Running

[everard]

treadmill ... I do 5k in about 35 minutes (which isn't fast, but is improving almost daily now) 3 times a week and am pretty much ready to run outside.

you'll find you can cover a fair bit more ground in 35mins on the road. always find it weird how the treadmill hurts more and is slower.

intending to do the brighton marathon next year. multiple rejections from london.

[indiansummer]

ah, i find running on concrete hurts well more than the treadmill! maybe i'm doing it wrong

*looks at gut*

i'm defo doing it wrong

[Silver Girl]

I think the road vs treadmill thing really comes down to personal variation. People always told me that in a race you'd be faster on the day etc but in the event I was a good couple of minutes slower than the same distance on a treadmill. Ho hum. Now planning on a 10k in October with the scary-fit people I work with...yikes...

[skywriting]

I'd always figured and had been told that I would real running harder what with the wind and weather and lumps and bumps and attack dogs and pigeons hovering menacingly and those people who run dead fast like and make you feel like the tub of lard you really know you are and the general randomness of the real world and everything.

Oh and my OCD tendencies like the treadmill telling me how fast I am running, how far I am running, how fast heart is beating and what I'd like for elevenses.

I have two a week off next week so perhaps I can find the motivation to, yaknow, go outside and bare the world's least manly legs to the poor unsuspecting folks of Nottingham.

[Carys]

So... I'm on week 8 of my Couch25k programme, and feel like I'm doing really well. If Google maps is to be believe, I'm doing about 2.5miles each time I run and am not horrendously exhausted or anything like that. I've been using an iPhone app to help me build up and I've found it really useful.

My question is this: how long will it take to build up from 5k to 10k? The follow-on app from the one I'm using, Bridge210k, is a six-week programme. Am I really likely to be able to do 10k in around two months?

I'm asking because there's a 10k run I'd really like to do on July 17th and I'm not sure if I'll be ready for it. Do you guys think it's a realistic goal?

[skywriting]

Ooh I downloaded an app today too: cyclemeter. It looks pretty good. Can't wait to try it out next week.

I did a very similar build up to the couch25k thing, but not with an app, just a programme I found online which got me running for 30 mins in about 10 weeks (albeit not at any kind of decent pace as yet).

When I was researching running programmes I saw a lot that suggested you could go from 0 to 10k in 10 weeks as a beginner, but, for me that wouldn't have been possible. Feeling how I do, I think from where I am now, which is fairly similar to you, Carys, I think I could aim to add 5 minutes of extra running a week and it feels doable (I tend to measure in time rather than distance, but am running about 4.5k in 30 minutes at the moment). At that rate, I'd get there in another 2 months or so, but still at a snail's pace.

In short, I think it should be doable by July, but I'm no expert.

For me, I aim to stick at 5k for a while but work on increasing the speed so I can do it 30 minutes from the 37.5 I am currently doing and then work on adding distance.

[Carys]

I think I've solved my own problem by finding the Pride Run 2011, which is on Saturday 20th August. I think I might feel more at home at that one, and apparently it's quite good for beginners. That'll give me plenty of time to make sure I'm ready!

[Elvistears]

So... I'm on week 8 of my Couch25k programme, and feel like I'm doing really well. If Google maps is to be believe, I'm doing about 2.5miles each time I run and am not horrendously exhausted or anything like that. I've been using an iPhone app to help me build up and I've found it really useful.

My question is this: how long will it take to build up from 5k to 10k? The follow-on app from the one I'm using, Bridge210k, is a six-week programme. Am I really likely to be able to do 10k in around two months?

I'm asking because there's a 10k run I'd really like to do on July 17th and I'm not sure if I'll be ready for it. Do you guys think it's a realistic goal?

How often are you running? It sounds do-able, although 6 weeks is putting yourself under a fair bit of pressure. The August one sounds like a better idea. Good luck with it - I find it really helps to have a race as a goal - its a great motivator for those days when you'd rather just go home and fall onto the settee.
How late could you enter the July one? Some of them let you enter on the day - maybe see how it goes?

