little bit with this herself. With the sun setting at 4:20 in the afternoon, she has been having issues with the dark. I'm pretty lucky that I can fit runs in during lunch time, I think I would go crazy otherwise.

[Ben E Lou]

Today was my first run using my new Camelbak for hydration. My initial impression is that I'm glad I have it for convenience during training runs, but I'm not sure I want to use it on race day. With the water stations in place, it seems like it would be unnecessary extra weight to carry. Thoughts either way on that?

[Subby]

No way I would use a camelbak for a race unless it was an ultra. Definitely training only.

[AnalBumCover]

This flu really knocked me off my game. I haven't been running for two weeks because of the congestion in my lungs. I'm already two weeks behind in my half training, and I have a 5K race next weekend.

I'm not going to stress about it too much as my recovery from the flu takes priority. I'll take this next week with very light training and just enjoy the 5k race as a welcome back run.

[Alan T]

I ... just ... can't ... catch ... Subby ... in ... Fitleagues....

[MartinD]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Today was my first run using my new Camelbak for hydration. My initial impression is that I'm glad I have it for convenience during training runs, but I'm not sure I want to use it on race day. With the water stations in place, it seems like it would be unnecessary extra weight to carry. Thoughts either way on that?

That's pretty much how I use mine - only for training runs (and even then, it has to be more than 12 miles, or particularly warm weather). If water is going to be provided on race day, why bring your own?

[Izulde]

I found out the iTouch has poor GPS capability so I wasn't able to get an accurate read via Runkeeper last night on my first run in literal years.

Signed up for a 5K on December 7th. Will be my first race since sometime in the early 2000s, possibly even a little earlier.

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by Alan T

My wife has been struggling a little bit with this herself. With the sun setting at 4:20 in the afternoon, she has been having issues with the dark. I'm pretty lucky that I can fit runs in during lunch time, I think I would go crazy otherwise.

I need to run at night otherwise I struggle to get any runs in between November and February. If the weather is cloudy it can get dark well before 4pm. The streets are well enough lit, but fallen leaves make any kind of night run a bit dangerous.

Last year I slid on a pile of leaves, pulled something and ended up being out of action for over a month. Hopefully the leaves will be gone over the next few weeks, and ice will be the only thing I need to look out for.

If you do go out for a run at night, make sure you are wearing some high vis gear. I also usually wear sunglasses with clear lenses at night as I have run into a few unseen branches in the past!

[FrogMan]

I usually run at 5:20 am but it's pretty much the same as 6 pm, it's just as dark. Since I start work at 7:30 and I am at the dojo most evening starting at 6, if not for running in the dark, I wouldn't be running at all. I'm okay with it though. I avoid the big roads and stay in the neihgborhood, on streets I know are well lit but not with many cars going on them. I need to get some high vis stuff though...

FM

[digamma]

Originally Posted by Subby

No way I would use a camelbak for a race unless it was an ultra. Definitely training only.

+1

[cuervo72]

Heh. Well, those of us unconcerned with our speed do (to carry phone/music, drink, snacks).

I haven't gotten to the point where I feel confident enough that I won't get thirsty/dry mouthed between stops. But then I typically have a drink near me at my desk to take a sip every minute.

[Ryan S]

I usually use a hand held water bottle if I think I will need a drink on my run.

[FrogMan]

My run for Saturday was 2k warmup + 6k hard tempo + 2k cooldown. I just realized last night, when looking at the splits that I ended up running that 6 km in 26:01, or at a pace of 4:20 per km (6:59 per mile). The last 5 km of that stretch came down to 21:37 for a 5K, a good 40 seconds faster than my previous best effort for a 5K in training, paced at 4:19 per km (6:57 per mile). The last km was done in 4:09.

I'm not so much bragging as these numbers blow my mind a bit. I never thought I could sustain this kind of speed over 5-6 km. Will try very hard for a good time on Strava's Any Way 10k this week but it's a busy week with an even busier weekend (son on a hockey tournament, karate competition Saturday and big karate gathering with seminars that start at 8 on Sunday).

Although I'm not actively trying to lose weight, I weighed in at 159.6 lbs this morning, first time under 160 lbs in, well, forever! I feel in shape, I feel lean. Life is good, happy running everyone!

And Tim, welcome to the fold!

FM

[vex]

That's really impressive, FM. Nice work!

[Subby]

Originally Posted by Alan T

I ... just ... can't ... catch ... Subby ... in ... Fitleagues....

