The Running Thread - 2016

[keahgirl8]

Ugh, yes - my allergies are in full swing - even with meds my nose constantly feels partially blocked.

Allergies are the worst! I have no allergy "season." My allergies are 365 days a year!

 

[Keels]

@SunDial and @Disney at Heart ... I'm so sorry for both of your losses. I hope life can return to normal - or whatever is the new normal - for you both and your families soon.

 

[Ariel484]

@SunDial I'm sorry for your loss. Lost daddy the last week of August and am finally starting to feel "normal" again, so I feel your loss. I found that following my training plan kept me sane when times came that I couldn't figure out what to do with myself. I hope you recover from your fall quickly and can get back to training soon. This group is so supportive!

I'm so sorry to hear about your father! But so glad you are feeling "normal" and that running helped you through.

 

[SunDial]

Thank you so much everyone for your thoughts, prayers, kind words. It means a lot. Mom was a young 78. Yes this is a great supportive group to be a part of!!!!

@Disney at Heart. So sorry to hear about your dad. Lost mine almost 3 years ago. I agree with training to help one to get thru the emotional times. That is what I was doing until I screwed up. Lesson learned.

Now I have to go back a couple hundred pages to catch up with a lot of good info that I know I missed

 

[rteetz]

Oh man @SunDial and @Disney at Heart sorry for both your losses. It's never easy but we are all here for each other.

 

[dis_or_dat]

@Disney at Heart I'm so sorry for your loss as well.

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

So, can anyone give me a 50 page synopsis of what I missed in 100 words or less?

120 days to go. Hot. Injuries. Floods, Hurricanes. Stinky smells. Run naked. Sparkle skirt. Question of the Day. BQ. Supportive. Races. Long runs. Beer. PRs. POT. Cool. Recoveries. 86 days to go.

Fitter and stronger than we were 50 pages ago!

 

[Anisum]

@Disney at Heart So sorry for your loss.

 

[camaker]

Was anyone else in the lottery for the London Marathon this year? Any luck getting in? I just got my "so sorry" e-mail from them.

 

[derekleigh]

QOTD: Have you ever have a race cancelled for any reason at all? If so, why was it cancelled and did you get a refund from the race? What did you end up doing with the open weekend?

Luckily, I have yet to have a race cancel on me. I've had two close calls but they ended up going through.

Do you have the flat water bottles for the flip belt? I'm wondering how well they work.

I do not. I saw them and may pick a few up to experiment with them. If they work as well as the belt, I'll keep them!

QOTD: Have you ever seen someone get injured during a race or event, or a type of incident?

Nothing too major, but at the 5K I've been running for a consecutive 7 years, a few younger teens lined up at the VERY front at the start. I don't know what happened but no more than 10 feet after the starting line someone must have tripped or stumbled because they were a few arms flying. They were quickly helped off but it could have been really bad had it been a gated start.

 

[LSUlakes]

QOTD: With cooler temps and higher mileage, we as runners seem to be at a higher risk to catching the common cold. What do you do to try to prevent from getting sick during the fall and winter while ramping up the training? If you do get sick what do you do to try to recover quickly?

ATTQOTD: I've read that as we put more stress on our body from increased training that we become more susceptible to getting sick / common cold. I've read that we need to drink plenty of fluids and avoid crowded areas shortly after a hard effort run. Sometime that is not possible with avoiding large crowds or confined places with just a few people. I do try to drink more fluids and wash my hands more frequently, but it never fails. I will get sick during a training cycle. Usually it happens around November, but this year, my cold came early. I have a lot of weird reactions to over the counter meds for the common cold, so my approach is drink more OJ, taking some olive leaf supplement and elderberry supplement. Its all sinus at this point. Runny nose and a lot of pressure in my head. Like bending down to tie my shoes, my head feels like its going to explode. The good news is that when I am running I feel 100% better, but the congestion is effecting sleep. I hope this thing gets better before the weekend!

 

[The Expert]

ATTQOTD: Ironically, I have twice gotten sick this summer after hard runs, to the point I had to take a good chunk of time from mid-August to mid-September off training just to fully recover. I just started running at the end of February, so this is my first fall and full winter in training, but I'm looking forward to it. I HATE heat and LOVE the cold! The only thing I do differently in fall is take allergy meds on a daily basis and get a flu shot.

 

[ebradley23]

ATTQOTD: I rarely get a cold. Having worked in the banking industry for 20 years with the first 10 handling cash directly, I have built up my immunity to most everything. The only thing that brings me down is the dreaded sinus infection that strikes in fall and spring thanks to allergens. I've found I get sick less often than I used to before running. It's probably because I'm taking in more fluids which keeps everything flowing instead of building up in my sinuses leading to an infection. I also get the flu shot every year which helps.

