Official Running Thread

[Bozza]

10k track race in 42:30 yesterday. Pathetic.

One of the best thing on this thread is who can out humble brag the others. Great entertainment for this particular tortoise.

 

[Bozza]

In other news, my 80 days thing looks set to be finished in the saddle.

My left knee is very sore to the point I'm limping on it quite badly. Not sure what I've done to it - don't recall anything at all, but it's the knee I had ACL reconstruction on a few years back. Perhaps it's just moaning that I've given it a bit of a battering recently.

I thought I'd try to run on it last night, and jogged, walked and generally hobbled around using Pokemon as an additional way to keep me very steady but this morning I was in absolute agony. As I'll have two weeks on my feet in the heat of Disney World starting a week today, I really need to nurse it a bit.

Today was day 75 and I've just completed a 2 1/2 hour bike ride. I'd prefer to be running though.

 

[Mr Banana]

One of the best thing on this thread is who can out humble brag the others. Great entertainment for this particular tortoise.

A chorus of people told me it was pathetic at the race, so it's somewhat ingrained. But thanks very much anyway

 

[dazzer6666]

In other news, my 80 days thing looks set to be finished in the saddle.

My left knee is very sore to the point I'm limping on it quite badly. Not sure what I've done to it - don't recall anything at all, but it's the knee I had ACL reconstruction on a few years back. Perhaps it's just moaning that I've given it a bit of a battering recently.

I thought I'd try to run on it last night, and jogged, walked and generally hobbled around using Pokemon as an additional way to keep me very steady but this morning I was in absolute agony. As I'll have two weeks on my feet in the heat of Disney World starting a week today, I really need to nurse it a bit.

Today was day 75 and I've just completed a 2 1/2 hour bike ride. I'd prefer to be running though.

Sorry to hear that. I'm with you in the dodgy knee clinic. Was a tiny bit niggly last week, the marathon (hard surface) on Saturday followed by a couple of recovery runs left me properly limping yesterday.

Occasional very sharp pain, feels unstable. Strongly suspect I have been running with a modified stride after turing my ankle during the marathon the week before as all the muscles around the knee feel tight (knee problems in runners very often muscular, meaning the knee doesn't track properly)

 

[Curious Orange]

Down to 19:03 today, finished 5th and was confident of an age bracket 1st 'cos the guys ahead looked younger... turns out the chap 40 seconds ahead in 2nd wasn't!!!

Anyway, the next Parkrun I do is my 50th - here's hoping I break 19 to celebrate.

 

[dazzer6666]

Down to 19:03 today, finished 5th and was confident of an age bracket 1st 'cos the guys ahead looked younger... turns out the chap 40 seconds ahead in 2nd wasn't!!!

Anyway, the next Parkrun I do is my 50th - here's hoping I break 19 to celebrate.

Cracking time !

 

[knocky1]

Down to 19:03 today, finished 5th and was confident of an age bracket 1st 'cos the guys ahead looked younger... turns out the chap 40 seconds ahead in 2nd wasn't!!!

Anyway, the next Parkrun I do is my 50th - here's hoping I break 19 to celebrate.

Good luck with that. I'm postponing full out efforts till end of August. Will try and run them 30-45 seconds off pace until then. Noticed today that in my 3 week effort to run 5k fast as possible I have lost a lot of endurance. Struggled today at 3.8 miles! So tomorrow a little 8 miler @8:45 pace and then 2 weeks of hard training.

 

[Curious Orange]

Good luck with that. I'm postponing full out efforts till end of August. Will try and run them 30-45 seconds off pace until then. Noticed today that in my 3 week effort to run 5k fast as possible I have lost a lot of endurance. Struggled today at 3.8 miles! So tomorrow a little 8 miler @8:45 pace and then 2 weeks of hard training.

That's funny, I've found my 5k times going down at the same time as I've been including at least one 10+ mile run into my weekly routine.

Must be some medical reason for that...

Anyway, Parkrun 50 will have to wait as I'm away next weekend.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Down to 19:03 today, finished 5th and was confident of an age bracket 1st 'cos the guys ahead looked younger... turns out the chap 40 seconds ahead in 2nd wasn't!!!

Anyway, the next Parkrun I do is my 50th - here's hoping I break 19 to celebrate.

Fantastic!

I knocked 50 seconds of last week's parkrun time today at Worthing (21.50). Didn't feel like I had anything like that at the start.

Off up onto the Downs in a few hours.

