Official Running Thread

[Garry Nelson's teacher]

Made a late decision today to run a trail 10K. Beautiful course (Patching off the A27 west of Worthing) and for a good cause. As we lined up I noticed that there would be a 5k at the same time, but that the 10k wasn't going to be 2 laps of the 5k. I always worry about the marshalling of such events. There's just too much that can go wrong.

This time I was proved right as eventually I was 'guided' to run an extra circuit. I expected to be slow but around 50 minutes I realised that something was not right as I still seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. As I passed a few marshals I mentioned that this was a very long 10k, and they just kind of smiled thinking that I was just struggling.

Eventually, after around 72 minutes and about 14k on a pretty tough course on a very hot day, I made it to the finish line. I confess to an acute sense of humour failure, but the takeaways are

1. don't turn up to an event without some idea of the course;

2. if in doubt about being mis-directed by marshals then query it at the time;

3. don't be an old git who marshals think will be at the back of the field when in fact you are quite near the front (well, for a while, anyway)

4. treat such an occurrence as a bonus training run.

In all my years of running (around 35) this has only happened once before.

 

[knocky1]

Good running @GNT. Positive is you won the somewhere around 14k run today. Negative is you came last in the same event....

Thanks for making me laugh. ��

 

[dazzer6666]

Kinell. Sorry for interrupting all the parkrun magnificence, but did the CW50 yesterday. Christ, what a tough, hilly ******* of a course.....and way too hot for me yesterday. Ok first 15-20 miles or so then started cramping up, pretty much struggled from there onwards, particularly through the 20-40 mile section of the course which had some big, steep climbs. Went off-track a couple of times too due to lack of concentration so ended up doing 52 miles in a desperately slow 11hrs 40 mins. Spent the night afterwards intermittently suffering from horrendous cramp.....despite taking salt tabs every hour and drinking 16 pints of water during the race. Absolutely stunning course though...and usual brilliant Centurion Running organisation. Took this pic about an hour before I finished........

https://strava.app.link/HuQgGb3M0Z

 

[Mr Banana]

Being alive is quite bad but the 20-minute pacer at Hove Park makes it all worthwhile. What a guy

 

[Ninja Elephant]

[MENTION=33116]Garry Nelson's teacher[/MENTION] - sounds a bit of a shambles to say the least - did you effectively run both the 5k and 10k courses?!
[MENTION=27279]dazzer6666[/MENTION] - your running exploits are beyond insane! Time really can't matter for that sort of event. The map is pretty remarkable on Strava - more of a cycle than a run!

Being alive is quite bad but the 20-minute pacer at Hove Park makes it all worthwhile. What a guy

That is possibly the most eclectic thing ever written in this thread.

As for me, I rolled myself around a nice 20 mile course yesterday featuring plenty of hills and a few downhills as well. Averaged 8:34 per mile in a bit of a struggle so I'm not sure I'm where I want to be with Leicester marathon so close. But we'll see. I'll not do a 32 mile cycle the day before the marathon, that should serve me well I hope...

 

[Curious Orange]

It was effing hot yesterday, but I managed another 10 miles along the Wey. I'm not worrying about pace at the moment, it's all about losing weight and strengthening my legs at the moment.

 

[Garry Nelson's teacher]

[MENTION=33116]Garry Nelson's teacher[/MENTION] - sounds a bit of a shambles to say the least - did you effectively run both the 5k and 10k courses?!

[MENTION=27279]dazzer6666[/MENTION] - your running exploits are beyond insane! Time really can't matter for that sort of event. The map is pretty remarkable on Strava - more of a cycle than a run!



That is possibly the most eclectic thing ever written in this thread.

As for me, I rolled myself around a nice 20 mile course yesterday featuring plenty of hills and a few downhills as well. Averaged 8:34 per mile in a bit of a struggle so I'm not sure I'm where I want to be with Leicester marathon so close. But we'll see. I'll not do a 32 mile cycle the day before the marathon, that should serve me well I hope...

TBH I don't think I'll ever work out quite what or where I ran. But it is a funny experience when you overtake folk on one part of the course and then find yourself overtaking them again at a later stage - you sort of exchange a rather perplexed glance with each other! Good luck for your Leicester run; looking forward to reading your report.

