Running Tips

[rakks_junkie]

I used the oliptical glider my first time out here and well my legs were jelly after that and they hurt for the next 3 days, but afterwards I got on a tread mill and I noticed a vast improvement that I am able to run a bit faster and longer .

[ANGRYCivilian]

I think you can only discover the true joy of running when you get your regular long runs out past the 8-10 mile range. That is doable for anyone without major biomechanical problems, as long as you build slowly, and alternate run days with something less damaging. I have raced marathon and beyond on very fragile legs on 3 runs a week and a lot of cycling.

If you're going to run for longer than 60 minutes, you should definitely take water with you, and if you're running for less than 20, don't bother, because it takes about 20 minutes for water to clear out of an empty stomach (ALWAYS pass the water stop at a 5K race!).

When I run for longer than 80 minutes, I always take chow. If it's in the 80-180 minute range, sugar alone will do the trick. I use gel a lot, but the poster above who mentioned honey was right on. I had a buddy who did a 100 miler on a quarter-mile track, and all he took was a sugar cube every lap!

Lately, I've been drinking a diluted solution of Gatorade on my long (2.5-3 hour) runs instead of gel and have found it to be as effective.

If you're going ultralong, I recommend taking in protein and fat, as well. When I race or train really long (4 hours plus) I like peanut butter and jelly wrapped in flour tortillas. Fat, protein, carbs, and electrolytes all in one tasty package!

The ultimate ultra fuel, though, is the caffeine-sugar bomb. Nothing does it like Coca-Cola (although, in my last ultra-effort, I took cold coffee and a Snicker's bar at hour 12, and that did the trick!). Once you grab that tiger by the tail, however, you have to hold on. The jolt seems to last for 30-45 minutes before you crash HARD if you don't get another hit, so save it for late in your effort!

I've never thought about food while running. Ranger CHCB, is it difficult to eat while running? I have a hard time doing anything else but running. Seriously, I have to disassociate my self from what my body is doing to run any kind of distance.

Rakks,

I'd like to know how far you actually run on a treadmill.

[CHCB]

Angry Civilian- not only CAN you eat while running, in an ultra, you had better.

I have eaten, during 50 and 60 mile efforts, the following:

Boiled eggs
Melon slices
Bananas
Apples
Pretzels
Potato chips
Ham sandwiches
Chicken sandwiches
PB&J sandwiches
PB&J wraps
Pizza
Tomato soup
Chicken soup
Frozen solid PowerBars (well, nearly fucking frozen!)

I did almost hork up the eggs, but I think it was less the eggs themselves than the fact that I ate about a pound of food at that aid station.

You're right, though, the hardest thing about eating when you run is REMEMBERING to eat (and drink) when you run, an issue with which I wrestle constantly, especially in adventure racing, where I am usally the navigator, and flat out forget to eat and drink.

I try NOT to dissociate when I run, but, rather, try to focus on my body and the experience. I have tried to run with headphones on, but I find the music distracting (which, I guess, is why most people DO run with headphones).

Of course, if you're not going out for more than 80 or 90 minutes, eating and drinking are not very important. If you're trying an ultra, though, starting to eat early, and keeping your caloric intake steady throughout the day is ESSENTIAL for a good performance (or even for survival to the finish)

[sobersides]

I've never thought about food while running....

Like CHCB said, at certain distances you HAVE to think about food - whether you want to or not.

The primary source of fuel for runners is glycogen stored in your muscles. As a rule of thumb, you run out of glycogen after about 50 minutes of sustained activity like running. At that point, your body turns to other, less efficient, sources of energy - but your performance suffers.

The whole point of carb-loading for distance runners is to temporarily increase the amount of stored glycogen so you can go longer before it runs out. As you can see by the 50 minute rule, it is pointless to carb-load for any event less than 50 minutes, but carb loading can get you up to the 80 minute mark that CHCB was talking about (useful for 10Ks for slow runners, and 10milers or 1/2 marathons for fast runners) without taking in additional carbs during your run (other than Gatorade).

By the same rule, it is critical to take in easily converted carbs for any event longer than that, such as a marathon. Easily converted carbs come from sources like Gatorade, power gels, bananas, etc. Without consuming enough of these during a marathon, you will experience what marathoners call "hitting the wall" when your carbs run out. For my marathons and all my long training runs, I used power gels and Gatorade - what you choose is personal preference. For any run longer than a marathon, you also need to take in proteins and other nutrients. That's where CHCB's menu comes in handy.

[BadMuther]

Just breezed through this.

To answer the earlier question, I have sports asthma and didn't realize it until my 3rd year in the army. After that I would take a hit from the puffer on cold days before running and I was g2g.

I have drove on through asthma attacks w/out a puffer, but apparently that's about the most unhealthy thing you could do.




Alright old farts, I've never had knee probs and now I'm having them after starting up a running program while I was in NOLA. Anyone have similiar experiences? And what did you do differently?

[AngryPistols]

...Alright old farts, I've never had knee probs and now I'm having them after starting up a running program while I was in NOLA. Anyone have similiar experiences? And what did you do differently?

Ranger BM,

I am 40ish, so I hope I don't quite qualify as a FOG.

In an attempt to control my weight and BP, I have been running and lifting weights for about the last 6 years. After the holidays, I noticed my knees are popping and hurting when I run, so, I have been using a mountain bike(for cardio) and my knees are feeling much better.

On the resistance training side, I also cut out creatine and I have also found that if I am doing squats with my legs too close together, that tends to trigger joint pain.

The only thing that I have been missing is that while I run, I can shake the cobwebs loose in my head by kinda 'zoning' out after about 10 minutes. I can't exactly do that on the bike.

On another note, got any funny stories from NOLA?

Angry

[BadMuther]

I took about a 2 1/2 week vacation and went to Maui after NOLA. Yesterday was the first day back at the gym. Did the elliptical and legs-and the knee was hurting.

Angry, I don't want to give up running, I'm just debating whether to give it a rest on running for awhile or to suck it up as the price ya pay.

Funny NOLA stories? Yeah, not getting paid as promised. hahhaa.

[bulldogg]

Don't know if they still make it but back in '88 I bought a Spalding wristwatch from the Ft Sam PX that had a feature where you could put in your stride length and then punch in the pace you wanted to run and it would BEEP out your strides. I used this for the APFT and posted a 9:54 for the two mile run.

I had never run before the Army and hated it. The thing that improved my run times was the fear of getting smoked. I couldn't do pushups for shit so I sounded off like Jesus was coming when we did unit runs so I wouldn't get dropped when we got back. And on our free time I started running a five mile loop from the 232nd barracks out past the National Cemetary to where there was a trailer park on post and back.

My goal is to run the Macau half marathon this year and the Hong Kong full marathon next year if I'm not back in by then... singing cadence to keep pace since I haven't found another watch like that one.

[onebadshot556]

Hey guys, I don't post much here, I do like all the info that you guys put out though so I figure I should share some of my experience with runing(hopfully it will help somone).
I have been runing for about 4 years, 2 of them being lots of hard runing of no less then 3 miles a day up before injury I was puting in about 6-7 a day.
Recently messed up my knee, proabbly ITB band, Patilla(sp). MRI came back fine doc really didn't know what was up.
Took some advice from other DEP's working on same training as I am, and Trigger point Therapy and Myo Fascal(sp), its the foam rolling thing.
Seems like it is really helping.

So if any you guys are having knee problems, id suggest giving these a try I don't think I spent more then 20 bucks on the roller and Trigger point book of Amazon.com.
Link to foam rollin
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=475832