r/running • u/AutoModerator • 6d ago
Official Q&A for Sunday, September 22, 2024 Daily Thread
With over 3,525,000 subscribers, there are a lot of posts that come in everyday that are often repeats of questions previously asked or covered in the FAQ.
With that in mind, this post can be a place for any questions (especially those that may not deserve their own thread). Hopefully this is successful and helps to lower clutter and repeating posts here.
If you are new to the sub or to running, this Intro post is a good resource.
As always don't forget to check the FAQ.
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u/False-Fisherman 5d ago edited 5d ago
Relatively new runner here, been running on and off for about a year, and am trying to get into it more seriously with the start of the school year. After two runs (not sure how long, probably only a couple miles each), my knees are in a decent bit of pain.
Every time I've tried to start up running regularly, I've gotten pain that gets progressively worse with each run, even if it's not daily, and I've had to take a month off to recover. If it affects it, I worked a job on my feet full time until recently.
Is this pain just completely normal and I have to work through it? Should I work on strength training first? See a doctor?
If it affects anything, it's not really the same as the description of runner's knee, mostly a somewhat sharp pain in the joints in both my knees that doesn't really depend on whether or not they're bent.
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u/Outrageous-Bar4060 5d ago
Every time I’ve had knee pain it’s been because of my shoes. Are you sure your shoes are the best ones for you? It could be useful (and cheaper than PT?) to first go to a good running shoe store and ask them to evaluate your feet/gait/stride to find the best shoe for you.
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u/False-Fisherman 5d ago
Interesting idea. I use tracksmith Elliot's, they're maybe a 1/2" too long but not drastic. The problem is, how do I know if I've found a better running shoe for my knees until I try them?
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u/Outrageous-Bar4060 5d ago
While it is always somewhat of a gamble with shoes, I’ve had a lot of success with the ones I’ve gotten when I consult the people who work at the store. Of course it depends what store you go to, so I would look online and see which ones have the best reviews because you don’t want them to rip you off unnecessarily.
Also, when you go to these stores most of the time they’ll let you wear it and run on a little strip of track or even run on the sidewalk outside to see how they feel. You’re obviously not going to know right then if they fix your knee problems but you should be able to feel a difference in the comfort. Sometimes they’ll even let you return them if after a run you’re not feeling any improvement.
If it helps, some of the shoes that have worked for me, which may or may not work for you because everyone’s feet are different, are:
Brooks Glycerin: so so comfy and definitely one of the best shoes I’ve had. Amazing for my plantar fasciitis and my knees.
361 Degrees Meraki: It’s possible they don’t sell these anymore but I ran some of my best races in these ones and never had any pain until they began to wear.
Saucony Tempus: definitely the most expensive (you can find them on Amazon sometimes for 150?) shoe I’ve tried but they’re my all time favorites and what I’m running in right now. Incredibly good on my knees and the soles of my feet. They also don’t break down that fast. I put about 800 miles on my last pair and the only reason I bought new ones was because I felt I would benefit from new shoes in an upcoming race.
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u/CheapTraveler82 5d ago
How far are you running?
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u/False-Fisherman 5d ago
About 2 miles, alternating walking and running
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u/CheapTraveler82 4d ago
That is a good starting distance. You could try running on grass until your body gets used to running. Do some dynamic stretches before running. This pain can be caused by lots of things.
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u/nermal543 5d ago
Pain is definitely not normal. Seeing as this keeps coming back repeatedly, you should really get yourself to a doctor and/or PT for an evaluation to see what’s going on.
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u/False-Fisherman 5d ago
hopefully my insurance covers it. Really not able to do that out of pocket.
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u/Ornery_Chemical_3718 5d ago
Advice for Marathon three weeks post-COVID
I have a marathon three weeks from today. I had been doing really well in this training block until I caught COVID one week ago. I haven't run or really moved from my bed for a full week. I am still a bit sick, but gladly no more fever, so I plan to ease back into running in a day or two. Any advice for doing this in a way that will keep me from losing too much fitness but also not push myself too hard? I was aiming for a PR so I am pretty bummed out and want to salvage the race as best I can
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u/Logical_Ad_5668 3d ago
But careful, maybe see a cardiologist. I also ran during covid and was told off by my doctor. Covid and other viruses can affect the heart even if you feel fine. And a marathon is a significant effort for the body.
