The Running Thread

[TigerK]

Hi all, I hadn't spotted this thread before. Great to discover so many runners on here.

I've been running for (ahem!) 23 years, mainly in South of England on road, track and x-country, but in last few years find myself heading North more frequently to Scotland or Cumbria for fell races and mountain marathons..Off to Cumbria on Saturday for a week and hoping to get some good long days out on the fells.

[ewenm]

TigerK said:

Hi all, I hadn't spotted this thread before. Great to discover so many runners on here.

I've been running for (ahem!) 23 years, mainly in South of England on road, track and x-country, but in last few years find myself heading North more frequently to Scotland or Cumbria for fell races and mountain marathons..Off to Cumbria on Saturday for a week and hoping to get some good long days out on the fells.

Any plans for a Bob Graham round one day?

[TigerK]

ewenm said:

Any plans for a Bob Graham round one day?

I've been thinking about this for a couple of years, and have run most of the route in long fell races and training runs (I'm the same age this year as the number of tops visited . Do you fancy joining a Pistonheads BGR attempt then?

[ewenm]

TigerK said:

ewenm said:

Any plans for a Bob Graham round one day?

I've been thinking about this for a couple of years, and have run most of the route in long fell races and training runs (I'm the same age this year as the number of tops visited . Do you fancy joining a Pistonheads BGR attempt then?

Not at the moment. Other targets in mind.

[TigerK]

ewenm said:

Not at the moment. Other targets in mind.

Gwent league I see. I used to run for Dursley in that league, before switching to Birmingham League with Cheltenham. Which club are you with?

[ewenm]

TigerK said:

ewenm said:

Not at the moment. Other targets in mind.

Gwent league I see. I used to run for Dursley in that league, before switching to Birmingham League with Cheltenham. Which club are you with?

TeamBath (used to be City of Bath) are my second-claim club (Woodford Green 1st Claim). I probably won't make another Gwent League this season - concentrating on road in the build-up to my next half marathon.

[LeeME3]

Hi, spot of advice needed...

Been running for about 3 weeks now and not finding it too bad. Doing between 3 & 5 miles 5 or 6 times a week. All I really wanted to know is how long roughly before it starts to feel more comfortable? I've managed to gradually increase the distance but the times are staying resolutely at 10mins per mile which means I'm going to do a very slow 10K at the Lincoln Road Race in March (my initial target to keep me motivated through the winter!). I'm tempted to stop increasing the distance now I can do 5 miles and work on the speed instead.... any suggestions (other than 'join a club'!) most appreciated! Thanks

[onedsla]

Lee - I'm a big believer in just running steady miles with occasional untimed fartlek the only speed session, especially through the winter. My first bit of advice would be to extend one of the runs up to 10 miles - not straight away, but build up over a couple of months. Once these longer runs are established in your schedule, the 3-5 mile plods will start feeling routine and the speed will naturally progress without you realising. On one of the runs you could speed up for stretches between 1 and 5 minutes - don't time it - just pick spots on your route like to the top of a hill, to the end of the road etc. Keep it varied and try to keep of hard surfaces where possible - grass / dirt tracks may feel harder initially, but your bones and muscles will thank you for it.

Also make sure you adjust your diet accordingly. You'll need more carbs to restock your depleted muscles, but try to keep fat intake down - unless you're already skinny it's likely that you'll naturally drop a bit of weight which will also reduce the impact / chances of injury.

3 weeks is nothing really - it takes months to get 'fast' and there are no short cuts. In 1999 / 2000 when I was running at my best (14:12 for 5000m and 30:05 on a hilly 10km road course), it was the result of 3 years of steady mileage and general consistancy (minimal time off with injury) - no magic sessions, but I did race several 1500m and mile races prior to running my fastest longer distance times.

After a 6 year break from all sport, I returned as a 39:50 10km runner which seems to be my 'natural fittness' (from others I know this seems to have little or nothing to do with potential) - it took 7 months of jogging to get down to 35mins, then another 18 months to take off another 3 minutes - it would have probably been longer than that had I not done the running in my youth. I hope that by preparing for a marathon (long slow runs and up to 120 miles per week) my 10km time will naturally drop to around 30:30, then I'll hit the track twice per week for the finishing touches and maybe get back into PB shape (although I'm already too old and slow to get close to my 5km).

[onedsla]

ewenm said:

(Woodford Green 1st Claim).

Ewen - you'll have to watch out for clubmate Ronnie O'Sullivan - he's getting bliddy quick at the moment - getting close to top 50 in the London Met league - which puts him alongside 34:30 10km guys. Not bad for a snooker player!

[LeeME3]

onedsla said:

Lots of sound advice.

