My Last Run

1717718720722723927

Comments

  • 10K was OK but not great. I ran it in 55:48 which is two minutes slower than the same race in January. I was aiming to run it at HM pace but only managed that for a mile and then started to slow. Legs had nothing more to give. I don't think this year's Autumn HMs will be as strong as last, somehow.
  • 13 miles easy today. Didn't feel too bad considering I ran a 10K yesterday. As I pulled up I saw a young dad jogging with his toddler on his shoulders. "That looks hard," I said. He agreed. But fair play to him.
    It was a beautiful day.
  • JT141JT141 ✭✭✭
    Good 10k Cal. Jan is a much more forgiving month than Aug for running. Another 20min treadmill run at the gym yesterday - 12min at increasing incline and 8min at pace. Not a big treadmill fan but a useful bit of variation at the moment. Not ideal for running form and my balance gets a bit weird at speed, but still...
    8.7miles in under 1hr7. Pretty comfortable. Lot of people about. There had been a 10k Run For Life this morning so still some milling about from that. The next 10 days are not my own so will have to fit in runs (escape) as and when.
  • Good luck with that, JT.
    An easy 5 miles to start the week. Legs felt OK but I was pretty fatigued overall. I did 40 miles last week which is my highest mileage since Manchester, so not surprised, really.
  • Well done on your 10k Cal.  Good mileage for the week.  

    Hope you can enjoy the escape sessions in the next few days JT.

    18km for me yesterday in 1:43:30.  Mildly undulating course around the local fields and woods.  Need to work on my pace control for flatter running as my splits were pretty inconsistent on the non-undulating bits.  Cooler conditions than recent weeks with a brisk breeze although when the sun came out I suffered instant hot.  Very few people around for a Sunday afternoon - just a couple of families out cycling. 
  • Nessie73Nessie73 ✭✭✭
    Hello all
    I've been rather undercover- super busy ATM. Mum and stepdad moved into the granny flat finally on the weekend. It's just as well I'm off work as I can't remember being this busy in recent years..

    I've managed a few runs in the last week but nothing to write home about. Trying to find the time to increase the mileage a bit so I'm fit for autumn halfs (Pleshey, Grand Union and am a pacer at the Race for Life one at lee Valley).  I managed around 7 miles on Sunday and a little further this morning.  Am hoping to get in a 9 miler later in the week, as mum has an appointment I can work around
  • I must be tired, Nessie, as I read that you'd been a super busy undercover cashpoint machine.
    :lol:
    I felt crap yesterday (tired, listeless, cranky knee) so took the hint and made it a rest day. Did a sort of progression run today, but didn't quite manage to keep the progression into the last mile, which was 2 second slower than the one before. I was breathing hard, too. I think I'm just tired and will need to taper aggressively before Maidenhead. It isn't my target race but I'd still like to do a sub-2 - however, not sure it's possible based on my recent form. I couldn't manage sub-2 pace for a 10K, so a half marathon seems a bit of a stretch at this point.
  • Hi MLRers, from Split. Haven't yet managed a holiday run as a) too busy snorkeling and eating gelato b) 38C here and not dipping much below 35C even at night! Keep up the good work all :) 
    I run, therefore I am.
  • Thanks for the messages, it's been a long road to recovery and the mental side of things was quite a battle at times but currently I'm incredibly positive! I did my equivalent of an LSR on Sunday of seven miles which was tough but not too bad and yesterday had rather an odd run of five miles. I initially went out at a fairly quick pace for the first 5k but then deliberately slowed down considerably for the remainder although when I got home and checked the time it was my fastest five mile run since January of 2016 which seemed hard to believe as it really hadn't seemed anywhere near that fast, plus it was a completely regressive run in that the pace slowed with each mile!

    Will get out for a 5k tomorrow probably but I want to be careful not to push too hard or too far until I'm ready for it, after so long on the sidelines I don't want to get injured again!
  • Enjoy your holiday Will! 

    Good news Matt. 

    Don't stress yourself too much with your times Cal.  If I remember you have 4 HMs coming up so target on the later ones for PB attempts. 

