My Last Run

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  • Nessie73Nessie73 ✭✭✭
    Oh no swittle! What b******s :-( Are you with a union?
    Cal, I was out just before 6 this morning and the aim was for an interval session but it was so slow and sweltering.  I've got a 5k tomorrow evening in the extremely exposed Olympic Park. Forecast 32 degrees. Oh joy  :#
  • HazelnutCHHazelnutCH ✭✭✭
    Grrr to spam...

    Good running to all getting out despite the conditions. 

    Did my standard Tuesday trot with my group yesterday evening of 10.4 km in around 1 hour.  Was in two minds all day whether to go or not but it wasn't as bad as I was anticipating despite around 30 degrees.  Cycled to the meeting point to get used to the heat (rather than getting out of a nice cool car into a furnace).  We kept the pace down to a comfortable talking speed and splashed around in all water sources on route.  Everybody had a red face by the end of it but no-one was in particular distress.  Sat dripping outside the local pub for a quick drink afterwards - just a small shandy ;-).

    Nessie good luck for your 5km nonetheless.  I'm not looking forward to a hill race on Sunday - 12km and 800m +.  It starts at 09:30 but that will be hot enough. 
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    I don't envy you that, Nessie. :sweat:
    I got out at 6:10 today for a cheeky 10K run. It was around 18 degrees then so warm but not awful. The intention was that it be easy pace but I ended up going a little quicker. First two miles were 10:37 and pace crept up thereafter for an average of 10:21. A few tight spots here and there in addition to the hamstring, but I have run three days on the trot now.
    I saw a guy running in sleeves and a hat. Nutter!
  • jtcedjtced ✭✭✭
    Got a sneaky 14K in last night before dinner.  Lots of uphill bits, good practice.  Pace wasn't too shabby either.  Very sweaty.  Will do a 10K tonight as part of my mini taper ahead of Fridays race (a local race, the Black Rock 5, in which you set out in the village, run out across the sandbanks at low tide, around the eponymous Black Rock (doubtless with water up to my calves or deeper) and then make your way back.  Great fun, large field of 1000+ runners (considering the distance of ~7K) and a good chance to catch up with a few pals who are also taking part....
  • swittleswittle ✭✭✭
    Well, I am in a union, Nessie but I'm informed that challenges are best made to deviating from procedure.  Not great value for my subs.  :(

    Have been offered FT hours in Sep., mostly in teacher ed but some academic guidance sessions for FD and BA top up students.

    They've not seen me off yet!

    Very warm 4-milers before 7am and a slight back spasm for variety.

    Well done, all of you.  :)
  • JT141JT141 ✭✭✭
    Hello. Since last post the Achilles' tendon damage is slowly fixing and have torn my eye - which, unable to wear lenses, lead to me trip up running and taking a chunk of surface from my knee. Ever disrupted running. Have been struggling clocking up longer runs. So, Sunday 10.5miles in the heat and last two days a couple of 12milers. Not as hot here as elsewhere. Still burnt my shoulders though. Been alright but the pace is right down, probably a good thing. Had a baby pheasant jump out at me and go scrabbling along the path for a bit before it figured out flying. It must be nice to discover you can do that. Some really overgrown bits to deal with, at one point unrunnable and had to wade army style with my hands above my head. My legs are a mess from nettle stings. Disturbed a load of baby birds secreted in the undergrowth. No idea what they were. Probably not chickens. Hopefully from here on I can get back to normal.
  • swittleswittle ✭✭✭
    Sorry to read you've been in the wars, JT.  Pace coming back slowly should ensure you maintain the vertical.  :)  You should approach the BBC and ask whether you could record a 'Tweet Of The Day'.
    Wherever your 'normal' is, I hope you're heading there.
  • Nessie73Nessie73 ✭✭✭
    Really great to hear from you JT and swittle. JT, an evocative description of the plucky young pheasant.
    Swittle, I've been increasingly interested in teacher ed.. sounds a bit more positive?
    Sweaty runs from Hazel and Cal
    My 5k was, as expected, absolutely horrible. We made it 34 degrees, I guess exacerbated by lack of shade and the tarmac that reflected the heat.  I got around, and I did not die. Cannot say much fairer than that
  • HazelnutCHHazelnutCH ✭✭✭
    Nice to see JT back.  

    Well done for surviving your 5km Nessie. 