I need to log my walks with my wife so I can catch those cheaters ahead of me.

[Alan T]

Have a 5k race I'm doing this morning. Pretty excited for it, I woke up at 3:45am unable to go back to sleep.

Looking to try to break 24:00 this morning.

[FrogMan]

go for it Alan!

FM

[Kodos]

Good luck!

[Ben E Lou]

Looking forward to hearing your results, Alan.

I got my highest Suffer Score ever this morning: 302! I ran the same distance as two week ago (15 miles) and only slightly faster (around 90 seconds over 15 miles ain't much,) but the Suffer Score went from 214 then to 302 now. Why? Temperature. Two weeks ago was the coldest morning of the fall so far: 43 degrees. Today it was around 63 with near-100% humidity and foggy. Big difference. Run Profile | 15-Mile Run | Times and Records | Strava

[AnalBumCover]

I've got a 5K race this morning as well. I haven't been able to train since I got sick except for a 1.5 mile run earlier this week to test out my lungs.

Looks like my coughing is pretty much gone this morning, but it'll still be a "just enjoy the moment" kind of day for me.

[HerRealName]

Good luck on those 5K's.

I just did a 5 mile run in 22 degrees with a wind chill of 10. Strava needs a Wind Adjusted Pace on days like these, forget the GAP.

[Alan T]

Finished with a 23:32 time today (Course measured only 3.01 miles instead of 3.11 though). Seems every 5k I do lately has come up about 1/10th of a mile short. Winds up being a 5k pace of just a hair over 24:00 which was my goal, so my avg pace was maybe 5 seconds per mile slower than what I was hoping for.

Today's performance speed wise was pretty much the same as my previous record on 9/28, but with a higher HR over all. on 9/28 I was fresh after a 2 week break following my half-marathon and my TSB score was 17.2 vs today where my TSB is -13, so I guess I'll take it. Not quite the improvement I was hoping for, but there is always next time I guess.

I did get my first Age Group award though today, finished 2nd in the 30-39 men's group (out of 13) and 15th overall (out of 369). Was actually the 4th Adult to finish so that was pretty cool I suppose.

I really haven't been in this to compete against others though, more so with myself so I think my wife is happier for my performance than I am with it

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by HerRealName

Good luck on those 5K's.

I just did a 5 mile run in 22 degrees with a wind chill of 10. Strava needs a Wind Adjusted Pace on days like these, forget the GAP.

Wow, that is colllllld. Hope you were layered up good.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Finished with a 23:32 time today (Course measured only 3.01 miles instead of 3.11 though). Seems every 5k I do lately has come up about 1/10th of a mile short. Winds up being a 5k pace of just a hair over 24:00 which was my goal, so my avg pace was maybe 5 seconds per mile slower than what I was hoping for.

Today's performance speed wise was pretty much the same as my previous record on 9/28, but with a higher HR over all. on 9/28 I was fresh after a 2 week break following my half-marathon and my TSB score was 17.2 vs today where my TSB is -13, so I guess I'll take it. Not quite the improvement I was hoping for, but there is always next time I guess.

I did get my first Age Group award though today, finished 2nd in the 30-39 men's group (out of 13) and 15th overall (out of 369). Was actually the 4th Adult to finish so that was pretty cool I suppose.

I really haven't been in this to compete against others though, more so with myself so I think my wife is happier for my performance than I am with it

Sounds like a successful run to me!

[AnalBumCover]

I finished with an unofficial (Strava) time of 44:07. Unlike Alan's race, mine really did measure 3.11 miles, at least according to my phone's GPS.

Weatherwise, it was a really nice 55F degrees, with a light breeze. The course itself was a trail course. Part packed dirt, part rough asphalt. In the first 1/2 mile, we went down a long gradual downhill. It didn't take us runners long to realize we were going to go up that same hill at the final mile.

Throughout the entire run, I was sucking on a Halls cough drop. I'm not sure if I really needed it, but it did make me think it was keeping my lungs clear, that alone helped me keep pace, at least for the first 2 miles.

Once I reached the 2 mile mark, the lack of training caught up to me, and I went the rest of the way walk/running, including up that dreaded hill at the final 1/2 mile.

As I approached the finish line, my family saw me and my daughter ran into the course and met me about 20 feet from the end. I picked her up and we crossed the finish line together.



I'm quite happy with this run, though - finishing under 45 minutes with very little training.

I'm nearly 100% recovered so it looks like my training with return in full force this coming week, with a 10k race coming up in December.

Happy running everyone!