No idea how you runners do it.

please explain more about this so-called "experiment" you are trying to perform by running.

i want to see first-hand that endurance gained from doing high intensity, HIIT-type workouts translates directly to improving performance on more moderate intensity, longer duration activity such as running.

EDIT: In essence, I am obviously not a runner. However, I do jump rope. All of the cardio I get comes from short duration/high intensity activity such as jumping rope for high intensity intervals. Does that translate to building up the kind of endurance needed to run a 5k? I've seen evidence saying it does, but I want to see it first hand.

I think you may need an alternative way to achieve your goal. If you want to find if your HIIT workouts lead to improvement on "more moderate intensity longer duration" activities, I would suggest you first try this experiment with a stationary bicycle. You won't have balance issues and you can achieve the same long-term, moderate intensity effort that you would put into running. And as a bonus, if you choose to start running again, the endurance gains you make with cycling will help with your transition into running.

I think that the hurdles you have with running (balance, noise, light, etc.) are probably too great at this point and are just going to make you more frustrated in your efforts with your experiment.

Just my $0.02 -- good luck.

When I started out running, my max was 2 km. My chest hurt and I didn't have the lung capacity or endurance. I also developed shin splints. Through a bout of physio, I learned the different landing positions and I use the mid-foot landing, although there seems to be some contention around this.

I try not to run on cement because the impact affects my shin splints so I prefer to run on an indoor or outdoor track. For me, it always helps me to think that the mind gives up way before the body does. If you set your mind on a goal, your body will follow through. It's going to hurt at the beginning but as you run more often, your body adjusts and you're able to go longer and harder.

Right now, I'm focusing on jogging long distances. I'm not too worried about times. I think if you can get the distance down first then you can set your goals on achieving better times.

In terms of endurance, what has helped me is running everyday and reaching a certain distance. I used to do HIIT but I don't do that anymore because I'm just getting cardio from long runs. I also find strength training helped me. Strengthening your hamstrings will help you get faster because if you're landing mid-foot, you're going to use those muscles to push forward. I also like squats, leg presses, lunges. Strengthening the core is great too.

It takes time - just keep at it!

The problem is that the suggestions everyone has suggested do not apply to me. They are very conventional suggestions that have been tried in the past. Facts:

1. I do struggle with basic movements, from walking to running. I'm okay with sprinting and jumping. It is neurological in nature.

2. I would like to try to find a way around this to start running. But the main suggestions people have come up with do not apply to someone with this particular issue. Go to a running store to check stride for shoes? They make you use a treadmill which I cannot safely use. My stride is inconsistent because it stems from very poor basic motor control which stems from overactive senses. Therefore learning to control it is difficult if not impossible because my motor control is directly tied to my senses of hearing, touch, and sight, which vary in hyperactivity by the day.

No trolling, just trying to find "outside the box" suggestions. I have no interest in taking up running long term. I am trying to get up to the point where I can run a 5k for reasons involving experimentation.

I think we need to back up a bit here and look at things in a more basic way. I'd like to hit several points individually:

First off, you want to run a 5k to test a theory. Let's start there. What is the theory? Why is running a 5K your chosen method of testing it? Is there another way to test your theory?

Second, you have neurological problems that cause difficulties with motor control, which make walking and running difficult. Yet you want to run. But at the same time, you use those problems to shoot every suggestion out of the water. If you have neurological issues that make running difficult, I think you need to make one of two decisions. A) don't run, and find something else to do instead (sounds like jumping rope works pretty well for you) or realize running will be difficult and you'll have to find ways to overcome your limitations to succeed. To accomplish B, you're going to have to find ways to not use your motor control issues as an excuse, which will be difficult (or, potentially impossible). Excuses are not innately bad - it's only our own judgements about them that make them bad. But to the extent they're preventing you from progressing to your goal, you need to find a way around them.

For example, you say you can't go to a running store and get fitted for shoes because they make you use a treadmill. If the running store forces you to use a treadmill, try a different running store! While I used a treadmill when I was fitted (there was also a -30 degree wind chill that day and much snow blowing around), when my wife went to the same store, she ran in the isles and the parking lot because she didn't want to use the treadmill.