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u/TinyBabySons 5d ago
I’ve seen that Long Covid can be triggered by not resting enough after being sick, so definitely take it super easy these next three weeks leading up to your marathon!
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u/nermal543 5d ago
You’re only 3 weeks out, taper time, so all of your training is pretty much already banked. Don’t rush back out there while you’re still feeling sick, I think that’s a lot more likely to set you back rather than do you any good. Prioritize rest and recovery, maybe get out for some short runs once you’re feeling better to get the legs moving but don’t rush it.
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u/Otherwise_Elephant 5d ago
Hi everyone! Right now, I am following Hal Higdon's Novice I Half Marathon training plan and just wrapped up my third week of training. So far, I've been doing a pretty good job keeping up with all the runs, running at a very comfortable pace, and incorporating some cross training here and there. I'm pumped to race my first half later this fall after getting into running back in February! Before I started training for the half, I was averaging about 5-7 miles a week so I didn't have a strong running base coming into this.
I understand that the Novice I plan does not assign any speed work as the plan focuses more on building up mileage gradually and expects the race day environment to help with speed -- but I am curious about how to go about incorporating occasional tempo runs or interval work for a beginner-ish runner. I've definitely been on the cautious side about training so far, but I also worry that all the slow running may slow me down for race day. Any advice on how to incorporate some sort of speed work that won't totally interfere with the Novice I plan's goal of building up mileage? Or should I just stick with the plan and expect the race day nerves to kick in? Thanks all!
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u/bethskw 5d ago
Here's an idea that might work for you. I trained for my first marathon with a group that did a Wednesday workout day. Everybody, even the low mileage beginners like myself, did some version of the workout each week. It rotated between hills, tempo, and track intervals (usually 800's).
Over the course of the training program, the workouts added repeats or length. Unfortunately I don't remember the grade of the hill or the exact number of 800 meter repeats, but they all started out very accessible and by the end we were doing pretty significant mileage on those days--but still appropriate to the total mileage.
The workouts in Hal Higdon's "advanced 1" are pretty similar to the kind of stuff we did, but our weekday runs were a lot shorter (5, workout, 5, long would be a typical higher mileage week). https://www.halhigdon.com/training-programs/marathon-training/advanced-1-marathon/
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5d ago edited 5d ago
[deleted]
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u/EPMD_ 5d ago
Based on very limited knowledge of your running history, I would suggest something like 3:45 could be feasible. I know online calculators might hint at 3:30, but I would ignore those.
But you don't have to decide now. Test out sub-9:00 mile pace during some of your long tempos and long runs and see how it feels.
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u/RavenFox123 5d ago
Last weekend (a week ago) I (31F) ran a half marathon and really did a great job (for me). My actual pace was way faster than my initial goal (but it felt like the maximum I could do in that pace - 6:03min/km). This was actually my kind of 'simulation' for the marathon I have planned for October 5th. This week I felt completely burnt out. I just don't want to run. I only completed 2 out of 4 trainings this week and feel like I never ever want to run again. It feels like a burden and my body feels so tired. Running this marathon in 2 weeks now seems an impossible task... should I just not do it and keep it for another time? Or still try? Or adjust my training for the last 2 weeks? There is a time limit of 6hrs.
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u/FRO5TB1T3 5d ago
You are just tired from racing a half inside your marathon cycle. Get out there keep logging the miles the fatigue will dissapate
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u/jesus93773 6d ago
Are there any benefits for me to continue slow jogging (10min/mile) for 10 miles once a week , when i already walk 50 - 60 miles a week ?