I'd always figured and had been told that I would real running harder what with the wind and weather and lumps and bumps and attack dogs and pigeons hovering menacingly and those people who run dead fast like and make you feel like the tub of lard you really know you are and the general randomness of the real world and everything.

All of those things exist! But its still a wonderful way of seeing the world - god, that sounds a bit Mary Poppins, but I'd recommend going out and trying it. Personally, I find it less boring than the treadmill, which means I'm less fixated on how far I'm going, and looking at the clock to see how much further I've got to go, and trying to block out the europop in the gym. I can't imagine doing 10K on a treadmill - too much patience required!

[Jason45]

Well running is a good exercise and i prefer to do running as a best running and it is usually good for whole body and plays an important role in making health.

personal trainers orange county

[linus]

I agree up to a point but I have a sorry tale to recount, I was running, once, and I was getting up quite a pace... I was running along the pavement by the side of a busy road but my aim was to make it to some fields nearby where I intended to run through the grass naked- naked as the day I was born- at one with nature and all it's bees but I skidded on some dog shit and went under a bus

I was alright though

it was an airbus

[Murray]

Can anyone recommend a decent pedometer thingie please? Something that a jogger can wear and will tell them how far they've run in how long and how many calories they've burnt. That sorta thing.

It's obviously not for me; I can barely run a bath let alone a hundred yards. It's for a gift.

Thanks.

[indiansummer]

not so much a 'running' question as a 'keeping fit in general' question, and i couldn't really find a thread for that. i'm feeling a little less pedantic than usual today.

ANYWAY

a few weeks ago i strained the muscles in my knee at the gym doing sprints on the treadmill - suspect i'd tried to start running too fast before i was ready to. gah.

i've rested it for a few weeks and it largely seems to be fine, so i thought i'd go back to the gym this week and very tentatively try to ease back into it. everything seems largely fine, although i'm still getting twinges in my knee on the crosstrainer and when lightly jogging on the treadmill.

my question is this: are those twinges a sign that i should be laying off the gym for a bit, or just a stage i need to get through while building up strength in the ol' knee again?

cheers folks

[RITH]

Yesterday I went running for the first time in two years. I only did a small round through the part (2,5km, which is like 1,5 mile I think) but I was exhausted and soaked. I've gained quite a bit of weight over the past years and haven't had any excercise at all for ages, and it's noticable.

I'm looking forward to going again and improving though. It's probably better to go every other day than doing it every day right away, right?

[Carys]

Well done for getting starting again RITH. I'm in a similar position - having been able to run 5k fairly easily 18 months ago, I've had to start over on Couch 2 5k and am currently running about half that!

I think it's good to have a rest day in between while you're getting started again. If I run two days in a row, the second day if much harder work and makes me feel like I'm making less progress. Rest days mean you enjoy the run more, I reckon.

Good luck!

[RITH]

Thanks Carys! I think in the beginning especially my muscles need the rest. I went for the 2nd time yesterday and it was hell. But I'll keep going, knowing how great it feels once you're back into it for real.

When you UK people say things like 5k, what does that mean? 5 kilometers? 5 miles?

[a layer of chips]

Five km is just over 3 miles, Dennis.

I never go two days on the run any more. Usually go Monday, Wednesday, Friday... hangovers permitting.

[Carys]

I've been able to do every other day while I've been off work, but I'm going to do Tuesday Thursday Saturday now. They're organising weekly 9am timed 5k Parkruns right near my house as of this Saturday, so I'm going to start doing that every week once I can run that far again.

Right. Day off work so I'm going running now. I hear it's chilly out, which is good because I sweat like a bitch.

[a layer of chips]

Good luck, Carys!

I really struggle to get past about four and half miles these days. It must be seven or eight months since I've run a 10k. Guess that's just getting old for you...

[RITH]

eight months since I've run a 10k

This is what I actually meant. When you say 10k, what does the k mean? It's just 10 miles, isn't it? I know I could just look this up, probably.

[a layer of chips]

No, ten kilometres (ten thousand metres). Which is just over six miles.