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Active member
Jan 22, 2011
167
On the subject of parkrun, I have set myself the goal of completing the Sussex full set as soon as possible. I make it:

I have done:
Worthing
Preston Park
Brighton and Hove
Peacehaven
Hove Prom
Bevendean Down
Eastbourne
Bognor
Tilgate
Horsham
Clair

I haven’t done:
Hastings
Chichester
East Grinstead

So 11/14. Am I missing any? Can anyone beat that? [MENTION=635]Gary Nelson’s teacher[/MENTION] would be the man I’d back to have already done it?

I started looking at doing all the closest PRs from me within an hour or so drive, which ended up being the Sussex PRs plus Cranleigh.

I'm almost half way having done the 7 closest.
 






knocky1

Well-known member
Jan 20, 2010
13,108
I hate Preston Park, it’s my least favourite in Sussex. Why finish on an uphill? Why such a congested start? Why start with such a steep downhill that encourages you to go off too fast? I can’t get my head around running well there and in seven attempts I’ve still not done better than 20:59.

Why go to Brighton if you're from Hove?
 


big nuts

Well-known member
Jan 15, 2011
4,877
Hove
I hate Preston Park, it’s my least favourite in Sussex. Why finish on an uphill? Why such a congested start? Why start with such a steep downhill that encourages you to go off too fast? I can’t get my head around running well there and in seven attempts I’ve still not done better than 20:59.

I quite like Preston Park. Plenty of the course is flat and it has a nice atmosphere.

I still prefer Hove Park out of the two as no turns but it’s a decent run out still.
 


Greg Bobkin

Silver Seagull
May 22, 2012
16,048
Well done to the triathletes. A triathlon is going to be my goal for 2019 once I own a bike and learn how to swim, so respect to you for overcoming those hurdles!

My plantar fasciitis is finally showing signs of improvement. I’ve had about three weeks of low mileage and slow speed. This week I’m taking completely off. I’ve progressed from being in pain while walking to it feeling more like a dull ache that isn’t even that noticeable most of the time. I’m confident the end is in sight.

I’m going to take on my 100th parkrun this Saturday as my first test to see if my feet can now deal with running again. I don’t care about time, the greatest celebration of reaching the century would just be two feet feeling OK at the end. Then it’s the small matter of trying to get back to where I was two months ago...

If you want a nice easy Sprint from a swimming point of view, go for the Mid Sussex Tri – 400m in the pool (what USED to be my idea of heaven!). It's pretty early in the season, so if you smash that, you can always sign up for one of the growing number of them taking place in July/August or even September – get a wetsuit and even if the water is a bit chilly, you won't feel it!

On the subject of parkruns, a lot of people know my feelings about the Hove Park and Prom route. I like Worthing, can't really see the point in Lancing, not keen on PP and would love to be able to get over to Bevendean and Peacehaven more often. The default will always be HP though. I think parkrun has become less about a time trial-type event to me these days – more of a chance to have a nice little run around the park and catch up with people. Or maybe that's an excuse for the fact that I'm not as quick as I used to be!
 


soistes

Well-known member
Sep 12, 2012
2,651
Brighton
I hate Preston Park, it’s my least favourite in Sussex. Why finish on an uphill? Why such a congested start? Why start with such a steep downhill that encourages you to go off too fast? I can’t get my head around running well there and in seven attempts I’ve still not done better than 20:59.

If you think PP is awkward - I ran the parkrun at Seaton in Devon last Saturday- it starts on a pebble beach (similar to Brighton in consistency), and then runs along a narrow concrete esplanade, with two further beach sections during the run (both including 180 degree turns). I was reasonably happy with 23:05 in the circumstances (it was also very hot with no shade). On the plus side, the atmosphere was great and the locals very welcoming, but for a course give me preston park any day.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 






Simgull

Well-known member
Jan 3, 2013
1,669
Hove
Looks like the inaugural Lancing Park Run is Saturday August 25th.

I’ll stick with Bevendean but will be keen to give Lancing a go in September

They’re desperate to keep it low key so the right thing is to stay away for a few weeks while they get settled in.
 






dazzer6666

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Mar 27, 2013
55,554
Burgess Hill
I hate Preston Park, it’s my least favourite in Sussex. Why finish on an uphill? Why such a congested start? Why start with such a steep downhill that encourages you to go off too fast? I can’t get my head around running well there and in seven attempts I’ve still not done better than 20:59.

