Running • Page 113

i had to do this as punishment for losing a work fantasy league except all my coworkers are mormon so i had to do it with 12 oz of whole milk lol. even better, i had to dress up in snowclothes and do it in 100 degree heat.

 

A friend and I actually recently agreed that next time we’re both toward the peak of training cycle we’re going to try a beer mile on the track where we do our speed work

 

That is one of the funniest things I've ever read.

 

A whole milk mile sounds so much worse than a beer mile.

 

Milk would make me puke 100%.

I think I’m built for a beer mile.

 

I say that because that fireball shot 22 miles into my last full made me feel invincible for two miles.

 

Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard Finishes the Western States 100-Miler: ‘I Was Seeing Double’

1) this is bananas!
2) that’s my college friend Nick!! (He trained Ben)

 

The beer I drank last night made me feel like hell on my 4 miler this morning. Maybe pounding one in the middle would have helped actually.

 

I actually picked up an alcohol free whiskey to try since I’m switching to 5am runs here soon.

 

Yup, I’ve been switching to morning runs the last month because of the heat and I had to stop having a beer with dinner because it made me feel like shit on the run. Getting old sucks ass.

 

Finally sat down and tried to make a plan to increase my weekly mileage to an eight week peak of 60 miles a week before my next marathon. I think that might be biting off far more than I can realistically chew at my current pace, but so is BQing and that’s the goal.

It would be a little over 1600 miles between now and an April 12th marathon, increasing from my current ~20 miles a week at 1-2 miles a week up until really kicking into high gear after Thanksgiving. My prior peak weeks have been in the mid 40s, so it’s a pretty big jump up.

Did the mileage math and I’d have to buy five pairs of shoes between October and April. Yikes.

I’ve been puttering through my work burnout, so I’m curious if getting back in a routine would help clear the mind. My runs have not been easy this year, but I’m better when I do them.

 

How often are you replacing your shoes? I know there’s differing opinions on this, and that it can vary from runner to runner or shoe to shoe, but I typically take each pair of training shoes to 450 miles.

 

Every 300 or so is when they get retired to lawn care shoes. That’s about when I start to feel it in my feet that I need new ones. I took a couple pairs to 350 and it wasn’t worth it.

I suspect I weigh 50 more pounds than you, which could also be impacting this.

 

I really, really need to start tracking that accurately. Over the past few years I’ve let two different pairs of trainers wear until they started giving me lower leg pain and it was such an avoidable issue if I’d just taken note of the date I last bought new shoes

 

I let Strava track for me.

 

I’ve always needed (or so I’ve been told) inserts for my shoes because I have bad ankles or whatever and a few weeks ago I realized I had done a 3-4 mile run without ANY inserts in the shoes. Not even the ones the shoes come with since I toss those right away. Made me wonder if I’ve been getting hosed this entire time or if it just happened to be a run that didn’t cause any issues but over time I’d suffer. Inserts are 50 bucks a pop and I usually buy a pair with every pair or shoes so I don’t need to constantly be swapping them around. Never gonna forget that I ran and felt just fine without them but not sure I should risk not using them. Feel like I’m still suffering for trying Hoka’s for a few weeks two years ago, don’t need more set backs as I want to get back on track to doing 4-5 marathons a year in 2026.

 

It's probably a lot of little things, but I would guess that when you started using the inserts you probably did need them, but now, maybe your body doesn't because its changed over time.

Everyone is different of course, but when I had a stress fracture in my leg, I had some cascading issues afterwards with my hips and core that was weakening my running economy and I was pronating more than I ever had to that point. However, as more time passed from the injury healing and strengthening the hips, core, and ankles, my need for the inserts went away. I typically have and still run in neutral cushion trainers and was using a corrective insert for pronating. Worked well for me, but over time, I noticed soreness running with the inserts and went back to just using the shoes as is. I still have the inserts in case I need them again (fully back the Powerstep line), but often our needs change over time.

 

Have you considered still doing a fall marathon or a few half marathons just to be able to roll the training over and have a better foundation for the spring training?
Also, I agree that upping your mileage is likely necessary for your marathon goal and age group, but what is your plan for doing more speed?

 

I was looking for a local half or two, but we’re pretty low locally on fall races (that are affordable). I did two fulls in 2024 and a half this spring, so I’ve got a better base to fall back on than it probably feels like right now.

I’ve been reading a lot about different speed workouts. I’ll probably be doing one tempo run a week and one sprint workout, but not sure if that’s gonna be on a track or a treadmill.

 

I’m not sure if I just ran 3 miles or swam 3 miles considering the humidity.

 

did my local 10k this morning. feels like i’m finally getting some consistency after being injured off and on for the last two years or so (knock on wood)

some kids finished with sub 5 per mile paces. mind blown.

 

The high school/college kids really come out for the summer races and it’s always a humbling reminder at how good they are at short or middle distances.