The official running thread™

The_MAC said:
The males do it in roughly 3min/km - it's basically a normal persons "sprint"
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I sometimes feel like it's an entirely different sport. :X3: A guy I went to school with is pretty talented, one year he ran his 14th or 15th Comrades, got his Silver, and had enough time to drive back to Cowies hill to cheer on the majority of the field coming through Cowies hill.:eek:
 
Cray said:
I sometimes feel like it's an entirely different sport. :X3: A guy I went to school with is pretty talented, one year he ran his 14th of 15th Comrades, got his Silver, and had enough time to drive back to Cowies hill to cheer on the majority of the field coming through Cowies hill.:eek:
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I hate people like that, especially the ones that work, have kids and a social life - bloody mutants
 
Jehosefat said:
Was training flat out for half Ironman Durban in June but then I got the rona 5 days before the race :crying: Couldn't do any exercise for basically 2 months without my heart rate going through the roof. Been focusing on cycling for the last 6 weeks though because I've got a 500km/6day MTB tour starting next weekend. Will try get back into the running once I'm back.

The rona killed my fitness though FTP down from 3.4 W/kg to maybe 2.9 W/kg and VO2Max down from 59 to 51 (although both were back up to 3.1 W/kg and 56 this weekend so getting some of it back).
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I got it in Nov 2020. It hit me very hard, had to go to hospital for a week. I'm only 36 years old, one of the unlucky ones. I had a VO2Max of 47 before the rona and it knocked it down to 32 :( huge long term damage to my lungs.

Currently I'm back to VO2Max of 43 after all this time and very consistent training.

Such a bummer.
 
Anyone here sometimes struggle with sticking to easy runs? My easy run time is roughly 7min/km but lately been pushing it too much. Perhaps it's impatience or it's looking at friends times and wanting to push more.
 
RunningFromFat said:
Anyone here sometimes struggle with sticking to easy runs? My easy run time is roughly 7min/km but lately been pushing it too much. Perhaps it's impatience or it's looking at friends times and wanting to push more.
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I never had that issue until I joined stupid Strava, now I find myself sprinting everywhere, trying to break World Records.. Always conscious of the silent judging by my 4 followers..
 
RunningFromFat said:
Anyone here sometimes struggle with sticking to easy runs? My easy run time is roughly 7min/km but lately been pushing it too much. Perhaps it's impatience or it's looking at friends times and wanting to push more.
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The_MAC said:
I never had that issue until I joined stupid Strava, now I find myself sprinting everywhere, trying to break World Records.. Always conscious of the silent judging by my 4 followers..
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This, you compare your stats to other people and then push harder. I make that mistake constantly.
 
AlmightyBender said:
I got it in Nov 2020. It hit me very hard, had to go to hospital for a week. I'm only 36 years old, one of the unlucky ones. I had a VO2Max of 47 before the rona and it knocked it down to 32 :( huge long term damage to my lungs.

Currently I'm back to VO2Max of 43 after all this time and very consistent training.

Such a bummer.
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****, sorry man. That's rough.

I didn't even get it badly. 3 days of fever and two weeks of serious fatigue and body aches but that was pretty much it.
 
RunningFromFat said:
Anyone here sometimes struggle with sticking to easy runs? My easy run time is roughly 7min/km but lately been pushing it too much. Perhaps it's impatience or it's looking at friends times and wanting to push more.
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I know the feeling, but occasionally there's a certain Slowpoke I go running with (on security detail) once in a while which solves that issue for me... :)

When I go running alone I tend to push a bit too much from time to time...
 
I was very lucky with Covid; I was sick for a week, like a rough cold/sinusitis, but managed to walk every second day, and only lost 15K off my monthly target.
 
RunningFromFat said:
Anyone here sometimes struggle with sticking to easy runs? My easy run time is roughly 7min/km but lately been pushing it too much. Perhaps it's impatience or it's looking at friends times and wanting to push more.
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I assume you're following some sort of programme that is at least somewhat aligned to your goals.

It might be helpful to remind yourself of the purpose of your slow runs and the benefits they provide to your overall goals - training your aerobic fitness, endurance and/or recovery. Look at the big picture and focus on slowing down.

Remember also in fitness, more is not always more. Training different aspects of fitness and incorporating recovery when appropriate will yield the best results.
 
On the topic of VO2 Max, I was doing great (for me) earlier this year. I did a few 21s and managed to get a 52 min 10K.

The the dr took me off of my blood pressure (beta blockers) meds in April. Since then its gone downhill. I went from a VO2 Max of 47 to 38 in just a week. My HR is so high that I can barely do a 7min/km without getting my HR above 160. Super frustrating. Im trying to stick to below 160 for my relaxed runs, which is crazy.

