Good morning to our amazing running friends worldwide! This is your opportunity to share news, ideas, latest theories, whatever; without having to construct a full post. In the last few weeks we have had contributions from as far west as Canada, as far south as Australia and New Zealand (those two in alphabetical order 👍) and from Germany and Spain. That is just based on my failing memory!
Two themes on my mind this week. First, posts over this weekend have made me reflect on what an amazing community of people is represented here. We have had the drama of injury plagued build ups, returns from illness, bad storms, missed flights and epic runs of various distances. It has made me really reflect on the resilience of the members of the running forums. People here go through all sorts of traumas, but they bounce back and always seem to find a way through whatever stands in their way, and always find time to help others over their hurdles too. You are all 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
The second theme is peculiarly British! The weather, and what feels like the onset of winter here in the UK. Last Monday I woke up to a miserable windy, wet 6C up here in the North East of England. I over compensated; not quite running a HM distance in a waterproof duffel coat, but getting on that way, and I paid the price with a tough last 1k, and lots of aches and pains too. Dehydration followed. I won’t make the same mistake again, but my heart sank a bit as I dipped back into the world of multi layers, leggings, bobble hats, gloves and neck gaiters. This was a wake up call. How do people manage to have a successful winter of running? My run distances seem to tail off, fitness reduces, VO2 max sinks as my heart works harder just to keep me warm and I am more prone to niggles. Any insights people want to share will be very welcome. Maybe it is just a time to cut back, slow off and wait for the sun to return (that was late July this year!).
Ok, that is what is on my mind; over to you! I will try to post a summery picture if the system will let me; it often tells me that I have exceeded limits!If I do succeed you can guess at the location if you wish.
Well, the photo is lovely, 😍 it's windy and wet here on the east coast this morning so not much outside will happen, but it's been lovely the last few days.This winter running is going to be interesting for me because having located from the milder south coast means I'm going to experience colder outings than I have before, I expect new clothes will happen at some point.
Have a good week running friends. I'm still resting from my longer walk on Saturday 🤣
Your walk/run was brilliant Sue. Best news in weeks bar none!
I am on North East coast. The rain held off until after my run, but we then walked Molly and we have now returned home with a very soggy doggy! Showered her muzzle legs and paws in the shelter of the garage roof, and now she is sleeping off her sausages. She has a hard life!
At this stage you need to move when your body feels ready; no use pushing to do things for which you are not ready. You will get there as your last outing shows.🙂
Morning BC, I agree; what an incredible weekend of races we’ve just witnessed (most of us from our sofas!), and with less than perfect preparation, travel etc too. They all smashed their runs! Strong HUers!
Here’s my method of avoiding sloppy winter running - hibernate at the gym. I don’t mind running in the rain, but I dislike wind and slop, and unfortunately most of my local runs contain more than their fair share of one, or both. 😳
Of course I still run (selected based on the weather) PR each week, and I’ll manage in Cardiff next weekend no matter what the weather throws at me, but I need to enjoy my running, so the gym is very very handy to keep my winter kms up. 🙏
I enjoyed my 2 hour run this morning; 16.76k. I returned home dry, but we got wet taking Molly out for her sausages! No matter.
I was a bit disappointed with 7:10 pace this morning, until I thought about it properly. I lost a fair amount of moving time messing about with tying my thin waterproof jacket around my waist; it loosens off as the run progresses and requires frequent retying…then there was the tailwind bottle to manage….but the main point was that it was supposed to be an easy run, not a PB attempt! So all good really. 🙄
There was a present from the postman waiting for me; my race number 😬.
Ooooo so exciting! I hope you’ll display it somewhere prominent for all to see! I have my Cardiff and GSR numbers stuck on the fridge currently. No one else cares …. but I keep gazing at them! 😍
Nice run for you today! I have my final speed run of the plan tomorrow, then a little trot of some sort on Thursday. Then Sunday’s the big one. Then 2 weeks later it’s the other one. 👏😀
🤞🤞🤞 for decent weather cheeky; not that anything other than something extreme will stop you (and that would probably be bad enough for the organisers to cancel!). Speed runs are fun!
