Alright - let's get started!
My own little road HM this morning. Second half went much better than the first half. Seemed that concentrating on form and arm movement really helps get the legs going (go figure . . . ).
Hope you're all having a great Sunday.
Leslie Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain -------------
Trail Runner Nation
Sally McCrae-Choose Strong
Bare Performance
11 miles on the trails. Fell once in the mud. Gorgeous fall day in the northeast, golden leaves and sun. Life is good. Ankle 100%. See ya.
"Run slowly, run daily, drink in moderation, and don't eat like a pig" Dr. Ernst Van Aaken. Sorry ultrasteve.
Bacon Party!
Well, now that I know I *might* be welcome too - even though I'm not on the Extreme Team...
Had a BLAST this weekend - 5 hours on the trails after more than 3 months away (due to injury and approaching goal road race). Took on every up-hill I could find. Spent a couple of hours making mincemeat of a series of switchbacks - both up and down.
What the heck was I thinking?! Why did I stay away so long?!
Life is good.
Liz
pace sera, sera
Fell once in the mud.
Hence, the title of the thread. Glad the ankle's feeling 100%.
Liz - Naw, we're not as extreme as people think we are. Very nice that your return to the trails went so well. Oh, and welcome!
Well you can see by my previous thread I did 16 miles today through the rain, fog and winds that were raging across the South of the UK this morning. A tough old course over some vicious trail hills and woods, tripped on a rabbit hole but seem to be OK with a little twinge in the muscles of the lower back but should be OK.
Jerry A runners blog-updated daily
Well, now that I know I *might* be welcome too - even though I'm not on the Extreme Team... Had a BLAST this weekend - 5 hours on the trails after more than 3 months away (due to injury and approaching goal road race). Took on every up-hill I could find. Spent a couple of hours making mincemeat of a series of switchbacks - both up and down.What the heck was I thinking?! Why did I stay away so long?!Life is good.
Was that 5 hours out of the blue, or did you build back up? If not, that's a heck of a return to running.
Oy mate, aren't they called conies over there? And, fell running instead of trail running? From what I understand, fell running is big over there. Verdad?
Yep conies...damn wild rabbits, as long as they don't dig burrows where I intend to tread they're OK.
Fell running is more for northern England due to the mountainous regions and categorised by
Heh! That was 5 hours over 2 days - 3 Saturday, 2 Sunday. I'm just rolling off (road) marathon training into ultra training. And, yeah... it was probably a bit much for a return to the trails (I'll let you know tomorrow or Tuesday); but, I'm not one to under-do!
I was just having so much fun (despite Saturday's weather - winds 25-40mph, rain showers), I didn't want to stop.
Leslie - thank you (and you too, Buddo) for the welcome.
Happy
20 trail miles today. Test-running new Nathan running vest with front pockets for the small stuff, keys, gels, electrolyte tabs, etc. - the vest did not rub or chafe any skin eventhough I ran with nothing but a running bra under it. This is good news - I will use it for my next ultra.
_
Surprised that my achilles and lower calf muscles held up as well as they did. Ran tentatively slow/comfortably - especially while warming up and the first 10 miles. After that I found myself running a little better than I thought I could and it made me feel energized to realize that I was doing fairly well. I knew I had to get home at 12 noon so I had a time limit. I hoped to be able to put 20 miles in. I ended up at 19.85 - pretty close, close enough and I was happy when I drove home with how well things had gone.
This past week I returned to what kept me injury free all summer, namely, running only 3 days per week - taking a day or two off between running days. In order to get keep the total mileage high it requires running minimum 10 miles on each of the running days. This can be difficult as it requires more time than I seem able to create or carve out - but it works much better for me in terms of staying injury free than trying to run every day or 5-6 days per week. Yesterday, I walked 5 miles during my sons swim-lessons. I think I may try to walk on the non-running days - it may help me recover and it may even give me something aerobically?! I don't know.
