Official Running Thread

[Guinness Boy]

Everything around here is covered in ice and I haven't been out for a run in 10 days. I'm joining a gym tomorrow so I can get on the treadmills.

Question - I've heard a bit of weight training is good for runners, anyone have a basic routine they can pass on? I'm over 50, haven't lifted weights since my school days.

Not really a weight training answer but I'm on a coached marathon programme and weight training is nowhere near it- but stretching and balance exercises very much are. I'm following the Kinetic Revolution 30 day challenge.

https://www.kinetic-revolution.com/...-30-Day-Challenge-Kinetic-Revolution-v1.0.pdf

Before I did that sit ups were my go-to core exercise. I've never done weights.

 

[dazzer6666]

Not really a weight training answer but I'm on a coached marathon programme and weight training is nowhere near it- but stretching and balance exercises very much are. I'm following the Kinetic Revolution 30 day challenge.

https://www.kinetic-revolution.com/...-30-Day-Challenge-Kinetic-Revolution-v1.0.pdf

Before I did that sit ups were my go-to core exercise. I've never done weights.

Yeah, something like this. Focus on core and flexibility rather than weights. Yoga or Pilates is a good option........

 

[driddles]

Not really a weight training answer but I'm on a coached marathon programme and weight training is nowhere near it- but stretching and balance exercises very much are. I'm following the Kinetic Revolution 30 day challenge.

https://www.kinetic-revolution.com/...-30-Day-Challenge-Kinetic-Revolution-v1.0.pdf

Before I did that sit ups were my go-to core exercise. I've never done weights.

Thanks for this. I've been practicing yoga for 3 years, I'll give the .pdf a read through. It's good to have a plan to follow, 'just do it' doesn't quite work for me.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Good running all. I had an awesome time up the Downslink and then along the SDW to Devil's Dyke. Moyleman training is now in full swing.

Wind wasn't too bad, rain stayed away and not as much walking as my previous attempts up the hill to the Youth Hostel. A stone off since mid-Jan has probably helped [emoji106]

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

[Garry Nelson's teacher]

The machine is running well.
Having a little taper myself this week to fit in my 5m XC at Bexhill yesterday. Pleasant ground , 5 soggy hill climbs out of the wind, 5 boggy descents into the wind, lot of flat water sodden grass inot the wind and a 500m wind assisted finish.
Got left behind by Burgess Hill runners, overtaken by someone with a pacemaker after a cardiac arrest last year, chased down the 80m on the runner in front on the run in and failed by a metre, finished in last 10 out of 100 odd,, not last Arena runner home and thoroughly enjoyed the run. Average 8:19 mile. Work needed to be done for next years entry to the over 60 vets League.

Now going to have a week on speed work and more semi tapering ready for a Preston Park full out effort on Saturday.

You just bloody stay away from the over 60s...………(mind you, I'll be over 65 then).

 

[Simgull]

15 miles for me along the sea front out to Saltdean and back along the cliff paths. Tough grind into that wind on the way back. Felt ok, now for the tough bit of building up to 20 in time for 3 Forts in May.
[MENTION=1414]driddles[/MENTION] - Gym work - I always look on it as strengthening to prevent injury rather than weights for muscle building. Core and leg strength exercises are really valuable, some upper body work as well can certainly help speed work.
Also consider intervals on the spin bike and rowing machine as an alternative to the treadmill.

 

[jonny.rainbow]

Ran Worthing Half today in 1:37:51.

Horrible running into that westerly wind along the coast.

Any recommendations for localish fast half marathons? I’d like to get nearer to 1:30.

 

[dazzer6666]

Ran Worthing Half today in 1:37:51.

Horrible running into that westerly wind along the coast.

Any recommendations for localish fast half marathons? I’d like to get nearer to 1:30.

