What is the single greatest factor on your running quality?

Regina

posted: 10/29/2006 at 8:51 AM

First of all health: When I have a race on a Sunday after two or three days of illness in the beginning of the week, I am about 2-3 min slower than usual on 10 k. Also if I feel really well that day and had maybe one or two training sessions without problems on Thursday / Friday before the race ... Second nutrition: When I come back from business travel I have usually troubles for some days. I made this experience in particular with English food - a HM two days after coming back from London was a compete desaster ...

... keep on running ... ... and ciao, ciao Regina

RoadtoBoston

posted: 11/10/2006 at 10:44 PM

.....sleep and my state of mind.....oh, the the wind!

...twenty miles of hope, six miles of truth....

bas

posted: 11/11/2006 at 2:04 PM

Being (relatively) injury-free. For the last four months or so there are days when knee/achilles tendon give trouble, and there are days when they don't. I'm trying to keep myself from doing too much and too fast, and that seems to help. The days it does, the quality of the run feels much, much better... bas

52° 21' North, 4° 52' East

ABCGreys

My dogs are fast, not me

posted: 1/14/2007 at 10:04 AM

I've decided it's the humidity. My last two runs have sucked! It's 65 with 98% humidity, not quite raining and I feel like I'm slogging through mud with lead weights tied to my legs. I'm having a hard time with my breathing, too. This doesn't bode well for the summer....

Robin

trishierunner

esq.

posted: 1/14/2007 at 2:27 PM

I think weather in general ... 15+ miles in 80+ degree weather ... Dead

Now, give me 55 degrees and overcast ... perfect running weather Smile

2009: BQ?

Eddy

Slow-smooth-fast

posted: 1/16/2007 at 8:28 AM

It really comes down to what I eat for me. I always run about 7pm, so I make sure that I have some carbs for lunch and I am ready to go. It is sometimes hard a sI am following a strict weight loss program and the 2 dont always complement eachother. Sometimes i feel like I need a pick me up during the longer runs, so as advised from a previous thread I am going to take a handful of jelly beans with me.

"I've been following Eddy's improvement over the last two years on this site, and it's been pretty dang solid. Sure the weekly mileage has been up and down, but over the long haul he's getting out the door and has turned himself into quite a runner. He's only now just figuring out his potential. Consistency in running is measured in years, not weeks. And over the last couple of years, Eddy's made great strides" Jeff 14 Jan 2009

va

posted: 1/16/2007 at 11:34 AM

Great question/thread. For me, the greatest factor is probably rest, and a close second is nutrition.

XanaduStone

posted: 1/16/2007 at 2:11 PM

Probably sleep most affects my performance, but as for actual perceived Quality of run, I'd say whether I'm on a trail or not. Sure, I've had some very good runs on roads and paved bike paths, but I find that I can be running the same pace on a trail vs. pavement, and not only does it feel like I'm running faster on the trail, I feel smoother and more alert, it's more fun, my legs and feet feel better from not slapping the asphalt. I think that the surroundings and surface really improve all the other intangibles of my run. Dirt wooded trails are always great, and smooth grassy meadow trails make me inordinately happy. Big grin

I'm incredibly fortunate to have access to a lot of good trails where I live, I know for a lot of runners that's not the case.

kooky2003

Now that was a bath...

posted: 1/16/2007 at 2:30 PM

I didn't post on this one earlier because I was too new to comment but the last 10 weeks have taught me a lot about myself. For me a lot of it is mental. I pretty much know in the first 10 minutes of a run if I am going to find the whole thing easy and feel strong. What get's me that running mojo? I'm still working on that but I do know that my rest days have become important as I always come back feeling stronger. I too have been struggling with 90%+ humidity and it's taking some getting used to but I don't feel that it's affecting my performance too much. I do find that if I am not enjoying it I just smile through it and the smile tends to make me smile more! Someitmes I must look mad running down the road with a big wide grin on my face. I honestly think that if I had to pick one thing as the single greatest factor - it would have to be my state of mind. A happy Claire is one that runs well! Claire xxx

jlynnbob "HTFU, Kookie's distal tibia"

Where's my closet? I need to get back in it.

