Running/Fitness The Running Thread

[BringFevBack2021]

The hours and rabbit holes I go down looking at running shoes.....

I'm at the stage of sacrificing a gym session each week for an extra running session. Really enjoying it this year.

Glad to hear I’m not alone, usually ends up with me going to The Running Company and having them talk me out of the pair I’d invested all this time in researching

Glad to hear as well, it’s the best

 

[Glorfindel]

Surely I can’t be the only one that buys runnings shoes online and just looks at shoes on sale and picks the fanciest looking pair?

 

[Willo_]

Surely I can’t be the only one that buys runnings shoes online and just looks at shoes on sale and picks the fanciest looking pair?

I do my research on what I'm looking for, then look for the fanciest looking or coolest colours in what I want.

These days also what is on sale..

There is also another thread for those interested

Running Thread - Join our Strava Club!

To tie up a loose end, Singapore was unbelievably slow but I couldn't run any of the last 11km partially because of the climatic conditions (it was the only day in my week in Malaysia/Singapore that the Sun was out, doesn't mean it wasn't hot and humid, but the sun increased the road temperature...

www.bigfooty.com

Where we nerd up a bit more and discuss races, future plans etc...

 

[Dan Moody]

Surely I can’t be the only one that buys runnings shoes online and just looks at shoes on sale and picks the fanciest looking pair?

No you're not. I check UpThere, Running Warehouse, Running Company, Run DNA, Pace every day to see what's on special.
Picked up some Glycerin MAX on Friday for $250 with a discount code I found

 

[Mofra]

Surely I can’t be the only one that buys runnings shoes online and just looks at shoes on sale and picks the fanciest looking pair?

I'm a forefoot/midfoot striker with skinny feet, and I prefer a low drop.
Buying online will only end in tears for me.

 

[faible]

I'm a forefoot/midfoot striker with skinny feet, and I prefer a low drop.
Buying online will only end in tears for me.

Doctors of Running and Road, Trail, Run do quite good shoe reviews and comparisons, if you can work out which tester has similar feet / shoe likes and dislikes / foot strike that can go a long way to putting you on the right track for things to try.

 

[Mofra]

Doctors of Running and Road, Trail, Run do quite good shoe reviews and comparisons, if you can work out which tester has similar feet / shoe likes and dislikes / foot strike that can go a long way to putting you on the right track for things to try.

Ja, familiar with both. I'm on Run repeat quite a lot too.

Looking at Hoka Mach 6 and the ASICS Tri 16 as possibilities for my next shoe but will try them on first.

 

[faible]

Ja, familiar with both. I'm on Run repeat quite a lot too.

Looking at Hoka Mach 6 and the ASICS Tri 16 as possibilities for my next shoe but will try them on first.

A friend of mine runs in the Mach 6 and likes them, I'm keen to try to Adidas Evo SL once it's in-stock / can get a pair on sale.

 

[Glorfindel]

I'm a forefoot/midfoot striker with skinny feet, and I prefer a low drop.
Buying online will only end in tears for me.

I suspect because I don’t clock a lot of km each week, that my body’s rate of adaptation to any change in footwear trumps any acute changes in loading said footwear causes. Never running on flat, even surfaces probably also helps avoid any chronic overloading issues (which plagued my football career!).

 

[Mofra]

I suspect because I don’t clock a lot of km each week, that my body’s rate of adaptation to any change in footwear trumps any acute changes in loading said footwear causes. Never running on flat, even surfaces probably also helps avoid any chronic overloading issues (which plagued my football career!).

My normal route is probably 60/40 asphalt / flat gravel, I have tended to favour minimalist shoes in the past as I had patellar tendonitis and quit running completely for about 18 months.

I can't heel strike as it kills my knees, and using minimalist shoes tend to help keep the achilles/soleus/ankles strong . I find tempo sessions quite good for injury prevention too as I have a gravel path with a small incline very close to my place, repeat runs up that.

 

[Willo_]

A friend of mine runs in the Mach 6 and likes them, I'm keen to try to Adidas Evo SL once it's in-stock / can get a pair on sale.

I am keen to try the newest Vomero, I have a pair of OG Invincibles that have about 500k in them and need to be retired, but I don't know what to replace them with for my easy run/recovery shoes...