    For the first time in a long time I aborted a run this morning.  I had planned to do a 10 miler and got out of the door at 7:15.  Struggled to get up to 6min/km pace, felt like I was running at 5km race speed. Was in a bad mood as I didn't sleep well and I am not generally a morning runner.  It felt like it was getting hotter by the minute and the humidity was awful.  So I said fxxx it after around 4km and walked home.   Might try to go out again after sunset this evening.  I generally don't let myself abort a run but I felt awful and just couldn't do it.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    JT - ow about the eye, how the hell did you do that? It sounds painful! Glad you're getting some runs in again.
    swittle - good news about the FT hours (assuming that's what you wanted!)
    Nessie, glad you didn't die. Marathon des Sables next, then? :grin:
    My flat reached 30.5 degrees by late afternoon yesterday, which was enough to send me to a warm Vinyasa flow class for some light relief. I don't normally like to exercise in the evening, but since playing my latest PC game was out of the question, I thought I might as well do something constructive. (The PC hasn't actually complained about the heat and will happily run in 30 degrees, but the graphics card generates a lot of heat in this weather so it's like sitting next to a radiator and makes my room even hotter).
    Anyway, I had a rubbish night's sleep and felt a bit crap this morning but, as my room was still 29 when I woke, I decided to go out anyway to give it a chance to cool down a bit more. (It was down to 26.8 when I got back, but then I made toast and it went back up to 27).
    Since my legs were shot, I opted for Fartlek Plus, which is a mixture of running (mostly jogging although I throw in some sprints and faster stuff) and bodyweight exercises using benches, railings, logs and playground equipment around the common. Less of the sprints today, due to fatigue and grouchy hamstring, but I covered four miles in a bit over an hour. The common was still kiddie free so I managed to get into both playgrounds and got to use the ropes course and monkey bars. I am crap at monkey bars, by the way. :blush:
  • Nessie73Nessie73 ✭✭✭
    Your fartlek plus sounds like fun Cal! 
    Hazel- I know the feeling! I love heat if I can do nothing but swim and drink cold drinks, but hate running / working in it.
    It was a lot cooler this afternoon at 26 degrees so I did a rather rubbish progression run of just over 4 miles. All I could fit in between leaving work / getting to the childminder, and I shall have to miss my long run tomorrow due to family duties.
  • HazelnutCHHazelnutCH ✭✭✭
    I should try doing that as well Cal - I am very lazy on core work. 

    Good time management as ever Nessie. 

    Have fun at Black Rock 5 jtced if you should read this in time.  It looks like a fun race.

    I had a second attempt at my 10 miler yesterday evening and completed it this time.  Probably one of my slowest times but I don't care - I wasn't out on a tempo run anyway.  Probably around 30 degrees when I set out but the relative humidity felt much better.  Took my hydration rucksack with me but chucked it in a bush whilst doing a couple of loops of a local circuit in the wood.  Wildlife watch: 3 deer and 4 other joggers..  Also observed a couple of parties BBQing but there was nothing interesting cooking yet as I ambled past so no real reason to stop and look hungry. 
  • Well, 3 planned runs this week never happened, due to the small people of the house being unable to get to sleep in the heatwave until 10pm+. Day off today so dropped them and then got out for 6 miles at 9:32mi. Not so hot today, but still challenging conditions and again I was surprised at how much a week without running affects my fitness levels. I suppose at an ancient 42 years old the body doesn't store the stamina like it used to! Added a couple of laps of the university lake to the road bits and the soundtrack was superb: Sedge Warblers, Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs bursting with song. Juvenile Great Crested Grebes and a bunch of fledgling Great Tits were nice to see too (I am a birdnerd as well as a runner).

    Glad to see everyone is getting plenty of miles/Ks in, despite the weather. Time I got serious with my training now, after a slack month. Two half marathons looming and I want to do well.
    I run, therefore I am.
  • HazelnutCHHazelnutCH ✭✭✭
    Hmm so I am even more ancient at 43 Will ? :p

    5km jog today, felt quite spritely for the first time in days despite the high humidity.  Had almost forgotten what clouds look like.  Birdwatch for Will: starlings, skylark, grey heron, buzzard and pigeon of some sort or other.  I'm not a birdnerd but my brother is.  He is quite happy to rush all over the UK and spend hours pointing bins / scope at a bush for a rareity.  I keep half an eye open out running but am not into sorting out the various breeds... I stick to crow, pigeon, gull and duck :D

    Race tomorrow am. 12km / 800m + hill race.  Not the easiest I know mentally, there are around 4km of continous steep ramp on forestry roads - I have never managed to run all of that and have to take walking breaks.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Christ, well I'm 50, so what does that make me?

