Kiwi Running Club

[Local Farmer]

Training for my marathon now.

Going to try to qualify for Boston, if I qualify by the time I’m out of law school then I will go to it wearing a kiwi farms shirt.

 

[.iota.]

I've been running more frequently and it's been absolute murder on my hips. Anybody got any anti-hip hurting advice / stretches?

it's preferrable to perform dynamic stretches before running, and static stretches after running.

by dynamic, i mean gentle stretches through a full range of motion - no bouncing or pulling - things like cat / cow (exhale on the cat, inhale on the cow), hip rotations (in both directions), and lunges (keep your hips level and squared).

by static, i mean holding the stretch just shy of the point of tension for about 30 seconds, then using your breath to allow you to deepen the stretch after the muscles "release". this is something that should be done either seated or supine, while keeping your hips level. suggested stretches include (seated) butterflies, straddles, and forward folds, and (supine) figure fours and knee drops, both cross-body and same-side. use a block or a small, firm pillow if there is space between how far you can comfortably stretch and the floor. if you need detailed instructions, let me know.

How important is a high cadence? The 180 number is thrown around a lot, but I feel like I'm running on the spot and sacrifice speed to reach that level. Does it help reduce the risk of injury from impacts?

unless you're an elite runner with years of training, cadence is significantly less important than form.
to answer your question, no. the more often that your feet hit the ground, the higher the risk of injury.
that risk is best mitigated with proper nutrition, proper conditioning, proper form, and proper footwear.

10km a day my k-words, today is 182 apparently. Road running, particularly long efforts up to and past 20km can leave my hip flexors feeling very strained, anyone got any stretches or tips?

that's impressive!
i would suggest the same variety of stretching above, with additional consideration for your conditioning ...

runners often have very strong anterior (front of the body) muscles, with weaker posterior (back of the body) muscles, especially in the core. developing muscular balance usually involves strengthening the accessory core muscles (specifcally, the obliques), the smaller muscles in the spine, the gluteal muscles, and the hip adductors and abductors (the muscles that allow you to bring your thighs together or apart), as well as stretching those well-developed anterior muscles (specifically, rectus abdominus, pectineus, psoas, and iliacus).

even if you're averse to yoga, consider incorporating some of the poses into your stretching, as they will probably be tremendously helpful. i would suggest cat / cow, upward dog, wheel (full or half), pigeon, and happy baby.

(edited for spelling and to add a bit of clarity.)

 

[EenGevolg]

Not sure if I'm retarded and doing something terribly wrong, but I've been doing 5km alternating between jogging and brisk walking to try improving cardio and blood pressure for 3 months now, only to not really get any visible/noticeable effect out of it. Does it work better to be doing some kind of an actual plan, like C25K? Also considering a smartwatch, maybe one of the CMF ones, but I'm not sure if that'd really be worth the purchase.

 

[AgendaPoster]

Not sure if I'm retarded and doing something terribly wrong, but I've been doing 5km alternating between jogging and brisk walking to try improving cardio and blood pressure for 3 months now, only to not really get any visible/noticeable effect out of it. Does it work better to be doing some kind of an actual plan, like C25K? Also considering a smartwatch, maybe one of the CMF ones, but I'm not sure if that'd really be worth the purchase.

Not enough details. What is "doing"? What's your current physical condition? Assume not great, since just 5k jog/run mix, but also you definitely want to start fixing stuff, like the BP, so that's absolutely great.
Now, what results were you expecting? If you're doing this for health, decreasing BP (how high is it?) is not just about running some/training, but about diet, and your weight. Did you start to lose weight?
Changes from a few months of running are subtle and require tracking your HR to detect improvement, your HRV, your weight. BP can only be ameliorated, but if your arteries are a mess, running won't help too much, it's kinda late for that, so you might need a proper diagnosis, meds maybe.
Also how often you run is very important. 5km is, well, not a lot, but it's a great start. Has your body got used to it yet? Are you sore after a run? Muscle fever/DOMS? If you got past that stage, increase volume, and frequency, while still leaving rest days.
But if you wanna see clear results, you gonna need to push it, increase volume, pace later, and frequency, with 5 days out of 7 containing a run being somewhat of a standard. When you start doing enough running, you'll see your average and resting HR decrease (sometimes significantly), and if you don't stuff your face with bad food, you should also start seeing marked decreases in weight, especially during the first months and if you are a beginner/overweight.
To get proper advice, more details are needed. Also don't push it if you have severe HBP or something, don't do anything stupid, talk to a doctor!