Great time [emoji122][emoji122] Not my thing but speedy pals speak highly of Goodwood. Flat, fast tarmac and not crowded.

https://www.letsdothis.com/e/runnin...MI3bz0oYiy4AIVir3tCh0gpQI-EAAYASAAEgKBd_D_BwE

 

[big nuts]

Ran Worthing Half today in 1:37:51.

Horrible running into that westerly wind along the coast.

Any recommendations for localish fast half marathons? I’d like to get nearer to 1:30.

Good effort in those conditions. The run out to Goring was tough today and put pay to achieving a really good time. Brighton in 2 weeks is pretty flat and the run today will stand you in good stead for this.

I posted 1:28:14 which is an official pb although my Brighton 2016 effort of 1:27:24 remains my best it was a short course by 146 metres. I’m still ****ed off by this 3 years later!

Pretty pleased with my run today and felt I paced it well and ran the final 5k in 20:10 wind assisted!

Lack of speed work probably the missing ingredient as no Park Run’s flat out since October.

I really need to get back to PR quick as whilst I’m putting in good mileage, very little is at race pace.

Brighton for me in 2 weeks and I’ll be hoping for a big reduction in wind speed.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3370980054

 

[Badger]

I only went and did it!

I arrived in Phoenix on Thursday, feeling tired and not particularly confident after a really bad night's sleep the night before. However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I had the best night's sleep and woke up on Friday feeling great. That was a day for expo, cramming in those last carbs and putting my feet up.

I NEVER sleep well the night before a race (does anyone?), so I wasn't too annoyed when I didn't get to sleep until well after midnight with my alarm set for 3:45am (thankfully that's 5:45am Toronto time). It wasn't the best start to the day when our taxi failed to turn up and the estimated time of the Uber we then booked kept getting later. Luckily there was a couple catching their own Uber and they kindly let us jump in with them. That's one thing I always like about America.

We arrived at the finish line and everyone had to join a huge queue to board one of those big yellow school buses to take us to the start line. It turned out I'd timed it perfectly, by the time I'd get off the bus, queued up for the toilet, and dropped my bag off it was only 10 minutes until the start. That start time was 6:30am, so it was still dark and they provided patio heaters for us to stand under as it was about 5C and didn't get above about 8C for the whole race.

The important bit. A (quite deafening) firework set us off and there's that sudden realisation that I'm actually doing this race I've trained so hard for. As you probably know, 3 hours was my target, which is an average pace of around 4:15 per km. For the first couple of km I was running alongside the 3:00 pacer which seemed like a good idea. For some reason he went off at a 4:00/km pace and the guy next to me and I said to each other "he's going way too fast, let's set our own pace". So I kept with this guy until around 8km when we turned and started the only real climb on the course. Halfway up this climb I found myself overtaking the pacer because he'd slowed it right down. i'm so glad I didn't stick with him as I really like to try and keep a consistent pace.

The first half of the race is pretty much all downhill apart from that one climb which is about a mile long. It's the prettiest part of the course, the sun rises behind you and you're surrounded by the desert and hundreds of cacti. I crossed the halfway mark at 1:27, way ahead of target. I felt great but there's always that fear you've gone off too hard. The second half is almost completely flat and runs along typical wide suburban roads. Less scenic but at least there were some spectators to cheer us on. I found myself running with a few people and we'd often be trading places as we'd have those ups and downs in energy at different times.

The last 10k was hard, REALLY hard. My brain was telling me to stop and I just had to keep willing myself to move forward. At one point I was following this guy at a steady pace and suddenly realised he'd slowed right down, so I forced myself past him and latched on to the next guy. I was just counting down those last turns and my friend was standing 500m from the finish shouting support as my legs just kept going. Then I crossed the line, stopped my watch, and it said 2:56:34. I'm not normally one to get very emotional but I stumbled around for a bit not knowing how to react, then someone put a medal around my neck and I started crying.

I still can't quite believe, over a day later. If you'd said to me 2 years ago I'd run a sub 3 hour marathon, I'd have thought you were mad.

 

[dazzer6666]

I only went and did it!

