The Running Thread - 2016

[DopeyBadger]

Today is my runnerversary. Three years ago today I started a couch to 5k plan with no intention of ever running further than 3.1 miles. I celebrated by setting a PR in the Carytown 10k. Finish time of 49:20.

Edited to update with my official finish time.

Yesterday I ran my first 5k in about 5 years - official finish time was 30:53, which I'm pretty happy about. Intervals went pretty well, but I ran a little too fast and too much at the start. I think it helped my time a little, but I was definitely pushing more at the end than I should have been.

Next up is a glow run 10k on May 14 - it starts at 9pm, which I'm a little worried about since I usually run in the mornings. My main goal is just to finish, but I'm hoping to get a little faster in the next couple of weeks

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Ahhhh, so the opposite thing happened at my race! I was hoping more people would show up due to the nice weather... but there were way way less people than last year. Last year there were 620 finishers, and this year only 370.

I posted that my goal was 2:08:00 (it was a 10 miler). My super secret goal was 2:05:00. My official time was... 2:05:00 BUT it was hand timed. So my unofficial Garmin time was 2:04:43. I'm not sure why it was hand timed... it was chip timed last year. The course was beautiful but the logistics were a little disappointing. I got there 45+ minutes early and they'd already run out of all sizes of ladies shirts except small. There were supposed to be 2 portapotty stops, but I never saw them. Plus the whole hand timing thing... I don't think I've run a hand timed race since high school cross country. It was weird having such a long race but nothing out on the course with the times, plus the disappointment of knowing that it cost me like 15s officially.

My wheels fell off around mile 7... I started developing a blister right about then, and I did a lot of extra walking the last 2-3 miles, but I just tried to power walk as fast as I could during it. I am still super happy to have met/beat my super secret goal, and since it's my first 10 mile race, it's also a PR.

Sounds like it was a successful weekend! Congrats all!

 

[keahgirl8]

A few days ago, I ran for the first time in months. It felt so amazing. Now, I'm sick. Blerg.

 

[Waiting2goback]

When I tore the tendon with my PF in 2014 I wasn't thrilled with the treatment plan from a sports medicine doc I went to. But I too had great results from a Worcester podiatrist, he was recommended by my physical therapist. I also did a lot of calf release work. He let me run much faster than the sports doc was going to let me. Wonder if it was the same one?

My Dr.'s name is Patel out of UMass. He was probably in his low 30's. Very nice guy. I may need to go back as my ankle has been hurting since the marathon in January. It doesn't hurt when I run, only when I touch it so I am in no rush. We shall see.

A few days ago, I ran for the first time in months. It felt so amazing. Now, I'm sick. Blerg.

Good job on the run. Sorry you are sick now.

 

[DVCFan1994]

My Dr.'s name is Patel out of UMass. He was probably in his low 30's. Very nice guy. I may need to go back as my ankle has been hurting since the marathon in January. It doesn't hurt when I run, only when I touch it so I am in no rush. We shall see.

Nope, mine was Feldman. When I first got to the office I was nervous because I was younger than everyone in the waiting room by about 30-40 years. But he was in his 40s, and a serious Ironman athlete, I laughed at his finish times he had displayed on finisher certificates on the walls, he did the whole 140.6 about as fast as the 112 mile bike ride would take me. He really got the need to train smart to maintain fitness versus just sitting around resting. Prior to that episode I had a pain much like you're describing now, it turned out to be peroneal tendinitis. I had no pain with any exercise, just when any pressure to touch was placed on the ankle, like sitting criss-cross. That was treated with extra core work, plus lots of calf release work. The core work was because I was stabilizing myself with my peroneals whenever my core got tired or lazy. Hope you heal up fast.

 

[LSUlakes]

QOTD: Injuries happen from time to time. What was your last injury and what was the last problem? How long did it take to recover from it?

ATTQOTD: My last injury was December 2014. I had a marathon in January so I reduced mileage until race day and then took 6 weeks off. Forget the exact name for it, but it basically felt like I was running with rocks inside my shoe, and after a run my foot would hurt like it was bruised.


Congrats to all the racers over the weekend!

