Hiya and welcome to a new week.
Sometimes we don't feel like putting a whole post up but just want to share something small, so this is a great place for doing that during the week.
If youre a lurker it is a great place to say a little hi without the pressure of a full post.
Wishing you all a happy and healthy week,
Juju, Realfoodieclub, Oldfloss, Millsie-J and Jan-now-runs
XX
Well I had an absolute shocker yesterday. It was my final ‘long’ run before my ‘extremely hilly’ HM in two weeks’ time - and I hated every minute of it. It’s really unlike me as running is usually the thing I love most in the world but I’ve had some difficult things to deal with in my personal life in the last few weeks and it took me the first 5 miles to shake the black dog that was hot on my heels. Just as I was beginning to enjoy myself, along came the horizontal hail and biting winds, which I had to run into all the way back. 11.5 miles of sheer misery took me two hours and I had to give up and walk some sections. I’m just not feeling it at the moment. Gah.
I really feel for you on this one. I work on the principal a bad run like that means there is a mega one in the sidelines waiting for you. I have my HM hopefully in three weeks but I can’t train at the moment as my Dad has had a fall and I am looking after him. Luckily I got a 18.2 km in before it all happened so now I just hope I can get home In Time to do the event. Well done on your perseverance and I hope your mega runs come to you soon 😀.
Thank you! Oh I hope you’re right. The HM definitely won’t be my ‘mega run’ as I’ve recently discovered that I struggle with mud and hills - and this will be 13 miles of both! Think it’s probably looming over me a bit, which might be part of the problem.
Sorry to hear about your dad. I hope he’s going to be ok. Terrible timing for you but at least you know you’ve got the distance in the bag. I really hope you’re able to make it back in time x
Thank you. Doing daily 4kms to keep fit 😀
Yes, it's like in the theatre, the dress rehearsal has to be a shocker otherwise it's bad luck. It'll be OK on the day 
In fact it'll be awesome!!
Hope your dad feels ok. Don't worry about your hm, you're definitely prepared 
Thank you. It is a completion HM rather than going for pace. I have another one 20th Mat for pace 😀.
I hope your dad recovers quickly. Running short distances to stay fit is a good idea.
Thank you, something is better than nothing and at least I’m not leaving him too long 😀.
Sorry to hear that it was such a tough run. You did really well to complete it.
I’m not sure I ‘completed’ it really - there was more walking than running by the end!
It was two hours out in that weather!
True - and I wasn’t paying attention to my pace so I think I started off too fast, which was another lesson learned
Sounds like a hard run gabby but we have faith in you, next one will be more enjoyable I'm sure as will you hm!
Hope your dad is better soon RFC and recovers well (and you get to do your HM x )
First week of ultra training in the bag, and I have been enjoying a lot of slow running. Got some intervals this week though, ha
Sounds good, I love a long slow outing great for the mental cobwebs. 😀
I had my long run on Saturday up nice and early, couldn't get into my rhythm until half way but legs felt ok until.......I finished off the last 3.1 miles with my local parkrun which happened to be my 100th. My family met me at the start so i had to push my 3year old around in his buggy so by the time i finished that had drained everything out of me! But still finished the 18.5 miles and managed to do parkrun in 33 minutes not to bad considering.
This week i am not sure I am going to get much training in, hopefully a little 5km today and there is no swimming for me this week, unfortunately Wednesday is valantines day so i wont be doing my club run and Thursday maybe, Friday the kids are on half term so might not be able to manage a long run this week!
Amazing!
I managed 5 runs last week, and it wasn't too bad. For the first time I did a long run by time, which really worked for me. I think whenever I run by distance, a lingering part of the run hater thinks "When will I finish?" Well, I knew when last week, so I think I'm going to do it again next time.
I had a really good week for speed as well. I'm not sure what happened, but I've been getting some of my best winter speeds ever. With the extra clothes and the conditions, my pace is generally 7+, but I've been hitting 6:30-6:40. And conditions weren't that great, so I'm not sure how I managed it.
I'm not quite sure when my next long run will be. It was planned for tomorrow, but we must have had at least 30 cm of snow this weekend, and the snow is still falling steadily. I need the snow ploughs to get out there and clear the roads first.
You're getting fitter, that's brilliant!
