Hey there fabulous runners! How's it going for you this week? Do let us know in the comments below.
I'm still pretty much off running, waiting for a quad issue to fully heal - but that hasn't stopped me cycling. We're just about to head home after a long weekend in North Wales where we've done lots of riding , in the most amazing scenery. I can't believe I lived here so long without taking advantage of all that was on my doorstep, a criminal waste! Of course I can't resist a short gentle run by the sea before leaving, so will have to see what effect that will have on the quad!
Where's your favourite run or place to run? Is it somewhere local or is it a fondly remembered event perhaps? Or are holiday runs your thing? Running alongside the sea definitely rates very highly for me but I do love running right in among the greenery too, so I'm still searching for my ideal run location 😍 Do let me know if you have any suggestions!!!
Sadly my Garmin really isn't delivering in terms of battery length, especially when I'm using the courses and map options. I live in fear of it dying on me on any activity of a decent length! What's your greatest tech fear - or are you one of these lucky runners who prefer to run tech free? I find it hard enough to accept a partly recorded run or ride, so I don't think there's any hope of me going for unrecorded!
Wherever you choose to run (or cross train or rest) , have a great week everyone!!!
Off for my little (treeless) run by the sea now 😊
The Marathon Team xxx
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I've been envious of your trip pics. I feel in need of a break but feels like that should be a month! 🤣🤣🙈
I love running anywhere, it's lovely to experience new places. I used to be wary of getting lost but not so much these days.
Garmin battery can really be an issue. We just don't realise when we buy them that we might want to go all day at some point! I've found regular reboots and seeing the watch face to standard helps conserve battery life.
I'd love to run tech free but am too addicted now to the data to leave it behind. 🙈
Ooh, your run pics are some of the most enviable I think! Even a very short break goes some way to recharging your batteries ... if not Garmin's. I'll have a go at a restart, good idea! And I'll try to google other battery saving ideas too.
I was on holiday in the middle two weeks of July, but further west of where you are in Wales. The weather was against me for that stay. I did however keep up my morning runs, but had to cut back on the run durations because of the heat.
I'll be away later this month (long weekend) and have already plotted some routes around where we're going to be staying. One of them is HM distance.
Garmin tip I've heard of (but am dubious about). After you charge to 100%, turn off the watch without disconnecting from the power, disconnect from the charger, then turn it back on.
We normally stay further West too, but it was fairly last minute and affordable accomodation was thin on the ground. Every day I ended up driving west!Hope you have a good trip - I'll have to watch out for your HM route 😊
I hadn't heard that tip for Garmin batteries- I wonder what the science is there?
Islands can be great places for running. Last month I had a mixture of quiet country roads, woodland trails and sea views to choose from. Some runs included all three. I have been grateful for tree cover since we came home. I hate Garmin malfunctions; jo-jo helped me to fix my latest one. Fortunately it doesn’t happen often; I really need it to help me keep my pace under control. HM prep is going ok. A cut back week last week so a one hour run on Saturday in place of the long run. 10 miles next Saturday. This plan then has weekly long run days of 5 miles, 12 miles, 6 miles and then Race Day. That is five weeks to the planRace Day; in fact I have six weeks to go. I haven’t worked out how to manage that, my thinking being that the spare week might be needed if something goes wrong. I will probably slip in an extra 10k unless someone has a better idea? Enjoy all of that ozone Linda; hope your quad likes it. 🙂
Oh yes - that was the Scilly Isles roght? Already on the list of places I want to visit - just elevated to the upper level if I can run with trees and sea at the same time 😀So pleased your training is on track at last. Having a week spare at this stage is wonderful!!!
It is to nice to have a spare week; just gives me the problem of what to do with it!! Keep it in hand for the moment…we never know what lies around the corner!
Oh, it was the Isles of Scilly. We had just one day of rain. The weather up here where we live was so bad that everybody thought we must have had an awful holiday. You can even choose which of five Islands you want to run on. A different one each day if you like!! We just rebook every year; Mrs BC has booked us in for 3 weeks next year!