I arrived in Phoenix on Thursday, feeling tired and not particularly confident after a really bad night's sleep the night before. However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I had the best night's sleep and woke up on Friday feeling great. That was a day for expo, cramming in those last carbs and putting my feet up.

I NEVER sleep well the night before a race (does anyone?), so I wasn't too annoyed when I didn't get to sleep until well after midnight with my alarm set for 3:45am (thankfully that's 5:45am Toronto time). It wasn't the best start to the day when our taxi failed to turn up and the estimated time of the Uber we then booked kept getting later. Luckily there was a couple catching their own Uber and they kindly let us jump in with them. That's one thing I always like about America.

We arrived at the finish line and everyone had to join a huge queue to board one of those big yellow school buses to take us to the start line. It turned out I'd timed it perfectly, by the time I'd get off the bus, queued up for the toilet, and dropped my bag off it was only 10 minutes until the start. That start time was 6:30am, so it was still dark and they provided patio heaters for us to stand under as it was about 5C and didn't get above about 8C for the whole race.

The important bit. A (quite deafening) firework set us off and there's that sudden realisation that I'm actually doing this race I've trained so hard for. As you probably know, 3 hours was my target, which is an average pace of around 4:15 per km. For the first couple of km I was running alongside the 3:00 pacer which seemed like a good idea. For some reason he went off at a 4:00/km pace and the guy next to me and I said to each other "he's going way too fast, let's set our own pace". So I kept with this guy until around 8km when we turned and started the only real climb on the course. Halfway up this climb I found myself overtaking the pacer because he'd slowed it right down. i'm so glad I didn't stick with him as I really like to try and keep a consistent pace.

The first half of the race is pretty much all downhill apart from that one climb which is about a mile long. It's the prettiest part of the course, the sun rises behind you and you're surrounded by the desert and hundreds of cacti. I crossed the halfway mark at 1:27, way ahead of target. I felt great but there's always that fear you've gone off too hard. The second half is almost completely flat and runs along typical wide suburban roads. Less scenic but at least there were some spectators to cheer us on. I found myself running with a few people and we'd often be trading places as we'd have those ups and downs in energy at different times.

The last 10k was hard, REALLY hard. My brain was telling me to stop and I just had to keep willing myself to move forward. At one point I was following this guy at a steady pace and suddenly realised he'd slowed right down, so I forced myself past him and latched on to the next guy. I was just counting down those last turns and my friend was standing 500m from the finish shouting support as my legs just kept going. Then I crossed the line, stopped my watch, and it said 2:56:34. I'm not normally one to get very emotional but I stumbled around for a bit not knowing how to react, then someone put a medal around my neck and I started crying.

I still can't quite believe, over a day later. If you'd said to me 2 years ago I'd run a sub 3 hour marathon, I'd have thought you were mad.

Outstanding effort, bloody well done[emoji122][emoji122][emoji122][emoji122]
Great write-up too

Good running too [MENTION=18183]big nuts[/MENTION]

In awe of you speedy guys .

 

[Simgull]

Fantastic [MENTION=6625]Badger[/MENTION] - well done!

 

[knocky1]

Excellent execution [MENTION=6625]Badger[/MENTION]. Great training and race discipline. Congratulations on perfect run and being first NSC sub 3 hour by some way. Good use of other runners to get through the wall, metal slatty fence, razor wire or whatever you wanna call it.

Boston calling?

 

[basque seagull]

Well done [MENTION=6625]Badger[/MENTION] Very impressive!

 

[Greg Bobkin]

I only went and did it!

I arrived in Phoenix on Thursday, feeling tired and not particularly confident after a really bad night's sleep the night before. However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I had the best night's sleep and woke up on Friday feeling great. That was a day for expo, cramming in those last carbs and putting my feet up.

