Is just running in your backyard bad?

david45 wrote:

For the past couple of months, I only have been running in circles in my backyard as I am afraid of getting covid. Am I hurting my ability to get faster by doing this instead of actually running outside?

Ooh-la-la, david45 has one of those fancy indoor backyards. Nice humblebrag.

Dishy Vicar wrote:

david45 wrote:

For the past couple of months, I only have been running in circles in my backyard as I am afraid of getting covid. Am I hurting my ability to get faster by doing this instead of actually running outside?

Ooh-la-la, david45 has one of those fancy indoor backyards. Nice humblebrag.

No. My backyard is just a normal backyard. By saying "outside", I am saying truly outside as in outside of the property.

How far for each donut?

You survived your blazing tempo run outside. You have probably conquered the covid demon.

What is the point of all these useless threads? 1000 posts in like 5 months, and how often do you get good advice? Probably not very often. If you want to get better at running, just run. Don't obsess over it, you aren't a professional runner. You never will be. And that's okay. Starting 6 threads a day where you complain about not having talent, or being a loner in high school, and whatever else does not seem like a good use of your time.

david45 wrote:

Dishy Vicar wrote:

Ooh-la-la, david45 has one of those fancy indoor backyards. Nice humblebrag.

No. My backyard is just a normal backyard. By saying "outside", I am saying truly outside as in outside of the property.

So it's a normal indoor backyard and not a fancy indoor backyard? If such is the case, you get just an ooh-la and half a humblebrag.

Craig's Mullet wrote:

What is the point of all these useless threads? 1000 posts in like 5 months, and how often do you get good advice? Probably not very often. If you want to get better at running, just run. Don't obsess over it, you aren't a professional runner. You never will be. And that's okay. Starting 6 threads a day where you complain about not having talent, or being a loner in high school, and whatever else does not seem like a good use of your time.

I want to break 4:30 in the mile one day. That does require solid training and advice.

david45 wrote:

For the past couple of months, I only have been running in circles in my backyard as I am afraid of getting covid. Am I hurting my ability to get faster by doing this instead of actually running outside?

Yes, that would be a horrible way to train. Even the biggest properties in San Diego county don't have yards large enough to make training feasible.

I think now we see why you've had so many injury problems. Small, tight loops, are sure to get anyone injured.

If you'd read letsrun, you'd have learned that running outside, even racing, is pretty safe. There are a couple factors to consider: proximity to an affected person - the closer you are to them, the more likely you are to breathe in viral particles. Time around an infected person - its the quantity of viral particles you breathe in, not just whether you breathe them in that determines whether you actually get sick. For running this is practically nil. This time factor is also the most important one. Just getting close to an infected person probalby happens a lot as you run, but the time you spend near them is so low that its almost no risk. Finally the indoor vs outdoor factor - how much percentage of the expelled virus breathe are you actually breathing in - outdoors its an order of magnitude lower than indoors

I encourage you do more research on your own, which will lead you to realize running outdoors in your neighborhood and the surrounding area is safe, and running on trails, even fairly crowded ones is hardly any riskier. By the way, there has been barely anyone at Mission Trails in the evenings and mission bay is usually pretty low crowds at dawn too, so if you really are super scared, you could try there, but if you're too scared to even run in your neighborhood...

I'm wondering how many threads you're actually reading on letsrun and how much of the given advice you're actually taking. Are you actually here to learn or do you want to just be heard. So many people have been trying to help you, but when I find you've been training like this, I'm about ready to give up and I think others will be too. What threads have you been reading if you didn't even click the ones that discussed whether running was safe or not? I know you couldn't have missed them, you've been on just about every day....

david45 wrote:

Craig's Mullet wrote:

What is the point of all these useless threads? 1000 posts in like 5 months, and how often do you get good advice? Probably not very often. If you want to get better at running, just run. Don't obsess over it, you aren't a professional runner. You never will be. And that's okay. Starting 6 threads a day where you complain about not having talent, or being a loner in high school, and whatever else does not seem like a good use of your time.

