Great app for sure, it's what i also use to track my activities and automatically export to Strava and Runkeeper from it.

I second this!

even though I now own a Garmin watch, I still use this app for the days when I want to run and listen to music while running because it gives you audio cues as to your pace and such. Very good app...

FM

For those into the "social competition" aspect to help motivate you, check out Welcome | Fit Leagues

They basically have "seasons" where you compete against others for points based on your activities. The points you get appear to be primarily based on mileage (similar to the Strava challenges we have been doing).


They have API calls that can link to your runkeeper or strava accounts to automatically pull in your activities from there (Strava appears to be broken for them right now though due to changes in the strava API , so I guess only runkeeper connections work currently).

They place you in a league based on your average daily activity, for instance I was put into the Gold league once I resynced all of my old Runkeeper data, which is the top league where I currently am in 9th position.

In addition to their overall leagues, it has setup for custom leagues with your runkeeper friends, or you can set up a custom league all together (such as a FOFC league if desired).

Anyways, check it out if this type of thing interests you. Once you get it setup, doesn't require any extra effort every day from you to populate it if you're already using runkeeper.

just signed up for Fitleagues and was put in your league Alan, I'm quite a ways below though...

FM

Only 11 points behind me. That's just a little over 1 mile!

I should be able to start up exercising again tomorrow. Had to go to visit my parents and didn't have any opportunities due to circumstances.

hah, I guess you're right :)

I did create an FOFC league, passcode is "fittrout" without the "".

FM

Joined!

Cool, thanks I joined!

You said the magic words. I'm in.

Did the same interval workout as last Thursday, but with much better results today.

Been out of commission for the past week and a half with an awful cold. I'm on the upswing, though, so by the weekend I think I will be able to get back at it

Ran my first 10k today - pleasantly surprised that my pace actually increased compared to my 5 mile runs. I think I have my pace, and it's endurance that is my limiter.

Second mile was almost all uphill, third mile almost all downhill, and I think this helped a lot as I really try and hold back at the start of my runs to make sure I'm not out of gas at the end.

Legs are a little tired, but I'm happy :)

that's great Alex, well done!

FM

Great job Alex!

Gotta get my ass back in gear.

Bumping this line of discussion as my Sunday runs are planned to be roughly 1.5 to 2 hours for the next three months. Yesterday's was 1:54:37. I took some Gu Energy Gel along with me but didn't consume it, and didn't do anything about hydration. Four of my last five miles were faster than my average pace for the overall run, so I wasn't exactly hurting at the end, but I'm wondering a few things here...

1. Since race pace is going to be significantly faster than long run pace, might that make me need to hydrate/fuel on race day even if I don't during training?
2. What would be the signs that I needed to hydrate/fuel? I felt ok and my pace didn't slow down, but are there other things I should be looking at here?
3. I am a long-time heavy water drinker. I make sure I take a whizz right before my long runs, and typically need to do so again shortly afterward, if not immediately. Might I just have a generally high level of hydration and not really need to worry about it in the 10-15 mile range?

My understanding is that hydration is not an at the moment thing, but instead is something you need to handle all week long. Since you say that you are a heavy water drinker, your hydration is probably in a fine shape. You are not going to suddenly de-hydrate in 60 minutes and pass out in most cases.

The times that hydration is important is probably more to do with handling the heat or more severe environment than you are used to. As you sweat more, there is a higher amount of sodium that leaves your body which will effect your performance if you have enough loss. Here is a little science on the subject:


You can read a whole bunch of information on Hydration here that might be helpful: The Science Of Hydration - Running tips for everyone from beginners to racing marathons and ultramarathons

For me personally, I can run 10k fine without any drink. I have run further without needing anything on cooler days, but if it is hot out, or I am running closer to 2 hours, I'll bring gatorade with me just in case I feel that I need it.

