Early Morning Runners -Support Group ( :

Last summer, I started walking.   Then wogging.  Finally jogging/running.   I relished my cool morning workouts. 

Then summer was over and I had to shift my jogging to the 4PM heat and humidity.  It was almost unbearable, but I made it.   Then winter arrived and I had to deal with a host of new issues ----  never been an exerciser, let alone one who ran in the ice and snow, so how do you keep your glasses from fogging up or avoid bronchitis in the cold????    Made it through that too. 

This summer (up until yesterday's close), I taught summer academy but did not have to be there so early as with regular school, so I was able to return to my morning workouts.  HALLELUJAH  ---   I had forgotten how incredible cool, peaceful, and invigorating it is to run in the early morning hours.  It's as if my dog and I are the only living beings.....   I love it. 

My body clock is pretty good at waking me up and I try very hard to just make it happen every day --- for me to be done with my workout in the cooler weather and because my dog needs the exercise, but my friend Tamar who lives in a VERY HOT climate is having a hard time getting up to run. 

How do you make it happen for yourself?  How do you get up and get going???????

Other deep thoughts that cross my mind in the morning.......... 

1) my knees are  beginning to be an issue even with new shoes, stretching, ibuprofen, etc,   anyone here an OT or sports medicine guru?   I know I supinate/walk on the outsides of my feet and that is why my knees hurt ---from being torqued too hard side to side, so what do I do to strengthen whatever quad/ham muscles to stop/help my knees?   
  
2)am I the only person stricken at times with almost emergency bathroom situations while jogging before "voiding"?   
   
3) anyone find now the mp3 player that first motivated you to keep going is now just a distraction from the road and your pace?
      
4) what about runner's etiquette ???  -- I always get out of oncoming car paths -- even if it means running across the road or getting my running shoes wet/dirty, but still the people in this town are hateful.    

5) what about this --- the same routes I have been running (I have a range of 2-5 miles mapped out) are getting too easy/too short/I feel like I could run more, but I like to do a loop, you know?  start at my house, make 4 turns, I am home.  do I just try to pick up my speed (yuck) or do I do two trips?

This is long, but I hope to hear lots of good advice and get a support group going for all us early morning slaves of the shoe!   Are you out there?????

Well i am kinda confused and would love peoples opinions.  I have been running 5-6 times a week, I know I should have been only doing it 4x but my body could handle it, plus if I only did it 3x or 4x a week the next increase in running would kill me.  I don't really want to run longer right now because my daylight in the morning is limited and getting shorter :(  I only have about 40mins of light to work with (I hate running after work) My time was 32mins so I would really like to work on that.  My plan was to up my pace with intervals very slowly.  What do you guys think?

Running 5-6 times a week is fine, as for the intervals, i guess as you have been running so often already, go for it, but be VERY careful and never do interval runs on consecutive days (maybe just have one run per week as an interval run).  Also, maybe do a recovery run the day after you do a interval run (i.e. run 1-2 min/mile SLOWER than your pace).  Recovery runs seem to work for some people, I personally need to do a recovery run the day after speed training or my legs really hate me on my rest day.  Also, listen to your body, it will tell you if you are pushing too hard. 

Hi,

It's great to see everyone motivated.

I have been sidelined for the past few days.

I went on a very challenging run in the Columbia Gorge - like 4 miles down hill, 2 miles meandering, 3 miles up hill (really up hill) and then 3 miles straight down hill (and I do mean straight)

My right calf was really tested and unfortunately has failed.  My quads were not too bad but whoa baby, they hurt.

All in all, it was a gorgeous run with great scenery and it was nice to challenge myself.

Hope everyone is doing well...

that sounds awesome but SUPER CHALLENGING< cawilder!  take a bow and be proud!!!  woo hoo, you hot running sister!  ( : 

Don't you just hate it when....

you are about 2.5  miles from home and it just starts pissing down rain!  I had a miserable cold, dark, and wet 5.5 miles this morning. 

I agree with olivia, that sounds like a fantastic run cawilder!

