I am feeling a bit more chilled out this week, because the event I have been helping to organise - Lagoon Fest 2019 - finally happened on Saturday! It turned out to be a fabulous day - loads of people turned up and had fun, and local dignitary Fatboy "will he be DJ-ing?" Slim did in fact DJ with aplomb 😊😊😊
Now that's out of the way I can start thinking about the Brighton & Hove Triathlon that's coming up this Sunday! Hmmmm...
Are you feeling organised? Or just a little bit chaotic? 😄
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. Please join in the discussion!
If you're new or a lurker this is a great place to say a little hi without the pressure of a full post.
Happy running!
Sqkr & roseabi
XXX
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roseabi
Ultramarathon
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Glad your event went well...you will be running on air this week with the weight lifted from your shoulders!
I have an event(conference) looming on Saturday...much work to do this week☹️. Running going ok but I need to focus. I have been sidetracked by sub 30 minute 5ks (a second one yesterday) and now I have signed up for a 10k on 29 September (first "proper" run ever). My prime aim is to get from 18k to Half Marathon (just because I can (I think!)). Too many targets, each requiring different paces. Think I will tone down the 5ks for a bit and try to get some easier miles into my legs. Good job I am retired!😥
UpTheStanley and cheekychipmunks are hoping to virtually do HM on Wednesday 18th if you want to virtually join them Beachcomber66. Glad to see you’ve signed up for a race - it’s a great experience. 🏃♂️👏👏
I have started training towards the GSR (Which I know plenty on here are doing too). I am a little aprehensive of this one. It is a huge event and quite a way from where I live, so the logistics of getting in, parked and back out again are concerning me. So if anyone has any advice I am all ears!
My advice is to pay for the car parking on the common which is being allocated to the race entrants. I think it is pre-paid parking but I will let you know after some investigation. Residents in certain areas are unable to move their cars so street parking is difficult to find near the common. I don’t think the park and ride is operating., but will check that too.
If the link didn’t work : Runners should plan to arrive in the city by 8:00 so allow plenty of time to get to the start. Portsmouth has an excellent public transport system, so please consider these options wherever possible.
Pier Road, Clarence Esplanade and Avenue de Caen will all be closed from 6:00, with the remainder of the roads in use by the event closing between 9:00 and 9:45. You view our list of road closure and re-opening times here.
Traffic in and out of Portsmouth is limited to two main routes – the Western entrance (M275) and the Eastern Road (A2030). Once in the city, look for the large digital boards giving parking and traffic information.
Please be aware the Council operated Park and Ride, that has been in place previously will not be in operation this year.
There are several other car parks away from the main road closures which will minimise your exit out of the city and are just a short walk from the main event site. For information on smaller car parks in the area, go to visitportsmouth.co.uk and select the Visitor Information tab.
If you wish to park as close as possible to event site, there is a temporary event car park on Southsea Common at a charge of £10 per vehicle. Cars will be able to exit this car park from around 12.15pm, initially directed out to the west whilst roads to the east are still in use by runners.
Well done on helping with Lagoonfest Abi, it looks amazing! And good luck with your triathlon 👍
I am still lurking here, 4th week of no running. Heel still a bit swollen but I am only doing low-impact exercise now so hope that will get better soon.
Hip much better but now have a nasty niggle in my lower back/pelvis to the side of my spine. Osteo still working on that. God knows if I will ever start running again, it's just one thing after another. But hey ho, it could be worse, I can still walk! 😁
You will run mutley. I’m sure of it. Injury is part of this running business and so is not giving up. Or so it seems to me anyway. Good luck with your osteo
Do you read running books ? I find them inspiring. I’m reading “what I talk about when I talk about running” for the 2nd time. He’s great. And I’ve just finished “outrunning the demons”. Good in a different way.
Yes I do - when I'm running. Loved "Born to run" Don't feel like reading about running when I can't run though. I will add your books to my wishlist, thanks
Oo look at that, so many people, so much sun, so much Norman! Looks like a cracking day was had by all 😀
My latest series has been delivered at long last (10.30, weekends on Cbeebies, if you have small folk! 👍), so I'm also feeling a little less encumbered too! I've had four days off, I've been doing stuff about the house, it's great. And fresh out of my running hols I signed myself up to the Scottish half, because if I've an event I'm more likely to make an effort. This happened however, which ruined my run on Saturday: google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co...
