The Running Thread Vol 2

[bigandclever]

I ran in the inaugural Beer Lover's Marathon in Liège, Belgium yesterday. Lot of fun

Similar in approach to the Marathon du Médoc (marathon distance, wine, France) and the Champenoise (18km I think, champers, France). But in Belgium and with beer, and a fair amount of food along the route. Not quite closed roads but if you happened to be crossing a junction M.LePlod would stop traffic while you bimbled across.

Reasonable start time of 8:30am and the first beer was served in the first couple of km. Plenty of aid stations along the way, the majority with beer (several different breweries represented) and most with some form of food (best was meatballs and chips; second best was waffles). Garmin suggests I spent 80 minutes standing around Finish line was in the beer festival itself, and you got a few free tasting vouchers in your race-pack.

Assuming it's on next year, will definitely be going again. Recommended

[northandy]

Jacobyte said:

Re pins & needles: Your trainers might either have worn out cushioning in the wrong places, or perhaps they're just the wrong shape for your foot and therefore putting pressure on a nerve.
I had a few weeks in March where I experienced it between two of my toes in the forefoot area. I bought new running shoes and it went away on the next run.

That's where I would be looking too, I know my trainers seem to last 900-1,000km then I start to notice ankle and general foot niggles.

[RizzoTheRat]

Don't think I'm on anywhere near that mileage on them. Iv'e switched from the standard insoles to my molded ones that were in my trail shoes so I'll see if that makes a difference tonight.




Beer marathon sounds fun but hard work, I did a run last Christmas that was 5km, drink a pint, then another km. Much as I love a pint of Hogs Back TEA, it was sloshing around so much inside me I had to walk most of the last km.

[KTF]

bigandclever said:

I ran in the inaugural Beer Lover's Marathon in Liège, Belgium yesterday. Lot of fun

How much was the entry and were you expected to stop at each point and have a beer or could you just keep going?

[bigandclever]

KTF said:

bigandclever said:

I ran in the inaugural Beer Lover's Marathon in Liège, Belgium yesterday. Lot of fun

How much was the entry and were you expected to stop at each point and have a beer or could you just keep going?

65Euro (75Euro on the day). Racepack had a t-shirt and 10Euro vouchers for the beer festival, plus the usual money-off-stuff vouchers, so all in all I think it was fair value, ish, considering the way race prices are going.

There was no obligation to drink and certainly no pressure but, well, it was there to be drunk At the first couple of stops it was a bit of a scrum to get to the bar, but as the day went on and the field spread out it was less of a problem. Sitting in one of the parks, in the sun, with a glass of La Chouffe and a pain au chocolat was particularly pleasant.

There were also many opportunities to shortcut the course if you were that way inclined.

[KTF]

Not a 'serious' event then. Especially if they built in shortcuts

On a nice day with no particular time in mind to finish it could be quite pleasant as its like a pub crawl

[KTF]

Does anyone have recommendations for treadmill workouts?

I am going on a cruise for a week on Saturday and will have unlimited access to a gym. The plan is also to get some runs on on shore if time allows but as a backup I will use the gym but have no idea what else to do on the treadmill other than run on the spot for ages looking at the scenery (or water).

There is a prom deck but its only 400m(ish) long each side and doesnt go all the way round plus the ship will be moving at the same time which will properly screw up my GPS plots

[The jiffle king]

KTF said:

Does anyone have recommendations for treadmill workouts?

I am going on a cruise for a week on Saturday and will have unlimited access to a gym. The plan is also to get some runs on on shore if time allows but as a backup I will use the gym but have no idea what else to do on the treadmill other than run on the spot for ages looking at the scenery (or water).

There is a prom deck but its only 400m(ish) long each side and doesnt go all the way round plus the ship will be moving at the same time which will properly screw up my GPS plots

Did this 2 weeks ago..
6miles easy
2 miles easy, 3 mile tempo, 2 miles easy
2 mile warm up, 6 x 800m with 2 mins easy jog

Running on land was tricky as depending upon the country you might need your ship card and photo ID and it might be very hot

[KTF]

Thanks, I thought shorter/interval type stuff would be better suited to the treadmill as the aim was to get some distance in once in port.

