Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How to Start Running

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 165 posts

Re: How to Start Running

#141

Post by itaysk »

ggreer wrote: post #12
itaysk wrote: post #2

> Some people are natural heel-strikers while others tend to lead with their toes. The good news: neither form is inherently better than the other That is in opposite to common knowledge that heel-striking is worse, and leads to increased injuries.

Common knowledge? If anything, the preference seems like a fad to me. Plenty of elite runners heel-strike. I've been running for... a while. In high school, I was captain of the XC team. I finished 5th in the state and our team won the state meet.[1] The spring after that, I ran a 4:18 mile and a 9:07 two mile. In college, I competed in Division I NCAA XC. None of my coaches cared that I was a heel-striker. I've sinc…

I forced myself to switch from heel to tow strike and suffer a lot from those Achilles and Calf.

Re: How to Start Running

#142

Post by bliti »

bcook wrote: post #140
bliti wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now apply that to software and interviewing. Its mind blowing to think of an interview being like that cross-country 10K and your group of friends being in it and being judged against the guy who came in first without trying. Life sure is funny.

Well, something I quickly learned while running; I am trying to improve my life directly, not by comparison. I am not a conquerer of worlds. :) Strange that being "average" is virtually a sin... Life is funny (or fucking awful, depending).

Absolutely! I can only be as good as the best I can be. I suck at some things, average at many, and unfairly good at handful. I love it because it never gets boring. :)

Re: How to Start Running

#143

Post by fezz »

js2 wrote: post #84
notacoward wrote: post #11

So much bad advice. (1) Actually it does matter how and where (relative to your body) you land your foot. Contrary to the article, many people do need to fix their "natural" form and/or get shoes that help them avoid pronation, both to avoid injury and to increase the enjoyment that will help them stick with it. (2) Similarly, the article's advice about stretching is way out of date. It's now consensus that static st…

a responsible author would at least have mentioned that it's a safety issue as well as an aesthetic one. Not only will I second this, I'll add that it's also an athletic issue. I used to run with headphones. But I don't anymore, because I realized I wanted all my senses, not just to be aware of my surroundings, but to be aware of myself. I literally listen to my body when I run, because it's a cue for me that I'm run…

I listen to music with the volume fairly low so i can hear my foot strike and my breathing. For me, the music is not a distraction but a combination of two things i like to do... especially when it's music i love and the tempo fits beautifully with my pace. it becomes a the perfect score to your run.

Re: How to Start Running

#144

Post by studentrob »

shepwalker wrote: post #63

I always tell people that my life-saving workout device was the Kindle 3. In 2010, I was 315 lbs, sedentary as hell and not making any progress to fix that. The idea of running just seemed like complete drudgery. I ended up making a pact with a friend to meet up at the gym every morning, and I took my kindle and reread a long epic fantasy series page by page. I started off stupid-slow, with a slight incline. First 25…

That's awesome to hear. Often on HN I see people being negative about things like running or meditation for example, adamently saying these things didn't work for them and won't work for everyone. I don't see the point in coming up with a solution for everyone. We all know people don't work that way. Personal anecdotes are a great way to get inspired based on actual experiences. Even if it is shown that some activity doesn't work for everyone, if it works for one person, it's worth sharing!

Re: How to Start Running

#145

Post by slgeorge »

JeremyNT wrote: post #135
notacoward wrote: post #11

So much bad advice. (1) Actually it does matter how and where (relative to your body) you land your foot. Contrary to the article, many people do need to fix their "natural" form and/or get shoes that help them avoid pronation, both to avoid injury and to increase the enjoyment that will help them stick with it. (2) Similarly, the article's advice about stretching is way out of date. It's now consensus that static st…

Do you have some citations on 1 and 2? I started running a few years ago, and noticed that there is a massive amount of cargo culting and folklore surrounding technique and training regimens. I ended up just discarding it all and doing what felt right because I found it impossible to filter through the noise. If these things have been properly studied and documented, I'd like to see it.

Not the person you're replying to, but I have some sources. The best consistent source I've found is Alex Hutchinson. He reports on scientific studies and tries to sift the wheat from the chaff. Quick search found this one on stretching [1] from him. Foot strike and mechanics is a much more complicated area AFAIK.

