Run, Forrest, Run....

[Downtown]

So, in an effort to carve just a little time out of each day for myself, I've thrown myself headlong into distance running.

It started out two summers ago with my first 5k, where I startlingly enough learned that not just running, but racing is addictive. Now - I'm not really fast - I have often been passed by the elderly and disabled, but I've always come out in the top half of my division.

Took a bit of a hiatus to be pregnant with the twins, but jumped back in with 10ks this last spring. Just finished my first 15k on Sunday (I *just* stopped feeling like I need a hip replacement surgery this morning), and just signed up for my first half marathon (The Shamrock in March 07), and intend to do the Chicago Marathon in Oct. 07. I even dropped almost $200 on the nike+ipod so I can know EXACTLY how far I've been running at any given second.

Now, since I've started racing, it seems to me that I can't go to an event without tripping over another NY Capital Region planner - at one race this spring, 5 planners that I new happened to be doing a 5mi. trail run.

So - I know Mskis runs (and got me a kick ass running journal for my SS gift two years ago) - but anyone else on the bandwagon?

 

[zman]

I go on beer runs and whiskey runs too.

Sometimes the run includes a stop for a bucket of chicken.

Actually, I have never been really fond of running, although in High School I was forced to run 1.5 miles once, and felt really good afterward, which I think was the "runner's high". I have been too lazy to achieve that since.

I have thought about starting again. What do you recommend for a first timer?

 

[imaplanner]

Back when my work was a 3 minute commute I used to run almost every day. Now that I work 9-10 hour days and have a 1 hour commute each way I have very little time to run. I generally try to run at least 1 mile one day each weekend - but I found that once you stop running regularly you very quickly start to really suck at it (i.e., no endurance).

 

[donk]

With a lack of time for bike riding(hard to find 6-8 hours at a time) I am considering taking up running. I also have it in my mind that I have to do a marathon in my life, so I am thinking about working for next year's here ore maybe a vacation home for theirs.

As for planners and running each year at the CIP there is a fun run, that is pretty competitive.

 

[Richmond Jake]

Nope. Jim Fixx died running. It's bad for you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Fixx

 

[JNA]

Way back when in HS I was on the cross country team.
Have not run since. :-$

 

[natski]

I used to do a lot of running back at HS- was on the cross country team, made state etc etc, but i got bad knees and have been reluctant ever since to do a lot of running.

Since then i have run one 14km fun run (City to Surf in Sydney- awesome run!) but havent done anything since. I love running it is so addictive- i have started back at the gym and i get on the running machine thinking i will take it easy, but i cant help myself, go full pelt every time. I went for a walk the other day and wished i have run instead.

I guess i am a little nervous to go running with my bad knees- but i just have this need to run Downtown this thread has made me think i should just go for it and run again!

 

[dandy_warhol]

i do a 5k every now and then but it is mostly to get the t-shirt. :r:

i've always wanted to be a runner. i like the idea of running. i admire people who love to run.

but i don't like running just to run. i'm horrible at it. i get winded after about 2 minutes.

but i love to run on the soccer field. give me a little black and white ball to chase after and i'm happy as a clam.

 

[Jen]

cool! run downtown run.

I have to ask, what exactly do you find addicting about running/racing?

 

[veleez]

I have been running the 2.5 miles to and from work almost every single day since the begining of August, which has been great, for a number of reasons.

1) I have lost about 12 pounds. When I went for a stretch of not drinking for about two weeks I ended up being down about 23 pounds from my starting weight. Once I started drinking again I got lazy and then ended up getting sick, so that combination of beer and not running made me put on some more pounds. I am tentatively planning to not drink between January 1 and the Super Bowl, just to see how much I can lose.

2) I have saved almost $200 that I would have paid to ride the Metro one stop each way. I do end up driving my car a little more because every night I go to my office to drop off the clothes I am going to wear the next day. But based on the miles and my car's average miles per gallon, I still net a total of about $160 on transportation costs.

3) I spend about as much time running each was as I would if I were taking the Metro, so my total transportation time per day is about the same. What is really nice is that since I no longer feel like I need to work out when I get home from work, I have a lot more free time.

I would definitly advise anyone for whom it is feasible to run to work to do so.

 

[dandy_warhol]

I have been running the 2.5 miles to and from work almost every single day since the begining of August, which has been great, for a number of reasons.

1) I have lost about 12 pounds. When I went for a stretch of not drinking for about two weeks I ended up being down about 23 pounds from my starting weight. Once I started drinking again I got lazy and then ended up getting sick, so that combination of beer and not running made me put on some more pounds. I am tentatively planning to not drink between January 1 and the Super Bowl, just to see how much I can lose.

