The Running Thread--2024

[Sleepless Knight]

I'm addicted to running but I wanna ask a question you, guys. Is running everyday a huge mistake? Like...does that affect my results negatively?

I took a jogging class in college at BYU taught by the head coach of the women's cross country team. When I took the class the program was in the middle of a 4 years span where their final results at the NCAA national championship meet were 1st, 2nd, 1st, and 1st.

He shared the following story. He had been talking with another coach whose program was dealing with major injury problems. As they compared notes and mileage, he found that while both programs were doing everything else very similarly, including weekly mileage, there was one difference. The other school was running 7 days a week and BYU was only running 6. In fact, BYU never ran on Sundays and was running slightly more miles each week with the one day off.

The other school started giving their runners one day off and their injuries started to improve. I know that both Jeff Galloway and Hal Higdon advocate taking rest days. Rest days give your body a chance to recover and/or heal from even minor issues that can become injuries even if you don't feel anything. Both also note that activities such as walking and/or swimming count as rest days because they use different muscles than running.

That same reasoning is why run/walk/run helps many amateur runners finish stronger at the end of longer distance races. By taking those walk breaks from the very beginning, you are in essence preserving that energy for later when you will need it more.

 

[Professor_Cookie]

side note on UA and pockets as a dude. I really get why women are so excited by having pockets in dresses now. I knew it surely must be irritating, but now have first hand experience with my new UA running shorts which have a cell phone pocket in the waist which I love while running, but does not have side pockets to dump my phone into when I am walking back home after finishing a run and I either have to carry it or fight it back into the internal waist pocket.

 

[Professor_Cookie]

Also, somewhat running and Olympics related. Last year one of the many set backs in my training was the saying good bye to and death of a loved uncle. He wanted to make sure we(all his nephews) had copies of a book that came out shortly after his death.

Apparently he helped the writer with information about my 2x great uncle, by providing his chest of letters, photos, and memoirs. That uncle died on the Yankee Clipper in 1943. He had been a captain of the Iowa Track team, and took home a silver in the 1928 Olympics in the 400 hurdles. He also connived his way to Paris for the 1924 Olympics after clipping a hurdle in the Olympic Trials.

Just finished reading it. “Americans in a World at War.” Loved reading his story, and all the others were quite enthralling as well.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

While we are on the gear-talk....

I'm going to be in the market for some new leggings (cropped/capri) for the marathon. My go-to UA leggings have been changed from a side pocket to the dumb, tiny, un-useable back-of-the-waistband pocket, so I'm trying to branch out. (RIP to my budget since I would stalk for clearance pricing plus an extra 30-50% off to buy my UA stuff. The idea of spending $100 on leggings makes me wanna throw up a little.)

Must have:
-side drop-in pockets that will fit a phone
-drawstring in the waist
-NO zippers
-high waist preferred
-none of the "peached" or "buttery" fabric stuff. it's gotta be slippery

Old Navy powersoft leggings do not work, and that's also the fabric texture I want to avoid.

Can anyone comment on Athleta stuff? it appears to tick a lot of the boxes, but I'm unsure of the fabric.

Take a look at Lovesoft running tights or Yogafree biker shorts on Amazon.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

side note on UA and pockets as a dude. I really get why women are so excited by having pockets in dresses now. I knew it surely must be irritating, but now have first hand experience with my new UA running shorts which have a cell phone pocket in the waist which I love while running, but does not have side pockets to dump my phone into when I am walking back home after finishing a run and I either have to carry it or fight it back into the internal waist pocket.

These are my new go-to tights. A cell phone capable pocket on each side, which is nice for those of us who are left-handed (a pox on all the shorts with only a right hand pocket). I wear these under my shorts which are also my new go-tos since they have zippered pockets and I don't have to worry about losing stuff.

Both are on Amazon

TIghts:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PBGTMB7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Shorts: Mier Mens Running shorts. Available with and without zippered pockets and in a number of colors

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

I took a jogging class in college at BYU taught by the head coach of the women's cross country team. When I took the class the program was in the middle of a 4 years span where their final results at the NCAA national championship meet were 1st, 2nd, 1st, and 1st.

He shared the following story. He had been talking with another coach whose program was dealing with major injury problems. As they compared notes and mileage, he found that while both programs were doing everything else very similarly, including weekly mileage, there was one difference. The other school was running 7 days a week and BYU was only running 6. In fact, BYU never ran on Sundays and was running slightly more miles each week with the one day off.

The other school started giving their runners one day off and their injuries started to improve. I know that both Jeff Galloway and Hal Higdon advocate taking rest days. Rest days give your body a chance to recover and/or heal from even minor issues that can become injuries even if you don't feel anything. Both also note that activities such as walking and/or swimming count as rest days because they use different muscles than running.

That same reasoning is why run/walk/run helps many amateur runners finish stronger at the end of longer distance races. By taking those walk breaks from the very beginning, you are in essence preserving that energy for later when you will need it more.

Dittos. Dittos.

There have been times (like ramping up to the Dopey) when I've run several days in a row as part of consecutive-days practice, but otherwise I usually take a day off between runs.
In over 4+ years, almost zero running-related injury.