Bear_Poop

posted: 1/16/2007 at 2:47 PM

Quote from zoom-zoom on 10/25/2006 at 11:55 AM:

Mine is definitely sleep. Haven't slept well the last few nights (numerous factors, including &*^%^#%$#% cats) and today's run was just yucko. Felt stiff, no energy. Only was out for 45 minutes, but it felt like hours. Sucked, because the weather was actually quite nice, too (not a cloud in the sky, no wind, 35º) and I really could have enjoyed a leisurely run on a pretty morning. Whenever I don't sleep well I have miserable runs. Always. k

Hey don't bad mouth cats!! Cats are just small people. (Athough I have one that I have thought about ringing her neck, when she starts in screaming at 2 am................... But she is amost 17 an can't last much longer) Running after work is the pits!! I already get up at 3:45am so getting up earlier to run is NOT going to happen, but getting home at 4:40 PM and then go running is just the pits!! However once I get started I feel better and if the run is good then I feel great!! But getting started? I have said yet that it is the pits?

To paraphrase an old poster: Today is the first day of the rest of your training. It doesn’t matter where you started or how far you’ve come. Today is the day. Your training didn’t start 6 weeks ago. Your training started the last time you hit the road. John “the Penguin” Bingham Life is not tried, it is merely survived if you're standing outside the fire

Sockoni

posted: 1/18/2007 at 8:21 PM

I'm also pretty new to running (this time around) but have found that sleep is definately the biggest factor right now. Running completely rested can't be beat for me!! Smile

Markfive

Me and my gang in Breck

posted: 1/19/2007 at 8:41 PM

Diet is the biggest thing for me. I need to eat a lot of quality food and some dark chocolate the night before. The second thing is to rest my body. Not really sleep but recoperation from my last run. I don't like to run everyday. I like to run everyother day and maybe weight train the other days on my upper body. I don't run many short distances. I like to run long and I need time to recoup. Mark

That which does not kill us makes us stronger. Neitzsche "Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go." "Dedication and commitment are what transfer dreams into reality."

mikeymike

posted: 1/27/2007 at 1:34 PM
modified: 1/27/2007 at 2:30 PM

I'm changing my answer. From November through March, it's the wind. The wind is the single biggest factor in my running enjoyment, which normally also translates to quality. Boston is the windiest big city in America. A fact that drives itself home to us runners each winter. For the last couple of weeks, it seems that on every run I've been getting absolutely beat up by the wind--pretty normal for this time of year. Yesterday I went for a run with a few of my co-workers that was sumply about survival. It was 14F with a 20-40 mph wind. When we finished I said to my running buddy, "That wasn't too bad," trying to make the best of it, "but I wouldn't have wanted to be out there much longer than that." She agreed heartily. It was rough. Today, however, the wind was almost totally calm. It was 11F and snowing straight down. It was glorious. It was so comfortable and relaxed that it might as well have been a calm Spring day. I went for an easy run that was truly easy. So the wind is the single biggest factor in my running quality.

Runners run.

Bear_Poop

posted: 1/28/2007 at 1:22 PM

I must agree about the wind. Right now we are having a nice blow, of 20 mph with a temp of 14F. That makes a windchill of -1F!! Too cold to be out and sweating in!! Right now I amost wish the BS about global warming were true

To paraphrase an old poster: Today is the first day of the rest of your training. It doesn’t matter where you started or how far you’ve come. Today is the day. Your training didn’t start 6 weeks ago. Your training started the last time you hit the road. John “the Penguin” Bingham Life is not tried, it is merely survived if you're standing outside the fire

Ludvig1

posted: 2/2/2007 at 3:45 PM

NUTS! If I eat nuts earlier in the day, my run is always much better!

Vztavat a cvicit!

What is the single greatest factor on your running quality? (Read 1323 times)