The Running Thread

[E38Ross]

Had a steady ish 6 miler last night and legs feeling a bit tired from Tuesdays and Wednesdays runs, hope I can pull a good session out tonight as I know it will be hard, then I can have Friday off before another hard session Saturday and 12mile steady Sunday.

[UpTheIron]

After my aborted long run on Saturday and a day tidying the garage on Sunday this week has been a bit better.

Monday morning was 4 steady miles with the other half (7:59 min/mile average) followed by a quicker mile on my own (6:30). I managed to get out Monday evening for a 7.1 at 6:55 average

The other half normally gets the morning slot but I managed to get out on Tuesday so took full advantage and did a fairly hilly off road 9 miles at 7:09 average. That didn't exactly put me in good stead for the running club, which with the run there and back was 10.2 miles with about 4.5k of speed work in the middle of it.

Tuesdays 19+ miles for the day meant yesterday was a stiff legged 5 miles, hoping things are a bit better for another speed session with the club tonight.

[E38Ross]

7 mile fartlek session tonight, felt terrible to start with but loosened up; only 5 "efforts" if i recall but all involved hills except the last effort which was a good 800m or so. took it reasonably easy as (for me) this will be a pretty long week. that's about 24 miles so far this week and will be doing another 18 at the minimum; most of those are good quality miles too with a good amount of speed work.

uptheiron - good effort!! possibly over-doing it?

i'm a big fan of "quality, not quantity" when it comes to running; as i think it's very, very true. if you're doing runs which are too long and killing yourself for any speed sessions.......

you know your goals and your body a lot better than me, but just a though, no ill-intentions meant of course

[ewenm]

The key is to do both IMO. If the mileage is adversely impacting your sessions, then I'd suggest the mileage is being done too quickly.

When I was at my 3kSC/5k best I was doing on average 80mpw with 3 sessions (and running sub-9 steeplechase, sub 14:30 5k). The training for 10k/10M/HM wasn't actually much longer peaking at just over 100mpw when I had time off work. Marathon is a different matter, it's a completely different event to the HM.

My personal feeling from my experience is that doing a lot of quality can get you to an acceptable level relatively quickly but you'll improve more over time by fitting in the quantity too. It takes time to adjust to the mileage though, and is one advantage of the periodisation methods of training.

[UpTheIron]

E38Ross said:

uptheiron - good effort!! possibly over-doing it?

Most probably, but at least I know I am. I skipped the club tonight as the other half had a rubbish day so didn't want to be out all night - instead got out and did my planned 12 miles but without the speedwork. Definitely for the best as I could feel just how tired my legs are - so took it steady-ish and will have a day off tomorrow (in fact I'm about to go and get another beer!).

Whilst physically I am pushing it this week (40-45 miles a week seems to be the max I can sustain over a long period), mentally it feels great and gives me the confidence to take in some easy runs rather than pushing all the time.

[E38Ross]

that's good uptheiron

new (well, fully refurbished) garmin forerunner 205 turned up bright and early this morning from Garmin. you couldn't tell it apart from a brand new unit. for 47....i'm well chuffed

i reckon i must have done about 10,000 miles in my old unit, including the odd bike ride. when this one dies i'll buy a 910XT as i need the map function.

[Parabola]

Did my first ParkRun this morning, at Platt Fields, South Manchester.

29.29 so plenty of room for improvement!

[E38Ross]

well done parabola. the first of many, i'm sure. it's all about consistency, do your training, don't miss training if the weather's nasty outside etc and that time will soon tumble, i promise.

for me this morning....2 mile warm up then 8x800m reps with 90secs recovery between each then 2 miles warm down....not bad for a saturday session.

was on my own and didn't feel particularly brilliant but average pace over the 8 reps was 5:45/mile which isn't tooooo bad considering. i find it hard to really shift when i'm on my own.

tomorrows plan is ~12mile run on trails near me, i can do 12 miles with about 1.5 miles on road, the rest off road and it's a lovely route (not quite as nice as last week though!!) which will take this weeks mileage to a shade under 45 miles.

[esuuv]

Parkrun in richmond this morning - just gently, spitfire 20 at dunsfold tomorrow morning

[anonymous-user]

First run after the Bath Half last Sunday. 8 miles steady, felt continuously better through the run but still not that great.
Got to get ready in 2 weeks for the Midland Road Relays.

[Zachlain]

Hi guys,

I am after a bit of advice on some good running shoes for a budget of 60.

I run regularly as part of my training routing, and currently have standard nike sports shoes.
I am after shoes that are light, comfortable and offer good support to my feet.

I have heard asics are good, and what about shoes with minimal cushioning? - are they something that every runner should aim for eventually?

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

[anonymous-user]

Zachlain said:

Hi guys,

I am after a bit of advice on some good running shoes for a budget of 60.

I run regularly as part of my training routing, and currently have standard nike sports shoes.
I am after shoes that are light, comfortable and offer good support to my feet.

I have heard asics are good, and what about shoes with minimal cushioning? - are they something that every runner should aim for eventually?

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

My advice would be to go for the Nike Pegasus. I've found them good enough for track work and long runs (I had something like 8 pairs in a row), but my advice would be to get yourself down to the local running store and get some proper advice and possibly gait analysis, because if you need support shoes then it's a different category of shoe.