Here is Fellrnr's Practical Hydration guidelines:


You can see more here: Practical Hydration - Running tips for everyone from beginners to racing marathons and ultramarathons

As for gels or other glycogen supplement during a race, those are generally used to help replace some of the glycogen that is used up as you run. With proper runner's diet you generally can store 2000 calories of carbohydrates to burn up during the run. For many marathoners, that is depleted somewhere around mile 20, which is why you often hear about the mile 20 wall that they have to push through. For us, running a half-marathon, it is unlikely that you should burn through all of your glycogen store in 13.1 miles, and that makes the need for gels to be less likely. That said, some people still use them for runs even as short as 10k, but most common belief that i have read is that gels aren't really necessary for a half-marathon.

Since mid-run fueling is very individualistic on what works for different people, you can read through some more of fellrnr's suggestions on that here: Mid Run Fueling - Running tips for everyone from beginners to racing marathons and ultramarathons

You don't need gel for stuff under 2 hours. You aren't going to deplete your carbohydrate stores in that time.

As long as you are hydrated before you run, you probably are fine for the next 2 hours, too. You may want to bring 16 oz along to take during the last half hour, but unless the temp is really high, I think you'll be fine.

Out of practice and a novice runner to begin with, but anything over 5mi and I feel like I need to bring at least liquid with me (of course, running in hot/humid temps during the summer...yeah). I am constantly thirsty as it is, so it's nice to have a backup - even if it's just to take a sip here and there.

I don't like holding anything while running, so I just got a small (kids, actually) Camelbak. Can also pack snacks and has a top pocket for my iPhone.

I love my camelbak. When I do my silly runs, the camelbak is indispensable.'

edit: silly run example: http://runkeeper.com/user/ChrisShue/activity/71501452

That is indeed a silly run!

I can confirm that drinking while running is not as easy as it looks. I grabbed a cup in the middle of my first half this spring and almost drowned as a result. I need to practice that skill.

Take the cup and pinch the top of it so that it makes a spout that you can then pour in your mouth.

I agree with this.

I did my first official "Tempo Run" this morning, and I have to say that I am in utter man-love with the McMillan Run Calculator. I've been using its recommendations for training paces the last week, and every run has felt like pretty much the perfect pace for me. Very cool.

Going a bit off topic here, but i must admit i have been curious and checked on google satellite view your routes and cities in general.

I have been in USA a few times already, but always same cities, SF, Phoenix and Miami and it's fun to see how different are organized the building areas and cities, specially on the satellite views.

I love how Chris's and Alan's living areas looks like for example, like a big forest, totally green from above, way different than the brown colored Arizona like middle of Spain where i live.

Hah, I do something similar at times. I like going into the strava run and using the little google earth view within Strava to see some of the paths people do. I especially like the ones that are not necessarily in cities, and really like looking at the ones people do with Hills.

I really enjoyed looking at some of the scenery in Northwood_DK's runs.. if you haven't checked out that countryside yet, it is very pretty. I was sad that the mountain runs that Ben did had no google earth view for me to check out though. I imagine those were really nice views.

For my runs, I like just exploring my town, taking different paths and such for the scenery, so I guess it is logical that I enjoy the same thing in other people's runs.

Dola, I guess it also gives people a chance to see some pictures of my sightseeing at Niagara Falls from last weekend by viewing that run. :) Makes me wish that there was a map for ABC's run in the Philippines that he did. I would have liked to have checked that one out.

I get a chuckle at the thought of y'all checking out my runs.

"Oooooh! Look at those lovely clear-cut suburban hell neighborhoods with cookie-cutter houses Ben gets to see almost every morning!"

But it is such a nice neighborhood! :)

At least none of you know which house is mine along my runs so there won't be any judging about my lack of desire to ever trim the bushes :)

It's kinda claustrophobic around here with all the trees. Few open views.

I've been out of commission after rolling my ankle the other day walking to the train. Hope to be back in business tomorrow morning.

