Weekly Chat: March 17-23 Dreaming of Spring and Summer 🌞

[Beachcomber66]

Keep it quiet, but I think that the weather is starting to pick up a bit. 9C here this morning, in contrast to Saturday’s 1C start. I don’t know what Mrs BC and I were pondering as we looked out over the Isles of Scilly last year, but it is a fair bet that, for some of the time, I was thinking about my next run along undulating lanes and eminently runnable hills! Just an old romantic 🫢

We have had some great races this weekend with  cheekychipmunks and  Krissie completing dream runs, and the April race spreadsheet is starting to fill up already, in addition to our HU run starting on 27 April (plug!). So, the stage is set for running year 2025 to finally kick into top gear (cue torrential rain!).

15k for me today, legs willing. This is the next phase of the build up to my first 26.2k attempt as part of the Spring HU. The NRC Marathon Plan has gone into an odd phase; last week’s long run was 10 miles, today 15k, next week 20k 🤷‍♂️. I guess that I just have to trust the plan, although it was probably designed for athletes! No matter, I will just have to give it my best shot and find some true Yorkshire grit 👍. I am not going to get into “can I ? can’t I? mode on this.  Krissie ‘s marathon has inspired me. 70+ is no longer an excuse!

So, how are you and how is your running going? We love to hear how you are getting on and read about your plans. Any insights into running beyond HM would be particularly interesting to me, but this is your weekly chat, so just join in and spill the beans. Even I have been checking out local races although it is still early season up here. I have made a start by running a few Park Runs (did I mention my PB last Saturday? 🙄). Getting used to running with others again is definitely a start; my last race was in October 2022! Must get out more!

Whatever you are doing this week, I hope you find space for your runs and start to feel that anticipation of warmer days and epic runs. Exciting times just around the corner.🙂

From your team;  Irishprincess  linda9389 and me 🙂

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To tell us about any remaining March events:

healthunlocked.com/marathon...

For April events go here:

healthunlocked.com/marathon...

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon]

Ohhhh what I’d do for some warmer weather Beachcomber66 🥰 Thanks for the HM shoutout - a great event yesterday and the weather was perfect for us runners. Soooooo cold walking back to the train though, even with a thick jacket. 🥶🥶🥶

That’s a lovely photo of you and Mrs BC. Are you going back this year too? There’s something so special about finding somewhere you love to return to year after year (Brittany for Mr Cheeky and I ❤️ 🇫🇷)

I love the runs there too. Can’t wait. 👏👏👏

I’m definitely not in PB form currently, and haven’t been for seemingly years. I was so impressed with your PB at PR. What a speedster. 💥

I’ll let my legs recover for a few days after their star effort yesterday, then bimble around again before the ramp up to 26.2km (oh crikey what have we agreed to!!?? 😳) in April. Yikes. 😂

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to cheekychipmunks]

🙂 The things we do for friends Cheeky!

We are all booked up (again!) for the Isles of Scilly this summer. The photograph was taken by one of Jill’s closest friends who now lives in Australia. He comes to see his mother every other year and drops into see us on Scilly on his way up to see her in the North East. I say “on the way”; there are train and either aeroplane or ferry journeys involved for him. He is a Consultant Psychiatrist….. he probably detected the reflective moment 🙂. Scilly was the scene of many holidays with the kids.

My 15k went ok this morning; I was running a fraction under 10 mile pb time, but I stuck with CB’s instructions and stopped at 15. 20k next Monday 🙂. We are committed to giving 26.2 a good try now, so we will just have to give it our best and see what happens!

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

Well done, Coach B knows his stuff. I took him with me yesterday and heeded his wise words. It wouldn’t feel right running a long run without him.

After yesterday I feel more confident about the MM now. If I can grind out an ill-prepared HM including inclines, I sure as heck can stretch it to 26.2km if I pick an appropriate route - most likely Weston Prom early in the morning before it gets busy. Gosh, the lure of a MM badge is powerful isn’t it? 😅

Bet you can’t wait for your IoS trip. We have 2 weeks in Brittany booked for the end of June/beginning of July. I can almost taste the freshly caught fish. 😋😋😋😋

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to cheekychipmunks]

I couldn’t have managed the Bath Half with the build up you had cheeky. You have super powers! My route for 22.6 will be a trail; just hoping that we have a nice dry settled period between now and the end of April, although my Cascadias are dealing with the claggy bits really well.

