Random Running Questions

T runner

Ososlo wrote: »

Are runners more obsessed about their sport than people you know who participate in other sports? Personally I think they are. Maybe golfers come close? But do they have to do it every day like most runners do? Around these parts anyhow!

I guess in some cases (not all) runners can act addictively/obsessively because of the release of endorphins, the feel good factor etc with distance running. The more they need that drug-the more obsessive the behaviour can be.

AuldManKing

Billy Mills wrote: »

Running tends to attract complete mentalers/ freaks/ ocd heads/ misfits/ socially awkward weirdoes ect etc. .

How is Dr Q anyway??

statss

Ososlo wrote: »

Ha ha I think you might have a point there Billy! most I've met would fit into one of said categories;)
If the average man thinks about sex 19 times a day, then how many times a day does the average boards runner think about running? 100s I'd imagine!

has to be a typo - surely an hour???

ecoli

statss wrote: »

has to be a typo - surely an hour???

Ososlo wrote: »

Ha ha I think you might have a point there Billy! most I've met would fit into one of said categories;)
If the average man admits to thinking about sex 19 times a day, then how many times a day does the average boards runner think about running? 100s I'd imagine!

FYP

rom

Ososlo wrote: »

Are runners more obsessed about their sport than people you know who participate in other sports? Personally I think they are. Maybe golfers come close? But do they have to do it every day like most runners do? Around these parts anyhow!

People who compete at individual sport are more obsessed than people in team sports I would think. You can't be carried if you have a bad day. Any sport where people train months for an event like boxing, muay thai etc rather than the weekly match/game is going to make anyone more obsessed.

cianc

Billy Mills wrote: »

Running tends to attract complete mentalers/ freaks/ ocd heads/ misfits/ socially awkward weirdoes ect etc. This forum would be an excellent example of that phenomenon.

Stop it, you're making me blush.

rainbow kirby

Ososlo wrote: »

Are runners more obsessed about their sport than people you know who participate in other sports? Personally I think they are. Maybe golfers come close? But do they have to do it every day like most runners do? Around these parts anyhow!

Triathletes are worse, particularly due to the number of type A personalities with a huge M-dot hardon.

HelenAnne

I have a question about training paces – and I’m just wondering, I’m not querying the wisdom of Hal Higdon etc: if you’re training for a marathon, on the boards plan or the Hal Higdon plan, it seems like the fastest pace you’re ever advised to train is your planned marathon pace. But just say a marathon is just one event in your year, and you’ll be racing 2 miles / 10k / half marathon etc as well, surely you have to run some runs faster than marathon pace?
What would feel like an easy pace for me for 6-8 miles wouldn’t be my easy pace for 18 miles, so it seems natural to run at different paces depending on the distance you plan to cover, but this doesn’t seem to be advised by beginner marathon plans. Or am I misunderstanding?
(This is actually just a general query that I’ve been wondering about for a while, I’m not doing a marathon this year, but when I do sign up for another I’ll be using a fairly beginner-y plan).

HelenAnne

Ososlo wrote: »

I'm 8 stone 9 pounds. If I lost 10 pounds to a stone would it help my 5k time? All the elite runners both male and female are skin and bone. Does it only make a significant difference if you're at the top the field and chasing seconds off your time as opposed to minutes? 5 foot 6. I do eat a fair bit but it's 80% healthy but I guess I could cut out a handful of seeds here and there

I'd be similar-ish in size, and I've wondered about this too. I always think I probably would be faster if I was lighter. If lighter shoes make a difference, surely less body fat to carry does too? But I think we're both probably a healthy weight, and like you I'd really have to watch what I ate to lose a good bit of weight, which I don't enjoy doing.

I could cut down on biscuits though .

ETA Racing Weight suggests a racing weight of 114lb for me (5'4") which is a few pounds lighter than I am. Maybe that should be my aim ...

walshb

I think a few posts relate to weight. There is no perfect weight really. One could get to a really low weight in a belief that this will help them, but there is a chance that in getting to the weight that they lose strength and muscle, which could prove weakening and detrimental. For a female of average size I would think an ideal weight would be 115-120 lbs. For a male of average size I would think 135-145 lbs would be ideal for 5 k.

menoscemo

HelenAnne wrote: »

I have a question about training paces – and I’m just wondering, I’m not querying the wisdom of Hal Higdon etc: if you’re training for a marathon, on the boards plan or the Hal Higdon plan, it seems like the fastest pace you’re ever advised to train is your planned marathon pace. But just say a marathon is just one event in your year, and you’ll be racing 2 miles / 10k / half marathon etc as well, surely you have to run some runs faster than marathon pace?
What would feel like an easy pace for me for 6-8 miles wouldn’t be my easy pace for 18 miles, so it seems natural to run at different paces depending on the distance you plan to cover, but this doesn’t seem to be advised by beginner marathon plans. Or am I misunderstanding?
(This is actually just a general query that I’ve been wondering about for a while, I’m not doing a marathon this year, but when I do sign up for another I’ll be using a fairly beginner-y plan).

