My Last Run

1718719721723724927

Comments

  • Yep, take it easy now Cal and enjoy the benefits later.

    A sunrise run this morning. Not even the cicadas were awake. Another 3 holiday miles, but kept on going up the hill to the old fort - well worth the pain as I worked the trail around the headland overlooking the shimmering Adriatic.

    Enjoyed the downhill return and got close up to some nice pink-tinged Hooded Crows. If I'm not mistaken, a Zitting Cisticola was 'zit-zitting' from the scrub in the olive grove. Pleased with submitting the hill and having now clocked 4, albeit short, holiday runs.
    I run, therefore I am.
  • I had to skip parkrun today despite it being perfect weather for it. I went out, ran a little bit and realised the discomfort hadn't gone away so I turned back. Made me a bit sad to see a few runners going to the parkrun when I was going home, but better safe than sorry.
  • Lovely holiday runs Will - I especially like the idea of holiday pace. :)  Croatia must be a nice place.  I can also much recommend Slovenia next door.  Not so good if you want a beach holiday but lots of outdoor stuff to do. 

    Good decision to not stress that ankle Cal.

    I met several dog walkers yesterday swittle - was very impressed how disciplined everyone was - either dog on lead or sit and stay while I went past. I always make an effort to say thanks however out of breath I might be.

    Bit of a crap run for me yesterday - another one of those 9km runs in which I was supposed to start out at 5:12min /km and build up to 4:45 min /km.  Not near that at the moment.  Overheated yet again and bailed out at 7.5km.  One to put behind me.  I either need to slow down if it is too warm or do morning runs. 

    Today 22km in 2 hours with 5km jog, 12km bit quicker and 5km jog to cool down.   Tried out a new route offering plenty of shade through green tunnels along a side arm of the river Aare but it is less suitable for speed work due to plenty of blind corners on fairly narrow tracks and the stony ground isn't suitable for lightweight road shoes.  I was expecting that and was wearing my trail shoes.  Saw a slow-worm.  Cycled to and from the start adding another 18km or so.  Felt better post run though fairly tired.  OH had more or less finished the cooking by the time I got home which I much appreciated - I did do the washing up though. ☺
  • JT141JT141 ✭✭✭
    15miles yesterday and quicker 12miles today so nice to get some distance done without feeling shattered.
  • swittleswittle ✭✭✭
    Making the most of new running locations adds to the holiday experience.  Ye, rest it up, Cal.  Sooner back that way.

    Hazel: I agree with being dog friendly. I do like dogs and often pause to greet a canine friend but there are some that detest me and the fact I'm running.

    A dodgy session's often followed by a better one - a a meal as a reward!

    My log tells me that today's 4-mile XC run brought up Day 600 of my present Streak.  

    This follows 9.3 miles of darkrun last night, much on the beach. Regular, gentle lapping of waves, avoiding them and looking for the source of torches by the sea & in the dunes made up my non-run activities.
  • JT141JT141 ✭✭✭
    8.1miles in 1hr02+ tonight. Drizzle and clammy. Had a brief but sickening energy drop at mile 3, which occasionally happens when I run after eating. Starting to get dark earlier. Fair few runners, some bats flapping about, and the sound of three house parties. Yesterday saw a bird of prey. It was picking at  some prey I guess on the ground when I disturbed it. Big thing but don't know what it was. Happy holidays everyone. Am back from my social duties and days away, thank heavens.
  • I've had three days of yoga (the strenuous kind) but did a fast two mile walk this morning followed by a few drills. Leg seems OK but I'm waiting to see how it reacts to the session before deciding whether I shoud try a run tomorrow. Signs look promising, though.
  • Nice streaking milestone swittle. 

    Good to hear you survived JT and nice pace.

    Hope things continue to improve Cal.

    Nessie must be very busy still - hope she is okay otherwise..

