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[AugustWest]

Yeah, add me too.

JL, for now just keep doing what you're doing.  The important thing at this stage of the game is establishing the habit and the routine of running regularly.  I think you are very close to seeing some significant progress.  One day soon you'll be out running and you'll find yourself running farther than you have before and it's feeling good.  You'll feel like you can just keep on going, so you do.  That's a good day.

So much of running is mental.  Your attitude is so important.  Part of it is just plain stubbornness -- even though it's unpleasant for the moment, I undertook to run X miles and By Gawd I'm gonna finish 'em.  Part of it is subtler too.  My expectations for a run tend to be self-fulfilling prophecies.  If I start of thinking I don't feel good or it's too cold or it's just going to be hard today that generally comes true.  Of course, it's tough to avoid those kinds of thoughts, especially when there's an objective basis for them.  Thoughts about your own limitations can be self-fulfilling prophecies too.  You can surprise yourself sometimes and do more than you think.

Why are you running?  Do you have a specific goal?  I think your approach to running should be driven by that goal.  For instance, if your goal is to complete a marathon then there are specific programs you can undertake to accomplish that.  If you are looking to improve your 5K time, there are ways to specific things to do to achieve that.

My running goals are just to improve and maintain general fitness.  I don't go to races.  I'm not very focused on my times -- only to the extent that I try not to let myself slack off by running too slow.  I'm not actively trying to shave seconds off my pace, although it's nice when it happens.  I'm a little more focused on distance, but only up to a point.  I feel good about a run if I know in my heart I pushed myself just a little, if I did what I could.  The times and distances that result are secondary. 

And these days, a lot of why I run is for the experience in itself.  It's nice quiet alone time outside.  When I'm finished, I feel like I've accomplished something.  When you get in the groove and are cruising along and you're feeling good and you think "I think I'll go another mile" and you go farther than you'd planned to, well, that's a really good feeling, isn't it? 

[jay-ell]

My goal is to run a 5K by the end of the year. There is one in October I would really like to participate in; it's a fundraiser for the Autism Society. I would like to run the whole 5K without a walk break. Time is not important to me, but if I can run the whole thing I don't see any reason why I wouldn't finish in under 40 minutes.

Right now I'm able to maintain a run 5 - 6 minutes straight without walking, which is up from fivefold from where I started. I was doing a 17 minute mile (mostly running, short walk breaks as needed) pretty solidly for about a week, but then my pace dropped to about 18.5 min/mi and I'm at a loss. If I were staying steady and just not getting any faster I'd be cool with that, but I feel like I've lost some ground and that's very frustrating. I feel like I'm pushing myself just as hard, but I'm wearing out faster and I don't know why.

I don't think it's mental. I had a really good week two weeks ago and went into last week expecting to do well, and it sucked. I realize that everyone has off days, but I had two in a row and I feel like I can't really afford that. I have to schedule my runs ahead of time and I can't squeeze in an extra run to make up for it (good grief, am I ever looking forward to my daughter being in school five days a week).

Pedro said that he would get me a used treadmill off Craigslist for Mother's Day. Being able to run indoors while my kids are playing Minecraft in the next room will be incredible. I could run five days a week, easily (and probably will switch to 5x30 instead of 3x50). I hope we can figure something out soon, though, because as of May 10, one or the other of my kids will be off school every day until July 8.

[Bobby Isosceles]

I have trouble getting enough protein. I will look for ways to get more of it in my life. I also definitely do not get enough sleep, but that's been a chronic problem for years and there is very little I can do about it without quitting my job.

I do not have a lot of time to lift. It is hard enough to find time to run in the first place. That said, my training program has squats/lifts/etc built in to help with building muscle, and I try to do heel lifts and half squats at random times, like while I'm talking on the phone with my mother or standing around at work with no customers in the store.

As for the weighted vest and supplements, my gut reaction is "I am trying to get healthier, not built" but I will look into it.

I actually did try minimal shoes when I first started running last year, and while I was a crapton faster (wicked fast on sprints, for a white girl anyway) it tore the hell out of my ankles and shins. To the point where I had to stop running altogether for a couple of weeks, it was vicious. Learning how to land on my heels took a little effort and it slowed me down, but it's easier on my joints and I can sustain a sprint much longer at a less intense speed. Since my goal is to run a 5K this year, not to hit a certain pace, being able to sustain a run longer is an improvement.

Today's a run day, we'll see how it goes.

The weighted vest would actually double as a strength builder for your squats (note: for your knees' sake do full squats not half).

Also, please do not fear getting built. You don't have the testosterone for it. It's hard enough for men to get builkt.

