Hello running people. How are you? Pull up a comfy chair and grab a drink and let’s hear your news. What’s been happening, what’s the plan and anything else you want to share. We’re all runners here so we love to read about everything running related.
Let’s chat about the rounding up question. Do you or don’t you? I use to be an avid rounder-upper and would never dream of stopping a run a few meters from a nice neat round number. Once, after a running club session, I carried on running around a field after everyone else stopped at 6.8 something. I just had to make it to 7K. I mean, why would anyone just stop at such a dissatisfying number and not be bothered by it? 🤣 The next week someone else joined me so that made two of us, but we were always in the minority.
There have also been a few 10K races where I ran beyond the finish line because my Garmin didn’t show the full distance yet and I really needed the full 10K shown on my watch! It does sound ridiculous but there you go.
A few of our neighbours are bemused when they sometimes see me run past our house and then reappear a few minutes later 🤨 and when I explain about the rounding up thing they just look baffled and walk away 🤣
My recent training plans had me down for weird numbers because they were converted from miles but even so. I couldn't do the 6.4’s suggested and had to make them 6.5. And don’t talk about the 9.7’s!!! WHAT??? Stopping at 9.7?!!! 🙀
However, recently I’ve had to get used to stopping at odd numbers because I hurt my knee from crouching in the garden too much (🙄) and so I’ve been easing back and running relatively short runs. My physio has told me to stop as soon as the pain level starts to climb and that’s what I’m doing. So, I’m now stopping at very odd numbers. On one of the first runs I stopped at 1.91!! And again at 2.56 and yesterday at 4.86! 😇 I set out to do 5K but then the pain worsened and I stopped. I felt very pleased with myself because, actually, if I’m honest, I really wanted to push on until the full number so maybe it’s still a work in progress 🙂
What about you? Do you round up or do you feel ok stopping at odd numbers?
Whether you’re rounding up or not, have a great week and have fun everyone, whatever you’re doing.
From your team, Beachcomber66 , linda9389 and me xxx
I definitely round up, a few years ago I ran to the river from home, a bit further and back to where Willow was waiting in the car to take me home, it wasn't quite 10k so I kept going and he crept along behind me in the car until I'd got to 10k then stopped. He thought I was nuts 🤣 .My last 5k here was a bit short so I carried on round the block to make up the distance.
Not sure I could do your miles to kilometres though.
Hope your knee continues to heal and you can round up your numbers 😁
I run in miles & I always round up but Strava is always at a weird km number. It seems to bother my Aussie running friends more than me.Happy week everyone! ❤️
Great question! My answer is…it depends! If I’m focussing on running for time and not distance, I really try and let how far I’ve run bother me less. That means I’ll write 4ish. 8ish, 9 and half km etc in my run diary. I’ll definitely round up my monthly mileage to a nice number! Distance runs I absolutely have been known to jog back and forth along the street and back. Luckily my next door neighbour is also a runner and we give each other the nod when we see each other!! Probably my most sane attitude was when I was doing a Hal Higdon plan which was just set numbers of miles for each run. That one I just ticked if it was vaguely close to what it was supposed to be and didn’t give it any more thought! Until I got Covid, I loved that plan and it was going really well!!
The news here is recovery is happening! I feel much better and the mileage is finally on the way up again after what feels like a long time of struggle. I’ve got a 10k coming up in two weeks The plan for the last one was just Jeff and survive until the end. This one I think I’m in a better position to have a good run at it. I’m not following a particular build at the moment, just generally letting the runs tick up a bit and doing a speed run a week.
I’ve made a massive decision and entered the Newport marathon. I started a training plan targeting one this October but didn’t get as far as entering. I was going to wait and see how training went but I think knowing I’ll be on the start line will hugely influence how well that goes! I think I’ll spend this month working on speed and strength then start the Hal Higdon plan I was liking before.
Sending recovery vibes to your knee! Embrace those random run distances! Xx
Thank you! Ive spent ages trying to find the “perfect” first one and I’ve just come to the conclusion that this one is as good as any!! The big advantage is it’s local so my family can come and cheer and it won’t be too tricky to get to the start. Plus, it’s a city I know very well with lots of landmarks I’ll recognise and can look forward too. That will keep it interesting. It’s road and flat which will make it easier. Exciting!
Yes, you’re right about the time target. In those cases, I daren’t even look at the distance!
I’m another fan of Hal Higdon’s plans and use the HM3 for my HM training. I love the way they factor in the cross training.
That’s such exciting news about you signing up for a marathon! We’re all right behind you and will be looking forward to reading all about your training and updates 🙂 🍿 Woo hoo 🥳
That looks like a great HM plan! I love cross training and I alway end up taking a run off so I can go to Zumba. It’s nice he has that (well, I’m not sure exactly that!) in mind!!!
