Anybody else run races (5k, 5 miler, 10k, half marathons)

[oc16]

I just did a 5k yesterday, about the 30th or so race I have done in the last 15 years (I'm 46) and ran X-Country last two years of high school. All of my races have been 5k's, 4 miles and 5 miles. My goal is to compete in a 10k this year.

While running races have never been a great place to meet women (they seem cliqueish) I do love the endorphin release and sense of accomplishment of finishing a race without stopping despite feeling like you are going to die of fatigue.

My relationship with running is love/hate. While I'm running I realize "this sucks" since it is hard and quite boring, however that "runners high" always brings me back for more.

Any other competitive runners here?

 

[SW15]

Not a competitive runner, but enjoyed reading this short anecdote.

If someone is to have success in meeting women through running, it might be through run clubs. If a man typically goes out to walking/running paths to meet women, it's going to be rather difficult. Most women either have earbuds in and/or are moving too fast to field an approach. However, the ratios of female runners/walkers to male runners/walkers is a decent ratio.

 

[TheEveningChronograph]

Not anymore. I ran a bunch of 5k's before, a couple of 10k's, one amazing 12k which was my favorite event of them all, and 8 miles a couple of times on my own. I would have loved to do the Baltimore 10-miler where they give you cold beers at the finish line hahaha.

 

[Ricky]

Yep did a marathon at the end of april. Do it more for the mental challenge. It was my 4th one but i am more of a lifter and sprinter

 

[yellowstoneman2012]

Yep did a marathon at the end of april. Do it more for the mental challenge. It was my 4th one but i am more of a lifter and sprinter

Good for you, I cannot imagine running 26.1 miles. A five-mile race is far and grueling enough...lol

 

[BackInTheGame78]

Nope. My joints won't tolerate it and I would never do it to begin with due to muscle wasting that occurs with distance running/training.

 

[Ricky]

Nope. My joints won't tolerate it and I would never do it to begin with due to muscle wasting that occurs with distance running/training.

most people dont lose that much weight while training for marathons but they also dont make resistance training a priority

if you eat in a surplus and weight train muscle loss is while training and completing one is minimal. I wouldnt be a chronic marathon runner though.

injuries definitely are higher among runners than most other forms of exercise

 

[sangheilios]

most people dont lose that much weight while training for marathons but they also dont make resistance training a priority

if you eat in a surplus and weight train muscle loss is while training and completing one is minimal. I wouldnt be a chronic marathon runner though.

injuries definitely are higher among runners than most other forms of exercise

That's not true. Running causes a lot of damage on a muscular level and it will most certainly have an impact. If you were weight training with your lower body and started incorporating a large volume of running into your routine you'd find that it would be difficult for your legs to recover and that you'd be much weaker in the gym. Given enough time you'd begin to lose actual strength and muscle simply because you cannot put in the same amount of work in with the weights. Now, I'm not talking about running a mile a couple times per week, I'm talking slogging long runs multiple times per week.

I'm referring to training for long endurance races and not things like middle distance or even sprinting. Sprinters do a lot of strength work and even people that are running for the mile and under would benefit tremendously from lifting, as there is still a substantial anaerobic component to those events.

 

[IKO69]

I definitely wouldn't call myself a competitive runner loool but I've done rock n roll @ san diego and two other events here (Tropical). They were 5ks. I also can't say I met any women through them but that was also never my intention. The people were always very kind and you feel the comradarie. I did it for the challenge but of course the 5k is the bottom rung of the ladder.

I train 6 days a week. T,T,Sat are my lifting days and I do about 30-40 minutes on my eliptical. I go at good pace to work up a sweat but hold back. M,W,F are my cardio days I go for a 1 hr run on those days around the neighborhood. It's almost 4 am here and in about 1-2 hrs I will be getting it in on my eliptical (I'm an early riser).

I probably won't push myself to do higher than a 5k. I don't mind cardio but not sure I love it enough to train something like a half marathon or more.