Ran all 20 miles in my Brooks Cascadia today. I love the way they feel on my feet. Isn't it typical that you start to love your shoes right as they are ready to be replaced? In fact, I have already bought a replacement trail shoe and a new road running shoe for my upcoming road marathon. Don't like any of the new ones nearly as well as the Brooks.
So the vest worked well? I'm thinking I might have to try one.
Test-ran my new Amphipod Full-tilt single-bottle belt this weekend. They say it's designed to be worn low, but I just can't get that to work - always bounces and creeps up. So, I found a place where the belt was happy and bounce-free - thought life was good. Then, that evening, I found that I was bruised all the way around my lowest ribs - WTF?
Have any other women gotten a belt like this to work? How do you do it?
under a rock
This past week I returned to what kept me injury free all summer, namely, running only 3 days per week - taking a day or two off between running days. In order to get keep the total mileage high it requires running minimum 10 miles on each of the running days. This can be difficult as it requires more time than I seem able to create or carve out - but it works much better for me in terms of staying injury free than trying to run every day or 5-6 days per week. Yesterday, I walked 5 miles during my sons swim-lessons. I think I may try to walk on the non-running days - it may help me recover and it may even give me something aerobically?! I don't know._
I'll be interested in following your progress. I'm a big fan of keeping my running to 3 days a week so I can recover better between runs. I usually swim once or twice a week on my non run days and also do yoga and strength on those days as well. Sunday is always my full rest day where the only thing I do it IT band maintenance.
The vest worked very well. In fact I almost love it
I have an amphipod running belt with a horizontal bottle that is supposed to easily slide in and out and not bounce on your butt/back. Well, I just don't seem to cut it with that device. It has to be tightened very snug around my waist in order not to bounce much - when I run with it tight like that the belt carves into my skin and leaves me bloody at the end of the day. If I wore a shirt that fit into my shorts or jeans with no skin showing the belt probably wouldn't cut into me but I often run with bare mid-riff as I feel good with the air cooling me. I also think carrying a whole bottle of water there is heavy/uncomfortable. In addition, I think the amphipod bottles are hard to seal completely and they often leak a little, I hate the water dripping on my legs especially if there is anything else in the water, for example Nuun Tablets.
Runslikeagirl,
Thanks for your encouragement. I wish I could swim or run in the water - I get yeast infections from the chlorinated pool water. I do like to go to the gym and use some of the equipment there once in a while - sometimes some stationary bike riding, sometimes elliptical (this causes some stress on the achilles/heel, that I don't always need), also like to work the upper body with some weight lifting. Recently I have started to walk some - it just doesn't feel like I get much "bang for the buck" when walking; but I may be wrong about the possible benefits from it. I would like to know if anyone else uses walking as additional cardio exercise?
What do you think the swimming does for your running?
I use the Ultimate Strider, which is made to fit a woman's body. It has a side pouch that, as small as it looks, does hold quite a bit. I don't use my pack unless there's no option of, on training runs, to refill my bottles, or during a race, there's no availability for drop bags. I don't like the weight on my back, especially when it's hot.
Re other cardio - Not only is it helpful maintaining your cardio fitness, but when you bike, swim - whatever - you use muscles that aren't being used when you run, which is important for total fitness. The elliptial is too much like running, in my opinion, so swimming or biking are good alternatives. You can always turn a regular bike into stationary bike by adding a trainer, and if you do some looking on the Internet, you can find a good one for around $100 new, and on eBay I've seen them as low as $35.
If you're going to ride a bike trainer a lot, it's worth the extra money to get a fluid trainer. They are SO much quieter... which is nice if you want to watch TV or listen to music while you ride.
I think walking is a *great* adjunct to running. I decided in March to start "streaking"... running every day, but I tailored my streak in such a way that I'm allowed to run, walk, or hike for a minimum of 30 min a day. That allows me recovery days, when I need them. I missed one day in Sept because of H1N1, but I'm at 245 of 246 days now and love it. It's been so good for my consistency, which has always been a huge problem.