Official Running Thread

[Greg Bobkin]

Top event as always last night from the Sussex Trail guys......

Found the first lap ok, but then struggled in the dark a bit as got zero confidence in my footing (got injured on this race last year and was affected for 4-5 months) so a bit of a stop/start stuttering effort where I tried to run as hard as I dare on the flatter easier bits. Training has been useless throughout June and July so pretty happy with 4.30-something. Little bit down on last year but conditions were harder. More mud this year, and the high tide caused a few issues on the last homeward section !

Good running [MENTION=24635]Greg Bobkin[/MENTION], sub 5 a very decent effort (you were going too fast on the first lap though [emoji23][emoji23]) and [MENTION=12697]Steve Foster[/MENTION], another of your 52 in 52 ticked off [emoji106][emoji106]

Struggled to sleep as legs were painful, but no other issues and all good this morning. Off for a stroll into town shortly to get everything moving again.

A combination of sticking with you and Mark (who finished in 3.56) meant that yes, once again, I went off far to quickly. But it felt good...

Considering your pre-race prediction, you've gotta be happy with that time?

No six-mile run [MENTION=15605]knocky1[/MENTION] but I was up early (rubbish night's sleep with major leg cramps) and then had to play 7-a-side football at Junior's club. Six games in total of 15 mins...

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[Simgull]

24km for me this morning. Started from Yellowwave, up onto the Downs and looped back through Rottingdean. Nice to break through half marathon distance and think only need to add 5 miles or so in the nine weeks until Berlin.

 

[dazzer6666]

A combination of sticking with you and Mark (who finished in 3.56) meant that yes, once again, I went off far to quickly. But it felt good...

Considering your pre-race prediction, you've gotta be happy with that time?

No six-mile run [MENTION=15605]knocky1[/MENTION] but I was up early (rubbish night's sleep with major leg cramps) and then had to play 7-a-side football at Junior's club. Six games in total of 15 mins...

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Aye, well happy................

 

[knocky1]

Dropped in at St Helens Parkrun yesterday on my way to The Open and smashed 28 seconds off my PB somehow. I recorded a 22:59. I've no idea how it happened, I can only assume it's down to the fact I've clocked up over 100km in the last 15 days so 5km is seeming easier all the time. My goal for 2017 had been to get in the 22s so I need to reset the target now I've done that by July.

Excellent result, well done. Remember to have recovery time before your next effort.

 

[knocky1]

A combination of sticking with you and Mark (who finished in 3.56) meant that yes, once again, I went off far to quickly. But it felt good...

Considering your pre-race prediction, you've gotta be happy with that time?

No six-mile run [MENTION=15605]knocky1[/MENTION] but I was up early (rubbish night's sleep with major leg cramps) and then had to play 7-a-side football at Junior's club. Six games in total of 15 mins...

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You're wearing me out talking about junior football, let alone a prior night marathon.

 

[Hooky]

Yesterday I thought I'd take a change from the hills of Clair so I took my first trip to Preston Park.
What a delight - lovely flat stretches to run on and the only hill of note is the short rise to the cafe. Ended up with 19:57 on the clock and didn't feel like I wanted to die at the end!
I'll try Hove Park sometime soon to see if I can sub 20 there also.

 

[dazzer6666]

Yesterday I thought I'd take a change from the hills of Clair so I took my first trip to Preston Park.
What a delight - lovely flat stretches to run on and the only hill of note is the short rise to the cafe. Ended up with 19:57 on the clock and didn't feel like I wanted to die at the end!
I'll try Hove Park sometime soon to see if I can sub 20 there also.

Woo, sub 20 is ace ! Hove Prom is quicker than PP if not windy so try there too.....

Clair is 60-120 seconds slower than Hove Prom or Hove Park for me.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

I'm feeling left out.

I piled into a 33.8 mile cycle instead and managed to get turned around in Sompting, which wasn't ideal. I bottled all of the major hills because of the rain but managed to do 22mph on the flat between Lancing and Shoreham, I love that stretch coming back.

Running might still be a week away for me.