Minimals need easing into, but once you build a good shin muscle you become an unstoppable machine. Again, ease into it.

Protein problems? Eggs, and whey protein isolate powder are your friend. Put some whey in everything.

[Bobby Isosceles]

Keep whacking at the fuck*ng rock, it'll crack eventually.

ALSO: if Bobby keeps talking like that I'ma send him my little gold homey to hang with.

As if deadlifting 315 is something to write home about. Or is that 4 plates?

[AugustWest]

JL, do you hit a point in your running where it seems to get a little easier, or to flow a little better?  Can you tell when you've warmed up and hit your stride?

Also, have you messed with changing your stride length or your pace?  For me sometimes it can seem to consume more energy to move slower. See how long you can keep a 15 min/mile pace.   Are you conscious of how your body is moving -- are your arms moving perpendicular to the plane of your body instead of across it; are you spending too much energy moving up and down rather than forward?

[jaydub]

As if deadlifting 315 is something to write home about. Or is that 4 plates?

Maybe they're 50 kilo plates.

[Bobby Isosceles]

Maybe they're 50 kilo plates.

If only my gym had them

[jay-ell]

JL, do you hit a point in your running where it seems to get a little easier, or to flow a little better?  Can you tell when you've warmed up and hit your stride?

Also, have you messed with changing your stride length or your pace?  For me sometimes it can seem to consume more energy to move slower. See how long you can keep a 15 min/mile pace.   Are you conscious of how your body is moving -- are your arms moving perpendicular to the plane of your body instead of across it; are you spending too much energy moving up and down rather than forward?

I can tell that sometimes I feel loose and can run well after my 5-minute warmup walk, and some days my joints just feel tight no matter what I do and I don't move as well.

Today I did better. I felt better, I worked harder, I walked less and felt less miserable afterwards. And my average pace reflected it -- 17:17min/mi, officially. That included my warm-up walk and two 3-minute stretch breaks (as suggested by the training app) so my pace while actually running was closer to 15, I think -- if Runkeeper is to be trusted. That feels really slow to me, but if I go faster I can't sustain it half as long.

Two things I did today: 1) Drank a half liter of Gatorade half an hour before heading out, and 2) concentrated on my breathing. I now suspect mild dehydration has been nerfing my performance and making me sore and tight, and I noticed recently that pain tends to make me hold my breath. Bad combination.

So, more fluid might be the key. I thought I was drinking a ton of water before, but apparently the warmer weather is taking its toll.

Oh, also I noticed today that slowing down to go uphill is counterproductive. So you're right about that, Aug Dogg. The trail I run has a good climb to it -- 130 feet over 2.5 mi, mostly in two long stretches of low-to-moderate grade, so the downhill comes just when I really need a rest. But I've found that when I push to get to the top of the hill faster, rather than trying to conserve my energy in anticipation of the length of the climb, it doesn't hurt as much and I can look forward to it being over faster.

Fortunately the 5K I want to run this fall is a road race Downtown, so it'll be pretty flat. I'm hoping that if I train on hilly terrain, by the time I get to the Ribbon Run it'll seem easy.

[jaydub]

No way man.

[pmcd9]

Last thing, who wants post toe nipping photogs?

Hell yes!

[jay-ell]

I could take it or leave it. What did you do to yourself?

Pedro is on his way AS I TYPE to pick up my Mother's Day present (a treadmill). Hooray! I am not going to have to miss any of my training while he's out of town next week!

Edit: He picked it up and I am SO excited. He got it for $80 off Craigslist; this model usually retails for $600. So. Stoked.

[AugustWest]

Why find out?

[pmcd9]

Why find out?

That's way up on my list of favorite Achewood quotes.

[AugustWest]

Left big toe...had an infection under the nail that I dug out and drained, that relived the pressure and pain some so I could run and get around to my day, but it needed some pharmaceutical help, then Oakey stomped it and its two adjoining little bothers and smashed them real good. Saw the doctor, got an antibiotic, made an appointment with a foot doctor, he's gonna go a cuttin'. Shit, I'm already missing a pinky toenail from another smashing last month. The foot doc is gonna think I'm either an idiot or some weirdo or both. Whatever, I'm running tomorrow.

Dude, OW.

I just can't seem to hit a natural pace.

Me either.  I'd rather run circles around the gym than use the treadmill.

[wombat]

Having gotten to a certain age, Wombles always assumes that if something hurts, it's permanently broken, the first step on the long slide into decrepitude. It hasn't actually been true yet but that doesn't seem to help.