    For me:
    Monday - a pre-breakfast 5km.  I hadn't planned to do that but it was a lovely cool and crispy morning which I decided to make the most of.  Later around 40 minutes of strengthwork.  
    Yesterday - the usual trot with the group.  No-one was interested in pushing the pace which suited me fine.  Wonderful late summer evening - a bit warm at the beginning but it cooled down nicely.  Pretty sunset  - the lower clouds were already a sombre grey but the higher a mix of gold, pink and apricot.  Hadn't got a camera with me unfortunately.
  • Hazelnut - yes. I went for a test run today and ended up doing 6 miles. Warmed up a lot, went very slow to begin with. I was going to do 4 but then I started to enjoy the run and ended with the last mile at MP. My lower right leg didn't bother me - felt a slight whisper of something a couple of times, but to be honest my old hamstring and left heel were more noticeable. Although I was cross at the time, I'm glad I skipped parkrun on Saturday because I'd have probably ended up with a real injury.
    I'll be cautious for a bit but I think it'll be fine.
    Nessie will be preparing for the new term, no doubt.
  • Sounds good Cal. 

    10km for me late morning including 9km at around 4:47/km pace.   Was concerned that it was too soon after yesterday's outing but that was pretty gentle so my legs weren't too tired.  Warm already but I told myself to shut up and get on with it which worked better this time.  Effort pretty constant over the duration of the 9km.  Happy with that.  Cycled to the start and back home as an additional warm up / cool down and to save time.  Jogging it would have taken longer.  Nothing that interesting to look at - but at that pace I am not usually looking. 
  • swittleswittle ✭✭✭
    Thank you, Hazel.  My 3rd Streak is gathering some mass now - like me!
    Your session looks v well organised.

    Cal, you'll be right about Nessie.  It's GCSE results day tomorrow and we're expecting prolonged incoming.  :o
    Pleased to hear the injury's clearing up.

    The first 4-mile run for months that was pain free!  XC, beach and some traily stuff.  Close, humid, even at 0700.
  • Nice to hear you had a pain free run, swittle. I can't even remember the last time I had one of those.
    I guess that's quick, Hazelnut? Unfortunately my brain doesn't work in kms when it comes to pacing. I use minute miles for pacing even during 5 and 10ks.
    Lovely morning this morning - clear, sunny and fresh. Perfect for running. I hope it's like this next weekend, too.
    I did my 6.30am yoga class yesterday (that's 90 minutes of Vinyasa flow, so it's pretty knackering) so I didn't run and was keen to get out today.
    I found the cooler air gave me more energy and I did 7 miles, including a faster half mile during mile 6.
    The lower leg didn't give me any trouble but I did tape it just in case. I should be OK for Maidenhead, even if I'm not in particularly good form right now.
  • HazelnutCHHazelnutCH ✭✭✭
    edited August 2017
    Hope you have plenty more pain free runs swittle. 

    4:47 min/km translates to 7:41 min miles Cal.  For me quick at the moment but down on what I can do in theory.  I shouldn't expect too much too soon though as I have only really got back into speedwork in the last couple of weeks and that is training not racing.  I used to work in miles whilst living in the UK but have got into the habit of using kilometres over here.

    Lovely weather for running here this morning too.  It is currently cool in the mornings but hot in the afternoons - up to 30 - so I made an effort to get out at 08:15.  I am not normally a morning runner but after a cup of tea, a banana, an espresso  and a quick check on my mails for catastrophies at work I got out of the door for a 10 miler in 1:26:17.  Foggy to start with but the sun came out after about half an hour.  Enjoyed lots of dew covered spider's webs and lost count of the number of bright orange slugs wandering around - don't think I trod on any.  Did what I would call "easy" intervals switching my pace every 2 km from steady to quicker and back.     Good run.   Rest day tomorrow and hill race on Sunday - tough one at 14km with 1000 m +. 