I want to break 4:30 in the mile one day. That does require solid training and advice.

It would require you to actually take advice. You couldn't possibly be putting any of the advice you've gotten into use training in your yard.

Fine. I will start running like a normal person tomorrow.

After a couple weeks of doing so, I'd be surprised if you don't see marked improvements in your training.

Kvothe wrote:

david45 wrote:

Fine. I will start running like a normal person tomorrow.

After a couple weeks of doing so, I'd be surprised if you don't see marked improvements in your training.

I was running outside until around March when I shifted to just running in my backyard.

david45 wrote:

Kvothe wrote:

After a couple weeks of doing so, I'd be surprised if you don't see marked improvements in your training.

I was running outside until around March when I shifted to just running in my backyard.

And that explains why you haven't seen the big improvements in training that would be expected of a relative beginner, as well as why you've had leg problems over the past few months.

Kvothe wrote:

david45 wrote:

I was running outside until around March when I shifted to just running in my backyard.

And that explains why you haven't seen the big improvements in training that would be expected of a relative beginner, as well as why you've had leg problems over the past few months.

It is sad that I asked about this before, and everyone says it doesn't make a difference as long as you get your heart rate up.

david45 wrote:

Kvothe wrote:

And that explains why you haven't seen the big improvements in training that would be expected of a relative beginner, as well as why you've had leg problems over the past few months.

It is sad that I asked about this before, and everyone says it doesn't make a difference as long as you get your heart rate up.

I must not have seen that thread or the responders assumed you'd do it for a single run or two then be so bored out of your mind, you'd run on the roads like most people would. Distance running isn't like swimming where you can have a tiny course (a pool lane) and just do short bursts. You can do a workout on a small course, like a track, but you want to at least have a decent size area to train the majority of the time.

The biggest risk of running distance over a real small area is the constant turns and acceleration/decceleration causing your tendons and muscles to strain or pull.

Kvothe wrote:

david45 wrote:

It is sad that I asked about this before, and everyone says it doesn't make a difference as long as you get your heart rate up.

I must not have seen that thread or the responders assumed you'd do it for a single run or two then be so bored out of your mind, you'd run on the roads like most people would. Distance running isn't like swimming where you can have a tiny course (a pool lane) and just do short bursts. You can do a workout on a small course, like a track, but you want to at least have a decent size area to train the majority of the time.

The biggest risk of running distance over a real small area is the constant turns and acceleration/decceleration causing your tendons and muscles to strain or pull.

But you still get the aerobic benefit from just running in your backyard, right?

david45 wrote:

Kvothe wrote:

And that explains why you haven't seen the big improvements in training that would be expected of a relative beginner, as well as why you've had leg problems over the past few months.

It is sad that I asked about this before, and everyone says it doesn't make a difference as long as you get your heart rate up.

We weren’t aware that you understanding of everything was so different from the rest of the world. No one was prepared to deal with someone of your mental capacity.

david45 wrote:

But you still get the aerobic benefit from just running in your backyard, right?

David, didn't you just increase your mileage to 30 miles/week in early July?

Didn't you just set a new PR for the mile a week or two ago? Sounds like whatever you are doing is working to a degree.

You are going to get an aerobic benefit from running in your back yard, but you also need to get "outside" and let the legs stretch out a little bit on a longer straighter path. You do this two or three times a week and in a couple of weeks your tempo run will feel much easier.

Also, have some patience. You just set a PR. You are improving, it just takes time.

Running in your backyard?! Are you insane? That's the quickest way to contract Scotts-Ortho Syndrome. You are inhaling so many toxic chemicals by running circles around your yard because the fertilizers, pesticides, and patio cleaning products in the ambient air cannot escape a small confined space. When combined with your exhaled CO2, it's worse than mainlining a bottle of RoundUp. Do that for more than a few months and you'll wish you had COVID.