The Running Thread -- 2022

[GuinnessRunner]

I'm wondering if anyone has a "go to" product to apply heat to an injury/sore area since apparently my body really prefers heat to ice. I'm looking for something that is a reasonable size (large enough to use on my hip or back, but not crazy big or heavy) and that stays warm for a decent period of time.

Infrared heating pads have worked well for me if you can be someplace to have it plugged in.

 

[sandam1]

Or just a plain old heating pad?

I think I'm looking for something with a little bit more weight to it (so it stays in place better and has better surface contact) than a regular one.

Infrared heating pads have worked well for me if you can be someplace to have it plugged in.

Oooh, these look interesting! A little pricey, but hey, Christmas is coming. Have you ever used one? Is it worth the additional cost?

 

[Blue Caterpillar]

I think I'm looking for something with a little bit more weight to it (so it stays in place better and has better surface contact) than a regular one.



Oooh, these look interesting! A little pricey, but hey, Christmas is coming. Have you ever used one? Is it worth the additional cost?

How about an old-fashioned hot water bottle?

 

[The Expert]

I have a rice sack and it's wonderful, but sometimes hard to keep in place. Last MW I discovered Icy Hot patches and boy do they work. They make a bunch of different sizes and they last for 3-4 hours iirc. I'm guessing there may be a version that is just heat?

 

[GuinnessRunner]

Oooh, these look interesting! A little pricey, but hey, Christmas is coming. Have you ever used one? Is it worth the additional cost?

I have (and my daughter more than me). You can definately feel the difference compared to a standard heating pad as the heat penetrates further. Keep an eye out on Amazon as there are deals from time to time, which is where I got mine.

 

[sandam1]

How about an old-fashioned hot water bottle?

I probably should have specified - my first "area of concern" is my feet so it needs to be something that will wrap around my foot and hit the top and bottom at the same time. Right now I have socks with gel pads in them that fit the bill, but they are starting to wear out (which kind of tells you how much use I get out them).

I have (and my daughter more than me). You can definately feel the difference compared to a standard heating pad as the heat penetrates further. Keep an eye out on Amazon as there are deals from time to time, which is where I got mine.

Thanks for the recommendation. Do you know which one you got? I definitely want to find one that works well, but don't want to break the bank either.

 

[Brian Noble]

In the middle of a treadmill workout this morning: POP! <treadmill loses power and dies>. I finished the run outside, grumbling and saying some Very Bad Words.

Happily it was only a blown fuse. That’s never happened before in years, so I am not sure why, but.…

 

[SheHulk]

In the middle of a treadmill workout this morning: POP!

For a second there I thought you were referring to a knee joint or something

 

[Brian Noble]

Luckily I was not quite to the all out segment of a speed build, otherwise that might have happened too!

 

[GreatLakes]

In the middle of a treadmill workout this morning: POP! <treadmill loses power and dies>. I finished the run outside, grumbling and saying some Very Bad Words.

Happily it was only a blown fuse. That’s never happened before in years, so I am not sure why, but.…

Most residential wiring has outlets on a loop and I'm going to assume you didn't split off that outlet for it's own breaker when you plugged in the treadmill. It is possible another outlet on the loop had something new plugged in that caused the issue.

I have my treadmill plugged into a 20AMP breaker which means I have about 2,400 watts to play with. My treadmill doesn't advertise wattage but it is 120 volts at 13 amps so about 1,560 watts. If that was a 15AMP breaker I'd have almost maxed it out. This time of year someone plugging in a space heater that uses the same circuit is a common cause of tripped breakers/blown fuses.

 

[kps7795]

For a second there I thought you were referring to a knee joint or something

Same! Can you imagine?

 

[The Expert]

Most residential wiring has outlets on a loop and I'm going to assume you didn't split off that outlet for it's own breaker when you plugged in the treadmill. It is possible another outlet on the loop had something new plugged in that caused the issue.

I have my treadmill plugged into a 20AMP breaker which means I have about 2,400 watts to play with. My treadmill doesn't advertise wattage but it is 120 volts at 13 amps so about 1,560 watts. If that was a 15AMP breaker I'd have almost maxed it out. This time of year someone plugging in a space heater that uses the same circuit is a common cause of tripped breakers/blown fuses.

This is GREAT info I wish I'd had when we bought our treadmill. The only place we have to put ours is the office, where we have 100 other things plugged in. We had an electrician come out and see about wiring a dedicated circuit, but we landed on a high-end UPS that allows for some fluctuation since running a new circuit in a condo is complicated. I've only had it actually pop off twice, and both times were when the treadmill was running at a decent pace and attempting to raise to a significant incline. It does warning beep at me if I get above about a 7 or if I'm doing an iFit workout with a lot of up and down adjustments, but that is a rare occurrence. And because it does beep, I have time to stop the incline or slow the belt down before it just goes off.

