Official Running Thread

[Greg Bobkin]

Strange how the mind and body work – I'm now fully back on the 'running' horse and this morning busted out a sub-40 8k. Fully fully comfortable all the way around, too. Started off with a sub-8 mile, which is not unusual (most of the first half is downhill), but it was the ease at which I knocked it out that surprised me. Carried on a tried to post sub-8s and managed it with relative ease. Bonkers, given I couldn't be arsed to run the length of myself at any speed a couple of months ago...

I also downloaded the MyFitnessPal app and shocked myself at how much I was eating, given how much is in my daily allowance now. The good thing is that running the extra mile (or five) gives me a load more calories to consume On the downside, I've had a couple of light twinges in my hamstring – the body reminding me that I'm getting on again, I guess!

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Ran 10 slow miles Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. That is more than I ran in the preceding 6 weeks.
Hove seafront has lost the huge influx of runners this week. I put it down to lockdown coninciding with early Spring weather, newbies losing momentum, injuries, colder weather and fed up with being chased by a Knocky old man.

Apart from not being able to walk down the stairs first thing in the morning it’s good to be back. Have lost less fitness than I expected.

I just checked out your run to the A27 bridge and back. Very impressing chasing down of flabby calves man

 

[knocky1]

I just checked out your run to the A27 bridge and back. Very impressing chasing down of flabby calves man

Remember it’s a very steep hill down from Five Ways.
2 minutes of running that led to 3 hours stretching, ice, smooth roller, knobbly roller and elastic stretch band.
Well worth it!

 

[Deleted member 2719]

Can any of you pro runners spread some of your running wisdom
I have recently been running 3 sets of 2 kgs with 1 min break and at a @ a 5% quicker than average per km time, I only ever run 5 to 6k's.

How many should I do before running 5ks again?
Am I pushing hard enough?
Any advice would be grateful please.

 

[dazzer6666]

Can any of you pro runners spread some of your running wisdom
I have recently been running 3 sets of 2 kgs with 1 min break and at a @ a 5% quicker than average per km time, I only ever run 5 to 6k's.

How many should I do before running 5ks again?
Am I pushing hard enough?
Any advice would be grateful please.

Not 100% sure what you're asking - if you're doing 3x2km with a 1 minute break for every workout, I would simply start varying it a bit to begin with. You could already easily do 5km non-stop, just drop your effort level a bit - you can then start increasing the distance (if you want to). If you want to stay at 5-6km total, do some shorter, harder (if your 2km intervals are say a 6-7 effort level on a scale of 1-10, make these an 8-9) intervals (6x800m, 8-10 x 400m etc - aim for rests of a similar time duration to the interval itself), and some hill intervals (find a hill of maybe 4-600m, bomb up it hard and then slow walk/jog recovery down and repeat. Always do 1-2km steady jog/run to warm up before doing hard intervals and don't always do hard sessions - easier/recovery sessions are crucial too. A couple of 'quality' sessions per week, with a couple of 'easy' runs (a slow non-stop 5k would be great for this) would be decent.

Whether you are pushing yourself hard enough is difficult to answer - have you got any training objective ? 5k time in mind ?

 

[Artie Fufkin]

Can any of you pro runners spread some of your running wisdom
I have recently been running 3 sets of 2 kgs with 1 min break and at a @ a 5% quicker than average per km time, I only ever run 5 to 6k's.

How many should I do before running 5ks again?
Am I pushing hard enough?
Any advice would be grateful please.

I would echo a lot of what dazzer suggests. If you're finding it comfortable to run 3 x 2km (60 sec rest) intervals it looks like a continuous 5km run should also be comfortably within your range at the moment. If so, I would flip it around.

I'd suggest dropping the intervals and try to get out and run a 5km but at a lower intensity than your interval efforts. I think building some consistent time spent running at a lower intensity, running 5km perhaps 3 to 4 times a week (maybe every other day) would be of more aerobic benefit than harder interval efforts at this stage. Running at a lower intensity will also help avoid risk of injury. Happy running!

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Remember it’s a very steep hill down from Five Ways.
2 minutes of running that led to 3 hours stretching, ice, smooth roller, knobbly roller and elastic stretch band.
Well worth it!

