The Running Thread

[cerb4.5lee]

eric twinge said:

What do other people do for motivation though, other than PB's? Sometimes I really have to drag myself through the door, but once out there it is worth it. Plus you always regret not running, never the actual run itself.
Just my little thought for the day!

My motivation is that I drink/eat too much so if I don't get out there and run I will turn into a barrel! don't get me wrong I have days when I don't fancy it and agree with you that once you are out there you are pleased you have made the effort.

I have a friend who has just run a half marathon a fair bit quicker than me so I aim to try and get quicker for when I do my next one next year, on a side note I much prefer running in this temperature than I do in summer as the warm weather doesn't seem to suit me.

[KTF]

Gatsby said:

That's interesting, thanks KTF.

I'm using water and then some cube things from wiggle. However, in the course of a 16 a fortnight ago I took 2 cubes which equates to around 12/13g over the course of the run. This weekend I did the 18 and consumed a whole pack (40g) over the three hours. My friend drank 1 and a half litres of Lucozade Sport and had 2 gels in the same period. He's of the opinion that I'm not consuming enough during the early stages and so my body is struggling later for that very reason.

Looking in the booklet that came with my bulk SiS order, for a marathon they suggest 62g carbs per hour on the run.

The example they give (based on their products of course) has:

Breakfast (2hr before) - shows a bowl of porridge with banana and 500ml SiS Go Energy drink.
Run - 62g carb per hour based on 2x Gels + 250ml SiS Go Electrolyte drink. First gel at 30-40 mins then every 30 mins after that.
After - 500ml SiS Rego Rapid Recovery drink.

So my 110g during my last run isnt so far off this and the breakfast I had was in the same ballpark.

[Cybertronian]

eric twinge said:

What do other people do for motivation though, other than PB's? Sometimes I really have to drag myself through the door, but once out there it is worth it. Plus you always regret not running, never the actual run itself.
Just my little thought for the day!

cerb4.5lee said:

I have a friend who has just run a half marathon a fair bit quicker than me so I aim to try and get quicker for when I do my next one next year

This.

Thanks to the law of diminishing returns, PBs don't come nearly as regularly as they used to. I use other people I normally face off against at things like Parkrun to benchmark myself - they can't be in PB shape all the time either so it all balances out in the end.

I also use different runs to layer up for good effect when it counts. All the long runs right now are building a foundation for me to start using in the new year towards a spring half marathon.

[UpTheIron]

Gatsby said:

Was wondering if anyone could help with some marathon related advice.

I'm doing the Portsmouth Coastal marathon on the 21st December. Not the easiest course to do for my first marathon but should be good fun and a good way to start Christmas!

I'm currently up at 18 miles in training and have one more long run planned, probably another 18. However, I've noticed that I get to around 14/15 miles and I'll get pains in my legs and start really slowing down. I'm presuming that this is the "wall" of marathon fame and I was wondering if people had any good tips to help me get through it.

I think my nutrition is probably not helping as I have been eating loads during the week before the runs. Additionally, in my most recent run of about 3 hours, I only took on 40g of carbs and one 500ml of water. According to some on-line articles I've read I should be looking to take on 40g or so per hour and should be drinking more than that.

Any help/advice gratefully received!!

Everybody is different, and - speaking from personal experience - your own needs will change over time too!

For a few years I had no real issues with nutrition - repeated 3hr-ish marathons on a couple of gels and maybe 300ml of Lucozade sport. Then comfortably sub-3 with drinks at just 20k and 30k (about 400ml total) and a gel every 25-ish minutes from 1hr to 2hr30. Then I slowed the pace a little and extended the distance, and a couple of years ago I could run 30+ miles at 7:30/mile pace without really worrying about food, or at 8m/mile I could do 4+ hours without drink too and do 50-70 miles without extreme prep or nutrition... a few Clif bars, a handful of jelly beans and a couple of gels in the last 10 miles. Not necessarily healthy but I could do it. This probably contributed to me not paying so much attention to my day-to-day diet.

Now for some reason I often struggle to do 2hrs+ at 7:00 and on top of this my previous saviour - gels - I can't stand! I think it is partly work/stress/tiredness related really, but the bottom line is probably that my diet overall has become a LOT less healthy... I suspect I'm trying to find the race-day answer to weeks/months of poor food and too much alcohol, so perhaps a case of getting the Mon-Fri diet right and the race day nutrition becomes less of an issue? Or that could just be me?

[Gatsby]

UpTheIron said:

verybody is different, and - speaking from personal experience - your own needs will change over time too!

For a few years I had no real issues with nutrition - repeated 3hr-ish marathons on a couple of gels and maybe 300ml of Lucozade sport. Then comfortably sub-3 with drinks at just 20k and 30k (about 400ml total) and a gel every 25-ish minutes from 1hr to 2hr30. Then I slowed the pace a little and extended the distance, and a couple of years ago I could run 30+ miles at 7:30/mile pace without really worrying about food, or at 8m/mile I could do 4+ hours without drink too and do 50-70 miles without extreme prep or nutrition... a few Clif bars, a handful of jelly beans and a couple of gels in the last 10 miles. Not necessarily healthy but I could do it. This probably contributed to me not paying so much attention to my day-to-day diet.

Now for some reason I often struggle to do 2hrs+ at 7:00 and on top of this my previous saviour - gels - I can't stand! I think it is partly work/stress/tiredness related really, but the bottom line is probably that my diet overall has become a LOT less healthy... I suspect I'm trying to find the race-day answer to weeks/months of poor food and too much alcohol, so perhaps a case of getting the Mon-Fri diet right and the race day nutrition becomes less of an issue? Or that could just be me?