    Edit: today's run brought my mileage  for 2017 up to 999.92 miles.  If I'd known that beforehand I would have added on the last little bit.. :D
  • That is quick (at least by my standards, given my time for a single mile is 7:52). And a good time for 10 miles too.
    I saw on Garmin that I'd logged 399.9 miles on my current pair of shoes. Not quite as annoying as your annual mileage, but still...
  • JT141JT141 ✭✭✭
    Hello. 20min treadmill run (incline then pace) yesterday. 15miles on the roads today. No "hair breadth away from a nice round figure" milestones that I'm aware of - though congruously [probably not a word] today's run averaged 7:52m/m. As did my last 15miler. My usual capacity for distance still evades me but it's progress. About mile 10 I was following and caught up with another runner who started chatting and we ran together a short stretch. In his 60s I think he said but a proper decades long marathon runner. Calves like a bag of coconuts. Weirdly that was at the centre of by far the two quickest miles, around 7:15m/m. Goes to show how much people running around you makes you unconsciously speed up. Maybe it's a surreptitious effort to get away and not have to be sociable. Saw a buzzard or something as well.
    Hope everyone hurting or injured is soothed and recovering.
  • All this talk of pace is giving me some anxiety, with my next HM only 4 weeks away. Back from Croatia and jogged down to my Parkrun in the British drizzle - almost needed a jumper!

    I knew the holiday would've taken its toll so didn't plan a record breaker. Good job as it was really tough going, with my lungs on fire. I'd thought of doing a slow 1st lap, medium 2nd and then push on the 3rd. By the time I got to lap 3 I had very little left and plodded over the finish on 27:17 (2 mins off my PB.) Still, I'm back on the horse and have a good plan for the next few weeks.

    Hope your preps continue to go well Cal + Hazlenut, and hope you keep on streaking, Swittle.
    I run, therefore I am.
  • Semi-successful parkrun today, in so far as nothing hurt too much (the only problem with the pesky lower leg was a mammoth insect bite I'd somehow acquired during the night - how I don't know!), pacing was pretty even and I was first in my age group. I used my watch but decided I wouldn't look at it until the end and just go by feel. I felt that I was going well but still managed to be over 27 minutes (27:21). I've only managed two under 27 this year, whereas last year I only did three that were over. Bit frustrating, really.
    I'm confident I can finish Maidenhead without too many issues but I'm not confident of doing it under two hours. I'd hoped that I could get under 1:55 this year, allowing for the fact that I reduced my HM time by 10 minutes in 2015 and a further 5 minutes last year. I thought two minutes would be a reasonable goal for improvement, but it seems I am getting slower. For the record, my 5K pace today was around what I did my PB half marathon in February, and I was breathing quite hard.
  • Good run today - my body actually got going a bit quicker so what was going to be 8 or 9 miles easy turned into 9 miles progression (well, 8 progression, plus a cool-down mile). Started at 10:55 and finished at 8:57 (pace, not time of day!), and felt pretty good overall and not too destroyed afterwards. Slight niggle in the bum as usual but not much else, though it could just be all my usual complaints were eclipsed by the horrendous itching from aforementioned bite on my leg. Argh!
  • JT141JT141 ✭✭✭
    Persevere Cal. This has been a difficult summer for running with fluctuating heat and so much moisture in the air. Regulating body temp is difficult and it just wears you out. I've been on anti-histamines all summer as well which isn't usual.
    Anyway 8.3miles yesterday. Warm day but windy. Felt like bining it at 3 miles but then got it together which is good.
  • I've just had to get anithistamines today for the damned insect bite. It's infected and the pharmacist said I couldn't have steroid cream as it was already oozing. Bleh. She recommended I go to the doctor, but I'm a real bloke when it comes to things like that so I'll see what it's like tomorrow.
  • To distract myself from the itching I pinch some skin somewhere else sharply between two nails - not enough to pierce the skin.  It helps me not to scratch too much.  We have installed nets on a few windows so we can leave them open at night but some mozzies sneak in anyway - maybe through the catflap?