Yeah, 95% of my runs are the same route, a straight line down a highway from work to home. Must not rank high on Icy's list of favorites :)

Planning of my week looked good on Monday. With a first run on tuesday, I was set to run on Thursday, then possibly on Friday and on Sunday but now I have a coworker who's throwing a happy hour this afternoon and since most everyone from our department will be there and I wanted to attend, and beer will be drank, I knew I wouldn't run this evening as I'm used to. So with that in mind, I set my alarm clock 10 minutes early and I went out for a before breakfast run this morning. Knew I didn't have time for an easy and long run, I decided I'd gun for a personal best 5k and I sure did. Dropped down my time from 24:09 to 22:55 or a 7:22 pace. According to Strava, my previous best on any one mile was 7:34 so I crushed this personal one mile best on the average over 5 km. On the same note, again according to Strava, my personal best on any 1 km was 4:39 and again, I beat that on my average pace over 5k. No need to say that I am VERY happy about that.

Here's a link to the Garmin activity.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/340842251

Bummer, Strava is not giving me credit for a 5k PR, oh well...

What I'm finding odd is I can't seem to really push my heart rate up much more than 160-something. I was pushing myself kinda hard out there this morning and had my heart in my throat, sorta, yet HR never went much higher than 161 or so. I do have a resting HR at about 50 or so, so maybe my heart is just like that. Any thoughts?

I'm obviously no doctor, so just take this for whatever its worth, but I've read comments regarding to people that had higher than normal HR and that the typical HR settings for them had to be adjusted for proper HR Zone reporting. I am going to guess that the opposite might be possible as well?




This is from a study on HRmax, and you can see some cases there were really low HRmax.. you may very well just be an outlier for whatever reasons that I don't understand. If that is the case, then all of the various HR zone charts on all of the sites you use won't provide you meaningful data until you modify them with what your zones really are.

What most people use for HRmax (including myself) is for the most part estimations based on forumlas that are in no means accurate since HRmax is a very individual thing. If you want to try to find it out for sure, you likely would have to see your doctor.. there are some tests that you can try to better approximate it for yourself though. One that I see commonly suggested is:



There is some difference of opinion if you should run the hill a few times first to build up your HR before your all out run or not.. but generally by your all out run up the hill after you've been running a while, if you push yourself really hard, two things will happen:

1) You'll probably physically be unable to finish that hill if you are running hard enough..
2) Your HRM should be able to give you a reading of how hard your HR is beating.

It won't be 100% accurate but should hopefully be able to give you an estimation of your HRmax.. then with your resting HR, you can define proper HR zones for your data

Alan, valid points, thanks. I was also thinking that maybe my running muscles were kinda holding me back compared to where my cardio is. We'll see as the mileage adds up and I get more able to push myself. Will also try and do some intervals by myself where I'm challenging the heart a bit, but I really want to keep my son involved so we'll see... ;)

FM

Not sure if it is the same type of thing or not, but for me when I am in a building phase on my training, I run enough where my TSB score is sometimes heavily in the negatives. I feel that affect more in my legs than cardiovascular. On some runs, I'll just feel like I am slugging along and don't have much energy to move them.

When I taper or rest more, I don't have that feeling with my tired legs and my holdback then becomes cardiovascular for me if I push myself more. So maybe for yourself, since you do other forms of exercise (karate, bike, whatever) you may find your legs tired more than your breathing/heart rate issues.

Went our for an early six miler this morning. Determined to get a Strava badge after missing so many over the past few months!

I just purchased my Strava Any way 10k t-shirt. Turns out I had missed the email they sent out on July 2nd and today is the last day you can order a shirt if you want one.

I also bought an orange Strava shirt, you know, to be seen when I run ;)

Yeah, it's only a grey shirt but it was my first 10k run and I'll wear it proudly :)

FM

Interesting...

A look at how Strava has begun cutting off your data access and removing functionality | DC Rainmaker

Ran 13.1 today.



Nipple chafing ftl.

That sucks - the chafing part, that is. I use the little round band aids and they work really well. I just have to be careful to get the hair out of the way first. I had a weird rubbing issue on my waist band this time but feeling really good otherwise.

Great job on running the half! Looks like Alan had a good, long run too.

Just finished our move this weekend and looking forward to getting back out on the pavement. Been way too long!

Unfortunately, I've decided to sideline myself from running until my ankle gets better. Running last week definitely set things back a bit.

My brother introduced me to body glide stuff that helps with chafing (he does a lot of biking).