I am, having thought about it, confident that I can make the distance, but I want to run it all. I never do run walk despite the fact that it is a very sensible option. In my brain a run is just that; stubborn old duffer 🙂

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

You and me both BC. I have this ridiculous notion that a run needs to be just that. No walking allowed or I get cross and (for me) it doesn’t count! I sometimes wish I could give myself a break and adopt Jeff as a buddy sometimes, but no, it’s not going to happen! 😅

So we can do this can’t we? We know linda9389 can (and has), so us stubborn mules can do the same. 👊

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to cheekychipmunks]

We will give it our best shot, that is for sure 🙂👊.

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

You bet! 👊

[IRunning Half Marathon]

I don’t know who it was that recommended the NRC plans for my HM training but I can’t thank them enough. It sometimes didn’t seem to follow a logical path but it made me a better runner generally and got me where I needed to go. Was fun too…..most of the time.

[IRunning Half Marathon in reply to IRunning]

8k this morning pretty difficult as I was in unfamiliar surroundings in St Ives, a bit stop start and some killer hills but keeps petrol in the tank. I’ll try and get in another 5k in before we head back Wednesday but I’ll actually be glad to pick up the distances in more usual routes. Have a good week all.

St Ives lighthouse

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to IRunning]

We like St Ives! Lovely fish restaurants. The last time we were there we found that the Coastguard was from North Yorkshire; we got a guided tour of the station. Really for the younger surfing crowd these days I think.

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to IRunning]

I used the NRC HM app for my April HM last year, but later changed to the marathon app when I discovered that it was linked into the Nike Training Club; lots of exercises and yoga later, out popped an Autumn 13 minute improvement on my HM PB. There are some strange twists in the plans, but I am confident that CB knows what he is doing.

[RunWillie Marathon]

Hi Beachcomber66 & other VRB's,

Another horrible day in Western Australia. I did 9 miles today as my long run. So good to be back building up my long run. I think you've got to get your hydration & fueling sorted if you're going beyond HM. Practice, Practice you can train your gut. It will be important to sort out hydration as it gets hotter. Salt tabs + Water work best for me in the heat with gels. I find drinking my fuel makes me too thirsty but it's hot here. I now fuel if I'm going over 10k.

Happy week everyone! ❤️

Today's run

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to RunWillie]

Hi RW. 🙂 that looks beautiful. I hope that you are settled in to your new home now. Packing and unpacking gets in the way of running!

I take 500 ml of tailwind( not the caffeinated variety) and a tube of Bloks on longer runs. I take my first drink and eat my first Blok at 5k and then every 5k until I finish. 500 ml will not be enough for 26.2k. I have a second 500ml bottle that I can use, but that could become fiddly. The press stud fasteners take a bit of fastening when you have your eyes on the trail! I tried something solid on an early HM. It came from the running shop; a brownie size salted caramel flavour square with lots of seeds. It was delicious, but it didn’t agree with my stomach! I have ordered some new shorts (most of mine are too big now!) so will discuss the issue with the owner. She does Ultras, like the 268 mile Spine Run, so she must have her hydration/ refuelling sorted. Have a good week 🙂.

[RunWillie Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

Thanks Beachcomber66 you too

I've considered fuelling like an ultra runner as I'm out there so long but the risk of 💩on the road puts me off 🤣

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to RunWillie]

😂 …something else to think about!

[Krissie Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

You are so right Beachcomber. Fuelling and nutrition gets so important as you run longer distances. Like you I take on carb loaded fuel every 5km. Up to now I have used Sis gels or jelly babies but it that got too much when I was running a marathon. The sweetness seemed to be making me extra thirsty. I shall investigate Bloks as I have never heard of them and talking to the guys at my local running shop is a good idea. I also use electrolytes in water but I am going to move over to a bladder as my water bottle doesn’t have the capacity and bruises my ribs on a longer run.

Another area to explore but so important to practice on training runs.

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Krissie]

20k next Monday, so that will test out my refuelling plans, especially if the weather warms up. I have coped with Bloks and Tailwind on HMs in the past; I just want to check out that they will be enough when I push on a bit further, rather than find out that they are not on the day! I use a flexible bottle which goes in a pouch fastened around my waist; it doesn’t get anywhere near my ribs. I can run with two 500 ml bottles, one near each hip to balance things up; but that is another issue….I really like to run light! I will be asking people to set up drinks stations along the route next 🙂

[RiceAndPeas Marathon]

Warmer weather? Yes please, that would be very nice! I have my feet up today and am taking it easy in preparation for the Hampton Court Palace Half Marathon on Sunday. I'm really looking forward to it!

