Running

Tomorrow I have to wait in all day for a washing machine delivery- that said it might come at 08:01, then the rest of the day is less structured.

I like the sound of having quick run down the track to set some markers, I'll text you if the washing machine comes early- otherwise see you Sunday.

You've clearly never run 1500m then! It's horrible (in a good way!). I'll hang out here tomorrow till about 1pm, then I have to go and run some errands - but do text me if you can get away. It will be fun (but maybe not so much for you). Otherwise Sunday for sure.

got 53.1 vo2 on the bleep test whatever that means

Can anyone recommend one of those iphone holder thingies you put on your arm? Thanks!

Yes - get one, they're good. I got a lycra type one for £2 from Hong Kong from Fleabay - works perfectly.

I'm going to give this Run Keeper Pro app a go too. Would be nice to keep a log of my runs and to check progress. Going to test it out tonight in fact!

In the meantime you can always plot them manually on here. Then keep a log on one of the freeware progs - there's a bunch of them out there. Come to that you can manually enter the details into Garmin Training Centre - free, with mapping.

Any North Londoners fancy a 'running partner'?

I need to lose a stone and fancy running a few miles a week, couple of nights a week after work/weekends

PM me

G

I ran 4 miles on New Years day, which was fine, first time I've done any running for years so took it easy. Then made the mistake of doing a slow 3 miles the following morning, which absolutely crippled me, full on searing pain specific to calves (gastrocnemius?) and hamstrings for 24 hours. Not sure what I did wrong, I stretched and warmed up/down properly both days, and felt fine during the actual run, it was only after that the pain kicked in. Probably just terrible running technique right?

Shoes?
Stretch midway through?
(that one where you stretch the calf out by standing on the edge of a kerb)

I ran 4 miles on New Years day, which was fine, first time I've done any running for years so took it easy. Then made the mistake of doing a slow 3 miles the following morning, which absolutely crippled me, full on searing pain specific to calves (gastrocnemius?) and hamstrings for 24 hours. Not sure what I did wrong, I stretched and warmed up/down properly both days, and felt fine during the actual run, it was only after that the pain kicked in. Probably just terrible running technique right?

Exact same thing happened to me late summer- soleus I think, underneath the gastroc.

Apparently unused by cyclists, so very easy to overwork.

I worked on strengthening calves in general for a few months, then went running again- and so far it's been ok.

Shoes?
Stretch midway through?
(that one where you stretch the calf out by standing on the edge of a kerb)

Shoes are brand new £££ dealies bought very cheap in the sale at a tri shop. Didn't think about stretching halfway through, good point.

I worked on strengthening calves in general for a few months, then went running again- and so far it's been ok.

Makes sense, will factor something in about it at gym, enjoyed my two short runs so definitely want to keep going with it.

Apparently unused by cyclists, so very easy to overwork.

This^

Cycling and running use surprisingly different muscles.

I ran 4 miles on New Years day, which was fine, first time I've done any running for years so took it easy. Then made the mistake of doing a slow 3 miles the following morning, which absolutely crippled me, full on searing pain specific to calves (gastrocnemius?) and hamstrings for 24 hours. Not sure what I did wrong, I stretched and warmed up/down properly both days, and felt fine during the actual run, it was only after that the pain kicked in. Probably just terrible running technique right?

Don't panic, probably just Doms. Calf strength is good anyway - toe-ups on the stairs is good.

7 miles in 24 hours or so after years off is not going to go un-noticed! Rest for a couple of days - mebbe swim or take a decent walk, then go out again - you're improvement rate will be very encouraging!

I always find walking with a back pack, uphill, gives a nicely balanced strength workout. Never been a fan of muscle specific gym workouts, for my legs. Dont have any scientific reasoning for this though.

I agree. I work calves into daily routine. Quick 10 lifts when going up the stairs. Couple of hundred when showering/shaving in the morning, and so on. Sounds (and looks) comic, but makes a difference surprisingly quickly.

I agree. I work calves into daily routine. Quick 10 lifts when going up the stairs. Couple of hundred when showering/shaving in the morning, and so on. Sounds (and looks) comic, but makes a difference surprisingly quickly.

I do the same. I have small kids so have zero spare time. Although it is handy to have one of the toddlers sat on my shoulders when doing calve workouts. Plus when the aim is to build strength more than bulk, repeatition is the key.

I should write a book of exercises you can do, using toddlers as weights.

I can do the same. 50 reps of 4 year old, 30 reps of 8 year old.

More seriously, it's also easy you exercise the calves when riding if you try. Similarly, it's very easy to use them almost not at all if you're not careful. Long steady climb, stay in the saddle and make conscious effort to push the calves.

Did a lot of that last summer after injury. Make a big difference to my uphill running speed too - much more off my toes than flat plodding as previously.

Do it like they did in the 70's

I ran a lot through 2008 while training for my RM application, everything was going well but I ended up getting a searing pain down the front of my lower leg, google suggests the Tibialis Anterior?

It got to the point where I couldn't actually run on it any more, I was thinking it might be shin splints? I quite fancy doing some running again, especially as I'm teetotal for a while.

Sounds like shin splints, yes.

Just did a PB for 5 miles, good start to the year! Also tried out Runkeeper Pro. Seems alright and gives pretty accurate route data (obvs depends on GPS signal) but its slowwwww to use on my phone at least (HTC Wildfire) but thats probably cos its a crap phone. Seems pretty worth £zero though.

If you have some dosh, consider a Forerunner 305. Top bit of kit for running and cycling alike, if you don't need on-board mapping. There is a new model out, and they can be had for a steal (Amazon). Linked to Garmin Connect, you have all you'll need for about £100.

My legs KILL after Mondays efforts. Why oh why did I decided to be bone idle for weeks?

i quite like to run. well if i have to but its very enjoyable when i do. I just don't do it for sport reasons. I wish i could run for sports reasons though, but i;d end up going somewhere and then the reason for running in the first place would change.

Something in my ankle went "Spang!" this afternoon- whilst I was carrying a sack of rubble.

It has annoyingly put paid to any further running until it gets better though, as otherwise I'd be inviting trouble.

This was yesterday (Garmin 305 with reference to BigTwin's comment above):

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/61958502

5.2 miles in 45 mins, felt strong- like I could have pushed the pace a bit, but decided to stick to cruising.

I run with HRM and stopwatch. Can't see the point in using kit to tell me where I've run, when I was the one who ran it in the first place. Used Nokia Sportstracker a few times, but it sucked the battery and told me little more than I already knew about where I was running. Sometimes use mapmyride/google/others to plot routes to work out rough distance and ascent figures etc, but IMO Garmin etc are exploiting a "nice to have" niche.