Thanks so much for the support. This board is such a lovely place! ❤️❤️❤️
Haha IP! I round up too, but nowadays mostly only on runs that matter. PR matters, for example, as do runs that count on Garmin or Strava - like 10k for a 10k challenge. I was very relieved indeed that my watch registered 21.21km yesterday. I’d have had BIG TROUBLE rounding that up if it was short!
I ran the Bristol 10k in May and was seen trotting round Millennium Square to bag the extra 0.2k or whatever it was! Bonkers. 😅 I’m not so worried about little training runs however …. see how flexible I am? 😅
I think you've got it right Munks. Round up for the biggies but not for the training ones. Then again, a few races are over but it’s hard to round down 🤣
This was a question on Strava a couple of years back. At the time I was just training for London and I wouldn’t dream of not rounding up. These days though, I just can’t be bothered 😅 How times and attitudes change! Once I have got that Strava/Garmin badge out of the way rounding up really doesn't bother me.
Meanwhile I’m back at work and have the post marathon blues. I have my medal draped over my screen for medal Monday and I’m trying to show some enthusiasm but it’s just not there. Katnap and I did sign up for Chicago last night though so that is taking the edge of things a little. Now we have to work to pay for it, that reminds us of why we do both 🤣
That's so exciting. I want to run Chicago one day so I will look forward to getting all your tips. Are you using an international marathon tour company to book?
Yes, Sports Tours again. They took us to Berlin. We probably wouldn’t have got our bibs without them being able to find out what to do if we couldn’t get to the Expo. At least we’ll speak the same language in the US.
It is IP, needed something to perk me up. Not enjoying work at the moment and the blues would have been much worse if we didn’t have this lined up.
In the meantime, I just went for a run last night. Ended up with just over an hour, pootling around town. In fact I ran past Katnap in the car as he was stuck in a jam trying to get to the track! Surprisingly tired today though, guess I’ve got some recovering to do yet.
I am in the rounding up club too Irishprincess , and my friends (and husband) think I’m totally batty. This is especially so if a race or parkrun is meant to be 5k or 10k, I won’t stop my watch until I go slightly over. I always prefer a route that is over rather than under. Also when my Garmin downloads to Strava I have to do 0.1km more, otherwise the download is short.
I am now trying to wean myself off going to the nearest km, after doing an intervals session which includes warm ups and cool downs, but it’s very hard to stop at a random distance.
I should be running a long run today but we had a busy weekend with running a tourist parkrun at Fleet (alarm at 6am) and family partying in Knebworth. So despite it looking perfect conditions I have restricted myself to the physio exercises which seem never ending.
There seem to be a number of us Dexy! I think it was at the running club I started to question why I did it because all the leaders stopped at odd distances and it didn't seem to bother them. But then it must be hard to find a route for a group that is exactly a certain distance.
Anyway, I’ll probably still continue to round up when I can and try not to be bothered when I can’t 🙂
Enjoy your long run when you do it 🤗 It’s foul here today already, dark and wet so I hope you have better weather.
I used to be a rounder-upper but now I don’t care 🤷♀️ Except for in a race. eg the Monsal springs to mind where I was running up and down, and round about after the finish, to record the accurate HM distance on my watch 🙂
Now a HM race would be a bother! I can totally understand why you would run again to make up the distance. My last HM race was a bit over so that wasn’t at all stressful 🤣
Still marathon training here and it’s getting serious now. I ran the 26.6 km NRC app run with Coach Bennett on Saturday. I ended up running just over 27 k on my watch. I was worn out well before the finish despite eating my snacks and drinking Tailwind 😤
Oh well, another one ticked off 🙂 It was a grand day so can’t complain too much 😀
I’m seeing the hospital physio next Monday. Still doing the exercises 🙂
I did the run but it was awful and I wanted out, but kept going. I still had to reach home so I convinced myself to plod on 🙄My ankle held up well. It was my energy that deserted me 😤
The exercises are clearly working! You did really well to continue if it was awful 💪
Some runs feel worse than others. My legs felt like lead after about 2K on a run last week and had no idea why. 2K!!! Thank goodness I didn't have to do a long one.
You’ll be fine for your marathon. You always are 🏃♀️
First things first; I am having a mild sulk! Today is long run day; everybody knows that. The weather was perfect and my legs were willing… but no….despite all of the booby traps I have planted to keep stuff clear of my Monday run time, jobs crept in. First job Molly, early walk/ comfort break before delivering her to the groomers (why do they even open on Mondays?); Second, gardeners/ tree loppers arrived and needed to be organised (all day job!); third, lawyers to instruct on a project I have on the bubble, fourth phone goes, Molly ready for collection. (Walk and cafe trip thrown in as a reward for not eating the groomer!) and finally dental appointments, and food shopping! Now almost 6pm, darkness is falling. It is scheduled to rain tomorrow; even then I have Covid and Flu jabs booked around midday, so a wet long run tomorrow afternoon looks like my best chance…grrrrrrr!!
