The Running Thread - 2016

[GreatLakes]

Does anyone keep a running journal?

What does it look like, what do you document? As I get more into running, I thought it might be nice to have something to look back on!

Also, does anyone have an alternative to the map my run app? I loved being able to find "courses" around my house....but now they want to charge me for that

I don't really have a journal but I do log all of my runs. I have one of the free Runner's World log books that I use but I also make notes on each run in SportTracks and copy those notes into the Garmin Connect activity as well. I mostly note how I felt and the temperature/humidity of each run along with what I wore. I like having the weather so I can compare my pace to other days where the weather was similar. It also helps me dress correctly in the winter. If I over or under dress for a run I can look back and make adjustments.

QOTD: Do you drink energy drink (Not tea or coffee)?

Coffee is my only energy drink. I don't drink pop or energy drinks.

 

[Anisum]

QOTD: Do you drink energy drink (Not tea or coffee)?

I don't drink much besides water really. On half marathons I will have the occasional powerade if I feel like I'm losing too much energy but it's not my favorite thing in the world by any means. I don't have any caffeinated drinks because of a tl;dr story that can be summarized in having reflux since I was a child. As such my parents didn't really let me have caffeine and so I never got a taste for most energy drinks like Red Bull that contain it. I've had coke or pepsi on rare occasions (both taste awful to me) but sometimes there isn't water readily available and some people apparently don't consider buying drinks for a party that don't have caffeine. Anyway, that was a bit off topic but in the end I've never really had energy drinks.

 

[Dis5150]

QOTD: Do you drink energy drink (Not tea or coffee)?

Only when I visit my daughter in Colorado Springs. The smoothie place we go to there has a "peach Pizazze" that has a can of sf red bull in it. We usually get one every day before driving to Denver to watch the Giants play the Rockies. Since that is probably 6-9 days a year, that is all I drink of them.

 

[roxymama]

Only energy drink I can think of is we usually always have some mini bottles of gatorade in our fridge and usually just drink those on days when we are extra active and needing them.
I have started a one La Croix habit at night when I'm jonesing for a pop. It's gotten me off needing something sweet.

Can I ask a sub-QOTD? Mostly aimed at the women-folk. Favorite summer sandal that is comfy (both the strap area and the footbed area) but is not overtly sporty. Something I could wear with nice summer clothes but won't wreck my feet? I'm on a hunt. My current "dressy sandals" are flat target ones that are killing my feet.

 

[ebradley23]

Only energy drink I can think of is we usually always have some mini bottles of gatorade in our fridge and usually just drink those on days when we are extra active and needing them.
I have started a one La Croix habit at night when I'm jonesing for a pop. It's gotten me off needing something sweet.

Can I ask a sub-QOTD? Mostly aimed at the women-folk. Favorite summer sandal that is comfy (both the strap area and the footbed area) but is not overtly sporty. Something I could wear with nice summer clothes but won't wreck my feet? I'm on a hunt. My current "dressy sandals" are flat target ones that are killing my feet.

Have you looked at Born sandals? They are very comfy and pretty cute. DSW usually has them at a decent price too

 

[roxymama]

Have you looked at Born sandals? They are very comfy and pretty cute. DSW usually has them at a decent price too

There's a DSW near my kiddo's swim place so maybe I need to go check them out this weekend

 

[Anisum]

Can I ask a sub-QOTD? Mostly aimed at the women-folk. Favorite summer sandal that is comfy (both the strap area and the footbed area) but is not overtly sporty. Something I could wear with nice summer clothes but won't wreck my feet? I'm on a hunt. My current "dressy sandals" are flat target ones that are killing my feet.

I'm a big fan of fitflops. To buy them when they first come out is expensive but I regularly find them for $30-40 on Amazon or Nordstroms Rack and they last forever. I've had many of my pairs for 3-5 years now and the ones I wear everyday look like I just got them. They have many kinds from plain to fancy.

 

[michigandergirl]

There's a DSW near my kiddo's swim place so maybe I need to go check them out this weekend

Agree with Born sandals. I also have a pair from Anhu that are comfy and cute, and can be dressed up or down.

QOTD: No energy drinks for me. I've never cared too much for sweet drinks - maybe that's why I like beer so much?
I mostly drink water and coffee, and Gatorade for hot/long runs/races.

 

[IamTrike]

QOTD: Do you drink energy drink (Not tea or coffee)?