    Well done for getting out for your runs Nessie. 

    I started my autumn marathon training this week (Frankfurt on 29.10).  This week is not too heavy which is good as I am theoretically still recovering from my 47km. 

    Did some core work on Monday and was rewarded with a set of achy hamstrings on both legs.  I took it gently on my usual Tuesday evening outing and plodded around with two of the slower members.  We had a nice chat about DNFing - which happened to both of them in a mountain race last weekend - they were understandably a bit disappointed but are both very experienced runners and know when to bail out. 

    Got absolutely soaked yesterday for the first time in a long time on a 10km outing.  Had planned to muck around with the pace a bit - the plan was to do 2.5km sections at different paces.   The heavens opened at around 5.5km so the remaining 4,5 almost turned into a tempo run as I started to get cold due to the wind gusts.  Another runner came in the opposite direction looking equally soggy.    

    London didn't look much fun yesterday evening.  Been watching quite a bit this week.  
  • swittleswittle ✭✭✭
    So, most of us are keeping pretty busy in spite of the holiday season - such a variety of distances, terrain and purposes.  Truly, running allows for broad differentiation.

    Cal, L knee here is making an exhibition of itself, restricting distances.

      Feels like shin splints, easily fixed of course unless the drongo who owns it runs every day!  :/  Glorious seaside conditions today, dogs ranging from friendly to 'Death Wish' and 45 minutes of trail, beach & path, with one comedy spreadeagle fall onto grass.  No-one saw and I stopped my watch before I hit the ground.  ;)

    Sensible, PM, very sensible - I'm sure your plans will pay off.

    Hazel, full marks for forward planning.  I wonder what runners talk about when out together or in a group?  I've run solo for 4 years and I don't think I miss convo.
  • Will, I almost don't envy you holidaying in that heat. It's been pleasantly stuck around 20-22 degrees here. Perfect.
    Hazelnut, it absolutely chucked it down here on Wednesday. I was glad I got my run in before the heavens opened. It was almost Biblical.
    swittle, your run descriptions always make me smile. Good job you fell on grass, eh? Also, I can't understand how people can chat while they run. I always find it hard to talk when running, even at an easy pace. I'd rather save my lungs for breathing.
    Just yoga yesterday, and 6 easy today.
  • Hazelnut, love your commitment - always inspiring, especially when I think of the 'hill's you run up.

    Likewise Cal and Swittle - running here, there and everywhere :) 

    Moved on to Dubrovnik today. Still very hot and very very busy. Nice old town and all that but swarming with hot and bothered people. However, I have managed a run! Needed to get my legs moving and test the conditions, so did a very sweaty 2.5 miles up and down our bus route and enjoyed it a lot. It was dusk but still 31C so I didn't want to push my luck and dehydrate too much. Will probs extend it tomorrow evening...unless I'm eating goulash and gelato again.
    I run, therefore I am.
  • I peed down the walls of Dubrovnik when I was 6. I was on a tour with my parents and couldn't wait, so my dad held me out while I did what I needed to.
    That aside, I have nice memories of the holiday there, even though it was a long, long time ago now. (It was Yugoslavia back then, of course - and it wasn't King's Landing back then either so I'd imagine there are a lot more tourists now).

    My usual unbrilliant parkrun today - 27:35 or thereabouts (had to stand at the start for a while as it's crowded, and the first corner was very slow). Very warm and muggy too. I averaged HM pace, which felt quite tough. It seems a long time ago that I could bang out sub 8:30 miles. :(
  • swittleswittle ✭✭✭
    Will, I support your robust approach to pre-event fuelling!  Heat needs a careful approach.

    Pleasantly warm with a cooling breeze on the coast around 11am.  Troublesome knee less so but a conservative 30 minutes was fine,

    Cal: doing what needs to be done is rarely wrong!  Have you a less rammed parkrun nearby?