Very steep, with quite a few side roads –*hope you didn't have to dodge too many oncoming motorists, while you were Ovetting down there

 

[Deleted member 2719]

Not 100% sure what you're asking - if you're doing 3x2km with a 1 minute break for every workout, I would simply start varying it a bit to begin with. You could already easily do 5km non-stop, just drop your effort level a bit - you can then start increasing the distance (if you want to). If you want to stay at 5-6km total, do some shorter, harder (if your 2km intervals are say a 6-7 effort level on a scale of 1-10, make these an 8-9) intervals (6x800m, 8-10 x 400m etc - aim for rests of a similar time duration to the interval itself), and some hill intervals (find a hill of maybe 4-600m, bomb up it hard and then slow walk/jog recovery down and repeat. Always do 1-2km steady jog/run to warm up before doing hard intervals and don't always do hard sessions - easier/recovery sessions are crucial too. A couple of 'quality' sessions per week, with a couple of 'easy' runs (a slow non-stop 5k would be great for this) would be decent.

Whether you are pushing yourself hard enough is difficult to answer - have you got any training objective ? 5k time in mind ?

I would echo a lot of what dazzer suggests. If you're finding it comfortable to run 3 x 2km (60 sec rest) intervals it looks like a continuous 5km run should also be comfortably within your range at the moment. If so, I would flip it around.

I'd suggest dropping the intervals and try to get out and run a 5km but at a lower intensity than your interval efforts. I think building some consistent time spent running at a lower intensity, running 5km perhaps 3 to 4 times a week (maybe every other day) would be of more aerobic benefit than harder interval efforts at this stage. Running at a lower intensity will also help avoid risk of injury. Happy running!

Thanks guys, sorry I didn't make it very clear, I only run 5-6k's and I was just. trying to ramp up my pace a bit.
I only really ever do 2 maybe 3 runs a week, but I was mainly doing 5 k and i was stuck in a bit of a rut, so I was trying to step it up a bit without extra days of training!
It's about fitness for me, but personal improvement in whatever I do is always on the agenda!

I will put this into action.

 

[knocky1]

Very steep, with quite a few side roads –*hope you didn't have to dodge too many oncoming motorists, while you were Ovetting down there

Having thought long and hard about it I put my hand up and say that my reaction was selfish and dangerous. The NHS certainly don’t need me tripping over a kerb at the moment.

Discipline until the pandemic is under control from me.

 

[Grombleton]

Has anyone got any tips or links on the best technique for running? I'm finding most times I run my shins are sore, and whilst I totally appreciate that there are a number of factors (form, terrain, footwear etc) I'm fairly sure I run quite flat-footed and that's a cause of the problem.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Another 10k chalked off early doors. Amazing what starting a diet does to focus the mind. Plus, it means I can have an extra 519 calories today!

Kept it safe up and down the riverbank, which was pretty quiet as I trundled along to a steady 8:30min/mile pace. Beautiful morning for it, too.

Various FB memory notifications about previous BMs have popped up over the past few days, reminding me of previous races there (including over the hateful 10k distance a few years back!). Anyone else have a love/hate or FOMO relationship with that race? I really want to sign up for 2021 at the moment, but I know that when I run it I'll almost certainly hate it. Either way, I'm still gutted for those of you denied the chance to go for it this weekend, when you were in decent form and on for your target times. It was clearly the right decision, but it doesn't make it any easier, eh?

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Has anyone got any tips or links on the best technique for running? I'm finding most times I run my shins are sore, and whilst I totally appreciate that there are a number of factors (form, terrain, footwear etc) I'm fairly sure I run quite flat-footed and that's a cause of the problem.

I'm by no means an expert in this kind of thing, but it might be worth making sure you've got the right shoes, with some gait analysis. Fortunately I don't suffer too much in relation to footwear, but I've heard some horror stories of people having the wrong runners on.

Likewise, I've never had to alter my own 'technique' – again, I'm fortunate to have never had a serious running injuries, especially when I've never bothered with stretches, warm-ups or cool downs (bad runner), but all of those things (plus foam rolling) might help.