I went for 2 EKGs and the are happy with how my ticker is behaving and my BP looks close to perfect. soooooo for now I have to adapt. They told me it will get better with time, but its now September and Im really not where I want to be.

Im kinda getting back to some sort of fitness leve, but I really have days where my HR is not behaving and I have to slow down to a walk to keep it away from 180.

Planning to get a second opinion soon but yeah, really missing my long runs.
 
On the same topic, my VO2Max estimate according to my Apple Watch was at 50,3 in mid August... since then my perception is that my fitness level has increased, as I am able to run faster and longer distances with less effort, but yet the readings have gone down to 49,4... I can only assume it has to do with my weight loss which went up slightly before it dropped by 2Kgs on average during the past few weeks. Body fat percentage also went down, which implies VO2Max should be higher, but I guess with smartwatches, they don't always get it right.
 
OnlyOneKenobi said:
On the same topic, my VO2Max estimate according to my Apple Watch was at 50,3 in mid August... since then my perception is that my fitness level has increased, as I am able to run faster and longer distances with less effort, but yet the readings have gone down to 49,4... I can only assume it has to do with my weight loss which went up slightly before it dropped by 2Kgs on average during the past few weeks. Body fat percentage also went down, which implies VO2Max should be higher, but I guess with smartwatches, they don't always get it right.
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Apple has my VO2Max as 41 while Garmin says 47. I know which one I choose to believe :)
 
Tracking VO2 is a mess. It's just an indication. My VO2 has also gone down even though my mileage is consistently up.

@karnuffel : I'm not on any medication or anything but Im in the same position as you. My average H/R has gone up but that could be due to warmer weather, more elevation and longer distances. I ran at 157bpm yesterday but was 6:58 min/km which is mean't to be an easy run for me.
 
You can actually go and do a V02 max test at the sports science institute in Newlands, for not too much money. The question is do you really want to know the true figure. It's mostly genetic, you can improve a bit with exercise, but if you are coming of the couch with and register a 40, I'm afraid you have no bright future as an endurance athlete. no amount of training will put you into the 70s or 80s. (where the elites live)

If you are a keen athlete and actually performing reasonably well, and it comes back in the 40s and 50s, then it will mentally limit you to a life of middle of the pack performances. Maybe it comes back in the 70s, highlighting that you are not really slow, just lazy.
 
Got new running shoes recently and they are comfortable - I certainly don't experience any discomfort, and these shoes are much kinder to impact on my knees... however my middle toes seem to be taking quite a bit of damage... blood blisters on the tip of the toe and even under the toenail. I'm not even sure whether it's because of pressure or friction... there isn't much pain at all, it just looks kind of terrible.
 
OnlyOneKenobi said:
Got new running shoes recently and they are comfortable - I certainly don't experience any discomfort, and these shoes are much kinder to impact on my knees... however my middle toes seem to be taking quite a bit of damage... blood blisters on the tip of the toe and even under the toenail. I'm not even sure whether it's because of pressure or friction... there isn't much pain at all, it just looks kind of terrible.
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I have no experience like this but do you get your shoes from the places that check your running style on the treadmil? I did that and my shoes are perfect, I should've bought more than one pair.
 
RunningFromFat said:
I have no experience like this but do you get your shoes from the places that check your running style on the treadmil? I did that and my shoes are perfect, I should've bought more than one pair.
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Nope, really only recently started running seriously, so got them from Sportsmanswarehouse... one of the reps went through a checklist of sorts and checked that they fit correctly - which apparently they did. Got them mainly because A. they had my size (size 13) and B. they absorb impact better than my other "running"shoes.

They cost a pretty penny, so it would be unfortunate if I had to get other shoes at this stage. I suppose I can bandage my feet up a bit.

Even finding casual or work shoes is a challenge when you wear 13s.
 
RunningFromFat said:
Tracking VO2 is a mess. It's just an indication. My VO2 has also gone down even though my mileage is consistently up.

@karnuffel : I'm not on any medication or anything but Im in the same position as you. My average H/R has gone up but that could be due to warmer weather, more elevation and longer distances. I ran at 157bpm yesterday but was 6:58 min/km which is mean't to be an easy run for me.
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Have you got intervals or sprints in your program? They can help boost your aerobic capacity (VO2 Max.)

If you are sustaining a faster pace but your heart rate has increased, this may indicate that you have improved your anaerobic threshold - this is also a good thing as it means you can run at a higher intensity whilst still using your aerobic energy system which is what you want for endurance.
 
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