The Running Thread Vol 2

[egor110]

Well that was hard, 16.6 miles and 3285ft of climbing.

Last week or so I've had a problem with my big toe joint but further up the foot.

It feels like I've had my shoes done up far to tight and crushed my foot, when I'm running it feels as if I'm landing on my big toe and that's taking the full impact.

Any advice?

[The jiffle king]

Piginapoke - well done on your marathon time and hope you enjoy the next week of rest

Atlanta 10 miler

This morning was the Atlanta 10 miler and so with a start time of 0730 and roadworks on the highway, we set off at 0500 and arrived at the race just after 6am. It does not claim to be a flat course ,but the first couple of miles were supposed to be downhill, but that did not materialize too much. The race is known for "cardiac hill" which starts about 6.25 miles in and rises for about a mile and the height of a 12 story building.

Had a good run over the 719ft of climb and finished 28th overall and 3rd in my age group and 7th Masters (anyone over 40). Averaged 6:21 per mile so happy as no taper for this race. Also managed to be 1 of the top 100 times up Cardiac hill so won a glass tankard which was excellent

Race was well organized, lots of good bag material and they also ran a 5k where the top 3 all ran sub 15 minutes. They tell me the winner of the 10 miler ran 50 minutes and was a US Olympic triallist

Weather was cooler which really helped and now to continue training for MIssippi half in December

[john2443]

Next race, a bit of a change from parkruns and local 10ks....Great Ethiopian run in 4 weeks time, 10k round Addis Ababa.

10 day trip with 7days of altitude training first and the 10k at the end.

Anyone else going?

Will report back afterwards

[bigandclever]

Are you going to run it, or walk it like 30odd thousand others? The latter looks like a fun day out

[john2443]

bigandclever said:

Are you going to run it, or walk it like 30odd thousand others? The latter looks like a fun day out

I'm intending to run it, although it is tempting to enjoy the party at the back!

It's one lap so it might be possible to race it then carry on round and join the party!

[ukaskew]

Did the White Horse Gallop yesterday, 8 mile off-road up Salisbury Plain. I've only ever run 10k once so signing up for what is known as the most challenging off-road race in Wiltshire filled me with dread. Loved it though, had no interest in time (84 minutes, fastest was 49, average was around 70), just wanted to make it to the end still running.

Several miles in having climbed 1000ft we reached the Westbury White Horse, figured that wasn't so bad. Then suddenly we follow a narrow steep trail right back down, then immediately have to climb back up again. This section was so slow (think grabbing clumps of grass just to pull yourself up, it was that steep) I even had time to take a picture.

This was halfway up after the really brutal bit was out of the way, for a guy who has been running for 6 months at Parkrun with one 10k in the bag I could have cried!



Never been happier to come 107 out of 135! Second hardest thing I've ever done (and the first was getting through a year of recovery from a heart virus that nearly killed me, so it's in good company!)

[tenohfive]

I'm looking for inspiration - I'm hoping someone can point me in the direction of a good trail/fell race in mid-January to February. Upto 50 miles, but I'll happily take less if it's particularly hilly/harsh terrain. I'm scouring various run events listings and nothing is really jumping out at me. The Country To Capital looks like a possible, but running into London - and with the grotty tow-paths that that involves - doesn't really appeal. And I've ruled out the Endurance Life CTS events as I'm doing a couple of them this year.

Anything spring to mind? I'm looking for a bit of a post Christmas beasting and figured if I book it now I'm less likely to make excuses and wimp out.

[NatAsp]

Can anyone provide advice on head torches for trail running at night... What's a good one, how powerful does it need to be etc?

[SpydieNut]

NatAsp said:

Can anyone provide advice on head torches for trail running at night... What's a good one, how powerful does it need to be etc?

I had the LED Lenser H7R and found that bright enough. And rechargeable. But I left the batteries in it over aummer and they leaked, so now I need another one too. Was going to look around see what else has come out in the 2-3 yrs since I got mine, so will watch this with interest

ETA - I was looking at the dcrainmaker site, as I think he does excellent reviews, but sadly he doesn't seem to cover head torches

[tenohfive]

Budget?

I've got a Nitecore HC30. Up to 1000 lumens (real, not eBay lumens.) Couple it with a decent charger (Xtar VC2 or VC4) and a decent 18650 battery and you're sorted.
I had a Lenser H7.2 before but it didn't last long before I upgraded.

If money is no object then Silva and Petzl both do headtorches for running with reactive lighting, but I've always felt that they're massively overpriced for what they are. The non-reactive types especially so.