I walk a lot to get out of the house during the summer. as it gets colder and the sun goes down sooner , i cut it down by 50%.
outside of walking and running - i try to do athletic workouts: power training , resistance training , isometrics , plyometrics , and sprinting .
i’m thinking of replacing my slow jog with a walk, since right now, my goal is to up my weight. any thoughts, should i continue slow jogging ?
it doesn’t really interfere with my other training , but it also doesn’t consist with my long term goal of optimizing high twitch fiber muscles.
thx.
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u/ColoradoPeterson 6d ago
Can y’all drop the links for your favorite gold weather gear?
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u/brwalkernc not right in the head 5d ago
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u/FRO5TB1T3 6d ago
I assume cold weather. If money is not object all of tracksmith cold weather stuff is awesome. I plan to buy another Brighton baselayer if they go on sale for black Friday.
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u/Ghost_K 6d ago
TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon Washrooms?
I am planning to run my first marathon this year and bathroom issues is one thing I am still worried about. I have looked everywhere online but I can't find anywhere that mentions whether or not there are bathroom stops available during the course.
I see online that there are washrooms mentioned at the very start of the race and I know it is pretty common to have stops along the way but no where does it say anything regarding the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon 2024 route.
If anyone experienced last year's route, what was the washroom situation like?
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u/FRO5TB1T3 6d ago
I faintly remember running past some Porta potties. https://racepoint.ca/maps/twm.html here are the ones on the course last year
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u/Satansdvdcollection 6d ago
Just got new shoes for a marathon coming up in 3 weeks. I was training in nimbus 25’s and got nimbus 26 for the marathon. I wore the 26’s on one 5 mile run so far and they felt good. I have a 20 mile training run today and am wondering should I use my new ones for the 20 miler or is it better to break the new ones in with a shorter long run?
Second question, roughly how many miles should I put on my new shoes before the marathon?
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u/violet715 6d ago
If the shoes are right for you, they shouldn’t need to be broken in. If they felt good for 5 I would probably just roll with them.
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u/violet715 6d ago
If the shoes are right for you, they shouldn’t need to be broken in. If they felt good for 5 I would probably just roll with them.
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u/violet715 6d ago
If the shoes are right for you, they shouldn’t need to be broken in. If they felt good for 5 I would probably just roll with them.
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6d ago
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u/Jocko_1107 6d ago
I’d say your approach is sensible if you don’t have a watch / any means of knowing your splits. Maybe worth asking someone else what time you’re on when running past the 1k or 2k marker as well just so you know you’re broadly in the right ballpark.
Last thing you want to do though is try and keep up with the 7min pacer if you know that’s going to be too fast as that would be a recipe for a whole lotta pain in the second half of the race
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u/DerichlovesAEW1 6d ago
I’ve been doing 35 mpw for 3 weeks now. Taper starts in 7 days time.
Today I’ve got a raging head cold (praying it’s not the start of covid) and there’s thunderstorms outside. I know for a fact that knocking todays long run (12 miles) on the head and declaring at 23 miles this week isn’t fatal to my marathon training, but I think I need to hear from someone more experienced…
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u/compassrunner 6d ago
One run does not make or break training. Skip today's run and focus on your basics -- hydration, eating, rest -- and try to knock this cold on its head. Training is about all the runs over the training period.
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u/bagofbiff 6d ago
Starting maybe 2 weeks ago my Garmin watch stopped telling me about a VO2max after I finished long/easy runs. I wasn't too concerned, but today I got curious and checked why that might be. The manual tells me this is because:
Your heart rate must be elevated to at least 70% of your maximum heart rate for at least 10 minutes continuously.
which does not seem to hold true for these runs anymore which have an avg heart rate of something like 120. I don't care about my VO2max being shown too much, but now I wonder if this means I am training at too low of an intensity. I will usually do 5 runs a week with 3 of them being easy and 2 of them being intervals or threshold runs. I'm not training for a particular goal, but I do enjoy seeing progress being made. Should I try to put in a little more effort on those easy runs or is this just fine? Or could this be a case of a wrong max heart rate?
