Thread: Beginner Chronicles

I've decided to start a running thread on my own progress as a beginning runner. It might inspire someone, either to start running, or to jump in and give me some advice or encouragement.

I began running in early April after my wife and I joined a "Learn To Run" clinic at The Running Room (http://www.runningroom.com), a chain of running stores here in Canada. We started out by running one minute and walking for two minutes.

After five weeks, we're running five minutes and walking one minute. Tonight is our Week Six class. I'll update when I get back.

Our goal race is the Nissan Challenge 5k (http://www.toronto.ca/challenge) on June 8th. We're also registered to run the Pride and Remembrance 5k (http://www.priderun.org) on June 28.

My personal goal is to finish the 5k in under 30 minutes. For the record, I'm a 38 year old man, pretty close to ideal weight (maybe +10 pounds) who hasn't really followed a formal exercise program for many years.

I've been encouraged by my progress so far, and hope to keep tabs on my progress here. Ideas, suggestions, encouragement, all welcome!

Well, tonight our course was supposedly 3.5k but since it felt longer, I measured it on a map when I got home, and it was actually 3.9k. We were mostly doing 5 and 1s (5 minutes running, 1 minute brisk walking) but we started with a minute of walking. I felt I could have gone a little faster, but I finished the route with the pace leader in 21:57. That's a pace of 5:37 per kilometre, which would allow me to finish a 5k in 28:33, well below my goal of 30:00.

I'm running for only the third time in my new shoes, Asics Gel-1080s. I'd been running in some Nike Air cross-trainers before that, and though I like the new shoes, it's taking some time to get used to them. I'm having aches and pains in different places now!:)

Tonight, my wife challenged me to do her 5.2k route with her. Usually her pace is slower, so I slowed down to make sure I could finish. I pretty much kept to 6 minutes running/1 minute walking, and we finished together in 33:15. I felt like I had a lot left in the tank, which is a confidence-booster, since I hadn't run this distance before. I'm looking forward to doing it again and working on my time now. Our race is less than four weeks away!

My wife's away this weekend, so it was difficult to motivate myself to get up and run alone this morning, but I managed. My right knee and hip have been really sore the past few days, but I didn't want to miss a run, so off I went.

The pain subsided while I was running, but it's back with a vengeance now! I did my shorter 3.4k route, but started out too fast. I was supposed to be doing 6 and 1s, but did more like 6/1/5/1/2(hill)/1/3.

I still finished in 19:17, which is 5:40 pace, which would put me at 29:01 for the 5k. But if I felt like I did this morning, I don't know whether I could have finished 5k!

As always, your response, encouragement, advice is welcome!

Hi, James...it's Eric from Texas. I took your advice and registered here; I'm not sure yet what my involvement will be...I'm still checking things out.

Anyway, I wanted to respond to your last couple of log entries...with a word of free advice: don't overdo it! I can tell you from personal experience that getting injured when you're first getting started can be something that will affect the rest of your running life, if you're not careful.

Don't underestimate the value of rest...not just in recovering from injury, but in getting better...stronger...faster in your regular training. And unless an Olympic medal is on the line, don't run through pain! Doing so is shortsighted at best (which is a diplomatic euphemism for "stupid").

Of course, you're going to feel fatigued and uncomfortable during some workouts, and running through those times is how you get stronger. But pain is a different matter...and you'll only get worse.

Well, that's my advice...worth what you paid for it, probably. But I wished I'd had someone to give me that same advice when I started running 20 years ago. (Not that I probably would have listened, but that's another issue!)

Good luck!

Eric
http://www.ericsiegmund.com/fireant/

Thanks, Eric. I took your advice to heart and gave myself a few extra days to recover. My knee still sort of ached afterward but didn't hurt at all while running.

I had a really good run today. According to our clinic homework, we're up to running 8 minutes, walking for 1. I did two sets and then ran for 3 more minutes, finishing my 3.6k course in 21:06.

I felt so much better today, for a variety of reasons. I slowed my pace down knowing I'd have to run for longer stretches. I avoided the route with a hill I ran last time; no matter how small it looks, it's a huge extra effort. And I ate a banana and drank lots of water before I went out.

I was running on my own again today. I'm looking forward to running with my wife again, since she usually covers at least 5k but she takes her time. I want the confidence that comes from knowing for sure that I can finish the race distance, no matter what my pace.

The bad news is that my knee and hip are still sore and after doing some research, I'm pretty sure I'm suffering from Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS). I really don't want to stop running, but this looks like it's a chronic problem.

The good news is that I've found quite a bit of information online about the problem and possible solutions. If you've experienced pain on the side of your knee, sometimes extending up to your hip, along with a tightness in the front of your thigh, you could be suffering from the same thing.

Here are some good resources:

http://www.itbs.info/

http://www.csuchico.edu/phed/atc/Pro...and/ITBFS.html

http://www.fabrifoam.com/p-pattstrap.html

For now, I'm going to keep running, but I'll probably need to rest a day or two between runs, and not increase my distance for a while. Icing my knee afterwards is also recommended.

jmcnally,

For me it took about 6 weeks of running 3-4 times a week to have the general pain subside. Your pains may be your body adapting to your new workout...you usually see chronic problems after more time - but see a doctor if there is any question.

You might also look into talking to a sports therapist about orthodics or looking at your knee tracking. Having one knee turn in while running can cause problems up your hip and back.

