Runners
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When I was at school we had an annual run…
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Wow, that puts the standard cross country course to shame. I'm reminded of the Dipsea Race, which seems similar in spirit, if a bit shorter.
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i wish i had discovered the trails sooner in life.
Same here. Completely changed my perspective on running, especially anything longer than 5k.
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@Graeme after a lot of time in the mountains i too began to develop issues with knees. But I learned a lot of my issues were actually tight hips and quads. Upper legs were so tight, they began to pull on the insertion points at the knee, thus I assumed my knees began to go. There are a few mobility stretches you can do to help free up your knees. Also work with a lacross ball and a foam roller too and smash away
@Chris - yeah I'm beginning to look at it from a long term perspective. Maintenance has been key as of late
Oh guys I picked up new shoes tonight. I got them for 44% off so I can't complain.
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i wish i had discovered the trails sooner in life.
Same here. Completely changed my perspective on running, especially anything longer than 5k.
Quite a few people have said this to me. I've just done distance running on roads over the past few years but got an ultra coming up in July that has some trail sections.
Looking for some new shoes that will be versatile enough for the trails but comfortable enough for hours on the road too. Seems to be a tough one.
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Unless the trail sections are pretty gnarly, I would just go with road shoes. I've worn Mizuno Wave Riders for the last decade and run multiple trail runs in distances of 5 to 30k in them. I don't think I'd try to run Leadville or Western States in them, but then most trail runs aren't that intense.
(Not that I would run either of those at all, just to be clear.
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The race I'm doing is around 65k but I don't think the terrain will be too bad at any point. I reckon running long sections on road in trail shoes won't be pleasant so I'll take your advice. Saying that, I don't think anything after a certain point is going to be pleasant!
Been doing more looking this afternoon and Salomon do a couple of shoes specifically designed for long distances. They also look quite nice too, as far as running shoes go - which of course is the most important thing.
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Illness after increasing mileage
Hi guys,
I've been running daily for over two years and recently stepped up my weekly mileage from 35 to 50 miles. At present I am not running as I've got a viral / chest infection. It seems that the infection set in shortly after the mileage increase. Has anyone else experienced illness with increased mileage and do you guys have any tips?
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^I'm from Weston-Super-Mare in the UK^
The weather has been sunny and windy with moderate - high pollen levels which can be an issue for me as I do suffer with occasional hay fever as well as exercise induced asthma. However, I did some research and found this useful website: http://www.runningforfitness.org
In this section http://www.runningforfitness.org/book/chapter-8-injuries/infections from the above mentioned website it states; "It is not clear why runners are especially prone to respiratory infections such as sore throats and bronchial infections. It may be to do with the trauma to the throat linings of hard breathing while running. But there also appears to be a lowering of the effectiveness of the immune system generally in runners who are training hard, which contributes to this phenomenon"
So It may be pollen but could also be as a result of the increase in distance I am running. Whatever it is I can't run at the moment and its frustrating the hell out of me
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I haven't noticed it when I increase mileage, but I do notice it with speedwork. An all out mile will have my lungs hurting for days.
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I agree with summer. I have not felt any effects in gradual increments of weekly mileage. The only time I can really feel the effects on my lungs is when I am doing any speed or lactic acid threshold work.
I do not know how the weather has been in your area but some of the apps I found useful is "weather under ground" and "storm". It gives you local reports of weather and pretty accurate cloud coverage on their radar. Plus they cover pollen count there too
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^thanks for your insight and feedback gents, its helpful^
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This is something that plagues even the best runners in the world. Galen Rupp (London Olympics 10K Silver Medalist) has a serious pollen allergy and has scratched from races because the pollen counts were abnormally high on race day. Obviously the more intense the effort the more impact the allergy will have on performance.
In my opinion your chest infection could definitely be caused by the increase in mileage, even if there has been no increase in intensity. If you jumped from 35 miles to 50 miles in one week you basically asked your body to do 40% more work/week than it had been doing for the past number of months or years. If you kept running at a similar intensity at 50 miles/week as what you were doing at 35 miles/week there is a good chance your immune system was weakend for a period of time before adapting to your new 'normal'.
I still train at a fairly high intensity (70-80 MPW with 2 workouts and 1 long run), but it doesn't compare to what I was doing when I was running in college. The more intensity you add the farther out on the razor's edge you go. It's very counter-intuitive, but when you look at an endurance athlete in peak condition you are also most likely looking at them at their weakest immune system wise. I'm almost 29 and easily the worst periods of sickness I have experienced were when I was my most fit (extremely frustrating).
A great example are Tour cyclists. All unbelievably fit during the Tour de France and all as far out on the edge as they can get. They hit elevator buttons with their elbows instead of their hands, partially out of superstition and paranoia, but also because it doesn't take nearly as much for them to get sick during the tour as it would during a base training phase.
My advice would be to run through the sickness at a lower volume (15-20 mpw) and build back up to 50 from 35 mpw over the course of a 3-4 week span (i.e. about a 4 mile increase per week).
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@BloodnThunder, thanks for your insight and experience. Your response resonated deeply with me and my experience of increasing my weekly mpw from 35 to 50. I hadn't considered this mpw increase in terms of what I was asking my body to do; 40% more work/week, which is a huge increase. I know historically I haven't been great at looking after myself and have tended to push myself until I'm done in. Thinking in the way you've illustrated will, I hope, help me to set more realistic targets for myself.
Welcome to the forum buddy
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Thanks, @den1mhead. It's definitely one of the most common runner 'mistakes', which I have definitely been guilty of as well. If you look on the bright side, a chest infection is a much better/more manageable result of an increase in mileage than something like a stress fracture.
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For my next race I'm fundraising. For those in the US it would be a tax deduction. Any amount helps and 100% of the funds go to cancer research. The link is below. The race is a Ragnar Relay that runs about 200 miles through the back roads of Utah. Fun but tough. Map of my 3rd and toughest leg of the race is below. For those familiar with Utah skiing it climbs from Park City and through Deer Valley's resort.
