I can completely empathise.
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I can completely empathise.
Ok to make it easier:
To those who have speeded up or lost weight, what are your staple foods?
I'm trying to cut sugar but I'm ending up with too many carbs. Tried mainly protein which stopped me eating too much but I couldn't speed up. On long runs, literally nothing in the tank. I was averaging 10 min miles and I need to get down to 7m30s max.
Please help an old man...
In the lead-up to a significant race in 2018 I'd done my usual trick of leaving the bare minimum of time to get fit, and with three weeks to go I knew that any further gains from training would be minimal at that point, so figured the only other way of improving performance was to lose some weight. I'd never before in my life paid attention to the calorie values of my food (other than, ironically, looking for food with the highest calorie to weight ratios for the races where I have to carry all my kit); so it came as a real surprise when I mapped out my average daily intake.
For two weeks I made a note of everything I ate and drank, with the aim of keeping my daily calories consumed to as close to 2000 as I could (RDI as you'll know is 2500 cal for men). Some quick wins were using semi-skimmed rather than whole milk in the couple of lattes I have each morning, and cutting out snacks in the daytime. In the evening, cutting out wine and switching to alcohol free beers (or sometimes half & half). Other than that, it was more just a case of being aware and trying to calculate and add up the cals of what I was eating, rather than changing anything significantly.
How long are your long runs? If I'm running over, say, an hour and a half I'll take a gel or two at intervals during the run depending on how exactly how far, or have powder mixed with the water in one of my bottles.
Also, have you tried varying the time of day you're running? I'm definitely better in the evenings than mornings.
^Thanks.
My runs in training aren't that long - usually six to eight and a max of around 15 miles.
I seem to have lost speed and impetus i.e. the mental discipline.
I'm guessing my diet will help. I usually run better in the morning before work.
I'm going to try this:
1. Cut chocolate, cake, biscuits etc
2. After a few weeks, cut excess carbs
3. After a few weeks, reduce calorific intake
4. End up with a much smaller intake of healthier food.
I'm just not sure how to get to step 4.
A bit off topic but got a pleasant surprise this weekend upon returning to the gym. I knew I wouldn’t have gained any weight during the lockdown but had convinced myself that the body composition (fat/muscle/water distribution) would have worsened significantly due to zero diet control, lack of discipline in keeping hydrated, disruption caused by a life event meaning I did hardly any running or strength training for about a month, lack of walking, availability of only limited weights and awkward improvisations making strength training less efficient at home throughout the lockdown.
My gym has a Boditrax machine that runs electrical signals through the body and estimates fat, muscle, water and bone percentages, among other things. My last scan before lockdown was on my finial gym visit, about 4 and a half months ago. According to the latest scan, my weight has dropped a tiny bit but more importantly, my fat percentage has come down from 14.6% to 13.7% apparently. This means a little muscle growth and some fat loss despite all the above factors. Really pleased with the improvement, which isn’t huge but very welcome as I was fearing a decline instead!
After a very lazy lockdown I started running again about a month ago. First run in ages and I really struggled particularly because it's very hilly where I live. Am now doing 7.5km (according to Health Mate) in under 40 minutes three times per week. In just a month I am back down to the weight I was in Feb. Bonus!
What is your go-to-food when you're hungry but you know you've already eaten enough?
^I'm not sure that's going to speed me up.
But I'm prepared to give it a go.
*boots up online shopping*
Banana - or Nakd fruit bars (...with a strong coffee)
z
^Thanks.
They might stop me from the crisps / chocolate circle of Hell.
Erm ... they haven't stopped me. I meant after I have eaten enough at meal time, have eaten crisps/chocolates/cake/cookies/ice cream etc. as snacks and there is still desire for more, that's when I resort to those things. I wish I was joking but I am not ...
^Ah, right. Makes sense.
Mine isn't for fun - I've set myself a couple of deadlines and then I'll transfer to cycling or hiking. Something easier on the body.
I have just received a dynamics pod as a birthday present. Has anyone used one? it looks like I am going to have to upgrade my Garmin 35 running watch to. Do you chaps have any thoughts? I do not want to spend more than £250 ideally. thanks Will
Ran my longest distance ... 31.6km in 2:52:29. Included quite a few walking intervals. Lower body is very sore now!
Congrats to you! That's quite a distance, even walking a bit! I've done it (almost 50 years ago) and I died the next day! It was stated as being a walk, but some of us ran it as a race!
http://mudvillemagazine.com/wordpres...WalkforMan.jpg
Another long one today ... 33.6km in 3:03:06. Almost the same pace as my first 30+ km run but 2km longer.
I was doing quite well in terms of speed up to about 27 or 28km but then started getting on the verge of cramping my calves. Probably just the right one, not both, but can’t remember for sure. I had to take lots of walking breaks during the last 5-6km, basically each time I felt it, to avoid actually getting a cramp. This killed my average pace. Same thing happened during my previous longest run also.
What can I do to prevent cramping while running? I drank plenty of water all morning (started running after 11am). Sipped about 700ml of energy drink during the session at regular intervals. Consumed 4 energy gel sachets at regular intervals.
What energy drink were you using? Cramping can be down to lack of salt and this can be combated through what you’re drinking
Tailwind is fantastic for me - helps take care of salt and carb intake in a single drink
I would drink more than you on a run like that as well however I recognise I drink more than most
Powerade. I’ve only recently started using a proper energy drink. Before that it was just water and carb gels for long runs. I did some reading online and Getorade appeared to be no. 1 but not easily available in the UK. Powerade seemed like the best choice here but I have zero experience of other brands.