Thanks, that's pretty much as I thought - let it build up gradually with a bit of a 'push' now and then. I'm really enjoying it at the moment (well, most of my runs anyway!) so am keen to stay motivated - just so long as I know it will get easier to go quicker in the future I'll be OK for now! I'm not skinny (BMI 25 but falling!) but am quite muscular so will only be doing light weights a max of twice a week - last thing I need is to put too much muscle on as I'm trying to get leaner and fitter! Good tips on the diet - interestingly (and reassuringly) that's pretty much what my body has been telling me.

Edited by LeeME3 on Thursday 22 November 22:59

[ewenm]

onedsla said:

ewenm said:

(Woodford Green 1st Claim).

Ewen - you'll have to watch out for clubmate Ronnie O'Sullivan - he's getting bliddy quick at the moment - getting close to top 50 in the London Met league - which puts him alongside 34:30 10km guys. Not bad for a snooker player!

It'll be a while before Ronnie is worrying me I hope (he's been top 50 before though IIRC). My best in the Met League is 2nd so Ronnie should worry my running about as much as I should worry his snooker

[king_rat]

Does anyone else really love running in the cold, or it is just me??? Those cold crisp mornings with the frost and no-one around, very pretty and gives some great time for thinking while running. I love these cold mornings.
I took over a minute off my 10K PB last weekend. Very pleased indeed.
Hope you are all enjoying injury free running.

[The jiffle king]

Ran a cross country at Handy Cross this weekend, after doing a circuits session on Saturday. Needless to say, my legs are like jelly and I had a rubbish run at our Cross country league.... the best part were the relentless hills though.... Just constant for 40 minutes.

Hope you all had good runs

T-J-K

[ewenm]

Off for a training weekend with my old London group in Broxbourne - 3 runs tomorrow and 2 on Sunday

[d1bble]

king_rat said:

Does anyone else really love running in the cold, or it is just me??? Those cold crisp mornings with the frost and no-one around, very pretty and gives some great time for thinking while running. I love these cold mornings.
I took over a minute off my 10K PB last weekend. Very pleased indeed.
Hope you are all enjoying injury free running.

I have never understood why anyone would get up early to go running. It makes me wince when i see people out at that time in the morning. I tried it once (only once) and i nearly died with the lack of energy and the fact i had just bloody woken up

I have ran at 2-3am, but thats without going to bed before hand. (i have been stopped a couple of times (over the years) by the Police...for running at that time in the morning, with a hooded top on)

Congratulations on the min off your 10k PB

[Yugguy]

king_rat said:

Does anyone else really love running in the cold, or it is just me??? Those cold crisp mornings with the frost and no-one around, very pretty and gives some great time for thinking while running. I love these cold mornings.
I took over a minute off my 10K PB last weekend. Very pleased indeed.
Hope you are all enjoying injury free running.

Yeah, me too, much prefer it to running in heat. Running in cold makes you feel alive, you feel the air on your skin, tbh I like running in the wind and rain for that as well.

Congrats on the pb as well.

[king_rat]

I think the fartlecks are starting to pay off... Just need to continue them.

I have also run at 2-3 AM, but usually because I cannot sleep, and only where it has lots of street lighting. Amazing what you see that time of night.
Bring on the frosty mornings... thats what I say.

Good luck to anyone racing this weekend. I have a non-racing weekend, but will be doing a 5K time trail next weekend, and a one mile challenge.
Have a good weekend.

Edited for spelling!

Edited by king_rat on Friday 7th December 17:49

[zed sump]

Yugguy said:

Yeah, me too, much prefer it to running in heat. Running in cold makes you feel alive, you feel the air on your skin, tbh I like running in the wind and rain for that as well.

Congrats on the pb as well.

ran on christmas day last year, suprising a few seafront strollers must've been about 3C -beat that for madness!
heat is my biggest enemy but always like the challenge - can never complain about hot weather can get used to it after a week of hot running.
rain didn't bother me so much on the school runs as it did others, so gave me a (well needed) advantage!

[d1bble]

zed sump said:

3C -beat that for madness!

-40 (in the wind chill) in Peterborough, outside Toronto.

I only had a t-shirt on and for some reason a tattoo transfer to keep me warm.
It took me quite some time to pull myself together and for my testicles to retract from their hiding place.

Edited by The Count on Tuesday 18th December 15:25

[AdamT]

Hi Guys,

Great thread, and very interesting.

Im a sprinter by nature, but enjoy running 3k on the tradmill. Interesting to see some chaps running under 10mins! Very impressive, was this with the machine already running at your chosen speed or was it built up?

I always start timing and the machine from 0, so it takes about 30s to build up to my desired speed.

My pb is 11:04, but at the moment I am running 11:30s, I go to the gym 3x a week on average, any tips on building my time? I tackle the run, by just basically increasing my speed as I go, depending on how i feel, is this ok? Or should i just choose a speed and run at that for the 3k?

thanks,

very best
adam