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Running

Hummer

Hummer

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 3, 2006
1,012
0
Queens, New York NY-5
My friend (whose on the track team) bet me that if I could do practice with them for a week without a single complaint, he'd give me $1k. So of course I said okay, but of course you could probably tell by the bet that I don't run track or run period. So as I'm preparing to run with them, I'm just wondering if there is anything I should know about the sport of track itself. And is there anything I should do to keep myself from getting tired in terms of pacing myself. I've already learned to run taking long breaths instead of short through mouth breaths.

I'm also not sure what my friends mean when they're talking about running 400s and 800s and things like that. I'm guessing it means meters.
 
A 400 is about a quarter mile, and 800 is about a half mile.

As for your friend, I'm not sure what type of team he is on, but when I coached college track, everyone complained (constantly) about the workouts. And keeping them doing the workouts correctly was usually the hardest part.

For example, on one day I had my sprinters running three 400s, with a 400 walk/rest between each. The point of the workout was to learn to run while fatigued, so they were to run at a constant rate (15 seconds per 100 meters). In the first 400, they all went out way too fast and died at the end... which was completely the opposite of what I wanted. The only way to show them was to show them. Mind you, I was about 30 and hadn't competed in almost 7 years by that point, and they were all around 19 or so.

So I jumped in with them and we all started together. I watched the stopwatch as we ran and we all hit the first 100 meters at 15 seconds... which I called out in a loud voice while running. We continued on to the 200 mark and 300 mark with me calling out "30 seconds" and "45 seconds" as we passed them, I them picked up the pace so I would get to the finish line well ahead of them, stopped and turned around and started calling out the time "58...59... 60...61... 62..." until the last of them finished.

What I wasn't about to admit or show at the time was that during all this I was just about to die! :eek:

Still, after that they all did my workouts just as I had planned them. :D
 
Well, short of a miracle, you're not going to get in running shape in one week. You can however, stay hydrated by drinking lots of gatorade and water leading up to when you have the practice and by stretching every night and morning. But seriously, the best thing you can do is to just not complain. You will hurt, and there will be pain, but just don't complain and you've got that $1,000.
 
A general rule of pacing with jogging at least is that if you can comfortably have a conversation, you're running at a good rate. If you can't catch your breath enough to say a few words, you need to slow down.

Try to limit your "bounce" when you run. Keep your hips in and try to run with tunnel vision, that is it seems like you're moving in a straight, forward line, and with minimal up and down motion.
 
i don't know your buddy at all, but I would want to see that cash first before anything :) running is not easy and he knows it.

as someone else said, drink water each day, but not a ton right before you go. drink some during and then a ton after. stretching will be key. you'll be in pain right after no doubt.

have fun.
 
Iscariot said:
Try to limit your "bounce" when you run. Keep your hips in and try to run with tunnel vision, that is it seems like you're moving in a straight, forward line, and with minimal up and down motion.
Click to expand...

Oh man, are you right about this. I always bounce too much when I run, it wastes energy faster. Apparently I am not alone though, it turns out that when non-runners who are very athletic in other sports try to just plain run, they end up bouncing around instead of being sleek and minimalist. I wonder why that happens though, maybe it's a product of other sports' emphasis on quickness and changing of direction?
 
Badandy said:
Oh man, are you right about this. I always bounce too much when I run, it wastes energy faster. Apparently I am not alone though, it turns out that when non-runners who are very athletic in other sports try to just plain run, they end up bouncing around instead of being sleek and minimalist. I wonder why that happens though, maybe it's a product of other sports' emphasis on quickness and changing of direction?
Click to expand...

I think it's the same for non-runners who run for the first time as well. It seems to me that running for prolonged periods of time isn't something that our body is naturally predisposed to doing. Afterall, we're really not very fast as a species, so I think our greatest defense would be a quick sprint and then climbing a tree to escape danger. In cases like that, energy efficiency and reduced joint-stress really aren't of very high importance :3
 
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So I'm on the bus headed to the armory. At this point I'm just like what the he'll have I got myself into. Wish me luck.
 
Good luck.

Though if the terms of the bet are just not to complain, you shouldn't have a problem. In a situation like that, I like to tell myself, "it could always be way worse than this."
 
Mike Teezie said:
Good luck.

Though if the terms of the bet are just not to complain, you shouldn't have a problem. In a situation like that, I like to tell myself, "it could always be way worse than this."
Click to expand...

exactly.

it won't be easy. and you'll be in pain. as long as you're quiet about it you'll be okay. he didn't say that you had to do better than him or anything. just survive. its possible, but you'll be hurting.
 
Iscariot said:
It seems to me that running for prolonged periods of time isn't something that our body is naturally predisposed to doing. Afterall, we're really not very fast as a species, so I think our greatest defense would be a quick sprint and then climbing a tree to escape danger. In cases like that, energy efficiency and reduced joint-stress really aren't of very high importance :3
Click to expand...
Seems odd that someone would consider running as a defensive action rather than a predatory one. Our top speed over short distances is right in the range of what we tend to prey on. Add to that the fact that we tend to hunt in packs, and our speed seems to be a natural development. Pack hunting even turns animals that would be predators to us in one-on-one situations into prey.