[andy_s]

tenohfive said:

I'm looking for inspiration - I'm hoping someone can point me in the direction of a good trail/fell race in mid-January to February. Upto 50 miles, but I'll happily take less if it's particularly hilly/harsh terrain. I'm scouring various run events listings and nothing is really jumping out at me. The Country To Capital looks like a possible, but running into London - and with the grotty tow-paths that that involves - doesn't really appeal. And I've ruled out the Endurance Life CTS events as I'm doing a couple of them this year.

Anything spring to mind? I'm looking for a bit of a post Christmas beasting and figured if I book it now I'm less likely to make excuses and wimp out.

From another posting"
"Late November: Wooler Trail Marathon - 28 miles 6000ft
Late December: Tour de Helvellyn - 38 miles 6000ft
(notice these, and most of the others that follow, are nowhere near DB rate of climb)
Early-January Hardmoors 30
Mid January: Spine Challenger
(planned before my DB entry decision - no help at all to DB but should not compromise it at this stage)
Early February: South Devon Coast Ultra - 34 miles 4800ft
(coastal series are the most reliable for reasonable weather early in the year)
Mid March: Hardmoors 55 - 55 miles 8000 ft
(for a longer day out)
Early April: Exmoor Coast Ultra plus - 45 miles 11,800ft"

[NatAsp]

tenohfive said:

Budget?

I've got a Nitecore HC30. Up to 1000 lumens (real, not eBay lumens.) Couple it with a decent charger (Xtar VC2 or VC4) and a decent 18650 battery and you're sorted.

Thank you. I think I will do just this! Ones I was looking at were ~ 200 lumens so presumably nowhere near enough.

[Cybertronian]

tenohfive said:

If money is no object then Silva and Petzl both do headtorches for running with reactive lighting, but I've always felt that they're massively overpriced for what they are. The non-reactive types especially so.

Heh, it only feels like it was yesterday that we were talking about headtorches, when in fact it was actually a year ago!

Anyway, I'm a big fan of my Petzl Tikka RXP. Has the reactive technology that tenohfive refers to and is plenty bright at 200+ lumens with 4 hours battery life per charge via USB (can be adjusted for longer burn time at a lower intensity). I regularly run at night along unlit canal towpaths and it's always been more than enough to light my immediate vicinity, plus a few hundred metres ahead of me.

Petzl released a Bluetooth compatible version not long ago, which offers nothing more than the ability to make all the changes without the need for a PC or Mac; this may or may not bring the cost of the non-Bluetooth version down - haven't checked.

[andy_s]

NatAsp said:

Thank you. I think I will do just this! Ones I was looking at were ~ 200 lumens so presumably nowhere near enough.

In some ways I prefer a subtler light, your eyes adjust well after half an hour or so and a glow rather than a beam means you keep a 'wider angle' of view, or for me anyway. Nothing wrong with a big headlight though, except when you turn to chat to someone with a low beam!

[tenohfive]

Cybertronian said:

Anyway, I'm a big fan of my Petzl Tikka RXP. Has the reactive technology that tenohfive refers to and is plenty bright at 200+ lumens with 4 hours battery life per charge via USB (can be adjusted for longer burn time at a lower intensity). I regularly run at night along unlit canal towpaths and it's always been more than enough to light my immediate vicinity, plus a few hundred metres ahead of me.

That conversation is ringing a bell - the long nights come around far too quickly.
1000 lumens might be overkill a lot of the time, but my off-road running is often 'off path,' as well so overkill is all good with me. For following simpler trails there's nothing wrong with 200 lumens (I've run with a 100 lumen keyring light when I went on a badly timed run before, and my emergency HT for events is 45 lumens.) And it's not all about lumens either.

Spine Challenger is pushing it for me but the Hardmoors looks like a possibility.

[anonymous-user]

tenohfive said:

Cybertronian said:

Anyway, I'm a big fan of my Petzl Tikka RXP. Has the reactive technology that tenohfive refers to and is plenty bright at 200+ lumens with 4 hours battery life per charge via USB (can be adjusted for longer burn time at a lower intensity). I regularly run at night along unlit canal towpaths and it's always been more than enough to light my immediate vicinity, plus a few hundred metres ahead of me.

That conversation is ringing a bell - the long nights come around far too quickly.
1000 lumens might be overkill a lot of the time, but my off-road running is often 'off path,' as well so overkill is all good with me. For following simpler trails there's nothing wrong with 200 lumens (I've run with a 100 lumen keyring light when I went on a badly timed run before, and my emergency HT for events is 45 lumens.) And it's not all about lumens either.

Spine Challenger is pushing it for me but the Hardmoors looks like a possibility.

