Winter Speed Challenge: Run like/with... - Fun Beyond 10K & ...

Fun Beyond 10K & Race Support

2,583 members β€’ 7,648 posts

Winter Speed Challenge: Run like/with/against the wind!! πŸŒͺπŸ’₯ WEEK 3, FEB 11TH-17TH

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon
β€’55 Replies

EDIT: LATEST POST HERE:

healthunlocked.com/marathon...

Hi fast folk!

Here we are already in Week 3 of the Challenge!! How are you all doing?

There have been some amazing results reported so far, notably Decker and Bluebirdrunner - check em out here:

docs.google.com/spreadsheet...

I was tempted to go out on Saturday and get Storm Erik behind me. It feels a bit like cheating, but in fact a tailwind can provide useful training:

"Run With the Wind: Have fun with it. Harness the power of the wind and use it to train for speed. Although the energy lost in running against a headwind doesn't equally match the benefits of a tailwind, you will run slightly faster and can use it to focus on stride rate, stride length and turnover. Head out on a point to point run with the wind entirely at your back. You will feel like an Olympian and smile the entire time!"

runnersworld.com/training/a...

Seems reasonable to me 😊

I always used to avoid running in the wind, in fact in one of my earliest posts on Health Unlocked I am complaining about it:

healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

But nowadays I go out in pretty much any weather. It's just as well really, since it's usually pretty windy where I live!

Anyway, for now we don't seem to have any storms around here - hooray! I hope you have a great week of speedy running, and don't forget to post your results here!

roseabi xx

More info here:

healthunlocked.com/marathon...

Written by
roseabi profile image
roseabi
Ultramarathon
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .

The ability to reply to this post has been turned off.

55 Replies
β€’
Sqkr profile image
SqkrHalf Marathon

It was pretty windy in Glasgow today too, mostly just blasting right onto my face, so I shed several tears on my run at lunchtime. Well, I say lunchtime, I had lunch first and then had a big render I needed to do on my computer so I set it off and went for a run whilst it completed. Double lunch break! πŸ‘

So this week's result was 5k in 25.05, with a pace of bang on 5.00min/km. I'm not quite where I want to be in terms of speed yet, but going in the right direction. I did try to give it some welly at the end to dip below 5 but then nearly came a cropper on a little dog so didn't quite make it! Next time..?

What I did find was that in kilometre 3/4 I was cruising along at about 4.50min/km at several points and felt pretty good, so I'm fairly certain I can make that my normal fast pace with some training effort.

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to Sqkr

Definitely heading in the right direction - well done!!

Langley-Loper profile image
Langley-LoperHalf Marathon

Back round the 10km route tonight for week 3. GPS and Strava had a tiff at the start so I am pinching my accompanying runner's more accurate pace of 9:00 per mile which I believe converts to 5:36 per km or 336 s/km (please check my maths!)

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to Langley-Loper

Excellent maths, excellent run - awesome!

Lordi profile image
LordiMarathon

No Week No 2 results from me but back to it in Week 3 for 10 and 5k.

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to Lordi

Me neither - go us in Week 3!! 😊😊😊😊

Macmac profile image
MacmacMarathon

I managed 4.37m/km for my 5k this week at a very windy parkrun πŸ˜€. Getting nearer to where I want to be but still a fair bit to go to get back to where I was in December. Hoping this week will be better weather wise.

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to Macmac

parkrun was last week, but I'll let you off 😊 Well done!! Trending really well...

Macmac profile image
MacmacMarathon in reply to roseabi

Oh, you said you were going to go out on Saturday with the wind behind you so thought parkrun was ok. You can scrub that result if you like and I’ll submit another on Saturday.

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to Macmac

That would have been my run for last week, but I couldn't go, so no run from me for last week!

It's ok, you can keep it if you like!

Macmac profile image
MacmacMarathon in reply to roseabi

So updated 5k pace for week three from today’s run is 4:28/km. thanks.

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to Macmac

Fantastic! Well done!!!! I can only marvel 😊😊😊 - and update the spreadsheet of course!

Macmac profile image
MacmacMarathon in reply to roseabi

Thanks Abi - nice conditions today. Hope your 10k goes well tomorrow πŸ˜€

misswobble profile image
misswobbleMarathon

Slower today. It just gets worse and worse πŸ™ˆ.

My 5k today was 31:14. Av pace 6:14 Oh well πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ I enjoyed it 😁

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to misswobble

That's the main thing!! xx

Decker profile image
DeckerUltramarathon

Slower for me too today. Something is off in my left leg, been painful on landing since my PB run last week so I did not push too hard. I ran 10 today and the first 5 averaged 5.66min/km for a time of 30:30. The second set of 5 was quicker :) But still not as fast as last week. Hoping the leg will ease up a bit next week.