The issues with impact you're having come largely from technique. you can't address your technique (at least not easily) because of your neurological issues. Properly fitted shoes, however, help give a more consistent stride, and reduce impact. And, a lot your improvement in any endurance activity comes from your neurological system becoming more efficient at controlling the muscles you're using. I wouldn't be surprised if, once you are running regularly, you slowly find you gait becoming more consistent, and more controlled, and eventually you might develop the ability to have control over your technique. But you'll need to work harder than most folks to get to that point.

Third, maybe you can use your sensory issues to help, rather than hinder. Maybe running with a metronome, for example, would provide a way to link your auditory sensitivity with your gait. Stranger things have happened. You may want to consider working with a music therapist. Strange suggestion, I know, but I know music therapists who have worked with folks with Aspergers and had great success, and others who have worked with runners and triathletes and had great success. There's probably one who has worked with running Aspergers folks!

Fourth, you were disappointed to find that you burned fewer calories running than jumping rope for the same length of time. Realize that that only makes sense. Jumping rope is considerably higher intensity than running, so it will burn more calories in a set length of time. It's also (for most people - your motor control issues may negate this) considerably higher impact, so for most people, jumping rope for a long time is out of the question, but running for a long time is not. On the other hand, jumping rope requires considerable motor control, so you can, at least in some situations, gain the requisite control over your neuromuscular system.

Fifth, you say you pretty much have to sprint to control your running. A 5k, though, is an endurance distance. Most people, especially just getting started, jog a 5k. Only an extremely elite athlete would be able to sprint that distance. If you want to sprint for the purposes of your experiment, you probably should look more into interval training than running a 5K.

Finally, you sprinted almost 3/4 mile?! That's darned impressive. When I recently started running after 20 years of not (due to a knee injury), it was a struggle to jog for 60 seconds. As several have suggested, I think you should look into the various "Couch to 5K" plans. They'll build you up to a 5K in fairly short order, but do so in a controlled fashion unlikely to cause injury. If you want to run a 5K for your experiment, the most important thing is to not quit. A controlled program like that will help keep you from quitting, and that's the only way to reach your goal. If C25K doesn't do it for you, you might want to work with a personal trainer, or more likely a physical therapist, to develop a training plan that works with your challenges and your experiment to help you reach your goals.

Something that helped my stride and how my foot lands was picking up my first pair of Vibram Five Finger Shoes. I love those things to death. But... While running in them, there is practically no padding and it hurts to have your heel slam into the ground. You learn, very quickly, how to run mid-foot or on the balls of your feet. That will heavily reduce the impact because you start using the greatest shock absorber we havin the human body, your calf muscles.

You are asking for help but it doesn't seem like you are open for any suggestions. If you have your heart set on hating running, which seems to be the case, then don't run. Stop being so negative to everyone who is trying to help you.

Here's my take on it (lots of details are left out but you'll get my drift):
* High-intensity activity trains muscular endurance. The muscles improve at storing and burning the quickly-available energy (glycogen), clearing out the lactic acid so you can maintain the intensity for longer, and generally getting ready for the next blast.
* Your heart benefits too.
* For this reason, the amount of cross-over benefit of HIT of one activity to another activity that uses a different muscle group is low. The heart is a constant factor, so there is carry over there.

FWIW.

Sandbags are way more fun anyway.

-deeb

Running, and talking about it, seems to make you miserable. I would skip it. Do what you enjoy.

Yeah this one.


I run & LOVE talking about it. I've only been running since about August last year & I'm obsessed with it. I love running, have to do it or I actually get all nasty & fidgety. Even my husband asks when I'm going for my run.

If you don't even like talking about it..... don't do it. It's not for you. Go do some yoga or something.

I miss running. I hate my husband for taking it away from me. I used to run and run and run and run just getting high on running. It was my anti-depressant, my prozac, my mental peace my "me" time. sigh.......

I miss running. I hate my husband for taking it away from me. I used to run and run and run and run just getting high on running. It was my anti-depressant, my prozac, my mental peace my "me" time. sigh.......

How/why does one's husband take running away?

I miss running. I hate my husband for taking it away from me. I used to run and run and run and run just getting high on running. It was my anti-depressant, my prozac, my mental peace my "me" time. sigh.......

How/why does one's husband take running away?

Possibly the way my Daughter had taken away my OUTSIDE running. For a while I was waiting until my wife and daughter had both gone to sleep to hit the gym and then it was too dark to run outside in a town with very few street lights. Now I either get up on the weekend to start running as the sun rises or hit work early once or twice a week to leave early and get in a run before my wife gets my daughter home from daycare...