 

[Willo_]

No you're not. I check UpThere, Running Warehouse, Running Company, Run DNA, Pace every day to see what's on special.
Picked up some Glycerin MAX on Friday for $250 with a discount code I found

Running Warehouse used to be the absolute best when you could stack a discount code on top of an already on sale shoe!
Shame they seem to have closed that loop hole

 

[faible]

I am keen to try the newest Vomero, I have a pair of OG Invincibles that have about 500k in them and need to be retired, but I don't know what to replace them with for my easy run/recovery shoes...

Puma MagMax is meant to be quite good, they're one I'd like to check out at some point

 

[Willo_]

Puma MagMax is meant to be quite good, they're one I'd like to check out at some point

also on my list, and the Saucony Hurricanes

 

[Dan Moody]

Puma MagMax is meant to be quite good, they're one I'd like to check out at some point

The MagMax is brilliant. Very stable, you can run 10k and your legs will still feel fresh afterwards.
I've got the Black/White colourway, keen for the Green Fizzy Apple as well but I think I've missed my chance, can't find a 12 anywhere now

 

[RCAB]

Ja, familiar with both. I'm on Run repeat quite a lot too.

Looking at Hoka Mach 6 and the ASICS Tri 16 as possibilities for my next shoe but will try them on first.

I tried Hoka Mach 6 on Sunday at DFO in Moorabbin, as they had them for $160, so for that price I thought worth a try. I'd rate them very highly but still not at the level of ON.

I recently bought a pair of Cloudmonster Hyper. Since I've had those shoes, I can do 10-15km no problem without any sore ankles or knees. Stairs are breeze too. I reckon I get a 5-10% speed boost as well.

I'll buy my wife a pair too and even my 10 year old son, and if my dad won't buy a pair for himself, I'll end up buying a pair for him too. He's 75 and struggling with just walking and knee problems. But these shoes make so much of a difference, I'd just wish I'd bought them sooner.

 

[Mofra]

I tried Hoka Mach 6 on Sunday at DFO in Moorabbin, as they had them for $160, so for that price I thought worth a try. I'd rate them very highly but still not at the level of ON.

I recently bought a pair of Cloudmonster Hyper. Since I've had those shoes, I can do 10-15km no problem without any sore ankles or knees. Stairs are breeze too. I reckon I get a 5-10% speed boost as well.

I'll buy my wife a pair too and even my 10 year old son, and if my dad won't buy a pair for himself, I'll end up buying a pair for him too. He's 75 and struggling with just walking and knee problems. But these shoes make so much of a difference, I'd just wish I'd bought them sooner.

I actually did end up getting the Hoka Mach 6 for a stupidity discounted price online (Athlete's Foot sale) in the colour I was least excited about.

Totally cooked my first easy run in then - normally a 6 minute km to start, the rocker and foam meant I did it in 5.15 so pacing an easier run takes practice in them.

Going from Kinvaras, they certainly help with recovery for any run > 5km. Still keep the Kinvaras for repeat effort days.

The upper isn't the most comfortable and it took a while to get the lacing right but they really are protecting my calves, and I find recovery in then much quicker. Happy with the purchase and they're my first 'cushioned' shoes I've run in for a while. Not perfect but very good.

 

[estibador]

I just got back from China for the Great Wall marathon event. Very cool experience if anyone ever feels like blowing a ridiculous amount of money to go for a run!

I'm a very average runner so I was worried I would embarrass myself amongst a bunch of elite athletes, but there were all sorts of shapes and sizes with a lot of people just walking the course.

My friends and I have caught the bug now and want to try tick off all the adventure marathons this particular company offers:

Petra in Jordan
Volcano in Iceland
Wildlife reserve in Africa
Polar marathon in Greenland
Maya ruins in Mexico

They also do a dawn marathon in NZ, but that's not exotic enough to justify the cost as Aussies, and you can't just buy a race ticket and rock up on the day unless you're a citizen of the host country.

 

[Running_Lifter86]

Thought i would start a dedicated running thread, we've had a few different discussions spread over a few different threads from how to improve sprinting, to running a marathon.

I've always enjoyed my running particularly playing a lot of footy they went hand in hand. I've always been better at longer distances, speed has never been my friend.

So this thread can be for tips, advice, training, PB's etc.

A few of my PB's;

Marathon - 3 hrs 58 mins

32.5km - 2 hrs 48 mins

Half marathon - 1 hr 41 mins

beep test 14.4 (set when i was 21)

3km cross country - 9 mins 55 (set when i was 14)

10km fun run 37mins 35 seconds (set when i was 18)

I've gotten slower as i've gotten older, the bigger distance runs were all set in the last 2 years.

At the moment i am getting through footy season, i want to run the melbourne marathon in October, there is a 52km in Werribee at the end of October i would like to do as well.

