I don't train, I just run

GeneveSparkles

Last Friday I hit a milestone, rather a 9-milerstone I'm not training for an event, and really have no desire to run races, I run simply because after years of hating it, I'm actually kinda falling in love with it. I've started asking myself, how far is far enough?

For the past few months I've been tacking on a half mile to each of my runs and now I'm at 9 miles and I don't really know how far is enough for me. Is ten miles enough? should I just do 13 (so i know if I wanted to I could run a half marathon)? Or do I just keep going until I run out of time? These are rhetorical questions that I'll have to eventually answer for myself, but gets me wondering, for those of you who run long distances without a training goal how far do you go and why?

kenleyj

A big congratulations on your milestone. Just wait till you get to double digits. That first 10 miler is something else. It's awesome that you love running. It is addictive, esp with the progression aspect. With all of that said, it's time you register for a half marathon because you are ready to start a 16 week training program with your long run being 9 miles. Trust me, I use to be the same way. I ran and ran to see how far I can go and told myself I would never run races. I signed up for a local Half Marathon and bam. Racing is 1000000000 times addictive than just running itself. You will get the racing bug, esp when you take home a nice finishers medal. To answer your questions, which are not rhetorical by the way, when I am not in training, I usually keep my long run up to about 9 - 10 miles, but I play around with it. It's good to keep a good running base to walk into the next training campaign. Now, register for a Fall half marathon. you will have plenty of time to train. And remember that racing is about being competitive with yourself and your limits. It's your race. You will not regret it. I know my response was a bit lengthy but hope I helped some.

cowgirlslikeus86

I am not training for an event either.
I simply love to run and just keep pushing my limits. My husband gets mad at me when I say "I only ran 5 miles today." I guess I too get caught up in the next, bigger, and better run. In general I run anywhere from 20-40 miles a week, 4-11 miles at a time. I don't intend on slowing down. I want to keep pushing my distances untill I can run a marathon without signing up for one :-)
It can be addicting huh? I have had days where I swore up and down it was going to be a rest day then still went out an ran 4 or 5 miles. What can you do though.:laugh:

GeneveSparkles

A big congratulations on your milestone. Just wait till you get to double digits. That first 10 miler is something else. It's awesome that you love running. It is addictive, esp with the progression aspect. With all of that said, it's time you register for a half marathon because you are ready to start a 16 week training program with your long run being 9 miles. Trust me, I use to be the same way. I ran and ran to see how far I can go and told myself I would never run races. I signed up for a local Half Marathon and bam. Racing is 1000000000 times addictive than just running itself. You will get the racing bug, esp when you take home a nice finishers medal. To answer your questions, which are not rhetorical by the way, when I am not in training, I usually keep my long run up to about 9 - 10 miles, but I play around with it. It's good to keep a good running base to walk into the next training campaign. Now, register for a Fall half marathon. you will have plenty of time to train. And remember that racing is about being competitive with yourself and your limits. It's your race. You will not regret it. I know my response was a bit lengthy but hope I helped some.

Thanks! I'm signed up for a 5K at work in a couple weeks, it's obviously just a short little run but maybe, just maybe I'll really like the vibe and atmosphere of the race, and catch the racing bug, I'm skeptical but we'll see ...

I'm definitely addicted to competing with myself, and I think it will be kinda rad to say "I ran 10 miles, and what" heehee

GeneveSparkles

I am not training for an event either.
I simply love to run and just keep pushing my limits. My husband gets mad at me when I say "I only ran 5 miles today." I guess I too get caught up in the next, bigger, and better run. In general I run anywhere from 20-40 miles a week, 4-11 miles at a time. I don't intend on slowing down. I want to keep pushing my distances untill I can run a marathon without signing up for one :-)
It can be addicting huh? I have had days where I swore up and down it was going to be a rest day then still went out an ran 4 or 5 miles. What can you do though.:laugh:

I'm happy to know I'm not the only weirdo out there not training for something LOL!
Earlier this week I "only did 4 miles" and I was thinking to myself, a few months ago it would have been "OMG I ran 4 miles!!!" Pushing myself and beating myself is incredibly addicting. I'm thinking maybe working on speed will be my next step. I averaged 10.5 mph during my 9 miler so maybe once I get to 10 miles I'll run to run faster :happy:

lauleipop

Congrats on 9 miles!

It's been a while since I wasn't training for something, but 10 miles is about right for my long runs when not training. It's a comfortable distance.

A good portion of my running is for mental health, so some runs end up longer just because I've got more to think on or more stres to relieve.

