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Get Running with Couch to 5K

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Re: Get Running with Couch to 5K

#221

Post by cafard »

str1k3 wrote: post #164
twawaaay wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. This is the thing that I wish somebody told me when I first ventured to start running. Light run is when I run with somebody else and I still can have a pleasant conversation. I take phonecalls when I am running and I had situations where people were surprised when I told them I am running (they expected me to be panting probably). IMO there is no need to run any harder than that if your goal is maximising your…

The other option is run faster but intermittently. It came as a surprise to me that many people are self-conscious about stopping to walk during running -- that's how I've always done it! I never thought anything of it because I have always been in shape as 100m / 200m sprinter... I'd encourage others to try this, because although I love running, I also could never really get into jogging.

A friend used to do ultramarathons. If we were out for a run and she didn't wish to run a hill, she would say, "ultra rules", and we would walk the hill. She covered 100 miles in less than 24 hours in one race I helped with, and she had not the least self-consciousness about walking.

Re: Get Running with Couch to 5K

#222

Post by igouy »

FartyMcFarter wrote: post #174
mclouts91 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need to realise that weight bearing exercises (this means running, walking etc) are good for bone health. Low impact activities like cycling don’t give your bones the right stimulus to stay strong. And as the other commenter has said, the impact damage is probably in the minds of people who say that running does then damage but in reality it doesn’t do damage, it is actually a benefit to bones and joints.

It's a benefit if you do it properly and don't overdo it. The poison is in the dose and intensity.

"Often when trying to get into exercise, we can overdo it, feel defeated and give up when we're just getting started.

Couch to 5K works because it starts with a mix of running and walking to gradually build up your fitness and stamina."

"Get running with Couch to 5K" website

Re: Get Running with Couch to 5K

#223

Post by igouy »

somethingreen wrote: post #152
twawaaay wrote: post #48

Personally, I think aren't many better return on investment activities than spending half an hour every day on a morning jog. You can run more than that but I think half an hour steady state easy run each morning gives you 80% of results. If you love running (I do), knock yourself out. But that half an hour is enough to do wonders to your health over long periods of time with minimum chance for negative consequences.…

> I think a lot of people go hard on it and overdo it and then get injured or stop it for other reasons. Yes, I think C25K and the "just run" sentiment in general is missing half a dozen asterisks about this aspect. Like "except don't run on concrete for the first year", or "except do this progression of exercises for feet and tendons for 3 months before you start doing continuous 2-3k", or just "hire a trainer to ge…

> got injured for months every time

What did you injure? What did you do after thinking you were injured?

Re: Get Running with Couch to 5K

#224

Post by igouy »

loeg wrote: post #141
Fargren wrote: post #117

I have a question that this is probably not the best forum for: I don't run, but know plenty of people who do. Everyone is running what I would call marathon-style, by which I mean their goals are measured in how far they can reliably run/ how fast they can do a relatively long distance, 5K being the lower bound. To me, running shorter distances very fast seems just cooler and more exciting, say 500 meters. 100 meter…

Sprints are a fairly popular competitive event. It's part of track and field. 100/200/400 meters are all common sprint disciplines. 800 is sort of a sprint discipline. These competition distances are too short to provide much training benefit and you can't train at race effort 100% of the time. Competitive sprinters do a lot of volume (i.e., miles) at slower paces in addition to a lot of weight training.

> These competition distances are too short to provide much training benefit

?

"A typical Zátopek workout was 5×200, 20×400, 5×200 with 200m jogs in between. Over the years Zátopek increased his training load to include more and more repetitions getting up to 20×200, 40×400, 20×200 with 200 jogs for a workout."

Re: Get Running with Couch to 5K

#225

Post by igouy »

somethingreen wrote: post #152
twawaaay wrote: post #48

Personally, I think aren't many better return on investment activities than spending half an hour every day on a morning jog. You can run more than that but I think half an hour steady state easy run each morning gives you 80% of results. If you love running (I do), knock yourself out. But that half an hour is enough to do wonders to your health over long periods of time with minimum chance for negative consequences.…

> I think a lot of people go hard on it and overdo it and then get injured or stop it for other reasons. Yes, I think C25K and the "just run" sentiment in general is missing half a dozen asterisks about this aspect. Like "except don't run on concrete for the first year", or "except do this progression of exercises for feet and tendons for 3 months before you start doing continuous 2-3k", or just "hire a trainer to ge…

> even jogging in place got me over 130

The cardiac exercise research group in Norway have developed and tested an online maximum heart rate calculator.

https://www.ntnu.edu/cerg/hrmax

Check what that number is for you.

The interval training they recommend would be about 90% of maximum heart rate.

(For example, I'm in my early 60s and I'm supposed to push my heart rate into the range 150—165 bpm.)

