Official BigSoccer Runner's Thread

Hope you realize that it doesn't work that way for most people .

I just "retired" from rugby after nearly a year of not being able to overcome a calf strain. I also put on about half a ton in that time (on top of rugby bulk I've been carrying), so since Labor Day weekend I've been running 4-5 times a week, mostly doing a gerbil-wheel circuit at a park near my house (one lap=1/2 mile), 6-8 laps a day. My emphasis is on going slow enough to avoid further calf injury, and to drop weight (8 pounds so far w/o dieting).

In order to work it in, I have to get up a bit before 6. When I start, the insects are going strong (well, not after today, as I suspect the freeze killed them off). When I finish, the birds are singing. It's nice to catch that transition. I am looking forward to the end of daylight savings time, though.

Jim, as far as breaking 30 on the five miler, congrats! I had to do that when I was playing soccer in college, as that was our fitness test at Western Illinois University. Believe it or not, Dave Dir did it, too.

 

Thanks Jim.

I ran track and cross country in high school too many years ago. Kept running a bit in college and more after college until about 87 when knee pain got too bad.

Started back about 2 years ago when 20-25 extra pounds had appeared. I have lost most of that and am now starting to run 1-2 races a month. Best so far on 5K is 22:08 and I have done one 10K but was not ready for that at all at the time and ran 51 something. Just entered another 10K for Sunday October 27th and hope to better that time by a bit.

I currently run 5 times a week getting 20-25 miles in total. Starting to add some hill workouts and speed work but speed is a relative term at my age!!

 

Well, here's my training insight: I run first thing in the morning, before first light. I don't see at all well in the dark, so this keeps me from going to fast. My hope is that this will also keep me from injuring myself. That calf strain I mentioned came about because I had done no running for years, just rugby and heavy, heavy repitions of arm curls (starting at 12 ozs, with descending weight on each repitition). So my first time out just about 10 months ago, I run for five minutes, walk for five minutes, and I plan on doing this for forty minutes. After 10 minutes, I'm feeling pretty good, so I think, what the hell, let's do a mile. So I run a mile, deciding to haul ass about 100 yards into it. I finish with a 7:35 or so mile (given that the actuarial charts have me as "obese," not bad). I walk a lap, congratulating the hell out of myself. Here I go nearly 10 years without doing any running besides rugby running (scrums don't have much cardio value), and I'm still under 8 minutes! Damn I'm impressive, etc. Well, I decide to jog a cool-down half mile, and I take one step and feel the REAL burn. Another step, and I'm leaning on the cyclone fence crying for my Mommy.

So, my training tip for fat guys: run in the dark. It'll slow you down. And there's the added benefit that fewer people will see you.

 

so maybe you should listen to your own advice Jim??

 

is that humanly possible? damn, that is skinny...

i used to run a lot in college to keep in shape from drinking all that beer and crap, usually ran 3-4 miles every other day at about a 7 minute pace. i once got a little crazy and did 14 miles one morning when i was bored, not sure what got in to me but i wanted to run around the state park near our college before my roomie did...

i have not kept a regular running schedule in the past 6 months due to various injuries i have obtained from soccer; but i am going to start back up the every other day thing starting in november.

this will be a great thread to keep me motivated.

 

I started running my freshman year in college (1990). It was tough at first but eventually it got better. And then beginning in like 1992 I began entering the local fun runs and next thing I know I'm actually placing among the top 5 in my age group and every now and then would crack into the top 3 and get my name in the paper and get a dang ribbon. Sadly that has not been the case since 1996 when I graduated. That whole busy with my lame ass white collar career thing got in the way of a decent running program. So for a while there I was in a running lull. I still ran but not as much as I did in college. Right now I'm running anywhere between 3-5 days a week for 30-45 mins at a time. My per mile pace is hovering around the 7 minute mark.

For four or five years straight I ran "Race To Robie Creek" here in Boise, Idaho. It's a half marathon that is held in the hills in SW Idaho. 8.5 miles uphill with the last mile or two just steep as hell and a very fast downhill the remaining 4.6 miles. Very killer. I tended to cramp up at the bottom. Ugh.

 

Oh hell yeah!!! One of the benefits of working parttime at REI is that I can prodeal through several shoe companies including Asics, New Balance, adidas (blech), Montrail, etc. Of course with REI being an outdoor store we have a small selection of trail running shoes in the store and sometimes get good deals on newly released trail running shoes. So right now I have three pairs of trail running shoes...Asics Gel Trabucos, Montrail Diablos, and Teva sumpin sumpin. And of course living here in SW Idaho...trails in the foothills are only minutes away from my office and any chance I get to run or hike up there...well I'm there. But I would say 95% of my running is done either on the Greenbelt or the country roads around my house.

 

This is the best advice yet.
Hey everyone, check this out and let's support each other.

Thanks, I needed that.

 

Questions:

Any good walkman to use while running?

Any of you run with your dog(s)?