 

[penny's harmonica]

Headed up on the downs this morning. Planned running from Wilmington to Alfriston and back but soon gave up after running in circles due to the fog. Couldn't see more than 20 metres in front and could have ended up anywhere as impossible to navigate. Could really see how people get so lost and in trouble in more remote areas. Does anyone know of a watch which also displays your location on a map? I'd be interested in getting one of these if such a thing exists

 

[big nuts]

My hamstring is still giving me all kinds of trouble. Probably wasn't the best idea to run the Trailblazer 10 last Sunday with it's big climbs across the downs. Have struggled all week, but with the Barns Green not too far away I really need to increase my mileage.

Attempted a long run today but felt the tightness worsen around 7 miles and struggled home for 9.5 miles in 1 hour 10 @ 7:23 per mile. Enjoyed getting out there, the wind was fairly strong along the front.

May well see Jesus again soon as I'm desperate to get back to normal running and take in the hills around my new house.

 

[knocky1]

Headed up on the downs this morning. Planned running from Wilmington to Alfriston and back but soon gave up after running in circles due to the fog. Couldn't see more than 20 metres in front and could have ended up anywhere as impossible to navigate. Could really see how people get so lost and in trouble in more remote areas. Does anyone know of a watch which also displays your location on a map? I'd be interested in getting one of these if such a thing exists

Some footballers have that problem of not knowing where they are.
You have a number of options. Just take a compass and have a general idea beforehand of where you want to go.
Secondly you could download an ordnance survey app and then be able to find your map grid reference, then look at a map and use a compass to move in planned direction.
You could buy a, do it all, GPS Garmin thingy that you can have a map, compass, location marker, and way forward all on the screen. Garmin Etrex cost from £80 to over £300+ depending on scale they give.
What you did was the probably the best option. Run where it's not foggy and enjoy getting lost now and again.

 

[knocky1]

My hamstring is still giving me all kinds of trouble. Probably wasn't the best idea to run the Trailblazer 10 last Sunday with it's big climbs across the downs. Have struggled all week, but with the Barns Green not too far away I really need to increase my mileage.

Attempted a long run today but felt the tightness worsen around 7 miles and struggled home for 9.5 miles in 1 hour 10 @ 7:23 per mile. Enjoyed getting out there, the wind was fairly strong along the front.

May well see Jesus again soon as I'm desperate to get back to normal running and take in the hills around my new house.

Tough luck but as Dazzer said to me STOP running on it till it's fixed. If it tightens on every run, it's not fixed. As you play football as well it may not be running related. Good luck with it getting fixed.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

I've had an ace weekend running. Really enjoyed getting up on the Downs today, even though I also had fog, [MENTION=23419]penny's harmonica[/MENTION], when I was looking forward to bright sunshine and cracking views.

Fifteen miles completed slower than I did the same route (plus a mile) back in March, but that wasn't important. It was all about enjoying the run, getting up those hills and finishing a decent long run. Back home by 8.30, too!

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

[Curious Orange]

Fantastic!

I knocked 50 seconds of last week's parkrun time today at Worthing (21.50). Didn't feel like I had anything like that at the start.

Off up onto the Downs in a few hours.

Thank you. I am amazed how the human body can make these apparent leaps in performance, though looking back through my Parkrun history it is possible to make out some events where things changed slightly.

My first Parkrun was in Richmond in 2009, my then girlfriend had been running in half marathons and 10ks, and encouraged by this I'd just completed a couch to 5k course. I plodded around in football trainers and a Brighton top to finish in 24:13.

Then there was a gap of three years while I got married, started a family... and got 'comfortable'.

Then Parkrun started up in Guildford and I started running regularly again, and was bumbling around 22 minutes for a couple of years.

My best time in 2014 of 20:20 coincided with me training for my first half marathon - and that is where things took off. I broke 20 minutes in 2015 (19:40), and then 19:30 this year after introducing a weekly 10 mile run.

I am frankly amazed to be pushing for sub-19!

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Thank you. I am amazed how the human body can make these apparent leaps in performance, though looking back through my Parkrun history it is possible to make out some events where things changed slightly.

My first Parkrun was in Richmond in 2009, my then girlfriend had been running in half marathons and 10ks, and encouraged by this I'd just completed a couch to 5k course. I plodded around in football trainers and a Brighton top to finish in 24:13.

Then there was a gap of three years while I got married, started a family... and got 'comfortable'.

Then Parkrun started up in Guildford and I started running regularly again, and was bumbling around 22 minutes for a couple of years.

