Any Runners?

[Tasty]

I thought I would start a running thread, if there are any other runners here, to dsicuss all things running. Here's a couple of things I am interested in at the moment:



1) Best shoes for $100 or less (I think any more than that is a waste because the cushioning tends to wear pretty quickly in my experience).



2) Is there any moisture wicking workout underwear made?



3) Training methods, or just your personal routine.



I currently run in the neighborhood of 20+ miles per week. Some days I dread it, some days I absolutely can't wait to run, but I always love the feeling I get after a good run whether I wanted to go or not. This heat is oppressive lately, but I hate to miss a day so I have been sweating enough to water the lawn lately. I would say I am an advanced novice even though I have been running for years now. I still feel I have a lot to learn, especially when it comes to improving speed and adding mileage.



I have run in Nike, New Balance, and Asics shoes. I have stuck with the Asics Gel 2000 series for the last two pair I have had. I like a pretty "squishy" shoe, and that is why I have moved away from Nike and NB. They just don't seem to give enough for me. I think I'm fairly neutral when running based on shoe wear patterns. I have a gimpy left knee that really doesn't like for me to run, but Advil and ice seem to quiet it down when it becomes particularly bothersome. Pain just below the kneecap.



Anyway, if you are a runner chime in. I have been interested lately in getting better, running farther and faster, and would like to hear from other runners.

 

[imported_themightytimmah]

I used to run a for my high school XC team, I was never too great of a runner as I did it to get in shape for hockey mostly, but it did a helluva job of keeping my weight down and I never looked better than I did in my running days.



For shoes, I always liked the New Balance trail series, the pairs I wore were usually around 120-150 and I got last years stock at Tel-A-Run for 80-90 (http://www.telarun.com/index.html). I loved the 904's cause I have pretty wide feet and nothing else out there really fit me right. Tel-A-Run carries all the big brands though, if you like Asics they probably have a great price on them, good customer service too.



There's a lot of different performance underwear out there, I just wore cotton boxers and lacrosse shorts, but the guys who liked the real short running shorts usually wore spandex cause it wicked sweat and it kept the ol' johnson from coming out of short shorts (which happened all the time with boxers, lol it was great to see the looks on spectator's faces). I think under armour makes a pretty decent pair IIRC, I loved their tight fit shirts under a loose fit grey performance t-shirt, sweat was never an issue.



We used to do a whole lot of different training routines, a lot of it centered around hills (since we were in Maine) which you probably don't get out in Texas. For improving speed, we used to do all-out intervals of 800meters, with roughly equal rest and run times (group 1 would run full-out while group 2 rested, then they'd switch). The shorter-length high speed runs are what really improve speed.



Consider tossing in some short sprints (100yds full-out) in with your distance routine, they hurt but you'll see a big improvement in conditionining over time. Pushing yourself all-out is what really improves your times, not running 3-4 miles at a decent pace. With the training we had, I dropped my mile from 14 minutes (yeah I was in terrible shape) to 7 flat in 2 months.



Getting a good music mix set up that you like is a big part of it, they wouldn't let us run iPods on competition as it was considered an unfair advantage, I think people ran like 10-15% harder with a good sountrack if I remember right. I had a house/techno mix setup for running, I got songs where the beat was just right for my running pace and it helped me a lot with training.

 

[Pats300zx]

Tasty..



I am in the same boat as you. I run about 20-25 miles per week around my neighborhood and I love it. Yes there are time when I dread it but other times I really look forward to it and for me its a great way to alleviate stress. I try and do it even when I am on vacation at the beach etc. I am running about 5 x's per week and have recently skipped a day to incorporate some weight training.



I got through shoes about every 3 months. I had great success with Nike. I recently tried some Asics and I love them. I tried NB but they just felt so stiff for me on my feet. No flex at all.

 

[Tasty]

Tasty..



I am in the same boat as you. I run about 20-25 miles per week around my neighborhood and I love it. Yes there are time when I dread it but other times I really look forward to it and for me its a great way to alleviate stress. I try and do it even when I am on vacation at the beach etc. I am running about 5 x's per week and have recently skipped a day to incorporate some weight training.



I got through shoes about every 3 months. I had great success with Nike. I recently tried some Asics and I love them. I tried NB but they just felt so stiff for me on my feet. No flex at all.

Yeah, I'm with you there. I ran on my last "vacation" too, and it was in the Texas Hill Country. That was a way different run than I am used to in the Houston area. Those hills will really take it to another level. I run about 4x per week. I would love to do more, but my feet have absolutely no arch, are very narrow, and are huge. This tends to make my legs move in not the best way I think, and as a result I just can't seem to take any more than about 4x per week. I really have to have a day's rest in between to avoid a lot of annoying side effects. I love the Asics too, and I think I am about to be needing a new pair. It's amazing how quickly the cushioning wears out.



Timmah - Thanks for the ideas. I used to incorporate interval training in a pretty intense 20 minute run. I am more interested in distance now, but I want to decrease my mile time and I think interval training during my runs will help. There is a 5K that is run every other weekend near my home, and I would like to get out and see how I stack up. They've got some guys out there running it in just about 15 mins. I'm not that good...