A Boxer Tries Running

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  • LeanButNotMean44
    LeanButNotMean44 Posts: 852 Member
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    FL_Hiker wrote: »
    Silent_Soliloquy wrote: »
    ^^ this very much reflects my feelings. But I dont want to be like "Oh, but I'm a former athlete, I wont get hurt!" And then be the laughing stock of the forum when I have to take a week off with crippling knee pain.

    And... I'm not 20 anymore by a long shot ... So I think this is a good place for due humbleness.

    And in these short runs, I have been focussing on forefoot strikes, and other good technique building drills...

    ... I just dont want to take it easy so far that i actually lose physical conditioning in the first month. So some level of balance is required.

    Uh huh that was me lol. I followed a Hal Higdons marathon plan, thought I was a hot shot because I was a competitive swimmer on an Olympic team for 12 years... pushed harder than I should have, sprinted runs I shouldn’t have, didn’t listen to good advice and ended up sidelined with a knee injury right before the race. Sounds like you’ve got more common sense than me though but just in case learn from my stupidity, stick with the plan and all will be good. Wait and run the hell out of the actual race 😉.

    OP, it is awesome that you have been so welcoming of the advice given by everyone! As posted above, it is very easy to fall into the trap of thinking you are a special snowflake ("I'm already athletic, I can modify this plan!") and that the "rules" don't apply to you. I know better, yet I still do the same thing because in my head I am still 30 years old. And guess what? I've been injured because of it.

    Bottom line: I was a dumb *kitten*. Don't be like me! :D
  • Silent_Soliloquy
    Silent_Soliloquy Posts: 237 Member
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    So I kept my pace steady today and ran a very easy 4 miles over my lunch hour.
    I ended up at 38:40 for the 4 miles, felt very relaxed... no speed work or etc as has been suggested.

    Still -35 windchills here so all treadmill work... but everything is super slippery and I dint want to risk a fall.

    I "feel" like I could do much much more distance, but as has been discussed ad nauseam, increasing slowly to help my knees etc wear in easily.
  • Silent_Soliloquy
    Silent_Soliloquy Posts: 237 Member
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    update... the weather has not cooperated at all these last few weeks. But ive gotten outside when i could.

    Here is me doing a 5k in -22 windchill. Wasnt worried about time, just getting getting out there was enough...

    ncgrvt076920.jpg

    One slight mod, today is supposed to be my rest day, and tomorrow my distance run, but we have 3 days of snow starting today at noon... so i did a morning run and will rest tomorrow.

    r4odnljr6et0.jpg

    I have found a 9:10 mile feels like recovery, and an 8:20 is "going to get winded". So I'm working on controlling my splits and making sustainable incremental changes to speed rather than the speed drills i was doing before.

    Feeling strong. Its hard to not go ahead and try a 15k just to see what my time would be... but im taking the advice of the better runners on here and easing in.

    Sore knees some, but nothing the hot tub hasnt cured. Always feeling 100% by the next morning. No DOMs or anything. Ive definitely found my joints hurt before my muscles get a workout.

    My resting heart rate seems to be dropping some. Couple days in the 40's, which i think is a good sign.

    vxm2umtz8ax5.jpg


    And... just plugging away at the plan, i registered for my race, and got a hotel walking distance away, so its feeling very "real".

    j1p0vdn7xgh5.jpg
  • mengqiz86
    mengqiz86 Posts: 176 Member
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    Great progress!! Don’t worry about heart rate. My resting HR is consistently at 43-45 but I run my tempo runs at 180 and long runs around 175.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Sounds like you're doing well!
  • Silent_Soliloquy
    Silent_Soliloquy Posts: 237 Member
    edited February 2019
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    Wanted to update people on my progress:

    As most of you know I stepped on a nail doing some construction demo and I have a kind of ugly wound on my foot. (Yes I saw a Dr... I'm fine)

    I am wrapping the wound, mostly for extra padding... Of course it hurts, but nothing that would stop you from running. More like an annoyance.

    Anyway I am running every other day other than a few skips due to the foot thing ... and loving it. I do:

    A long slow day (currently 11 km)
    A short slow day (currently 6 km)
    A short race pace day (5k)

    And every other day I rest. And ... I feel great!

    Today's long slow was supposed to be 11k, but I felt so good I went ahead and did the race distance (15k) just to see how it feels. I backed off and jogged the last 2 miles super easy as you'll see in the splits.

    I felt tired for at least an hour afterwards, but took my boy to the fun zone in the evening and did shopping etc and didn't feel too unusual ... tired legs for sure.

    Well; here are the splits:

    61szijbo4gb1.jpg


    All in all I'm pretty happy with sub-84 minutes... I'll step my mileage back to normal now, but I'm thinking by March 30th getting 79 min is possible...

    ociib6mn6pba.jpg


    Any feedback or advice is of course appreciated...
  • wanderingarcher
    wanderingarcher Posts: 694 Member
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    I was wondering how it went.
    I’m proud of you. I think you did an amazing job, given your short training time and all of the obstacles you faced.
    Congratulations!
  • Silent_Soliloquy
    Silent_Soliloquy Posts: 237 Member
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    Yv... i hope you've overcome your obstacles as well.
  • RunsWithBees
    RunsWithBees Posts: 1,508 Member
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    It was cold??? You made it look hot! ;)
    More importantly, what I want to know is...
    did you have fun?!?!?!
  • RunsWithBees
    RunsWithBees Posts: 1,508 Member
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    And congrats! I’d say you “nailed” it ;)
  • Silent_Soliloquy
    Silent_Soliloquy Posts: 237 Member
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    ^^ @monkeefan1974 as you know you were one of the big three inspirations i had.

    Im not sure it was "worth it"... the race itself. The childcare, the long drive, hotel, etc. Only to not even PR and be miserably cold for hours. I get some social anxiety, so i didnt really talk to anyone else or anything.

    But i feel in vastly better shape, and I'll definitely do other more local runs in the future. I think adding in running is something I'll stick with... and it helped me get the confidence to do the september half marathon in my city.
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
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    Silent_Soliloquy wrote: »
    ^^ @monkeefan1974 as you know you were one of the big three inspirations i had.

    Im not sure it was "worth it"... the race itself. The childcare, the long drive, hotel, etc. Only to not even PR and be miserably cold for hours. I get some social anxiety, so i didnt really talk to anyone else or anything.

    But i feel in vastly better shape, and I'll definitely do other more local runs in the future. I think adding in running is something I'll stick with... and it helped me get the confidence to do the september half marathon in my city.

    Congratulations!

    My first race was in the cold and wet (and wind), too. It was a miserable experience. I ran one more 6 months later to prove to myself that I could get the result that I really wanted but have decided to 'retire' from formal races for all of the reasons you've laid out above. I run to enjoy running and a formal event doesn't add anything to the experience for me, especially once you factor in travel, traffic, crowds, etc. Technology has gotten to the point where if I really want to run a timed distance I can just do it myself.

    I still do one 5K per year for charity but that's mainly because it's all of 3 miles from my house. I can basically run to the race, run the race in 20 something minutes, and then run home.
  • Silent_Soliloquy
    Silent_Soliloquy Posts: 237 Member
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    @DX2JX2 ... insightful. I definitely enjoyed most of my practice runs more than the race day itself.

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