Re: Get Running with Couch to 5K

#226

Post by buu700 »

buu700 wrote: post #118
twawaaay wrote: post #48

Personally, I think aren't many better return on investment activities than spending half an hour every day on a morning jog. You can run more than that but I think half an hour steady state easy run each morning gives you 80% of results. If you love running (I do), knock yourself out. But that half an hour is enough to do wonders to your health over long periods of time with minimum chance for negative consequences.…

I've found that simply incorporating a few miles of brisk walking into your routine with a moderately heavy backpack and good posture (no/minimal slouching or leaning forward) is reasonably effective exercise, particularly if it's at all hilly. I think it works out similarly to low-intensity deadlifting and squatting, and becomes much easier if you also lift consistently. As a bonus, it's also fun and relaxing.

I've since learned that there's actually a specific name for this kind of workout: rucking. It's apparently fairly popular with many benefits; people even buy specially designed packs and weights.

Re: Get Running with Couch to 5K

#227

Post by poszlem »

meitham wrote: post #163

I'm 42 and though always been into weight lifting, never ran for more than 30 seconds (usually to catch a train). I started on Couch to 5K on August last year, when I realised I was the one member in my team that didn't sign up for a 5K charity run in September! Running for a whole minute on the first week was extremely challenging and physically painful in the heart. I genuinely worried thinking I was going to have…

Obviously if you have already checked that please disregard my comment, but running SHOULT NOT be "painful in the heart", as that is a symptom of your heart not getting enough oxygen (also called Angina). Please see a doctor before resuming your exercise (especially if you've got COVID in the meantime). It might be nothing, but it might save your life.

Re: Get Running with Couch to 5K

#228

Post by meitham »

poszlem wrote: post #227
meitham wrote: post #163

I'm 42 and though always been into weight lifting, never ran for more than 30 seconds (usually to catch a train). I started on Couch to 5K on August last year, when I realised I was the one member in my team that didn't sign up for a 5K charity run in September! Running for a whole minute on the first week was extremely challenging and physically painful in the heart. I genuinely worried thinking I was going to have…

Obviously if you have already checked that please disregard my comment, but running SHOULT NOT be "painful in the heart", as that is a symptom of your heart not getting enough oxygen (also called Angina). Please see a doctor before resuming your exercise (especially if you've got COVID in the meantime). It might be nothing, but it might save your life.

Thank you, indeed this was Angina, but I have kind of brushed it off and carried on running and it seems to have fixed itself, where the symptoms disappeared. I have few fellow runners who said they all had it, and it usually disappears after crossing a certain theshould in distance. Though you're right, when I read about it online all the warnings tell me not to ignore it.

Re: Get Running with Couch to 5K

#229

Post by somethingreen »

igouy wrote: post #223
somethingreen wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think a lot of people go hard on it and overdo it and then get injured or stop it for other reasons. Yes, I think C25K and the "just run" sentiment in general is missing half a dozen asterisks about this aspect. Like "except don't run on concrete for the first year", or "except do this progression of exercises for feet and tendons for 3 months before you start doing continuous 2-3k", or just "hire a trainer to ge…

> got injured for months every time What did you injure? What did you do after thinking you were injured?

Plantar fasciitis, shin splints and some minor, I assume, tendon inflammation above ankle joint. PF was the worst - icing, stretching, rolling, exercises - nothing helped, only went away after switching from casual/dress shoes to sneakers for daily. Shin splints seemed to have went away in couple weeks with some massage and exercises, but came back after 1-2 runs on multiple attempts. Last injury coincided with me receiving an old elliptical from parents as a gift, so I didn't need to run for cardio anymore.

And now I'm a refugee and my running trails back home were in the zone russians dropped cluster munitions on. So it's not looking good for running going forward, lol.

Re: Get Running with Couch to 5K

#230

Post by somethingreen »

igouy wrote: post #225
somethingreen wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think a lot of people go hard on it and overdo it and then get injured or stop it for other reasons. Yes, I think C25K and the "just run" sentiment in general is missing half a dozen asterisks about this aspect. Like "except don't run on concrete for the first year", or "except do this progression of exercises for feet and tendons for 3 months before you start doing continuous 2-3k", or just "hire a trainer to ge…

> even jogging in place got me over 130 The cardiac exercise research group in Norway have developed and tested an online maximum heart rate calculator. https://www.ntnu.edu/cerg/hrmax Check what that number is for you. The interval training they recommend would be about 90% of maximum heart rate. (For example, I'm in my early 60s and I'm supposed to push my heart rate into the range 150—165 bpm.)

Interval training is different, it's supposed to spike your heart rate for short(er) periods, so that makes sense. When people are talking about running easy or being able to have a conversation, they usually are talking about low to moderate intensity aerobic zone or "zone 2", which goes to 75-80% HRmax depending on who you're asking. Some would even explicitly recommend 120-130 bpm range.
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