Got it, so sounds like you haven’t witnessed any folks who have really pushed it? Why call out my advice then that’s warning someone new to the running game to be careful and consider the risks if they really want to push their mileage?
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Very rough on the joints. Not very efficient - he preferred swimming, but elliptical is also a good alternative.
It depends on your goals as well. For me, losing fat is a goal and at 61, the pounding of running is not my friend.
Running seems to be the most natural form of cardio. If someone exercises to function better in the real world, they can’t get much better than running in my view.
I have read that landing on the mid-foot instead of the heels is the trick to avoiding knee pain. I have also found it to be far more comfortable.
I do a 10 mile race once a year. Last year, the last time I had run before that race was…the last time I had run that race. It’s coming up again in April.
These days, I’m running a bit more because of Tactical Barbell, but no further than 800m in a shot.
I prefer running on land, mainly because I’ll wake up the whole house if I run on the treadmill, as I’m not a quiet runner.
I’ve run 2 half marathons and a handful of 5ks as well.
I prefer walking these days. I ran quite a bit in high school: doing 16 miles a day during the summer one year, and a minimum of 8 miles a day during the school year. I wasn’t good at it: but it helped with wrestling. But after all that running, I wasn’t terribly excited to keep doing it.
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How did you get so good at running?
I think you missed this part
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Running 16 miles a day, half marathons, and 5ks is pretty damned good. How did you get to that point?
Those are just distances. I haven’t mentioned my times, which would be considered glacial by good runners.
I’m not good at running: I’m going at doing things that suck for a long time.
Reference me carrying a 220lb sandbag for 5 straight minutes
Or doing 401 reps with 135lbs on the high handle trap bar with a torn hamstring
…or me eating a 5lb cheeseburger in 30 minutes
I’m just good at doing things that suck for longer than most people will.
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In fairness, I don’t know of a single competitive athlete that isn’t riddled with some sort of chronic issue or pain.
Recreation is healing, but competition tends to make us push too hard.
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So for you it was about mental toughness making up for a lack of physical giftedness for running. That does correspond to what others have said here.
It didn’t really make up for it, as I am still a bad runner. I can just finish races that I start.
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And another point: low impact cardio is far more tedious than it is painful. If fact, in the big scheme of achieving contest shape for a bodybuilding show, the cardio is the third easiest task behind sleeping and eating. And this boring cardio is effective, and without pain.
The diet is the grueling pain, especially the journey into the single digit percent body fat numbers. I didn’t do pain just for the sake of pain.
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And another point: low impact cardio is far more tedious than it is painful.
Even when running, I’ve found that the faster I go, the more tolerable it is.
Just playing Devil’s advocate here, but how often do you run functionally in today’s world? I can’t remember the last time I ran.
Walking, on the other hand, is very functional. Also less harmful.
Neither is very effective for weight loss except in large doses. Diet is much more effective.
I do see benefits to running, for some people, but the negatives outweigh the benefits, at least for me.
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I run a few times a week. Varied distances and intensities.
Probably anywhere between 5 and 15 miles a week depending on where I am in my training
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Almost every day at work for me, but as a first responder I’m probably an outlier.
I feel a responsibility to the public to be able to sprint but also haul ass over distance wearing a full operational load.
Otherwise I would never chose to run.
IMO the stair master is a severely underrated piece of low impact cardio.
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In a pinch, I’ve been known to just go up and down my basement steps.
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Big fan of that. Rocky 2 shit
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Unless you want to race semi seriously don`t race further than 5k.
Limit continuous steady state runs to about 20 mins. Arbitrary so suit yourself with what feels right.
Run on grass/trails rather than hard surfaces.
Preferably (to continuous runs) run intervals in the range of 100m-800m, do them at a more brisk pace with recoveries of about 30secs to 1 minute. Typical total volumes per session are say 1,000m to 2,500m. Absolutely run these on grass. Running at a sharper pace pushes you up on your toes and reduces the pounding effect. Slow continuous runs with flat heel strike sends the shock waves through the body. Think of these as more gassing than steady state.
For zone 2 type conditioning do non-running cardio, rather than trying to run for more than the 20 mins I mentioned.
For sporting type agility run short sprints, say 15m, with changes of directions, shuttle runs etc. Run proper sprints of say 30m to 60m. 5-8 reps with good recovery between each is enough.
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Why do you suggest not running further than 5k unless we want to race semi-seriously?