The Running Thread - 2020

[Jules76126]

So I have run a grand total of 0 miles in May. I had a small health issue at the end of April/beginning of May that I had to take two weeks off from and after that my motivation went out the window. It has not helped that the weather has been very hit or miss here over the last few weeks. After my two weeks on the couch, I decided I needed to do something, so my friend convinced me to do beachbody workouts with her. I am currently doing their 21 day fix and I really like it so far. They have others I can do once I finish this one. They are only 30 minutes so I can do them as soon as I wake up and be done for the day. And let me tell you I thought I was in decent shape until I started these. Holy cow, was I sore after the first day. My plan is to get slowly back into running as well. Since the workouts are really only five days a week (with 2 stretch/yoga days), I want to run maybe three days per week. I am not training for any races right now as I don't want to sign up for anything until we know more - mainly I want to save the money as I know most races won't give deferrals or refunds. Being in MA, I feel like racing could be off the table until the fall or beyond. But I also don't want to lose my running base, so right now is all about maintaining a balance and keeping off any quarantine pounds

 

[flav]

One motivation for me (and the reason I get out and do something every day) is I'm participating in several stepbets and a runbet. So I have to get in 4 runs a week and 10,000 steps every single day or I lose money (and can make money if I do it) and a run makes the steps so much easier and quicker to get so even on a "rest" day I'll still go run a mile then walk the rest I need to get my steps in.

If anyone wants to pay me to run and walk, I am in! I am very flexible for payments and accept Dole Soft Serve Mix, shinny medals, unused and not expired gels and chews, actually, candies in general...

 

[Krandor]

If anyone wants to pay me to run and walk, I am in! I am very flexible for payments and accept Dole Soft Serve Mix, shinny medals, unused and not expired gels and chews, actually, candies in general...

lol. the stpbet and runbet games can do that. How they work is everybody joins and pays and there is a goal to hit like the toughest one I'm in right now is 8 weeks you have to hit your step goal every single day. No rest days on this one (most have 1-2 rest days). At the end of the game everybody who reaches their goal splits the pot (minus a cut for stepbet). Don't make a ton but can make some and for me not wanting to lose my money is a good motivation to get out on days I don't feel like it.

 

[michigandergirl]

QOTD: I've been running 3-4 days a week. I am sometimes prone to injury, so I'm not going to push 4 or 5 days a week running until I for sure have a race on the schedule. I'm signed up for races in Aug, Sept, & Oct, but who knows what will happen. So running is in maintenance mode, but I have been doing a lot more cross training (elliptical, biking, strength training & yoga).

 

[Chasing Dopey]

ATTQOTD: 6 days a week for me. I'm just now getting back to being able to do full training weeks after my time off, so I'm building a base, maintaining consistent strength work, and getting my fitness back before going into a full scale training block for Wine and Dine. I see the time off from races as a great opportunity to focus on the foundation, and try to address some weaknesses.

 

[KSellers88]

Wow, I miss a few days and this thread picks back up. LOL. Catching up....

QOTD: What would make you comfortable to start running races again?

As long as there is adequate space in the corrals and individual water bottles instead of cups, I'd sign up for one tomorrow. I think spacing out time between different waves would be a good idea too. Our local races are pretty small, so I'd probably do one of those tomorrow with no changes.

QOTD: What type of hydration belt do you recommend? We talked about races where someone might need to carry their own fluids, how would you adjust your training to be able to run with a limited amount of fluids?

I carry a Nathan handheld bottle. I have a larger one for runs over 14 miles and a smaller one for anything 8-14 miles. I don't carry anything for runs less than that.

QotD: How do you get your electrolytes on long runs and in races?

I drink Gatorade or Powerade in my handheld and get water from the stations in a race. Huma Gels are my go to, along with Honey Stinger energy chews for the last few miles of a race. I have gotten used to carrying the handheld and prefer it over the bottles that fit in my Flipbelt.

QOTD: what kind of headphones do you use, and how (and how often) do you clean them?

I have the Aftershokz Titanium and Air. I love them both, but prefer the Air since they are lighter and don't squeeze my head as much. I probably don't clean them as often as I should, LOL.

QOTD: How many days a week are you running right now?

Still running 6 days a week, biking one day per week, and doing strength training anywhere from 3-4 days per week. My husband and I have also started walking every day on our lunch break so I am probably more active now that I was before the quarantine.

 

[PrincessV]

ATTQOTD: I'm in my usual off-season cycle, which has me running 4 days a week - 2 short runs, 1 speed or hill day, 1 long run.

 

[avondale]

QOTD:

How many days a week are you running right now?

ATTQOTD: I'm rotating through a 4-week maintenance plan. For 3 of the weeks, I run 4 days per week, and for 1 week I run 5 days per week. The mileage ranges from 23.5 miles per week to 31 miles per week.

I'm also doing strength training 2x per week, some prehab work 2x per week, and foam rolling and stretching usually 5x per week. The days that I don't run, I usually do a walk. Normally I also play a lot of tennis, but that is not happening at the moment.

 

[camaker]

ATTQOTD: I’m currently walking 5 days a week and running 5 days a week. Working from home has added a significant amount of time back into my day through elimination of my commuting time, so I’ve been trying to take advantage. Monday through Friday, I try to walk between 2 and 5 miles at lunch (generallay 2-3 with 5 on Friday afternoon). On top of that, I am keeping to my normal running rhythm of Tues, Wed, Thurs, Sat, Sun with 5-7 miles most days and an 8-12 mile long run on Sunday, even though I don’t have a formal plan.

It all seems to be paying off, as my paces are increasing and my weight has dropped under 200 for the first time since mid-2016. Hopefully I’ll be able to maintain this through the summer until I need to start training for Dopey.