Most of the time getting from meal to meal makes the most difference between living and dying, far more than avoiding being something else's meal.
 
so i'm guessing he's a sprinter then if he's running 400s and 800s. I'm a distance runner, and not a huge fan of track itself. I like XC more. For the breathing, breath in through your nose and out your mouth. It will limit cramping. Try to keep the right form, and you will waste less energy. 90º bend in your elbow, and follow the pick your pocket, pick your nose routine. You might actually come to like running, you get addicted to it.
 
bjett92 said:
so i'm guessing he's a sprinter then if he's running 400s and 800s.
Click to expand...
Sprints end at 400 meters... the 800 starts the middle distance events. I was a sprinter/hurdler and the longest events I ever ran were the 400 and 400 hurdles (and even then, always under protest!). The 100, 110 hurdles and 200 are the real heart of the sprints.

Most sprinters weight quite a bit more than middle distance or distance runners. At my best shape while competing I was 185 pounds (I'm 5'11') and was at about 8% body fat... while all that muscle was great for getting to my top speed quickly, I sure wouldn't want to carry it around in a distance runs (specially if it was a race).
 
RacerX said:
Sprints end at 400 meters... the 800 starts the middle distance events. I was a sprinter/hurdler and the longest events I ever ran were the 400 and 400 hurdles (and even then, always under protest!). The 100, 110 hurdles and 200 are the real heart of the sprints.

Most sprinters weight quite a bit more than middle distance or distance runners. At my best shape while competing I was 185 pounds (I'm 5'11') and was at about 8% body fat... while all that muscle was great for getting to my top speed quickly, I sure wouldn't want to carry it around in a distance runs (specially if it was a race).
Click to expand...

Yea the 800 is more middle-distance, but our HS team doesn't really do much with middle distance, and our distance team covers them.

Yea, it does seem distance runners do weigh less than sprinters, just because distance runners do have to run longer. Sprinters always lift more in the weight room than distance runners. But like I said, I'm not a sprinter and don't know much about sprinting.
 
Ask to see the cash first, keep yourself hydrated with electrolytes up, and DON'T COMPLAIN!! If the terms of the bet mean that it's OK for you to fall behind a bit, but you just have to stick it out and be a good sport, then I'd focus on the determination and positive aspect side of this. A thousand bucks is a lot. I wish someone would ask *me* to do that.
 
It sounds like your friend is a sprinter. All you need to do is get a great pair of running shoes and make sure not to get dehydrated. :)
 
bjett92 said:
For the breathing, breath in through your nose and out your mouth. It will limit cramping.
Click to expand...

I've never understood why that's common advice, don't both passageways
coverge and the air ends up going into the lungs at the same point, no matter whether you breathe in through your nose or mouth?
 
I always thought short breaths through the mouth take more energy than breathing long breaths through your nose.

Anyways I survived. It wasn't bad at all and I was cramping from drinking too much water. They made it sound like it was hell and it really wasn't. They kicked my ass, but I walked away without breaking a sweat after a 1 and a half hour work out. Saying that, maybe I didn't push myself hard enough, but then again I felt if I ran any faster I wouldn't have anything left to run the next lap.

We did 9 150s by the way (whatever that is). And for warm-up we did 8 laps of heavy jogging around the actual track which is where I had the most pain from cramping. The only thing I had a real problem with were the push ups as I have no upper body strength. We did 100 push-ups.

This is where we ran:
armorynq1vw1.jpg
 
Greasyman said:
I've never understood why that's common advice, don't both passageways
coverge and the air ends up going into the lungs at the same point, no matter whether you breathe in through your nose or mouth?
Click to expand...

its about regulating how much your breathing more than the speed at which you breather
 
good job, OP!

muscle soreness usually comes the next morning when you get outta bed. try to drink one glass of non-fat/low-fat chocolate milk within 30 mins after training, that should help your muscles to recover faster. biking slowly (60-90 rpm) for ~20 mins the next day will also help ease the pain.

it's only one week, don't give up. tell yourself "pain is weakness leaving the body" whenever you feel that you can't make it. :)
 
Hummer said:
I always thought short breaths through the mouth take more energy than breathing long breaths through your nose.

Anyways I survived. It wasn't bad at all and I was cramping from drinking too much water. They made it sound like it was hell and it really wasn't. They kicked my ass, but I walked away without breaking a sweat after a 1 and a half hour work out. Saying that, maybe I didn't push myself hard enough, but then again I felt if I ran any faster I wouldn't have anything left to run the next lap.

We did 9 150s by the way (whatever that is). And for warm-up we did 8 laps of heavy jogging around the actual track which is where I had the most pain from cramping. The only thing I had a real problem with were the push ups as I have no upper body strength. We did 100 push-ups.

This is where we ran:
armorynq1vw1.jpg
Click to expand...

Wish our team had an indoor track like that. Our indoor track is terrible so we never use it.

O yea... the water. Try not to drink anything within 30 minutes before running. And don't eat within 2 hours before. And always be careful of over-hydration by drinking too much water after running. Take small sips until your body has recovered.

9 150s just means you ran 9 150 meters. That's about .8 miles. 8 laps is 2 miles.
 
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