I love running by the ocean and run down there most days after the school drop. My husband and I are also trying to do a trail run once a week. I persuaded him to buy some speed-goats and get off his bike to run with his wife. No way am I going off the beaten track solo 🐍
I’m pretty tied to my tech due to heart rate training. I had an enforced quiet week of running due to our first Covid injections and only hit 20miles. I’m keen to do 30 miles weekly consistently so will see how I go over the next few weeks until the next injection. ❤️🏃♀️
Haha. I've left the school run behind now, but it was never like yours!!! How wonderful 😊That's great weekly mileage there and mixing trail and ocean runs sounds an idyllic way to cover those miles!
By the time I get my boys to school, I’m certainly ready for a calm ocean run 🤣 I also forgot to say my tech fear would now be stopping my Garmin too early in a milestone run. 13.04 miles 🙈
What a gorgeous photo! I can see how much you might appreciate those post school run runs!!! Garmin has a habit of occasionally dropping the distance back at the end of a run - always best to add a little bit ... but 13.04 ouch! A bit like my 16.0k which I thought was 10 miles 😱
Is it any surprise that I'm going to say that hills and forest are my favourite places to run?! Though basically anywhere that's in the countryside and doesn't involve other people will do nicely. I see other people's photos of Parkrun and feel really intimidated, so big events are definitely not for me. Still not sure how I'll handle the trail marathon with potentially several hundred runners.
I am my biggest tech fear😱! I still record separately on Garmin and Strava, because I'm way too good at pressing the wrong buttons. I have a hard time believing the longer runs happen, so need the data to convince me.
Managed my first 30k run (642m elevation gain) yesterday. Hills, forests, trails and valley roads. Mostly running, the odd bit of walking and a photo stop at 18km - see pic.
Your runs are amazing! I'll take the forest and the fields of sunflowers any day - but no way am I fighting you for that elevation 😀I love running alone, but I also find it really uplifting to run in a crowd of like minded people every once in a while. I used to love races (when I was improving) and all those people really helped spur me on. Having hit something of a bumpy plateau, with an adjusted gait of one step forward and two steps back, the attraction is dwindling 🤣. I'm currently going for location, location, location instead 🤷♀️
Your pics have been amazing. What a tour! Mmm… tech is always a bit of a mystery to me. Garmim not too bad but I’m thinking of buying a juice pack for my phone after last year’s epic walking trail disaster. Phone, which I’d been using to navigate and do hourly check ins, got wet and cold and lost battery. I can read a map to navigate but I’d managed to knock myself out by chinning one of those plank bridges and needed to call Mr CNS to get me! Anyway, there was just enough battery to call for help. But- next time (and I’m nailing that trail one day) a back up battery pack.
Favourite place to run? Although I love running in Langdale when lucky I enough to get to Cumbria, I just love being able to run out of my front door and see where it takes me. That’s freedom.
Gosh yes, that would make you very wary of low battery! My front bike light doubles up as a great spare battery and charges really fast ... but only if I have the cable I need qith me too 🤣Cumbria sounds lovely as a place to run. Too many roads and houses from my front door to make for a pretty run unfortunately, but you're right there's a lot to be said for just getting out there and getting on with it!
Woods, lanes and a nice hill with a view for me. I avoid the side of dual carriageways when possible but sometimes you need to tolerate them to get somewhere!The weekend was my last long run (12 miles) before the big half on 22 August. Just a couple of 10 milers now (still daunting) and some mid week leg turners. I was in really good shape for the original date in April but can't sustain that pace now. Too late! I will just enjoy the experience instead.
Ahh yes, hills do have their rewards I guess 😂 Maybe the race atmosphere will generate the extra pace you're looking for, but to enjoy is always a great goal 😀
Hello Linda, what a lovely pic of a sandy beach on a beautiful day. As you know, I am very fortunate to live by the sea and love running along the prom as the views change with the tide and the weather. But I do like to get out into the countryside and run amongst the wildflowers and witness the change of seasons. The Billy trail disused railway line is lovely, and the New Forest is perfect.
I am now on W3 of your Nike Running Coach training plan but having to compromise to fit parkrun in. So far, so good.