 

[JulieODC]

I’m running 4-5 days, walking 3-4 days, 1 day of yoga, 2 days of strength, and maybe a family bike ride. I’ve been motivated/forced to get out for runs and walks to get some alone time, and then also with the kids after work to get them some activity!

 

[TheHamm]

QOTD: How many days a week are you running right now?

While I am aiming for 4 days/week, since stay at home I have averaged 3.25 runs/week.

For Jan & Feb I had the option to jump on a TM at the office and get in at least 2 faster miles on days with rough weather or tight schedules, which resulted in faster average monthly paces and 4 runs per week, but not any more miles than I am getting with my 3.25 runs.

 

[cburnett11]

Those who use Aftershokz, which ones do you like and why? Thinking of getting some....

I have the Aeropex and really like them. I got them this past Christmas after being a Plantronics Backbeat Fit user for years. Those finally quit working in November... on the eve of a goal marathon race no less. So I had to run a marathon with no music, but I PR'd so learned not to think the worst when you get surprised right before a race. I had the Aftershokz for another marathon 2 months later, but never turned them on. I figured I'd use them if things got bad and they never did. So 2 straight marathon PRs with no music...hmm. But I do use them for any solo training run. They are loud enough for me when I want them to be, but I feel like I can hear my surroundings plenty well. They also pair very nicely with my Garmin 245 music. My old plantronics would not work well with this watch.

 

[cburnett11]

ATTQOTD:

I'm mostly 6 days a week now, but sometimes just 5. I trained really hard up through January for marathons in November and January. I continued to push quite a bit this winter in preparation for some local races... including a half. But all but a 5k were canceled, so lost quite a bit of motivation mid-March. I'm still doing some long runs and I've had a couple recent runs where I did some light tempo/speed stuff. But for the most part, I'm just running. I'll start training in June in preparation for Chicago, although I'm not optimistic it will happen. Also signed up for W&D challenge and for Dopey. So I need to get my butt in gear in case things start happening.

 

[Neon Cactus]

ATTQOTD: I've been running 3 days a week on average, now that I'm signed up for Dopey, I need to ramp it up to 4-5 again.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

ATTQOTD: I have not truly run since the shelter in place order was issued because the normal volume of work multiplied exponentially with questions tied to Covid-19 and taxes. In the past few weeks, I've focused on getting some lengthy walks in to see if that helps my mood and I think it is. Now to move from consistently walking on the weekends to walking 4-5 days a week. It may not be too long before walks bore me and I decide to start running again.

 

[SarahDisney]

QOTD:

How many days a week are you running right now? I am currently working my way up from low 20 MPW up to 25ish MPW, and running 5 days a week. Looking ahead to when I start moving up to 30 MPW probably in the fall, I am thinking working in another day will make sense to help with that, but kinda worried about losing one of my rest days. That or I need to get faster in my slow runs so I can make time for more miles, but I figure the speed will come with more miles...

Two, with the intention of bumping back up to three if I ever start training for another half. I've been taking a step back from running, and so far this has given me that mental break from regular running that I want without it feeling like I'm starting from scratch every time I run (which was happening when I did "run when I want to" ... that was painful).

 

[Krandor]

So here is some interesting post covid news. Spartan is putting on an in person race on June 13th in fl. Now ocr do have an advantage over road races in that they stagger people through the day and everybody doesn’t run at once.

a few takeaways from their new guidelines
- sanitizer at obstacles and portapitties
- masks requested when not on course
- bottled water over cups
- heat sized reduces and course widened
- no spectators
- some obstacles removed
- temp checks
- no awards ceremonies

here is the full list if interested. First major company I know if putting on a race.

https://spartanrace.zendesk.com/hc/...ville_20200513&utm_term=race&utm_content=rgeo

 

[Guidman]

ATQOTD: I've added a day so I've been running six days a week for the past two months. I take Fridays off from running but try to get out for a walk after work.

 

[huskies90]

ATQOTD: Week 9 of house arrest. I have pretty much only left my house to run. Even with no races, I am still running 5+ days a week with mileage ~ 40/week - usually ~ 20 miles on the weekend because what else am I going to do? I have also been doing ~ 60 minutes of strength training before I log into work every morning. The positive is I am in pretty darn good shape right now.

I am not into virtual races - totally cool for people who love them or use them for motivation, etc. but for me it is just getting a medal for something I do every week anyway. However, my June half marathon went virtual and I am thinking about doing it. First, they are requiring everyone to run over the weekend of the original race and to submit times. Second there were originally going to be 3 races that day - 5K, 10K and half and for the price of the half, they are offering a “challenge” if you run all 3 over the weekend. And finally, they are verifying results and doing age group awards. A portion of registration goes to UConn Health Covid-19 response so I think that is enough for me to give it shot and have at least some reason to be putting in all these miles.

 

[dis_or_dat]

So happy this thread is active!

Racing: immunity, testing, prevalence, therapeutics, vaccines ... I don't think it'll be the same for years. As an aside, someone told me the atmosphere of Boston is what made it so special, so even if somehow it was held in September it would be completely different with likely sparse spectatorship.

Hydration: I ran a cupless half and landed on a flask that fit a flipbelt. I ended up drinking only 1.5 oz of water, probably why I started cramping the last half mile.

Electrolytes: I only fuel during races: maurten 320 and e-gel (Huma for caffeine). But will take a salt tab after training in heat and covered in salt (aka "sand!" by my toddler)

Headphones: aftershokz air, but they're starting to lose their charge. I love the company is replacing them (under warranty) but they're asking me to send mine back so how will I listen to all my podcasts in the interim?!

Days of the week: 6, but I'm starting to get burned out on all these hills even though they're all easy pace.