    14.1km hill race in 1:46:40 this morning.  Slowest time for the course by 2 minutes, but enjoyed it and that is as important.  5km warm up with around 200 metres of climbing, then 7km of hard work on an up to 1/5 gradient to the highest point, hurtled 2km down the hill and up the last bit of uphill to the finish with a minor sprint against a woman half my age - I will call it a draw - we grinned and shook hands after crossing the line.  Didn't drink enough - left out a couple of the water stations and it was pretty humid. 
  • Hoped to get back into 'serious' training mode tonight. Had a weird run.

    Went out aiming to do 8 miles at 10:00mi. After only 2 miles, having found my breathing rhythm and pace at about 1.5, my legs started feeling like jelly and as if they were flapping about underneath me. Also, I started to feel really hungry. Normally I take a few jelly babies and/or gel, but had decided to go snack free tonight. Really struggled that 2-3 mile bit and had a rethink. Changed my route a bit and decided to head home via a short cut. Then, after about 4 miles, I began to feel back in form again and recovered a bit of pace. I ended up having a really nice last mile, striding out and hitting home at quite a lick! My splits were like a rollercoaster and I was ravenous at the end, but I managed 6 miles at 9:58 mi - so all is not lost!

    Even better, I took my boy to his Junior Parkrun this morning and he was presented with his Half Marathon wristband - WELL PROUD! Then he ran his 2nd best time :)
    I run, therefore I am.
  • Nessie73Nessie73 ✭✭✭
    edited August 2017
    Hello MLRers
    Sorry I've not been around at all really in the last 3 weeks since mum and stepdad moved in. Needless to say, it's been super busy and a huge adjustment for all of us, in particular me as the  main carer for them both. We've also had some additional family dramas, just to add to the mix.  I was back at work last week too, so god only knows how I'm going to juggle their considerable care needs with everything else, but will find a way.  
    In running news, I've been running when I can- fairly often but usually without any structure or purpose- and it is excellent stress relief, as ever.

    Last night we had a night off as my brother and his wife gave us respite, so we went off camping in Essex with the youngest, and I ran the Mersea island 10 mile race this morning. It was HOT and not at all flat.  I've always wanted to do this race as we've gone to Mersea often in recent years, and usually at Easter, where I've fond memories of doing marathon training 18-20 mile training runs around the island.  It  was well organised, scenic and friendly but not at all easy and I was glad to finish in around 1h 31 m. Although I averaged 8.3 m/m for the first 5 mile lap and 9.3 for the second :/
    I'll have to find some time to catch up with the MLR news- at some point

    Edit:
    Just reading back some recent posts and swittle, you were right about GCSEs.  My son got his results too on Thursday and I was super proud. School's never been easy for him but he got what he needed to do the level 3 BTEC in Business and has passed English and Maths- so no re-sit needed. He's coming to my college  :#
  • I shouldn't worry too much about Maidenhead Cal, in 2015 even during the warm up pre race I felt that it was going to be a tough job to get under two hours but ended up blitzing it in 1.51 which is still my pb over that distance.

    I'm making slow and steady progress recovering from a long lay off but had possibly my favourite run in a couple of years on Wednesday when I tried a trail run for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed all eleven miles of rolling up and down the South Downs! It took 2.45 to do eleven and a half miles but I was happy enough just to get the miles in. 

    I'm out for a short one this afternoon but that'll be back on the roads!
  • Well I don't know... I did a little recovery run today and my hip tightened up after three miles. This has happened before to the other hip so I know it's not a serious injury but, on top of the infected bug bite, the hamstring tendon and everything else it's a nuisance. That and (after a good day yesterday) I'm feeling rather under the weather. Not sure if it's a side effect of the infection or a summer cold, but certainly not what I need. I guess I'll have to take some more rest and hope it clears up by the weekend.
  • swittleswittle ✭✭✭
    Sorry to hear of the insect-initiated trials.  Apart from the annual visitation of flying ants, Crosby & Waterloo are not hot spots for bites.

