Looking for running pals...

That doesn't surprise me at all.. the knee thing. One of the biggest complaints of longtime distance runners happens to be knee and shin pain, followed by ankle and foot pain. I'm sure that heavy mileage on hard surfaces over years of time does nothing to alleviate that, right? I'm probabably in better shape NOW that I was when I was running when I was 17, which sounds bizarre but when I ran in high school, I had a 17 year old body. I only took PE in school as long as I was required to take it, which was for 2 years. I quit as soon as possible because... well, I was a girl and in the early 90s, we liked poofy hair, and running and sweating and doing sports really was the enemy of poofy hair. Not to mention I lived in the humidity capital of the northwest, and humidity and rain is also a huge enemy of poofy hair. It's probably a GOOD thing that I got into running and more sports the year after I discontinued PE though, because it helped to keep me in decent condition and offset the fact that I ate like Michael Phelps on speed, including as much junk food as I could get my hands on. Really terrible for a competitive high school runner but again, what did I know, I was 17 and I loved junk food. What I have learned since is that you have to do other things than JUST cardio, it's important to have a strong core which is why some weight training, even just balance and body weight - is helpful. I keep meaning to get back to TRX class at my gym, I'm thinking at least maybe once, maybe twice a month, but I stopped doing stuff like that about a month before my relay and I honestly have not gone back because right now I'm sick. Whenever I take a class or do core or weight training, I am sore in a completely different way than JUST from running, and I didn't want to chance being more sore than I already knew I was going to be from the race. I have used a recumbent bike at the gym for a change up for cardio - when I broke my toe last year since I couldn't walk or run, but I'm not a biker by trade, I don't enjoy it. I can certainly ride much faster than I can run, but the chances of me falling over or colliding with something and wiping out is much greater. I don't think I have ever had any sort of injury/collision accident while running lol.

Yeah, core strength is vitally important to all aspects of life as it gives you proper posture in everything you do. I just spent the week at a health retreat where we did barefoot running every morning at 6am. We did it around some sporting fields on the grass and although I had not run for fitness for many years, by the end of the week,I was powering along and could have kept going a lot longer. The grass was wet and muddy and often it was raining too, but it was amazing! Barefoot running improves your balance, posture, allows your muscles to work as they are meant to, which leads to less injuries. There is a book called "Born to run" which has a lot of information on this. We followed up the running with yoga and this core workout in conjunction with the running every day, was the combination that made it so easy for me to run by the end of the week. Eating light, nutritious food also helped.

Nice to meet you! My 200 mile race was a relay I ran with 12 other people - don't worry, I did not run 200 miles in two days. I ran 22 miles total over that 2 day period, broken up into 4 'legs', so it was not all at once and I had time inbetween to rest and recoup a bit. I enjoy running so I think any running event I might be interested in, but running only. I'm not really interested much in tri events... where you also have to swim and bike, or mud or obstacle runs where you have to deal with mud and obstacles. I zone out a bit when I run, I have a rocking playlist of music I put on shuffle, so I just run and follow the course and enjoy the music and the scenery. I find sometimes that it is difficult to explain what is so enjoyable about running to someone who is a non runner and hates it. It's one of those things that may be an acquired taste and may also be personality-driven.

Running is my 'feel good' thing, it's what I always do when I need to get away from other things, if things are dicked up.. as well as when things are good. I still have to laugh at my friend who claims she hates running, because she runs very well in spite... but it is WAY more fun if you don't hate it. I run with my friends sometimes when timing works out, but I'm just as apt to run alone. I hope you enjoy it when you start, but warning, if you do, you'll probably never stop.

Well I was hoping to connect with some runners here on mylot. I have a whole group of people local now, my team(s) from the race we just did. Prior to that, all of my running buddies lived in another state where I grew up and used to run. I have a friend who lives in Vermont whose wife runs half marathons, but other than that, the closest thing I had were a few people I'd met at the gym who started competing. One of the women I don't even see hardly at all, she is probably still running, but she has 5 kids, a single, triplets, and another single, and she is very involved in their school - since my daughter goes to a different school, I just don't see her. I spent the majority of my time training in the last month outside whenever possible, so I wasn't at the gym either, and i'm all over the clock as far as when I go in there, IF I use the gym, so it's not like I am there at the same time every day or every week either. I've never run a marathon... I used to consider myself a distance runner, and I guess I still do. The distances we ran in track and cross country in high school are NOTHING compared to 'distance' as far as competing in races as adults - unless I stick with a 5K. I like 5Ks but they are FAST, the joy of running a 10K or maybe a half marathon is that you aren't really all out sprinting for any part of them, just running along and enjoying your run. That doesn't of course mean being lazy or talking to people, I question the sanity of people who pay an entry fee for a race and then do something like that. Most races aren't free, and sometimes there are some nice perks for top finishers overall, gender, and age group. The problem with running outside HERE is that we hit triple digit temps in the summer. I guess I will have to get used to it. I'll reward myself by running and then diving into the pool when I get home lol. I do other things too, sometimes classes at the gym or I run on the treadmill but I don't find anything quite as enjoyable as running outside.