That is the smart thing to do. My wife hurt herself last week during a bike ride where she flipped her bike (Picture what Subby did at much slower speed), and ended up twisting her ankle along with all kinds of other serious cuts/bruises/etc. She has been really itching to get back out running, and I keep telling her that she needs to stay off that ankle and wait for it to fully heal. Rushing back an ankle injury could set you back much further than just waiting a few more days. If you have an ankle injury that is prolonged though, I would get it checked out.


I used body glide religiously on my legs before I bought compression shorts. It was great stuff for me. I haven't ever had any nipple chafing though thankfully, but I imagine it would do great with that too, especially if you are hairy like me and don't want to pull a scene from 40 year old virgin ripping your hairs out with bandaids :)

For Strava users - here is Laurens ten Dam's Strava entry from yesterday's 15th stage of the Tour de France - 140 miles and absolutely brutal climb up Mount Ventoux to finish.

His fitness level is just absolutely sick.

Bike Ride Profile | Ventoux, and the rest.. near Loire Sur Rhône | Times and Records | Strava

look at his heart rate during that climb! That is a crazy climb.

Most of y'all are probably aware that we have a newborn in the house. My wife put the stuff (lanolin) that she has for breast feeding nipple issues on me, and now all is well. That stuff is great!

[Nuke Laloosh]

That don't make me queer, right?

[/Nuke Laloosh]

I know there are a few "data junkies" like me that love looking at their runs in various ways. I stumbled across another site that is pretty cool. It will let you import gpx files or upload from watches etc, if you want. Or if like me you already sync to either garmin connect or nike+, you can set it up to auto-sync so you don't actually have to do any work (which I love).

It has a pretty cool presentation, badges, ranks, etc. So if you like that type of thing, check it out. I think the below link lets you check out my profile (or you may have to click the overview button)

http://smashrun.com/turlos/invite

Dola,

This looks like it only takes your runs by the way and not other activities. (Biking/rowing/etc)

I really enjoyed this cartoon: Why I Run Long Distances.

AS you've seen, I signed up. Really like the info presented on this one, the badges are funny too. It puts thing in perspective, comparing your runs one to another. For example, it told me that tonight's 8 km run was my best paced of my two 8 km runs I've done so far, quite faster than my previous one too...

FM

Superlike!

A new strava challenge is up.

8k as fast as you can between august 1st and august 7th. No maximum time limit for the run this time though, but your pace over the entire activity is counted, not just the fastest 8k. (almost 5 miles).


I have a 3 mile tempo run scheduled for my speed workout that week, with warmup and cooldown that would be 5 miles roughly for me. Guess I'll just do that for my run I suppose.. or maybe I'll warm up and then extend my tempo run to 8k instead of 5k.. who knows! Probably depends if it's still a million degrees outside that week or not.

I'm trying desperately to break into the Master League in Fitleagues..

I just can't seem to sustain enough biking on top of my running schedule to get me there though. I will however knock off one of the achievements this weekend, with a planned trip to my sister's house in Quebec, I'll get my 5th state run in achievement for the 15 points from that. (Even though, technically I've already run in plenty more than 5 states, it only has counted the ones since I've joined I guess)

Edit: And yeah I noticed it counted Ontario as a "state" so I assume Quebec will count as well.

Heh. I've got my weekly 35-minute tempo run already scheduled for 8/6, and it increases to 40 minutes the next Tuesday. I might just go ahead and increase it a week early for this challenge.

Hah. I missed this apparently. I'm in now.

It's on. :)

So far, my long runs haven't felt particularly challenging, just....long. The upcoming week is a lighter one on my training plan, so I'm thinking I'll try to step it up a notch on tomorrow's scheduled 12-miler. The McMillan calculator has me at 9:41-10:57 for my long run pace, so I've been shooting for 10:20, basically right in the middle of that, for the last few weeks. I think I'm going to try to go at a 9:45 pace tomorrow.

From what I understand since the long runs are in aerobic range, they aren't supposed to feel tough cardiovascularly. They help increase your aerobic threshold.

