DFW Running Club!!

becky_rtw

Oooo thanks for the help guys... I'm restrained for time on my weekday runs (its too work and back), but I can do extra by going slightly longer routes! I like the idea of doing 100m extra a day.

Yes I know Rich I can't stop already - I love it! If I don't go for two days I feel so twitchy...

RichOneday_2

becky_rtw wrote: »

Oooo thanks for the help guys... I'm restrained for time on my weekday runs (its too work and back), but I can do extra by going slightly longer routes! I like the idea of doing 100m extra a day.

Yes I know Rich I can't stop already - I love it! If I don't go for two days I feel so twitchy...

Becky,
I've just read your post again and noticed the bulk of your runs are at 3 miles.

Its a bit of a puzzle that a lot of academics can't really work out but there's something known as a 'training effect threshold' which for some unknown reason is around the 4 mile mark.

Below this, you could run 3 miles every day of the week and hit a plateau very quickly. You get fit, and feel great, but your body doesn't accept greater workloads very easily.

Once over the training effect threshold its a bit like managing to push a boulder over the top of a hill and, hey presto, suddenly progress becomes easy.

So, however you can manage it you need to try to make the bulk of your runs hit the 4 - 4.5 mile mark and longer runs will just get longer. Your body will almost demand them.

becky_rtw

Hi Rich,

Wow thanks for that...okay that shouldn't be a problem as I run in central London so I can always do extra blocks/longer routes (just need to get up a bit earlier...).

I did two 5.25 miles one after the other on the bank holiday and that was very hard, but that was countryside running with a few large hills so I'm hoping it will be easier on city flat runs!

Okay I'm off to google a longer route for the way home tonight! Cheers for all your help - I'll let you know how I get on tomorrow!

Thanks,
Becky_rtw

(Land_of)_Maz

not sure about the technical aspects of upping your running distance but www.mapmyrun.co.uk is supposed to be the best planner for routes...

it works for me, and i'm a bit thick!

On a personal note i find when i've had enough, about the 1 mile mark! i bring my already slow paced run down to no more than a jiggy walk really, enough to get me the recovery without actually feeling as if i've walked to recover...

then i up my pace again to go slow maz pace... i.e. my running pace...

works for me as well as a walk break but psychologically it feels better...

RichOneday_2

Hey Maz, please accept a big thanks for that site, never seen it before.

Just found out the 6 mile loop I've been doing is 6.71 miles!!!!

beer_tins

Yes, Rich is right, I didn't take offence Maz! I never thought that you thought I should be!

RE training thresholds, I found this to be a purely mental thing. My morning runs are restricted to 5.5-6km (3.5 - 4 miles) as that's the time between the park opening and me needing to be home and cooled of to shower and get ready for work. I'm generally good for more though.

I found that adding a half km at the start of a fortnight and keeping it up worked for me.

If you're getting to the end of your normal run you've been doing for ages and think you're getting knackered, have a think to yourself?

1) Are my legs more tired than they were 1km ago?
2) Is my breathing/heartrate heavier than 1km ago?
3) Is my energy running low (unlikely if you're running for less than an hour)?

The answers are probably "no". It's your mind telling you that's the distance you're used to, but there's no reason you can't push it further until your energy/legs/breathing actually do noticeably get worse. You'll probably find it's a lot further than you thought.

I've got to say, I hate the start of my runs, when my breathing is getting heavier etc. but I find that once I'm into my rhythm and breathing/heartrate etc. is steady I'm a lot happier. A lot of people have that feeling at the start and so think "I can't do this", even though it's completely normal for everyone and they simply aren't used to the feeling. Don't forget heavy breathing is good (being "out of breath" isn't!).

But I'm rambling now...

becky_rtw

Hi Beinerts,

Its usually no to all 3 for me on my weekday runs...but I do try to run very fast one day a week and then its yes!

Its the weekend ones that kill me, but just need to get into doing more in the weekday ones - don't know why I'd never thought of running a longer way round - HAHA

I find the start hard to - today was terrible, I havent run since Sat because I have been moving house and it decided to be monsoon season in London this morning!

Okay have mapped out a 4.25 to start with tonight! Lets hope I dont get lost...

(Land_of)_Maz

Thanks beinerts... i think it was the use of my "nothing to be ashamed of" that seemed less than impressed, when i was very very very impressed....

I agree, that when you get to the normal end point of anything your brain tells you "thanks a lot, i'm done" - whether it be running, or driving home from work, working past your normal finish time at work... it's not that you can't, it's just that your brain doesn't like it......

My breathing is pants almost immediately but it never gets worse, in fact at times it gets so much better.. i laugh and say to myself "oooh get you, you're in the zone" which i suppose is what it is! Allbeit the zone is a short lived space in my world!!

glad the website is helpful, but i'm only sharing something i was probably told about on here paaages ago, or on runnersworld website!

beer_tins

Not meaning to be crude (ignore and don't answer if you think it is), but do any of you get a kind of "post sex" afterglow feeling when they push themselves on a hard run? I believe it's the same high (through endorphins?) and I really got it after my run on Sunday. No wonder a lot of runners get cranky if they don't get their fix!

I think this should be much more widely publicised, it could well be the best weapon we have in fighting the nation's obesity!

RichOneday_2

beinerts wrote: »

Not meaning to be crude (ignore and don't answer if you think it is), but do any of you get a kind of "post sex" afterglow feeling when they push themselves on a hard run? I believe it's the same high (through endorphins?) and I really got it after my run on Sunday. No wonder a lot of runners get cranky if they don't get their fix!

I think this should be much more widely publicised, it could well be the best weapon we have in fighting the nation's obesity!

LOL LOL :rotfl::rotfl:

All I can say beinerts is just wait until you get in the last 2-3 miles of a marathon - your body might have fallen apart and left to another world but your mind thinks the nearest litter bin looks like Mylene Klass!