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?????

Original Post by cawilder:

I trip with my left foot ALOT. Yesterday I tripped 6 times and fell 2 times. My husband is totally freaked out when I fall.

Any ideas?  my poor left leg looks terrible...

 Wow, that's a lot of stress in so many ways!! I'd definitely look into gait analysis, especially if you don't have any specific pain to focus on with a medical practitioner (yet). Maybe get a really good measurement of each leg, too, to see if the previous injury led to a shortened limb.

Other possibilities (and I'm just brainstorming here):

Are you left-handed/legged? If so, then maybe you should also consider your vision as a possible cause. (we tend to compensate for everything with our dominant side, so a vision problem could manifest as a tripping problem on your dominant side). Even consider an ear infection or fluid in the ear, something that might set you slightly off balance without even being noticed.

Do you wear or carry anything on the left? Maybe that is contributing to the problem.

Or is there anything different about the left shoe?

I hope you find an answer and let us know how it goes!!

I'm definitely stretching the "early morning" idea here; 9 am today! But that's early for me because I wasn't up a lot this summer before 10 or 11! :) I'm slowly getting ready to be back at school and am aiming to run before school 2-3 times/week, which means I have to be at the park at 6 am sharp.

BUT even though it wasn't really early, I came across deer again, and startled them; I was running on my school's campus and no one is ever out there that early! It's actually a fine place to run, 180 acres with lots of hills and woods, so I can run there, too, in the afternoon if mornings don't work out sometimes.

I feel so virtuous when I get the run in early in the day; it seems to make sticking to my plans for everything else much easier, too. I definitely accomplish more on the days I run early!

Anyone else notice other non-health related benefits to getting your early run?

Maureen

Is a much enhanced mood AND energy level a good example?

: D   I think it makes me a better person to get up and exercise in the morning.  And I also agree -- if I already worked out for the day in the AM, why would I ever waste it during the day on junk food or something? 

tamarita - just find any 5k run in your area, have a look online for something that looks interesting to you that isn't too far away from where you live and scheduled for maybe 3 months from now or something like that.  You will love it!

cawilder - I would tend to guess its one of two things causing you to trip, either your gait or a physical difference in your leg length from the break. 

I also sometimes trip, but with my right foot when I am going slow and not picking my feet up enough and it is all because of the way I walk/run.  My feet majorly supinate and my right food is worse than my left which can make my ankle collapse a bit and I stumble.  I have only even actually fallen once or twice, but I feel like an idiot when it happens.  The stumbling also happens to me when I walk sometimes, especially when I am wearing shoes with a heel or platform, again, its feels like my foot rolls outward too much and my ankle can't recover so the whole foot ends up on its side.  Like I said, I look like a complete idiot, especially if it happens when I am all dressed up!  If its just your gait, a good personal trainer who specializes in running may help.

The other issue may have to do with the break which MAY have resulted in a slight difference in your leg length.  If this is the case, an orthotic will help solve your issues. 

mckuls - how about this one, I tend to be a lot more productive at home in the morning after my run and before I head off to work, I am usually so energized after my run I have been known to do a full sink of dishes, fold a load of laundry, put one in the washer and one in the dryer.  Its really helpful because I am so beat by the time I get home from work its that dishes and laundry are the LAST thing I want to do after making dinner and getting my daughter bathed and to bed!  I also get that "virtuous" feeling and just feel so good all day knowing that I already went for a run!

 

cawilder~ besides the already mentioned ideas, maybe seeing a chiropractor.  Maybe you have out of alignment that is causing some of your problems.

mckuls~ non-health benefits...I am no longer on anti-depressants and feeling great mentally.  Awesome about the hills and woods you get to run through.  Reminds me of Carleton College in Northfield, MN.  They have a huge trail system through the woods and around the river.  I loved to hike through there when I was in HS.

Had a late evening run in yesterday, it was dark by the time I finished my 5 miles.  Felt really good and was able to really push to a sprint the last .25 miles.  I was super happy when I plugged my garmin in when i got home.  My avg pace was about 30 sec faster then it has been.  Today I run 7 miles and part of it is a tempo run.  I'm going to try it outside.  I normally do tempo's on the treadmill but I don't want to do 7 on a treadmill.