    A disappointing attempt at parkrun today, which ended with me stopping after two laps. I had a poor night's sleep again (I fall alseep just fine, but I wake up too early. It afflicts me more in the summer due to the light and warmth) and felt tired and listless, but given that I had managed a good run the other day whilst feeling equally listless, I thought I might perk up once I got there. I did not. The first mile was OK - slower than I'm capable of but still alright, but the second was slower and felt harder. I realised I just didn't want to continue, so I went and sat by the pond and watched some fornicating ducks for a bit.
    I hope I bounce back. My 10 miler's in 3 weeks and I need to get back on form. Argh!

  • swittleswittle ✭✭✭
    Any advance on 50?  Ye, I can add 14 years to that!   ;)
  • Loving reading about all your runs (well maybe not in the heat earlier this week!). Walking is still not great so I am rather jealous and feeling very sluggish. I'm experimenting not doing my stretches and other exercises for a couple of days, they haven't helped so I'm wondering if they are actually aggravating things.
  • JT141JT141 ✭✭✭
    edited June 2017
    15.1miles in 1hr57 today. Went okay and nice to be stretching the miles out. No pace in my legs at the moment, but need to rebuild long run endurance anyway so not fretting about it. As with everyone else here June has been tough - the step change to hotter more humid conditions has a real impact on the body. Anyways, lots of people out on bikes, a hairy man hula hooping on his own (no surprise) and a menagerie of dead animals. Rabbits, rats, pigeons, a hedgehog, and a mole flat on it's back in default surrender pose. No dirty ducks though. I'm not telling you how old I am. It is upsetting. I hope recovery comes along quickly LilTortoise. I've reduced myself to walking with a stick through injury on a couple of occasions and I know it's no fun.
  • Hazlent, Cal and Swittle - you're making me feel young, cheers! ;)

    Actually, I suppose I am still getting used to listening to my (slowly) aging body. I was very sporty and active as a lad, until a bad back injury curtailed my football dreams when I was 18. I then spent twenty odd years with most leisure activities being based around the pub. Then I started running, when a change of lifestyle was defo required, and I am now a Nutri-bullet swilling, foam rolling, vest wearing tee-totaller. I never do things by halves, but am so enjoying this new obsession. Feeling great, but have to remember I'm not a 16 year old any more!

    Some great running going on and glad I'm not the only one who enjoys observing a bit of greenery and fauna when I'm clocking the miles. Ear-buds are certainly not for me. Solitude and twittering is much preferred.

    An early one this morning, which included 4 laps of the university lake, with hardly a soul about. I still find morning runs testing, as most of my running is in the evenings, but I did a nice steady 8 miles at 9:52mi and had a bit of oomph left in the old legs at the end. Pairs of Green Woodpeckers and Common Terns, Whitethroats, a baby Song Thrush and a squadron of raucous Mistle Thrushes were an absolute delight. Happy running, folks!
    I run, therefore I am.
  • Nessie73Nessie73 ✭✭✭
    I managed to fit in 3 ish miles on Friday morning before duty called. Then 4 miles fartlek yesterday, which was pretty rubbish.  And a rather hung over 3 miles again today.  Better than nothing I guess
  • Q W233Q W233 ✭✭✭
    10k in 56:49 on 2% incline on the treadmill on Friday
    Interval session yesterday: 6.45km of essentially jogging slowly for 3 or 2 mins then going at 80% for 2 or 1 mins. Very tiring with uphill bits but I definitely prefer outdoors to treadmill (despite being able to watch Netflix on it)

    Once again reached a stage where I'm struggling to get my runs in around football. I think my recovery generally is pretty good but due to the amount I do I end up doing the runs then performing much worse than I would if fresh at ball :-( 
  • HazelnutCHHazelnutCH ✭✭✭
    12 km hill race in 01:30:08 for me yesterday.  Going out for a meal the evening before probably wasn't the best preparation though I didn't eat or drink too much nor go to bed that late.  

    The first 3 km went badly - legs like jelly, difficulty coping with the humidity, watching everyone around me overtake although I had set off gently.   Decided to keep going and treat it as a training run instead and actually managed to post my second fastest time for the course.  Probably because for once I had something left in the tank for the later stages of the race.   I also did a good job of concentrating on myself instead of being frustrated about being overtaken.

