Share your running tips here...

MouseMan01

So the gyms are shut. If you are anything like me. You've probably doubled down on the running and you might have combined that with a home workout.

Thought I'd share some running tips that I've accrued over the past 18 months of roadwork. And 20 years on/off non-competitive running before that.

1. Go for asics running shoes. They cost more but save you money in the end. Plus they are made with runners in mind. Tried other brands, unsuccessfully.

2. Run early in the morning. Gives you an energy boost for the rest of the day.

3. Forget protein bars and sugar based performance enhancers. I drink a strong hot coffee about 45 mins before my run. I drink one cup of coffee 4 mornings a week before my run. Apart from that I abstain from caffeine or drink decaf. Saves me building up a tolerance.

4. Buy a pair of aerospex bone conduction headphones. They cost 155€ but when you are going through headphones at the rate of a pair every two weeks. The savings add up. I wear mine in the shower. Don't overuse though. Or the battery will wear down.

5. Static stretching combined with some anaerobic sprint warm ups works best for me. Tried dynamic stretching on expert advice. Led to pre-injury niggles.

6. Get a fitness tracker. I have a fitbit. Measures everything. That which gets measured gets done.

Would you agree? I'd love to hear your own running tips...

ThewhiteJesus

Brooks for me

MouseMan01

OmegaGene wrote: »

while i agree asics are good ive now moved over to Brooks trail trainers they are great for road running and obviously trail, ive racked up close to 1k km in them with very little wear showing

1000 mile socks are handy also

i tried fitbit for a couple of years but moved to garmin and i find it brilliant

Thanks OmegaGene.

The only issue I have with my fitbit inspire hr. Is that I can't seem to find a proper 'north star' metric.

Used to monitor bpm avg on my runs. Someone pointed out on here that your resting bpm will vary and ultimately determine your running avg bpm.

I run an 8 mile route most mornings. So distance is no good.

Pace seems to have a wide margin of error.

Which just leaves time. I do 80/20 running. Comfortably hard, mixed with high tempo work. So times are variable.

Does anyone else have this issue?

Patsy167

4. Buy a pair of aerospex bone conduction headphones. They cost 155€ but when you are going through headphones at the rate of a pair every two weeks. The savings add up. I wear mine in the shower. Don't overuse though. Or the battery will wear down.

Best advice I ever received on earphones was to buy a decent pair from Argos and take out the product cover offered. Earphones for life but not sure what the morals are on this.

david992

Good advice, it seems simple, but often it is the basics we forget. But here I cannot run in the morning, as I start to work very early, I think it is individual. The fitness tracker is a great thing.

silverharp

when I started running last year I found doing sprints was twanging my hamstring, when the gyms opened I started targeting glutes, lots of weighted hip thrusts, no problems since.

this year's problem is upper Achilles tendon , more a jogging issue than sprinting. would weighted calf raises help? any other ideas?

MouseMan01

david992 wrote: »

Good advice, it seems simple, but often it is the basics we forget. But here I cannot run in the morning, as I start to work very early, I think it is individual. The fitness tracker is a great thing.

I'm in bed by around 7.30PM and up for a run by 3AM.

I avoid all the traffic and am lit up like a christmas tree.

It's what works for me.

I start work at 7AM on Saturday and Sunday.

Not sure how this will work out if we ever come out of lockdown.

MouseMan01

Patsy167 wrote: »

4. Buy a pair of aerospex bone conduction headphones. They cost 155€ but when you are going through headphones at the rate of a pair every two weeks. The savings add up. I wear mine in the shower. Don't overuse though. Or the battery will wear down.

Best advice I ever received on earphones was to buy a decent pair from Argos and take out the product cover offered. Earphones for life but not sure what the morals are on this.

Bought a pair of "waterproof running headphones" from a leading British pharmacy chain for 35€.

They broke the first time I got sweat on them. Decided to stump up the cash for a pair of aerospex. Haven't looked back since.

