My Last Run

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  • I led our improvers group at the club last night which was just the ticket with my achy legs.  Then today it was a slightly quicker 4 miles in my lunch break. Legs still not great but getting there
  • So my first post on here. After tweaking my groin nearly 3 months ago now only just getting going again. Still feeling sore but a very satisfactory 29m 5k, legs aching but so excited about getti g back out there. 

    Lovely evening run as well, nothing but me and my thoughts. Bliss
  • Nessie, creditable effort, a time on which to build.

    Will, that sounds like a darkrun I'd enjoy.  :)   Where's your festive HM?

     JT, can't answer the pheasant query but Tweet of the Day on Radio 4 with Dermot O'Leary has been enjoyable this week.

    Thanks, Hazel.  Chilly running!  I've had various left leg issues for over 24 years after a rugby injury - borrowed time!  

    Greetings to lilly61 - good to hear you're logging kms again.   :)

    Me: rather too many aches & pains when I got up today, so I went for a cautious 3 miles off road, only to be ambused by the dog who detests me.  Owner & I tried choccy doggy tears but with no success.  :(
  • Well, I'm on a 3 day streak, although I'll probably rest tomorrow. Last night I did some hill efforts round the terraces in Norwich. Jogged down and then pushed as hard as I could back up and onto the next street. 10 of these 200m slopes and found it quite good fun, except having to sprint past the best chip shop in Norfolk.

    Up and out early this morning for 10 miles mainly on the lake and river trails. Beautiful morning, very sticky mud, and some good bird spots to spur me on. Kingfisher, Kestrel, GS Woodpecker and a lovely flock of Fieldfare on the rugby pitch. Back home in time to make breakfast and then been tending the allotment with my boy this avo.
    I run, therefore I am.
  • JT141JT141 ✭✭✭
    edited November 2017
    Hello Lilly.
    There's a hill in Norwich?
    15+miles in 1hr52:30. I busked the route a bit not going where I'd planned for no particular reason. Wore a hat - my hair's getting a bit thick and unruly. Ground to a halt behind a family who took up a path blocking me, cyclists, pedestrians, dogs, gease without the remotest guilt at their space filling prickishness. I get grumpy once the distance is into double figures.
  • Hi Lilly.

    Nice bird spotting and hill work Will.

    Maybe you need a mini fog horn in your pocket JT to startle them out of your way next time.   

    15km yesterday for me - exploring paths in the local woods.  Several times a nice broad track dwindled into nothing leaving me standing in the brambles.   Nice outing though - good not to think much about how far and how fast.  
  • Darkrun of 10 miles last night, taking in all of the beach.  Got spooked by the taller Iron Men  :o  One night, some wag will dress up as one and scare the bejayzus out of me!

    3 miles recovery at 7am this a.m.  Friendly lurcher reported missing by my college colleague - I explained that the dog often keeps his own pace - rather like me....
  • JT141JT141 ✭✭✭
    9.25miles in the damp. Lots of squats and stuff at gym yesterday so legs tired. All a bit laboured. Neighbours' cat is sat on me.
  • Nice to hear your furry friend is back JT.  Good excuse not to get up and do something...

    Hmm - would they not rather have to dress down and add a bit of brown paint swittle?  They aren't wearing very much... ;) 

    Just had a look at some pictures: Has this one fallen over yet ?  http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/man-down-storm-aileen-blown-13613280.

    Standard Tuesday outing yesterday evening for me i.e. 10.3 km in around 1 hour.  Topic of the day at the front of the group - baking bread.   Five of us out which is a good number at the moment.  Nice cool evening with plenty of stars to look at once we were away from the street lights.

    Another 8.25km this lunchtime.   
  • I'll often see people posing for pictures next to an Iron Man.  In the dark, it's a different proposition: when watching my feet, the 650kg statues can come up on me rather swiftly!  And it wouldn't matter what the imposter was wearing!  

    Yes, it was leaning at a crazy angle.  An engineering issue, I suspect.
  • No cats or Iron Men round here, but I continue to find escaped baby stick insects, no matter how secure I try to make their terrarium.

    An enforced 3 day break for me due to having too much work to do. Oh for a life of leisure...

    Got out tonight for a nice push at 6 miles, in 56 mins. A few of the San Francisco style hills which abound in Norwich and rather gusty winds to contend with, so happy with that. A couple more decent runs and then tapering for my Festive Half next week.
    I run, therefore I am.
  • I've not been around much. Yet more family problems... will catch up soon
    Like the laid back Iron Man
    I've been running a little- mainly just easy / short runs. 4 miles progression today, 6 miles easy with the club last night
  • Hope things look up soon, Nessie.
    Just a little loosener tonight. 3 and a half miles round the block. Outpaced a spliff wielding young man, who seemed rather irate about something or other. Then beat a way too old skateboarder up the hill. Rock on.
    I run, therefore I am.
  • Hey, Nessie, I hope the issues are soon resolved.  Use running as therapy - discuss.

