The Running Thread -- 2022

[michigandergirl]

For the advanced runners or people who are running shoe experts/junkies, does a large heel to toe drop contribute to knee pain? The knee pain that hit me on mile 5 of the marathon is still bothering me. I never had any pain with these particular models, Asics Novablast 2, until that day. I am wondering if running that many miles on them in the four days triggered something in my knee.

I'm guessing it's probably not the shoes/drop, but just the high mileage over those few days, maybe you tweaked something. How do you like the Novablasts overall? I just got a pair for Christmas and so far I'm loving the bounciness, but I haven't yet tried them on a long run.

I always find the shoe drop debate so interesting. I finally got around to reading Born to Run recently and really enjoyed it. I think from a trail running perspective, it makes a lot of sense to go with a zero drop shoe. I've been trail running in the Altra Lone Peaks for about a year now and absolutely love them. When I first started trail running, I would fall all of the time, but since I switched to the zero drop Altras, I haven't fallen once (knock on wood). For road running though, I prefer some cushion, so I run in Asics (Cumulus or Novablast).

 

[Naomeri]

You guys! It’s really cold and windy outside and I need to run 10 miles

 

[camaker]

You guys! It’s really cold and windy outside and I need to run 10 miles

I just ran my 6 miles in 3" of snow and 25 degrees here in central NC. Definitely not my normal conditions!

 

[Naomeri]

I just ran my 6 miles in 3" of snow and 25 degrees here in central NC. Definitely not my normal conditions!

I would kill for 25 degrees, it’s 7, with a feels-like of -9, here in MN, and 13mph winds. I’m going to get off my butt and do it, but I’m going to whine the whole time

 

[xjillianpaige]

I would kill for 25 degrees, it’s 7, with a feels-like of -9, here in MN, and 13mph winds. I’m going to get off my butt and do it, but I’m going to whine the whole time

bundle up! you can do it!

 

[lookingforsunshine]

I’m going to get off my butt and do it, but I’m going to whine the whole time

Embrace that Elsa energy!

 

[marty3d]

I would kill for 25 degrees, it’s 7, with a feels-like of -9, here in MN, and 13mph winds. I’m going to get off my butt and do it, but I’m going to whine the whole time

I know how you feel. My first post Dopey 5k today -17c/ 2f but luckily no wind. i Think the fresh snow on the trails may have been worse than the cold. Makes me miss the near perfect weather this marathon weekend.

 

[Naomeri]

I did it, and I didn’t freeze or fall on my ***! 10 miles in 2h18m, which I’m really happy with.

 

[Novatrix]

Bless all you cold weather runners. You are awesome.

I looked at the temp outside in the 20s, noped out of that real quick, and did my run on the treadmill watching videos of this year's Disney marathon course instead.

 

[Baloo in MI]

Well I left cold Michigan to come down to Texas to meet some friends. With two runs scheduled I thought it will be nice to run in warmer weather… cold spell in San Antonio, 35 degrees. Oof! Warner that Michigan but certainly not the warm Texas run I thought I was getting!!!!

 

[Bree]

I forgot to quote posts……..

Knee Pain - I have been dealing with outside knee pain for months. X-ray and two MRI showed it was my IT band. Everything else about my knee was perfect. No arthritis, meniscus issue, patella issue, etc. I had a cortisone shot at the end of December only because I have 10 horses I need to take care of and I couldn’t do it on crutches (that’s how bad the pain was and I have a high pain tolerance). I’m feeling really good now. I’m still going to PT because I still have hip imbalance and weakness.

Fenix Solar - I have the 6s Solar only because I liked the color. I haven’t seen any real benefit to it and I’m outside a lot. I still had to charge it once, sometimes twice a week when I was training for Chicago. I don’t use it for music. I only use it for my workout and LiveTrack. I haven’t read DC Rainmaker’s review for the 7 solar yet so maybe there have been improvement?

 

[SarahDisney]

Question: Has anyone run a race without really training? It's a bad idea, right?
My goal is definitely finish, not time, so there's that. But I really probably should do some training and I don't really want to.

For context, I registered for the lottery for a half in March without expecting to get in but I did. And I'm not really in the mood to train. I ran 10 miles in December with minimal training and it was fine, but I haven't run more than 3-4 miles at a time since. I normally love long runs but have had a hard time motivating myself to run in general lately. I can kinda get myself to do 2-3 miles once or twice a week but anything more than that feels like misery. If running 5-6 miles a week was good prep for a half marathon, I'd be golden, but I feel like I should probably also do a long run or two and if I'm gonna do a long run its probably also a good idea to do something longer than 3 miles to prepare for it.