Snow, snow, go away...
I've got some runs-by-time on my latest training plan, I've been rather enjoying trying to figure out routes for them
Some serious work going on in here! Well done peeps.
I only knew it was Valentine's day as I got a card from a labrador! It'll be the only one I get! Sigh
Running on the beach yesterday and along the very lovely seafront at Morecambe Bay. The windswept north west coast in Feb aint ideal but it's ticked off. Good to get out and run some food off!
Off to the gym in the morning for my introductory hour. Eeek!
Good luck!
Sounds like the best kind of Valentines card to me
Well done MW! Hope you have fun at the gym!😊
Getting into my Asics HM plan a bit more now.
Following a Dutch a runner on Strava at the moment who's been in Finland in preparation for a 24hr Endurance race 24-25 Feb at our local indoor arena -endurance.fi/e24/eng/
He ran 60k the other day as part if his "tapering" totally nuts on stilts! His target is 216km in 24hrs. Now that really is a bit bonkers isn't it? We are all sane by comparison!
Talking of (in)sanity, I signed up for the Strava February HM Challenge the other day (Top tip - don't go on Strava after a couple of glasses if wine). Toying with idea of going for a super slow jog (hr zone 2) in next couple of weeks and might carry on if I get past 15k and feel ok. Not going to pressure myself though, only if it feels right and all green lights flashing...
This running lark is getting serious all of a sudden!
For fear of having the 10% police on my trail I've decided to fess-up buried in this chat thread rather than post a fresh post.
I just did something (really) stoopid (when do I not?) I just jogged 21.1km to see what it feels like! I only planned to super slow jog 8km but that came and went, then I felt good at 12, then, 16. So by that stage I just though, what's another 5km? Answer? Painful.
I can tell you the last 3-4km went from a 6/7 to 8/9 on the lactic acid masochism scale and I found I couldn't stop jogging after I'd pressed the stop button on my watch bang on 21.1km, a very odd sensation like a car engine "over-run" and almost like my legs had forgotten how to walk!
Will need the rest of the week off to recuperate now.
Don't do this at home kids...
Wow you did really well to get through that without prep. Make sure you have a good amount of protein and carbs to replenish what you will of lost it will help it’s your recovery. Epsom salt baths can help the muscles as well.. hehe I see you hiding in the chat, well done though on the distance. You know you could actually ask for you HM badge if you wanted 😀.
I know I broke all the rules but it felt right. No prep due to no serious plan to go through with it! Had my first slight "bonk" sensation at about 20km (first in 30 years since my competitive cycling days). So I've (re)learned not to head out with only a boiled egg for breakfast (doh). I think I also benefitted from maybe lactic acid pain threshold "memory" again from my cycling exploits as a youth.
The body knows what it needs as I just had a craving for a giant steak n chips (and the good news is I've now got the calorie credit to indulge it ;-)...
Ha ha, c25k b210k and a HM badges inside a month sounds a bit insane! If there is a badge for insanity I'd better have that too please.
Will report back tomorrow on whether I can still walk or not so the 10% police can take me into custody,
Good news.
Well it's 24 hrs since my 8km jog that morphed into a HM and it looks like I got away with it! No serious stiffness. A bit "tender" but that's all. Hopefully I won't see any late onset problems. Will do some walking today to shake-out the legs a bit. Read-up on HM recovery on RunnersWorld etc. and will stick to the advice to take 4-5 days off completely. I think my "hiking legs" have a lot if resilience which has helped a lot through my c25k and b210k journey to HM.
One curious thing though, I use a calorie/activity app to monitor calories in/out and despite fact the app knows my weight it estimated 2000 cals for a 2:30:00 run at 10km/hr. Now I know I only jogged at 8.5km/h but my Garmin says 1100 cals only (and that must be more accurate since it knows my heartrate etc). Just shows how way out fitness/diet apps can be when have to make assumptions about effort/exertion without hr data?
I'll be back sticking firmly to my Asics plan from now on. It was just nice to run the distance as a mental exercise. I now know "how far" a HM really is (in my head) and that will help me put everything in more context from now on.
Edit - Forgot to say that I slept like the proverbial log last night!
thats a cheeky increase! well done for getting away with that, rest up well!