 

[Hooky]

Woo, sub 20 is ace ! Hove Prom is quicker than PP if not windy so try there too.....

Clair is 60-120 seconds slower than Hove Prom or Hove Park for me.

I've heard scary tales of the Hove Prom wind!!

 

[dazzer6666]

I've heard scary tales of the Hove Prom wind!!

Still better than the mountains of Clair Park [emoji23][emoji23]

 

[Garry Nelson's teacher]

Some great running over the weekend, especially by the Lunar-tics.

 

[knocky1]

Some great running over the weekend, especially by the Lunar-tics.

Don't know if you know the stretch Jesus has for hamstrings. If you're pain free and warmed up maybe worth giving it a go.
Clear kitchen table. One leg stretched out on table other on floor just slightly used to balance. Hold in core muscles, head up and gently bring head down towards ankle of leg on table. Stop if any pain in injured area. Repeat on other leg. Part of my post run stretching routine.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

You're wearing me out talking about junior football, let alone a prior night marathon.

Ironically, the most pain I'm in are coming from scratches sustained by sliding on the astroturf! It was a good laugh – mixed men and youngsters on the teams.

Anyway, a brief match report as requested. As Dazzer said, it was a pretty comfortable first lap/nine miles. A bit of course knowledge helped knowing what was coming and where and I got the opportunity to pick out what I thought were the best/least muddy lines on the track.

Once the darkness hit, I slowed a bit and there was some walking on lap two – especially after going through gates or over stiles. At this point the river level was getting really high – thankfully there wasn't much rain during the actual race – and the southerly wind was proving a bit of a bugger on the way back from Bramber.

Felt a bit rough, so declined any food from the aid stations on lap two as I didn't know if it was going to come back to haunt me, but at the end of lap two I felt better so went for it with some chocolatey goodness. Those calories – along with the knowledge it was nearly over (ish) helped as I got on with lap three. River level meant that at one point the path I was on was only about a metre wide and had a bit more walking. I'd dipped to close to 15 min/miles a couple of times but I still thought sub-5 would be in the bag. Just after the turn for home I felt sleepy, got massive cramp pains in my legs after landing the other side of a big puddle, but got through it and then hit the stone path between airport and river. Almost there and thankfully someone was behind me because it pushed me to carry on (pace was back up to 11/12 min/miles now and I was running through anything that for in my way – bugger the best lines) and across in 4:59.35 and 59th place.

One milky cup of tea, ditched the vest and changed my top and embarked on the mile-ish walk home – which took about 45 mins!

Great night, fabulous support and brilliant organisation from STE.

 

[Garry Nelson's teacher]

Don't know if you know the stretch Jesus has for hamstrings. If you're pain free and warmed up maybe worth giving it a go.
Clear kitchen table. One leg stretched out on table other on floor just slightly used to balance. Hold in core muscles, head up and gently bring head down towards ankle of leg on table. Stop if any pain in injured area. Repeat on other leg. Part of my post run stretching routine.

Thanks very much. Did 6 miler today with no discomfort but will try the 'Jesus stretch' as a preventive measure.

 

[dazzer6666]

Who is up for this then ?? Not even got a game that weekend (International weekend) so no excuses

https://www.sussextrailevents.com/sussex-trail-events/velothon-2/
[MENTION=24635]Greg Bobkin[/MENTION] - good report. I switched to the higher flood bank when the tide was right up, but it was pretty overgrown - legs are scratched to hell ! You should have said you had to walk home, could easily have given you a lift......

 

[Garry Nelson's teacher]

Ironically, the most pain I'm in are coming from scratches sustained by sliding on the astroturf! It was a good laugh – mixed men and youngsters on the teams.

Anyway, a brief match report as requested. As Dazzer said, it was a pretty comfortable first lap/nine miles. A bit of course knowledge helped knowing what was coming and where and I got the opportunity to pick out what I thought were the best/least muddy lines on the track.

Once the darkness hit, I slowed a bit and there was some walking on lap two – especially after going through gates or over stiles. At this point the river level was getting really high – thankfully there wasn't much rain during the actual race – and the southerly wind was proving a bit of a bugger on the way back from Bramber.

