My Last Run

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  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Well done, Hazel! I think I need more hills in my life - you certainly seem to have benefitted from them.

    Good to hear you enjoyed your run, Will.

    Nessie, I've got a spare TomTom if you need a watch. I am used to Garmin so I prefer to use that. I've also got an old Forerunner 10, which I ditched because the battery was flakey (it's supposed to be 5 hours but it wasn't lasting anything close to that). Haven't charged it in a while but if you want something to tide you over, you're welcome to it.

    JT, I agree it's hard to run at a very easy pace. My easy pace is generally around 10:40ish, which is quicker than most pace guides would have me run. I only run slower than 11 if I'm really tired, really busted or going up a very steep hill.

    Speaking of which, did 6 (well, 10K really, since I was a bit short of my door when I hit 6 miles) which I was supposed to do easy but I sped up without thinking about it, so there was a 10:08 in there before I realised what I was doing and slowed myself down again for the last mile. I suppose this means my recovery is going well.
  • Nessie73Nessie73 ✭✭✭
    edited May 2018
    Thanks Cal for the offer. I've got an old Garmin in a drawer which still works, which I'm going to dig out soon if this one carries on losing data.  It's annoying cos my current one is only 2 years old, and it's a specialist tri one which also measuresOW swimming, a lot more accurately than some of the fitness trackers do..
    Nice running all and special mention to Hazel's race!
    Me- I did 14 miles easy yesterday morning and then 5 miles even easier this morning in beautiful, muggy Epping Forest. Unmentionable number of those crap mini flies both days. Yesterday's route took me through Walthamstow Wetlands on one of my fave runs, and there are lots of greylag geese there ATM, as well as the usual, feisty, Canada variety. Also egrets.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Sounds lovely, Nessie (apart from the flies). No greylags where I am, but I saw a load of them up in Manchester. And I'm heading up again next weekend because a bunch of us will be tootling over to Blackpool to ride the new coaster there.
    Incidentally, I've signed up for two Spring marathons already. Despite saying I wouldn't do Liverpool again, an old coaster mate of mine who has got into running has entered, so thought I would keep him company. Well, not actually, as I'm faster at marathons, but it'll be nice to see him as it's been a few years.
    But I have replaced Manchester with exotic Vienna. First foreign marathon. I got the idea to do it when me and my friend's trip to Prater Park was thwarted by snow in March, so it's a good excuse to go back and do those coasters. The marathon goes through the park too.

  • JT141JT141 ✭✭✭
    edited May 2018
    15.3miles today on/offroad in 1hr57. Warm sun in the afternoon but not oppressive. Took a wrong turn and ran down a dead end track into a field. Doubled back to a more familiar route. Doughnut tyre rings on a back lane, a few pheasants, a lot of sheep - was wearing a merino tee so think they thought I was one of theirs and wouldn't move out the way. Took in a seldom used river track. Had to stop my watch and walk a section as it was overgrown to my shoulders and couldn't see my feet. Narrow, winding track that is mud in winter and treacherously uneven when dried out. It's a beautiful route but I never get the chance to look up and see it. There were though some people out on the path using a drone.

    Glad you're picking up Will and congratulations on signing up for 52miles of running Cal. Had a conversation today which went from cats to wheelie bins to Mary Bale.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    That's a quick 15, JT. Well, quick by my standards (as that's my half marathon PB).
    Woke up twice last night, probably due to the storms (I was aware of thunder and lightning when I went to pee, but I had no problem going back to sleep). Problem was when I woke up the third time at 4 I was wide awake, so I got up and then got out for a run before 6. It was already warm and really, really humid and my legs felt like lead weights. Which is probably from hot inferno pilates yesterday rather than the run I did first thing.

    Still, I perked up a bit after the third mile so I ended up doing 10. I saw a squirrel eating a sandwich, a group of crows so large it was more massacre than murder and a portly woman jogging in a hat and jacket (I commented that she must be roasting, and she replied that was what she was going for. Each to their own, but I don't envy her the inevitable dehydration headache).