  • JT141JT141 ✭✭✭
    I remember as a kid walking beneath the walls of Dubrovnik, and getting showered in piss...
    Have been out to eat a lot the last few days, and finishing off everyone's left overs (I resent leaving paid for food on the plate). Feel fat. Nevertheless, a quick 6.2miles in 44mins yesterday evening. Bunch of people doing sprints on a nearby long bridge that straddles the rail lines.
    Aerobic gym session today including a run on the treadmill - 12min at incline, 8min at pace.
    Nextdoors cat is gradually moving itself in to our house - the neighbour's away a lot. It's asleep on a cushion behind me and I've started buying cat food. I'm not sure why.
  • swittle - problem with south London is that it's easy to go north, but a pain in the bum to go east or west. I don't have a car or bike (actually I can't even ride a bike - as a kid I was what is now termed dyspraxic so I never learned) so the next nearest is a 45 minute jog, and thereafter it's a walk, train journey (with a change) and then another walk for most of the others. The easiest would be Finsbury Park which is in north London and that'd be a half hour tube journey with a change, but the park is near the station. When I've got a parkrun 10 minutes up the road, I just can't be arsed. However, my club is trying to get one going on Clapham Common, which is a mile or so away, so if that bears fruit I'll be trying it out for sure.
    One the plus side, I discovered I was first in my age category today, so that cheered me up slightly.
    JT - :lol: I took a dump in the Great Gateway of Rhodes when I was 5 - hope you didn't step in it.
  • JT141JT141 ✭✭✭
    edited August 2017
    I remember passing through the Great Gateway of Rhodes as a kid. Whole place stank of shit. Just terrible. I was retching. That's why next year we went to Croatia instead...
    This should be a new feature - iconic places MLRs have crapped or pissed on. Albeit mainly Cal.
  • Plenty of places as a child...Yorkshire moors, a wadi in Tunisia...and the unfortunate time I vomited on a bus following Star Wars, where I'd had too much Kia Ora and then got motion sickness during the Death Star bombing sequence. Fortunately I've been continent as an adult. No Paula-type problems on runs or anything.
  • Beautiful day today, so despite only having 5 hours sleep after the excitement of last night's athletics (poor Bolt - bet he wishes he'd retired after Rio now) which left me too wired to go to sleep at the usual time, I dragged myself out for a 15 mile run at 6:30am.
    Nice and fresh, as predicted, with a perfect blue sky. The lowness of the sun did mess with me a bit, as the confusing chiaroscuro resulted in a few odd steps due to the ground being higher or lower than I expected. Dropped a big F bomb the last time this happened, right in front of a bunch of dog walkers. Oh well.
    I felt pretty tired and heavy legged at the start and didn't really feel good until I got to 12 miles. I opted to gun my last mile, simply because I was curious as to what I had left in the tank, and did that in under 9:30. Most of the miles were in the 10:30s or 10:40s with a couple of 11s where the ground underfoot got a bit rooty. Not keen to turn my ankle with four HMs approaching.
  • Great effort there, Cal. I'm sure your preparation will pay off in your HMs.

    I have managed to stay more or less continent here in Dubrovnik, although I did slip in what appeared to be an old puddle of pee at the foot of the old walls this morning! I think there may have been an accident had I gone up in the cable car with the rest of my gang earlier, but I stayed on terra firma and watched some lovely Alpine Swifts.

    Ate more modestly today, ie fuelled up extensively on protein-rich local cheese and cured sausage. So managed to get out for a pleasant and smooth feeling run amidst the sound of cicadas and the smells of olive trees, lavender and huge pizzas. Just over 3 miles in just over half an hour - my Croatian homage to Mo.
    I run, therefore I am.
  • JT141 said:
    This should be a new feature - iconic places MLRs have crapped or pissed on. Albeit mainly Cal.
    Hmm - not sure that Hunstanton (the scene of quite a few childhood holidays) counts as iconic.

    Regarding chatting out running - I work from home and my Tuesday outing is a good opportunity for some socializing.  Regular topics of conversation are - well - running, cows (two dairy farmers in the group), food (also two chefs), children (can't add to that one - not having any..),  errm - sometimes politics - I run off when they start on that.  I like it when it suddenly goes quiet when the hilly bits start. 

