Seven Magic Kill-o-meters

[theoldfellow]

Just in from that killer run over the side of Skiddaw this morning. My Week 3 7Km run from JuJu's 10K Magic. The longest run of my life.

It was hard, very hard, and I have to admit to a few short walk-breaks on the way up. Surprisingly it was exactly 7Km door to door, so now I have to find something to add to it for next week.

The worst of it is for the very first time I have a little pain in my right knee that came on in the last kilometer, probably the impact stress of the downhill part. Hope it clears up before Saturday's parkrun - can't miss that!

Happy running!

[southlundon]

Wow Old! I'm massively impressed - whilst I've avoided running for two weeks since my tourist run in Glasgow (school holidays really made it tough), you've gone on and stretched yourself to new runs! Running anywhere near Skiddaw is a huge achievement, I pray you are proud of yourself

[theoldfellow in reply to southlundon]

Oh yeah, pretty proud. Another couple of hours later and my knee is feeling a lot better too, I think it's tendon, not joint. Thanks for your encouragement, get back out there SL!👣

[southlundon in reply to theoldfellow]

Thanks Old - I will let you know when I get out again. Today possibly!

[southlundon in reply to theoldfellow]

I got out there tonight! Thanks for your encouragement, it spurred me on ☺️

Can I ask what the Jeff Galloway method is for getting to 10k?

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10]

Excellent, you must take a 48 hour break from running until your 8th parkrun on Saturday morning at 9. I like the way you described your run as "KILL" o-metres, good luck for Saturday

[misswobble Graduate10]

Take it steady in the downhills. Don’t run out of control😃

I take a walk break when I need to. It can make all the difference to a run

[theoldfellow in reply to misswobble]

I tried not to run faster on the descent, but clearly not slow enough. The walk-breaks were enforced, and without them it would have been just a 4Km out and back.

I'm getting quite keen on the Jeff Galloway method. It was never my original intention to try and run 10Km, but now I think I can, I think I will. Maybe more.

Thanks for encouragement...

[misswobble Graduate10 in reply to theoldfellow]

Yeah you do that 😃. I most often just stop long enough to catch my breath and off I go again

I ran/walked my first marathon a la Jeff. Couldn’t fault it. It made it possible 😃👍💪

[mountaindreamer Graduate10]

Yay, oldfellow, you’ve really gone and embraced that hill! A huge well done! That’s a lot of ascent packed into those 7k!! 😃🏃‍♂️❤️🎉🎉🎉

[theoldfellow in reply to mountaindreamer]

and a lot of descent - so my knee is telling me. 😢

[mountaindreamer Graduate10 in reply to theoldfellow]

Hope it eases soon.❤️

I’m not sure if this helps or not, but I find when I’m doing big steep descents while hillwalking that if I flex my knees more and really use my quad muscles (think “walk like a chimp”, but, hey, I don’t care what I look like!) then this helps me reduce the shock up my spine, but it also seems to reduce the strain on my knees a lot.

So I’m not sure if building your quads up more, or just engaging them more by flexing your legs a bit more might help? (I do in fact tend to start fore foot striking rather than heel striking when doing very steep descents even when I’m walking, just because it seems to allow me to flex my legs and use my quads more.)

[Little-runner]

Wow what a run! No easy feat running round Skiddaw...Good plan to rest your knees, steep downhills can be brutal! I use walking poles when hiking to help on the downhills, not sure if you’d want to use them running though? All the same, well done on a great run and a great achievement 👍

[theoldfellow in reply to Little-runner]

I have seen UltraMarathoners using poles. They mostly have very lightweight ones that disassemble to go in their pack.

It wasn't right round! Just up the flank a bit, and then back down.

Thanks for the 👍❤

[UpTheStanley Graduate10]

Every time you post I have to get my OS maps out! That looks a great challenging run and a really nice and steady gradient adjusted pace (if that's what GAP stands for). Pushing on over Horsemoor towards Orthwaite doesn't look too bad gradient-wise, from the comfort of my desk chair.

Mind you, I've got elevation graphs that look like that, albeit the scale on the left goes from 0 - 3 metres, not 0 - 300

BZ (well done, in Navy signal code)

[theoldfellow in reply to UpTheStanley]

Well, I'm not adding the Orthwaite bit. On the bike it is Granny gear, and stand up. I can tack on some Scarness road at the end, and that IS flat...

My naval signalling is a bit out of date, but I could be flying Alfa (I am undergoing a speed trial), or possibly Delta ( I am manoeuvring with difficulty).

[Dexy5 Graduate10]

Word fail me theoldfellow, I think you are training to be a fell runner (or a herdwick). Well done on your 7th kill-ometre. 🏔🏃‍♂️

[Hidden]

With the elevation gain you had, that pace is miraculous. Well done! Wow!

[FormulaRun Graduate10]

Amazing - your elevation makes my Cotswold run look like Norfolk!! Well done!!!! I also find the downs hard on the knees - whilst I find the ups hard on everything else!

What are you using to record this info - it’s great - I love the level of feedback you are getting with the elevation gain/loss for each km!

Keep up the fantastic work 😀🏎

[theoldfellow in reply to FormulaRun]

I have a Garmin 235 watch, that links to the Garmin Connect app on my Android phone, this in turn links to Strava - it used to link to Google Fit too, but they ruined that with an 'update'. The pic is a screenshot of the Strava website on my desktop computer.

So the phone is using GPS to establish the route and the elevation. It also measures heart rate through an optical thing on my wrist. I'm not sure how it tracks cadence, but it does.

I use the Strava picture 'cos it makes the hills look really sexy, and presents the info better than the Garmin.

[FormulaRun Graduate10]

It looks great - I seem to struggle with strava for whatever reason; we don’t seem to get on too well so I’m using map my run. I do like the info and sexy pics though!!!

[Sandraj39 Graduate10]

What an impressive run and I'm sure a fantastic place to run! Really well done! Hope your knee settles soon too.🙂

[LoungeLizaard Graduate10]

Well done, don’t think anyone can blame you for walking up what looks like a killer hill/mountain! (Did you put a flag on top?)

Ice and heat the knee and maybe slow the pace slight for Saturday

🏃‍♂️🐌👍

[theoldfellow in reply to LoungeLizaard]

Knee somewhat better this morning, I was icing it yesterday, and then a hot bath before bed, and some Ibuprofen gel. 🛀 Don't be fooled by Strava's diagram, it makes it look far worse than it is, I only went up the mountain a little way, and then down again, but Strava shows my highest point as a summit.

Thanks for you support.

[MadDave]

What a brilliant run! Maybe slow the pace down and focus on form & posture on the way down to keep the strain off those knees?

If that run was on my doorstep I don’t think I’d be able to resist doing it every morning!

[theoldfellow in reply to MadDave]

I've always known it was there, just didn't feel strong enough to try it - the plan is to make it the basis of the regular long run of the week.

C25K started in late April this year after 50 years off. So, not ever having run on a slope before I am probably doing it all wrong, but this sort of injury will teach me pretty fast!

I think it's inflammation of the Pes Anserine tendon or the associated bursa, but it could be an MCL strain.

Either way it's an Icepack and Compression Sleeve for now, and rest until it feels good, then keep the sleeve on for a while when running. I'm giving the Parkrun a miss tomorrow.

Thanks for your encouragement.