working at it slowly - Page 7 - Beginners

fiona galpin

11/02/2004 at 16:19

What a pity we probably all live so far apart. I'm sure we'd make a merry bunch, bleeping along(me with my dodgy HRM!)- see earlier post (if indeed interested!!!)
Anyway, off to Safeway before my run which I don't really need but you gotta eat - and so has the cat! Enjoy your runs tonight, everyone!

Gaz 2

11/02/2004 at 16:28

Thanks guys - slightly off on a tangent but as well as being a virgin runner I am also a biker. I am delighted to find that with the exception of the miserable buggers who run near where I live and won't even give you a smile as you run past, everybody so far that I have talked to on or via this site have been as friendly as my fellow bikers - good on you all!!

Anyway - the reason I am at 12 miles already Carold is simple - sheer unadulterated panic - after stupidly agreeing to run, one late boozy night near Christmas I realised I could stumble for 1/2 a mile then collapse and had 17 weeks to April 18th. So I looked at all the training plans and realised I would have to ignore them all. I run 3 times a week eg this week 4 miles tonight, 8 miles on Friday and 14 this week on Sunday. This coupled with my seeming inability to allow myself to walk resulted in fairly rapid if not pleasant increases in distance!! And yes I know I am taking big chances with injury etc but I didn't feel like I had any option. Being close to the charity I am running for has helped a lot too (my wife is registered blind).

sorry for the long post!!

Carold

11/02/2004 at 16:33

Well done Gaz. probably a bit naughty disregarding the 10% per week rule, but we're not all the same, so don't all have to follow the same rules. As long as you 'listen to your body' you'll be fine.

Podgy Poddler

11/02/2004 at 16:41

Yes well done Gaz - if you're already a biker (assuming of the pedal variety) then you probably had a reasonable base of fitness to start with.
If you're a biker as in great big machine ignore this waffle!

Gaz 2

11/02/2004 at 16:46

Thanks Carold - am I the only one who recovers so slowly - I read in other forums that people are running 5 and 6 times a week, I am due to run tonight (first run since Sunday) and my knees still hurt - thank Bob (or relevant deity) for ice packs and Ibuprofen!!

Gaz 2

11/02/2004 at 16:51

Sorry Poddler - the big fast noisy kind. Oh the joys of motorbiking through London in the pouring rain with lemmings all around, and the beauty of light reflecting off of the pools of diesel as you slide down the road on your face...

Downside is that my commute each day takes me from the start of the highway down through parliment square - and its a long long way!!!

ip(FeS2)

pirate

11/02/2004 at 16:56

Gaz, it's not that you recover more slowly than everyone else, it's that you're pushing yourself too hard too fast.- The people who run loads of miles in the week are (generally) those who have built up slowly for years rather than weeks.

If you need ice and ibuprofen, you need to back off a bit in your training or you just wont make the start line.-

trinity1

11/02/2004 at 16:56

hi again.

wot a co-incedence Gaz2. I am an ex-biker and started this thread! :)

careful with your knees - I supsect those of us who break the 10% rule are more prone to beginner's injurys - don't push it too hard.

trinity1

11/02/2004 at 16:59

gaz - perhaps you could x-train and do a swim or something else tonight that will have less direct impact on your knees?

that way you'd be maintaining your fitness, but doing less damage - I agree with lp - you shouldn't continue at this pace if you are in serious pain

Hoover

11/02/2004 at 17:12

Actually be careful with cross training. I`ve just discovered that volleyball and other such sports are a really bad combination with running.

OK everyone else apart from me probably knew that.

trinity1

11/02/2004 at 17:45

hope we didn't scare you off, Gaz

- but I've picked up a knee injury before + it was excruciatingly painful, and took a while to get over (did it by pushing too hard) - ended up in a worse position than when I started.

Thanks for that on x-training hooves - I suppose I was really thinking of swimming rather than anything involving floor contact - but as I'm sure you've realised by now - I'm no expert - just pick up snippits.

Have you got a plan you are following, Gaz?

sluggie

pirate

11/02/2004 at 18:01

Re points made about risk of being last - a fellow runner gave me this good advice - look at last year's results, and be cautious about entering races with fewer tna 200 runners unless they are women-only (no good unless you are a woman of course!).

dropdeadgoergeousnicky

11/02/2004 at 19:00

Slow. 12 min miles is a good day to me. I'm in.

trinity1

11/02/2004 at 19:02

hi nicky :)

dropdeadgoergeousnicky

11/02/2004 at 19:03

hi Trin.

trinity1

11/02/2004 at 19:06

hi nicky - just off out for a plod - so can't hang about.

rumour has it you'll be so skinny soon, you'll need a tready so you don't slip through drain holes when out on the roads :)

trinity1

11/02/2004 at 19:07

tee hee - well done on going down a jean size!

dropdeadgoergeousnicky

11/02/2004 at 19:10

Thanks. The Levis designers don't seem to agree with me, it seems only Gap does!!!

11/02/2004 at 19:40

gaz - it takes a long time to build up to 5/6 runs a week. your body will learn to recover more quickly as time goes on but at the moment it sounds like you are heading for an overuse injury.

i understand that you are doing this for a good cause and one that is important to you but you need to be careful now if you want to make it to the start line at all. if you are currently on ice and ibuprofen then i would say the last thing you need is to be making big jumps in mileage.

the 10% rule isn't a hard and fast one but it is a good guide.

trinity's advice on x-training is good - also an elliptical trainer or stepper will help imitate the other stresses of running while taking the strain off your knees and shins.

run slowly, run on grass or other soft surfaces where possible and try a sports massage once a fortnight or so - they can often pick up and prevent minor injuries before they happen

it took me 15 months to get to be able to train 5 times a week. no one on here is superhuman (especially me!) - it just takes time.

sorry for rambling on your thread trin - i was lurking and just couldn't help myself :-)

good luck gaz!

Gaz 2

11/02/2004 at 21:47

Hi guys thanks for all the advice - I am following a plan all be it modified as I can't run 4 times a week so instead of doing say 4 6 4 12 I do 4 8 12 so doing slightly less mileage but in bigger chunks. Its from a book called The Non-Runers marathon trainer. I had to accelerate it a bit as it assumed you could run 30 minutes continuously from week one whereas I could do 5! But I caught up fairly quickly. I may have misled you slightly before - I use the ice and anti-inflamatories as a preventative measure as it seems to stop most of the soreness the day or two after my runs (dodgy knees from too much rugby too early). I started to develop a pain inside my right shin and so took the next week off (2 weeks ago) and it seemed to go away, so fingers crossed it stays away. My main problems are being 17stone and not having or wanting (bad ankle injury a few years ago) to run on uneven surfaces, this coupled with the fact that where I live is concrete city with no lit parks, and the fact that I can only run in the evenings means it all road work. But on the upside although I have actually increased in weight it seems to be more lean weight as the old love handles have all but gone now - worth all the grief just for that alone!!
Again thanks for all the advice and support - gets a bit daunting sometimes having to train alone and not really knowing whats going on.