I can't comment on Asics as I've never had a pair. I'm not sure about minimalist shoes, some people swear by them but if your going to be running on anything other than grass or soft trails the entire time, it wouldn't be my choice.

[E38Ross]

cookie118 said:

Zachlain said:

Hi guys,

I am after a bit of advice on some good running shoes for a budget of 60.

I run regularly as part of my training routing, and currently have standard nike sports shoes.
I am after shoes that are light, comfortable and offer good support to my feet.

I have heard asics are good, and what about shoes with minimal cushioning? - are they something that every runner should aim for eventually?

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

My advice would be to go for the Nike Pegasus. I've found them good enough for track work and long runs (I had something like 8 pairs in a row), but my advice would be to get yourself down to the local running store and get some proper advice and possibly gait analysis, because if you need support shoes then it's a different category of shoe.

I can't comment on Asics as I've never had a pair. I'm not sure about minimalist shoes, some people swear by them but if your going to be running on anything other than grass or soft trails the entire time, it wouldn't be my choice.

you're like me. over the years i've had at least 10 pairs of Asics gel ds trainers...i've now got 3 pairs of these ones....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ASICS-GEL-DS-Trainer-Runni...

they're THAT good. love them to bits. though over the price bracket, they're worth it. light enough for speed work, enough cushioning for long runs (i've run 20 miles in them without issue).

i also have a pair of Asics gel ds racers which are flats so not ideal for regular big miles, but great for races.

my suggestion would be as above - get to a proper running shop. i'd also advise that your first pair be quite good in the cushioning department and get some steady miles in the legs before you think about lightweight speed shoes.

all IMO.

[Halb]

Parabola said:

Did my first ParkRun this morning, at Platt Fields, South Manchester.
29.29 so plenty of room for improvement!

I do the Penny Flash one. Only done it twice but hope to do it regular.
Took three minutes off on my second go (first one was my first time back on a road).

Is Platt fields flat or hilly?

[Highway Star]

7 miler off road for all but about 500m, mostly over fields this morning. Only the second time I've done this run since I started doing more running again to compliment my swimming training, but was pleased to knock 3 minutes off my time and get an average of well under 8 minute miles. Starting to very slowly see some slight improvements, which is nice.

[Zachlain]

cookie118 said:

My advice would be to go for the Nike Pegasus. I've found them good enough for track work and long runs (I had something like 8 pairs in a row), but my advice would be to get yourself down to the local running store and get some proper advice and possibly gait analysis, because if you need support shoes then it's a different category of shoe.

I can't comment on Asics as I've never had a pair. I'm not sure about minimalist shoes, some people swear by them but if your going to be running on anything other than grass or soft trails the entire time, it wouldn't be my choice.

E38Ross said:

Thanks very much for the advice guys. Much appreciated.

I will get myself down to the running shop this week and have my gait analysed. Do you have any idea roughly how much I should expect to pay for the gait analysis?

[a boardman]

I did 9.55 mile today with 675 ft of elevation gain.

[E38Ross]

Zachlain said:

Do you have any idea roughly how much I should expect to pay for the gait analysis?

yes. nothing.

their gait analysis is simple; get you on a treadmill either barefoot in a neutral shoe and see if you pronate or supinate (or are a neutral runner) and suggest shoes to suit.

whilst this is effective in most cases, it's far from the be all and end all in biomechanics. ultimately, wear what's comfortable.

thing is, if you run more, you may develop muscular imbalances which effect phases of the gait and dynamic foot posture which means no shoe is ever perfect. i'm a 4th year (final) chiropractic student and have done a fair amount of work on gait....being a rather sports oriented person. Looked at the soles on my running shoes when i developed a gluteus medius tendinopathy and found the wear pattern was pretty different side to side....does that mean i should wear odd shoes? the good news was....there was NO wear on the heel at all heel wear is for slower runners and/or for those destined for hip/knee and/or ankle pain in the future....or rather, earlier than other runners.

[E38Ross]

a boardman said:

I did 9.55 mile today with 675 ft of elevation gain.

where abouts is that? that's reasonably hilly. i try to get a good amount of hills on my long runs as they are good training. today i had a shade over 1300ft which is a bit more than i usually aim for....

went from thornhill near caerphilly and follwed a main trail towards machen.

i was running across the top of this earlier

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=51.559757,-3.193192&a...

ran down this slope and then (if you spin the map round across the road and past the farmers bit

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ll=51.5628...

and shortly after there there was a steep downhill....trouble is....i had to run back up it on the way back.....muddy and slippy too, i MUST get some trail shoes.

after reaching maenllywd ran down this road and entered the woods again here

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Unknown+road&a...

and followed main trail through there down into machen then up the other side briefly before heading back. heading back was a bugger because my net descent on the way into machen was a shade over 200m (that's NET....i had some climbing too!!) so the way back saw around 300m of climb)

still, was a gorgeous run and, as said earlier, almost all of it was off road. muddy, hilly, but saw NO cars between start and finish

i'll stop boring you all with google maps links now (which i use loads...helps me find trails etc, especially with satellite view)

Edited by E38Ross on Sunday 18th March 17:26

[UpTheIron]

Did the NiceTri Hurden 18 today... finished 2:02 which I'm not displeased with as I wasn't giving it (quite) everything and there were a couple of hills that I wasn't expecting! It's probably 3 - 4 minutes outside what I was capable of for similar / slightly effort a few months ago but at least I'm heading in the right direction again!