MouseMan01

silverharp wrote: »

when I started running last year I found doing sprints was twanging my hamstring, when the gyms opened I started targeting glutes, lots of weighted hip thrusts, no problems since.

this year's problem is upper Achilles tendon , more a jogging issue than sprinting. would weighted calf raises help? any other ideas?

You should probably talk to a PT or physiotherapist. Could be a pronation issue perhaps?

Many of my local sports shops have treadmill and running "advisors" that can examine your pronation.

I'm signed up for one of these examinations since September in lifestyle sports. Not happening since COVID unfortunately.

What's the general opinion of these pronation critiques? Has any runner out there done one? Were they useful at all?

razorblunt

MouseMan01 wrote: »

You should probably talk to a PT or physiotherapist. Could be a pronation issue perhaps?

Many of my local sports shops have treadmill and running "advisors" that can examine your pronation.

I'm signed up for one of these examinations since September in lifestyle sports. Not happening since COVID unfortunately.

What's the general opinion of these pronation critiques? Has any runner out there done one? Were they useful at all?

I'm by no means an avid runner but when I kicked off training for my half marathon a few years back I went and got fitted for correct shoes.
On that alone I'd definitely recommend it. Also means once you have them you can setup google alerts and buy them when they get reduced too.

Now that I'm trying to get back into it again, I'm off to find the same ones again.

MouseMan01

razorblunt wrote: »

I'm by no means an avid runner but when I kicked off training for my half marathon a few years back I went and got fitted for correct shoes.
On that alone I'd definitely recommend it. Also means once you have them you can setup google alerts and buy them when they get reduced too.

Now that I'm trying to get back into it again, I'm off to find the same ones again.

I do a bit of online tool creation and I'm always on the lookout for online tool examples.

Came across this running shoe selection tool a few months back. Seems like a great tool me.

I'd love to get the general opinion?

https://www.brooksrunning.com/en_us/ShoeFinder

Mardyke

Asics are good running shoes, but there are also now Brooks, HOKA and of course NIKE. The best advise is to go to a specialist sports shop and speak to someone who knows what they're talking about.

I would suggest a Garmin watch for tracking. I've the Vivoactive.

Use Strava for peer pressure!

Andrewf20

I found the Asics Kayanos very heavy a few years back. At 340g they sapped my energy. I use the asics piranha sp3, brooks T6s for regular running & Innovate X talon 212s for the trails - they are all great runners I find but I dont be doing big distances.

Tip: I usually go quite easy on the first km (I do up to 10km). You will find you naturally speed up after this and settle at a cruising pace. Pushing the pace even 400-500m into a run usually leads to more fatigue later on.

I also try lean forward while running, almost like you are falling forward and focus on using your calf muscles to kick you legs up & back (i.e tense them when pushing off the ground).

The gains are small but still noticeable.

MouseMan01

Pushing the pace even 400-500m into a run usually leads to more fatigue later on

Agreed. Apparently it's a lactic acid issue. It builds up in the muscles and is hard to dissipate

MouseMan01

Mardyke wrote: »

Use Strava for peer pressure!

Thanks. I'll check it out.

Tried to find a fitbit community workout buddy. Preferably from cork city. Failed.

Alf Veedersane

MouseMan01 wrote: »

Agreed. Apparently it's a lactic acid issue. It builds up in the muscles and is hard to dissipate

Kinda. When your body uses glucose for energy, it produces lactic acid which breaks down into lactate and hydrogen ions. But they're recycled (lactate clearance) and used as fuel...until there is too much being produced cos you're going too hard and can't recycle it all. The hydrogen ions change the pH in the muscles to being more acidic which is that feeling we all know.

Thats why people use a kind of tempo run in or around that lactate clearance threshold to train the body at being more efficient at clearing the lactate and pushing back that build up of hydrogen ions

Mellor

MouseMan01 wrote: »

Agreed. Apparently it's a lactic acid issue. It builds up in the muscles and is hard to dissipate

It builds up in the muscles. As Alf outlined.
But it’s not caused by starting straight into cruising pace. There’s no need to do 1km slow, and it won’t prevent lactic acid building up.