The Running Thread

[apl68]

I love running, but I live in a very very hot part of the country so no running for me till late September.  In the meantime, I'm trying to stay in shape from home so that it isn't too awful to get back into the swing of things when the weather cools down.

It's the same for me, although my exercise is walking and bicycle riding.  I have to get up early to get in as much exercise as possible before work.  But my medication has made it harder to get up early.

[pink_]

Thank you for starting us up again over here Spork!

I overdid it sometime in June, is I spent much of the last 6 weeks walking and am only now starting to get back into running. I'm usually a morning person, but when I shifted to walking I also shifted to the evening because I've also got a new puppy in the house, and mornings are tricky right now due to housebreaking challenges.

But I signed up back in March for the GVRAT1000K, which is a virtual event in which participants have from May 1 (or whenever they sign up) until August 31, to walk or run 635 miles (or 1021K), which is the distance along a route that transverses the state of Tennessee. I have 75 miles to go.

[traductio]

I made it out again tonight (I always go after my kids are in bed) for another 6.5 km. It was fantastic -- the cooler weather (low 20s / upper 60s, depending on your unit of choice) has given me an energy I hadn't had in a while.

And pink_, the GVRAT1000K sounds challenging. I did quick mental math and realized I'll do maybe a quarter of that distance during that time.

[nonsensical]

I've been running outdoors since March, when my gym shut down for quarantine. I don't like running, but I very much like how I feel after I've run, and not exercising makes me antsy, so, here we are. I usually go 3-4 times a week, around 35 minutes at a time, with some walking interspersed with jogging. I'm very impressed with all of you who run long distances on a regular basis!

[downer]

I hesitate to raise the issue here, since it has been discussed in other threads in some detail, but I wonder if you wear a mask when you run.

I went for a run this morning. Probably the closest I came to another individual was about 10 feet, and that was entirely predictable and very brief. There are no places where I'd be forced to be close to another person. Most streets here are wide with few people on them, and it is always possible to cross the road there is someone else coming up. I passed a few other runners and nobody was wearing a mask. I wasn't either.

On the other hand, I have gone running in Brooklyn a few times in recent months, and there, I always wear a mask. Many others do not, though.

[traductio]

I don't, but I run at about 9:30 at night through a neighborhood that at one time belonged to a first-ring suburb. It's spacious enough that, at that time of night, I run past a half dozen people at most, but I can always maintain a good three meters between us. If I were running somewhere more densely populated, I'd wear a mask. (Whenever I'm inside a place other than my house, I always have a mask.)

[retired_prof]

I am another recent convert to running.  I typically run 4-5 miles about 5 times a week.

I live in one of the southern COVID hotspots. I don't wear a mask while running and I don't see anyone else doing so.  I occasionally see masked walkers or bicyclists but they are few and far between.  I think the weather here would make masked running challenging.  This morning on a downtown trail I saw a group of 20 or so children, probably from the local YMCA, all bunched up and taking up most of the 8 foot wide (guess) trail.  They had 3-4 20-something councilors who were bunched up with them.  None had masks.  I see them out like this often.  I usually run on less-crowded trails or on the street.

My city has an indoor mask ordinance but the state does not. 

[apl68]

I don't wear a mask when I'm out exercising.  Foot and bicycle traffic in our town are light enough that social distancing outside is not a problem.

[pgher]

I don't wear a mask when I'm out exercising.  Foot and bicycle traffic in our town are light enough that social distancing outside is not a problem.

Same here. During busy times of the day/week, I run on residential streets instead of the path through the park. That way if I encounter someone, I can just go out into the street and keep my distance.

[Sun_Worshiper]

I don't wear a mask while running.  I do keep my distance from others.

Local rules in my area say you don't have to wear a mask while exercising outdoors, as long as you keep distance from others.

[traductio]

Ooh! 8 km tonight! That felt really good, and it puts me within 2 km of my goal for the summer. There aren't any races to do, but I've been wanting to build up to 10 km for a while now, eventually to a half-marathon. (A half-marathon was the gift I promised myself when I got tenure. My spouse does not understand how that is a gift one gives oneself, but I suspect you all will.)

[spork]

Ooh! 8 km tonight! That felt really good, and it puts me within 2 km of my goal for the summer. There aren't any races to do, but I've been wanting to build up to 10 km for a while now, eventually to a half-marathon. (A half-marathon was the gift I promised myself when I got tenure. My spouse does not understand how that is a gift one gives oneself, but I suspect you all will.)

Congratulations. You are on your way to the half-marathon. The trick is to add mileage in very small increments.

One piece of advice: when I was running 30 miles per week, I developed plantar fasciitis in addition to the undiagnosed metatarsal fractures, despite custom orthotics (I have flat feet). What helped the most was stretching my calf muscles and Achilles tendons several times a day. I actually built an inclined plane that I stand on with one foot when working at my standing desk. When I had the plantar fasciitis, I could not sit on my heels when kneeling on the floor -- not flexible enough. Now I can.

[downer]

I find that doing a 30 min yoga session after a longish run helps a lot.

[traductio]

Thanks, Downer and Spork -- I'll take your advice to heart. I've incorporated a lot more stretching (before and after) than I used to do, as recommended by my spouse (a yoga instructor with a keen sense of how to use yoga in combination with other forms of exercise), and I've found that it's made a big difference. I'll also work on the stretching throughout the day. I have to keep reminding myself that I can't do now what I could do at age 18 (which is something I remember my parents saying when, well, they were the age I am now).

[pink_]

I hesitate to raise the issue here, since it has been discussed in other threads in some detail, but I wonder if you wear a mask when you run.

The mask mandate where I live only applies indoors and only to specific kinds of places. Like a few others who have posted, I live in a Southern state that is one of the worst for Covid, and if I had to wear a mask to run, I would, but I'm really glad that I don't have to.

I have a couple gaiters that I will wear around my neck and pull up over my face if I know that I will be somewhere where I can't give a wide berth to anyone else I pass. There's a trail that is pretty close that I love to run on, but it's very rare that I am there without any other people, and it's not wide enough to distance so I'll cover my face when I get within 15 feet or so and keep it up until I'm safely passed. But nobody else I've seen there does the same, so I've not been back in a while.

Most of the time, I run on the roads and just cross the street on the rare occasions that I see other pedestrians. I choose my routes to avoid other people as much as possible. I'm also usually running or walking at what most people consider dinnertime, so there's less foot traffic then too.