 

[opusone]

QOTD: Injuries happen from time to time. What was your last injury and what was the last problem? How long did it take to recover from it?

Pulled hamstring injury in 2014 from going too hard on a speed workout. Took three weeks completely off of running (I was able to bike though), then slowly eased back into it.

 

[camaker]

QOTD: Injuries happen from time to time. What was your last injury and what was the last problem? How long did it take to recover from it?

My last injury was a strained/torn hamstring last September. My PT put it as either a severe Grade 2 or a "mild" Grade 3. It took ~3 months to return to running with another ~3 months reconditioning the leg after that. This one was very frustrating. I have tweaked my hamstring a number of times playing Ultimate Frisbee and it generally took a week or two to get back on the field. The recovery time for this one was a nasty surprise. The PT told me that I had formed a lot of weakened scar tissue in the hamstring by failing to heal and rehab it properly over the years and this time I paid for it. PT included breaking down the old scar tissue so the muscle could heal properly and completely this time.

Returning to running was pretty frustrating, too, with running initially limited to 0:30/2:00 intervals. After 3 weeks pain and discomfort free, I could increase the run interval slightly. I am now back to 4:00/0:30 intervals where I was previously 100% running. The good thing is that I found that I actually like the intervals and plan to keep them for the foreseeable future.

 

[Barca33Runner]

QOTD: Injuries happen from time to time. What was your last injury and what was the last problem? How long did it take to recover from it?

I have an ongoing battle with shin splints that pop up every now and then. I just dial back my mileage and switch to non-contact cardio when possible. I also go back to doing the stretching routines that I lazily stop doing when my shins are feeling good for a while.

I am really lucky to have never really had a running injury that required extensive recovery. My biggest break from running since I started in late 2011 was in September of 2014. I had a bad reaction to medication prescribed for a rotator cuff injury in my shoulder and experienced internal bleeding from an ulcer. I was unable to run for a little over a month and my return to running was pretty slow with a couple months of really low mileage.

 

[Diskidatheart]

QOTD: Injuries happen from time to time. What was your last injury and what was the last problem? How long did it take to recover from it?

I've had some issues over the years with a pulled Soleus muscle. My most recent one was last fall and fortunately I was able to stop, call my wife to come pick me up, and only was off from running for a week. That was a quick heal. The first time it happened was two weeks before my half marathon in 2014 (and it happened to be 1/2 during Marathon weekend). It took about 2 weeks to recover and fortunately I was able to run the 1/2 in Disney.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

QOTD: Injuries happen from time to time. What was your last injury and what was the last problem? How long did it take to recover from it?

Broken left foot caused by change in running form resultant from training with plantar fascitis, made even worse by waiting 2 weeks to see podiatrist (though I did not run during this period). Lost 3.5 months of running - started again the last week of February. More importantly, totally lost my running strength, endurance and VO2. I'm not starting over from scratch, but it is close. Also had to defer the Dopey races, but that isn't all bad as it just means that I get to plan another trip to WDW (still went to WDW in January even though I was in a boot and had deferred).

 

[rteetz]

QOTD: Injuries happen from time to time. What was your last injury and what was the last problem? How long did it take to recover from it?

I think I've been very lucky through all of my years as a Football player and now in running I've never had a big injury. Sure I've had a few twisted ankles or some bruises but nothing that's prevented me from practicing the next day or running the next day.

 

[ebradley23]

ATTQOTD - I made my IT band really angry last year. I was doing a 100 day run streak, and I was too stubborn to quit. I wound up at the PT for weeks, and she had to use some medieval torture device (Graston Technique) to fix me.

 

[roxymama]

ATTQOTD: I almost don't want to answer this for fear of jinxing. I've only had to recover from colds. Which I am doing right now and thankfully am feeling much better with my race weekend coming. I guess I'll count a few blisters but I just ended training runs short to prevent them from getting big.

My hubby spent last year running after a major knee surgery (cadever bone in his knee filling a genetic hole) so anything is possible with sticking to a good rehab plan and easing into it. He says the weirdest part is he still has numbness in areas that will wear off over time.

