Is it only me?

[Cali Girl]

I'm new to running and just finished week 8 of the cto5k program so am up to 3 miles, 2.5ish of it running and the rest my warm up and cool down walks. For maybe the first 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile I suffer. I feel out of breath almost as soon as I start, my feet and legs feel tight and I have to talk myself through it. I know it will pass but my brain starts thinking... this is too hard.



Once past that point my joints/muscles loosen up, my breathing evens out and I settle into a nice comfortable pace, but until then it is just rough going. Is it only me this happens to? Maybe because I'm a noob or does it take others a little bit to settle in to a run as well?

 

[Norm Deplume]

 The mantra that I repeat

The mantra that I repeat regularly at the biginning of runs is: "the first mile sucks".

 

[Jimmy Hart]

it's not just you.  it

it's not just you. it happens a large number of runners. it still happens to me and i ran professionally. for some people it's just the way your body responds to the sudden change in work load. when i ran competitively i would sometimes run miles before my actual race trying to get myself already past that point.

is your warm up long enough? are you feeling that way after the warm up or is that during your warm up? i still to this day know that my first mile is just going to be unpleasant and i push through it knowing that the rest of my run will feel great.

i have seen in some runners that this goes away as they get stronger and in some cases like me it never does and it just becomes part of your norm. i hope it gets easier for you

 

[Barefoot Gentile]

You are not a noob,  what you

You are not a noob, what you experience is very normal. I can take a 5 mile run and by the time it's almost over I just start to feel in my comfort zone. It takes me awhile as well. I just started to feel good at mile 15 during my marathon, right when I hit mile 15 I felt like a million bucks, everything was connecting.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

It takes me about 1 - 2 miles

It takes me about 1 - 2 miles to get in my groove. It used to take 3 - 4 miles. It was much harder back then (but I ran in shoes then too). It's now a lot easier, and although I believe barefoot running uses less of my energy, I really think the load feels less and in a shorter period of time/distance than before because of my body's physical experience of doing it for so long. So...it gets easier and it doesn't take as long to get in the groove the more we progress down the road.

 

[Cali Girl]

@Jimmy Hart -- My warm up is

@Jimmy Hart -- My warm up is 5 min of walking. I don't feel that way until I actually start running.



@adam james -- I can't even imagine running 15+ miles so not feeling good until that point is just baffling to me. lol



Thanks all, I was just curious if it was only me. Once I settle in I really enjoy myself but getting to that point some days takes a lot of talking myself into.

 

[Barefoot Gentile]

Cali girl:   It wasn't as

Cali girl: It wasn't as extreme as not feeling good, I felt good but then at mile 15 I felt super good. I think it I was experiencing a "runners high" at that point.

I think that example was a bit extreme, but I totally get what you are saying.

 

[Jimmy Hart]

i would try upping the warm

i would try upping the warm up's intensity a little bit. do a little jogging or hopping around. get the juices flowing. walking and running are two completely different things and while walking will help warm up the feet...doesnt really get to much else

 

[Norm Deplume]

i typically skip the walking

i typically skip the walking when I go out. I just start off with some really slow running, and it does the trick for me. In the winter I do more bouncing around, to warm up the muscles first.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I find that stretching before

I find that stretching before a run makes my calves tight during the run, and it usually takes a while to work that tightness out. Once I stopped warming up, my runs got a lot easier. I just start out slow...well...I actually finish slow too, but that's just me, a turtle, and that seems to be a good-enough warm up for me. Others may need a little more stretching though.

 

[Cali Girl]

Wow, I hadn't thought to skip

Wow, I hadn't thought to skip the walking part but heck, I'm willing to try it. My runs are very slow as well, TJ. A turtle could probably pass me as of right now but week by week I feel my cardio capabilities improving and for now that makes me a happy camper.



Thanks all. On my runs next week I will skip the walking and just start out with a slow run and then will update on how it goes.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Well pooh, Barry.  Your

Well pooh, Barry. Your charts didn't show up. We need to fix this part of the site. Sorry. One way to get them to show up in the meantime is to host them elsewhere, like photobucket, google, etc., then point them to that site.

 

[AlmostBarefoot_Barry]

Barefoot TJ wrote:Well pooh,

Well pooh, Barry. Your charts didn't show up. We need to fix this part of the site. Sorry. One way to get them to show up in the meantime is to host them elsewhere, like photobucket, google, etc., then point them to that site.

Pooh is right. The images were present in the preview, and in the post right after I first posted. But, you are right, they subsequently dont appear - although the image area is still present. Strange ....

I added a link to the remote image as well.

- The images really tell the story, as you can see in my Blog post:

http://barrysearle.blogspot.com/2010/05/good-warmup-critical-to-having-good-run.html

 

[Matt]

I do the same.  The

I do the same. The beginnings of my runs are so slow, that it might appear to an untrained eye that I'm just standing still. However, I've learned to not rush the process. I concentrate on keeping my effort really easy the first 15 to 20 minutes. That might mean really slow running, and sometimes it means really slow running and a lot of walking thrown in. But eventually, the body finds the right zone, and I take it from there.

 

[Norm Deplume]

(No subject)

 

[Matt]

I see it here. Your graph

I see it here.



Your graph looks a lot like my subjective experience. It's that first part of the run that is always the toughest part.

 

[Norm Deplume]

 Did that work to get the

Did that work to get the image embedded? It looks like it to me, but it might just be my cache that is making it appear so.



(My trick is to click "Disable Rich Text" then put the HTML code for embedding the image. If you try to use HTML in the Rich Text Editor, it won't work.)

 

[Barefoot Terry]

When I ran my 8 last weekend,

When I ran my 8 last weekend, I almost gave up at 2.5 miles because I thought I wouldn't have the endurance to make it to the 8. Part of it is whether or not you are in condition for the distance you are running, the other part is your head trying to get you to quit. I often get this problem when running alone. With a group it is harder to quit.

When I was in marathon training, if I had to run anything LESS than 8 miles it was torture. I always wanted to quit by mile 4. Tell me I was running 18, no problem whatsoever. It's all in your head.

Good luck in your training, Cali Girl. You'll find a groove and the miles will fly by!

 

[Longboard]

Norm Deplume wrote: After

After the first 10 minutes your HR stays below 110BPM? Seriously?

Wow, I kind of like that default avitar!

 

[AlmostBarefoot_Barry]

Longboard wrote: After the

After the first 10 minutes your HR stays below 110BPM? Seriously? Wow, I kind of like that default avitar!

I can usually keep it below 120 or 125 (with a proper warmup), my Aerobic Threshold is around 118. On that particular run I was trying 6:1 Run:Walk intervals to further keep it below 110, just as an experiment.