Mmmm I bet the New Forest is lovely to run in (we'reheading there in September), but to be able to get to the sea so easily must be amazing!Great progress on the plan, especially being able to fit Parkrun in too 😊
The photo was taken in Rhyl before all the tourists got up and any of the kiosks/entertainment opened - was like being in a whole different place compared to any other time of day!!!
Hi Linda. You’ve been to some wonderful picturesque places that’s for sure. Only right that you did a test run really! Hope your quad enjoyed it. 🤞
Tech? Don’t go there. My 10 miler on Sunday almost “didn’t count” as I discovered to my horror that I’d paused my watch after 6.6k and I’d run 3k without noticing. I couldn’t resume the run so I had to think on my feet, save it and start a new one all whilst running along. Very very luckily my NRC app was recording the whole time so I had hard proof of the full 10 miles. 😱
My most breathtaking run to date, even though the weather wasn’t ideal for views, was running up to, and down from, The Cage at Lyme Park PR. It was amazing, and a real sense of achievement too. The views at the top of Ashton Court are incredible of course, but they’re local views and I see them often!
I’m now hoping my running week won’t be affected too much and I’m going out for a quick recovery run shortly, but we’ve had an “incident” (all under control now but I don’t want to expand here), and it’s thrown the family for a loop. ❤️🩹 Running, as we all know, is therapy, so I’m going to go out whenever I can. ❤️
On the odd occasion I attempt a hill I'm always blown away by the view, bht the overriding memory is always the uphill slog 😍 Great that you had NRC to fall back on for a proper record of your 10 miler - I'd have been the same!!!
Sending very best wishes as you negotiate your way around the loop, hold on to your run time, take everything one step at a time and you will come through. Take care xxx
So do you think the intervals are harder than the tempo runs? I want to do one or the other, and probably the one that is least likely to cause damage 😅
I don’t know if I’ve done a tempo run yet 🤔. If I have I’ve not noticed it, so I’d go with the intervals being tougher I’ve managed them though, but felt them the day after and needed time to recover. I walked into to town and back today and feel good now. I did an intervals sesh with coach Cory and it was hard as it was fast and then faster The coaching is good though so you feel in safe hands. I did them on grass as the stoney trail is rotten 😫 Ouchy ouch 😁.
Hi Linda, Oh I really hope your quad heals up soon. It is such a frustrating thing to go through.
As for locations, I love the woods, but there have been a couple of standout destinations, one was where some friends and I ran on a frozen lake and another was with one of the same friends in the summer as we came across a group of deer bounding through the woods right before us. That same run she found a little baby snake and she carefully got him off the trail to slither for another day. On my solo runs I often get lost and then the run becomes about finding my way back to the car 😀. Any run with a bit of wildlife is a great one for me.
Still attempting the hills work and trying to get the longer runs in, but we also have a backyard patio project on the go, so I am digging for cross training on my off days🙂👍🏼.
As for battery life and conking issues- that’s the main reason I got a Suunto to replace my Garmin last year. My particular model is a bit older and less flashy, but really solid and has not died in the heat or the extreme cold yet. And its built like a tank. Takes forever to sync though. There’s always something 🤷♂️. I’ve heard great things about Coros and battery life.
The frozen lake sounds amazing, although well outside my level of comfort. Woods and wildlife though - definitely make for a lovely run. Do be careful with the digging, so much potential for cross training injuries 🙈. I guess all these watches have some issue, otherwise there'd be one stand out watch that we'd all be buying 😀
Hi Linda Nice view, the sea, cannot wait to one day visit it. Hope you get better soon!
The watch running out of power or headphones is a common reoccurrence. In terms of a nice place to run I haven't yet left my neighbourhood since I started running, which means am making the most of what is outside my doorstep, it's landlocked but it has everything and I have found a new appreciation for Yorkshire. Great for cycling too.
Sadly am supposed to move to London, if offices open again- so that will be a shock to the system! Currently, flat-hunting so nice running routes is up there on the list!
It really is a gift to be able to run stright from your own door - it would be high on my list of priorities too if a move was on the cards 😀. There are some lovely areas in London for running - and lots of fellow runners too! Good luck with the flat hunting 😊
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