 

[Sienna Fuegonasus]

I broke my previous PB and ran 5K in 24 minutes running outside! I find I can run about 6K before my knees and ankles start to ache and I have to slow down, though I feel like I could keep going in terms of stamina.

I am doing this pretty ghetto at the moment and don't really have a plan of attack, but I'd like to try and start running longer distances. I invested in some decent running shoes and they've made a huge difference.

Do you Kiwis have any advice as to how to deal with the achy joints?

 

[LordOfZhbagva]

Not sure if I'm retarded and doing something terribly wrong, but I've been doing 5km alternating between jogging and brisk walking to try improving cardio and blood pressure for 3 months now, only to not really get any visible/noticeable effect out of it. Does it work better to be doing some kind of an actual plan, like C25K? Also considering a smartwatch, maybe one of the CMF ones, but I'm not sure if that'd really be worth the purchase.

I have 0 education in this, nor am I in great shape, but I found that I only see improvements by constantly pushing a bit further than I'm comfortable. Increase the pace and the length of the run. Maybe cut down on food intake. And don't expect any changes in the short term. Unless you're skipping food and running like >20km in a day, you won't see noticeable changes in less than a few months.

 

[AgendaPoster]

Do you Kiwis have any advice as to how to deal with the achy joints?

Well, have you upgraded to regular 10Ks yet?
The joint pain can be natural and expected for longer runs, especially on asphalt and if you're heavier. Or it can be a sign your joints are in bad shape. Which you should check medically.
If they are OK, then you'll simply push through the pain. Most of it goes away as you strengthen your muscles and improve your form (bad form is responsible for a LOT of various aches during running, and it's quite hard to fix).
If you end up running a lot (like 5, even 7 days/week), you will always be in some sort of pain and will learn to live with it. Don't get fooled though, we're not meant to be sedentary drones on pain medication, we're meant to go through all these effort/recovery through sleep/food cycles. Even with the soreness and pain, the impact on your body, especially on your cardiovascular system, will be tremendous and you will be seeing great improvement in your general health, ability to withstand effort, tolerance to pain and so on.

 

[Zemblan Physics]

OK, long post coming up but I’m at my wits end.

I’ve dealt with a herniated disk that pushes onto the S1 nerve root for a while, it’s been pretty uncomfortable but it hasn’t really interfered with my running habits (30-40 K a week). However, this summer during a run something happened around 7 K. Intense pain on the outside of the thigh down to the outside of the foot, had to limp back home. Was miserable and rested from running (swimming and biking instead) a couple of weeks then started slowly back at it again.

But it doesn’t get any better, I’m about to give up. Now I’m getting contra lateral pain as well, which is rare, but it does happen sometimes if the dural sack is pulled. Only thing that helps is resting in psoas position and walking around. Sitting is impossible.

Had a new MRI and the hernia looks worse, but not by much. It’s not even a massive hernia, not a “we definitely should operate” one, so I just don’t get it.

I use a cross trainer instead of running now but it’s so boring I want to cry. Do some strength training too and I’ve lost a couple of pounds to see if that helps but no dice. Physical therapy ofc.

What the hell should I do to get back to running? I don’t really mind the pain per se and I would run through it if I didn’t have other things that are difficult when you’re irritated and tired from aching like hell. Like work and kids. Should I push for surgery? It seems most people that have non-emergency surgery for herniated disks don’t get that much better, though?

Anyone had something similar?

 

[SirCliveSinclairdabbing]

Anyone had something similar?

I had kinda similar, I switched to swimming for a year or so. Low impact, steady 2min/100m for a mile or so. Great workout and a guaranteed way to get a V shaped torso. I added yoga/strength to rebuild where I was injured. I moved back with cycling first then running.

 

[Zemblan Physics]

I switched to swimming for a year or so

A year, eh? Fml, my local pool is all garlic breathing elderly hippos splashing around leisurely. But I guess I’ll have to make it work. Maybe should look into something like wetsuit “wild swimming” instead.

 

[AgendaPoster]

swimming

Is best to not get out of shape while injured and has additional benefits to running too, deffo do it if possible.
As for your injury, you probably need more medical care and attention, since you have problems for a nerve that's crucial for running. I cannot have any definitive opinions on this since this is largely something you might not be able to fix with more strength training, although you might improve some, and it could need surgery.
You should also walk and then try running tiny amounts. If it's bad, stop, continue walking. I know it's very discouraging if you were a runner, cause we are autistic about pace and not looking slow, but you have no other choices here so you just might just do what you can, cause nothing is far worse, and progress slowly, see what happens.
If you keep active, you should be able to regain your form in a month or so, so no biggie overall

 

[Zemblan Physics]

You should also walk and then try running tiny amounts. If it's bad, stop, continue walking.