M_lifts

well done on your 10 miler. i mostly run for fun too and my competition is myself- how much further, how much faster etc. Saying that i do enjoy races too. However, i havent got any lined up for the near future. I also enjoy running with my club, they push me to run faster/longer!

cowgirlslikeus86

I'm happy to know I'm not the only weirdo out there not training for something LOL!
Earlier this week I "only did 4 miles" and I was thinking to myself, a few months ago it would have been "OMG I ran 4 miles!!!" Pushing myself and beating myself is incredibly addicting. I'm thinking maybe working on speed will be my next step. I averaged 10.5 mph during my 9 miler so maybe once I get to 10 miles I'll run to run faster :happy:

Wait, you run 10.5 miles per hour or you run a 10:30 minute mile? Theres a huge differance. If you can run over 10 miles per hour your speedy gonzalez and I don't think you need to work on speed. lol. I think you ment that you run 10.5 minute miles and if that is the case, its fairly good for such distances with a newer runner. Keep up the good work!

Theres a group in the group forums called Runners Team Challange:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/660-runners-team-challenge-x-miles-in-a-month

You can tell her how many miles you want to run in a month and she will add you to the chart. You can check in everytime you run or just once a week. It's pretty fun!

GeneveSparkles

I'm happy to know I'm not the only weirdo out there not training for something LOL!
Earlier this week I "only did 4 miles" and I was thinking to myself, a few months ago it would have been "OMG I ran 4 miles!!!" Pushing myself and beating myself is incredibly addicting. I'm thinking maybe working on speed will be my next step. I averaged 10.5 mph during my 9 miler so maybe once I get to 10 miles I'll run to run faster :happy:

Wait, you run 10.5 miles per hour or you run a 10:30 minute mile? Theres a huge differance. If you can run over 10 miles per hour your speedy gonzalez and I don't think you need to work on speed. lol. I think you ment that you run 10.5 minute miles and if that is the case, its fairly good for such distances with a newer runner. Keep up the good work!

Theres a group in the group forums called Runners Team Challange:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/660-runners-team-challenge-x-miles-in-a-month

You can tell her how many miles you want to run in a month and she will add you to the chart. You can check in everytime you run or just once a week. It's pretty fun!

Haaaaaaa Ima loser I meant 10:30 min miler. Imagine 10.5 haha, I once ran at 10 mph for about 30 sec on the treadmill and thought I was gonna fly off and kill myself! I'll def check out the group. Thanks!

LilRedRooster

Great job on the nine miles!! Nice milestone.

And honestly, I sign up for events like 5Ks, 10Ks, and half every year (because they're just fun to go to), but I don't actively "train". I don't go for specific times; though I do like getting faster, no race that I've run has been with a specific goal in mind. I just get out, do a run, and enjoy myself. The marathon that I completed a few years ago, I did just doing runs on my own time, and the most I did was a 22-miler, and that was just one night when I went out and ran around the town. Literally, I just left that night, and stopped by bars along the way to get water. (Super classy, I know.) I later took the car back along the routes I ran to figure out the mileage. I've found that I enjoy running overall when I approach it with the idea that I'm just going to do what I feel, working hard when I feel like it, and letting some things go certain days.

salgalruns

This sounded exactly like me! I used to run with my group of friends (aka "Team Awesome") and we did 2 min walk/2 min run and I thought I would die. Did 2 half marathons and LOVED the medals, but really wasn't into the running part - just liked the social aspect. Suffered some foot issues and was looking at surgery this summer for a neuroma...

FAST FORWARD to a loss of 40 lbs and now I have no foot problems (amazing how that happens) and I have found that my endurance is amazing. I am LOVING running and think I've actually connected with an activity that I really enjoy. I know that's key. For right now, I'm just enjoying it. I push myself to go to the next block when I'm running outside, or to run up the "big" hill. I still hate running on the treadmill, because I miss the air in my face, but will do it if it's 10pm and I don't want to be outside. I'm spoiled in Southern California - the weather is perfect right now for outside running or I can actually run along the beach in Malibu.

I am signed up for the Zombie Run for Your Lives run in October (thank you "Team Awesome" again), but that's a different experience entirely. The events are a blast... I'll probably add in The Great Race half or 10K (Agoura Hills, CA) in Spring of 2013, and possibly the San Diego R&R in June of 2013. We'll see. For now, I'm just going to keep going...and going...and going.

maieranne77

Wow, that's fantastic. Congrats!
Do whatever feels right! If running just for running is what you need than that's enough. Save yourself some entry fee$!

bonjour24

I don't know how far is enough. I think when you hit it, you'll know.
I train for events though (I've found that with nothing to train for, I lose motivation), and my favourite distance is always the one below the one I'm training for! When I was training for a 5k, I liked 2k. When I was training for a half, the 10k was my favourite distance. I'm training for fulls now, and have to say that I really miss my half distance! Maybe when the full no longer feels like a challenge (which I'm not sure will ever happen because the last one nearly killed me!), I'll move onto ultras!

