trails only for me - hate the pavement/dodging people and there are too many good trails around the metro area not to take advantage of...haven't really been around Raleigh, though

a bit of a drive but maybe try the Occoneechee/Eno River areas if you want to make a trip of it

[Edited on April 12, 2010 at 11:15 PM. Reason : ^^]

4/12/2010 11:14:55 PM

I regularly run a trail at Umstead. Its behind the visitors building off of 70. Its just a little under 3 miles if I remember correctly and has a nice combination of hills and flats. Its where I first started running in my vibrams.

I agree in that off-road stuff feels more motivating. Its like the run engages you and you actually look forward to whats around the bend, as opposed to street runs where I have to zone out.

4/12/2010 11:31:05 PM

been having some minor to moderate knee pain, never hurts while running, just throughout the day and especially while sitting at my desk with bent legs

doc recommended some quad/ham extension exercises

this has to be pretty common - anyone else?

[Edited on April 13, 2010 at 11:32 PM. Reason : a]

4/13/2010 11:32:12 PM

strengthening your legs in general will help it. also, ice.

4/13/2010 11:36:18 PM

Your doc probably knows best, but where/how in your knee does it hurt? There's a lot going on in that joint, could be any number of things.

4/14/2010 12:24:04 AM

It was really just a phone consultation, not a hands-on diagnosis or anything. I'm just going to give the exercises a shot and go in if it continues.

it's a dull constant pain, just below the kneecap and about a half inch inside in the soft depression

4/14/2010 12:36:43 AM

Cheezcurd, I would really have your doc, or a sports medicine specialist, look at your knee. Especially from running or another sport, you could have any number of problems: muscular imbalance, overuse injury, a tear or injury to the various ligaments/tendons around the knee (iliotibial band, patellar tendon, and ACL are common sites for injury), inflexibility that manifests itself around the knee joint. It's worth checking out.

FWIW, I used to have a dull pressure buildup in my right knee, and quad pain, when I ran track in high school and ran recreationally in college. I haven't seen it since I started doing yoga, lifting weights, and cross-training. My GP now thinks it was just caused by hip flexor inflexibility and weak quadriceps.

4/14/2010 1:14:42 AM

cheezcurd, i'm no doctor, but i can safely recommend a supplement that will should help w/o a definite diagnosis.

glucosamine-chondroiton

http://www.drugs.com/mtm/chondroitin-and-glucosamine.html

i took this for about 6 months after a self diagnosing myself with a patella alignment issue. i also got a good knee brace specifically designed to correct my knee placement. prior to my doing something about it, i couldn't run more than a mile and a half w/o limping in pain. now i've discontinued use of the supplement, and haven't been wearing my brace for about a month now. no issues thus far.

if you decide to get some gluc/chon don't go to GNC and buy the expensive shit. go to harris teeter and find the cheapest and biggest bottle you can find; it's all the same. you'll need to take it for a while.

4/14/2010 7:43:05 AM

This is a more "off the beaten path" trail, but I highly recommend jogging the Lake Crabtree permiter. It's about 7-8 miles (I'm guessing). It varies from paved path to hiking/mtb trail, to huge field, to rocky shoulder on the side of the road, to the middle of the forest. It's not an "official" trail, so you have to have some knowledge of where you are in case you get lost.

4/14/2010 8:32:05 AM

^ it's 6 miles. has some unavoidable mudholes at times.

a mile or so of it is right beside roads. personally, i would rather go to umstead.



[Edited on April 14, 2010 at 1:34 PM. Reason : .]

4/14/2010 1:31:56 PM

Oh well, I like it for two reasons:

1. There's almost no one on 75% of it, so you don't have to worry about traffic.

2. The parts through the forest (on the northwestern side of the lake) are gorgeous especially in the spring. You're jogging along wooden plank bridges underneath a forest canopy.

4/14/2010 2:53:44 PM

ran 5 miles... good weather for long distance running (i know 5 miles isn't long distance)

4/15/2010 10:12:43 AM

Got a 5k at 7 pm today. Any suggestions for extra energy? I've got shot blocks and a 5-hour energy, but do you guys have any other suggestions? I'm shooting for a 21-22 minute finish time, but I'm concerned that I'll be tired after a long day at work.

4/15/2010 10:38:39 AM

I always run better at night anyways because I've been eating all day and have energy from those calories. You could probably take a GU 20 minutes beforehand, but otherwise I would just make sure you have a good sized lunch and a snack around 3-4pm.

4/15/2010 10:55:58 AM

is it really a good idea to take stimulants before a run?

4/15/2010 4:48:32 PM

I do crack before each run.

4/15/2010 4:50:57 PM

on the treadmill - 1.5 miles yesterday

4/15/2010 4:52:33 PM

How'd the 5k go?

4/15/2010 9:19:12 PM

Who, me?