    Nice 15 miles Cal.

    Will - I have not long eaten lunch but I'm hungry again now after reading that. 

    Went to the in-laws for the weekend so had to do my long run on Saturday rather than Sunday.  20km in 1:46:30.   Put in a few faster kilometres - the legs are starting to get used to the idea of going faster again after weeks of steady plodding up and down hills.    
  • Will, sounds wonderful. Watch out for mozzies though! I remember my dad got bitten to hell and puffed up like a monster. Mum and I got bitten too but not nearly as dad. Guess Dad tasted better.

    Hazelnut, good run. I'm trying to persuade my legs to go faster, too. I did 7 miles with a 3 mile tempo in the middle at HM pace. The middle mile of this was slightly outside 2 hour pace but it was uphill (not a hill in your terms, Hazel...more of a slope...but it makes a difference) but the last fast mile was on target, so I'm happy with that.

    Still, I'm not on for a sub-2 at Maidenhead based on my recent 10K time, unless I can work miracles between now and then. It's not my target race, though, so if it happens, it happens, and if it doesn't, never mind, I'll have three more chances to do better.
  • Tuesday evening trot, 10.5km in a bit more than 1 hour.  Felt quite tired on the hilly bits. 

    Out again this lunchtime for 9km flat in  00:44:27.  Would have preferred to have waited a full 24 hours before that but I am on a tight schedule on Wednesday's as of immediately and can't run in the evening.  Also meant warm and humid conditions.  Struggled with that again today.    Passed a row of about 10 mobile loos placed at 100 metre intervals along a brook in the middle of nowhere.   Not sure what they are for - probably not for my convenience though I would take advantage if I need to.. 

    Have sorted out my race calender for the next couple of months.  Will probably do my last hill race for the year next Sunday and one HM mid October, two weeks prior to my marathon.   Not much but I should then be able to concentrate on the marathon training.   
  • Good job, Hazelnut, that's a decent pace. The hills must have made you strong.
    8 miles easy today, then a massage. Got a few niggles (aside from the hamstring - right knee and left foot) but my guy couldn't find anything seriously wrong, which is reassuring. He's an osteopath as well as a masseur so he's pretty good at the diagnostic stuff.
  • swittleswittle ✭✭✭
    *not* running related.  I happened upon a doco about the acid house/rave scene in the 80s/90s on Ch 4 last night - now listening to a DJ Alfredo mix.  Wouldn't have given it the time of day 30 years ago but I do seem to have mellowed.

    Last 2 day's outings have been graced with fewer twinges from my left peg - but the frequency of barking dogs is rising worryingly....
  • Croatia has a pleasantly low number of dogs and, as a result, little or no crap to stand in. I hear the party scene on Hvar island likes a bit of DJ Alfredo too!

    Good running Hazlenut and Cal. I will need to up my run rate a lot when the holiday is over as will have just 4 weeks to prep for next HM.

    I was up early this morn and had undoubtedly my most beautiful run ever. Plodded along the edge of Vis harbour as the sun came up, watching fish messing about in the clearest water I've ever seen. Then went up through the olive and lime groves into the hills. When the hill never stopped I headed back down and got a bit of pace on, finishing off at the bakery to pick up the bread and pastries. 3 miles at HP (Holiday Pace) and a big smile on me at the end. 
    I run, therefore I am.
  • swittleswittle ✭✭✭
    You're right, Will: the trance/acid/house phenomenon was Europe wide.

    Your route sounds sublime and I endorse early refuelling! 
  • Lovely weather but felt tired as downstairs neighbours chose last night to have a party. On a weeknight! Damned millenials!
    Went slow but had some discomfort from my inner ankle. Had this issue a little during marathon training but it seemed worse so I stopped after 5 miles. Still feels a bit tender. :(

  • swittleswittle ✭✭✭
    I hope that improves soon, Cal.  Best decision to pause it.
Sign In or Register to comment.