 

i have one of those small sony ones that only gets radio stations, but if wraps around your arm. it is small and light...and you just strap it on your upper arm and dont have to worry about carrying anything.

like this one : http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=11120937&m=58&cat=62&scat=249

no dog...

 

99% of the time when I am outside running I don't use a Walkman. Alot of my runs in Boise are right along the river and I like to hear the sounds of it.

One of the problems I've had running with a Walkman is that I tend to run along with the music...so if a up tempo song is on I tend to pick up my pace and vice versa with commercials or a slow song. I don't like that.

But if I am running on a treadmill or indoor running track then I will take along my CD player and shove that in my CD belt. As some of you are aware...running on a treadmill or indoor track is very, very, very dull and you definately need something to spice things up.

Another thing with running on the Greenbelt is that it is a path used by other users such as cyclists, faster runners, inline skaters. With trail etiquette you pass someone on their left side. You call out "on your left" and then you give a lil' nod or hand gesture and move to your right to let them pass. Sometimes I've encountered Walkman wearing folks when I ride and yell out "on your left" but they don't hear me. I hate that.

No dog here. A while back though I housesat for my friend Prego Cheryl and she had a Visalia (sp?) and that was an excellent running dog. The thing could probably finish the Ironman without breaking a sweat.

 

For beginning runners I tell them to not even worry about their pace. The most important thing is that they have actually decided to take up running. That's a big step right there.

One thing I've learned when I was a beginner and from what other beginners have told me is that sometimes it gets frustrating when you don't seem like you are running fast enough. Screw that. Go at your own pace that you feel comfortable with. Jim's right...if you are running at a pace where you can hold a convo with someone...you're good to go.

 

Do any of you run while on vacation?

Some cool places that I've ran at:

Waikiki on Oahu. Damn that is nice! Sand, ocean, bikinis..what more could you ask for?

Hilo, Hawaii. OK that was a tad muggy for me last November but it was nice. I ran on a black dirt road in a rural part of Hilo. That was cool.

Portland, Oregon: Along the Willamette River in downtown.

Palo Alto, California: Stanford campus. Nuff said.

San Francisco: The Embarcadero. Going past Pac Bell Park is pretty damn cool. Of course running across the Golden Gate Bridge is an awesome experience. Pacific Heights is cool too cuz of all the phat houses. I want to run in the Marin Headlands and Presidio next time I am there.

San Diego: From Mission Beach to that beach north of Mission Beach. That is nice!!!

Places I didn't care too much for:

Washington DC. OK I didn't get to go on the C&O towpath or whatever that's called, I hear that's the bomb. The only running I did the two times I've been there are on the Mall and in downtown. DC is way too muggy for me.

Phoenix. The only time you can really run here is early in the morning or at night. I like running on the ASU campus but other than that I am not a big fan of running in Phoenix.

 

Newport, Rhode Island (where I only go because my wife is from there and her parents still live there year round): the Cliff Walk is cool if you get there early enough, or in the off-season.

Provincetown, MA: anywhere off Commercial street. If you like beach running, there's that, and there's some good paved trails nearby, too. Elsewhere on Cape Cod (toward the "elbow," IIRC) there's a 25+ mile bike trail that used to be pretty runner-friendly, but it's considered uncool to wear a walkman, since you need to be listening for approaching cyclists.

I used to really, really like running in Tucson, AZ, the two summers I spent down there. In fact, Tucson helped me set my all-time extremity record: Earlier that year, in Minnesota, I ran 4 miles when it was -28 degrees, and in July in Tucson, I ran 3 miles when it was 112 degrees (I picked a route that had drinking fountains every quartermile or so, and ran even slower than I do now). Never again am I likely to have a 140 degree difference between my coldest and hottest run.

This is already too long, but what the hell. It was tough to get out there these past two mornings... yesterday I was just tired, and today it was raining and about 38 degrees. But (and I hope I can remember this the next time I think about blowing it off or quitting mid-run), man do I feel great now, two hours after finishing up. And man, did I feel great yesterday as a result of not bagging it.

 

I will have to say that I wimp out most of the time in the winter and use the treadmill. Weekends I still try to get outside but during the week I stay in because it is too dark in the morning and evening.

 

I'm running the NYC Marathon next month. Training has been ok, but I haven't run one since the '91 Portland Marathon where I ran 2:50. I haven't done any speed work, just base miles, so I'm just hoping to take it easy and roll/crash in around 3:25-3:30. But I'm a bit nervous (creaky knees; 15 extra lbs) as I know the last 8-6 miles are going to be rough and possibly ugly.

 

Good luck Real Ray!!! To be in the NYC Marathon do you have to qualify for it by running in another run? If so what race did you use for your qualifier?

I LOVE running in the snow. But the conditions have to be right...not wet snow and not blowing sideways. If it's just gently falling down then I'm cool with it. Of course I run a lot slower in the snow. But damn I love the sound of my feet crunching the freshen fallen snow.