My best time in 2014 of 20:20 coincided with me training for my first half marathon - and that is where things took off. I broke 20 minutes in 2015 (19:40), and then 19:30 this year after introducing a weekly 10 mile run.

I am frankly amazed to be pushing for sub-19!

This is where I've been for a ages – 21/22 mins, with a PB years ago of 20:54. I was looking back through my results and I got back to 21:09 last September, so if I keep it going I'll hopefully get back to that sort of time some time soon. Sub 20 would be a dream, but I know that is a long way off at the moment, but you never know...

 

[Bozza]

Thank you. I am amazed how the human body can make these apparent leaps in performance, though looking back through my Parkrun history it is possible to make out some events where things changed slightly.

My first Parkrun was in Richmond in 2009, my then girlfriend had been running in half marathons and 10ks, and encouraged by this I'd just completed a couch to 5k course. I plodded around in football trainers and a Brighton top to finish in 24:13.

Then there was a gap of three years while I got married, started a family... and got 'comfortable'.

Then Parkrun started up in Guildford and I started running regularly again, and was bumbling around 22 minutes for a couple of years.

My best time in 2014 of 20:20 coincided with me training for my first half marathon - and that is where things took off. I broke 20 minutes in 2015 (19:40), and then 19:30 this year after introducing a weekly 10 mile run.

I am frankly amazed to be pushing for sub-19!

As a fat old plodder, I find that a really encouraging story. Do you mind me asking how old you are?

24:13 strikes me as decent for a first 5k though. When [MENTION=394]nail-Z[/MENTION] and I first started a bit of running a few years ago, we had a friendly wager as to who would break 25 minutes for a 5km first. As someone who had just started then, 25 minutes felt like a nearly impossible goal. Last year I got sub-23 minutes (Strava caveat applies) before I fell off the running wagon. I have no idea what I'd be capable of now if not injured and perma-knackered, but I don't think I'd be capable of breaking that PB.

I'd like to believe that even as I approach my 45th birthday and as someone who has come to running pretty late, there may be a chance of a sub-20 minute 5km if I really applied myself.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

I remember being happy with my first sub 30 5km time! Then a year or so after, the 19:52 happened and that felt like smashing through the glass ceiling and showing it absolutely no respect whatsoever. Anything is possible!

 

[soistes]

As a fat old plodder, I find that a really encouraging story. Do you mind me asking how old you are?

24:13 strikes me as decent for a first 5k though. When [MENTION=394]nail-Z[/MENTION] and I first started a bit of running a few years ago, we had a friendly wager as to who would break 25 minutes for a 5km first. As someone who had just started then, 25 minutes felt like a nearly impossible goal. Last year I got sub-23 minutes (Strava caveat applies) before I fell off the running wagon. I have no idea what I'd be capable of now if not injured and perma-knackered, but I don't think I'd be capable of breaking that PB.

I'd like to believe that even as I approach my 45th birthday and as someone who has come to running pretty late, there may be a chance of a sub-20 minute 5km if I really applied myself.

As an even later starter than you (started in my late 50s, and am now 61), I too like to believe that anything is possible. My best 5km parkrun achieved earlier this year is 22min 22 sec, and my best 10k (also in 2016, aged 60) is 47 min 19 sec. Progress has plateaued over the summer, because I had to take 3 months or so off running due to a stress fracture of the fibula, but I'm now back in training, and have got parkrun down to just over 23m, so I'm still hopeful. Given the age factor, however, and the fact that any natural improvement due to training is increasingly going to be offset by the impact of the ageing process, I suspect that a sub-20 target may not be realistic for me, so I'm considering adjusting my target to getting eventually to 75% age-grade at Park Run, and staying there, whatever age I happen to be at the time. At the moment, I'm hovering around 70%.

 

[Curious Orange]

As a fat old plodder, I find that a really encouraging story. Do you mind me asking how old you are?

Not at all, I'm 41.

24:13 strikes me as decent for a first 5k though.

It probably was in all honesty. Though I was still smoking at the time, and not 'a runner', I was swimming a couple of times a week, was at my lightest weight since I was teenager (and actually lighter than I am now), and probably had a good base level of stamina as a result - that all went to pot when I got married in 2010 though!!

I'd like to believe that even as I approach my 45th birthday and as someone who has come to running pretty late, there may be a chance of a sub-20 minute 5km if I really applied myself.

Give yourself a goal, my times started coming down when I entered that first Surrey Half - I'd never considered running that distance before, and only really entered because the Start/Finish was a 10 minute bike ride from my house!