    Actually enjoyed the last 2 km as I had a good fight with another woman, who I had been slowly reeling in after about 8km, then kept exchanging places with and finally beat by 2 seconds.  We had a nice chat afterwards.

    Finisher goody - a running rucksack.

    No wildlife to report - I was so far back in the pack (352 finishers overall) that it had all been scared off by the time I got there..
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Will, I'm with you on the earbuds. I like to hear the birds (even if that's mostly the squawks of the local parakeet population). Besides, being in London, I need to hear what's going on around me if I want to avoid being mown down by an over zealous commuter cyclist.
    Well done on the hill race, Hazelnut - always good to have a bit of competition for movitation.
    I realised yesterday that I actually wasn't very well. Slight summer cold. But I felt a bit better today and managed the 10 mile run I'd been promising myself for over a week. Easy pace (last two miles were MP though - breakfast was calling) and I got better as the run went on.
    I still have a lot of speed to find over the next three weeks. Not sure how, but we'll see.
  • jtcedjtced ✭✭✭
    Friday was Black Rock 5.  Intended to take it easy, but ended up running it at a faster pace anyway.  Had a great time, sore glutes didn't spoil the day, came in in 36m 14s, which, although slow by the standards of the proper runners, pleased me hugely for this 7K road/sand/water/sand/road race.  Beers and wine afterwards :)

    Saturday was rest, but yesterday I did a 19 miler.  Ran out of fluids at 13 miles (as I hadn't mixed enough) so struggled the last 3 or 4 miles, but averaged about 10 minute miles over that distance which is okay considering there was a bit of walking, it was warm, and about 40% of the run was over sandy, uneven dune tracks.  Bit sore today, mainly in the toes, as although front-to-back movement wasn't a problem with my shoes, the rutted path meant a few side-slides which caught me out.  Memorable moments include running around 200m across WW2 anti-tank concrete cubes, which was a bit like a real-life platform game :smile:

    Resting today, maybe do an easy 10k on Tuesday evening....
  • JT141JT141 ✭✭✭
    10.7miles on/off-road mix in bit under 1hr22. Took a few miles to get going but found a comfortable quicker rhythm eventually. Nice and sunny. Don't like carrying water but necessary. Feels like I'm starting to acclimatise to summer though.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Nice running, jtced. Good time for that race. I'd be worried about running across those anti-tank cubes, personally - I am pretty clumsy and would fear for my ankles!
    JT, I dislike carrying water too. My bottle belt has a nasty habit of rotating around my waist unless I cinch it really tight, so I only use it when I have to (marathon long runs, for instance). Did my 10 yesterday without water but I was pretty thirsty by the end.

    4 miles today. A really weird run. Poor night's sleep due to various factors so felt rubbish when I woke up and decided to wait a few hours. Ended up going out at 10. The intention was to do 4 easy, but it felt like the last four miles of a marathon. When I checked my splits I saw the last two miles had been a lot faster than I thought (10:19 and 10:14 - 10:15 is average MP for me) which is odd because it felt as though I was going a lot slower. Eh, well.
  • swittleswittle ✭✭✭
    Good hill racing, Hazel.  Inclines seem to be in fashion here!  Will, you make a good point about using running resources sparingly.  Apart from a knee injury 27 years ago - which is currently bugging me - I've had the best part of 30 years in the sport.

    Heavy rain was turning the coastal park rather squelchy his morning but it didn't deter a giddy Spaniel from trying to catch ducks in the boating lake!  4 soggy miles, mostly trail & prom.
  • Good effort, Hazlenut! Glad you enjoyed the run and had a nice neck and neck finish to remember it by. You'll have to push towards the front next time to get a better look at the birds ;) 
    It's school report writing season, with a tight deadline to meet this week - boring! Shall have to try and a fit a run or two in, once I stop procrastinating!
    I run, therefore I am.
  • 30 years, Swittle,and still going! Impressive. Luckily my back injury has been my only serious one and I've been no problems since I started running, except the odd sore knee and black toe nail. I do take care of myself though, as am aware that prevention is much better than cure.
    I run, therefore I am.
  • swittleswittle ✭✭✭
    Thank you, Will.  I've been very fortunate and Streaks of 1315 and 1645 days in the past 10 years are testament to that.  I may be moving into overuse territory in my present 540+ day sequence.   :o
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