Now that I have started thinking about salts/minerals, I realise I was incredibly stupid to do my 15, 21 and 25k runs on water alone, especially during the hot weather we’ve seen!
Is there a TZ UK club on Strava?
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A milestone for me today, I clocked just over 1000km of running so far this year. That's more for me than 2018 and 2019 combined, 2018 being the year I properly started running regularly. I'm not especially fast, but I'm steadily getting quicker and I'm rather happy with that.
Well done! I also crossed 1100 this week for 2020 and look set to beat the 2019 total of 1353. I have also been improving gradually without doing anything special, other than just making sure I run thrice a week. Ran my 5k PB yesterday (5.11km / 22:44) which is a massive improvement on where I started in 2017.
Followed this and drank 1500ml of Powerade during my longest run today (35km). Seems to have helped a bit with the problem as cramping feeling started late and wasn’t as frequent and severe as last time. However, due to drinking more frequently I was a lot slower (3:27-ish). Weather was warmer than last time too so both factors contributed to the decline in pace.
I suffer cramp a lot cycling, typically on longer hotter rides. Obviously you dehydrate in such conditions, but if like me you sweat a lot you could be losing a lot of salt, and drinking pure water can make matters worse as you dilute what sodium you have left.
When I am doing an activity that I know I will be likely to suffer cramp on, I use drinks made with products from these people https://www.precisionhydration.com/. They will try to get you to sign up for their free plan, but if like me you sweat a lot and your sweat is salty then you could benefit from something like their precision hydration 1500 product which you can buy direct from them or on Amazon.
This has literally solved the problem for me, I have done intense long rides on hot days with no cramp issues at all.
It's something to try, cramp is not 100% understood, perhaps because there are multiple causes rather than one, so it might not help you, but it has certainly benefitted me enormously.
Why do you think drinking more affected your pace? Are you stopping to drink?
I use a Salomon hydration pack and literally sip a bit every single km from start to finish and it doesn’t affect pace at all
I have never tried things like Powerade but as mentioned I’ve found previously the SiS tabs good (salts) and now love Tailwind (carbs and salts) - maybe try something like this and see how it goes?
I carry bottles in the side bottle pockets of my running backpack. I have to unbuckle the chest & waist belts, take the bag off one shoulder, get a bottle out, drink, put the bottle back in, put the bag back on the shoulder and buckle both the belts again. I am unable to do all that while running so although I don’t stop, I have to walk during this whole process every time I drink (every 3–3.5km yesterday compared to every 5-6km last time) or consume a gel.
Just looked up the hydration pack you mentioned and it’s the perfect solution to all that nonsense I go through!
This is the one I have and find it perfect - can have 2.5L of water in it when you include the bottles it comes with and the bladder you can get for the back
I typically run with the bladder as I prefer it over the front loaded bottles
You can get larger ones as well if you need to carry more stuff as well. Shop around for prices as they can vary hugely - there are loads of other types as well from other brands
SALOMON ADV Skin 5 Set Running Backpack - AW19 - X Small https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07MGHZ1..._pTHzFbRZQC6A6
I’m doing a 10km on Sunday week. First ‘race’ for a year! I’m surprised it is going ahead
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My “42 at 42”
I had a confirmed spot for the official Berlin marathon but the event obviously got cancelled and my place rolled over to 2021.
One week ago, I decided to bring my marathon attempt forward and signed up for a virtual Berlin run. Just thought it would be nice to do it on the same date as the original event, even if in London not Berlin.
I was planning to run a marathon next month (had to do it while I’m still 42 so before my next birthday in November). I wasn’t ready yet as I hadn’t completed my training (didn’t reach peak weekly distance, didn’t taper or rest properly).
As a result, I missed my target of 3:45 by a big margin but this is still good enough for me as my first!
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...be8e1f26a8.jpg
Congratulations, a great achievement.
I wear a Polar H10 ECG-based HR monitor. I only got it because Apple Watch that I had at the time showed even 5% higher and I didn’t trust it. Chest strapped monitors are supposed to be more accurate, being closer to heart. When I was seeing a physiotherapist, I told her my concerns about my HR while running and she just told me to ignore the numbers and that the generic formula doesn’t fit everyone. Apparently in “the trade” they concentrate on perceived rate of exertion.
So how did your September go? I was initially on track to match August’s total of about 250km. But one bad run - when I failed to tighten my left shoe sufficiently - resulted in a bout of plantar fasciitis flair up in my left foot which has been agony. Frustratingly got sidelined as a result and tried to pick up running in a softer pair of shoes the past few days and made it to 200km. Lesson learned - make sure your shoes are tightened up right to avoid foot slippage and loss of support!
Starting to do a bit more strength training and yoga at the gym - eapecially as the cooler/wetter days arrive.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...d8701f2006.jpg
Also did one 10k timed event which was far too overcrowded on a very tight and narrow course which was more like an obstacle course! At some points had to walk because of congestion as people ahead were funneled into corners. Wasn’t a good run, but here is my happy face lol
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...cd537479d2.jpg
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250km this month for me including a few more rest days than normal. I run at 5.30am and a few nights broken sleep (life as a parent to a toddler) meant I skipped a few days
On track to hit my 2020km yearly target this month - not bad for somebody who couldn’t run the length of himself 2.5 years ago!