 

[PrincessV]

side note on UA and pockets as a dude. I really get why women are so excited by having pockets in dresses now

Wait ‘til we tell you about the monstrosity that is “pockets” in women’s jeans. Ladies, we can fit, what? - 5 sunflower seeds? A packet of sugar? A small key? Stick of gum? - in those idiotic mini front pockets?! I tried on a pair of my son’s worn-out jeans years ago to see if I could wear them and was stunned by the deep pockets that could easily EACH fit a cell phone, wallet, keys, and more!

 

[Professor_Cookie]

Wait ‘til we tell you about the monstrosity that is “pockets” in women’s jeans. Ladies, we can fit, what? - 5 sunflower seeds? A packet of sugar? A small key? Stick of gum? - in those idiotic mini front pockets?! I tried on a pair of my son’s worn-out jeans years ago to see if I could wear them and was stunned by the deep pockets that could easily EACH fit a cell phone, wallet, keys, and more!

I’m sorry, that has to suck

 

[jmasgat]

@Herding_Cats One more vote for Athleta. I have one of their capris that they no longer make (All In), so no help there. But I really like the Ultimate Stash line. I have the 7" shorts and tights. Recently, I decided to buy more shorts, and so I tried on the Interval line. They were fine--very "shiny". They are supposedly one of the latest fabrics. Also, I felt like I needed to size up from S to M to be comfortable in them (although maybe I just finally decided not to fight my inevitable weight creep!)

Sadly, they seem to be phasing my Ultimate shorts out. Not sadly, I bought 2 pair on deep (final) sale and ended up paying $28 each.

 

[Herding_Cats]

side note on UA and pockets as a dude. I really get why women are so excited by having pockets in dresses now. I knew it surely must be irritating, but now have first hand experience with my new UA running shorts which have a cell phone pocket in the waist which I love while running, but does not have side pockets to dump my phone into when I am walking back home after finishing a run and I either have to carry it or fight it back into the internal waist pocket.

Yes. The stupid "speedpocket." Ugh. I like that they made it with PUL fabric so it's moisture resistant and all that, but who in the heck wants to deal with the origami folding required to get it in and out during a run? Also, with the weight of a larger phone, I have to tie the drawstring or the weight will pull the front waist down....so now if I want to take my phone out, I have to undo the drawstring and pull the waist way out to deal with the pocket. NOPE. Side drop-in pockets only please! Most of the women's leggings have a pocket in the back of the waist band that isn't wide enough for a phone, so you have to kind of push it in perpendicular, and then rotate it sideways into the pocket and pray you don't pop a stitch, or your arm out of socket while doing so.

Wait ‘til we tell you about the monstrosity that is “pockets” in women’s jeans. Ladies, we can fit, what? - 5 sunflower seeds? A packet of sugar? A small key? Stick of gum? - in those idiotic mini front pockets?! I tried on a pair of my son’s worn-out jeans years ago to see if I could wear them and was stunned by the deep pockets that could easily EACH fit a cell phone, wallet, keys, and more!

But but but.....*gasp*.....SEAM LINES on you THIGHS?! For reals. I wore mens jeans all through middle and high school for a couple of reasons. 1. Because low-rise was in-style then and that was literally all you could find (this was also when size 0 and 00 came out and I feel like was the peak of 'you need to have an eating disorder to fit into clothes' fashion) and my body was not shaped for low-rise jeans. And 2. Because of the pockets. The glorious pockets! Did teenage girls' jeans even have front pockets then? Probably not. Just the fake seaming like this is where pockets should be, but you don't get anything. For any men wanting to recreate womens' pants pockets....just imagine if you could only put your fingers in to the middle knuckle at the deepest point.



Anyhow. Good to know about the athleta. I'll start looking on resale places for some that I can stomach the price of to try them out.

 

[MissLiss279]

@Herding_Cats One more vote for Athleta. I have one of their capris that they no longer make (All In), so no help there. But I really like the Ultimate Stash line. I have the 7" shorts and tights. Recently, I decided to buy more shorts, and so I tried on the Interval line. They were fine--very "shiny". They are supposedly one of the latest fabrics. Also, I felt like I needed to size up from S to M to be comfortable in them (although maybe I just finally decided not to fight my inevitable weight creep!)

Sadly, they seem to be phasing my Ultimate shorts out. Not sadly, I bought 2 pair on deep (final) sale and ended up paying $28 each.

Oh, I loved my All In crops. I had a couple pairs that I wore for years (usually once a week each to OrangeTheory) and they were still in really good shape. Probably a little stretched out, but not bad. And then my puppy chewed both pairs up a few months ago. I was very sad a few years ago when I saw they stopped making them. They were definitely worth the price.

 

[Disney at Heart]

If it doesn't have a drawstring, they will ride down on me because of my hip-to-waist ratio. And that rules out a lot of brands.

I discovered that on the wide, two-layered waist bands in my yoga style capris/leggings that I can cut a small slit in the inside layer and then thread a boot length shoe string all the way through, around, and back out the same hole. Voilà, drawstring!