Felt a bit rough, so declined any food from the aid stations on lap two as I didn't know if it was going to come back to haunt me, but at the end of lap two I felt better so went for it with some chocolatey goodness. Those calories – along with the knowledge it was nearly over (ish) helped as I got on with lap three. River level meant that at one point the path I was on was only about a metre wide and had a bit more walking. I'd dipped to close to 15 min/miles a couple of times but I still thought sub-5 would be in the bag. Just after the turn for home I felt sleepy, got massive cramp pains in my legs after landing the other side of a big puddle, but got through it and then hit the stone path between airport and river. Almost there and thankfully someone was behind me because it pushed me to carry on (pace was back up to 11/12 min/miles now and I was running through anything that for in my way – bugger the best lines) and across in 4:59.35 and 59th place.

One milky cup of tea, ditched the vest and changed my top and embarked on the mile-ish walk home – which took about 45 mins!

Great night, fabulous support and brilliant organisation from STE.

Loved the understated 'felt a bit rough' - reminded me that I'm off to see Dunkirk tonight an historic episode which you might sum up as "me and some of the lads decided to have a quick boat ride back to Blighty as Jerry was getting a bit feisty".

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Who is up for this then ?? Not even got a game that weekend (International weekend) so no excuses

https://www.sussextrailevents.com/sussex-trail-events/velothon-2/
[MENTION=24635]Greg Bobkin[/MENTION] - good report. I switched to the higher flood bank when the tide was right up, but it was pretty overgrown - legs are scratched to hell ! You should have said you had to walk home, could easily have given you a lift......

Funnily enough, a guy I ran with briefly (it was dark, I didn't even SEE him, let alone find out his name) mentioned this to me on lap two. I heard about it before and was interested to know how they recorded how many laps you'd done – just seen the bit about chips. Not sure I fancy it to be honest – a bit like the carpark one, which sounded fun for a moment, but then I quickly went off the idea.

It's OK about the lift – the plan was always to walk home and keep the legs moving. I'd like to think it helped because they feel OK. Certainly better than they would two days after a road marathon, although not as good as post-Beachy, where there was almost no pain and suffering at all.

One thing I should have added (for anyone who's contemplating running one of these night races) was LunarTic acted as a reminded to get a better headtorch. Mine is OK, but most are WAY better. It's like comparing sidelights with halogen beams.

 

[dazzer6666]

Funnily enough, a guy I ran with briefly (it was dark, I didn't even SEE him, let alone find out his name) mentioned this to me on lap two. I heard about it before and was interested to know how they recorded how many laps you'd done – just seen the bit about chips. Not sure I fancy it to be honest – a bit like the carpark one, which sounded fun for a moment, but then I quickly went off the idea.

It's OK about the lift – the plan was always to walk home and keep the legs moving. I'd like to think it helped because they feel OK. Certainly better than they would two days after a road marathon, although not as good as post-Beachy, where there was almost no pain and suffering at all.

One thing I should have added (for anyone who's contemplating running one of these night races) was LunarTic acted as a reminded to get a better headtorch. Mine is OK, but most are WAY better. It's like comparing sidelights with halogen beams.

The walking afterwards is definitely a good thing....I walked all the way back to Preston Park after Brighton and it made a fantastic difference to how I felt the day after and walked back into the City Centre after Seville - but they were sunny afternoons, not at 2am...

I went down to watch the Velothon last time (had entered, but got injured beforehand). It was raining and miserable.............for 78 laps............but on the bright side, 78 STE Aid Stations

Agree re headtorch (especially on a surface like that) - decided it's time to upgrade mine as well. Will probably get the Silva Trailrunner II - heard very good reports.

http://www.headtorches365.co.uk/silva-trail-runner-ii-head-torch-p4

 

[Pembury]

I went down to watch the Velothon last time (had entered, but got injured beforehand). It was raining and miserable.............for 78 laps............but on the bright side, 78 STE Aid Stations

I enjoyed it... I must like rain, monotony and misery.. I think it's my Eastern European roots