 

[knocky1]

Has anyone got any tips or links on the best technique for running? I'm finding most times I run my shins are sore, and whilst I totally appreciate that there are a number of factors (form, terrain, footwear etc) I'm fairly sure I run quite flat-footed and that's a cause of the problem.

Sore shins, when starting out again, are par for the course. There are a number of stretches you can try by googling shin splints. Massaging the area by knuckling the painful area from ankle to knee helps but bloody hurts.

 

[knocky1]

[MENTION=24635]Greg Bobkin[/MENTION] I used to run sub 4 at Brighton without much effort until we formed the sub 3:45 train 4 years ago. It’s been failure after failure for me and slower and slower ever since.

First [MENTION=616]Guinness Boy[/MENTION] chased me down and last year [MENTION=474]Mr Blobby[/MENTION]
So all in all absolute painful rubbish from me.

See you at the next one!

 

[Guinness Boy]

[MENTION=24635]Greg Bobkin[/MENTION] I used to run sub 4 at Brighton without much effort until we formed the sub 3:45 train 4 years ago. It’s been failure after failure for me and slower and slower ever since.

First [MENTION=616]Guinness Boy[/MENTION] chased me down and last year [MENTION=474]Mr Blobby[/MENTION]
So all in all absolute painful rubbish from me.

See you at the next one!

I wouldn't be able to chase Guy Butters over 26.2 yards at the moment

Just took a look at the Sunday forecast to really rub it in. 10 - 17 degrees and sod all wind. FFS.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

[MENTION=24635]Greg Bobkin[/MENTION] I used to run sub 4 at Brighton without much effort until we formed the sub 3:45 train 4 years ago. It’s been failure after failure for me and slower and slower ever since.

First [MENTION=616]Guinness Boy[/MENTION] chased me down and last year [MENTION=474]Mr Blobby[/MENTION]
So all in all absolute painful rubbish from me.

See you at the next one!

That's the other thing. I've largely put race times out of my head, but deep, deep in a part of my mind, there is a voice saying "Go for sub-4." Brighton would seem like the most likely candidate for a stab at that, but who knows...

I wouldn't be able to chase Guy Butters over 26.2 yards at the moment

Just took a look at the Sunday forecast to really rub it in. 10 - 17 degrees and sod all wind. FFS.

A wise woman (my mother) once said "You can't miss what you never had." Probably doesn't help much to you, but over the years, I've adopted it in many scenarios and it makes things a little more bearable...

 

[Garry Nelson's teacher]

The last few days I've taken to cycling up to the top of a hill (Bost Hill in Findon valley and the mighty Steyning Borstal) walking down it and then running back up. The combo of biking and running is a different sort of challenge and the hills are short and sharp enough to allow a 'sprint' (never in the history of human endeavour has this word been used so inappropriately). Anyway, this certainly asks questions of your legs and lungs*.

*such as 'why the flying f*ck are you doing his to us?'

 

[dazzer6666]

[MENTION=24635]Greg Bobkin[/MENTION] I used to run sub 4 at Brighton without much effort until we formed the sub 3:45 train 4 years ago. It’s been failure after failure for me and slower and slower ever since.

First [MENTION=616]Guinness Boy[/MENTION] chased me down and last year [MENTION=474]Mr Blobby[/MENTION]
So all in all absolute painful rubbish from me.

See you at the next one!

Similar..........can't crack the distance at all. Never have (even my modest PB involved racing the first 20m far too quick and then a 6m struggle). I think the one 4 years ago was when we exchanged miserableness going west past the bowling club

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Similar..........can't crack the distance at all. Never have (even my modest PB involved racing the first 20m far too quick and then a 6m struggle). I think the one 4 years ago was when we exchanged miserableness going west past the bowling club

That's exactly what happened to me in 2013 - my one and only sub-4. Then set myself a 3:45 target a few years later that I missed by a mile and spent months trying to figure out what went wrong.

Came to the conclusion it wasn't worth it and haven't set a marathon target time since [emoji23]

Maybe one day...

 

[big nuts]

I passed 500 miles for the year earlier this week with a beautiful sunset run up to the Dyke and back.

Looking at some other runners I follow on Strava they’re already up to 900 or just below which seems an astonishing amount.

Pace session Saturday and then a proper long run Sunday on what should be marathon day. The weather typically looks brilliant for running.