    Gritty racing, Hazel - and good to get back in the room, Will on your run.  Nessie, hope the domestic arrangements settle soon.  I've a friend who lives close to Mersea Island - she races the 10 every year.  You'll be able to follow your son's progress at college.

    Good run for your confidence, Matt.

    Sunday night: 10.4 miles path, trail, prom & beach; one comedy fall - well, it was more of a lean over on a sloping bank - and not-so-mysterious lights up the prom, necessitating a detour.  If trouble's about, it'll take advantage of the night.  Knee is rather pants atm but I recovered this eve with 3 miles over the coastal park.


  • Your 10 miles on a dodgy knee sounds alright, Swittle. Nice run and lean/fall. 

    Great hill-running PMatt. That too sounds like a really nice trail and a great boost post-injury.

    Hang in there, Cal. Hope the clear up. Great work as usual, Hazlenut and ace sprint finish! Hope all is settling down well for you, Nessie.

    I got out on the trail today, in prep for my trail HM on 24th Sept. I hadn't realised said trail had grown into a Triffid route over tha last few weeks. Nettles 4 foot high stung the crap out of me and the riverside reeds were over 7ft, hiding a fallen tree that I almost broke my neck on. Anyway, I managed to find the lake eventually and my new trail shoes held up well. Felt a lot better form-wise and lungs starting to remember what they're designed for, so I ended up doing just under 10 miles in 1hr 39mins - more than I had planned and a satisfying pace.

    Fleeting views of a Cetti's Warbler and a beautiful 20lb carp being unhooked were the natural highlights.

    In other news, I've just finished fermenting my first batch of kefir milk. The Croatians swear by it and they're even making it on The Archers! May just be the answer to the old GI issues.
    I run, therefore I am.
  • Some nice trail runs going on. Will - my skin started crawling at the mere thought of the triffids - my parents watched the 1981 series on BBC when I was a kid - I was terrified of them.  

    Good to hear from you Nessie and well done on the 10 mile race.  

    Hope you are feeling better Cal.

    The ususal Tuesday trot yesterday with my group - worked quite hard on the initial flatish 5km trying to keep up with our youngest member (around 19 if I remember right)  who was unusually chatty but once the hills started he zoomed off ahead with little obvious effort.  Lovely evening, probably one of the last - will be dusting off the reflective vest soon. We had a quick postrun drink (just a small shandy..) outside the pub next to our meeting point :p

    Today flat 9,8km in 48:13.  Ran late morning again - wise decision as it is currently 31 degrees outside.  Could have done with a bit longer between runs but no time to run this evening.  Hard work with 5km with splits below 4:43 / km and 4 others with < 5:00 / km.   Rest day tomorrow but I am looking forward to an autumn run on Friday - pouring rain and max. 15 degrees forecasted.   
  • JT141JT141 ✭✭✭
    8.1miles in 58:30 yesterday. Not quite in the realms of tempo pace but not far off. On a long, clear, wide stretch of road the single car I met buzzed close and blasted his horn. Okay there is a pavement, but still. My fuse is short running at pace and I didn't react constructively. Anyway, the swearing and adrenaline fueled me for a bit.
    In sympathetic news I too have been bitten on the leg by an insect beastie. Bought some hydrocortisone cream today.
  • Nessie73Nessie73 ✭✭✭
    Great running MLRers, and sympathy to those being stung.  Some decent distances here and some good nature spots Will.
    I'm doing a SwimRun event on Saturday. It's a relatively new type of event and my first. A total of 8km run and 4.5km swim divided up into around 8 bits. You do it in a pair and whatever you start with, you finish with. So a wetsuit to run in, and shoes to swim in.  It is slightly mental really.
    My friend and I did a practice run tonight at the lake- 3 mini runs of around a mile each, and 3 mini swims of varying distances. The last whilst wearing shoes. It was a hoot! Now we need to figure out how to stop wetting ourselves laughing on the big day...
    I shall report back  :D
Sign In or Register to comment.