Last weekend I watched a DVD I got for Christmas last year that basically shows Jack Daniels lecturing on his thoughts about running. One thing he talked about was the gains achieved from running vs. the risks. For example, a 10 minute run has low risk, but also low gains, whereas a 2 hour run has high risk and high gains. He talked about 30 minutes being an optimal range where your gains are fairly large, while the risk is still fairly low. Sure your gains for a 60 minute run are better, but you increase your odds of injury.
Of course, you’re not going to get super fit on 30 minutes a day, but I thought it’d be a great way to ease back into running – and I mean it this time - except for longer group runs on the weekend. The nice thing about 30 minutes is it’s easy to squeeze in just about any time of day and even twice a day; morning, noon and/or night. Or I can spin or ski in the morning and run 30 minutes over lunch. With that in mind, I ran 4 miles yesterday and this morning I took a spin class for an hour and then jumped on the treadmill for 3 miles.
Finally, congrats to the Wisconsin Badgers and Georgetown Hoyas for winning the men’s and women’s cross country titles yesterday. The nice thing about growing up in Wisconsin and now living in Minnesota is that I can root for both states. I recently heard someone say something like, “Show me someone that likes more than one NFL team and I’ll show you someone that doesn’t really like any team.” That’s probably true for me when it comes to pro football. However, as a fan of running, I like both programs – so it’s great to see the Badgers dominate.
Quote of the Day;
“NY Marathon is famous for the energy of its crowds, but since the pro women start 30 minutes before the other 47,000 participants, everywhere we go there is a feeling that we are a bit early for the party, the hosts still mixing the guacamole and figuring out where the guests will put their coats.” – Lauren Fleshman
I think you plan is kind of solid. I also think you're less likely to get injured or go without help when you're with others. I'm glad to hear you're getting back to it because I know it makes you happy.
ReplyDeleteyou can drop out Thursday after 30 minutes at Lebanon Hills:-).....i don't think so....too much old timer talk to miss out on!
ReplyDeleteTim OB
Tim, the reason I went 9 last weekend was because we had a great group at the fort. There were 10 or so "old timers" that I hadn't run with in awhile, so I just kept going. So I won't be stopping after 30 minutes tomorrow either.
ReplyDeleteAnn, it makes me happy, but I no longer get worried if I miss some training time.