I NEVER sleep well the night before a race (does anyone?), so I wasn't too annoyed when I didn't get to sleep until well after midnight with my alarm set for 3:45am (thankfully that's 5:45am Toronto time). It wasn't the best start to the day when our taxi failed to turn up and the estimated time of the Uber we then booked kept getting later. Luckily there was a couple catching their own Uber and they kindly let us jump in with them. That's one thing I always like about America.

We arrived at the finish line and everyone had to join a huge queue to board one of those big yellow school buses to take us to the start line. It turned out I'd timed it perfectly, by the time I'd get off the bus, queued up for the toilet, and dropped my bag off it was only 10 minutes until the start. That start time was 6:30am, so it was still dark and they provided patio heaters for us to stand under as it was about 5C and didn't get above about 8C for the whole race.

The important bit. A (quite deafening) firework set us off and there's that sudden realisation that I'm actually doing this race I've trained so hard for. As you probably know, 3 hours was my target, which is an average pace of around 4:15 per km. For the first couple of km I was running alongside the 3:00 pacer which seemed like a good idea. For some reason he went off at a 4:00/km pace and the guy next to me and I said to each other "he's going way too fast, let's set our own pace". So I kept with this guy until around 8km when we turned and started the only real climb on the course. Halfway up this climb I found myself overtaking the pacer because he'd slowed it right down. i'm so glad I didn't stick with him as I really like to try and keep a consistent pace.

The first half of the race is pretty much all downhill apart from that one climb which is about a mile long. It's the prettiest part of the course, the sun rises behind you and you're surrounded by the desert and hundreds of cacti. I crossed the halfway mark at 1:27, way ahead of target. I felt great but there's always that fear you've gone off too hard. The second half is almost completely flat and runs along typical wide suburban roads. Less scenic but at least there were some spectators to cheer us on. I found myself running with a few people and we'd often be trading places as we'd have those ups and downs in energy at different times.

The last 10k was hard, REALLY hard. My brain was telling me to stop and I just had to keep willing myself to move forward. At one point I was following this guy at a steady pace and suddenly realised he'd slowed right down, so I forced myself past him and latched on to the next guy. I was just counting down those last turns and my friend was standing 500m from the finish shouting support as my legs just kept going. Then I crossed the line, stopped my watch, and it said 2:56:34. I'm not normally one to get very emotional but I stumbled around for a bit not knowing how to react, then someone put a medal around my neck and I started crying.

I still can't quite believe, over a day later. If you'd said to me 2 years ago I'd run a sub 3 hour marathon, I'd have thought you were mad.

Fantastic effort! Many congratulations, too – a well-deserved place on the NSC ORT Honours board.

Top race report, too – sounded like you executed your plan to perfection...

 

[Garry Nelson's teacher]

I only went and did it!

I arrived in Phoenix on Thursday, feeling tired and not particularly confident after a really bad night's sleep the night before. However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I had the best night's sleep and woke up on Friday feeling great. That was a day for expo, cramming in those last carbs and putting my feet up.

I NEVER sleep well the night before a race (does anyone?), so I wasn't too annoyed when I didn't get to sleep until well after midnight with my alarm set for 3:45am (thankfully that's 5:45am Toronto time). It wasn't the best start to the day when our taxi failed to turn up and the estimated time of the Uber we then booked kept getting later. Luckily there was a couple catching their own Uber and they kindly let us jump in with them. That's one thing I always like about America.

We arrived at the finish line and everyone had to join a huge queue to board one of those big yellow school buses to take us to the start line. It turned out I'd timed it perfectly, by the time I'd get off the bus, queued up for the toilet, and dropped my bag off it was only 10 minutes until the start. That start time was 6:30am, so it was still dark and they provided patio heaters for us to stand under as it was about 5C and didn't get above about 8C for the whole race.

