Friday Open Thread: Ask Me Anything with Susan Lacke
www.thehalfmarathoner.com
Runner, writer and professor Susan Lacke has traveled the world to run in almost every kind of race you can imagine — everything from half marathons to marathons to ultras and more — and she joins our live discussion this morning to answer any question you have about running, no matter how crazy or silly you think it is. Susan will be in the chat, so feel free to ask away! — Terrell
Update: Thanks everyone! We’ve wrapped up the live part of today’s discussion — Susan is on book tour today, so she has a couple of events on her schedule she needs to go to — but she’ll also reply to your questions later today, so please post them below if you have one. Thank you!!
Welcome, Susan! I'll get the ball rolling for our discussion here with a quick question: you ran some truly amazing (and challenging) races that you cover in the book. What possessed you to think that doing all these different distances was even within the realm of possibility for you?
I’m a 67 year old, now in my. 6th year of training, currently hitting 40-50 mpw, including intervals and hills. This autumn will be my third year of running two marathons with a month or two between them. This year there will be 7 weeks between my two races. I race the first one hard, and run the second for fun. I have thankfully remained injury free so far. I’ve followed Hal higdons plans for the short interims between each autumn races. I still need to improve my PR by 30 minutes in order to BQ. Any advice?
I just tuned into this as a “late night read”. Great questions and great answers! Thanks for facilitating this Terrell! I’m struggling to keep running right now while caring for my aging mom with a hip fracture. It’s been super encouraging reading this Q and A tonight.
Only just discovered you earlier this week so I haven't had a chance to read any of your books, but I'm looking forward to checking them out.
Sadly, I'm on a hiatus from running as I'm scheduled for surgery for a torn meniscus next week :( . I'm looking forward to resuming running again soon.
I'd love to hear your perspective on not being able to run, injuries, recovery and return to running.
I have been running as long as I can remember, active in school, through my 30s and now in my 40s. My biggest challenge is committing to a race with our family schedule and that pre race meal. I just can’t seem to get it right which results in less than satisfactory race times.
Thanks everyone! We’ve wrapped up the live part of today’s discussion — Susan is on book tour today, so she has a couple of events on her schedule she needs to go to — but she’ll also reply to your questions later today, so please post them here if you have one. Thank you!! 😀
what workout is recommended to start a strength training regimen along with running? I trained for a half marathon last year which took place in January and then for no good reason I stopped running. I started running again a couple of months ago and just started training for the same half, the Chevron half marathon in Houston. I would love to improve my pace and possible add a strength training program to my training. Thanks.
What is your all time favorite half-marathon location in the US? How would you advise a 54 year old who has ran several half-marathons over the last few years, to train for a marathon?
Hi Susan,what is the right food for trinning for a half marathon, like protein and carbs, can You name some beside pastas, what kind of meat and drinks. Thanks
How do you handle a race when it starts to pour... Did one where it started to rain even before the start... ended up with a medal and blister to boot...
I struggle with calf muscles cramping after mile 10 in the half marathon. Reading is plentiful on the web, but I have not been about to get it right every time. Age (67) may definitely be a factor, too. Any thoughts appreciated...& thanks!
I absolutely loved both your books! It’s been 10 years since my last Ironman, and your first book brought back all the nostalgia💕. Running Outside the Comfort Zone brought enjoyment and excitement back into running for me! I want to do some more “event” type runs.
What’s next on the horizon for you? Any races planned during or after the book tour?
What are some your favorite books related to running/triathlon?
See you raced in many difficult challenging races, which include ultra. Did you find it interesting learning to run by feel as opposed to pace? Do you like the challenging races because their is there more challenging and because the chance of failure is more real compared to shorter races? Have you or do you feel as you age there will come a time when your race times will slow, will that make it little more difficult to train hard and compete?
Welcome, Susan! I'll get the ball rolling for our discussion here with a quick question: you ran some truly amazing (and challenging) races that you cover in the book. What possessed you to think that doing all these different distances was even within the realm of possibility for you?
I’m an older runner (62), how many miles should I run a week and not injure myself to train for a 1/2 marathon? I’ve been running about 20.
I’m a 67 year old, now in my. 6th year of training, currently hitting 40-50 mpw, including intervals and hills. This autumn will be my third year of running two marathons with a month or two between them. This year there will be 7 weeks between my two races. I race the first one hard, and run the second for fun. I have thankfully remained injury free so far. I’ve followed Hal higdons plans for the short interims between each autumn races. I still need to improve my PR by 30 minutes in order to BQ. Any advice?
I just tuned into this as a “late night read”. Great questions and great answers! Thanks for facilitating this Terrell! I’m struggling to keep running right now while caring for my aging mom with a hip fracture. It’s been super encouraging reading this Q and A tonight.
Hi Susan,
Only just discovered you earlier this week so I haven't had a chance to read any of your books, but I'm looking forward to checking them out.
Sadly, I'm on a hiatus from running as I'm scheduled for surgery for a torn meniscus next week :( . I'm looking forward to resuming running again soon.
I'd love to hear your perspective on not being able to run, injuries, recovery and return to running.
It's so hard to be on the sidelines :(
Nancy
I have been running as long as I can remember, active in school, through my 30s and now in my 40s. My biggest challenge is committing to a race with our family schedule and that pre race meal. I just can’t seem to get it right which results in less than satisfactory race times.
Thanks everyone! We’ve wrapped up the live part of today’s discussion — Susan is on book tour today, so she has a couple of events on her schedule she needs to go to — but she’ll also reply to your questions later today, so please post them here if you have one. Thank you!! 😀
what workout is recommended to start a strength training regimen along with running? I trained for a half marathon last year which took place in January and then for no good reason I stopped running. I started running again a couple of months ago and just started training for the same half, the Chevron half marathon in Houston. I would love to improve my pace and possible add a strength training program to my training. Thanks.
What is your all time favorite half-marathon location in the US? How would you advise a 54 year old who has ran several half-marathons over the last few years, to train for a marathon?
Hi Susan, what would you recommend for a training regimen to increase average speed/pace for a half marathon?
Hi Susan,what is the right food for trinning for a half marathon, like protein and carbs, can You name some beside pastas, what kind of meat and drinks. Thanks
How do you handle a race when it starts to pour... Did one where it started to rain even before the start... ended up with a medal and blister to boot...
I struggle with calf muscles cramping after mile 10 in the half marathon. Reading is plentiful on the web, but I have not been about to get it right every time. Age (67) may definitely be a factor, too. Any thoughts appreciated...& thanks!
I absolutely loved both your books! It’s been 10 years since my last Ironman, and your first book brought back all the nostalgia💕. Running Outside the Comfort Zone brought enjoyment and excitement back into running for me! I want to do some more “event” type runs.
What’s next on the horizon for you? Any races planned during or after the book tour?
What are some your favorite books related to running/triathlon?
See you raced in many difficult challenging races, which include ultra. Did you find it interesting learning to run by feel as opposed to pace? Do you like the challenging races because their is there more challenging and because the chance of failure is more real compared to shorter races? Have you or do you feel as you age there will come a time when your race times will slow, will that make it little more difficult to train hard and compete?
Are you a runners or racers? For every ending there’s a beginning? What you seeking for?