So this was my old account, stopped using BF around 2021.

I never ended up running the Melb Marathon in 2019, i ended up having hip tendinopathy after getting back into running and managed the injury throughout the 2019 season. 2020-21 COVID, very little to no footy and even less gym/running only advantage was it got rid of a lot of niggles like the hip tendinopathy.

In 2021 middle of the footy season i suffered a bad concussion and didn't play the remainder of the season, or what was left of it after another lockdown season went into recess in July and it was soon after it was cancelled. In Nov of 2021 everything started to open back up and i was determined to get one last footy season in and i wanted to get fit again.

Long story short i went from not being able to motivate myself to tun 2km in November to training for the Melbourne Marathon during my footy season, finishing my last season in August and running the marathon in October in a time of 3hrs13 mins.

Since then i have completed 2 ultra marathons, 60km Great Ocean road and 80km Bondi to Manly. This year started off a bit slow after having hernia surgery in February and i have a couple of races bookmarked for end of the year. Current goal is to run a sub 4 hr 50km (a circuit i have mapped around the area i live). Half marathon PB is now 1hr28mins.

 

[Mofra]

Insane efforts, incredible. 3 hrs 13 for a marathon is outstanding, let alone competing 2 ultras.

 

[Running_Lifter86]

Insane efforts, incredible. 3 hrs 13 for a marathon is outstanding, let alone competing 2 ultras.

Ultimate goal is sub 3 hour marathon but may be just beyond me.

 

[Running_Lifter86]

As for running shoes, i am no expert but here are more thoughts on a few i have tried;

I mostly use new balance;

V2 prism $100 usually as a daily trainer walking/easy 5kms, wear to gym
V3 Fuelcell propel (haven't tried V4 latest yet), same as above but i do easy runs upto 15kms in these
V3 Fuelcell rebel a little more cushioning and use for some faster runs around the 8km-13km
Super shoes - super comp elites, V2, V3 and V4 all very comfortable and felt fast in these, typically saved them for race day but use on long runs after my races

Saucony endorphin speed, good shoe for long runs, but i find my feet are slightly larger than size 10 and these fit small so definitely go up half a size could almost get away with 1 size bigger (comparison to new balance)
Kinvara 14, less cushioning but i like to use on leg fays at the gym with the firmer sole, and find them good to use when doing quicker track workouts like 5 x 800m repeats

Hoka speedgoats - good for any trail runs, definitely go half a size up

Nike Alphafly V3 - supershoe, light, responsive and quick. Run a sub 40min 10km in these. Wouldn't over anything more than a half in these.

Addidas Boston 12's - good long run shoe, comfortable, they don't feel super light and cushioned but still get a good response when doing some faster kms in the long runs.

My biggest tip is buying runners half a size up particularly for races/long runs 10kms and up. Even more so if you find your foot size is a tight fit.

 

[Glorfindel]

Tl;dr = don’t increase your distance too much too quickly

https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2025/07/07/bjsports-2024-109380?fbclid=IwY2xjawLhBhJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHveNTws3FVpXWbe3632UWHqVXDXnuGVS3ff1qwEBhkwOd73WamCZv5eoQMPS_aem_ETgAb0C0N1uhI734bhZoJg

 

[M Malice]

I have at 65 years of age finally got it through my thick skull to not overdo exercise.

Stopped running a few years ago due to constant patella tendon pain but still continued to overdo Pilates sessions. Knee finally said enough and I had no choice, it was not a complete tear just an overuse thing, am slowly getting back into it, have been seeing a Physio regularly and religiously following the rehab/knee strengthening routine she set for me.

 

[Glorfindel]

I have at 65 years of age finally got it through my thick skull to not overdo exercise.

I’ve learned (or maybe more accurately learning) that a bit earlier as my range of physical activities has expanded.
Pretty easy to recover from 4x hard weight sessions if you’re not doing much else. Damn near impossible if you’re also running, swimming, biking and kayaking!
I also feel like I’m just getting to the point of being old enough (37) that physically I’m probably more looking at maintaining what I’ve got and all my performance improvements will come down to equipment, technique and volume. Acknowledging this also lends itself to not going balls to the wall all of the time!

edit
A mindset shift to just enjoying the process rather than results also helps, as well as parking the ego and being content with ticking stuff off rather than worrying too much about how well you do it (eg a few years back I would have been “I’m going to run a 1hr 30min half marathon” whereas now it’s “I’m going to run a half marathon in however long it takes me”).