Today was my first run this morning and it felt awesome. I live in the higher part of the city, and the view this morning was breath-taking. Who knew I would love running in the am!?!

Thanks for the tip manta. I will look one up. It's such a good idea to set a goal right from the start.

Hope all of you have a good run today.. off to work.

I discovered another trail today, near where my son now has soccer practice. It's in the woods but is level (graveled and smooth) and flat (no hills); it is part of the county's path system (which doesn't always connect; that would be so cool!!) I did a bit of walking since technically I should not have been running today, but it was too appealing and very easy, too. I was out for about 68 minutes total. Only saw 3 people, too, even though I was near neighborhoods the whole time because the path is along a river that runs through several neighborhoods. Pretty quiet, however, which is ALWAYS appreciated!

I then came home and decided to buy 2 guinea pigs I'd been considering. I've temporarily named them Porkie and Punkie; I'll try to get pics and maybe you guys can suggest names. Both have longish hair and one is solid black; the other has two white stripes and looks a bit like a skunk!! These two are for ME; my kids have gerbils and I cannot get another dog (ours died last year) for at least 2 years. My husband is "done" with pets which is why we "only" have four right now, haha.

I already know what my next dog will be: a female red-merle Australian Sheperd, and her name will be Maisie.  Dogs are great to run with and by then I will have earned the right to her: I will get her to reward myself for losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight for at least one year, so that's why I figure it will be at least 2 years before I can get her!

Maureen

Guinea "Pics":

Porkie and Punkie

I just started on CC+ a couple of months ago and have about 50 lbs to lose.  One day it occurred to me that walking would be a good way to get my burn meter up (I'm only 5 feet tall).  Then, my 39 yr old daughter mentioned that she was running since she has lost about 30 lbs, and she encouraged me to try running.

She sent me Nike shoes and a Nike iPod from the States, and since then six weeks have passed.  After a while, walking didn't do it for me, so I looked up how to start a jogging routine on CC+.  I started out at one-minute jogs with three-minute walks alternating back and forth.  It took a couple of weeks to get up to ten minutes walking.  Now, I am at the 20 minutes jogging time out of an hour time. And, I should be moving past that soon.  It's very exciting.

I sure would like to motivate myself to run early in the morning as it is so hot here (Japan) all day long.  Thanks for some good ideas about that.

I am 57 years old, and I am most concerned about injuring myself with this 50 lb excess weight.  But, I want to progress faster with the running program. 

Does anyone have good ideas for increasing endurance time for running and avoiding injury?

Original Post by kyashiis:

Does anyone have good ideas for increasing endurance time for running and avoiding injury?

You are doing it just right. The only safe way to increase your endurance is by doing it VERY SLOWLY, esp. if you are older and overweight--like me! Never try to increase your distance more than 10% in a week; if you can run for 2 minutes in a row now, aim for 2minutes 20 seconds next week, and so on. It is very slow for the first months, but that is exactly the point!

There are highly successful, competitive runners who regularly walk even during races. Check out Jeff Galloway online, for example; he's an ultra-marathoner who swears by walking.

I started training for running again in April after a LONG time away. I'm now running about 30 minutes straight, 2x a week at most. All my other runs include walking breaks. I get in some excellent workouts almost every time whether I'm walking some or not.

Another tip: walk for at least 10 minutes, very briskly, before running at all, each time. Women, especially as we get older, really need to warm up well. I never did this when younger but can really feel the benefit now and wish I had then. We are so pressed for time when younger that we probably don't do what we should, but I'd encourage the younger women here to give it a try and see if they notice a benefit over the long-haul.

I'll be 50 next year and my personal philosophy is, as long as I'm not losing ground (yet), whatever I'm doing is GOOD, even if I'm not progressing. At some point, some age, I will have to start "losing ground," but I don't anticipate that happening for a while (if I lose the weight I need to lose).

I'm very happy to another "older" runner with this group. There are only a few of us!

Good luck, and welcome to early morning running!

Hi All,

thanks for the advice on my tripping issues. It is quite embarrassing and I feel bad for my husband mostly because he is usually running behind me and sees these nasty spills...  It totally freaks him out!!

I think I am going to go see my ortho first, but I am also going to to a chiropractor because I do think that I am probably out of alignment - I have heard that chiropractors kind of put you on "contract" for months at a time. I don't have alot of time in my life (who does LOL)  but hopefully I can make it work.