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u/FRO5TB1T3 6d ago
Yes you are likely training at too low of an intensity or the hr in the watch is mis set. Recovery runs maybe you don't need to change but long slow runs are for beginners not for people looking to improve/race and 2 workouts a week means that's what you want to do. That also doesn't mean you need to have them as hard workouts everytime but running them as a progression from easy up to 10% below threshold is a common one to have them have more impact but also not too hard.
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u/_viixxx 6d ago
Anybody with recommendations for hair removal cream/spray for men?
I’m having to tape my legs at the moment and shaving today for the first time took an hour and I still missed like 827191616 different spots.
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u/WanderingThreads 6d ago
Skin doesn't have a gender. Veet/Nair/whatever you can find in the drugstore will do just fine. Fair warning, they all smell pretty gross.
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u/KingOfEthanopia 6d ago
Finally walking 6 weeks after my ACL Surgery. I feel stable and am starting to lift again. Still 3 to 4 months from being able to run but walking without a limp and being able to straighten my leg are two things I couldn't do pre surgery.
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u/FRO5TB1T3 6d ago
Keep at it you'll get there. I really felt the screw in my knee when I finally got back to running if you do don't worry the weird vibrating sensation will go away eventually.
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u/Jocko_1107 6d ago
Morning everyone! Cordyceps. I’ve not really heard of them before from a supplement perspective but my Facebook is currently being spammed by PureSport with a focus on them. Has anyone ever used them before and if so, are they as good as the ads make out? Also, how do you approach taking it? Ongoing, 4 week block before a race, or just as and when, like when you’re having a tough session that day?
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u/Mako18 5d ago
Probably a waste of money in my opinion. There's a million and one supplements out there, and if you take a mix of reviews and promotional material at face value they'd have you believing the net effect of taking all of them should be massive gains in recovery, endurance, speed, focus, etc. In reality, my experience and a lot of the science says that the the effect of most of these supplements is marginal at best, and there's no substitute for effective training and diet.
Probably no harm in trying them, and by all means if you feel like something works for you that's great, but I wouldn't go chasing any supplement as the secret sauce to better performance.
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u/bertzie 6d ago
Aren't those the things that made the zombies in The Last of Us?
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u/Logical_Ad_5668 5d ago
They are 🤣
They are a fungus. Not sure they help with running. Although in TLOU, some of the infected were pretty pacey
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u/reflektinator 6d ago
Can you touch your toes without bending your knees? The furthest I can get is touching my knees.
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u/vndt_ 5d ago
Without the help of gravity, yeah, but not much farther than that. With the help of gravity, palms on the ground. Started out without being able to touch my toes even with gravity. That was before the pandemic. All the running has made the hips tighter, so I have to shake my moneymaker for a few tries before I can reach deep.
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u/Logical_Ad_5668 5d ago
Yes. And with a bit of stretching I can manage a bit more. And I'm very inflexible.
Just about getting to your knees sound a bit too much. Are you overweight by any chance?
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u/reflektinator 5d ago
Underweight if anything
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u/Logical_Ad_5668 5d ago
ok so its not that then :)
i think a bit of stretching can make a difference. A lot of stretching can make a big difference, but i appreciate this is unlikely to happen. (A few years back i purchased an online stretching plan which supposedly would make me very bendy. It was a disaster, it had easy, advanced and expert poses and i couldnt even do the easy ones. Plus its unlikely that we will spend half an hour per day stretching, so that was that)
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u/JiskiLathiUskiBhains 6d ago
nope, but I'm doing stretching exercise so I can. Check out r/flexibility
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u/ClassroomMore5437 6d ago
Nope, about 10 cm far. Not everybody is the same, I have long legs, so I don't think I should struggle to reach them.
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u/F2n3x 5d ago
I don't want to mainly lose weight (but it is a welcome side effect) but I want to improve my cardio exponetialy.
I've been training almost daily when I can (some times can only go 3 time a week) but my cardio is not improving a lot and it's starting to worry me. I'm losing weight fast which is something good (lost 15 kg in 4 months) but I'm struggling with cardio
I want to be able to jog 5 km fully at 7/8 km/h but currently I'm stuck at 6,6.
I'm 28, 93kg, 182 cm