    Also noticed an abandonned bike I spotted yesterday was still there, and there was a second one on the other side of the common. Not Boris bikes, but they looked like rentals so I don't know what the story was there - just surprised noone's taken them.

    Finished tired but pleased and covered in aphids, who seemed to be attracted to my high-vis yellow T-shirt. Treated myself to a bubble bath.
  • Nice adventurous run, JT and a good observational 10, Cal.

    A rare family lie-in after staying up to watch Kenny Dalglish meant we all missed Junior Parkrun this morn. After a good spot of porridge with top quality maple syrup I continued to build up a bit of fitness. Very warm by 9.00am but I pushed on a bit, deciding on a 6 miler out and back route. Post illness I've been struggling, unusually for me, to get up early and to just get motivated to run. Maybe as I don't have a specific event to train for at the mo, I'm getting a bit sloppy. So, the happy rush I got after today's run was a nice reinforcement for my mojo. My nemesis 'black dog' has been lurking in the shadows as an unwelcome guest this past week, but I reckon I can outrun that wee bastard. Out past the park hosting a music festival this weekend I may well have heard Goldie Lookin Chain doing a sound check. There were some lovely wild poppies fluttering in the breeze and some acrobatic House Martins kept me in touch with the moment, man. Mile 4 was tough but I kept my teeth gritted and finished strong and fully lung blasted for 6.22 miles in 57:55 at 9:19 per mile. I'll take that.
    I run, therefore I am.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Black dog knows running makes him weaker, that's why he's trying to get you to lay off. Don't listen to him. ;)

  • HazelnutCHHazelnutCH ✭✭✭
    Might see you in Vienna Cal - I am also thinking about that one.  Would have tried it this year but I got a Berlin ballot place for September and didn't want the expense of two foreign marathons this year.  Two guys from my running group have done Vienna and enjoyed it.  Lovely city for sure.

    Some interesting spottings going on from various runners. 

    Hope you are feeling better soon Will.

    For me - 10 miles on Friday in warm and humid conditions - did the middle 5 a bit quicker and was very glad I thought to take a small bottle of water with me as I needed it on the last couple of miles.
    4 and a bit miles with some strides, yesterday again in warm and humid conditions, terrific thunderstorm later in the evening.

    Not sure how much I am looking forward to summer marathon training at the moment but I have a few weeks yet before that starts.    Couple of nice events coming up to look forward to - a 10 mile hill race I haven't done before this weekend and a night HM next week.   
  • Thank you, Cal and Hazelnut. Warm over here too, Hazelnut. I see even when you're 'not training' you're still putting the miles in. Good running!

    This morning I took my boy to Tennis Camp at the park. Fantastic coaching session and he is building up a nice double handed wallop stroke. I took the opportunity to do a 30 min Fartlek session and worked up a nice sweat - enough to treat myself to a good coffee and flapjack in the cafe overlooking the tennis courts. I worked in some 15 second sprints and long, stridey 70% things. Enjoyed it. Hope you're all having a good bank holiday. 
    I run, therefore I am.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Yeah, this will be the first year of summer marathon training for me. The light mornings will mean I can get the training done early, but hydration could be an issue - the bottles on my belt are small and barely get me through a 20 in winter, let alone if it's warm. What do you guys use, Camelbacks?

  • Stephen E FordeStephen E Forde ✭✭✭
    edited May 2018
    Nothing so far today except a 3 mile walk for a new phone cable,  a bison burger, a bronze polo shirt (silk & cotton mix) and my daily vitamin D top up. I took the bus home.  Will do my recovery run later. Only ran 5 days last week but managed 40 miles. Yesterday 12 miles at 8:42 min/mi pace which was ideal. I think I will hold 40 miles for the next month and take 2 days rest a week, then add an extra day back on later as a recovery run day. Until then on those rest days I could do a little more calisthenics. My skipping rope hasn't seen use in at least 2 years, which is bad. If you're a runner and want to really avoid injury you got to get down and squat, burpee and skip a little or a lot. Nimble feet are fast feet and a strong core is a happy core. Stiff runners are my personal hate. Stiff legs combined with stiff upper body. No swing. No flow. And like in music if you can't swing and your flow is whack well you may as well leave the stage.....