Thanks to KTF and UptheIron for your help, really useful advice.

I do think that weekday nutrition must play a part. Normally I'm a pretty healthy eater but last week was an utter junk food fest as well as including a big night out midweek. I think that such "preparation" for the body probably isn't ideal when you're looking to bang out 18 miles first thing on Saturday!

I've been far better this week and I'm going to try out a carb drink as well to see how that helps. Will report back!

[krallicious]

Another cold one this evening. 8.9km but I didn't check the time before I left. Having said that, it did take some pressure off the run.

[EdJ]

In terms of motivation, back in the summer when I realised I'd run around 500 miles so far this year, I set myself a 1000 miles target distance for 2014. I'm now at 915 miles and it's really helped motivate me into getting out of bed at 5.30am to do a 5 mile run!

The other aspect is that I also like my food and drink too much, and if I don't run, I worry I'm going to balloon back to my previous weight (3 stone heavier than I am currently). Right now I try and keep my weight reasonably constant.

[Willy Nilly]

Due to the nature of my job, at this time of the year my fitness is at its worse. We did a cooper test tonight at the track and I did 3150 meters, which I'm happy with.

[anonymous-user]

After a couple of false starts, there is revived talk of a closed road Bristol marathon, date TBA but expected to be is late October as they say it will be six weeks after the Bristol Half.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-3039...

[ExV8]

Had a bad cold and stopped running for a couple of weeks. Damn I am unfit already.

[g7jhp]

Had an op in June and had 6 weeks off. In the last 4.5 months I've run 535 miles (Averaged: 28 miles per week/ 4 miles per day).

Hit 988 miles 2014 YTD today, so only a short push to the 1,000!

[john2443]

SPOTY tonight - campaign here to get runners to vote for Jo Pavey
http://runhabit.com/2014/12/04/gojo-vote-for-a-tru...

[krallicious]

Had 10 days off running due to a family visit/too much food and alcohol so decided on one of my short routes today. The run was going well so I thought that I would extend the route to one of my long ones. Eventually I thought 'can I run around the north of the city?' 13.2km and 1hr 16 minutes later, the answer was yes.

Feeling quite good now and I am starting to look forward to the marathon in May.

[EdJ]

thelittleegg said:

If you're still around these parts, would you be able to elaborate?

Pilates is my next port of call after consistent struggles with injury which I've tried to combat with different shoes, training style, core strength and targetted (knee) strengthening, but to no avail. The bds just keep coming back.

Injury is annoying isn't it. I often feel like I could keep on running for far longer, or quicker if it wasn't for worrying about injury. It only take a couple of them to put you off pushing yourself.

I know the answer is technique / stretching etc and I try and focus on those areas, but the injury worry is always there.

[Willy Nilly]

thelittleegg said:

Willy Nilly said:

the thing that has helped me more than anything is Pilates. It has made a huge difference. I replaced a running session with it, train harder, not smarter and all that. If you're not in a running club, join one.

If you're still around these parts, would you be able to elaborate?

Pilates is my next port of call after consistent struggles with injury which I've tried to combat with different shoes, training style, core strength and targetted (knee) strengthening, but to no avail. The bds just keep coming back.

First off, the typo, I meant train smarter, not harder.

My Pilates class is pretty hardcore, sort of a fitness Pilates.

We do huge amounts of core strength exercises working our abbs, legs, glutes, arms etc and a lot of stretching. The thing with doing a class is that you push yourself much harder than if you are doing it alone.

In the beginning it will just hurt, then after a few weeks it will still hurt, then you will start feeling the benefits. After a year or so it will still hurt but you will be feeling much stronger. What I found is that at the end of a race I am still upright which makes it easier to breath properly.

[g7jhp]

g7jhp said:

Had an op in June and had 6 weeks off. In the last 4.5 months I've run 535 miles (Averaged: 28 miles per week/ 4 miles per day).

Hit 988 miles 2014 YTD today, so only a short push to the 1,000!

Passed the 1,000 miles in 2014 last Tuesday.

Haven't run since, so heading out for a quick 8 this morning.

[The jiffle king]

Been busy with relatives for Christmas, but managed to find some time to run.
- glorious 5 miles on Christmas day
- 5.5 miles on boxing day
- 6.8 miles this morning and it was bitterly cold but lovely to be out and about early doors

[john2443]

Have entered Chichester 10k, Feb 8th, first time I've raced more than 5k since 1984 (gulp) and it'll be the first race using this new fangled chip timing stuff!

So have started some reasonably (by my standards at age 57) serious training with 3 times a week runs or sessions, target is to get sub 50 mins which is equivalent in age grade % to 24 min 5k. I did 23:55 5k on Christmas day so on target but it all depends on injuries recovery is much slower in my 50s than it was in my 20s!

I have a bit of incentive that my co Event Director at parkrun does about 48 mins so I'm wondering if I can beat him. I haven't told him this, he's 10 years younger so I'm sure he could beat me if he tried, but if he doesn't know then I might be able to track him and take him down at the finish!

[anonymous-user]

I've entered the first Bristol and Bath marathon in October 2015, starts in Bristol, looks like it follows most of the Bristol half route before heading West towards, and finishing, in Bath... my first 26.2 and I am looking forward to it, getting my head around 16+ mile training runs is going to take some getting used to though....

[MC Bodge]

I went out for a 5k run earlier. It was 0degC and very slippery in many places. Good though.

Edited by MC Bodge on Monday 29th December 10:04