We are off to Norway so its more likely to be mild and wet than hot

On the previous long weekend cruise we went on, you could get off the ship as soon as it was docked - I wasnt the only one banging on the door wanting out either You took your ship card and passport with you so security could check you back on again when you got back.

Aside from that as long as you were back before it sailed they really didn't mind. I have a running backpack so the documentation and phone can go in that plus the GPX file for some provisional routes are in a handheld GPS so its just a case of following the arrow.

[dieselgrunt]

KTF said:

Does anyone have recommendations for treadmill workouts?

few here you could print off and try:
https://uk.pinterest.com/brookevennie/treadmill-wo...

[RizzoTheRat]

KTF said:

We are off to Norway so its more likely to be mild and wet than hot

And hilly. If you're looking for trail runs rather than roads then the Norwegians are very well set up for hikers/walkers and have well signed routes all over the place, worth having a hunt online in advance of getting there for decent routes.

[KTF]

dieselgrunt said:

few here you could print off and try:
https://uk.pinterest.com/brookevennie/treadmill-wo...

Plenty of options there. Thanks

[Halb]

Not run for over a week, all hot and cold today, feel well frakked. Hope it passes by Sunday, ankle also strangely feels worn.

[MarkRSi]

Are there any decent smartphone apps for measuring cadence, or would I need specialised hardware for this?

[markh1973]

MarkRSi said:

Are there any decent smartphone apps for measuring cadence, or would I need specialised hardware for this?

Not an app but my watch - Suunto Ambit - measures cadence

[MarkRSi]

markh1973 said:

MarkRSi said:

Are there any decent smartphone apps for measuring cadence, or would I need specialised hardware for this?

Not an app but my watch - Suunto Ambit - measures cadence

Sure, thinking I'll need to get a running/GPS watch, especially as my phones GPS is going haywire - thought I'd done a 10k in 56 minutes tonight - a PB - but looking at the plotted route it's was going haywire doubling back on itself several times

[tenohfive]

From bits I've picked up I think that even GPS watches that measure foot strike struggle to be accurate; I can't see a phone being any better. It's hardware rather than software.

[KTF]

RizzoTheRat said:

And hilly. If you're looking for trail runs rather than roads then the Norwegians are very well set up for hikers/walkers and have well signed routes all over the place, worth having a hunt online in advance of getting there for decent routes.

I have looked on mapmyrun and similar so have a few printed off and the gpx file to load.

One run is a run round a large lake so that will be hard to get lost, the other seems to start in the town, snake through the forest around it and back down again. Google maps shows it to a marked hiking trail so it should be OK.

I take my running stuff with me on work trips so have no fear about running in a strange place and always have a few pre-planned routes so I have a rough idea of where to go.

Edited by KTF on Friday 20th May 14:37

[Jacobyte]

Here's an update on aiming to get from a "comfortable" 44:30 down to a "balls-out" 39:59 in 11 weeks.

First, a reminder of setting that goal:

Back in March I said:

... first ever half marathon (Surrey Half in Woking)... I deliberately started a bit "too fast" just to see how long I could hold onto a slightly higher pace for. First 5k in 21:30, 10k in 44:30, then slowed down as I got fatigued and ended at 1hr40...

The next goal is to go 39:59 at the London 10K at the end of May. Let the interval training commence.

Cybertronian said:

Your 10k goal is... ambitious...

...Tempo/threshold runs and long intervals at race pace (1k, 1 mile, maybe even 2 miles)...

lukefreeman said:

Don't worry about HR too much.

I said:

...thanks again for the suggestions, let's see how it goes.

Progress report:

I've done 4-5 runs a week since then, all including Long and Slow (12k-18k ignoring heartrate), Intervals (4 to 6 x 1k), Tempo (6k-8k), Recovery (8k-12k).

In all honesty, going sub-40 will be a close one. My most recent just-under-race-pace 5k was 19:45, with 2 more weeks of training to go. I think it'll need a following wind, but whatever happens, I'm now faster than I've ever been, so I can't moan.

Tomorrow morning's entertainment is 6 x 1k @3:50 with 60s rest (plus 2k warmup and warmdown).

[ewenm]

markh1973 said:

MarkRSi said:

Are there any decent smartphone apps for measuring cadence, or would I need specialised hardware for this?

Not an app but my watch - Suunto Ambit - measures cadence

The Garmin versions use the HR monitor to measure cadence, strike time etc.