He also wrote a fantastic book on the state of sports science "Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights? Fitness Myths, Training Truths, and Other Surprising Discoveries from the Science of Exercise" [2] which I highly recommend if you're interested in hearing about the source studies (and their limitations).

[1] http://www.runnersworld.com/sweat-science/should-you-stretch... [2] http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11115311-which-comes-firs...

Re: How to Start Running

#146

Post by eru »

js2 wrote: post #46
eru wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As for learning to land properly: some training barefoot can do wonders. Only the most stubborn people keep slamming their heels into the ground, when there's nothing at all to cushion the blow. If you want to get into barbell exercises, get a coach or at least look for good guides online (or in book form). Don't do half squats.

Good advice to have someone who knows what they're doing show you how to deadlift and back squat. I read Starting Strength before I started, but I'm glad I didn't try to do it on my own. I'm iffy on the barefoot running advice. If you're going to run barefoot, it's probably best to do it on a soft surface like a grass field. But, that will allow you to continue to heel strike, and worse, because your heel will sink f…

I'll started a friend barefoot running on hard urban ground. It worked. Just don't be an idiot, stop heel striking.

Re: How to Start Running

#147

Post by eru »

rlonstein wrote: post #51
eru wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As for learning to land properly: some training barefoot can do wonders. Only the most stubborn people keep slamming their heels into the ground, when there's nothing at all to cushion the blow. If you want to get into barbell exercises, get a coach or at least look for good guides online (or in book form). Don't do half squats.

I agree. I found that Vibram Five Fingers and other "minimalist" and thin "zero drop" shoes are the best thing between my feet and the ground. They promote a natural foot strike (e.g. it hurts if you heel strike).

I used to own some Vibram Five Fingers, but are prefer proper barefoot these days.

Re: How to Start Running

#148

Post by slgeorge »

gtirloni wrote: post #19

The absolute best way to keep yourself running is to find a race, sign up for it, pay for it and put it on your calendar. I've wasted a lot of money thinking this way. Unless you're cash-strapped and it meant a lot buying that ticket/software/tool/book/etc, you just shrug it off and move to the next target. Money doesn't buy discipline. YMMV.

I think this comes down to how different people are motivated. Others in the thread have said 'a race is a goal' so it motivates them. But, you also see lots of runners with other motivations. For example, I see a lot of people on bulletin boards talk about the social aspects: for them joining running clubs, or organising a running partner is very motivational. Maybe that would work for you.

Re: How to Start Running

#150

Post by xiaoma »

notacoward wrote: post #131
xiaoma wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That minimal approach has kept me out of trouble despite running more even than most other runners - consistently five or six days a week in every kind of weather . Meh. I ran thirteen times a week for years, quit for years, started again overweight more than once to slim down again and have done many 5 hour + mountain runs on the wrong side of 30. I've generally done static stretching both before and after running…

> I ran thirteen times a week for years > Take easy days and easy weeks Something doesn't quite add up here. Also, as impressed as you might be with yourself for running some unspecified distance more often than someone else while you were in your twenties, it doesn't change the fact that most runners go out every other day at most. Every distribution has its outliers, and your "meh" was unnecessarily dismissive.

The meh was because many, many runners who do static stretching do train at a higher volume than what the poster felt was a lot and do so without injuries. One data point from someone who only runs five or six times a week not getting injured says only that his approach probably wasn't unusually destructive.

>"Also, as impressed as you might be with yourself for running some unspecified distance more often than someone else while you were in your twenties, it doesn't change the fact that most runners go out every other day at most."

It's pretty common to run twice a day on university cross country teams. As far as I know, most competitive 10k runners do. I wasn't an outlier by any means. In fact, at that time I wasn't quite good enough to make the cut. I am not "impressed" with myself for having done >200km on hard weeks.

I do think that having done that and also having done a lot of running at different sizes and shapes in my 30s without injury is at least a decent data point that static stretching isn't absolutely horrible. It might be sub-optimal but it can be done regularly for years without leading to an injury.

Post reply on HN