I use one of these:
http://www.ledlenser-store.co.uk/head-torches-c71/...

I'd agree that lumens aren't everything-that one 'only'has 180 lumens but I've used it on completely unlit trails in the middle of the woods in pitch black and been ok. The only bit it seems to struggle with is picking out slicker bits of mud, otherwise it's fine. Without being too big headed maybe the fact I'm mid-20's and my eyesight has always been very good also makes a difference?

I'm well on my way to running each day this month, and meeting my goal-yay!

It's been tough at times. I did a half marathon with my girlfriend which was her first one. We were run/walking it (6 mins run 1 min walk was the plan) and it ended up being 2hr 50 on our feet. It was a totally different experience to my other halves which have been around 1hr 21 where I didn't have to take anything on. I really enjoyed it and her smile at the end was wonderful!

After that I suffered for several days but kept at it-and I'm currently nursing a tight achilles but getting off road is healing it very quickly (using my headtorch!) and it's all looking good! Hopefully I'll finish it off and it'll have been nice to have achieved a goal for the first time in a while.

[markh1973]

andy_s said:

tenohfive said:

I'm looking for inspiration - I'm hoping someone can point me in the direction of a good trail/fell race in mid-January to February. Upto 50 miles, but I'll happily take less if it's particularly hilly/harsh terrain. I'm scouring various run events listings and nothing is really jumping out at me. The Country To Capital looks like a possible, but running into London - and with the grotty tow-paths that that involves - doesn't really appeal. And I've ruled out the Endurance Life CTS events as I'm doing a couple of them this year.

Anything spring to mind? I'm looking for a bit of a post Christmas beasting and figured if I book it now I'm less likely to make excuses and wimp out.

From another posting"
"Late November: Wooler Trail Marathon - 28 miles 6000ft
Late December: Tour de Helvellyn - 38 miles 6000ft
(notice these, and most of the others that follow, are nowhere near DB rate of climb)
Early-January Hardmoors 30
Mid January: Spine Challenger
(planned before my DB entry decision - no help at all to DB but should not compromise it at this stage)
Early February: South Devon Coast Ultra - 34 miles 4800ft
(coastal series are the most reliable for reasonable weather early in the year)
Mid March: Hardmoors 55 - 55 miles 8000 ft
(for a longer day out)
Early April: Exmoor Coast Ultra plus - 45 miles 11,800ft"

Winter Tanners - 30 miles - have to follow a written set of route directions - doing it next year but have a lot of friends who have done it before

[anonymous-user]

Cybertronian said:

markh1973 said:

Not so positive that he's wearing tights - still shorts weather surely!!

Ha! I'm guessing Cookie's running simply at recovery pace, which should be very easy for him. I'm in marathon recovery mode right now, so too am running at a sedate pace. Perceptively, it feels chillier now than several weeks ago and regretted not wearing a long-sleeve top the other night...

3/4 tights

But one of the things I've found is that I've moved into place with no tumble drier-so all of my kit is getting pressed into action whether it's suitable or not.

Also I'm going out in the early morning a lot-I'll trade being a bit too warm and sweaty at the end (I'm straight into the shower) for being warm enough to stop me falling back into bed!! I've also invested in an all-over reflective coat that is brilliant-any headlights or artificial light and I light up like a lantern!

[KTF]

RizzoTheRat said:

Looks like I'm in a team of 5 or 6 for Endure 24 this year, after running in an 8 the last 2 years. The Mrs is soloing again and her cunning plan this year seems to be to get me to sort out her food as she complained it took ages to get stuff from the food tent last year, so it looks like I might not be getting any sleep

Apparently our team captain was 112th in the queue a minute after it opened this morning

Edited by RizzoTheRat on Thursday 20th October 10:43

We are giving Endure a miss this year having done it for 3 years on the trot and winning our category last year.

Plus at £60 per person, its getting a bit dear and we all said how the only time we go camping is when we have to get up in the middle of the night to go for a run

Might give Endure 1250 another go instead as its how endure 24 used to be before it became insanely popular.

[MarkRSi]

Having never ran more than 10k, I'm doing my first half marathon this weekend.

And it's cross country. And lots of hills. And it's at night. Oh, and it's actually 15 miles, so a bit more than a half marathon.

Anyone else doing the Illuminator at Aboyne this weekend? TBH I'll probably half walk/half run it but it sounded like fun so thought I'd give it a try.

For torches, I've bought this as it should meet the 160 lumens the event recommend - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Xluminos-Super-Bright-Hea... - had it on for a short run tonght and was more than bright enough for my 30 year old eyes when running through a pitch black forest, not bad for something as cheap as chips and single LED.