***Let me know what y'all routines are like, I'd like to hear what you're doing (in terms of running)

 

[Murk]

I ran the London Marathon twice for cancer research UK, about 6 and 5 years ago, I was smoking cigarettes at the time too. I have 0 interest in ever running 1 mile let alone 26 miles. I used to run 5k's for fitness too but I hated it. I will run when playing sports and that's it. Walking only, I'm already going to be an old dad, I need to save my knees/joints.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

That's not true. Running causes a lot of damage on a muscular level and it will most certainly have an impact. If you were weight training with your lower body and started incorporating a large volume of running into your routine you'd find that it would be difficult for your legs to recover and that you'd be much weaker in the gym. Given enough time you'd begin to lose actual strength and muscle simply because you cannot put in the same amount of work in with the weights. Now, I'm not talking about running a mile a couple times per week, I'm talking slogging long runs multiple times per week.

I'm referring to training for long endurance races and not things like middle distance or even sprinting. Sprinters do a lot of strength work and even people that are running for the mile and under would benefit tremendously from lifting, as there is still a substantial anaerobic component to those events.

Yes you will become skinny fat from loss of muscle mass. No thanks. Activating the wrong system in the body...one that raises Cortisol levels and stores fat instead of raising T levels and builds muscle.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

I ran the London Marathon twice for cancer research UK, about 6 and 5 years ago, I was smoking cigarettes at the time too. I have 0 interest in ever running 1 mile let alone 26 miles. I used to run 5k's for fitness too but I hated it. I will run when playing sports and that's it. Walking only, I'm already going to be an old dad, I need to save my knees/joints.

You can literally walk yourself to whatever body fat percentage you need to be at. More strenuous cardio should be done for conditioning and heart health purposes only, not for losing weight.

Most people do it all wrong when they are trying to lose weight...they also don't realize there is a big difference between losing weight and losing fat. They are not the same thing.

 

[EyeBRollin]

I used to run often. It hurts too much. I’ve switched to road cycling.

Agree on the endorphins. They feel amazing!

 

[Murk]

You can literally walk yourself to whatever body fat percentage you need to be at. More strenuous cardio should be done for conditioning and heart health purposes only, not for losing weight.

Most people do it all wrong when they are trying to lose weight...they also don't realize there is a big difference between losing weight and losing fat. They are not the same thing.

Yeah just walking for me, I walk and talk, I get 7k steps just working from home on my phone. I make an effort to go out each day to walk and make calls pushing to 10-15k

Lifting and diet only with some walking.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

Yeah just walking for me, I walk and talk, I get 7k steps just working from home on my phone. I make an effort to go out each day to walk and make calls pushing to 10-15k

Lifting and diet only with some walking.

Doing it properly...anytime you can walk you should do it because it all adds up over the course of a day...talking on the phone is an easy way to get steps in...I don't do it often but I tend to naturally do it because I am a pacer while talking on the phone haha...

Pretty much the only strenuous cardio type stuff I do is when I add the weighted vest to things like hill climbs which I do sparingly, or do weighted sled pulls/pushes...and sex.

 

[FlexpertHamilton]

I want to be able run a fast 5k and can/will train around that goal. It would be cool to do a 10k if I could in less than 45m but ehh, I'm just not a fan of any long distance running.

I much prefer doing sprints, and I always feel fantastic for days after doing them. I also enjoy long and challenging wilderness hikes at a fast walking pace (with short bursts of running thrown in).

However, for some reason long "jogs" tend to make me feel horrible, while mountain hikes don't. In fact I recently did a 16 mi hike in about 4-5 hrs (1500ft gain and rough terrain) and felt amazing the entire time. I've tried cross country "jogs" and I hated it. Is there a major difference in physiology in brisk walking vs jogging? I know sprinting is basically anaerobic.

 

[sangheilios]

I want to be able run a fast 5k and can/will train around that goal. It would be cool to do a 10k if I could in less than 45m but ehh, I'm just not a fan of any long distance running.