BC, I found increasing run distance from HM to be all about the planning in terms of route, nutrition and hydration. I managed to get very lost the first time and ended up running up some very steep hills which sapped me so much I ended up catching a train home. I like to plan routes that will take me past shops or garages in case I run out of water or need to buy emergency jelly babies. You can definitely run further if you pace yourself and don't batter yourself by running too many hills. If that happens run/walk is your friend but a handy train station is your best friend! 😃

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to RiceAndPeas]

🙂 thanks Rice and Peas. I have my route planned sorted out; more or less . I live just a short walk away from the North Yorkshire Moors, so there is plenty of choice, albeit much of it is very hilly.

There will be some long steady climbs in there, but nothing my legs have not encountered before. You do have to be careful out there. A couple of weeks ago we had to rescue a collapsed walker from about the furthest extreme of my planned run. Awkward to get an ambulance in there, but we managed to walk him to a suitable spot and used “what three words” to give the location to the emergency services. In really serious cases, they deploy an air ambulance. The main risk is getting caught out there without warm clothing. I may take an aluminium blanket, just in case. It is warm enough running at present, but the wind chill today was a bit savage. I am hoping that a glug of tail wind and a Blok jelly sweet every 5k will be enough. It works for HM, but I will check things out with the owner of the local running shop; she will have seen it all before. She runs silly distances! 26.2 feels like a bit of a challenge to me. She runs over 250 miles on ultra trails! I won’t be taking any silly risks, that’s for sure.

[Dexy5 10 Miles]

Hello BC, no long distance running for me last week, but I did enjoy an intervals run along the promenade. I haven’t done speed running for a while and it’s always nice to see distinct phases on the pace chart at the end.

I was a running marshal at parkrun on Saturday but aborted when I stopped for a fallen runner before my 1st km was up. So I ran RunWalkLocal with  UpTheStanley on Sunday . A chilly NE wind slowed me down in the 3rd and 4th km but happy with a 35 min 5k for UTS’s 1st run since his cataract op. He was discharged by the consultant today so can now get in training for monsal trail.

Your pic is lovely - whenever I go to a National Trust property I am assessing the grounds for running routes. 😂

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Dexy5]

Scilly is our haven. St Mary’s has hills which give you a good work out, but don’t require any walking. I did two weeks of C25k there back in 2018, including,I think, the “dreaded” week 5 run 3! In 2019 I ran some of the same routes for old time’s sake ….but quickly ran out of road!

Great that UTS has had the green light to start running again. We are watching the mail like hawks hoping for a letter from Mrs BC’s consultant to say that she can drive again. This has been chased through his secretary, our GP and the remote monitoring unit! Seems pretty easy to me; no issues detected for 12 months……away you go. Patience is certainly a virtue, but there comes a time when you have to take the gloves off…last resort though; much better to sort these things out amicably😇.

I have shelved the NRC speed runs for the moment. I am running 5ks at least as fast as I was running intervals/tempo runs, but without the rest periods. So no point in going back to them. Park Run, plus the longer recovery run and the real long run seems to be doing the trick. 15k today was good. 26.2k feels like a long way off!

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

Your running is on a real roll BC - the NRC approach clearly suits you well. After Lisbon. I've really enjoyed running this week and even went out a day early today! I've managed to change my Monsal Trail run from HM to 10k, so I've just booked a Premier Inn in Stafford for the journey up there, so I can sneak in a trip to the Isabel Trail parkrun. An 'I' is difficult where I live - not only is it in my name challenge, but it also takes me a step closer to completing the alphabet challenge. It's beginning to feel like a very efficient trip!!!

I have a plan in place to (hopefully) get me to 26.2k for April 27th. There's no specific pace required (I don't think there's any chance I could match my Chester MM time), so I'm keeping my short runs short, and not too focussed on pace. That will also keep my overall weekly mileage lower. With the issues I've had with my leg for the last 15 months, I don't want to tempt fate too much. So lower mileage, cut back weeks and plenty of targeted squash ball massages are on the menu. If I get to 26.2k without aggravating my leg, I will then have to decide whether to stop ... or to keep going and try to get to marathon distance again 🤔At the moment I think it's unlikely 😎

That's a lovely photo. I need to consider my 26.2k route as I will be in Canada again on 27th April ...

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to linda9389]

At least I don’t have to factor in bears, moose and coyotes!

