Runners
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A few during and after run pictures from my France training this summer, learning to use poles, and getting better at climbing and descending the more difficult technical trails here than what I am used to in the UK. Hopefully this will put me in a good place for the next 100 miler. Need to work on ankle strength though.
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@Nik just found this thread, and this post rules. Also, shout out to the Prefontaine shirt. I can’t wait for it to cool down a bit here, so I can start doing runs again. They 90F+ days with 70% and up humidity is killing me.
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@Nik Dude, well done! Much quicker than my attempt a few years ago.
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@AdamC I want to, but it depends on how recovery goes from the Autumn 100 mile event I will be attempting the weekend before, so likely still resting at that point. You doing it? I'll be sad if I miss out on it, such a fun event.
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Got to do some runs with my brother and close friend around our wedding party, pretty fun.
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Quick update: reached week 13 of my 20 week program and was starting to feel sluggish and worn out. Spent some time trying to figure out what's going on being diet, overtraining, heat, etc. and couldn't quite put my finger on any one issue. The heat and humidity was intense for about two weeks, air conditioner was broke and needed repair which affected sleep and recovery so thought that must be it.
Temperatures cooled down, air conditioner was fixed and was starting to rest better, but still was feeling a bit tired after each training session. Decided to take a few days off and relax which helped some while also making the decision just to run for this week with a goal of 5-10km's per day to see if things got any better. First two days were ok, but today was a breakthrough day. After close examination of my shoes the other day, I noticed that they were worn and needed replacing. Today's run on new shoes and I feel like a million bucks...(maybe not that good, but much better than I have been feeling.)
I appreciate more and more everyday how you guys slug it out and put in the effort. It's not easy and always a million things to consider when things just don't go right, but when they do, how much enjoyment can be had.
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Yeah shoes make a big difference. I am recovering from a calf strain after increasing mileage and changing to shoes with a 2mm lower drop. Just that was enough.
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@Nik shoes definitely make a difference. I was running with shoes about a half-size to a size smaller than I should, just going based on my normal shoe size. When I got new proper fitting shoes it made a world of difference.
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@alexxedge I’m a half size up in running shoes and had done the same as you. I need the extra room for pounding the pavement and discovered after too long of a time. Major improvement by upsizing.
@Nik Different brand or model? Conscious decision to look for a lower drop? Hope the recovery is going well and would like to hear how you’re dealing with the strain. Time off, stretching, different runs…
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@goosehd different brand. Didn’t seek out the lower drop, just went off immediate comfort of the upper.
What read about recovering from a strain like mine is to strengthen the strained muscle through cross training and then once ready to run go back to the old shoe and slowly transition to the new shoe. So I’ve been biking and lifting weights with an emphasis on single leg exercises. Back running now working through the strain. Rest is ok for a bit but an injury like mine is partly about weakness, so to prevent that injury long term I have to strengthen the muscle, and there’s no harm in starting that quite soon after injury. Rest and stretching are currently seen as slightly overrated in the healing process. Strength training and cross training are the best bets. It’s surprising because it goes against received wisdom, but makes sense to me when I think about it that to heal the injury I have to activate the area, not ignore it. -
New shoes. Now I have a race shoe for trail ultras (orange hokas), a slow trail shoe for training (navy), and then a slow road shoe (black), and a tempo road shoe (white).
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Another week of running and making progress again. The training program I am using is progressive in nature and a great template to better my overall conditioning wth the caveat of interpreting the intensity levels correctly. I was at running at too high of a level for where I was in my overall conditioning and started to move backwards in my training and recovery.
Changing my shoes helped tremendously as well as backing off in intensity and running at lower HR zones during my training runs. I'm sleeping better, running better, faster, and lower heart rates again. Overall I'm pleased with how my summer training has been going, but anticipate that I won't be able to compete in the race I have been eyeing this fall. I was hoping to run a 50km trail run, but may settle on the 25km race instead. This is the same race that I ran with the family last year called the Fat Ass Trail Run with 5, 7.5, 12.5, 25 and 50 km's races throughout the day. If the family is interested in running again this year, everything may go out the window and decide to run with them.
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@goosehd The main thing is that you’re back on track with training, and have race options to look forward to. Either way, it sounds like it will be a good day, either long solo, short family, or somewhere in between. ️
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What's your longest run so far @goosehd ? I claim that if you could go out and run 25km now then you would be able to finish the 50km, especially if you set the goal as finishing and not at any specific pace. Worst case scenario you drop out early. It can be fun to head out on a run that you don't know you'll be able to finish