Ok, that feels better 🙂.
I used to be a serial rounder up, but advancing beyond 10k takes you into mile measurements, and I don’t switch my Garmin data from kilometres to miles. So the numbers are all over the place. I have got used to it.
I do have one rule (breached only if I have an injury) and that is that I finish any run I start. If it says 10 miles on the plan, that is what I do. I would definitely do the trip around the car park thing if my watch showed a shorter distance than the one advertised for an event! Running makes you that way 🙂
This is the place to sulk too BC, we all do it from time to time 🙂
That’s a busy Monday! No wonder you didn't find time to run. But then again, just look at all the jobs you completed and don’t have to worry about them today. You can have a lovely stress-free long run. Bliss 😍
After 10 miles I do talk in miles but they are still always full round numbers. My HM plans have a few runs at 16.1K but I always do 16K. Maybe I should venture into new territory and do the extra from now on 🤔🤣
Thanks IP; I hope to do exactly that. I found a link on safari that says exercise immediately after a covid jab is good…there are probably others which say the opposite, but I am not going to look for them 👍
I looked at my weather app and it said it was raining all day so I headed out, got drenched and then the rain stopped and the sun came out for about 10 minutes!
Yup, I have done the sucksessfuk run! Just a few short looseners now before GSR a week on Sunday I think. No need for another long run. I have done a HM (PB) a 20k and a couple of 10 milers plus one 15k since the beginning of September; maybe that is a lot for an old geezer 😉
Those runs are from the Marathon plan. This week would have had a 25k long run….but that is too much in advance of the GSR and, I am beginning to think, too much full stop. Time will tell.
Yes. Some of the shorter runs in the previous two weeks were longer than earlier in the plan I think, so the 25k plus two short runs this week probably didn’t stray too much beyond the 10% rule. Next week is shorter, then I think it hits 30k! Lots of stretches done today. My eyes are on the GSR.
Nice 6k today, easy-ish pace, stride length spot on; back to normal. Full warm up and post run stretches; crisis averted hopefully. Beautiful sunny day, but still at or below 10 degrees with a nip in the air. Molly’s walk next; she is keen to show off her hairdo !!🙂
Another rounder-upper here! 🙋♀️ If I go out for a 5 or 10, then it has to be 5 or 10! Although oddly, if I go out for a 5 and decide mid run to go further, I often find myself just stopping my watch when I get to a certain point, without caring! Go figure!🤷♀️ It’s as if a bonus distance trumps my need to round! 🤣
Oh and on race day - no need to round up or run on…stopping and getting my medal is all that matters!😀
I used to try and round up but I only occasionally do it now. My scientist runner friend also explained to me that the gps has an error margin at the best of times so no matter what you think you did, it’s never exact. 🙂
I'm going to do two more weeks in the boot. Still a little tender with weight bearing without. Hoping that I might dip my toes in some short runs in Nov which would be 8 weeks post. We shall see...
Well, I managed to run; in fact the rain stopped and the sun came out. A beautiful setting. Unfortunately, the only adjective I can find for the run is…..horrible. It is years since I had a run as bad as that. My legs seemed to have been replaced by two pokers! It felt wrong right from the start; no rhythm, and I could tell that my stride length was down. I struggled on for about 9 miles, and then thought about the GSR and decided that the long walk of shame homeward was the only sensible course. No rounding up or down, just a sluggish 14.34k. Average heart rate was fine, Cadence was fine, but my stride length was .86m instead of .95m. I knew it as I was running, but I could do nothing about it. So, why? I did some strength training before I started, but didn’t do my normal pre run stretches; it was a case of out of the door and start running! I refuse to blame the flu and covid jabs; too easy a cop out! Stretches tonight! Better it happened today than at the GSR I guess 😖
You know we all have runs that don't go well, and don't write off the flu and COVID jabs completely, they can make a negative difference for several days. Here's hoping the next run will be awesome 😁
Thank you Sue. I am just a bit cross with myself;I should know better 🙄. As you say, there may be a number of explanations. The answer is to get in some good short runs between now and GSR…..and prepare properly for them this time. Awesome would be great 😉
I may have been known to round up ... 😍The classic was when I ran the Virtual London Marathon. Torrential rain on the day meant we amended the end of our planned route, and it came up short. The last 500m or so left us running backwards and forwards past our finish line party ... not what you feel like after 42k running in the rain 😍.
Just a few days to my half marathon now. I made it to Canada and I'm pretty sure I'll make it to the start line; my leg is not great and the run will be assisted by painkillers. It may not be wise, but I've come this far and don't see me missing out just to be sensible. A clear case of 'do as I say, not as I do'!!!
It did look bonkers because the girl I ran with was doing the same thing ... only I'd sent her ahead at the end so we were both randomly running back and forward, not even side by side 😍I too think Theresa high chance I'll finish, but we could run a sweepstake on how long I'll be on the IC afterwards 🙈
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