Not been to Clair Park then ?[emoji23][emoji23]
Narrow, congested, half up hill with one very steep bit, 4.5 laps........
 








knocky1

Well-known member
Jan 20, 2010
13,108
....although the article should point out that runners need to have followed a training plan and that some of us us were not made for endurance running.
 




knocky1

Well-known member
Jan 20, 2010
13,108
Yes -I'm not really fully convinced by the emotional intelligence stuff but old-fashioned mental toughness is a big part of it. I simply give up too easily on long runs.

My marathon attempts are best described thus:
lack of success, non-success, non-fulfilment, abortion, miscarriage, defeat, frustration, collapse, foundering, misfiring, coming to nothing, falling through; informalfizzling out.

Drop the distance down to 13.1 miles downwards and I'm prepared to kill myself in pursuit of glory. Only able to do this 3 times a year. This year have used the turbo at one Parkrun and last Sunday's Tri. Legs still mashed.

Recovery now before training for the BIG effort to wrestle your AG Gold position in November.
 


Garry Nelson's teacher

Well-known member
May 11, 2015
5,257
Bloody Worthing!
My marathon attempts are best described thus:
lack of success, non-success, non-fulfilment, abortion, miscarriage, defeat, frustration, collapse, foundering, misfiring, coming to nothing, falling through; informalfizzling out.

Drop the distance down to 13.1 miles downwards and I'm prepared to kill myself in pursuit of glory. Only able to do this 3 times a year. This year have used the turbo at one Parkrun and last Sunday's Tri. Legs still mashed.

Recovery now before training for the BIG effort to wrestle your AG Gold position in November.

I recognise that marathon syndrome.


On the AG title, I certainly think it will be close. I've got one big hope: it's my birthday in the last week in December which means I click up another year (I'll be 64 which seems bloody ancient) with maybe one final run for 2018. In the meantime, I'll keep flogging myself to get nearer (or even under) 21.00. Of course we can't discount some other bugger beating the both of us!
 




dazzer6666

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Mar 27, 2013
55,554
Burgess Hill
My marathon attempts are best described thus:
lack of success, non-success, non-fulfilment, abortion, miscarriage, defeat, frustration, collapse, foundering, misfiring, coming to nothing, falling through; informalfizzling out.

Drop the distance down to 13.1 miles downwards and I'm prepared to kill myself in pursuit of glory. Only able to do this 3 times a year. This year have used the turbo at one Parkrun and last Sunday's Tri. Legs still mashed.

Recovery now before training for the BIG effort to wrestle your AG Gold position in November.

Same here - and I've done 60-odd :wrong::wrong::wrong:
 


Simgull

Well-known member
Jan 3, 2013
1,669
Hove
Yes -I'm not really fully convinced by the emotional intelligence stuff but old-fashioned mental toughness is a big part of it. I simply give up too easily on long runs.

Some interesting and valid points in that article. I'd suggest there is a wider point here- in long runs such as marathons, yes the mental side plays a big part - probably more so than shorter distances (and of course you have to have done the training as well). My belief is that you need to understand your motivation and that may be driven by many different factors - for example get a medal, wanting to set a PB, run under 4 hours, run 100 marathons, raise money for charity, memory of a loved one, improve fitness or dare I say it to beat another member of a chat site (mentioning no names). Being aware of your Emotional Intelligence and leveraging it works in the same way. If you can frame both your training and the race itself, including that difficult mid -section of the race, in these terms and refer to them at times of difficulty then you will have more chance of succeeding. For example getting out of bed on a dark winter morning for a LSR will be less difficult if you do it not because you want to do the training itself, but because you want raise the money for charity in four months time. Similarly at the start of the race telling yourself you will not start too fast because that will help you run under four hours.

I have come to the realisation that my main motivation is simply I enjoy running, and I think realising this has taken a lot pressure away and consequently I had my most enjoyable, relaxed and fulfilling marathon at Brighton this year, ran a decent time to boot and had the best recovery I've had after the event.
 


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