And now I'm looking out of the window at a very wet day indeed. So I'm crossing my fingers that the rain subsides this afternoon else I'll be very out of shape for the Scottish half indeed!
As excuses go for not running, that's not too shabby.
A triathlon abi - oooh. Don’t forget to smile for the camera. So I’ve been faffing around at 10km for a while, mostly on trails and on a beach today. Autumn is here and I’m fond of winter running (the gloves, the beanies, the frost, the rain 🙄). I have decided to up my distance to 10 miles and then a HM next spring. If my 5km to 10km is anything to go by, I’ll need 6 months at upping the distance by 0.5 km per week. I plan to stay injury free if I can. So that’s my 10km to HM crawl plan. Ok with you guys ?
That's so funny you said that, I had just added "look up and smile at the camera" to my list. I am hopelessly vain, and last time I did the triathlon I saw the worst photo of me I had ever seen in my life!!!! 😲
I'm looking forward to running in cooler weather too 😊😊😊
That sounds like a very good plan! Enjoy your training xxx
Some of my friends went to lagoon fest and said it was fab 😀 great job. Nice weather on Saturday as well.
I've been organising bikes for my 2 friends who are coming this Saturday to do the brighton triathlon on Sunday. A new tire and a general MOT.
A bit disappointed that they have changed the wave start for the super sprint, men only and the ladies 5 minutes afterwards. Last year they put the lads and lasses together. I was hoping to swim all the way with my husband 😥 I'm going to try and catch him up though !!!
Our wave doesn't start until about 12.40 on Sunday, so Roseabi will have finished and be in the pub having a Sunday roast and a pint before we have even started
They keep changing the start times, don't they!?! I am going to be up early on Sunday to check they haven't changed again! The weather and sea conditions are looking good so far - fingers crossed 😁
I like your Sunday Roast idea, sorry you'll have to wait for yours though 🤔 Have fun! xxx
Well done on your lagoonfest Roseabi. Having done the new Forest 10k yesterday I’ve now booked a physio appointment to find out why my knee niggles have started and what I can do to prevent them for the GSR which is now looming .
Go you! It sounds to have been a fabulous day! What a task but well worth it
Feeling a little bit organised, but with a touch of chaos...plans for a meet up with forum folk next weekend, for a run have gone awry with an unexpected appointment!
Hugely disappointing.
But.. have had some super runs over the last few days and with a really happy improved pace( unintentional).. but great!
Have gone back on what I determined in March, and signed up again, for the Monsal Trail HM next March.
So, I shall be using the great guidance plan of yours, that I used last time with success... and with tweaks where necessary... I intend going through it over the coming weeks..
Thanks for all the support you give us... and happy running this week folks x
Congratulations on a successful festival! I trust you're enjoying the feeling of having worked on a successful event? I'm sure your triathlon will go well (it doesn't include pull ups does it?)
On the exercise front, I've now built up to an hour's gentle walking and am about to introduce a "moderate" pace part way through! I've had "conversational pace" explained to me so I'm very familiar with that. My workout kit includes trousers, shit, fleece and racing sandals. 👡👡👡(that's the closest emoticon I could find).
Ah! Not exactly marathon running is it? I had a mild heart attack a few weeks ago. Seems I was doing most things right and I've just been unlucky. There again, I've now had a comprehensive heart checkup so I know where I stand.
The walking is the early part of the rehab process. I should be back to full speed next year. I don't yet know when I'll be able to resume running but it seems that I'm likely to restart with a fair proportion of my fitness. Initially, I thought it would be W1R1 but that was before I'd spoken to anyone who knows about recovery.
Oops! Failed to spot my own smelling pistake! I suppose that is something that I take with me but only what results from normal metabolic processing, as it were, and I don't usually include it in kit lists.
Wow you have been busy Abi! Fatboy! Wow. Free at last! Best of luck with your Tri too! 👍🏼
I am in the long distance segments of my plan now. Have done two 30s in the last few weeks with 22 recovery this last Sat and 34 coming up this upcoming Sat. Probably try for another Waterfront run along the East side this time, which overlaps the lonelier part of the marathon route after all the HM people break off. Never been this far before. Wish me luck
Thanks C3PO. I have mixed feelings about the distances. It will come down to the headspace I am in on Sat morning I guess. So far most have been good runs.