Manta I get rained on alot!  As long as it's not really cold out I love it!  I feel like a little kid again. Plus the looks I get from people like lady you are crazy

I usually LOVE running in the rain, but its winter here right now and we have been having the coldest week of this winter, so I was a bit chilled this morning!

Today after work I managed to cover 40.5km in just under 4 hours  (A personal best for me)  The temp and humidity was below average so I thought I would take advantage of the day.  At about the 30km mark it started to rain lightly.   It was the best feeling ever.  Now I know that I am ready to run a full marathon hopefully later this fall.  The only challenge I had was I run out of water, I had to stop at gas station to buy some.  The clerk was really surprised to see this swety old guy come running into the store, grab water, drop change and run out. 

I had now idea how additive this running could get.  Tonight I am feeling abit sore but boy what accomplishment.   Last September I couldn't run 200 meters without gasping for breath.  I wish I could bottle the feeling and give it to my friends. 

 

man! you guys are fantastic! it's so inspiring to hear how you guys are running against the bout of lousy weather that seems to be plaguing pretty much the entire world (i'm in sunny city singapore, all the way across the world for most of you guys here, and it's been raining everyday for the most part too...)

munrori: how did you train up to 40.5km under 4 hours? did you follow a guide to a marathon or something? i'm still running 10km only once in two weeks, and the 1hour mark seems so far far away... >"< i'm considering getting one of those non-runner guides to marathons/running, but i'm not sure which would be good!

doedoebird: When I started loosing weight I made a commitment to walk 7km every day.  Needless to say, walking that far takes time so I started to run short distances each time I went out.  A friend told me about the Runningroom and how they had clinics to help teach people how to run.  I did the “learn to run” and the 10k clinics.  The clinics gave me most of the information I need to get started. They also provided training schedules which I followed more or less.  I like to leave myself some flexibility as to specifically which days I do my longer runs.   The key is to practice practice and practice but make sure you have your rest days.  To get stronger and faster you need to do hill and speed training.  At my cottage I don’t have any choice but to run up and down hills.  It has made a big difference in my endurance and my overall speed.  I find that my hardest challenges are mental and not as much physical.  My mind often wants to quit well before my body needs to.   As for equipment the most important thing is make sure and have the right running shoes.  Everything else is great but when money is a factor they are not as important.   Good luck

 

I've been out of sync this week, only getting up that first morning and I miss it! I have so much trouble falling asleep at night and I'm in a really bad pattern right now, making it very hard to MAKE myself get up. But, I'm going to keep trying. I've learned that it is better to keep trying, and failing, than just give up; if you give up, you will never make progress and if you keep trying, sooner or later you will.

I have been running, however, but in the gym--so boring compared to my trail. If I could do something about the damn mosquitoes, I'd be more likely to hit my trail!

Carol, I have had a lot of trouble with my left calf from steep hills--the soleus, specifically. I'm zig-zagging my way up the hills for a while to see if that helps. My quads have been sore, too, since adding the hills, but they are slowy getting better. I have to quit thinking about the "20s me" who could do it all so easily!! :)

you all amaze me.   ( :  

I am so the slow, 2-3 mile girl, but you inspire me!  

Can I play too?  I love early morning runs.

Ugh, between the local fair and the family get together this weekend has not been good.  I ate some of my husbands funnel cake and man I felt it the next day I also had taffy, way to much sugar.  That kills me the next day.  I learned.  Then saturday I drank my calories in beer :)  but did I have fun.  I have been riding bike on my days off but my butt is so sore!!  I can't imagine running 4 hours. that's amazing. 

Well tomorrow is a run day

I love my early morning runs! I'm new to running early in the morning (just started at the beginning of the summer, because I live in SC and it is HOT!) and, really, running in general. I've always played sports, but I started running about 4x per week sometime after volleyball season ended (october?) and am now running 6x per week. It's amazing. I can't imagine starting my day off any differently....I love the energy it gives me for the rest of today.