I much prefer doing sprints, and I always feel fantastic for days after doing them. I also enjoy long and challenging wilderness hikes at a fast walking pace (with short bursts of running thrown in).

However, for some reason long "jogs" tend to make me feel horrible, while mountain hikes don't. In fact I recently did a 16 mi hike in about 4-5 hrs (1500ft gain and rough terrain) and felt amazing the entire time. I've tried cross country "jogs" and I hated it. Is there a major difference in physiology in brisk walking vs jogging? I know sprinting is basically anaerobic.

Here's my take on this.

There have been a lot of studies that have shown walking in the wilderness lowers stress levels and is great for overall mood, they even compared this to walking in an urban environment and it did not have the same effect. Walking has significantly less impact on your joints than long distance running would. Here is the big variable though, long distance running is going to greatly increase your overall cortisol levels, whereas walking may not do this to anywhere near the same degree, if at all.

I personally believe that walking is the primary means of longer distance traveling on foot. Ancient humans didn't jog to go from A to B, they walked, in fact you'll find that this is the case for the vast majority of other animals that travel good distances. I believe when ancient humans were actually running it would have been in relatively short bursts of up to a mile. I think the best way you could train like this would be sprints, up a hill is a great method for this, that are relatively short with long rest. Then you could incorporate stuff like some 400 meter runs, where you run the course and walk the course as recovery. Then even something as simple as running a mile, this is great for conditioning and something you can do really quickly. I used to run a mile after doing lower body work, either lifting or doing some sprints, and I honestly enjoyed it. My best was a little over 6 minutes at the end of my workout, so I was probably good for under 6 minutes if I was totally fresh.

I also really like hiking, though it can be difficult on the knees depending upon the terrain.

 

[SW15]

I also really like hiking, though it can be difficult on the knees depending upon the terrain.

Great way to meet women too. One can hang out at the bottom of the trail and intercept women starting/ending hikes. On actual hikes, there are resting point and the summit for approaches too.

Then you could incorporate stuff like some 400 meter runs, where you run the course and walk the course as recovery. Then even something as simple as running a mile, this is great for conditioning and something you can do really quickly. I used to run a mile after doing lower body work, either lifting or doing some sprints, and I honestly enjoyed it.

Very good idea!

 

[Murk]

I don't do it often but I tend to naturally do it because I am a pacer while talking on the phone haha...

Yeah this is me, I can never sit down on the phone, I pace in general, just mindlessly walking around at home sometimes while thinking. Definitely all adds up

 

[FlexpertHamilton]

Here's my take on this.

There have been a lot of studies that have shown walking in the wilderness lowers stress levels and is great for overall mood, they even compared this to walking in an urban environment and it did not have the same effect. Walking has significantly less impact on your joints than long distance running would. Here is the big variable though, long distance running is going to greatly increase your overall cortisol levels, whereas walking may not do this to anywhere near the same degree, if at all.

I personally believe that walking is the primary means of longer distance traveling on foot. Ancient humans didn't jog to go from A to B, they walked, in fact you'll find that this is the case for the vast majority of other animals that travel good distances. I believe when ancient humans were actually running it would have been in relatively short bursts of up to a mile. I think the best way you could train like this would be sprints, up a hill is a great method for this, that are relatively short with long rest. Then you could incorporate stuff like some 400 meter runs, where you run the course and walk the course as recovery. Then even something as simple as running a mile, this is great for conditioning and something you can do really quickly. I used to run a mile after doing lower body work, either lifting or doing some sprints, and I honestly enjoyed it. My best was a little over 6 minutes at the end of my workout, so I was probably good for under 6 minutes if I was totally fresh.

I also really like hiking, though it can be difficult on the knees depending upon the terrain.

As far as I know, it's speculated that ancient humans chased their prey on the savannah by jogging until it died of exhaustion, similar to wolf packs, I have heard humans innately have much more endurance than other mammals but it still feels unnatural to me.