 

[GreatLakes]

This is GREAT info I wish I'd had when we bought our treadmill. The only place we have to put ours is the office, where we have 100 other things plugged in. We had an electrician come out and see about wiring a dedicated circuit, but we landed on a high-end UPS that allows for some fluctuation since running a new circuit in a condo is complicated. I've only had it actually pop off twice, and both times were when the treadmill was running at a decent pace and attempting to raise to a significant incline. It does warning beep at me if I get above about a 7 or if I'm doing an iFit workout with a lot of up and down adjustments, but that is a rare occurrence. And because it does beep, I have time to stop the incline or slow the belt down before it just goes off.

I should have added the disclaimer on my math that I am not an electrician. For work I have to understand electricity more than the average person but I always run anything detailed by an electrician.

 

[Bree]

Most residential wiring has outlets on a loop and I'm going to assume you didn't split off that outlet for it's own breaker when you plugged in the treadmill. It is possible another outlet on the loop had something new plugged in that caused the issue.

I have my treadmill plugged into a 20AMP breaker which means I have about 2,400 watts to play with. My treadmill doesn't advertise wattage but it is 120 volts at 13 amps so about 1,560 watts. If that was a 15AMP breaker I'd have almost maxed it out. This time of year someone plugging in a space heater that uses the same circuit is a common cause of tripped breakers/blown fuses.

Mine has always been plugged into a dedicated 20amp circuit too.

 

[Brian Noble]

It is possible another outlet on the loop had something new plugged in that caused the issue.

That particular loop is over two rooms in the basement; nothing new in at least a year and probably more, and at the time no other active use in either of those rooms. If it happens again, that might be a good time to call an electrician, as it will be beyond my undergraduate EE degree. I draw the line at three-way switches.

 

[The Expert]

That particular loop is over two rooms in the basement; nothing new in at least a year and probably more, and at the time no other active use in either of those rooms. If it happens again, that might be a good time to call an electrician, as it will be beyond my undergraduate EE degree. I draw the line at three-way switches.

 

[GuinnessRunner]

Thanks for the recommendation. Do you know which one you got? I definitely want to find one that works well, but don't want to break the bank either.

Sorry took me a bit to get it . Mine is a UTK Far Inrared Natural Jade.

 

[Herding_Cats]

I should have added the disclaimer on my math that I am not an electrician. For work I have to understand electricity more than the average person but I always run anything detailed by an electrician.

That particular loop is over two rooms in the basement; nothing new in at least a year and probably more, and at the time no other active use in either of those rooms. If it happens again, that might be a good time to call an electrician, as it will be beyond my undergraduate EE degree. I draw the line at three-way switches.

DH is an electrician, so I get to hear all the fun stories for service calls where he literally changes a light bulb or re-sets a Gfi on an outlet.

Breakers can and do go bad over time, so if it becomes an ongoing issue, that could be a relatively simple fix.

My treadmill specifically says to NOT use a GFI outlet or breaker because the surges in how much power it draws use can cause it to trip.

That being said, sometimes stuff trips for no apparent reason, like our microwave yesterday.

 

[SheHulk]

DH is an electrician, so I get to hear all the fun stories for service calls where he literally changes a light bulb or re-sets a Gfi on an outlet.

Breakers can and do go bad over time, so if it becomes an ongoing issue, that could be a relatively simple fix.

My treadmill specifically says to NOT use a GFI outlet or breaker because the surges in how much power it draws use can cause it to trip.

That being said, sometimes stuff trips for no apparent reason, like our microwave yesterdayH

Half the outlets in my kitchen stopped working about, seriously, maybe 7 years ago? It was every other outlet so we figured something was wrong with one of the ones in a series, so we tried hitting the little reset thingy (no dice), replacing each outlet one at a time (nope), a few other things. You can't get an electrician to come out for such a small fix around here so I just lived with half my outlets working.
This summer we had our kitchen remodeled, and during demolition it was discovered, there was an outlet HIDDEN BEHIND PANELING that we never knew we had, which had the GFI thing on test. We just hit the red button and all my outlets came back.

 

[Bree]

Half the outlets in my kitchen stopped working about, seriously, maybe 7 years ago? It was every other outlet so we figured something was wrong with one of the ones in a series, so we tried hitting the little reset thingy (no dice), replacing each outlet one at a time (nope), a few other things. You can't get an electrician to come out for such a small fix around here so I just lived with half my outlets working.
This summer we had our kitchen remodeled, and during demolition it was discovered, there was an outlet HIDDEN BEHIND PANELING that we never knew we had, which had the GFI thing on test. We just hit the red button and all my outlets came back.

It’s surprising (and sometimes downright scary) what you find when remodeling. We gutted the second floor of a house once and found so many brown extension cords that had been spliced and connected to live electrical wire. I’m surprised the house didn’t burn down before we owned it.