4/15/2010 9:26:10 PM

Runners - do you do any stretches on your off days (if you have off days)?

I know you are supposed to do eleventy billion stretches before you run, but what do you really do before you guys run? Do you do any stretching afterwards?

4/15/2010 10:20:59 PM

No, Nothing, and No.

But I know I should.

4/15/2010 10:36:09 PM

^No - I was directing it to lucy since she mentioned she was running a 5k tonight.

4/15/2010 10:48:29 PM

Very slow (24:30 when I was shooting for 22:30), but half the race was on brick streets, which really screwed with me. I had to run a lot slower so I wouldn't fall.

Cool race though. Basically, Orlando has a corporate 5k every year, which pits companies against other companies. And unfortunately both of our teams (male and female teams) lots because we had a couple of seeded runners who didn't show. That's an automatic DQ.

http://www.trackshack.com/events/race_results/corp5k%202010/corpresult10.php

4/16/2010 7:16:31 AM

24:30 is not very slow for anyone, unless you're comparing to the inhuman sub 17 minute people. That's just over an 8 min/mile pace.

4/16/2010 7:40:08 AM

It's slow when you're shooting for 22:30.

4/16/2010 7:46:20 AM

Good point - in that case - you were 40s/mile off pace, just a bad night?

4/16/2010 8:05:12 AM

Yeah, the bricks were rough and I've been sick all week and have been on some strong antibiotics that make me a bit nauseous. I'll have to run another one in the next couple of weeks to redeem myself.

4/16/2010 8:21:43 AM

sans searching this thread, has anyone ran the OBX Half-Marathon before? I'm planning on running it...Nov 14th is the big day!

I'm def not ready for the full marathon, which includes a trip over Bonner, but maybe next year.



[Edited on April 18, 2010 at 10:15 PM. Reason : ]

4/18/2010 10:15:12 PM

Trying again...

Runners - do you do any stretches on your off days (if you have off days)?

I know you are supposed to do eleventy billion stretches before you run, but what do you really do before you guys run? Do you do any stretching afterwards?

4/20/2010 3:22:03 PM

I take Bikram Yoga classes twice a week and I do many of those yoga stretches pre- and post-run.

4/20/2010 3:23:42 PM

I don't do anything.

I'm currently in physical therapy for hamstring and hip issues.

Take that for what you will.

4/20/2010 3:31:38 PM

^^^ I don't do anything. Never have through marathon training, etc. and have never had any major problems.

At one point, I had some IT band issues from overworking (did several long training days in a row) so I did some hamstring/hip flexor/quad stretching and that seemed to help solve the problem.

I do typically ease into runs and I make sure to have a decent cooldown period afterwards so that probably helps as well.

[Edited on April 20, 2010 at 4:16 PM. Reason : d]

4/20/2010 4:16:07 PM

I wouldn't recommend doing "eleventy billion" stretches before a run, and would actually recommend against it. Doing a lot of stretching when your muscles are cold can increase the likelihood of injury, start building up lactic acid levels in your muscles before you've even started exercising. I would recommend jogging a warmup first, *then* doing a bit of stretching if you would like, then doing your main run. I usually run a half-mile or so at a slow pace, then stop for a few minutes to stretch a few muscles.

If you do prefer to stretch before any warmup, I would recommend active isolated stretching that keeps your body mostly in motion while stretching, only pausing for a couple of seconds in each stretch, so that you're also using your stretching time to warm up the muscles a bit.

[Edited on April 20, 2010 at 8:10 PM. Reason : ]

4/20/2010 8:10:04 PM

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1186566919442&ref=mf

I asked a couple of my training partners and they recommended this. It's dynamic stretching like ^he is talking about.

4/21/2010 8:53:11 AM

Ran the loop around Lake Johnson yesterday (2.75 mile one). First time in around 3 years since I ran that far. My body hates me today.

4/21/2010 8:56:56 AM

just got back from my team in training kick off meeting!!!!!

training starts monday. i'm signed up for the VA Beach Rock N Roll 1/2 Marathon in Sept!!!

nervous/scared/excited all at the same time. i will be in this thread a lot more now that i'm actually doing this

5/8/2010 5:32:24 PM

p.s. on my training schedule the weekdays have cross training some days

its like ab work and stuff but can i just swim instead? is that a good form of cross training?

5/8/2010 6:57:27 PM

sure. swimming is great for aerobic fitness. Nothing substitutes for just putting long hard running miles on your legs, though, so don't skimp in the name of cross training.

5/8/2010 8:19:02 PM

oh no i like doing long hard miles in the pool so i just was wondering on the days if i have allotted to cross training if it was acceptable to swim instead of do other stuff. swimming isn't skimping on exercise (well not for me - background in competitive swimming)! and i mean i wouldn't substitute that for running when i'm supposed to be running.

at least the schedule starts out easy for running - only 2-3 miles a day. i can handle that (i mean its physically possible hahaha it might kill me though)

[Edited on May 8, 2010 at 8:55 PM. Reason : .]