On the endurance question posed. Yes build very slowly!! As most know on the site I broke my tibia through an undiagnosed stress fracture and I did not run for 11 months! Yes, 11 months.  I build up my mileage from 2 mi to 6 mi in 2 months! Not good.

Also, stretch, stretch, stretch. There is a pretty good article in Women's Health magazine about stretching this month - I use a foam roller in addition to the other dynamic and static stretching.  Yoga is also good.

Unfortunately the last few days since my 17mi run I have only done treadmill running. A funny story about the 17 mi run - I had calculated it from some info on the trail system as 15.65.  As we were out there I was using my Forerunner 50 to track stuff. Anyways, that's how we found out that it was actually 17.

Maureen, i love discoering new trails - it's neat.

hi everyone! welcome kyashiis!!

kyashiis - yes! take your time. you want to be able to push yourself every day, but you don't want to get hurt. every little bit helps and it is a little more than the day before. it might take time, but it will be worth it!! dont get discouraged! my dad started running about 3 years ago and ran his first marathon just last year! he was 62 and he continues to run. he loves it! just keep at it!

walking breaks are great! especially if you are trying to go farther than you are use to. they give you time to reenergize and keep going. it is better than jus stopiing and going home.

cfeltontufty - yopu have a garmin? i have one too! dont you love it? i do! how accurate do you think the calorie burn count works on that? mine seems to be a bit high. i know it uses gps, so it tracks even your elevation changes, which helps determine calorie burn, but i think it might still be a bit high. what do you think?

tamarita - im glad you are enjoying your morning runs. im liking them more and more myself. it is also getting easier to get out of bed in the mornings.

mkculs - sorry about your doggie. but you have 2 guineas now. i love their names! dont change them! i hope you do have another dog in your future. They are wonderful friends...and running partners.

i wasnt able to make my morning run yesterday because we had some pretty bad thunder storms; so i settled for running at the gym. today was great though. i was able to get out of bed a little earlier today which was great because we were able to run about 1.25 additional miles for a total of almost 6 miles.  it was also cooler so that helped a lot. i hope you all have great runs today!

khooder~ I love my garmin I have the 305.  I think the calorie burn on it is pretty good, I think the combo of milage, elevation and HR is good.  I've had it give higher burns when I go the same distance (and time) but had a higher HR avg.  I live in the flattest part of the world so I know that doesn't effect much.

cawilder~ I went to the chiropractor today and feel much better, I'll see tomorrow what effect it will ahve on my runs.  Mine has never "contracted me" just keep in mind if you are really out of wack it might take a few adjustments to get in back together.

kyashii~like mkculs said, slow and steady.  One thing I have to remind myself is that muscles recover and build quickly, bones don't.  Even though you might "feel" like you can go more/faster/longer, your bones take longer to be able to strengthen.  I ended up with a stress fracture in my lower leg because I pushed myself to far even though I felt great.

I only got 4.5 miles of my 7 mile run in last night.  I ended up with shin splints and figured with my race 3 weeks away I was not going to push myself.  I'll just run a couple miles on Sunday to "make up" for my missed miles today.  Today is my rest day and tomorrow I will be running my long run since I won't have time Sat. morning.

Woo hoo!  I had a great run this morning, 5 miles and I even got to see the sun come up BEFORE the end of my run... means that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and spring/summer is fast approaching.  Too bad the weather hasn't realized it yet because it was BLOODY FREEZING this morning!  And there is no end it sight to the cold weather here, this has got to be the coldest winter I have experienced here in Sydney since I moved here (granted, I am a baby and when I say cold, that means 40's in the morning!).  Anyway, I ALMOST didn't get out of bed this morning and kept telling myself I would do it on my lunch break, but then, just said, nope, just get it done!  So I am VERY glad I went now.  It was so beautiful watching the sky change colors and it was so clear this morning I saw the stars when I started my run (orion's belt was quite apparent!) and then got to see that pre-dawn purple get lighter and lighter until the sun broke the horizon and the colors came up.  Too bad I decided NOT to do the route by the beach this morning!  Call it laziness, I didn't feel like struggling through the hills, so I stayed to a "flatter" course, granted, nothing is really all THAT flat where I live.

mkculs, LOVE the guinea pigs, especially the one with the while stripe and long crazy hair!  So cute and the names are great too.