The important bit. A (quite deafening) firework set us off and there's that sudden realisation that I'm actually doing this race I've trained so hard for. As you probably know, 3 hours was my target, which is an average pace of around 4:15 per km. For the first couple of km I was running alongside the 3:00 pacer which seemed like a good idea. For some reason he went off at a 4:00/km pace and the guy next to me and I said to each other "he's going way too fast, let's set our own pace". So I kept with this guy until around 8km when we turned and started the only real climb on the course. Halfway up this climb I found myself overtaking the pacer because he'd slowed it right down. i'm so glad I didn't stick with him as I really like to try and keep a consistent pace.

The first half of the race is pretty much all downhill apart from that one climb which is about a mile long. It's the prettiest part of the course, the sun rises behind you and you're surrounded by the desert and hundreds of cacti. I crossed the halfway mark at 1:27, way ahead of target. I felt great but there's always that fear you've gone off too hard. The second half is almost completely flat and runs along typical wide suburban roads. Less scenic but at least there were some spectators to cheer us on. I found myself running with a few people and we'd often be trading places as we'd have those ups and downs in energy at different times.

The last 10k was hard, REALLY hard. My brain was telling me to stop and I just had to keep willing myself to move forward. At one point I was following this guy at a steady pace and suddenly realised he'd slowed right down, so I forced myself past him and latched on to the next guy. I was just counting down those last turns and my friend was standing 500m from the finish shouting support as my legs just kept going. Then I crossed the line, stopped my watch, and it said 2:56:34. I'm not normally one to get very emotional but I stumbled around for a bit not knowing how to react, then someone put a medal around my neck and I started crying.

I still can't quite believe, over a day later. If you'd said to me 2 years ago I'd run a sub 3 hour marathon, I'd have thought you were mad.

Outstanding. That 4.15 km pace would be a good 5k for some of us around here!

 

[Guinness Boy]

Tremendous running [MENTION=6625]Badger[/MENTION] well played.

 

[Anchorman]

Brilliant running Badger! Sub 3 hour is something to be proud of. As for that pacer, I'm surprised a runner of that ability and you would think experience, going off too fast which could easily have messed your attempt right up. Well done on sticking to your own plan.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I only went and did it!

I arrived in Phoenix on Thursday, feeling tired and not particularly confident after a really bad night's sleep the night before. However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I had the best night's sleep and woke up on Friday feeling great. That was a day for expo, cramming in those last carbs and putting my feet up.

I NEVER sleep well the night before a race (does anyone?), so I wasn't too annoyed when I didn't get to sleep until well after midnight with my alarm set for 3:45am (thankfully that's 5:45am Toronto time). It wasn't the best start to the day when our taxi failed to turn up and the estimated time of the Uber we then booked kept getting later. Luckily there was a couple catching their own Uber and they kindly let us jump in with them. That's one thing I always like about America.

We arrived at the finish line and everyone had to join a huge queue to board one of those big yellow school buses to take us to the start line. It turned out I'd timed it perfectly, by the time I'd get off the bus, queued up for the toilet, and dropped my bag off it was only 10 minutes until the start. That start time was 6:30am, so it was still dark and they provided patio heaters for us to stand under as it was about 5C and didn't get above about 8C for the whole race.

The important bit. A (quite deafening) firework set us off and there's that sudden realisation that I'm actually doing this race I've trained so hard for. As you probably know, 3 hours was my target, which is an average pace of around 4:15 per km. For the first couple of km I was running alongside the 3:00 pacer which seemed like a good idea. For some reason he went off at a 4:00/km pace and the guy next to me and I said to each other "he's going way too fast, let's set our own pace". So I kept with this guy until around 8km when we turned and started the only real climb on the course. Halfway up this climb I found myself overtaking the pacer because he'd slowed it right down. i'm so glad I didn't stick with him as I really like to try and keep a consistent pace.

The first half of the race is pretty much all downhill apart from that one climb which is about a mile long. It's the prettiest part of the course, the sun rises behind you and you're surrounded by the desert and hundreds of cacti. I crossed the halfway mark at 1:27, way ahead of target. I felt great but there's always that fear you've gone off too hard. The second half is almost completely flat and runs along typical wide suburban roads. Less scenic but at least there were some spectators to cheer us on. I found myself running with a few people and we'd often be trading places as we'd have those ups and downs in energy at different times.