 

[Chaitali]

Sorry to hear about all the sinus trouble I've been dealing with it too but always seems to have allergy issues in the Spring and Fall so am used to it. I try to hold off real colds by taking vitamin C every day. I'm not sure if it really helps or just makes me feel better mentally but I figure it can't hurt. I also try to be diligent about hand washing and get a flu shot. This is a good reminder that I need to go do that soon.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

QOTD: With cooler temps and higher mileage, we as runners seem to be at a higher risk to catching the common cold. What do you do to try to prevent from getting sick during the fall and winter while ramping up the training? If you do get sick what do you do to try to recover quickly?

I stay away from indoor public events as much as possible - don't mind outdoor events. I don't shake hands with people unless in a business environment. I avoid sick people as if they were carrying a deadly disease - this includes friends and family. Get sick when I am in the last stages on a training program and I don't get closer than 10 feet.

As for getting over an illness - nothing helps me. None of the stuff marketed that folks swear by helps me at all. So, unless totally unable to run, I run. If I have a major illness, like the flu, I will stop for the worst few days of the illness - otherwise I run, even feeling like crap.

ETA - the best way to avoid getting an illness is to avoid touching your face. Hard to do, but with practice you can minimize your risks of getting colds and the flu considerably just by doing this one thing.

 

[Ariel484]

Was anyone else in the lottery for the London Marathon this year? Any luck getting in? I just got my "so sorry" e-mail from them.

Boo. Sorry you didn't get in!

QOTD: With cooler temps and higher mileage, we as runners seem to be at a higher risk to catching the common cold. What do you do to try to prevent from getting sick during the fall and winter while ramping up the training? If you do get sick what do you do to try to recover quickly?

The biggest thing is that I wash my hands like crazy. I work in a hospital and we actually had to do a "hand washing orientation" (an online thing - pretty common sense stuff) and there are signs everywhere reminding us to wash our hands...they even have medical-grade antibacterial hand sanitizer up up in common areas that people can use. Despite that I notice that some of my co-workers STILL do not wash their hands. EUUWWWW. I don't interact with patients ever, but I do walk through the common areas occasionally (restaurants, etc.) - considering that and the fact that some of my co-workers don't take hand washing seriously, I am pretty anal about washing my hands, using paper towels to turn off faucets and open doors, and trying hard not to touch much in the kitchen in my workplace. The bad news is that all of the hand washing + the dry winter area is pretty rough on my skin, but it's worth it!

I am also really good about drinking a ton of water each day. I think that helps a lot. And I'll probably start downing Emergen-C or something similar in the 1-2 weeks leading up to runDisney weekends.

My other challenge is that my husband is a high school teacher, so I feel like he's more susceptible to getting sick since he's around a bunch of kiddos all day...and sometimes he passes said sicknesses onto yours truly (he's actually at home sick right now - ugh!), so occasionally I need to keep my distance from him. Sorry, Mr. Ariel484!

 

[rteetz]

QOTD: With cooler temps and higher mileage, we as runners seem to be at a higher risk to catching the common cold. What do you do to try to prevent from getting sick during the fall and winter while ramping up the training? If you do get sick what do you do to try to recover quickly?

With my allergies and sinus issues I can never tell if I have a cold or not. Running actually clears up my stuffed up nose so that helps. Otherwise I take allergy and/or cold medication. I never really get full on sick though. An occasional cough and runny nose is about it.

 

[Ariel484]

Running actually clears up my stuffed up nose so that helps.

Yes! Totally agree with this. I'm still feeling a little stuffed up but I definitely noticed an improvement after my run this morning.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

@SunDial and @Disney at Heart so sorry for your losses.

ATTQOTD: Hand washing. Hand washing. Hand washing! When I do get sick, I try to rest. I normally drink water like a fish, but I have a hard time hydrating when I'm sick... So I try to mindful of that.

This is good timing, as I came down with an icky sore throat over the weekend and it's still hanging on! I got in my 4 miles Sunday night, but my throat was so raspy and sore last night, I couldn't bring myself to run 3 miles last night and instead went to bed early. I will run those miles today!

 

[SunDial]

QOTD: With cooler temps and higher mileage, we as runners seem to be at a higher risk to catching the common cold. What do you do to try to prevent from getting sick during the fall and winter while ramping up the training? If you do get sick what do you do to try to recover quickly?

I prefer warmer weather which is why I will probably stay in South Florida. Don't get me wrong. I do like some cooler weather as long as the temp stays above my age!!!

I have been pretty lucky in not catching to many bugs. When I do I catch a cold/flu my med list to choose from is limited because of BP meds. Coricidin works great for me. As soon as I feel something coming on it will nip it in the bud.

As @Ariel484 and @BuckeyeBama have said. I try to avoid those that are sick. I also drink a lot of water, but that also helps from kidney stones forming. Those are worse that a sneeze/cough from fractured ribs.