Congrats abi, on the Lagoonfest and good luck with your triathlon.
I have pre-registered for a HM in March next year. I wasn't going to put it up here until I'd done it, but I think I will need all the help and encouragement I can get virtually as I haven't told anyone "in real life" 😂
The HM has a 3 hour cut off so I have my work cut out. I did look at one in April but that's too far into allergy season to consider lol
With that in mind I have also signed up for a 10k next month for breast cancer that covers part of the HM course, which should give me a bit of experience and help a good cause.
My training plan is based on a few I've seen online adapted to 'single working mum with 3 children and 2 dogs' lifestyle. Basically train whenever I can with a gradual increase every week, sort of C25K-ish, with a few strength exercises added in and making sure I hit my 10k steps every day.
To be honest I am not too worried about the distance, I think it is achieveable in 5.5 months (I have already run 12k) but the cut off is already stressing me out. But that's partly a good thing as it will keep me on my toes and training.
Exciting! Sounds like a great plan. I'd suggest just keeping an eye on things. Assuming you are recording your workouts, check back through your records to make sure you're running fairly consistently. Set yourself a rough target, like running twice a week on average for example - something you feel you can achieve most of the time.
You're right, that's loads of time to work up to the full distance, beyond even! To help with your concerns about timing I suggest you add in regular shorter runs at a pace that will get you there within the cut off time, say 8 min/km.
That's what I tried to do during my race on Saturday, but runkeeper had me down as running 8.3km and the race was only 7 - so I was trying to pace myself based on way off GPS signals
Any suggestions for that? I had my phone calling out pace every 2 minutes (I am not long off the treadmill, which did the pace thing all by itself) so I could keep at a consistent-ish pace (allowing for inclines etc.) but if the gps is way off then obviously it thought my pace was much more than it really was.
Where do you carry your phone? It needs to be as open to the sky as possible for a good GPS connection. Trees and buildings can also mess it up. And some apps may work better than others for you.
Further, though, races are measured out using one route, but you may have actually taken a more convoluted path - in the biggest races it can be seen that the most direct route is actually marked out for people to follow. So your phone may not actually be that far out.
Anyway, to be more sure of your GPS accuracy, pick a route clear of trees etc., and get an arm band to carry your phone, or hold it in your hand.
Try running the route a few times at a comfortably fast pace - tune into your breathing and bodily sensations and write down afterwards how you felt. See what paces Runkeeper has recorded. You can learn how different paces feel - try running more slowly for a while, then faster for a while, and record how you felt at the different paces.
This will be different to treadmill running, and will take some getting used to!
The route on Saturday was one I was more or less forced to follow given the 40K runners / walkers lol
I carry my phone in my bum pocket (joggers with a zip pocket at the back) as I tried armbands and carrying it in my hand and both bugged me. The armband kept slipping a bit so I had to tighten it and if I carry it in my hand, my hand tends to get "stiff" for lack of a better way of describing it - I have to shake my hands out from time to time while I run (I don't clench them). The bum pocket has so far proved to be the most comfortable way
So it could well have been longer than the measured route!
I wouldn't worry too much about it, but I do think you should try learning to run by feel. The phone app GPS will throw up discrepancies from time to time, but should still give you an overall picture. Also you may well find that in 5 and a half months you will start to feel comfortable running at a pace that will get you well inside that 3 hour cut off xxx
Thanks abi. I will do my best and see where it gets me. I run mimimum twice a week, mostly 3 times. One long run (which I skipped this week because of the 7k) and one definitely on my work from home day, then mostly I find another slot to throw one in somehow.
I also have twice daily dog walks and the ups and down stairs of public transport counting as some cross training 😂
Congratulations on your event going so well! And good luck with the upcoming triathlon.
I recovered quickly from Thursday's HM run, which was encouraging. I only managed to fit in one other run last week - a very slow parkrun with my youngest.
Otherwise, I've been keeping my feet really busy with the urban orienteering. I walked 20 km today. I wish I'd realized it would be that far, as I ended up doing the distance in rain boots due to heavy rain in the morning. I hope I don't end up paying for it!
My answer to organization is slightly chaotic. I seem to unintentionally have started tapering way too early - considering that this is supposed to be the first week. Then again, today's walk was on the long side, so maybe I'm getting this tapering thing wrong. Oh well...
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