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to Decker

Take it easy!!! xx

C3PO profile image
C3POMarathon

Not much happening here, unfortunately. Too much snow on the roads last week to run my route.

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to C3PO

Any skiing?

C3PO profile image
C3POMarathon in reply to roseabi

Nope. Pretty much the same problem. When it's snowing, it's really hard to get traction, so I've learned to wait until it stops.

Whatsapp profile image
WhatsappHalf Marathon

Runnersworld tip number 1. "Be the wind"

Wait......what?....

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to Whatsapp

Beans, beans are good for your heart. The more you eat, the more you πŸ’₯πŸ˜„

Whatsapp profile image
WhatsappHalf Marathon in reply to roseabi

Quite the tactical advantage!

misswobble profile image
misswobbleMarathon

Ha ha I love beans. I'm advised to crush them and add them to my porridge. Going to try it as we need to eat more beans, apparently.

We're talking white beans here, not baked beans out of a tin, cos that would be just plain mental!

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to misswobble

Ew, that would go a horrible colour! πŸ˜„

SkiMonday profile image
SkiMondayUltramarathon

Woo hoo! Progress! The average pace for yesterday's morning run was ... (drum roll) ... 1 second per Km faster than the previous two weeks! So I did it at an average pace of 5:14. I finished the 1st 2K in bang on 10 minutes but then slowed down for the last three. Maybe a slightly slower starting pace would help? I'm planning on some slower runs for later in the week to build up my reserves. Looks like it could take some time to improve my pace.

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to SkiMonday

Yessssssss off the mark!! Well done!!!! Yes, try it, if you use a running watch it would be an excellent thing to try (difficult to judge without a watch, I find)

Oh and by the way - officially welcome to the Challenge!!!! This is SkiMonday, folks 😊 misswobble , Whatsapp , C3PO , Decker , Macmac , Lordi , Langley-Loper , Sqkr

SkiMonday profile image
SkiMondayUltramarathon in reply to roseabi

Hello!

Windoze profile image
WindozeHalf Marathon

Seems I'm going backwards 🀣🀣 think I'm still running off the beer from the 6 Nations game Sunday 🀣🀣 5k pace 5:19

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to Windoze

Still plenty of time to get faster - is this last week's or this week's result?

Windoze profile image
WindozeHalf Marathon in reply to roseabi

Hi Roseabi. I skipped week 2 so this is this weeks 😜

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to Windoze

Just checking - getting a bit confused 😊😊😊

aliboo70 profile image
aliboo70Half Marathon

Sorry I may have to pull the plug on speed challenge at mo,did 1st week but with move plus general life I've missed 2 weeks. Hope to do it next time maybe? No internet supply here yet so forum presence intermittent πŸ˜•xxx

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to aliboo70

Sorry to hear that, but not to worry I'm sure we'll do another Speed in the Spring 😊

Enjoy settling in and wishing you a speedy internet connection (in more ways than one!) xx

Maybe58 profile image
Maybe58

Oops, should have posted it here - 5K, 30mins, pace exactly 6mins/k

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to Maybe58

Same as last week - or is this last week's result again?

Well done either way πŸ˜„

Maybe58 profile image
Maybe58 in reply to roseabi

Same as last week - no change 😞

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to Maybe58

Well done, see what you can do next week! xx

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon

Whew, managed to beat my time! 4:58 average min/km 😊

I'll find it hard to beat it again though, especially since I got another migraine afterwards - rather offputting that..

Sqkr profile image
SqkrHalf Marathon in reply to roseabi

Yaaaaaay, a sub 5! I've not managed it yet this time, but you've thrown the gauntlet down now so... πŸ˜‚

Arg not another migraine though! That's no good at all. Maybe you could get something prescribed as a preventative? (I'm still trying to wangle free botox out of my doctor, apparently that helps. For headaches, yes...but as an excellent side effect I expect it would also be good for my vanity!)

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to Sqkr

I'm sure you can beat me 😊😊😊

I'm kind of hoping that this will be my last migraine of the year, but I'll just have to see... at least this one was very mild!

Free botox? Good luck πŸ˜„ I read that ibuprofen can work as a preventive for some people, but I took some before my run today, so I guess maybe I'm not one of those people - although I did rather leave it til the last minute this time...

Bluebirdrunner profile image
Bluebirdrunner

Hi Abi, I did my third Speed Challenge run yesterday. Started quite quickly and tried to push on all the way through. Breathing was ok, took a moment at the halfway point then back the same way, it all felt hard work as I was going faster than my comfort zone. With just 1k left I saw that my time would be good...so kept trying, but I was tired πŸ˜₯.