Physio on Wednesday for me; just to make sure that all of this work is keeping me as knot free as I think it is. I don’t want a repeat of GSR 2021.
No wisdom on the Winter running but I imagine you will just have to embrace it. You will make it work as you always do Beachcomber66
I was happy today to run 12 miles which is the longest that I've run since July. I also made my annual monthly distance goal so hopefully I'm back on track until the heat comes.
Well done on starting to build up again RW. 12 miles is a good comeback run.
I should have exempted you from providing winter advice; managing heat all year round is your forte! I have had a thought though. I was fine this morning (not too hot not too cold) until I emerged from the cafe after my post run coffee. It was pretty cold on the walk home. Maybe I should sacrifice my morning coffee at the cafe on long runs and finish my run at home instead; so straight into the house and into the shower, wrap up warm and walk Molly to the cafe for sausages. She will approve! Probably a good plan for cold days….although I enjoy my post run natter 🙂.
I will be going off plan next Monday. The long run is 25k (furthest ever by 4K for me). No sense in risking that ahead of the Great South Run on 20th October. 25k can wait!
I must confess I'm rubbish at keeping to plans. Yesterday I'd planned both a 10km run and to cut the lawn before it got wet. I had lunch and got dozy, and neither of them got done.
It's been raining heavily since about 6pm yesterday and hasn't let up since then, and I have no motivation at all to go out in it at lunchtime for a run…
I have to admit that if it wasn't for the routine of parkrun I probably wouldn't have got myself psyched up to run this weekend. This isn't good.
I abandoned Thursday’s run because the weather was just ridiculous; pouring down, cold and really high winds which will have been bringing down branches on my tree lined short run route. So a sensible call; running in a hard hat would have been just weird!. Bar that sort of extreme event, I just put on what I think are the right clothes and get on with it regardless. I get a few “are you really going out in that?” questions…but I have deliberately put the “stay home” bar high….too much temptation to take the easy option otherwise. I know myself too well!
The rain has been torrential all day here. I'd be cold and wet before I could warm up enough to make it tolerable. I don't fancy doing an hour as a boil-in-the bag runner. Tomorrow and the rest of the week is forecast as dry.
Hi Beachcomber66 and running friends. Sadly my preparations for the Great South Run have fallen away as my best friend’s mum passed away 😥 the week before last and I’ve been helping out and supporting her. I did manage to get a few runs in though, while I was there🏃♂️➡️ We have the funeral next week, which will be my priority, although I hope I can get a few runs in while I’m back there 🏃♂️➡️🤞
I did go up to London at the weekend at took part in the ‘Walk for Humanity’ for the British Red Cross, so that helped keep my legs working at least! 👍
I’ve been offered a combined Covid and flu jab as I’m now classed as ‘vulnerable’ apparently, so I’m having that on Friday. After all that I’ve got a couple more hospital appointments up in London next month, so that’s something to ‘look forward to’! 😳🤣
We are all so different aren’t we Beachcomber66 ! I am looking forward to the plummeting temperatures as I always run better in the winter! I also enjoy donning a chestlight and heading out in to the dark - I’m a bit strange like that! The summer definitely slows me down 🥵( that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!🤣)
I have been pretty absent from here over the last four weeks. Firstly my beloved moggy, Monty got hit by a car and although he survived, there followed a period of worry and lots of travel to a veterinary referral centre some distance away, then tube feeding him on return home as he was too sore to eat (definitely skilled up a bit there but wouldn’t choose to do that for over a week again!). He is well on the mend now but it has been quite a journey - goodness me, cats are tough aren’t they? ! Oh and in the midst of all this I picked up covid which hit me quite hard too.😫
So, three weeks of no running for a variety of reasons - but the last week I have got back ‘on it’ with a 5K, 6.5K and 10k, so progress of sorts I guess. 🤷♀️Race plans all up in the air (this body is not ready for the Cardiff Half I’m afraid) but still hope to make it to the start of the Great South Run later in October.🤞
Hi Sandra. You and Monty have been through the mill. It is bad enough when pets are ill, but a car accident followed by tube feeding? That is tough on both of you. You have been a good friend to Monty.