Problem is I don’t really feel a lot of pain while actually running. Endorphins and all that. It’s the hours afterwards and the next day that are the killers, that’s when the burning, tingling and radiating pain goes off fr. So it’s difficult to pace myself. But there’s a fix for that, I’ll have to decide on a slow pace, stick to it and evaluate. Thanks!

 

[AgendaPoster]

Problem is I don’t really feel a lot of pain while actually running. Endorphins and all that. It’s the hours afterwards and the next day that are the killers, that’s when the burning, tingling and radiating pain goes off fr. So it’s difficult to pace myself. But there’s a fix for that, I’ll have to decide on a slow pace, stick to it and evaluate. Thanks!

Yes you basically need to stress test your body see what works, and you also need to take it slow to not further create inflammation in the area and compressing that nerve. And you need rest, lots of sleep to allow for recovery. You can recover even open fractures and still run, so it's not the end of the world, but you do need to be careful still.
I had piriformis syndrome this January which ]has similar symptoms (often misdiagnosed with what you seem to have), and only that took like a month to heal-ish (maybe 3-4 days of rest, after that slow, very painful runs), but it did not go away in full for yet another month. Your hernia is far more troublesome so you need to treat it with the correct amount of attention, so it doesn't get worse.

 

[oldTireWater]

Herniations and the pain are subjective. Everybody is going to respond differently. Back pain is just the price of bipedalism. You can let it stop you and turn into a "disabled" fatty or you can trial and error your way through or around it. It will probably clear up eventually but rest assured you will have another flare up someday down the road. If it's the new normal then you've still got to figure out how to deal with it and keep running (and everything else).

People absolutely fucking RUIN their lives by overreacting to back pain. I've seen dudes kill themselves because of the snowballing reactions to a back injury. Alienation from co-workers, ineffective surgeries, painkiller abuse, disability, wrecked home life, etc. All because they lacked the mindset to just get through it.

The best thing you can ask a doctor is "can I work through the pain without causing real damage." Specifically for back pain, I agree with stress testing the injury and disagree with the need for extra rest and sleep. You need to stay as active as the pain will allow. An extra week or month of rest isn't going to fix shit but it will wear on you mentally.

The key to dealing with back pain is mastering the psychological aspect. of it . You WILL recover from it. You WILL experience it again. You CANNOT let it shape your life.

 

[Zemblan Physics]

I don’t think anything I said suggested I’m going to let pain define me or stop me from staying active (swam 2 K this morning). It’s not “back pain” though, it’s nerve pain that manifests in the leg/buttocks/feet. Nociceptive pain is easier to deal with tbh, and I’ve had plenty of that because, well, I like to run. This is on another level. Kind of caught me off guard.

 

[oldTireWater]

Sorry. It's a "sore" subject for me so I tend to go there tangentially.

 

[Hassou Tobi]

Hello runners,

Anyone done a spartan race/other obstacle course kind of thing? It seems like it would be fun. Not sure how to train for it. I lift regularly, am going to start running again, and also boulder (climbing) at gym.

 

[.iota.]

i've done a few of them, and they are fun!

know that there's a lot of running, but it's usually sprints between obstacles until you get towards the end. in my experience, the obstacles become fewer and further between by design to challenge you when you're fatigued.

i'd suggest that you start running at least five days a week, but alternate long, slow distance training two or three days with sprint training two or three days. i'd also suggest researching the event that you want to do, then training for the specific obstacles that it has. your climbing gym should have most of what you need to replicate the obstacles.

 

[SirCliveSinclairdabbing]

Hello runners,

Anyone done a spartan race/other obstacle course kind of thing? It seems like it would be fun. Not sure how to train for it. I lift regularly, am going to start running again, and also boulder (climbing) at gym.

Each to their own but I hate them. Run between obstacles then queue to go over them? Seems dumb to me. Hopefully your experience is better

 

[SanctedElectromagnetism]

can someone explain to me the whole thing about increasing mileage by 10% every week to avoid injury? I ususally run 10km and last week I decided to do 12,250. I was doing pretty well until the 11 km mark where I got this weird feeling in my fucking knee like... whenever i would make a step it would feel like there was like water or jelly in my right knee and it persisted for a day or two later. My goal is to run a half marathon by the end of the year so is 10% of 20km not 2km? Was i supposed to increase it by 10% from 10km?