 

[Anisum]

Hey guys! I had a great race yesterday and got a PR with a finish time of 1:00:42 which is almost 10 minutes less than what I had hoped for. I feel like I've gotten through a plateau since I was running 14:00min/mi in the months leading up to Princess and now I'm consistently between 12:45-13:45 during training runs.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Hey guys! I had a great race yesterday and got a PR with a finish time of 1:00:42 which is almost 10 minutes less than what I had hoped for. I feel like I've gotten through a plateau since I was running 14:00min/mi in the months leading up to Princess and now I'm consistently between 12:45-13:45 during training runs.

That is awesome! Keep up the good work!

 

[Mickey's sweetheart]

QOTTD: I have a weird running related injury now. I've had pain in my lower leg since February. Took three weeks off, didn't help. Started seeing a physical therapist and she says it's a tight tendon constricting a muscle. She said I couldn't make it worse continuing to train for my half on May 1 but it's been painful, especially the first mile or two.

 

[Dis5150]

QOTD: Injuries happen from time to time. What was your last injury and what was the last problem? How long did it take to recover from it?

Peroneal tendon in my right leg/foot Nov/Dec 2015. Was having pain and didn't want to stop training for my first real half (after W&D) so bought an ankle brace off Amazon which enabled me to run. Right after crossing the finish line I could not walk on it. Was not able to run for over a month and ended up having to run Princess with only a run of 10 miles between that and my first half. I am 99% sure it was caused by my shoes (Nike Free 5.0). Now I have some Brooks I love and have not had any other issues with it. Now I am experiencing some knee pain below my kneecap but off to the outside about an inch. I've researched it and can't find anything that lists that specific area for pain but I bought a "runner's knee" band and it really helps. I did not have any pain on my long run this weekend while wearing it. Could be a placebo but if it works I don't care, lol!

 

[PrincessV]

When we are young we assume that we can continue to perform at current levels as long as we never slack off. We think things like, if I can just maintain my current training, I will be able to BQ at age 50 because I would qualify now if I were 50 now. That simply isn't true for most people. Slacking off or not isn't the most limiting factor - it is our genetic clock.

I am almost 50, and I don't wish that I were younger. My life has been, and continues to be, simply amazing. I feel great - better than I imagined that 50 could possibly feel.

Getting older has its downsides, but they sure beat the alternative.

I love this! At 45ish myself, it's hard sometimes to see the youngsters hitting all sorts of huge PRs while I struggle with whether it's worth risking injury to try shaving a minute or two off my half time. My physical fitness peaked at a very young age in a totally different sport - running has only ever been something I do for overall fitness and because I enjoy doing it, so this racing stuff in recent years is a little tough. Truth is, I HATE racing for time! I only do it to have a PoT for rD races so I can have fun

QOTD: Injuries happen from time to time. What was your last injury and what was the last problem? How long did it take to recover from it?

ATTQOTD: Hmm, tough question. I have a couple chronic "issues" that I wouldn't label "injuries" - they're always around and require daily efforts to mitigate their impact on my running. I guess it would be a peroneal tendon problem last spring/summer. It seemed like a new injury, but ultrasound showed it was actually a very old injury that had healed with lots of scar tissue and had been aggravated by a poor choice of shoes coupled with too many races in too few months on overly cambered surfaces. It took months of at-home PT to recover as much as is possible. Sports med doc told me it'll always be an issue to baby. I tape it for all long runs, which seems to work very well as a preventive along with daily stretching and strengthening. When it does act up, I go back to my night brace for a few days, too.

 

[surfde22]

QOTD: Injuries happen from time to time. What was your last injury and what was the last problem? How long did it take to recover from it?

I have lots of ongoing nagging pains. Nothing that stops me from running, and some of which are driven by being slightly overweight. I'm working on losing some weight so hopefully that will help me clear some of the problems. I also have a history of rolling my ankle. This has made my left ankle significantly weaker than my right, but I am careful and work on running on stable surfaces when running.

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

ATTQOTD: I had tendinitis in my left ankle/top of foot. It was a couple months after I started running and I did not want to go to the doctor. I tried KT tape, ice, stretching and rest but it just was not getting better. So after 3 weeks I broke down and went. She gave me orthodics and after a week or so it was gone.