    Will, you iconoclast, you!  The weed head may have been reflecting on past glories. ;)

    Quite soggy underfoot by the Marina during my 4-miler this morning.
  • Thanks both.  swittle- running (and swimming) are my only therapy, and they do work. Usually on my own, to clear my head of it all. Swimming is particularly powerful for this.  But also I am very fortunate to have a small but amazing group of women who I run with and who I run with once or twice a week, and we all agree that there is something magic about running that helps us to open up .  I think I have deeper conversations with these women than anyone else....
    Life is incredibly difficult ATM with enormous juggling of work, kids and care for my parents.  Way busier even than the days when I had newborns (because then I didn't have to go to work or do much else...) Something is going to have to give soon. My stepbrother also died quite suddenly last Saturday and, whilst I am not very close to him, he was (in theory) sharing the care of my mum and stepdad. And because my stepdad lives with us, of course he is absolutely devastated, especially as a pretty frail 80 year old..

    Anyway, this was not intended as a sob story.. My point was that the running helps, it is time out from everything. Talking of which, it was 6 miles this morning

  • Yes, you don't have to talk when running with others - and that's fine - but to have like-minded people around you focused on getting fit[ter] is most reassuring.

    Far from being a sob story, many people find the jigsaw of modern life has too many pieces, each clamouring for your attention.

    I'm never so calm and settled as when I'm running.  I hope that works for you too, Nessie.
  • Very well put swittle. 

    Sorry to hear that Nessie.  It great that running works so well as a stress reliever for some.  I have to be careful that it doesn't add to it as I sometimes take it too seriously.  I have other escape routes though.

    Hope Cal's silence means she is taking a good rest and not that things are worse. 

    Fourteen km this evening with 6km tempo in the middle.  Left it a bit late and didn't take my headtorch with me.  I know the route well though so no chance of getting lost.  My senses of smell, hearing and touch went into overdrive to compensate not seeing much,  I always like the mini changes in temperatue depending on what you are running next to.
  • Running certainly is good for the soul and the chaos of modern day life. 

    A bit of a family gathering at a cottage right on the beach in North Norfolk, so I took advantage and had a lovely 8 miles of clifftop trail in the crisp sunshine. Not much wind either so was  able to relax and watch the odd Turnstone and distant Gannet. Then flew a kite and helped my boy make a sand toilet - much more fun than a castle :)
    I run, therefore I am.
  • Wishing you well Nessie. I hope things improve soon x

    I also haven't been around much either. November was always going to be pretty manic. Husband us manic at work and has had some overnight trips. And due to a mis-communication with friends we ended up getting two sets of tickets to see The Killers on their UK tour . On top of that I also won tickets to see them film a tv show in London! 

    I have, however, squeezed a little bit of running in inbetween my rendezvous with Mr Brandon Flowers. Last week I joined the 100 parkrun club!

    This week I will do better.

  • Sounds like a nice outing Will.

    Well done on your 100th parkrun Andrea.  100 more than I have done.. ;)

    Undulating 21 and a bit km for me in 1:58 this afternoon.  Tried to stick to a constant pace so had to work hard up the hills and slow down down them again and on the flat bits.  Played around with the watch beforehand for it to beep at me to slow down or speed up appropriately so I didn't have to check too often.

    Coldish at around 2 degrees with snow showers and the odd burst of sunshine, the homemade soup afterwards was perfect.  :p

    Bird watch: 3 storks - was wondering if they are still around but it looks like they will stay for the winter then, a jay, a buzzard and several of those corbids. 

    Peoplewatch: very few for Sunday afternoon. 
  • London Marathon training according to the magazine is supposed to start in January, however feeling super motivated I started training at the start of October for next years London Marathon so am at the halfway mark for training this week.

    My last run was yesterday, ran 10.2 miles which consisted of 30 minute run/5 min walk x3 so 1hr 45 total.

    To date it was my longest ever run, very cold morning too, few steep inclines but overall body felt super efficient, even at the end I did an extra 2 mins just to get me to the 10 mile mark, I could of carried on but chose to obey the training schedule.

    Yesterday surprised me ...I feel generally that I seem to run a lot better after about an hour ...yesterday for the first time I used SIS Gels (after 1st 30mins and after 2nd 30mins), felt very hydrated and the brain was in a great place obviously sending good signals to the legs. I had previously used some gels from Sports Direct which didn't seem to do anything, these SIS seemed to work great ...does anyone else have any opinion on SIS gels ?

    Because I had such a good experience yesterday I was quick to note that I had eaten Spaghetti and Meatballs the night before, woke up went straight out with no breakfast except a small cup of black coffee. Think I've worked out the battle is in the head, if the brain is fuelled correctly then the legs are happy and anything is possible. Yesterday I was in such a good place I feel I could of run considerably further, I didn't feel tired and out of breath at all.