2) I have saved almost $200 that I would have paid to ride the Metro one stop each way. I do end up driving my car a little more because every night I go to my office to drop off the clothes I am going to wear the next day. But based on the miles and my car's average miles per gallon, I still net a total of about $160 on transportation costs.

3) I spend about as much time running each was as I would if I were taking the Metro, so my total transportation time per day is about the same. What is really nice is that since I no longer feel like I need to work out when I get home from work, I have a lot more free time.

I would definitly advise anyone for whom it is feasible to run to work to do so.

can i ask a slightly personal question: do you shower when you get to work?

 

[veleez]

can i ask a slightly personal question: do you shower when you get to work?

Yea, there is a weight room and showers at my office.

 

[dandy_warhol]

Yea, there is a weight room and showers at my office.

oooh. sweet. we don't have anything like that.

*shakes fist at guvm't*

i live about a mile from work and try to walk to work a couple times a week.

on the humid days i'm perspiring by the time i get to work.

 

[Jaxspra]

I like to run, I don't do it quite enough on "real" ground bu I do enjoy it. The only "race" I have ever been in was a Frost Bite Series at Forest Park in STL. It was a series of runs (starting with 3k up to a 5k), it was in the middle of January at around 8 in the morn!! guhgughgu it was cold!
I run on the machines in the gym mostly but in the spring I try to get out on real ground about once a week. I can barely run an entire mile without stopping though :-$ (I do continue to run, its just often a mix of fast walking and running, I simply don't have the endurance)
It is addicting, its the feeling I have after pushing myself that hard (numbness, etc) that is so addicting. My best friend runs the Chicago Marathon every year. The training that leads up to it and the way she feels for about 3 days afterwards, I am not sure its worth it!! Three weeks before the marathon she runs 20 miles on a Saturday morning and thats just the end of training. But I am proud of her and try to get there each year to watch her run it, its VERY inspiring!

 

[Greenescapist]

I like running, but sometimes I have a hard time staying motivated. I've run for years, since high school, but have not done a 10K race in a bit. I recently joined a gym to try to mix up my exercise routine a bit- add some lifting, spinning, yoga, etc- and that's helping. Hopefully, by the time spring rolls around, I'll be ready to run outside again. Now the nights are cold and dark.

 

[dandy_warhol]

Now the nights are cold and dark.

this cold dark weather is doing nothing for my motivation to make it to the gym. when i get home from work i don't want to have to venture back out into the cold.

but, i have joined a raquetball league and an indoor soccer league to motivate me somewhat.

 

[Jeff]

I've been known to run on occasion.:-D

 

[Downtown]

I have thought about starting again. What do you recommend for a first timer?

Its all about the intervals. 5 min walking warmup, )1 min. jogging, 1 min recovery walk, ) x5, 5 min. walking cool down. Once you don't feel like you're going to die doing that - increase your running intervals.

cool! run downtown run.

I have to ask, what exactly do you find addicting about running/racing?

I think its a couple things. I always feel SO good after a run - physically and emotionally. Well, maybe not physically after a race where I've really pushed myself, but training runs - definitely. And after a race - I feel like I've challenged myself, in a way that I don't get to in the rest of my everyday life.

I think its also about appreciating my physical body in a way that's been really difficult post-partum with the twins. I'm done having kids, being pregnant, nursing, I was feeling like "ok - this is MY body for the rest of my life - what am I going to do with it, aside from be annoyed at how my kids have aesthetically ruined it?" and instead of focusing on the maddening skin pouch below my navel, I pay attention to my improving race times, and how good my lungs and legs feel. And strong and kick ass running makes me feel.

I think the other thing - running is exclusively MINE. It so selfish - I don't do it for my kids, or husband, or job, or to be a good friend or daughter. The only reason I do it is for me - I'm completely me in my own head for 30 minutes, thinking about what I need to do on that run. And that never ever happens to me otherwise, since the twins have been born. Its almost zen.

 

[Jeff]

Once you run 26.2 you'll never be the same. Welcome to the dark side.

 

[cololi]

Not much of a runner, very seldom do I do anything other than 15-10 minutes on the treadmill or around the neighborhood.

However, I am in training to do the wasatch powder keg race this year: roughly 6 miles, 6,000 vertical feet of climbing, 6,000 vert of skiing. Starting at an elevation of 8200 feet and going up and down several mountains, max out at 10,500 with the longest continuous hike of roughly 1800 vertical.