 

[Richy_Seagull]

I’m very much stuck around the 23:30 for 5K. Have been running quite regularly for nearly a year now, including a horrific and slow marathon in April. Really hoping to get somewhere near my PB of 21:05 but just can’t seem to get anywhere near it.

Have put on a little weight since then and a few years older but still dream of getting that time again. Any tips for improving the short distance time? Trying to find hilly longer runs, but what else should I be looking at?

 

[dazzer6666]

I’m very much stuck around the 23:30 for 5K. Have been running quite regularly for nearly a year now, including a horrific and slow marathon in April. Really hoping to get somewhere near my PB of 21:05 but just can’t seem to get anywhere near it.

Have put on a little weight since then and a few years older but still dream of getting that time again. Any tips for improving the short distance time? Trying to find hilly longer runs, but what else should I be looking at?

Actually more shorter, harder intervals will increase your pace - the longer hilly runs will help increase your aerobic endurance so also useful............running faster than your 5k pace is the real key though. Try a few things like :

10 min warm up then 2 mins hard, 2 mins easy, repeat x 5-8 times (then try the same session but with longer efforts)
Reducing ladder - after a warm up, do 1600m, 1200m, 1000m, 800m, 600m, 400m, 200m intervals with reducing jog/walk rests
Longer intervals - say 3 x 1 mile with 5 min walk/jog recovery between each

These are just examples - loads of similar things you can do - but to run faster you've basically got to....run faster. Other key is don't do hard sessions back to back - always have an off/easy day between high effort sessions

 

[Ninja Elephant]

TBH I don't think I'll ever work out quite what or where I ran. But it is a funny experience when you overtake folk on one part of the course and then find yourself overtaking them again at a later stage - you sort of exchange a rather perplexed glance with each other! Good luck for your Leicester run; looking forward to reading your report.

It is an unusual one - it's not so bad if it's a route you know at least partially, but if you're somewhere totally new and fresh it wouldn't be quite so enjoyable!

I’m very much stuck around the 23:30 for 5K. Have been running quite regularly for nearly a year now, including a horrific and slow marathon in April. Really hoping to get somewhere near my PB of 21:05 but just can’t seem to get anywhere near it.

Have put on a little weight since then and a few years older but still dream of getting that time again. Any tips for improving the short distance time? Trying to find hilly longer runs, but what else should I be looking at?

I would very much listen to [MENTION=27279]dazzer6666[/MENTION] - you need to throw in some quicker paced sessions and by all means go for a longer run of 7-10 miles but if you're specifically aiming for a fast parkrun, focus on shorter distances at a higher pace. There are loads of 5k training plans available online, but I'll be happy to send you what I use if you want to post/PM me an email address. Even if you don't follow it to the letter or want to run fewer days, having an idea of sessions to tackle will help you.

Earlier this year, I was really struggling to run under-21 minutes for a 5k. Right now I'm flying and my target before year end is a sub-18 parkrun, which I've never run before. Consistent training over several weeks really is the key.

 

[Badger]

A nice start to the week for me. As I was on my way into work this morning an email popped up saying I've been accepted into the 2020 Boston Marathon.

I was pretty certain I was going to get in, but it's nice to finally have it confirmed.

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

I no longer run in anger as an injury/illness laid me off for 9 months but did complete my first Olympic distance triathlon on Sunday in 1 hour 37 and taking part in Cardiff HM as a fun run in a few weeks.

Can no longer find it in me to be competitive and just signing up to events for the experience, I'd like to do a half iron man in the next 12 months and a full iron man after that if my body will let me.

Also got a friends place in London Marathon if I'm not successful in the ballot which again will be a fun run.

 

[Garry Nelson's teacher]

I no longer run in anger as an injury/illness laid me off for 9 months but did complete my first Olympic distance triathlon on Sunday in 1 hour 37 and taking part in Cardiff HM as a fun run in a few weeks.

Can no longer find it in me to be competitive and just signing up to events for the experience, I'd like to do a half iron man in the next 12 months and a full iron man after that if my body will let me.

Also got a friends place in London Marathon if I'm not successful in the ballot which again will be a fun run.

I think you might have broken the world record for an Olympic distance tri (ending in a 10k). Was it the sprint version (ending in a 5k)?

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

I think you might have broken the world record for an Olympic distance tri (ending in a 10k). Was it the sprint version (ending in a 5k)?

Ha ha, I meant 2 hours 37!