5/8/2010 8:55:15 PM

anyone know of any good 10K's to do? Trying to stay in half marathon training shape, and could use some extra incentive to keep it up.

also, shooting for a marathon for early next year, along with hopefully two halfs before then. anyone have anything they really like? did the city of oak's half last year (cold and miserable) and the tobacco road half this year (fantastic). both are options for the full.

5/10/2010 3:52:34 PM

hi runners! i finally have my team in training site up and running. if you are interested in reading about why i'm running for the leukemia and lymphoma society or want to donate (even $1) i'd greatly appreciate it

http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/rnrh10/kcadwallad

5/11/2010 1:41:36 AM

going to a shoe clinic tomorrow night! excited. gonna get some decent shoes (hopefully)

how much did you guys shell out for your running shoes? did you do all the gait testing type stuff?

i obviously want decent shoes but i don't want to spend over $100 really - can i get some for $100 or under? i know i sound like an idiot but i'm new to running.

5/18/2010 4:27:11 PM

Quote :

"going to a shoe clinic tomorrow night! excited. gonna get some decent shoes (hopefully)"

Where at?

Quote :

"how much did you guys shell out for your running shoes?"

$145

Quote :

"did you do all the gait testing type stuff?"

Yes

Quote :

"i obviously want decent shoes but i don't want to spend over $100 really - can i get some for $100 or under? i know i sound like an idiot but i'm new to running"

Yes

5/18/2010 4:29:19 PM

FYI, for anyone who cares, at the beginning of this thread:

Quote :

"Oh, and I weighed 195lbs on Sunday and I am 5'10"."

That was August 5th, 2007.

Today I weigh 167lbs.

5/18/2010 4:38:09 PM

Unless you have some unique shoe needs or have alot of money, I would try to spend less than 90 bucks. Alot of times, you can find last year's model of the same shoe online for much cheaper. For example, I wear the New Balance 1064 which retails for $130. I found a pair of 1063s (same shoe, last year's model) online for $80.

"They" say that a shoe loses 80 percent of it's cushion after 150 miles. That means if you are doing a 12 week training plan, at 25-30 miles per week, you will likely need at least two pairs of shoes on the safe side.

That said, I usually put around 300 miles on my shoes before I replace them and I haven't had any injury problems.

5/18/2010 4:42:22 PM

These are my current shoes:

http://store.nike.com/index.jsp?sitesrc=uslp&country=US&lang_locale=en_US#l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-1/pid-284342/pgid-241216

But I'm looking at getting these:

http://store.nike.com/index.jsp?sitesrc=uslp&country=US&lang_locale=en_US#l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-1/pid-300607/pgid-300606

5/18/2010 4:46:19 PM

Or get a pair of Vibram FiveFingers and don't worry about them losing cushion ever, since they aren't supposed to have any to begin with!

5/18/2010 5:49:22 PM

thanks for the info.

i'm doing the shoe clinic @ http://www.4runnersonly.com/ in winston-salem. w/ all the gait testing and they're gonna have a dr. from wake come look at our feet and stuff.

so after i do that and try on some shoes unless there's a really good deal i should look up the same kind (maybe last year's model) online and prob get a better price? i guess i'll start out with one pair and see how i am mid summer with them.

i'm excited cause right now i'm running w/ really old newbalances that aren't even technically running shoes i don't think and they're from high school so...really old probably have 0 cushion left.

on a side note if i'm running in arguably shitty (just cause they're old) shoes now and my shins hurt when i run on pavement new shoes could potentially help (at least somewhat) that problem right?

[Edited on May 18, 2010 at 5:58 PM. Reason : .]

5/18/2010 5:55:48 PM

Quote :

"so after i do that and try on some shoes unless there's a really good deal i should look up the same kind (maybe last year's model) online and prob get a better price?"

Just buy new. There are plenty of good models by Saucony, Mizuno, Asics, Nike, etc. in the $50-80 range for a novice runner. I'm too lazy to search high and low for a "last years" model. And plus the run expert is going to recommend a specific shoe. A "last years" model may be very different.

Quote :

"on a side note if i'm running in arguably shitty (just cause they're old) shoes now and my shins hurt when i run on pavement new shoes could potentially help (at least somewhat) that problem right?"

Perhaps. I would mention this to the run expert. They may be able to recommend a specific shoe to suit your needs.

5/18/2010 6:20:58 PM

Quote :

"on a side note if i'm running in arguably shitty (just cause they're old) shoes now and my shins hurt when i run on pavement new shoes could potentially help (at least somewhat) that problem right?"

Proper running shoes made a dramatic difference for my knees and shins.

5/18/2010 6:24:54 PM