    When I think 4 months ago I gave up smoking 30 a day, even I sometimes have to pinch myself how far I have come.

    Yesterday gave me so much confidence that I can really do this ...I targeted a finish time of 4 hours but think now it may be possible in 3.5 hrs and with nearly 6 months training time to go maybe better. I've even entered the Edinburgh Marathon at the end of May 2018 as I don't want running to fade away after London

    I know I need running in my life, the routine and discipline that comes with it has given my own sense of wellbeing and confidence a major boost ...the sense of achievement from exercise is the best drug on the planet, absolutely buzzin' with running right now !
  • Creative beach running, Will.  

    100 parkruns is worth a big cheer, Andrea :D .  Hope life settles soon.

    A demanding session, that, Hazel.  No watch is going dictate pace to me - I have so little!   ;)

    choice 71, great to read of the fringe benefits of running - and you're ahead of the curve for VLM as far as I can see.

    Me: 10 miles darkrun last night, mostly beach & trail.  Almost crashed tripping over a concrete ledge at the coastguard station.  Last 4 miles graced by God's no charge shower.   ;)

    3 miles of recovery around Vic Pk at 7am.
  • Had a big day yesterday after a couple of quiet weeks, did my second longest run ever and ticked a few boxes a long the way. Despite the nip in the air I went to Staunton Country Park in Havant for a lovely little event of around 150 runners, it was a 4.6 mile trail but you were free to run as many loops as you wanted in the six hour time limit and I managed six laps making it around 28 miles in total. So that's my first 'lap' race completed, my first trail marathon completed and I'm now just one away from hitting double figures for the number of marathons I've completed. It was a learning curve though and I under estimated the difficulty of a trail marathon versus a road marathon, especially given the hills involved! I got through it largely unscathed however, although I paid the local doctor's surgery a visit to take a look at a big blister on the side of my foot but they said it's nothing to worry about.

    It wasn't easy by any means but I'm glad I did it. Back to training later this week, next marathon in three weeks but at least that one is mostly on the road!
  • Well done Matt on a new distance PB and your first trail marathon +. 

    Welcome to choice71.  You are doing great - build it up nice and slowly - you have got plenty of time.

    swittle, it was just something I was trying out - still got tired legs today so I won't be doing that on long runs too often ;)

    I ignored anything my watch was telling me about pace yesterday during yesterday's 6km recovery run and ran it just as I felt like at an easy effort.  Just caught the last red glow of the sunset.  
  • Hi choice71, nice to read your story. Your running sounds great to me already! 

    Matt, that trail marathon sounds brutal. Well done I am in awe!

    I did a slow 3 mile jog yesterday morning, then this morning I dId a 10k speed work out. Basically run the first 5k at a moderate pace and then try and get the second 5k at least a minute faster without a break in between.

    The first 5k was 26:58 & the second was 24:53, even better, the last 3 miles were 8:15, 8:01 & the last one the quickest at 7:46. The 0.2 miles were 7:55. 

    Really feels like my speed is coming back. I still haven't been back under 24 mins for the parkrun since August. Crazy to think this time last year was my first time under 23 minutes. Just got to keep telling myield it will come back.

  • Thanks Andrea but if it sounded brutal it's only because I made it that way by my poor preparation, there was an 18 year old lad who ran on the same trail and did the same distance but an hour and a half quicker than me finishing over three miles ahead of anyone else-and it was his first ever marathon!!! Puts me to shame for sure. :)
  • 10.5km group trot yesterday evening.  3 of us out on the run, 10 turned up to the pub afterwards :D

    Cold, windy, wet (on the run, not in the pub), the sort of conditions when it is good that it is dark so you can't see how nasty it is or you might be tempted to stay at home on the sofa drinking tea.  We put in a couple of walking breaks up the hills as we two regulars were joined by an irregular guest who is not as fit.  I could have pushed on but had the only decent headtorch so I decided to stick with the other two and I wasn't fussed by the slower pace anyway. 

    Good talk in the pub afterwards: 12 are now booked up for the Medoc marathon (not including me) and a couple of other non-running outings are also planned for the first couple of months of 2018. 
  • Hello all! Welcome to Choice :)
    No running from me in the last few days as I had a 24hr bug and am tapering anyway, for Saturday's half.
    I am looking for a spot of advice though. Looking ahead to the Spring, there are 2 Halfs I really want to do. One is local, in Norfolk, and the other is on the Thames path with my brother in law. Only problem is they are only 2 weeks apart. Would this be pushing it for me, as a fairly inexperienced plodder? I'm not looking to break any records but don't want to crock myself. What do you think?
    I run, therefore I am.
  • It's beginning to look a lot like a Streak.

    700 days today.
  • Helluva Streak, Swittle!  B)
    I run, therefore I am.
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