Welcome kyashiis! Just to reiiterate what everyone else has said, just take it slow and easy, keep your pace slow, don't increase distance too fast, do a 5-10 minute walk to warm up AND cool down, and STRETCH!  It sounds like what you have been doing is great.

To the girls who have a garmin, how much do those run in the states?  I never like to buy things like that here in Australia because I will pay about 2x's as much.  I am running with my husbands old Polar which is designed for cycling and been thinking about getting a new HR monitor and wondering if I should get one with a GPS. Have either of you used the Polars for running?  If so, how do they compare to the garmin? 

Hope everyone has a great weekend!  My long run is on Sunday, may try to push it to 12 miles, but will see how I feel on Sunday morning!

good morning! it's friday!!!

cfeltontufy - i have the 305 also. i do love it! i guess that is true though. if you combine everything into it, it should be pretty accurate. It just seems amazing that i am burning that many calories! you may have mentioned this already (my brain is not fully functioning yet this morning), so i am sorry if you have...what race are you running?

manta - that sounds like a great run. how are you able to make it out when it is so cold? i am a baby when it comes to cold weather also. im like a lizard. i like warm weather. it will start to get cold here in early October; which is good because it will make running a bit easier, but those first few minutes while you are warming up are killer!

i love garmin. it has been rated one of the best GPS running watches that you can find. there are newer models than the 305 (the model that cfeltontufty and i have) it comes with a HR monitor and it has GPS. Which is awesome!! it is a little bigger than its newer counterparts, but i dont think the size is intrusive at all. it gives you calories burned, pace, total minutes, mileage, and you can set up the screens to fit in the stats that you want to monitor as you run. you can set up lap times, you can set a min and max speed so if you go over/under it beeps at you...you can create a training partner so you can train against your last run. it's nuts all the stuff it can do. you can connect it to your CPU and keep a log, trails. and the watch itself keeps a history of your runs. i saw it on Amazon.com for about $189.00 w/ HR monitor. The 405 runs about $350 w/ the monitor. i would check them out and do a bit of research online for pricing. i am a fan of Garmin.

good luck on Sunday! i am aiming for 12 miles this weekend too. i ran this morning, but only ran 3.3 miles. i had to get ready a bit earlier for work today; which took away about half hour from my running time. I'm bummed. I am going out tonight, so I won't be going to they gym today at lunch or running after work. i better be ready for my long run since i am getting all this rest! have a great weekend!

Yikes, 2 weeks of no hills and when I tried today, I thought I was going to die!! I cut my run by about 30% because I was really feeling it in my legs already. Who would think that could make such a difference? But I'm also committing myself to re-starting my hill running VERY GRADUALLY since that seems to be the problem with my calf muscle. I have finally figured out how to get to that deep muscle with a stretch and that seems to be helping, although not running a lot of steep hills is probably the REAL reason it's healing so well!

Manta, great stuff about the morning run you just had. Nothing like that cold air in the early hours!! And yes, you are a wimp, because where I live (WI), 40 is spring weather--seriously! The general rule here is, kids don't go out for recess if it is -10F or colder (with or without the wind chill), so that gives you some idea of our frame of reference! Thank goodness for Xcountry skiing and winter hiking trails, because otherwise I wouldn't go outside all winter (and until I discovered these last year, I DIDN'T so I had lots of 'cabin fever' over the past 2 decades!!).

Happy trails, people!

Maureen

I'm a late poster today.

Yesterday I bought new running shoes. I got the Acsis GT 2130 and they are awesome. The buying experience was quite the experience. First of all, I was wearing a summer dress yesterday because it has been so hot here (Vancouver, Canada) these days. So for every different pair of runner that I tried on, I would go for a quick run outside to really get a feel for the shoes. I can only imagine what I looked like running around wearing a dress, and even sometimes wearing different shoe in each foot so I could compare.

At the end, I was down to two pairs and it was ahard decision, as both were very comfortable. The main difference between them is that the Acsis GT 2130 felt more cushiony and the impact of my feet to the ground felt very light.

My morning run today was good. I've finished the first week of the C25K program, and I'm already looking forward week two.