I think the boards and HH plans and paces are appropriate for novice runners.

I don't think you are a novice runner however and you should probably be doing a plan that includes a few more challenging sessions.

dna_leri

HelenAnne wrote: »

I'd be similar-ish in size, and I've wondered about this too. I always think I probably would be faster if I was lighter. If lighter shoes make a difference, surely less body fat to carry does too? But I think we're both probably a healthy weight, and like you I'd really have to watch what I ate to lose a good bit of weight, which I don't enjoy doing.

I could cut down on biscuits though .

ETA Racing Weight suggests a racing weight of 114lb for me (5'4") which is a few pounds lighter than I am. Maybe that should be my aim ...

According to this.

The difference between 121 lbs and 114 lbs is 1 min for a 20min 5K runner.
I have not looked at it in a while but this calculator was accurate for me when I was losing weight.

Important note: this calculation is based on the (unrealistic) assumption that the change in weight is not accompanied by any other change. In reality, losing weight may take you to below your healthy weight, in which case it will not result in an improvement in performance, and may result in illness.

HelenAnne

menoscemo wrote: »

I think the boards and HH plans and paces are appropriate for novice runners.

I don't think you are a novice runner however and you should probably be doing a plan that includes a few more challenging sessions.

Thanks! i'll definitely bear that in mind if I do another. But that's not really my question -- I suppose my question is this:

If you're training for a marathon, and plan only to run marathons, I suppose 'race pace' is your marathon pace, and that's the pace you have to consider.

If you're more like most recreational runners and plan to race a variety of distances, year round, do you only consider your 'PMP' when you're doing long slow runs, and for the rest of your easy runs (not your challenging sessions) just run at what's comfortable for 6 miles, or 8 miles, or 20 miles, varying the 'easy' pace based on the length of the run? Or is there an 'easy' pace for everyone that they should do regardless of the length of the run?

As I said, I'm just wondering, not looking for personal training advice.

(And I am definitely a marathon novice, even if I'm more confident over other distances -- I ran my one and only one way slower than loads of other boards novices last year )

Ososlo

dna_leri wrote: »

According to this.

The difference between 121 lbs and 114 lbs is 1 min for a 20min 5K runner.
I have not looked at it in a while but this calculator was accurate for me when I was losing weight.

That's me convinced! I can take 42 seconds off my time if I lose only 4 lbs! Cool
Diet starts here!

menoscemo

I don't know about others but my easy 6 mile pace (the pace I run at without thinking or looking at a watch) is pretty much the same as my easy 20 mile pace.

dna_leri

HelenAnne wrote: »

Thanks! i'll definitely bear that in mind if I do another. But that's not really my question -- I suppose my question is this:

If you're training for a marathon, and plan only to run marathons, I suppose 'race pace' is your marathon pace, and that's the pace you have to consider.

If you're more like most recreational runners and plan to race a variety of distances, year round, do you only consider your 'PMP' when you're doing long slow runs, and for the rest of your easy runs (not your challenging sessions) just run at what's comfortable for 6 miles, or 8 miles, or 20 miles, varying the 'easy' pace based on the length of the run? Or is there an 'easy' pace for everyone that they should do regardless of the length of the run?

As I said, I'm just wondering, not looking for personal training advice.

(And I am definitely a marathon novice, even if I'm more confident over other distances -- I ran my one and only one way slower than loads of other boards novices last year )

The easy pace for everyone (regardless of level or distance) is a relaxed effort where breathing is controlled and you can carry on a conversation. So leave the GPS at home and go for an easy run with your friends and put the world to right. If you have no friends, just talk to yourself.

HelenAnne

dna_leri wrote: »

According to this.

The difference between 121 lbs and 114 lbs is 1 min for a 20min 5K runner.
I have not looked at it in a while but this calculator was accurate for me when I was losing weight.

Yes, that sounds similar to the tables in Racing Weight. If I lost my 3 extra pounds it says I could be doing 20.30 for 5k. Hurray!

I'm just back from a week's holiday with pizzas and delicious tea shop buns, so maybe it's time to step away from the biscuit tin and reap the pace rewards!

(On a serious note, I know losing too much weight can result in injury / weakness etc etc. I'm just talking about cutting back on post-parkrun scones and biscuits at work etc, not starving myself.)

HelenAnne

dna_leri wrote: »

The easy pace for everyone (regardless of level or distance) is a relaxed effort where breathing is controlled and you can carry on a conversation. So leave the GPS at home and go for an easy run with your friends and put the world to right. If you have no friends, just talk to yourself.