ATTQOTD: Let me answer that by saying this... Hi. My name is LSUlakes and I drink a LOT of red bull.
I know the stuff is bad for me, really bad. At the moment I am drink at least 2-3 of them a day. I point this out as a area that a minor change could help me drop a few pounds as well as living a healthier life style. I keep telling myself, ok this is the last day, but I keep coming back to it. Well I think its finally time to drop that one and actually make the change. Since I said it here, now it's real.

No energy drinks for me. I drink copious amounts of coffee and periodically drink sweat tea ( which has enough sugar to count as an energy drink.)

Random question for the other old people like me. Do any of you have kids that run cross country? Did they go into it with a love of running or was there a period where they felt like they were gonna die after every run?

 

[Slogger]

Sorry I've been out of touch this week..........too much work not enough time for fun. I will now attempt to answer every question from the past week in one easy to digest post.

ATQOTD: No energy drinks for me. But they seem to be working for @LSUlakes so maybe I am missing out?!!!

ATQOTD: Keeping a journal....I used RunKeeper and logged everything on an Excel spreadsheet. Switched to Garmin Connect and Strava last month and that seems to be working fine. I don't name my runs........yet.....but how many "Morning Runs" do I need on my log....they are starting to look the same.

ATQOTD: Running shirts....I wear a short sleeve technical or wicking type of shirt. Many times they are shirts from previous races but never, ever my RunDisney shirts......trying to keep them in good condition to wear at expos, weddings, maybe business meetings, LOL.
For running events I tend to wear the shirt they give me for the event unless weather or distance might dictate something else. If I'm running a marathon I have some 'go to" attire that is comfortable and durable that I like.

ATQOTD: Sandals? I'm a guy, and no, I don't wear them. Not that there's anything wrong with people that do wear them, including guys!

ATQOTD: Reading materials.....Some great books mentioned already, I need to backtrack and write some of those down.
I read Jeff Galloway's book and it was helpful at the time but probably could have been condensed 25 pages.
I read another book this year "Mastering the Marathon" by Don Fink. Talked about the 3 magic bullets and had some good info for runners over 40
like moi. Also read Runner's World each month.

ATQOTD: Late night runs? I haven't done any lately but last year I did several 9 or 10 pm runs that would last 60 to 90 minutes.

ATQOTD: Virtual runs? Haven't done any. Think some of them are awesome events and for good causes. I agree with an earlier poster and like associating my shirt and medal with memories from the actual event.

Whew....hopefully I am caught up now!

 

[Slogger]

Here's a question I had for the rest of the group:

Summer weather with hot and humid temps has been the norm for me for a few weeks now. That means lots of laundry after running. I read the label on one of my shirts and it had very specific laundry instructions that I'm pretty sure I don't follow. I just use the "Active" cycle on the washing machine and don't give it much thought. Same for dryer.

Curious if anyone has any tips or suggestions for how to best care for our technical shirts, socks, and shoes to prolong their life or if you just do what I am doing.
Somebody posted earlier about the cushioning of their shoes and giving it time to recover from a run. Does that really work?

 

[PrincessV]

QOTD: Do you drink energy drink (Not tea or coffee)?

ATTQOTD: Nope, I'm hyper-sensitive to caffeine. I have a "cup" of coffee with breakfast that's 2/3 steamed milk and 1/3 french roast coffee. The only other caffeine I'll have is the occasional few swigs of Pepsi if I feel a migraine coming on.

Can I ask a sub-QOTD? Mostly aimed at the women-folk. Favorite summer sandal that is comfy (both the strap area and the footbed area) but is not overtly sporty. Something I could wear with nice summer clothes but won't wreck my feet? I'm on a hunt. My current "dressy sandals" are flat target ones that are killing my feet.

Floridian here: I live in Birkenstocks! I've been wearing them for 20+ years. Lots of fun styles nowadays, including "dressy" materials like silver and patent leather.

 

[PrincessV]

Curious if anyone has any tips or suggestions for how to best care for our technical shirts, socks, and shoes to prolong their life or if you just do what I am doing.
Somebody posted earlier about the cushioning of their shoes and giving it time to recover from a run. Does that really work?

I wash all of my workout clothes in warm water wash/ cold rinse with the same detergent I use for everything (Mrs. Meyers), tumble dry on Perm Press setting on low heat. I have items that are a decade old that look nearly new! About shoes, I rotate mostly because I like different shoes for different purposes, and because I live where daily rain is very likely and no way will my shoes dry out within 24 hours. I can't say if rotating helps with cushioning, but just having 2 pair going means twice the lifespan before needing more, so that's a plus.