Today I ran 7.5 miles for the first time ever, and there's just nothing that beats the way you feel afterwords...not that I have to tell you any of that! : )

I probably run around 4 miles a day. I run cross country, so I just follow the summer work out scheduale for now. I don't really know how I wake up in the morning -- at first it was really difficult, and I was always tempted to not get up, but I always managed to talk myself back into it (somehow!). Now I just get up, eat my apple, get dressed and go. I just kind of do, and then I'm running. And then I'm home, and I feel so awake and just plain good! Does anyone else feel like their run goes by fast? Even if it's a rough day and it feels like forever while I'm doing it, when I'm done, I just always feel like...that's it? haha, I'm maybe I'm strange.

I had the bathroom problem yesterday. Oh my god, worst feeling ever. I was running as fast as I could home, but it hurt so bad! I think it happens to everyone. I normally go to the bathroom about two to three times before I run (right when I wake up, when I eat, right before I leave, lol, all within about twenty to thirty minutes), and that really helps. I also feel that not eating too much and not drinking anything before I run helps. As for the mp3, yes, I, too, have given it up! Slows me down. I do still listen to it if I have to use a treadmill, though. I used to love treadmills, but now they bore me to tears. I'm normally okay if I have some music to zone to, though. : )

Yeah, as far as cars go, I think a lot of drivers are a, not awake, and b, jealous. ; ) haha, some people are nice and wave, though. Honestly, I'm amazed at the number of people awake and dressed and on their way to work so early.

EDIT: By the way, does anyone use a heart rate monitor? If so, do you feel it's helped with your training/running? I'm trying to maintain my weight, so I'm not really interested in any of the weight loss features, but I am interested in target heart rate, stopwatch, etc. I'd also love something that can double as a watch and is cute! haha. I just started looking into it, so I was wondering if anyone here had any useful info.  : )  

Original Post by fighead:

EDIT: By the way, does anyone use a heart rate monitor? If so, do you feel it's helped with your training/running? I'm trying to maintain my weight, so I'm not really interested in any ohe weight loss features, but I am interested in target heart rate, stopwatch, etc. I'd also love something that can double as a watch and is cute! haha. I just started looking into it, so I was wondering if anyone here had any useful info.  : )  

 

fighead: Congratulations on 7.5 miles.  That's more than 1/2 of a 1/2 marathon. 

When I started to run I bought a timex iron man watch at Walmart.  It came with a heart rate monitor for about 100$can.  (Given I started running at 46 my wife insisted that I have some idea about what I was doing to my heart).   It really helped when I started doing longer runs and hills.   I used it to help set my pace and record my times.  Two months ago I bought a Garmin 405.  It is a watch sized GPS unit that not only does time and heart rate it also tracks your speed, location and has different pacing programs. 

I must admit that I got really caught up in the gadgetry (you can tell the difference between a man and a boy by the price of his toys).  Having a GPS unit added a hole new dimension to my training.  I could actually see how fast I was going and how far I had went.  You can even upload data from the watch to your pc so that you can do comparisons and even create a training partner from your last run and then send back to the watch to use to pace your next run.  You can then see if your are ahead or behind your last run. 

I have added the link below which is the data from one of my latest runs.   

 http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/6 339266 

There are several different manufactures who make different GPS units for running at different price points.  Polar and Gramin I believe are the two of the popular manufactures.  I can't say any of them are cute thought.

 

 

OK, running fans...  

Wow 40Km in under 4 hours -- congrats!! 

My muscles finally loosened up on Wednesday.  Thank God! I ran finally on Thursday - 45 minutes - 5 mile run - pretty simple run. 

I personally like running in some amount of rain but driving rain - hmmmm... that's quite another thing. I live in Oregon and it rains here like 7 months out of the year. I also love running on the trails while it snows - It's beautiful - like a poem or a nice song. 

I love my heart rate monitor... I use a Garmin Forerunner 50 - you have to wear the foot pod to get calories and it does not work if you are in the gym and not running.  It downloads your information to a PC and you can use it to analyze your runs.