My only issues with long runs generally come from tired legs or leg strength issues. You do more strength workouts than me so you might not have some of the same issues on long runs that I do from an imbalance of muscle strength from non running muscles. For me when I get 9+ miles sometimes I start feeling itband issues but that's about it

Yeah, so far I haven't felt any leg issues at all on the long runs. Maybe you're right and it is the lower body strength training stuff. I have been doing lower body at least once a week, sometimes twice, for over 6 months now. Anyway, I'm open to slowing down, but I'm thinking I'll give 9:45 a try and see how that feels. With a lighter week coming up, it seems like the right time to maybe push myself a little.

Long runs are really about getting your body used to activity for that length of time. So for a half marathon, two hours of exercise.

When I was marathon training I typically ran my long runs about 45 seconds off race pace, which is slightly faster than most books suggest but very comfortable for me.

I think there is a pretty big mental component to long runs. Being mentally strong enough to push through barriers makes it a lot easier once you get to race day.

Heh. I need smaller shorts. Can't believe I'm down to a Large and that's too big. They started slipping down about halfway through the run. By mile 9 or so I had to either hold on to them or pull them up every 15 seconds or so. Slowed me down quite a bit there and just got frustrating. Maintained a 9:45 average for 9ish miles, though, and 9:55 overall, so ultimately I'm not complaining.

Looks like I am getting double credit during the Dirt Search. I have run 22.2 miles in July, but have credit for 71km.

Must be all of the EPO!

I think one of my favorite non-useful parts of various running apps is when it compares my calories burnt to food that you can eat. My run yesterday for instance would be a half gallon of orange juice. Who drinks an entire half gallon of orange juice in one sitting? :)

Or my last week workouts in equivalence of chocolate:

Total calories burned
Food equivalent




Anyone want to eat 144 Dark Chocolate Coffee Beans with me? :)

Hey look - I am third overall in achievement points! :)

You need to find 35 more to catch those ahead of you. I am guessing it is time to start hiking?

just received my Spibelt today, can't wait to try it on a run.

FM

I think my ankle is finally healed enough to get back into this. Probably too late to get my 40k for the month in...

couple of runs done with it and I LOVE it! Holds the iPhone with absolutely no bouncing that I can feel. Very neat little belt.

FM

That is what I wanted to know. I've been looking at one of these forever but was concerned that there would be too much movement. So no problems with things sliding around or bouncing or chafing or anything?

as I said, so far no bouncing. Chafing, well I've only worn it on two runs of 8 and 5k so not sure if there was that much time for chafing to happen. I wear it low, really on the waistband of my short, under my shirt. One concern I might have though is if I'd have to carry a key with my iPhone. The belt is really just one pouch, so I'm thinking that the key could rub against the glass of the phone and scratch it. Might think about putting the key inside a paper towel or something...

FM

I signed up on strava today. Be gentle. I haven't run very much in the past 15 years, but I have knocked out 12 miles in the past two weeks.

I thought I'd have a run tomorrow morning, but my wife is working tonight which leaves me with the baby until I go to work. I guess I won't be running again until Saturday morning.

Awesome! Welcome! Glad to see you hopping on board.

Hopefully I'll be back out there in a few days. I'm still breaking my new orthotics, its taking a little longer than it should, mainly b/c I work from home and am not out all that often, so if I don't think about it, and if I don't manufacture a reason to go out (Monday I went to the mall and wandered around for 2 hours), I'm really not wearing my shoes as much as I'm supposed to to get used to them. Its definitely been a frustrating month!

Haha, so my wife and I went to the sporting good store after dinner tonight just to look around (plus I wanted another pair of compression boxers to run in) and came out with a new collection of running shirts from under armour..






They had other various colors and styles.. but they are actual synthetic running shirt material.

I totally would have gotten one if they didn't cost $45 each. :)

that's great! welcome aboard!!! :)

FM

Ran a 5k tonight, have another one on Saturday morning.

Shaved a minute off my times from two months ago. Assuming weather stays nice, I want to get greedy and see if I can take another 30 seconds off Monday and get down to 25 minutes.

Oh, and on Saturday I need to remember to hit the watch to "end run" when I cross the finish line ... not 9 minutes later after grabbing water, an apple, and chatting with a dozen co-workers :)

Haha, that's happened to me a few times, too. Whaddya mean it took 45 minutes to run that 5k?! Argh!

