DFW Running Club!!

becky_rtw

Good luck running today Hypno!

hypno06

becky_rtw wrote: »

Good luck running today Hypno!

Thank you! Quite looking forward to it! (well, it beats doing the housework, you see!)

becky_rtw

Anything beats housework!

RichOneday_2

Poor - I'm glad you're feeling great!:D Its always a battle between the pains and the glow of achievement. You'll be glad to hear that you always forget the pain and never forget the pride of achievement.

Thats why most first timers who say 'Never, ever again' on finishing end up doing many!:D

And those yanks, eh? Only 7% have passports so its not surprising they don't know the rest of the world exists!:rolleyes:

Becky - You do love your science, don't you?:D I'll post about muscle soreness and eccentric contractions in a while!

Dff - Becky is right in that it is essential to start of with a walking foundation. By doing so you make much quicker overall progress than trying to run from the outset.

I started out 4 stone overweight at the end of August and spent the early weeks pretty much only walking (200 miles of walking). On Sunday, 16 weeks in, I managed a 1-42 half marathon and am 3 stone lighter. That sort of progress just isn't possible without early walking - injury would be much more likely.

So the good news is that to get started is easy and once some light running is introduced you will be well prepared for it and enjoy it.:D

Hypno - Good luck with the 6 miler later.


I'm really looking forward to the rest of the week because, apart from the 5K race on Saturday, its all going to be easy steady miles. The plan is to run 50 miles between now and Sunday as follows:

Today 8 miles
Tomorrow 12 miles (loads of calories to be replaced by alcohol and food:p )
Fri 10K
Sat 5K race + 3miles warm up/down
Sun 18 miles

Merry xmas eve everyone!:D

becky_rtw

Woah 18 miles!!! When did that happen?? Nice one - do you have a target time??

Looking forward 'the science bit' later

RichOneday_2

becky_rtw wrote: »

Woah 18 miles!!! When did that happen?? Nice one - do you have a target time??

Looking forward 'the science bit' later

Tbh Its only 18 miles because I got tied up in knots trying to work out a convenient 16 mile route!:p

It is easier just to go round the 6 mile route again on top of my 12 miler. I say easier, but it does involve going up the 400ft hill THREE times!!:rolleyes:

Nope, no target time - thats the nice thing about last weekend, I know the speed is coming along fine from the 5K race and I know the speed endurance is fine from the 14 mile time trial, so this is just about relaxed distance running - nothing more!

RichOneday_2

Eccentric contractions of muscles are basically a safety device when the load on a muscle is too great.

They typically happen when running downhill or when the subject is carrying excess weight.

During normal activity a muscle undergoes concentric contraction and shortens. However, when the load becomes too great, momentarily, for concentric contraction to handle, eccentric contraction will come into play during which the muscle lengthens.

This often happens in the quadriceps when running downhill (downhill running results in a force of at least three times body weight going through the legs) but can happen on the flat or uphill if excess body weight is being carried.

During eccentric contraction the myosin heads in the muscles are flexed to 90 degrees and beyond instead of being flexed to the normal 45 degrees.

Muscles are not designed for repetitive eccentric contractions and are susceptible to damage when forced to contract in this way.

Also, during eccentric contractions the muscles are forced to act as brakes. As with car brakes, muscles heat up greatly under braking.

The bottom line is that if the muscles are trying to brake and you try to push on, eventually something is going to break and result in a nasty injury!

DOMS (or delayed onset muscle soreness) happens 24-72 hours after exercise and is usually only experienced in minimal effect from concentric contraction only activity.

It is mainly linked to repetitive eccentric contractions and is due to far more muscle damage during eccentric contraction compared to concentric contraction.


So from both bone strength and muscle damage the idea of run/walk/run/walk is fraught with dangers that seem to get glossed over in the mass market mags (not running mags I might add - runners don't buy them!).

Jolly2009

Hi there,

Hope you don't mind me popping in, i'm a newbie and in my quest to become DF I have just cancelled my gym membership (what a good girl!) and taken up running and small weights at home.

I'm not super fit but have over the past month managed to push my runs to 30mins continuously and now finding this easy (think a little over 2 miles 3/4times a week). Do I now extend the distance I run or the time I run over the same distance? Does that make any sense

I'm hoping to do the Great South Run next year (Oct) so would like to obvioulsy extend both time and distance in time but don't know what best to do re training wise.

Thanks.

RichOneday_2

Jolly2009 wrote: »

Hi there,

Hope you don't mind me popping in, i'm a newbie and in my quest to become DF I have just cancelled my gym membership (what a good girl!) and taken up running and small weights at home.

I'm not super fit but have over the past month managed to push my runs to 30mins continuously and now finding this easy (think a little over 2 miles 3/4times a week). Do I now extend the distance I run or the time I run over the same distance? Does that make any sense

I'm hoping to do the Great South Run next year (Oct) so would like to obvioulsy extend both time and distance in time but don't know what best to do re training wise.

Thanks.

Hi Jolly,

Welcome along and well done on getting started.

The answer to your question is a resounding, concentrate on the distance and forget all about speed.

By trying to go faster you will get injured sooner or later. By trying to run a little further (ideally until you can run more than 4 miles comfortably) you will find that speed just comes, even by running with the same effort.

So it should all be very comfortable with any discomfort being dealt with by either slowing down or stopping and walking the remainder.

You will find extending the distance will be a bit of a challenge, so going as slow as possible is the key, until you get to running more than 4 miles when you will find extending distance quite easy.

Good luck, but keep asking questions as it can be very confusing knowing what is the right and wrong way to approach things.

becky_rtw

Hi Jolly,

Welcome! It sounds like you've made good progress and you've got a goal in mind so that great (its always easier to push yourself if you can see something at the end of the effort)

I would do both! You'll need to get the distance up to 4 miles as a 'training block' eventually, but for now keep the 2 miles 3 times a week - one of these you push the pace and try to run a bit faster and two as slow/recovery runs at you usual pace. The 4th run I would do much slower and try to increase the distance - aim for 3 miles at first, then once thats okay up to 4 and so on...do not worry about times of these longer runs at the moment.

Maybe Rich will have other suggestions, but thats what I would do , hope it helps! Once you can run 4 miles comfortably then you can look at hill runs, fartlekking, intervals and all the other fun stuff

edit: ignore me Rich is much better at these things - his advice is better!