Running

@philpub where dya get a lung capacity test? Intrigued

Are there any good guides to stretching/warming up before running? I'm a total novice and can't seem to go for a run without hurting myself, I think it could be because I'm not preparing properly.

Don't stretch cold, walk / gentle jog a bit before stretching. Probably lots of stretches on runnersworld or similar.

In my mind I was like, wait but Ciq never listens to music when running, then I was like "ooooooh"

metaphors!

I agree stretching before a run isn't a good idea. If I'm feeling particularly creaky before a run I might do some light dynamic stretching rather than holding static stretches (knees up to chest, kick back to warm up the hip flexors, that sort of thing) but other than that my warm-up just involves starting off with a very gentle jog and gradually increasing pace as things loosen up. If things are still hurting after a gentle warm-up you might want to see a physio.

@_Leon - It's a study at the University of Kent in Gillingham. If you're interested, ping me a PM and I'll forward the e-mail.

Stretching is a waste of time when you could be running - if you've got an extra 10 minutes when you're tempted to stretch, just run more instead.

#iamnotaphysio #iamconstantlyinjured

@HatBeard once told me stretching was a no no. He got particularly annoyed when some race organisers (can't remember which one) were running entrants through a stretch routine before kick off.

^ they did that to each 'wave' at Survival of the Fittest, also happens at Manchester 10km. All part of the 'mass participation' experience that gets folks off the sofa and taking part.

Stretching before exercise: an evidence based approach

tl;dr well conducted, large randomised control trial supports findings of critical review of literature, that stretching before exercise does not reduce the risk of injury.

Neither is there any good evidence that it increases the risk of injury.

Do Nothing!

I'm in my 2nd month of doing nothing.

Running is so 2015.

Trust me, you have many hidden gains now.

I am getting really bad knee pain when walking up and down the stairs at work. I haven't even been running anywhere ffs. Any advice for magically fixing it before my HM on Sunday?

its called pre race nerves.

some people have had legs amputated because of them.

Stretching is a waste of time when you could be running - if you've got an extra 10 minutes when you're tempted to stretch, just run more instead.

#iamnotaphysio #iamconstantlyinjured

Run more. Wear less. Choose life.

OK but it's very stabby. Can I just take loads of painkillers beforehand or is that frowned upon?

I would say painkillers aren't a good idea because if something does go wrong with you in the race you're going to want to know about it. Painkillers might dull the sensation until you do some permanent damage. Pain is your bodies way of saying stop doing this thing.

honestly up to you, but I see a lot of people developing everything from a cold to torn ligaments, sometimes these are real, but its often in ones head, if you can forget about it as much as possible, and move on then you'll either break yourself or be fine.

Take the lift at work for the rest of the week? You do work on the 12th floor after all.

Not meaning to come across as unhelpful or having a go, but if I recall correctly you've in the last few months gone from essentially no running all the way to a half marathon?

In my experience, overuse injuries don't always correlate to workouts I've done short term, but have generally correlated well to longer-term mileage increases. Rest followed by gradual re-building of exercise duration has always worked.

Standard hashtags: #iamnotaphysio #iamconstantlyinjured #anecdotal

Good luck for the HM and I hope your pain subsides.

Went to a club session this evening - I was shown a map with four routes and asked which one I wanted to do, I said I'd do the shortest (was feeling a bit apprehensive) and someone was beckoned over to lead my little group of one. She said "oh for fuck's sake, this is my worst nightmare, urgh"
So that was a really nice welcome.
She did apologise to me at the end, but hmm.

Nah that was back in December, when I did 200km, that was fine. I did about 75km last month and have done maybe 10km so far in March :/

I think it's probably my deeply impractical work shoes + crappy half SPD pedals, which is not actually a great combination for a relatively hilly fixed commute.

@hats is probably onto something with the lift suggestion though I will be sad to lose my average of 30 flights of stairs climbed a day in my health app :(

And thank you also!

@hats what was the distance 1 km?

It's hard to say to people to HTFU but sometimes we have to front it