Dola

On a personal note, I managed to give myself a massive blister last week playing Ultimate, which has kept me out of action for 7 days and counting. It is so bad that I've been hurting my ankle and my other foot because I'm walking in such an odd manner.

I won't be able to get any runs in over the weekend, so if I'm lucky my next run will be on Monday. But that assumes my blister heals up, which so far is not going well. Very frustrating to be put out so long by such a lame 'injury'.

First run in with strava. I almost jumped when the voice came in at a mile.

It's pretty nice to compare the speeds of my "easy" runs today to harder workouts a few months ago. Less than 3 months ago (4/30), a 30-minute run at 10:03 per mile yielded a 151 heart rate. Today I did 30 minutes at 9:35, and the heart rate was 141 despite warmer temperatures.

Getting back into it today after moving and then a week long vacation. Tried out a trail near our new place which seems like a good place to run. It has dirt, grass and pavement to run on with a decent amount of elevation changes.

I use RunKeeper, and I love it, but I have a serious gripe. Is there any way to simply make it not talk? I don't mind the time/distance cues, but I don't want it to announce 'activity started' or 'activity stopped.'

The worst part is if I turn the phone volume all the way off, RunKeeper will deign to see fit as to change the volume back to max for starting an activity.

Settings > Audio Cues.

So I've been back from my trip to the Philippines. I didn't get much running out there except for that one really short one early on in my trip.

I can't wait to get back to the pavement, but I gave away my shoes to my BIL in the PI. I was due for a new pair anyways, so I'll likely be hitting up the store tonight or tomorrow to get fitted.

My intervals this morning were completely backwards from the past few times I've done intervals. I was able to keep a 7:45mi/min pace for 1/2 a mile pretty consistently on all 6 attempts. But boy were my legs hating me for it, and really felt like my limiting factor instead of it being my cardio this time.

I think that tells me that all of the aerobic runs have been helping me improve greatly (as they reportedly should)... it also tells me that the fatigue from running 6 days a week for over a month is starting to tire me out a bit. (probably didn't help that I had a softball game last night too)

I think it also tells me that I need to stop being a wuss and stop skipping out on my strength and core exercises. I keep skipping them to do cycling or more running or whatever. Those are just as important though for me right now probably.

2.3 miles today that started in the rain. Got mixed up on my c25k and runkeeper apps but Strava was started on time.

My new kicks.



Time to break 'em in. :)

Almost 2 weeks without any exercise now. Starting to feel pretty gross. Foot is finally starting to feel less tender, so I'm going to attempt to play Ultimate again tomorrow, but if it starts to feel sore I'm going to pull out immediately. Hopefully I can get a normal run in on Thursday if everything holds up.

Is this all from the blister or the ankle soreness as well?

Just the blister, it was crazy deep. The ankle seems ok over the past few days as the pain from the blister has mostly subsided, allowing me to walk with a proper motion. If I didn't have Ultimate tomorrow I'd probably have run today, but I decided to give it one more day without any action before jamming it back in those cleats.

Has anyone dealt with hip flexor issues before? I've been having a devil of a time with my hips (especially my left hip) tightening up after I've run. The tightness and pain usually takes several days to resolve. This morning, I found some stretches I can do to help. Hopefully they work. Any advice would be welcomed. I feel like my various hip\ankle issues have really been sidetracking my efforts.

Having pain in your hips while running. | runner unleashed

I haven't had hip flexor issues. Only hip issues I've had was from ITB, which is on the outsides. I've become a definite believer though in foam rolling anything that is sore. Looks like your link you posted also shows some foam roller exercises you can do. I bought my foam roller off of amazon for like $6 and it's helped me through numerous nagging sorenesses.

+1 on foam rolling. I absolutely love mine!

Something like this?

http://www.amazon.com/SPRI-Super-Hig...f=pd_sbs_hpc_3

I strained one earlier this year during my rehab, and then tweaked it a bit more on a run a weeks or so later. Since I've specifically started stretching them, not had a problem (touch wood)