I don’t mind winter too much really. I won’t venture forth on ice/ frozen snow following a spinal fracture caused by stepping on black ice under slush, resulting in a credible Fosbury Flop, minus the soft landing unfortunately! I will happily put on the right clothing and venture forth in the cold, and have been known to do my hill run up with the woods with a head torch. My problem is that I seem to lose fitness and pick up niggles in winter which stop me from running. Maybe all of this strengthening and stretching I have been doing with the Nike Training Club app will get me through this time🤷♂️. Spring and Summer are wonderful for me, provided the temperatures don’t head north of 30 degrees again!
Very much on the mend thanks misswobble.🐈🙂 We’d do anything for our pets wouldn’t we? Thank goodness he was insured because it cost a small fortune! 😵💫💰Luckily the vets did a direct claim with the insurance company!
I have a borrowed dog but I love him to bits. His owners foot the bills fortunately 😀
When I had a little Jack Russell he hardly cost us anything bless him. He had his teeth cleaned aged 14 under anaesthetic. The vet told us to prepare for him losing teeth. Ha! He didn’t lose one 😁. He had a stronger gnash afterwards 🙂
Ugh this weather BC! I went out in rain jacket and long sleeve t today as I was so cold in rain jacket and short sleeve t for my last run ... and today it felt so much warmer. Go figure! Our house is anything from15 to 16C at present, thick jumpers and warm blankets are keeping me warm 😀 So long as it isn't slippy, I'll still get out and run even if it's cold and wet. Missing the run is worse somehow 🥰My leg is just about holding out; I've cut a few runs from my plan and am taking two rest days as a minimum. Fingers crossed that will keep me going til 13th. Having said that, the trip has been in jeopardy again so who knows!!! Supposed to travel on Friday so the will I/won't I will be over soon enough thank goodness!!!
The uncertainty over your trip is a big enough pain Linda, without the rest. I hope things are ok once you finally get there. I can cope with temperature and rain; the problem has been that I end up being crocked at some point every winter. Maybe this year will be different. I am certainly stronger (and a lot thinner!) …..🤞🤞🤞 for both of us.
It’s a game innit, trying to keep body and soul together 🫣
I dug out my long sleeve and hooded jacket yesterday, and despite the non-stop rain, I did feel warm enough by the end. I wasn’t running far thank goodness. I chose my grippiest shoe and avoided metal drain covers 😃
I’ve got another physio appointment in a few weeks, and hoping my ankle holds up 🙏. There always seems some bit of us that wants to fall off before race day. I often wish I’d taken up this game when I was younger 😁
Fingers crossed for your plans 🤞 May they not be thwarted! 🙏
I have to admit that I am really just ticking over at the moment. We are walking and cycling on our tour of Ireland, but the only running I am doing is parkrun. When we get back home next week it will be club runs on Monday and Thursday (booked on the app a month at a time to keep me accountable) and parkrun. Then it’s just a case of dressing appropriately!
You will pick it up again when you are ready Sandie. You have had a busy summer.
I hope that this weather is just a blip! It didn’t stop raining until the end of July, so we don’t need an early freeze! Physio for me tomorrow, checking my homework 😬.
To be honest I am quite happy running 3 times a week for around 2 hrs 30. It keeps my fitness level ok and I can still do a 10k without having to do any real training. If I feel the need to increase it I will, but just now I don’t!
I’m just back from a few days in Devon which was gorgeous even though I didn't take my running kit for once! I thought I’d rest my knee with a week’s break and just enjoy the fabulous food, scenery and company of Mr IP ❤️ Oh, and this bath helped too! I thought of you misswobble as I know you love your baths and this one was a cracker 🛀
Sadly, the first run back didn't go that well despite the rest and I could manage only 3K before I had to stop, so I went back to the physio. But the good news is that she recommends I should still run but do what I can up to the point the knee starts to grumble. And then I can build very slowly from there. I can’t believe this is all from me crouching so much in the garden, but when I told her she was impressed as she said it was clearly a lot of squats but my knees weren’t used to them 🤣
She taped the knee up and gave me some exercises so I’ll try again this morning to see how it feels 🤞
I love winter so I’m already chuffed about the change in temperature. I find it all so incredibly beautiful and somehow peaceful with the starkness of the trees and the monochrome landscapes.