Also this may just be the post-Disney depression (spent last week in my favorite place, Disneyland, so I'm super depressed to not be there anymore) talking and maybe I'll feel like training next week. But I dunno.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

Question: Has anyone run a race without really training? It's a bad idea, right?
My goal is definitely finish, not time, so there's that. But I really probably should do some training and I don't really want to.

Yes. I attempted Goofy with having only had truly trained for the half and I DNF’d the marathon. I have done two half marathons without real training and ended up walking most of them and not having fun doing it. I also did a 70.3 triathlon that I was undertrained for. I finished the race but once again walked most of the half and did not finish in the time constraints, so I don’t have an official time (I did the whole distance and crossed the finish line and got my medal though). I was also in my mid-20s for all of this.
The 70.3 was hard but fun, and I had trained a little for it but not like I should have. I was fat then but not terribly so. The other two races were miserable and I was out there for almost 4 hours. At one of the half marathons my friend finished the full marathon 10 minutes after I finished the half. Mortifying haha. For those two experiences I was also at my highest weight (about 240/245 lbs) so that was definitely a contributor.
All that to say is yes but it might not be fun. And I am slowly but surely learning my lesson and figuring out how to train better. But I’ve made this about me so sorry about that. Do you want advice? Or just to know if people have done it?

 

[SarahDisney]

Do you want advice? Or just to know if people have done it?

Mostly I want to hear other people's experiences to confirm my suspicions that its a bad idea. The more I see people tell me that they had a bad experience, the more likely I am to convince myself to actually train.

 

[GollyGadget]

Question: Has anyone run a race without really training? It's a bad idea, right?

I ran a half in 2018 without really training. TBH, it is still one of my favorite races but that's because I ran it with a friend and just totally had a fun time with it, stopping for lots of on course refreshment from strangers. This was also only 4.5 months after running (and training for) a marathon so while my fitness had dropped, I still had some fumes from that training season to coast on. Plus, my finish time was 50% slower than typical.

 

[opusone]

Question: Has anyone run a race without really training? It's a bad idea, right?
My goal is definitely finish, not time, so there's that. But I really probably should do some training and I don't really want to.

Personally, I don’t allow myself to run the race if I haven’t trained. The race is the prize to me, and I have to do the work to get the prize. That being said, I have run races before when I was undertrained (usually due to injury during training), and they have almost always been miserable. For me, the true joy in running a race is having your body ready, being confident in your abilities, and then executing on the day at the level you expected.

All that being said, I wouldn’t go out and force the miles if running currently feels miserable. Your body might be telling you that you need to take some time off, focus on some other interest/endeavor, and in the future, your body may miss running. I have done this several times during my life and have always found my way back to running with an renewed love for the sport. In any case, I would probably just skip the half in March - that way you won’t feel guilty about not training.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

Personally, I don’t allow myself to run the race if I haven’t trained. The race is the prize to me, and I have to do the work to get the prize.

I like this mindset.

 

[jrsharp21]

Knee Pain - I have been dealing with outside knee pain for months. X-ray and two MRI showed it was my IT band. Everything else about my knee was perfect. No arthritis, meniscus issue, patella issue, etc. I had a cortisone shot at the end of December only because I have 10 horses I need to take care of and I couldn’t do it on crutches (that’s how bad the pain was and I have a high pain tolerance). I’m feeling really good now. I’m still going to PT because I still have hip imbalance and weakness.

Went out and did a 5k this weekend despite the knee pain. Knee brace helped a little but still was disheartening to not be able to run pain free and the pace I normally run. So with being discouraged I reached out to some local resources. The common theme I got was to stop trying to treat the knee by rolling it out, massage gun, etc, but to fix the root of the problem and that it is more than likely weak glute medias and TFL area. They said a sports message therapist can help release the IT band and provide some temp relief but the issue will come back unless those two areas are strengthened. I did some YouTube video browsing after that and saw lots of videos that had this same way of thinking and exercises to strengthen those areas. Going to try those out and see how it goes.

 

[HangWithMerida]

Question: Has anyone run a race without really training? It's a bad idea, right?
My goal is definitely finish, not time, so there's that. But I really probably should do some training and I don't really want to.

Bad idea. Even if you finish, being so undertrained sets you up for injury. If you are just not feeling it, maybe this is the time to take a break from running and give yourself a chance to miss it. Is this just felling blah about running or is there something else going on with your physical/mental health that needs attention? Any chance you can defer the entry?

 

[The Expert]

Question: Has anyone run a race without really training? It's a bad idea, right?
My goal is definitely finish, not time, so there's that. But I really probably should do some training and I don't really want to.

I've done it a few times, and unless you're doing it with a friend or it's a race like rD with lots of distractions and reasons to stop, it's NOT fun. And I agree with @HangWithMerida that even taking it easy, there is a risk of injury. I think you know deep down you really don't want to do it. So don't. No harm, on foul.