February Runs

[Anelia]

It's already February and the weather is perfect for running: cold temperatures, snow, sleet, ice. Of course, it's nothing that would stop us.
Today I ran 7,5 mile according to Garmin and 8,3 miles according to Sportstracker.
At first I felt very heavy and miserable on the uphill but then I got better on the flat.

[skhill]

I'm afraid it stopped me! Very snowy and icy and cold. I was going to go to the gym and hop on the treadmill, but changed my mind when I saw a police car sliding down the street when I took my dog out for her first piddle of the day. It's been a crazy week, warm enough to run outside in shorts on Monday and Tuesday, then too stormy to even get to the gym on Wednesday, very cold and windy on Thursday, and now 6F and icy on Friday. I am going to run on Saturday, even if I have to walk to the gym. (Yeah walking to the gym to use the treadmill is a bit weird....)

I'm not liking winter this year.

[indysteel]

Anelia, if I remember correctly from a past thread, you don't run all that often. You sure kick butt when you do! It's like pulling teeth for me to increase my average distance beyond the 10k mark.

Skhill, I feel your pain. This past week sucked in Indiana, too. I'm ready for spring.

[Anelia]

That's right, Indysteel, I run once a week. First my challenge was to beat 10 miles because my military students said that women CAN'T run. I said "watch me!"and I ran it with motivation to beat this misconseption. After having run 15 km, there are 3 or 4 to get home without calling my husband to pick me up. So I did this as my furthest distance. After running almost 20 k, it's not something difficult to run half of it.
At the beginning my HR was very high even with a light jog but now I can sustain even 130 and keep running. What I lack is speed and I have to work on shorter but more intensive runs but today was not the day: I felt heavy and slow...

[Artista]

Are you implying that it's not normal to feel heavy and slow while running In all seriousness, I always feel that way for the first 20 minutes. After a 20 minute warm up, I feel like I have wings on my heels. I'm hoping that it will take me less time to warm up as my body adjusts to running regularly.

[Anelia]

Thanks for comforting me, Artista It's not only me, then. What is more, when I go out, I have to climb a 3 km hill with ascend about 200 m so that I am in the forest nd strart running the flat part. Maybe it's not a good idea to start with a climb before warming up but this is the terrain we have...

[indysteel]

Wow; you have students who believe women can't run? I know women continue to face barriers in sport because of people's unfounded perceptions, but I thought we had at least established a heck of a long time ago that we can run for pete's sake. That's really sad.

In any event, I find it darn impressive that you can do 10-mile run with your training consisting of only one run a week. Good for you.

Artista, my legs don't feel heavy immediately into a run, but I hit a bit of a wall at the 2-3-mile mark. Once I'm past that, I feel better; it's just a question of going past three miles. If memory serves, people have indicated in past running threads on TE that they don't feel really warmed up until they've done 3-5 miles--depending on the person. These are people who have been running a long time, so I'm not sure it necessarily gets better with time. You just get better at running through it, which is what I'm finding. I used to just give up by the time I hit three miles. Now I have at least enough stamina--although, again, it's been like pulling teeth--to get to the 5-6 mark. I know it'll keep getting better, but I'm in awe of anybody who can run an hour or more on a regular basis. It's hard work.

[Artista]

Anelia, my terrain sounds similar to yours, although I'm not sure that mine is quite as steep at the beginning. My hill consists of long gradual climbs sprinkled with short steep climbs until I get to the top. Since my doctor suggested "easing" back into running after having ankle hardware removed, I'm indulging myself by walking the first 5 minutes, then walking all of the steep stuff as well as small sections of the gradual hills until I get to the top. I should be able to go all out by the end of February but I'm sure that I'll still have to do a lot of run/walk on my uphill warm up.

Indy, now that you mention it, I do remember seeing posts by conditioned runners about not feeling warmed up for the first 3-5 miles. I'm running on single track trails with varying amounts of hills and rocky sections that slow me down. I tend to track my runs by time rather than distance since I can't maintain an even speed. So maybe taking 20 minutes to feel warmed up isn't as out of the ordinary as I thought it was.

[Crankin]

This why I have a love/hate relationship with running. I never get past the heavy feeling, because I am running 3 miles, with hills. Even the few times i ran 4, at first I felt heavy, then OK for like 2 minutes, then tired or something would be annoying me with pain. I don't have too much pain from anything now, but given that I need at least 30 minutes to feel decent on the bike, I know I'm a slow to warm up type. And that's been since the beginning, not just in my "advanced" age.
It annoys me that running seems so easy for some people.

[Artista]

But Crankin, think of how many people may be "annoyed" that YOU can ride and run as "easily" as you do. Perceptions are relative

[OakLeaf]

Dang, Anelia, nice work! I hope you've shut your students up!

I warm up reasonably quick, but you know running did NOT come easy to me. Chi Running literally changed my life. Before I learned Chi Running, I could go three, maybe four miles on a soft surface and pound myself so hard my shoulders would be aching by the end of it. I'm still working on form all the time. And I, too, envy people who can naturally run light and easy ... the way most of us did as children.

I actually got back on the road bike today for a slow easy 22 to spin my legs out. Can I say that in the running thread?

[indysteel]

I have really wanted to attend a chi running workshop, but none of them have been offered in a time and/or location that works for me. I hope someday to fit it in. I think I've managed to incorporate some of the concepts, but I need actual instruction to get it right.

[yellow]

Short but pointed article about Kathrine Switzer about women & running.

http://www.runnersworld.com/general-...y-just-started

We will continue to prove people like Anelia's students wrong! If we've come this far in 40 years, imagine what things will be like in another 40!

[indysteel]

Five treadmill miles today at a slightly faster pace than usual. I felt really good and was aiming for six, but the treadmills were all in use by then, and I was well past the half hour limit as it was. Maybe tomorrow.

[rocknrollgirl]

Hi All,
I have not posted much on here in ages, but I still stop by and lurk. I read this most recent running thread this morning before I went out for my own run, and I really wanted to post a few words of encouragement to those of you that have a love/hate relationship with running.

I have only been running more seriously for about 7 years. I dabbled before that but got more focused when I started doing triathlons again 7 years ago. I am an adult runner. This is not something that I did in college and am now I am coming back to it. When I started I "worked" to get up to 30 mins. I felt slow, and heavy footed and like I was invading the territory of the real runners.

Today I just got back from a 2 hour trail run. Running comfortably takes time and consistency. Not every run will be fabuluos. As a matter of fact Thursday I spent most of my time on the trail bent over with my hands on my knees, It happens. But it does get better, and it does get easier. It just takes time. One year ago, an hour was my long run and I trained up to make the 13.1 for the Half Ironman I was training for. Now an hour is what we do on a Tuesday.

Will I ever be a 7:30 min miler? No. And that is ok. I am ok with that. What I will be is someone that has come to really enjoy running. If you are feeling creaky and poundy on the road, find a trail or rail trail. It is a whole different animal. Much softer on the joints and very restorative for your soul. Plus the nice thing about trail running is that pacing goes out the window and you just run. Like the wild woman you are meant to be.

If I can start this at 44 and learn to love it in my fabulous 50's, there is hope for almost anybody.

Slow and steady, consistency and patience.....


OK, so now my run from today:
10 miles on the trails
1:54
12 degrees when we started
19 degrees when we finished

Cheers!

Ruth