But if you just enjoy running for running, don't complicate it. I envy that you don't feel the need for schedules and training programmes. Keep it fun. And if you want to run further, then just do it! Maybe you'd be good not to worry about times or distances, but to just keep going until you feel like stopping. I think that would be awesome.

leeapeea

Congratulations!! It's always nice to hear a runner who runs because s/he LOVES it!

When I'm not actively on a training program (which is most of the time) for my long run I won't have a milage goal- I'll have a time goal (maybe 2 or 3 hours, maybe more if it's a perfect day), and it's all about being on my feet. Yes, I'll run most of it, but I won't beat myself up if I want to walk the hills, or even stop and take pictures, or make grunty noises at the bison (yes, there's a bison on a farm on one of my routes... in NH...). I've gone up to 15 miles on these "wander lust" runs and enjoyed every minute of it. Just pack some food and water and check the weather, and head out on your adventure! Happy trails!

mikeyrp

Much as I want to encourage you to do events - especially a half marathon which I know you will love - I'll try and answer your question directly.

Having just completed a Marathon, I find that anything up to 15 miles as a long run doesn't tire me out for the rest of the day. As such I try and alternate my weekends between a pacey 12 miles and a relaxed 15.

Anything over 15 and I would say the training becomes quite serious - you need to eat properly, take fuel (gels and sports drinks) out on every run, and give yourself the afternoon to recover on the sofa! I was doing regular 18 and 21 miles for the last couple month of training and that too real dedication.

trout3063

Great job! I've commenting on your original post as much as the answers everyone else is giving. I too hated running till I trained myself to run using the couch to 5k....now I'm following a 16 week plan for an upcoming relay "race" and find that I LOVE completing my runs because when I started the frequency and distances made me feel a littl ill and now I feel so "rad" each time I complete them!

And like others, I'm not sure how I will do once this event passes...will I find the motivation on my own to continue and at what distances/frequency? I'm loving the long sunday runs and will probably continue long weekend ones....and I find it so ODD when I would have days (just before my training started) where I would feel bad for having ONLY run 5 miles....so I'm right there with a lot of you folks!

Just having others in my same "boat" makes me feel so much better today! Thanks for posting everyone!

BrianSharpe

Congrats on your new distance!

The one thing I've learned from running is that I have no idea what my limits are. When I ran my first 5K I was pretty chuffed, after a few it was maybe a 10K. A few 10ks later it's how about a half marathon. I've got 3 of those under my belt and my brain is now thinking maybe a marathon??? (I was one of those people who hated running in my youth, started in my early 50s and was completely surprised to find that I really enjoyed it.....)

CarsonRuns

First of all, congratulations on your milestone. Falling in love with running is a gift that many people never receive. Cherish and nurture it.

When I am base building phase of training (all running is training for me, there are just different phases), my long run ranges from 12 to 16 miles. Any longer than that and you start to get into the run length that takes more time to recover.

Thanks! I'm signed up for a 5K at work in a couple weeks, it's obviously just a short little run but maybe, just maybe I'll really like the vibe and atmosphere of the race, and catch the racing bug, I'm skeptical but we'll see ...

A 5K is not "just a short little run", it is a race and to me, it's one of the most difficult distances to race and race well. There is no hurt like proper 5K pain. Don't discount any race just because of the distance. Remember that races are meant to be run as fast as you can, regardless of how long or short they are. So, go out there and hammer that 5K into submission. I predict you'll be ready to sign up for your second race before you have finished your post race banana.

DG_Allen

A 5K is not "just a short little run", it is a race and to me, it's one of the most difficult distances to race and race well. There is no hurt like proper 5K pain. Don't discount any race just because of the distance. Remember that races are meant to be run as fast as you can, regardless of how long or short they are. So, go out there and hammer that 5K into submission. I predict you'll be ready to sign up for your second race before you have finished your post race banana.

Thanks Carson. I'm only up to 5k distance as a new runner and it is a challenge to run right at that sweet spot of fast but not too fast. I was amazed when I paced myself properly in my last race how many people that passed me in mile 1 that I blew by in mile 2. It's super fun and getting a new PR is this best!

DG_Allen

Last Friday I hit a milestone, rather a 9-milerstone I'm not training for an event, and really have no desire to run races, I run simply because after years of hating it, I'm actually kinda falling in love with it. I've started asking myself, how far is far enough?

For the past few months I've been tacking on a half mile to each of my runs and now I'm at 9 miles and I don't really know how far is enough for me. Is ten miles enough? should I just do 13 (so i know if I wanted to I could run a half marathon)? Or do I just keep going until I run out of time? These are rhetorical questions that I'll have to eventually answer for myself, but gets me wondering, for those of you who run long distances without a training goal how far do you go and why?

Congratulations! That's a great story.

How did your legs cope with the increasing distances??? Did you get soreness or anything like that? I was going to use 1/2 mile increments as well but every other week so I can get up 26 miles in the next year.