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Does height affect running?
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Sprint for the line - those are good goals. What are your pbs now? I'd love to go for a sub 40 10K but it's not looking that likely at the minute.
Sydney - well done on getting out there in the rain. I finally had a sunny run yesterday morning!
D2D - I've read your other threads and it sounds like the hip problem is not going away. If you've had a steroid injection then you REALLY need to rest it for a while to give it a chance to work. And I'm talking 3-4 weeks, not a day or two. If swimming doesn't hurt (and don't take painkillers before you go because then you won't know if it's hurting) then keep doing that but try to avoid anything that makes it worse.
I was running yesterday morning with a friend who got a stress fracture last year. She was doing the New York marathon for charity and didn't want to let down the people who'd sponsored her so, despite all the advice she was given, she keep training (using lots of painkillers) and then ran the race. The second half of the race was agony, her leg ended up hugely swollen and bruised and she had to go to casualty. She ended up not being able to run for 6 months. She's been back running for a few weeks now and yesterday morning she comfortably did 11 miles with us at 8 min/mile pace. The moral of this story: don't try to run through an injury but also don't worry about having to take some time off - you'll be back to where you were in no time!
D2D - you sound a lot more positive now and it seems like things are really improving quickly. Hopefully the x-ray will show that everything is healing well and then maybe they'll refer you to a physio for rehabilitation? If not, it might be worth contacting one yourself (although probably not the one you went to last time!) to get them to design a recovery program for you - it'll help you resist the temptation to do too much too soon.
IR - if you look at the top marathon runners, height does seem to be a bit of a disadvantage. However, I love to find a tall broad shouldered man to shelter behind in a windy race
It might be an idea to bring shorts LOL
A good sports physio should give you a program to follow. For instance, when I was coming back from my ITBS I was seeing my physio once a week and she'd tell me to do 1 mile and then if that was OK to do a mile and a half 2 days later or something like that. If they're giving you exercises to do they should write out exactly what they want you to do, how often and how many reps etc. The problem is finding a good physio - I've been to 4 different ones so far and ended up travelling an hour each way for that physio but fortunately I've found a good one locally now. It might be worth contacting your local running club to see if they can recommend one.
I sympathise with the high expectations thing but you will be able to do more/run better in the long term if you learn to listen to your body. I must admit I'm still working on this!
The difference being that they spent 4 years at university studying this sort of thing and I didn't!
Seriously though, it was just a suggestion. I'm forever reading up on my injuries on websites like this, sports medicine journals etc but I still prefer to get the advice of an expert on what type of exercises I should do and how much. I wouldn't have worked out for myself that all my knee problems were coming from weak glutes/hips or what exercises were the best to correct that.
What's done is done and there's no point in worrying about it now - just concentrate on getting better and I'm sure you'll be back running in no time. I'm off shortly so have a good weekend.
Hi folks,
Good to know I'm not the only one mulling over the height thing, particularly as I'm a complete, and old, beginner. With age and a few extra pounds against me i don't need my height to be a downer too.
The Runners World beginners book states that "size does matter, small folks may have an advantage."
PS. You all seem to be amazing runners whatever your height.
Think fitness, technique, build and determination would have more to do with it than height. Though I have blamed poor X-C race performances in the past on having stumpy legs, and needing to jump that little bit higher to get over obstacles!
I'm 4 ft 11 - can anyone beat that in the short arse stakes??
LTS - funnily enough I always wanted to be shorter because I thought 5ft 6 was such a boringly average height!
Rachel - don't underestimate the advantage in having something to blame when someone beats you! - they're younger, taller, shorter, a natural runner, have been running longer etc .
But at the end of the day, I think LTS is right on the importance of fitness and determination. You'll improve quicker than you think. I always think it's mad when I compare where I started from to what I'm doing now - 5 min on the treadmill used to kill me!
Today managed a mix of 5 & 8 min running intervals with short resting walks between. 6 weeks ago I could only run 1min at a time. Slow but sure progress so I won't give up. Also like the way I'm feeling. Determined to do that 10K I've signed up for in July.
I think I read somewhere that long legs = long levers, which require more effort or something, (forgotten my O'level physics). My inside leg 33" and I wouldn't give up any of that length to make running easier.
Today managed to run for 5 & 8 min stretches at a time, on my beginners run/walk schedule. 6 weeks ago I could only run 1 min at a time. Slow but sure progress so I won't give up. Also like the way I'm feeling. Determined to do that 10K I've signed up for in July.
I think I read somewhere that long legs = long levers, which require more effort or something, (forgotten my O'level physics). My inside leg 33" and I wouldn't give up any of that length to make running easier.
Ferdy,
You're just what I need at the mo. Feeling less positive this week cos I want to go further without walking, but haven't succeeded on my last 2 runs. Feeling knackered and wondering if I'll be run/walking that 10K.
Just about to go out for today's run. Have clocked some distances along my route, on the car mileometer. Will try not to look at my watch but just see how much ground I can cover without walking.