Hi all
Been a bit down as had a sore calf and a bit of groin strain so far I've missed a 5 mile cross country run, a 10 mile road race and a trail of a new XC Cross country race yesterday!😕 so a tidge peed off but hoping for better things this week. My leg felt ok ish after last week's Tuesday night run so ventured to the off rd night time run group weds night for mud and hills. Should have tested after that but my pal wanted to try another run at my club so was out on a nominated time run thurs which kind of ruined me but on the plus side I did get 1st place on the nominated time with 30 secs out!! missed moment of glory as was on the scales weighing in with run club diet peeps, have lost 5lbs in 6 weeks slow but steady! Hoping to do XC race on Sunday if leg behaves tomorrow! 😊🏃🏃🏃
Wow - some real highs and lows in there! Sorry you’ve been injured but mighty impressed at your nominated time win as well as the weight loss. Really hope you’re able to compete this weekend x
I'm glad to hear from you. I've wondered where you were. I hope that things keep looking up, but don't push yourself too hard!
Sorry to hear you've been pained - take it easy, now!
hope your leg behaves and is sorted for the XC race Ali!
Gone steady with three runs and two cross training sessions over the past few weeks. Treated myself to a new pair of trail runners today from Northern Runner in Newcastle—- well pleased!
What shoes did you get?
A pair of bright yellow Scott Kinabalu supertracs
Oh I’m jealous. I have my eye on a pair of Scotts!
They are great, really pleased with them and st a sale price too
Oh fab! Last time I bought normal running shoes, the guy in Up and Running suggested I might get on better with the Scotts than my Salomons but I don’t do enough trail running to justify a new pair. But maybe if they were on sale...😈
Oooh. Are they pretty wide in the toe box ? The shoe shop guy recommended them as one for me to try.
Oh Ali! Sorry to hear you’ve been injured 😖. Hopefully you’ll be back,out there sharpish 💪👍. Good news on the weight 😃. I’ve been losing weight since Christmas but hopefully it’s stabilised now.
Thanks MW! Going to have an easier week this week and see how it goes,hate missing events!😕x
They are really really nice, feet well enclosed and very roomy
Not a whole lot to report here. I’ve just been continuing with the Asics plan 3 times/wk, pushing a little more on the shorter 7k runs and adding some intervals once a week. Sunday was a longer run, but shorter than I wanted at only around 14k as it was in slushy snow and the rain turned freezing halfway which made grip a little iffy. Later on checked my heart zone and was almost all zone 5. Whereas my 18 a couple of weeks ago was mostly zone 4 and a slightly quicker pace (better weather too). Might try running to a slower 3-4 heart zone next time, just to see how it feels. Was feeling a bit burned this morn, but had a nice 7 and feeling a bit better now.
I’d hate missing events too. They cost money! 😩
Cor ... Cambridge HM 2 weeks tomorrow, this was my 19k week but have to say it ended with a 17k! Hubs came along for moral support and changed my route slightly which meant that I was 2k further on at a certain point than I usually am when I judge my trip back to base ... this certain point is a bit undulating to say the least and I dread it but I had already tackled a fair bit of that unexpectedly with the new way he took me so I was less than perky when I reached my usual nemesis ... feet were horrendous too today with a couple of blisters I could literally feel growing with every step despite emptying the Vaseline tub (!) so all in all, although I think I could possibly have done the extra 2, my off switch had been well and truly flicked by this point and I bailed out. So, here's hoping that after a 10k long next week and recovering, those elusive 4k on the end are within my reach. Although I've done 2 HMs, the first saw me run/walk from 16k as my hip gave out, the second from 13k as my training had gone out of the window due to family illness and I never got further than 11k in training (!) so I just want to complete the distance running all the way then I'll die happy! Best of luck to everyone else in their quests for the coming week too
Race day adrenalin may make the difference maybe? My HM Asics plan never asks me to run a full HM even towards the very end of preparation and race pace simulation runs. An 18km is the longest run it specifies before race day. Your jump from 17k to 21k will be helped by the excitement if the day? Good luck anyway!
If you need to walk then Walk. It matters not . Finishing is everything 😃👍🏃♀️
Have fun 😃👍
Well I got new trail and road shoes so I’m covered 
Weekly chat: February 24th-March 1st 🎂