 

[Garry Nelson's teacher]

Ha ha, I meant 2 hours 37!

You're still my hero!

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

Thanks GNT. I think multi-sport events have been the savior of my overall fitness because I don't think it would be possible for me to get back to slogging it out for purely long distance running events again. All those miles of running back and forth along the seafront don't feel that appealing anymore especially as the days of getting a sub 3 marathon are now a bit past me I feel.

Open water swimming and longer distance cycling has rekindled my love for doing an activity for the sake of enjoyment rather than achieving a goal and I hope to keep it that way.

I have given up my Garmin and Strava as well because as ridiculous as it seems I pushed myself so as not to get a shit time on my Strava when I should have been listening to my body more.

 

[Garry Nelson's teacher]

Thanks GNT. I think multi-sport events have been the savior of my overall fitness because I don't think it would be possible for me to get back to slogging it out for purely long distance running events again. All those miles of running back and forth along the seafront don't feel that appealing anymore especially as the days of getting a sub 3 marathon are now a bit past me I feel.

Open water swimming and longer distance cycling has rekindled my love for doing an activity for the sake of enjoyment rather than achieving a goal and I hope to keep it that way.

I have given up my Garmin and Strava as well because as ridiculous as it seems I pushed myself so as not to get a shit time on my Strava when I should have been listening to my body more.

Yes - I can totally see this. I had a crack at a few duathlons (no swimmer, me) and loved them. The extra training load seemed to improve my running times too. With respect to protocols at such events, I advise you don't follow my example of taking someone else's bike at transition (and not realising until I'd cycled about 400 metres). The fact that the injured party was a female made it all the more shameful!
On your other point, even at 64, I'm still a slave to the stopwatch - and simply wouldn't bother to run if I couldn't compete, and I wouldn't compete if I wasn't delivering 'competitive' times. We're all different.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

It's an interesting debate about tracking times and distances etc - a friend of mine doesn't ever want to know her pace during running and doesn't track anything so she can be in the moment. There is an argument for it, but the argument against it is clearer for me - you don't know your pace, so you can't really regulate yourself in any meaningful way. I would also be frustrated if I ran a parkrun, for example, without knowing the time and ran a second or two outside of a PB or getting under a minute barrier (18:bla instead 19:bla). In her case, she ran a 19:01 parkrun this week for the second time, having never gone sub-19. If she'd had a watch, she'd have known and surely found those couple of seconds!

That being said, I've become better at running recovery runs at a non-competitive pace and mindset, but it certainly hasn't always been the case. I feel like I've matured as a runner!

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

With respect to protocols at such events, I advise you don't follow my example of taking someone else's bike at transition (and not realising until I'd cycled about 400 metres). The fact that the injured party was a female made it all the more shameful!

I would love to know how that is even possible. Did you have matching bikes? I hope it wasn't a target event for the other athlete!

 

[dazzer6666]

It's an interesting debate about tracking times and distances etc - a friend of mine doesn't ever want to know her pace during running and doesn't track anything so she can be in the moment. There is an argument for it, but the argument against it is clearer for me - you don't know your pace, so you can't really regulate yourself in any meaningful way. I would also be frustrated if I ran a parkrun, for example, without knowing the time and ran a second or two outside of a PB or getting under a minute barrier (18:bla instead 19:bla). In her case, she ran a 19:01 parkrun this week for the second time, having never gone sub-19. If she'd had a watch, she'd have known and surely found those couple of seconds!

That being said, I've become better at running recovery runs at a non-competitive pace and mindset, but it certainly hasn't always been the case. I feel like I've matured as a runner!

Sensible words......

For me, have been getting better at moderating my pace (wasn’t very quick to begin with) on training runs, and now becoming even more focused on trail running, particularly over longer distances. The impact on the body of slower trail running compared to harder road running is immense. The times also become far less important, I find myself running much more to ‘feel’ on the trails and trying to pitch things at the right effort level for the session/event rather than garmin-watching. It might be a hardish hour on the hills when I’ll gun it above breathing threshold, but equally it could be a race like Saturday where I’m very content to walk long, hilly stretches in 25 degree heat to make sure I finish in reasonable condition. Might mean my time is a bit slower than ‘ideal’ but whether I finish in 10, 11 or 12 hours is neither here nor there really, it’s only a hobby. Some days things will all click into place and the time/pace will be a nice surprise.