Have you been religious with your icing and asprin? They can go a long way it helping the pain. I ice after every long run.

- R

Thanks for the advice, Robert. This is not generalized muscle pain but very specific and localized. I haven't had to ice my knee and take aspirin/ibuprofen up to this point, but I think to continue to run I will have to, which is a shame, really.

I've been keeping track of my training online and if anyone is interested, you can take a peek at:

http://www.coolrunning.com/cgi-bin/l...lly;s=jmcnally

I ran my same 3.6k route this morning, and as always, as the run wore on, the pain seemed to disappear, only to reappear when I finished. I slowed my pace down a fair bit at the beginning, since I was running with my wife, but after my first walk break (after 8:00), I picked up my pace and lost her.

So, I still managed to finish in 22:58. Not my best pace, but nice to know I had lots of energy left at the end. I still want to break 30:00 for the 5k.

Afterwards, I iced the knee with a bag of frozen corn for about 10 minutes, and took 2 ibuprofen. That's really helped as I feel I could almost go out tomorrow (but I won't!).

Tonight was week 8 at my Learn To Run clinic. I ran 4.2k with the fastest group and we all set a comfortable pace, finishing in 23:37. I actually picked up the pace for the last 500m or so. Continuing at this pace would put me at 28:24 for the 5k, which I'd be very happy with. We were doing 9 minutes running, 1 minute walking.

Still icing the knee and taking ibuprofen afterward. Funny enough, the presentation tonight was on injuries. Someone else mentioned ITBS and mentioned it's a very stubborn thing to treat. The speaker was a sports therapist who practices Active Release techniques. Anyone have an opinion on this? Is this medically recognized? I find some "sports medicine" dubious.

So I'm pressing on, hoping to run 5k at least twice more before the actual race, which is now less than two weeks away!

I've been out of town for a couple of days and also resting my sore knee, so I haven't run again, but will tomorrow. I just wanted to note that I received the heart rate monitor I ordered today! It's an ECG5 from Sports Instruments and I'm looking forward to using it to get more out of my runs.

If anyone has used a HRM before, I'd appreciate your feedback...

Friday night's run was different. I decided to let my wife pace us. I followed her but kept about 5-10 seconds behind her so I wouldn't unconsciously influence her to quicken her pace.

It was good to keep it slow, but even so, my heart rate raced up to 173bpm, which is over 90% of my maximum heart rate. My average over the course of the 4.35k run (which took me a leisurely 29:09) was 155bpm, which is about 82%, which is strange, since I was keeping my pace purposely slower.

The knee (and sometimes hip) continues to be painful, and now I'm wondering how many times I should even run in the next week, since my 5k race is next Sunday. I definitely felt like it was affecting my pace tonight (ie. even if I wanted to run faster, I'm not sure I would have been able), and I really want to be in top form for the race. What should I do?

Tonight was week 9 of my running class. We're up to running 10 minutes followed by a one minute walking break. I wore my heart-rate monitor on our run, which was 4.65k.

After starting out too fast, I began to tire in the middle third, but I finished strongly, running quite fast for the final 500 metres. I wanted to see how high my heart rate would go. Even though I wouldn't say I ran full-out to exhaustion, my heart rate maxed out at 183, which according to some of the formulas should be my maximum. I suspect my true maximum is closer to 190.

A respectable time of 26:13, and an average heart rate of 165bpm.

Some knee/hip pain, but again, not really during the run. After a few days rest, it didn't seem as severe. I'm hoping that I'm slowly healing, even while continuing to run.

I'll probably run on Wednesday, and then rest until the race on Sunday. My pace for the past few classes (where I actually run with a group of people) has hovered around 5:37/k, so I should be able to break 30 minutes. That's my goal.

Our goal race, the Nissan Challenge 5K, was yesterday morning. My wife and I began running 10 weeks ago and this was our first race.

Since I was still having ITBS pain in my right knee and hip, and wanting to be "fresh" for the race, I hadn't run since last Monday night. In addition, we went up to a friend's cottage in the Muskokas from Friday until Saturday night. Needless to say, neither of us were really at our best this morning, but we were excited nonetheless.

The crowd was bunched up at the beginning, but within about 500 metres, we had staked out our own turf. I was really feeling the layoff, though. My right knee was as sore as ever, but now my left thigh felt tight, maybe from compensating. The first 2K were really rough, and my time was slower than usual. I was worried I wasn't going to meet my goal of finishing under 30:00. I ran with my wife for most of the race, and stopped two or three times for quick (ie. 30 second) walk breaks, mostly trying to loosen up my left leg. Since my wife's goal was sub-30:00 without walk breaks, I had to speed up to catch her after these breaks.

After the 4K marker, I began to pick up my pace, and it felt good to be passing people. I came in sight of the finish line about 28:30 and began to really try to leg it out to the finish (though I doubt I was moving much faster). My official finish time was 29:03, which, while slightly disappointing, did indeed fulfill my goal. My wife also met her goal, finishing in 29:28, and we soaked up the post-race atmosphere, along with bagels, muffins, orange juice, apples, and frappuccino. We stuck around to watch the awards ceremony and were really inspired by all the winners.

Our next race is 3 weekends from now, on June 28. It's the Pride and Remembrance 5K (http://www.priderun.org) and of course we're hoping to shave a minute or two off our times. Overall, a great first race experience, with a few lessons learned about preparation :)