In terms of managing, I have already started taking Vitamin D, I try to get more sleep and make a big effort to continue drinking water although I find it harder in the colder months. I eat heartily and rest up more, but I still try to get outside as much as possible. I extend my warm-ups for the runs and do more at home before I leave the house and that’s it.
Maybe this year, I’ll start taking deep baths again after long runs instead of just jumping in the shower. My body felt incredibly “loose” the day after that hotel soak 🛀🥰
My physio trip went well. A tender spot on the outside of each calf, so a bit of pressing (her) and wincing(me) but much less to do than I would have expected pre my daily yoga/strengthening exercises. So that was reassuring.
I also asked her to check out the base of my spine which has been giving me a bit of pain for a few weeks, particularly when bending. She literally put her finger on the spot, right at the top of my glute, and I experienced pain on a new level! Still, on the way to being fixed now, no damage or lumbago etc and all should be good for the GSR. Glad I went; glad I am back home 🙂
Glad the physio went well. These physios know how to hit the spot!
My knee was still the same and I was ready to stop at 3K but then at that point, it suddenly felt a bit better so I carried on for another bit and ended up doing 3.3K. Feels ok since so hopefully I can just stick to around 3/4K for a while.
🙂 that sounds like a really nice break IP. Good news from your physio too; we know that gardening can be lethal!! A well earned rest🙂.
You clearly cope with winter really well. I think that I just need to get a grip!! I am not at all fazed by running in atrocious weather, in fact it can be exhilarating, it’s just that winter often sees me in the IC for some reason. I have changed some things; binning the warm up walk in favour of warm up exercises in the house seems to be going ok, as does running the first part of every run a bit more slowly. Maybe this is the year when I wave goodbye to my winter woes!
Physio at 12.15 today; let’s see whether these distance runs have done any damage! Things feel pretty good, so we will see.
Last time I climbed into a bath following a run, getting out was a bit of a problem…..more dangers lurking!!🙂
When you think about cold muscles for longer and various colds, flu, etc at their highest risk in winter, then it’s not surprising that we may end up on the IC/sickness couch earlier and more regularly. Fingers crossed for all of us this winter 🤞
Great photo BC. What a lovely spot. . Weather-wise we’ve been spoiled here. Crisp mornings and warm afternoons. I did my Cider grit race on Saturday and it was lovely. I think I started a bit too fast but managed to get all 3 loops done to hit the 21. Have not pushed that hard in a while and I felt it, but there was Cider and beer at the end which made it worth the effort. Have been a bit worn down since, but it’s understandable with the heavier mileage lately. Last week was my 40k longest training run. I tried a couple of speed workouts yesterday and may have pushed harder than I should have, so now I am taking it easy.
Good morning Decker.The photo is of Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire where used to take the kids on holiday and we had our honeymoon there (not in that order! ).
The cold and wet have disappeared today. the sun is out, blue sky with white clouds; the mini winter has turned back into early warm autumn.
That is a beautiful photo; not even a whisper of wind to disturb the water. Glad your cider run had a happy ending.😋
4Ok is a long way; but not for you. You seem to have things well under control. Hopefully we can get a few more runs in before winter arrives properly 🤞.
I’m happy your weather has turned for the better. And I really hope to get some runs in before things really get frosty here. Might be late November before we get to that point.
We never know here; the North East winds bring a touch of the arctic with them. Monday was really cold; today was a beautiful mild autumn day. The GSR weather in Southsea/Portsmouth should be an upgrade on here, but they do get South Westerly blasts of wind. No matter; if I am fit and the run is “on”, I will be running regardless……we are all a bit crazy oop north!🤪
Yeah I was dreading that one a bit. It was rough and I am happy it is done. I realize I am not in the same race shape I’ve been in past years. I trained a full year for my first 50 during Covid and this one I jumped in with just 8 weeks to train up. Just seeing what happens with it at this point
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WEEKLY CHAT 12th to 18th SEPTEMBER 🍂🍃 🍂 