 

[matt and beth]

We’ve picked up some discount Athleta at Sierra. Decent product TBH.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

The tights and shorts combo I mentioned above works because the side pockets on the tights will comfortably hold my phone in its protective case and it doesn’t move while running. If I need to grab it, I slide up the leg of the shorts. None of the other mentioned contortions due to smaller pockets (which I have also experienced).
I wore this combo for the MCM, Goofy, training runs, etc, and no loose phone, no chafing, no nothing.
YMMV

 

[avondale]

I messed around with the app some more and I *think* I might have found it. It's weird, since I've had this watch since last year, and it's literally never been an issue before, and like I said, my headphones aren't even connected to the watch. Not sure if it was a recent app update?

Yes, there was an update a couple of weeks ago, after which I started getting voice prompts for my workouts - the workouts I'd created with intervals, etc. I haven't decided yet if I want to turn them off. My most common workout is HIIT hill repeats that are 20-sec on and 20-sec recovery, so the woman talks almost the whole time. The part that I kind of like is that she tells me the distance of each running interval, which for 20 seconds comes out in meters. So it's kind of interesting to see how each interval compares. But I'm already sort of starting to zone out on it. Eh.

 

[accm]

Yes, there was an update a couple of weeks ago, after which I started getting voice prompts for my workouts - the workouts I'd created with intervals, etc. I haven't decided yet if I want to turn them off. My most common workout is HIIT hill repeats that are 20-sec on and 20-sec recovery, so the woman talks almost the whole time. The part that I kind of like is that she tells me the distance of each running interval, which for 20 seconds comes out in meters. So it's kind of interesting to see how each interval compares. But I'm already sort of starting to zone out on it. Eh.

So I managed to get it to stop saying what the next step is, but not saying if I’m going too fast/slow/in range. It was really annoying yesterday.

 

[avondale]

So I managed to get it to stop saying what the next step is, but not saying if I’m going too fast/slow/in range. It was really annoying yesterday.

Ah, weird that the settings don't seem to turn off all voice cues! I do not have "goal paces" set for my intervals, so she doesn't have anything to say about that.

Ok, so I just was looking at my Garmin. I have an Epix gen 2, so I don't know if this will be the same for you.

I chose the "run" activity. Then I went into the options menu - one of the things in the options menu is the workout library. But scrolling through the options, I have two settings options. The first is "More Settings" in words. The second is the gear icon. I went into the gear icon.

Scrolling through this list, there is an "audio prompts" setting. This has a list of things like lap alert, pace alert, etc. It also has an option for male/female voice, etc. There are a half-dozen alerts here that presumably the voice will give you. I bet you managed to turn off some of the alerts but not all of them.

Maybe you have this setting menu?

 

[The Expert]

Shoe question for you Brooks runners! I've been dealing with some platar fasciitis since switching to Topos about 6 weeks ago. Not sure if coincidence or related, so I'm doing some things to try and figure that out. But I'm looking at other shoe alternatives in case it turns out to be these shoes.

I see the Brooks Ghost Max 2 is about to come out and specifically says it relieves PF pressure. I did try on the Ghost Max when I picked up my current shoes and nearly went with them. Anybody know if there's a huge jump in design between the two? Because the Max are on sale all over right now with the 2 coming out.

 

[PrincessV]

Shoe question for you Brooks runners! I've been dealing with some platar fasciitis since switching to Topos about 6 weeks ago. Not sure if coincidence or related, so I'm doing some things to try and figure that out. But I'm looking at other shoe alternatives in case it turns out to be these shoes.

I see the Brooks Ghost Max 2 is about to come out and specifically says it relieves PF pressure. I did try on the Ghost Max when I picked up my current shoes and nearly went with them. Anybody know if there's a huge jump in design between the two? Because the Max are on sale all over right now with the 2 coming out.

I’m the one who also wound up with Topo-specific PF, and while I can’t say anything about the Ghost Max 2, I am currently wearing the OG Ghost Max at the moment, so I can talk a little about it…

In an earlier post, I ranted about the shoe not having anything I’d call “cushion,” and in all truth I probably will never run in them: the lack of flex just does not suit my forefoot landing well. BUT, I wore them around the house doing cleaning and cooking and it is PERFECT to me for walking and standing So good, I’m keeping them for theme park touring because the shoes I love to run in I do not love for standing and normal walking. The 6mm drop is just-right: they roll really nicely for landing heel-first. The arch is also just-right: no big bump like I find so awful in Topos. A little less room in the toe box than Topo, but not much. The midfoot is much rooomier than Topo. In my personal experience, those were the things that seemed to cause the PF flare with Topo.

What I’ve read of the Ghost Max 2 is that it drops some weight and is “smoother”, whatever that means. I think it’s worth trying the Max from somewhere with a solid return policy - I suspect you’ll see quickly whether it works for you or not.

 

[The Expert]

Thanks @PrincessV for the detailed response. This is just the comparison I needed. Between your post and the reminder on my training journal about Brooks' great return policy, I've ordered a pair of the current Max on sale directly from them. If I hate them, I can at least swap for the Max 2 to try them out.