Imagine how I felt then when I pressed finish and Save on my phone and the time read 36.52 mins pace 7.14! 😲

BUT... this couldn't be right..

I looked at the recording when I got home and it seems the GPS dropped for some of the final kilometre as its drawn a straight line and given me 5.11 mins for it. 😳...I wish that hadn't happened.

I wear a Garmin watch as back up and this has recorded the run as well so I will log these results as my wk 3 run, as per the watch.

5.0k in 38.18mins with pace 7.39

All the time I was running I was thinking..this is too hard, I won't try for it next week... 😯 but now its done, of course I will !πŸ˜†πŸ˜€πŸ˜‰

I just need to run fast enough not to need that tiny rest and to have something left for the end!

Without this challenge, I would not be pushing myself....

Happy running everyone 😊xx

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to Bluebirdrunner

Fabulous xxx

It's so annoying when that happens. For my last long slow run it looks as though I was running faster than I did for my "race pace" run, but I wasn't - my gps just had a "moment" πŸ˜„

Onwards and upwards 😊😊😊

Tbae profile image
TbaeMetric Marathon

Hi Abi,

I am three weeks down the road since ankle strain from 22/01/19.

Seen physio today for first time.2 weeks no running and followed by 4-6 week run 1 min, walk 1 min re introduction.

Couple of stretching exercises and ice treatment on the heel.

Carry on with gym cardio and strength.Have to progressively back off gym stuff until discomfort subsides, before being able to start going forward again.

Atb Abi to you and all the speedies.

πŸ‘ŠπŸ’₯πŸƒβ€β™€οΈπŸƒβ€β™‚οΈπŸŒŸπŸŒŸπŸ‘πŸ‘β˜„οΈβ˜„οΈ

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to Tbae

Speedy recovery, Tbae xxx

Lordi profile image
LordiMarathon

Arrrgghhh! Parkrun cancelled again! Too much thaw/refreeze has made our paths into skating rinks! I think I'm going to leave trying for faster 5 and 10k times for a couple of months until I can run on ice-free paths!

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to Lordi

Oh poo! Well, I think we'll be having a Spring Speed Challenge so never fear 😊😊😊

Colinsmith profile image
ColinsmithHalf Marathon

This was a bit of a silly run after a long sedentary day at work. I probably wasn’t quite warmed up enough, so set off like the clappers then quickly ran out of puff. The pace chart is comical - a nice easy jog for a few km’s afterwards was way more civilised.

Anyway. 1 mile in 6:51 = 4:16min/km

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to Colinsmith

Well done! I guess it paid off 😊😊😊

Colinsmith profile image
ColinsmithHalf Marathon in reply to roseabi

Hmmm, I think it has more to do with the massive headwind I was running into last time out!

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to Colinsmith

Nah 😊😊😊

DebJogsOn profile image
DebJogsOn

Haven't really been feeling it this week what with an asthmatic wheeze on one run and too much mud on another. However couldn't resist going out today in the sun (weirdly warm run actually) and clocked 6.35/km - which I think is my worse pace yet - but enjoyed it so an improvement on the rest of this week's running at least!

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to DebJogsOn

Not to worry - it happens! Two more weeks to try again xx

marco83 profile image
marco83Marathon

I had a couple of days in which I could not run this week as I went to Italy for my mum’s 60th birthday, so I did’t get To the speed work until Saturday...

I manage my usual course of 10 mile with the last 4 in 28... neither improvement nor decrease, you can keep me stable to the same as the last couple of weeks :)

I guess marathon training and speed do not go hand in hand....

Happy running :)

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon in reply to marco83

Got it!

Yes, you are probably right about the marathon training..

The ability to reply to this post has been turned off.

You may also like...

Winter Speed Challenge: Final week!!! πŸ’₯πŸ… WEEK 5, FEB 25TH - MAR 3RD

EDIT: LATEST POST HERE: https://healthunlocked.com/marathon-running/posts/140188740/ Hi rapid...

Weekly chat 11th Feb - 17th Feb 😊 😊 😊

knocking out a half marathon πŸ˜„...

β˜• Winter Speed Challenge: Onwards!!!

EDIT: LATEST POST HERE: https://healthunlocked.com/marathon-running/posts/140023862/ Hello you...

Spring '19 Speed Challenge - now it's Week 3!!! πŸ’₯πŸ’₯πŸ’₯

EDIT: NEW POST HERE!: https://healthunlocked.com/marathon-running/posts/140781243/ Hi...

Double August Challenges: Speed AND Distance!!! 🀩🀩 WEEK 3!!!!!!

info here: https://healthunlocked.com/marathon-running/posts/140585532/ Previous post here:...