VBBF Runner's Support Group

[JW]

http://www.nyrr.org/races/2008/r0413x00.asp

 

Race tom morning 4miler. Rain or shine but I hope the rain holds out. Rain is only cool when it's super hot outside. I like snow but it's too warm 4 that.

 

Should be sleeping but woke up today at 1:30pm. I gotta force myself to shut my eyes very soon....

 

 

How did it go ?

hope you got some sleep before the race

[JW]

I ran all winter, except for a couple weeks when I was in physio, and a few weeks when I was sick. I'm building back up again now. I'm in a 5k race next weekend (just to get myself back into the race atmosphere) and I'm going to do a half marathon on May 25. Other than that I'm mostly going to do races in the fall, and try to find a couple through the summer to do. Also, me and two other girls are looking into doing a half ironman together... I will run, another will swim, and another will bike. That would be fun.

 

I actually like winter running. The only bad winter runs are when it gets really icy or below -40

 

I'm still debating about racing.

I'm going in one in August for sure but I'm still deciding on others...

I might do a fun run or two.

 

Let us know how the 5K goes

[Lean and Green]

JW, I borke 10:00 p mile pace!!!

 

Actually hilarious that my pace was exactly 9:59 p/mile. It may be lame to anyone who can run fast but for me it felt good plus I wasn't even really pushing hard. I was keeping pace with another runner so i think that helped. Considering I haven't jogged since my last race, I was satisfied. I have been playing racquetball alot though.

 

my results:

 

http://web2.nyrrc.org/cgi-bin/htmlos.exe/17810.1.481655018700027246

 

I wanted to volunteer for a race on sat but i didn't get home till 5:30am and i had to be there at 7am so that wasn't happening. Next time. I managed 4 1/2 hrs of sleep and i was ok but... i went to hang out with a friend whom i haven't seen in awhile and we had lunch at my fav vegan restaurant http://www.caravanofdreams.net. Afterwards when we went to see a movie I warned her I might fall asleep and 3 min into the movie i passed out cold for the first 50min of it. She's used to it anyhow; i used to lways fall asleep on her whenever she would come over to hang. When we used to date it would bother her but now that we're friends she didn't care. Also rescued a cat that was stuck on a fire escape! Woohoo

 

GO VBBF RUNNING SUPPORT GROUP!

 

 

next race this sunday;

 

http://www.nyrr.org/races/2008/r0420x00.asp

[JW]

JW, I borke 10:00 p mile pace!!!

 

Actually hilarious that my pace was exactly 9:59 p/mile. It may be lame to anyone who can run fast but for me it felt good plus I wasn't even really pushing hard. I was keeping pace with another runner so i think that helped. Considering I haven't jogged since my last race, I was satisfied. I have been playing racquetball alot though.

 

my results:

 

http://web2.nyrrc.org/cgi-bin/htmlos.exe/17810.1.481655018700027246

 

I wanted to volunteer for a race on sat but i didn't get home till 5:30am and i had to be there at 7am so that wasn't happening. Next time. I managed 4 1/2 hrs of sleep and i was ok but... i went to hang out with a friend whom i haven't seen in awhile and we had lunch at my fav vegan restaurant http://www.caravanofdreams.net. Afterwards when we went to see a movie I warned her I might fall asleep and 3 min into the movie i passed out cold for the first 50min of it. She's used to it anyhow; i used to lways fall asleep on her whenever she would come over to hang. When we used to date it would bother her but now that we're friends she didn't care. Also rescued a cat that was stuck on a fire escape! Woohoo

 

GO VBBF RUNNING SUPPORT GROUP!

 

 

next race this sunday;

 

http://www.nyrr.org/races/2008/r0420x00.asp

 

 

Hey!! Congrats on the new speed record!

It's awesome when you break through a marker like that!

 

Im so jealous of your race schedule! I have to really search for races where I live. It is a short season and there are only a couple each month.

 

 

I'm finding that my sense of speed is way out of whack! I haven't been running since about 8 years ago. It feels like I'm going fast but in reality.....

 

I'm going to measure out a route as soon as I can

[pamela]

 

I actually like winter running. The only bad winter runs are when it gets really icy or below -40

 

It didn't get much colder than -25C here this winter, so I didn't really have to deal with the worst cold. For which I am thankful! But we did have an unbelievable amount of snow, and that definitely aggravated my injury.

 

I'm still debating about racing.

I'm going in one in August for sure but I'm still deciding on others...

I might do a fun run or two.

 

Let us know how the 5K goes

 

Racing is fun!