The last 10k was hard, REALLY hard. My brain was telling me to stop and I just had to keep willing myself to move forward. At one point I was following this guy at a steady pace and suddenly realised he'd slowed right down, so I forced myself past him and latched on to the next guy. I was just counting down those last turns and my friend was standing 500m from the finish shouting support as my legs just kept going. Then I crossed the line, stopped my watch, and it said 2:56:34. I'm not normally one to get very emotional but I stumbled around for a bit not knowing how to react, then someone put a medal around my neck and I started crying.

I still can't quite believe, over a day later. If you'd said to me 2 years ago I'd run a sub 3 hour marathon, I'd have thought you were mad.

What a fantastic story. I welled up at the end of reading that. Truly exceptional work my friend.

For some advice from an expert which you clearly are, were you running your long training runs at the sub-3 pace?

 

[Bob!]

I only went and did it!

I arrived in Phoenix on Thursday, feeling tired and not particularly confident after a really bad night's sleep the night before. However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I had the best night's sleep and woke up on Friday feeling great. That was a day for expo, cramming in those last carbs and putting my feet up.

I NEVER sleep well the night before a race (does anyone?), so I wasn't too annoyed when I didn't get to sleep until well after midnight with my alarm set for 3:45am (thankfully that's 5:45am Toronto time). It wasn't the best start to the day when our taxi failed to turn up and the estimated time of the Uber we then booked kept getting later. Luckily there was a couple catching their own Uber and they kindly let us jump in with them. That's one thing I always like about America.

We arrived at the finish line and everyone had to join a huge queue to board one of those big yellow school buses to take us to the start line. It turned out I'd timed it perfectly, by the time I'd get off the bus, queued up for the toilet, and dropped my bag off it was only 10 minutes until the start. That start time was 6:30am, so it was still dark and they provided patio heaters for us to stand under as it was about 5C and didn't get above about 8C for the whole race.

The important bit. A (quite deafening) firework set us off and there's that sudden realisation that I'm actually doing this race I've trained so hard for. As you probably know, 3 hours was my target, which is an average pace of around 4:15 per km. For the first couple of km I was running alongside the 3:00 pacer which seemed like a good idea. For some reason he went off at a 4:00/km pace and the guy next to me and I said to each other "he's going way too fast, let's set our own pace". So I kept with this guy until around 8km when we turned and started the only real climb on the course. Halfway up this climb I found myself overtaking the pacer because he'd slowed it right down. i'm so glad I didn't stick with him as I really like to try and keep a consistent pace.

The first half of the race is pretty much all downhill apart from that one climb which is about a mile long. It's the prettiest part of the course, the sun rises behind you and you're surrounded by the desert and hundreds of cacti. I crossed the halfway mark at 1:27, way ahead of target. I felt great but there's always that fear you've gone off too hard. The second half is almost completely flat and runs along typical wide suburban roads. Less scenic but at least there were some spectators to cheer us on. I found myself running with a few people and we'd often be trading places as we'd have those ups and downs in energy at different times.

The last 10k was hard, REALLY hard. My brain was telling me to stop and I just had to keep willing myself to move forward. At one point I was following this guy at a steady pace and suddenly realised he'd slowed right down, so I forced myself past him and latched on to the next guy. I was just counting down those last turns and my friend was standing 500m from the finish shouting support as my legs just kept going. Then I crossed the line, stopped my watch, and it said 2:56:34. I'm not normally one to get very emotional but I stumbled around for a bit not knowing how to react, then someone put a medal around my neck and I started crying.

I still can't quite believe, over a day later. If you'd said to me 2 years ago I'd run a sub 3 hour marathon, I'd have thought you were mad.

Well done!

Did the 3 hour pacer make it though?