Thanks! (That's actually what I do -- I only got my first ever GPS last month, so I suppose that's why I've got a bit more aware of pace. Before I only knew my pace if someone else was looking at their watch, or once I got a race result, so I always just did the talk test if I thought I was going too fast.)

Ososlo

menoscemo wrote: »

I don't know about others but my easy 6 mile pace (the pace I run at without thinking or looking at a watch) is pretty much the same as my easy 20 mile pace.

Yes easy is the same pace regardless of distance. Easy is easy. But some days easy is slower or faster than others depending on tiredness etc.

HelenAnne

Ososlo wrote: »

Yes easy is the same pace regardless of distance. Easy is easy. But some days easy is slower or faster than others depending on tiredness etc.

Easy is easy, I agree, but I think at the moment because I'm not really doing long runs, what feels easy at 8 miles wouldn't still feel easy at 16. When I did my 17 recently, I had to purposely slow down to what felt slower than easy in the first half (though the pace I slowed down from did feel easy, and I was chatting away etc) to make sure I had enough energy to finish.

But I'd say that's just because I don't have much endurance at the moment (after I came back from my winter / spring injury I just did a 10k plan where my longest run was 13 miles, so I've mainly been doing 12-13s as my LSRs lately).

DOCO12

dna_leri wrote: »

According to this.

The difference between 121 lbs and 114 lbs is 1 min for a 20min 5K runner.
I have not looked at it in a while but this calculator was accurate for me when I was losing weight.

I badly need to lose some weight be worth it for the gains in time .

As regards my easy pace, its the same for all distances. I always ignore time on these runs just go by feel and have the odd glance at hr.

Ososlo

Do Irish athletics clubs ever hold track steeple chases? Sorry don't have a clue about these things but just wondered!

ecoli

Ososlo wrote: »

Do Irish athletics clubs ever hold track steeple chases? Sorry don't have a clue about these things but just wondered!

National Leagues, Nationals Seniors, every other year in Leinsters and used to have one in the gradeds, IMC have started to try put on one or two this year IIRC

dna_leri

ecoli wrote: »

National Leagues, Nationals Seniors, every other year in Leinsters and used to have one in the gradeds, IMC have started to try put on one or two this year IIRC

But only 4 women entered in the Nationals Seniors.

Ososlo

Sorry, I'm full of questions tonight:o

This is a genuine question from an ignorant person on these matters so I'm not having underhand digs at anything/one.

Ok, so Athletics Clubs. Do some of them not have any track? A lot of other clubs seem to visit my local track weekly, so do they not have their own? If they don't have their own, how do they coach their athletes in interval sessions say? I don't understand. Where do they train? In a field? On the road? How accurately can the coach keep track of timing etc?

ecoli

Ososlo wrote: »

Sorry, I'm full of questions tonight:o

This is a genuine question from an ignorant person on these matters so I'm not having underhand digs at anything/one.

Ok, so Athletics Clubs. Do some of them not have any track? A lot of other clubs seem to visit my local track weekly, so do they not have their own? If they don't have their own, how do they coach their athletes in interval sessions say? I don't understand. Where do they train? In a field? On the road? How accurately can the coach keep track of timing etc?

Very few have there own tracks to be honest.

Clonliffe to my knowledge has roughly 6 clubs to the best of my knowledge that rent out the track for designated club sessions, outside of this you have some athlete as part of certain groups who rent time.

Some travel to local tracks, others use football pitches, polo grounds, mark out a distance on roads depending on where in the country they are.

Don't always need to as the times will be comparable through experience of using a certain field, road etc

yaboya1

Ososlo wrote: »

Sorry, I'm full of questions tonight:o

This is a genuine question from an ignorant person on these matters so I'm not having underhand digs at anything/one.

Ok, so Athletics Clubs. Do some of them not have any track? A lot of other clubs seem to visit my local track weekly, so do they not have their own? If they don't have their own, how do they coach their athletes in interval sessions say? I don't understand. Where do they train? In a field? On the road? How accurately can the coach keep track of timing etc?

You should know. They keep running you off the paths in the local parks

Ososlo

yaboya1 wrote: »

You should know. They keep running you off the paths in the local parks

Yeah I always wonder why they spend so much time in my local park when there's a lovely track there for them just over the hedge!

Mantis Toboggan

Any recommendations for GPS watches?

AuldManKing

Ososlo wrote: »

Sorry, I'm full of questions tonight:o

This is a genuine question from an ignorant person on these matters so I'm not having underhand digs at anything/one.

Ok, so Athletics Clubs. Do some of them not have any track? A lot of other clubs seem to visit my local track weekly, so do they not have their own? If they don't have their own, how do they coach their athletes in interval sessions say? I don't understand. Where do they train? In a field? On the road? How accurately can the coach keep track of timing etc?

MSB share Santry with Raheny on Wednesdays, we use the polo grounds on Saturday or some other trail that we've marked out and measured.