 

I'll definitely post about how it goes, although I don't think I'm in nearly as good condition as I was last October when I did 5k in 24 minutes. But by this October I hope to obliterate that.

[Mike]

I'd better step it up if I'm going to be on a thread with all of these great runners! Congrat L/G on the new time record. You're a heckuva lot faster than I am. You winter runners are impressive, too. At first, I thought the temps were you were talking about were Fahrenheit (sp?). I thought you were crazy .

 

I'm kind of frustrated with myself . I wasn't stretching properly and ended up with a really sore Achilles tendon on my right foot. Now I'm walking funny! It looks like I'll be doing some upper body work for a week or so . It's all good, though. I'm going to stretch daily from now on. As a matter of fact, if anyone has any good stretching routines they'd like to pass on to a "newly-converted" stretcher, it would be much appreciated.

 

Good luck with your training everyone!!

 

Mike

[hsorlando]

All I can suggest is to stretch every day, or at least before and after every workout. It's quite a habit for me now. For me what gets the most sore are my hamstrings, and sometimes my calves.

[JW]

All I can suggest is to stretch every day, or at least before and after every workout. It's quite a habit for me now. For me what gets the most sore are my hamstrings, and sometimes my calves.

 

I agree about stretching every day!

 

There is a big debate about whether or not stretching before a run is a good thing.

I never stretch before a run. I prefer to stetch out the muscles naturally with a walk then light jog.

I've never had any muscular issues.

 

I do however, try to stretch in a separate workout every day.

[Mike]

I'm never been comfortable with stretching before a run. It seems to me that whatever I'm stretching would be more prone to injury during the run, due to it being pre-stretched. I think a good warm-up and stretching daily are very important, though.

 

Which reminds me, I actually aggravated my Achilles tendon when riding a bike. I never warm up before a bike ride, so maybe that's part of my problem in addition to not stretching.

 

From now on, I'll be warming up and stretching out

 

By the way, is your back feeling better, hs?

[Lean and Green]

Mike, thank you so much! I wish I was alot faster too but I have other priorities right now, such as bbing. As far as stretching goes, though I stretch less than anyone on the planet, I know of many good ways to, lol.

 

If you have a partner partner assisted stretches are amazing. You could always use a wall or something but it isn't the same. Do a little research on the

 

C.R.A.C. method (Contract, Relax, Antagonist-Contract)

 

To sum it up, you take any stretch you like. Let's take a ham stetch as it is on of my favs for this method.

 

1.Lay on your back, with a straight leg, raise on up as high and far back as you can.

2.When you reach your max flexibility have someone hold your leg up there and have him use all his body weight so he can apply proper resistance and he doesn't get tired.

3.Contract your leg muscles and press against his body that is holding your leg up and have him resist and keep you in place. Do this for about 5 seconds.

4.Relax and release and he will be able to push your leg pass its threshold a little further. Hold it at the new flexibility point for a count of 15 seconds.

5.Repeat this 3 or 4 times without stopping and it will really push your stretch to the limit.

 

It feels absolutely amazing!!!! If i run with a partner I always insist that we perform this stretch on each other before and afterwards.

 

You can also use foam rollers for a nice myofascial tissue release and to realign your posture. They are ridiculously cheap (after all it's foam) and a reliable place to get them is http://www.performbetter.com. Actually this is probably the best place bar none to get any equipment for trainign purposes. They stock everything. I deal with Rob Milani, perhaps if you mention someone referred you to him, he will give you a discount.

 

Try CRAC, you won't be sorry, lol

Edited April 15, 2008 by Lean and Green

[Mike]

Some day, after my first marathon, someone will ask me how I stay so flexible and injury-free. I'll tell them that I use CRAC. L/G, you always give such awesome, insightful advice. Those foam rollers sound cool, too. Thanks, man!

[Lean and Green]

Thanks for the kudos Mike! It's wonderful to know that I can be of assistance. I forgot to say one more thing about the foam rollers... the absolute best stretch on them is the IT Band (iliotibial band) one. That release tension all throughout your leg and you will be moaning in a good way as you relieve tight muscles.

 

Lay one leg at a time near your pelvis and roll 6 inches below and 2 inches above it in the center of the glutes. Any time you feel a pressure point, stay right there and apply pressure with your own bodyweight directly onto that point and hold for a count of 15-30 secs.....

[Mike]

I'm sold Anything that can help me stretch my IT Band is great in my book. I tried to do that IT Band stretch where you stand up and cross your legs, and I almost fell into the wall . So, can that foam roller be used in place of conventional stretching? Maybe it would be cool to do that a couple times a week and other types of stretching (such as CRAC) on other days.