I got to get started looking for a goal marathon in the area. The guy at the running shoe store told me of a 10k run in mid-October. But I don't know. A 10k run is a big commitment. What do you think?

mkculs - do you do your runs on a treadmill or outside? I run around my neighborhood, and it is full of hills!! It definitely makes it tougher. But I like the variation. It keeps my cardio going.

manta - I would have liked a bit of that freezing air this morning hehe. It's been very warm here and today at 6am I was running at 64 degrees.

kyashiis - welcome to the group. I am also new! Good luck!!!

Ciao running buddies! Have a great weekend!!

Original Post by tamarita:

mkculs - do you do your runs on a treadmill or outside? I run around my neighborhood, and it is full of hills!! It definitely makes it tougher. But I like the variation. It keeps my cardio going.

Outside, in a park, on trails. I grew up running a lot of hills but have been out of running as a truly regular workout for about 10 years (although I ran off and on a lot during that time). I love hills, too, but right now they don't love me! I cannot motivate myself to sprint except when playing soccer, but give me a hill to tackle and I love the challenge. I just have to get back into good enough shape to do it. Most of my running over the past decade was inside on a track, too, so I really have not done hills in YEARS!

Happy trails! 

mkculs,  yeah I know I am a wimp and what cold weather is REALLY like, I lived in Cleveland, OH for 9 years of my life.  NEVER AGIN!!!  Granted I did grow up in Florida, so I think that made my blood thin.  The only thing I like about cold weather and snow is downhill skiing, I can't even imagine THINKING about running in the real cold! I am already bundled up just to run in my 40-50 degree weather! 

Khooder,  luckily, my running addiction kicked in right before winter came about, so that has helped, but it was getting tough to motivate myself the past month or so!  I discovered the joys of runnign at lunch just to kep myself going on those days when it was just TOO cold to drag myself out of bed.  I think the fact that I was training for two runs really kept me going too.  Now that sunrise is getting earlier, it will start getting easier and easier (in theory!)  Thanks for the info on the garmin, looking into either that or getting the Polar rs200, like I said, I love my hubby's old polar, it is a great computer, but it is designed for cycling, so there are a lot of features I would never use as a runner. 

tamarita,  thats great about the new shoes!  Hope they work out well for you.  If you aren't comfortable with the idea of a 10K in october, do a 5K instead.  My first fun run was only 4K, and although there was an 8K at the same event, I just figrued I would rather do a distance I was comfortable with instead of one I would struggle on even though I could run the 8K distance.  I run exclusively outside, and I live in a area with ridiculous hills, pretty much no matter which way I do, there is a hill.  While this made it a little more difficult at first, I have learned to quite like running hills... for the most part, and it makes a much faster when I DO get to run a flat course.  Try not to be afraid of the hills, just go for it, take them slow and if you have to walk a little, so be it, just go a little further up the next time you do the hill.  Plus, going downhill is GREAT, and my body has learned how to quickly recover from the exertion of going up hill on the downhill to the point that my HR once I get to the bottom of the hill will be down below where it was when I started the hill.  Keep at it!

manta~ I know runners world had compared garmins and polars and the garmin always comes out on top.  In I remember right over a full marathon the garmin was off by like 1 block.  I have heard that most polars are not nearly that close.  The garmin 305 in a great size and the rechargeable battery lasts about 12 hours.  Cost wise the 301 is about as accurate but it is a lot cheaper (and larger in size).  The 301 doesn't have all the bells and whistles that the 305 has but if what you are looking for is a GPS HR monitor it's great.  If cost isn't and option and you want all the bells and whistles then go with the 405, you can share your runs with another 405 user watch to watch.

khooder~ I am trying for Dick Beardsley half marathon.  This is my last hard training week, 32 miles this week including a 13 mile run this Sat.

I realized how much I don't like mid day runs.  On sat. I had to do my long run at 3pm.  It was supposed to be a 11 mile run but at mile 4 I had gone through over half my water so I turned back.  I went the last mile and a half back without water so I didn't want to risk going out more being so "behind" in liquids.  Didn't get any other runs in since we were so busy and in a town with a population of 25 people.  But I did a ton of walking between our camper and main street.  This evening I'm going to run 5 miles.