 

[roxymama]

@LSUlakes Just got word that my race called the Benton Park 5k on 9/5/16 will actually be a "5k+". They say the course will be 3.5 miles long. Well, I'm gonna get PR in that distance! But if you want to, you can update the distance to 3.5 miles.

And I wash my workout stuff with my regular clothes but hang them to dry, because it's just habit.

 

[camaker]

Here's a question I had for the rest of the group:

Summer weather with hot and humid temps has been the norm for me for a few weeks now. That means lots of laundry after running. I read the label on one of my shirts and it had very specific laundry instructions that I'm pretty sure I don't follow. I just use the "Active" cycle on the washing machine and don't give it much thought. Same for dryer.

Curious if anyone has any tips or suggestions for how to best care for our technical shirts, socks, and shoes to prolong their life or if you just do what I am doing.
Somebody posted earlier about the cushioning of their shoes and giving it time to recover from a run. Does that really work?

Timely question. I just recently got a new HE washer that has "picked" a couple of my tech shirts. Not sure how it happened, as I can't find a spur or sharp edge that might have caught the fabric. On the note of how I ended up with a new washer, let me tell you just how much fun it is to have a washer die on you mid-cycle and refuse to drain, with the detergent and dirty water still in the tub, coincidentally on the weekend that you forgot you started the load on Friday and remembered on Sunday afternoon! Ooofff!

Back to washing tech clothes, though. I use Tide Sport with Febreze liquid with no fabric softener. The fabric softener can interfere with the performance of the tech fabric. Since the "picking" incident, I put all my tech shirts into a delicates bag or two for protection during the wash. Shorts seem to fare just fine on their own. The tech clothes are run in their own load on the "Active Clothing" (or similar) cycle and then dried on medium heat in the dryer. If you have graphics on your tech shirts, turning them inside out also helps to preserve the artwork.

 

[roxymama]

Another vote for turning them inside out. I do this all the time with graphics.

 

[Slogger]

@LSUlakes.....sorry about the issue you had with your job. Hope everything has worked itself out!

 

[SueInBoston]

QOTD: Do you drink energy drink (Not tea or coffee)?

Nope, Just water for me.

Can I ask a sub-QOTD? Mostly aimed at the women-folk. Favorite summer sandal that is comfy (both the strap area and the footbed area) but is not overtly sporty. Something I could wear with nice summer clothes but won't wreck my feet? I'm on a hunt. My current "dressy sandals" are flat target ones that are killing my feet.

I live in Fitflops in the summer, they have casual and dresser styles and I found them most comfortable.

Here's a question I had for the rest of the group:

Summer weather with hot and humid temps has been the norm for me for a few weeks now. That means lots of laundry after running. I read the label on one of my shirts and it had very specific laundry instructions that I'm pretty sure I don't follow. I just use the "Active" cycle on the washing machine and don't give it much thought. Same for dryer.

Curious if anyone has any tips or suggestions for how to best care for our technical shirts, socks, and shoes to prolong their life or if you just do what I am doing.
Somebody posted earlier about the cushioning of their shoes and giving it time to recover from a run. Does that really work?

I wash all my workout stuff (running and yoga) together with Tide and I HANG DRY all except socks.

 

[GreatLakes]

Here's a question I had for the rest of the group:

Summer weather with hot and humid temps has been the norm for me for a few weeks now. That means lots of laundry after running. I read the label on one of my shirts and it had very specific laundry instructions that I'm pretty sure I don't follow. I just use the "Active" cycle on the washing machine and don't give it much thought. Same for dryer.

Curious if anyone has any tips or suggestions for how to best care for our technical shirts, socks, and shoes to prolong their life or if you just do what I am doing.
Somebody posted earlier about the cushioning of their shoes and giving it time to recover from a run. Does that really work?

I use this Sport Wash detergent, wash in cold water, don't use any fabric softener or dryer sheets, and tumble dry on warm. The only think I hang dry, tech clothes related, are cycling shorts with pads in them.

I do think the sports washes help prolong the life of your tech clothing and have heard from multiple people that liquid fabric softener and dryer sheets interfere with the wicking fabric so I don't use them.

 

[Miranda]

I wash all my workout clothes except the SparkleSkirts in cold water, with sport detergent. I don't like the smell of Tide Sport, so I started using Vapor Fresh powder, which has no odor. I usually turn them inside out if they have printing. I tumble dry on the lowest heat setting.

My SparkleSkirts get Woolite, a color catcher, cold water, inside out, and delicates cycle, with rack drying only.

I hardly ever wash sneakers, but if I do, I never put them in the dryer.