[hsorlando]

My back is 100% again, but it was only hurt for like 1 or 2 days last week. I think the reason was I either stretched wrong, not enough, or perhaps it happened when I was playing with my nieces later in the day.

I finally got mapmyrun to work on my slow computer. It seems to work once in a while for me, but not every time. I was a little upset to find I haven't been doing 5 mile runs like I thought. I was off by half a mile, but I guess that's better than being off by 2 or 3 miles. So tonight I ran for 5 miles, and felt really good. I also got a present from the running instructor, she gave me a running log to record my runs in, basically so she can note my progress, and stuff.

[dontxhide]

Well Im back. No where near 100 percent. My shoulder is probably like 50 percent right now. But I did some body weight squats, lunges, and calf raises for a warmup. Then I did 70# bar squats. My shoulder didnt hurt at all during these. So I went running for 15 minutes in the pouring snow. The only time my shoulder was in pain was when I bent down to tie my shoe, and afterwards when slowly trying to stretch it.

 

I miss doing sprints. BUt I dont think my shoulder is ready for those yet. In time. In time!

[JW]

Good to see you guys back on the road again!!

 

hope the injuries heal quickly for you.

[Lean and Green]

dontxhide, running in the pouring snow, that sounds hardcore, I love it! I have only done that once and it was for a race. Glad to see ou are back in action.

 

Well, I met someone last sunday and she is running the 4m race this coming sunday as well. I told her we could do it together and keep pace. She runs alot faster than me so this will be interesting. She runs whole race before it starts (all 4m) and then continues on without stopping and still maintains a 9-9:30min pace. I am going to push myself to keep up with her. This should be challenging! I always thought I could perhaps go a little faster but I never pushed. Hopefully i'm right and I don't flake out. Wish me luck!

[Mike]

Right on, DontxHide! I think it's very cool that you are still training your lower body while your shoulder heals. Injuries suck, but sometimes they can be a good excuse to change up one's training. HS, I'm glad to hear your back only hurt for a couple of days. Back pain can be scary.

 

I'm still walking funny from my Achille's tendon prob, but it's getting better. (This is turning into the beaten-up runners support group . I'm far from injured, though. Just a little sore and being cautious.) Anyway, I did some high-rep weight training to force some blood through my body. I did 1 set of 50 reps for squats, SLDL's, overhead presses and bent-over rows. Man, it felt like every muscle in my body was on fire. After the workout, I felt like I had a runner's high.

 

Good luck keeping up with your friend, L/G. Who knows? Maybe she'll have to work to keep up with you

 

I'm going to dig into my mid-morning snack,mmm

[JW]

having a miserable week due to a ton of overtime at work (unpaid of course )

 

I'm itching to get out there but by the time I get home & eat dinner it's usually past 9:30 and I'm bagged!

 

Things will get back to normal in the next week or so but for now....

[Mike]

Bummer, JW! Sometimes I guess it can be good to take a week off. I bet that once you get back into your routine, you'll be beating your old PB.

[JW]

Bummer, JW! Sometimes I guess it can be good to take a week off. I bet that once you get back into your routine, you'll be beating your old PB.

 

Now if I could only stop eating all this crap!!!

stress does strange things to my appetite and resolve

[Mike]

Stress is a killer, literally. Are you into the Thrive Diet? I hear it's supposed to help your body deal with stress better to eliminate (or at least minimize) the types of probs you're having. I haven't read Thrive yet, but it should be arriving on my doorstep any day now!

[JW]

Stress is a killer, literally. Are you into the Thrive Diet? I hear it's supposed to help your body deal with stress better to eliminate (or at least minimize) the types of probs you're having. I haven't read Thrive yet, but it should be arriving on my doorstep any day now!

 

I haven't read it yet.

I tried getting it at the library but they didn't have it.

 

getting down right grumpy now.

no excercise since last Sunday!!!!

 

I did sign up for a soccer league though

[Mike]

I know the feeling. It drives me crazy when I have to take more than a couple of days off. I hope you can fit something in today or tomorrow. If not, seven days without exercise makes one weak.

 

Congrats on the soccer league sign-up. That sounds like a lot of fun!

[JW]

I know the feeling. It drives me crazy when I have to take more than a couple of days off. I hope you can fit something in today or tomorrow. If not, seven days without exercise makes one weak.

 

Congrats on the soccer league sign-up. That sounds like a lot of fun!

 

Thanks Mike

 

Now all I need is to get out of this stinkin cast (and I mean that literally too)

 

sweat DOES take its toll on the inner lining

how's YOUR exercise coming along?