I also used Timex for a long time and I liked it as well but I wanted to have distance information.  Everyone here swears about the F4 or F11 from Polar, but I have not used it. 

I think monitoring your heart rate can tell you alot about how you are doing on your training - like over training, etc. 

I had a great run in the morning on Sunday - up and down the hills again but not as drastic as last Sunday's excursion.  I did 9 miles in about 90minutes. I wish had gone faster but I think the cold got in the way.  Also, it was the first time I was running with my new contact lenses -- I normally run with glasses.  I know it seems wierd.. 

C'yall

Original Post by cawilder:

My muscles finally loosened up on Wednesday.  Thank God! I ran finally on Thursday - 45 minutes - 5 mile run - pretty simple run. 

OK, now I'm having calf trouble from the hills!! I ran straight up a few my last run. Carol, what worked for you?

 

I'm back to my running schedule, after a week of moving!  Of course, my crazy ass insisted on squeezing in 30 miles ANYWAY, despite not really having the time and being super tired from lifting boxes, lifting furniture, painting, and unpacking.  I usually get in 35 miles a week, so I still feel guilty about skimping on 5 miles.

The worst part about moving is eating.  We just haven't had the energy to prepare our own food for the past week... so there's been a lot of eating out.  I didn't have the computer hooked up until today, so it was easy not to log those calories.  Hopefully I burned them all off moving.

fighead- About a year ago I bought a heartrate watch.  It worked really well for about 9 months.  Now it doesn't always work.  I don't know if it got wet too much or what happened exactly.  I enjoyed it while I had it, the only problem was I had to stop running for a few seconds to take the heartrate.  It wouldn't register while I was bouncing up and down.  It did help me monitor though.  I would try not to go above 170, unless I was incorporating short sprints.  I hear the straps work a lot better... I just think it would be awfully uncomfortable...

manta-  I would consider maintaining your endurance with some occasional 10 milers.  That way, you know that you are ALWAYS in shape for a half-marathon if one came up out of the blue.  Maybe switch off every other week?  Do 8 and then 10?  I've been in "maintenance mode" myself since my marathon.  I usually do a 8-10-12-8 sequence, just to stay in long distance shape.  My other 4-5 runs during the week are anywhere from 3-6 miles, varying with speed, intervals, hills, etc.

Original Post by sordino:

fighead- About a year ago I bought a heartrate watch.  It worked really well for about 9 months.  Now it doesn't always work.  I don't know if it got wet too much or what happened exactly.  I enjoyed it while I had it, the only problem was I had to stop running for a few seconds to take the heartrate.  It wouldn't register while I was bouncing up and down.  It did help me monitor though.  I would try not to go above 170, unless I was incorporating short sprints.  I hear the straps work a lot better... I just think it would be awfully uncomfortable...

I have heard so many people worry about the strap, and I did too, and guess what? It is COMPLETELY comfortable. Mine fits right under the lower band of my sports bra and I forget it is there. They are really well designed and so far, my strap has not taken on any odor--a miracle in and of itself!

I LOVE my HRM because I'm in the cc stage and it gives me the incentive to workout that I might otherwise lack. I"m learning a lot about my body and fitness, too, like what really stresses me (makes my HR rise), what doesn't, how fast I recover, etc. One of the best things is that when it is up and I feel sluggish, the combination is a great sign that I need a break and I"m not just "being lazy." Now admittedly, most of this I can do without the HRM but the knowledge comes easier/faster and I think it would be a great tool for a beginner. My only caution would be, follow your body first and the HRM later--that is, don't push for a specific HR, for example, just follow what your body can do and observe the impact on your HR and cals burned. After you have learned to recognize signs of overtraining, pre-injury, etc., THEN you could use the HRM to motivate you to run harder, maybe. I will probably never do that because speed will never be an issue for me! And I think the biggest risk of the HRM would be in trying to reach/maintain a certain HR while ignoring your body's signs that it needs to back off.

Anyway, just my 2 cents on the HRM.