Today’s pace was around my 10 mile PB pace. It wasn’t deliberate, just a product of following instructions. Big picture is that I am naturally running about 30 seconds/k faster across the board than I was at the beginning of 2024. VO2 max has gone up from 35 to 44….weight loss from the pre diabetes diet is the main influence there. Ill wind and all that. NTC app gets some of the credit too, alongside NRC and CB. This may be my Indian Summer, so I need to make the best of it.

Scilly is full of good memories 🙂

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

Me either hopefully!!!!

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to linda9389]

You want to be on a race roster, not the menu!

[Sandraj39 Half Marathon]

Agreed, lovely photo  Beachcomber66 !🙂

I’m as ready as I’ll ever be for my Chichester Harbour Trail 10 miler on Saturday. 🏃‍♀️ Yesterday I did 13k on the trails and felt good, at a decent pace (for me!🤣). I have already run the full distance a few weeks ago in training. Also, I have been including an intervals session most weeks just recently and I do think I am starting to see this pay off. Plan for Saturday will be ‘run to feel and enjoy the views’!

After that, I will decide whether to build up to HM distance again - we’ll see!🤷‍♀️

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Sandraj39]

Thanks Sandra. I think that 10 miles is a really nice distance; always have. HM plus seems to be on the other side of a threshold where things need to be taken much more seriously. That said, I did knock 13 minutes off my HM PB last year. It was all down to CB inspired technique changes; faster without increased effort! What is not to like about that.

You are all set for Chichester; have a really enjoyable day; the run will take care of itself.🙂

[Sandraj39 Half Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

Thank you BC. You are so right about HM needing just that bit more commitment! Well done on your PB last year - I am a long way off the sort of pace I would need to run at, to get a PB at this distance now!! 🤣

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Sandraj39]

Starting to run aged 66 makes achieving PBs a bit easier 🙂

[aliboo70 Half Marathon]

Beautiful picture there Beachcomber66 ! 🥰Good luck with your training, you can do it! 😊

Well I got my fastest parkrun since 2022 Saturday, 33.14! Everything just felt good!

Can't get to club tomorrow but might run back from work, we shall see ! Need to get training for needles HM!!

Home life still stressful so good distraction

Have a great week all VRBs xxx

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon]

Well done on that 33.14. Aliboo. I think that these 5ks help the longer runs(provided we don’t damage something by trying to go too quickly!). Trouble is, sometimes the legs just take over!

Hope your Needles build up goes well. Running is good for relieving tension isn’t it 🙂

[Sandie1961 Half Marathon]

Your training is going so well BC and, even better, you sound as though you are really enjoying it! Metric marathon, then it’s “just” 10 miles further to a Full Marathon 😈

After a really good February, March is so far very poor on the running front, as Mr S and I have been touring NE Spain in the Motorhome. I’ve only managed 1 x 5k run along the seafront (love a nice seafront 😍) at Peníscola in 2 weeks. We have walked 70km though and done a 35 km bike ride. I’m hoping to get out with my French running group on Friday if I can get Mr S to drive me there - I haven’t driven our new van and am too nervous to try it on French roads for the first time 😬

Happy running week everyone!

Seafront promenade at Peñíscola, Spain

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Sandie1961]

I wouldn’t even attempt to drive on busy roads abroad now; a motor home would be a real challenge. The long lumber roads in Canada were fine, but the cities?……no thanks! A tiny ferry between Sardinia and Bonifacio is another “challenge” I remember 😬. You are clearly having a great time; I am sure that Mr Sandie will be kind 🙂

[David_G Metric Marathon]

Hi Beachcomber66 and HU friends!

Having completed the London Winter Run in February, I’m now concentrating on my local 10K in May. It’s organised by my running club so I feel I ought to take part! I’m using the Garmin 10K plan with Coach Greg, which seems to fit in with my schedule (so far at least). I’m lucky that I decided to retire from work after a health scare nearly two years ago, as it gives me much more flexibility about when and where I run.

I’m looking forward to the clocks going forward at the end of the month. It means I’ll be able to go out with my running club friends without a head torch etc, which is always a sign that summer’s on its way!

Other than that, as some of you know, I’ve been travelling to and from various hospitals in London over the last year. I hope that my visit on Tuesday next week will give me an idea of what they’re planning to do with me and when.

I might have more news next week, so watch this space.

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to David_G]

Hi David. Hope your hospital trip goes well and they come up with a plan. Half the battle in my book; uncertainty really saps your energy. In the meantime, enjoy the runs you can do; they really keep me going too! 🙂