  • Sorry for the unrelated post don't know how to make my own thread on following topic regarding Altitude training.
    If i have been living and training at high altitude say 2-3000m for a number of months and my race is at sea level. Should i go down (live/train) to sea level 2-3 weeks prior to the race to readjust for speed track work say and will i still retain the training effect of altitude-training or would the previous months altitude training have been diminished after a few weeks of soley being at sea level again?. If that is the case should i still be staying at high attitude until a few days before the race at sea level? Bit of a chicken and egg question. Hope it isn't too confusing, would be interested to know what you guys think. Many thanks
  • JT141JT141 ✭✭✭
    14.3miles in 1hr52. Warm and more humid than usual today. No rain or thunder here though. Humidity can really mess up my running but went okay. There was a car went by with several feet of tree sticking out of the sunroof.
    A pretty samey week as I picked up a slight lower back strain a week ago so have had to avoid the gym. It's going to be a busy few days ahead with too much family arriving.
    Can't help with altitude advice as I have not a clue.
  • I love my Camelback, Cal. Hardly know it's there once you've used it a couple of times. I use it for 10 miles+. Also, that's after stating I would never get one as they were for nobs.
    Altitude? No idea. Reckon going up for a race would be much worse than coming down for one....
    I run, therefore I am.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    edited May 2018
    Rob, you should have a big advantage from living at altitude - I wouldn't have thought you'd need to acclimatise. I'm not exactly an expert, though.
    Stephen, I agree, which is why I'm doing one or two hot pilates classes a week now. (It's not just pilates, there are HIIT sections including squats, lunges, mountain climbers and burpees. It's pretty brutal especially as it's done in a hot room).
    And I did that class yesterday so I was expecting to be stiff today, but I was actually very loose this morning - enough that my first mile was 30 seconds quicker than normal due to a longer stride. I decided to make the most of it so did 6 miles progression (going from 10:14 to 8:49) with a mile recovery.
    Saw a bloke in a Liverpool marathon shirt so stopped briefly for an exchange of "how d'you find it?" "hot and hilly!" during mile 2 and still managed to run it quicker than the first one.
    The two mystery bikes are now parked together by the duck pond. Hmm.
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  • I was defo sweaty enough this morning to be a perspiration tester. The colours in my tee shirt did not run, so all is good thanks Cynthy.

    Good work, Cal. Seems like you're recovering really well and have hit a vein of form.

    I dragged myself out of bed for a nice early 6 miler. It being the 3rd day of my streak - Swittle how's it going? - my legs were a bit tired and so I tool it nice n easy. Two singing Blackcaps were uplifting, as we're numerous Robins that landed to peck for grub just in front of me. Some lovely White Campion and Wild Geranium brightened the path and, all in all, it was a good start to the day. To London tomorrow so may have a little capital run.
    I run, therefore I am.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    4 mile recovery run done. I felt a million miles away from where I was yesterday. I think the lack of sleep is catching up with me.
    Enjoy my home town, Will!
  • HazelnutCHHazelnutCH ✭✭✭
    Nice nature spotting Will, hope you are enjoying London. I will keep the miles up so that the next bout of marathon training doesn't come as a big shock.  Currently on a bit less than 30 a week though - intended mara plan will again be peaking to 55ish so I will be building back up to 30-35 in the next couple of weeks.

    Cal I hate standard bottle belts as I haven't yet found one which doesn't ride up / joggle around etc and I've given up trying.  For shorter runs (sub 1.5 hours) I have a flat bottle which fits into my flipbelt or an alternative similar product from Salomon (lighter material so not so sweaty in summer as the flipbelt which has thick material).  The bottle only takes 300ml if I remember correctly.
    For longer stuff I generally take a camelbak - It took me a while to work out how to adjust it so the straps fit the load.  Or I plot a route around water sources (village fountains / farmyard water troughs which I know are safe to drink from) - I generally do that anyway so that I can have a quick wallow if I'm overheating.  Bikes next to the pond sounds ok - bikes in the pond would be less good.

    That's an idea with the skipping rope Stephen - got one tucked away somewhere - just too lazy to go out with it.

    Hi Rob - can't help you on that way around I'm afraid - I only know what works for me the other way around i.e. start low / go up high (based mostly on alpine hiking and some alpine running)

    Hope your back is feeling a bit better in the meantime JT and your family doesn't stress you out too much and that you can get out for your runs.

    10 miles for me yesterday evening - some of those with my group and some on my own back home again.  Bit stop and go to take some pictures en route - some nice thunderheads to keep a wary eye on, checking up on the local storks - the young ones seem to be doing well this year.  Warm and muggy.        
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Muggy here too, and I had an even worse night's sleep (about 4 hours tops) but got out just before 10am for 6.2 miles easy. Feel very tired now and my achilles is grumbling.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Oof, did noone run yesterday? Rest day for me but I did my local parkrun today. Warm and very humid at 9am, but despite that, a slightly dodgy calf, a week of sub-standard sleep and the fact I'm only 2 weeks post-marathon, I ran a course PB (25:47). I've done a couple of faster parkruns this year at other venues but I'm pleased with this as Tooting is very crowded and it's not easy to get a decent time.
  • Popped out at noonish and did 7 miles at 7:57 min/mi pace which was too fast even after a rest day. Thursday 8 miles at 7:39 min/mi pace. Now up to 40 miles a week don't want to ruin it by doing my easy runs sub 8 min/mi because there is no need and will make steady state, tempo, and even tempo intervals difficult to do. I must be more disciplined. ( as you can tell i am really talking to myself here, but thanks for listening)

    Got an obscure but knowledgeble cat call on Thursdays run JT. Some bloke on a bike called out "...Gebrselassie.." as I ran past. 

    The fluffy dog is back staring out the yellow window....
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    I hear you, Stephen. That's like me, except add two minutes to your splits. :lol: (That's a hell of a mouthful for your catcaller...Farah would have been a bit easier!)
  • HazelnutCHHazelnutCH ✭✭✭
    Did run yesterday but was too lazy to post until today.  Good parkrun Cal - seems you are recovering well from your marathon.

    Good to hear the dog is back Stephen.

    6 miles for me yesterday - quads were not amused by the hiking the day before (some 3000 ft up and in particular back down on steep ground).  Recovery pace with a few short surges of up to 200m one of which was rudely interrupted by having to cross the road  (bad timing).

    Race tomorrow - 10 miles with a ridiculous 28% gradient at the end.   Should be fun. 
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    You must have legs of steel, Hazel!
  • Nessie73Nessie73 ✭✭✭
    Just popping in to say hi to MLRers. Some nice running going on.  I hope the black dogs stay at bay, and am hoping Stephen that the fluffy dog is a real cute one, rather than a metaphorical one. Gebreselassie is an honourable heckle
    I've been off work this week with half term, and have run most days, swam 3 times including one OW coached session.  Nothing of note to report, but I've enjoyed both swim ,and run and they've helped manage my emotions, which are inexplicably rather rubbish this week.
    Swittle, all OK mate?
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Yes, where are you, swittle? I hope you're OK. And Nessie, hope you get yourself back on an even keel. You've been under a lot of stress so it's not surprising if you're up and down a bit.

    Today's run was odd in that it was simultaneously lovely and horrible. Horrible because my body felt wrecked (a week of averaging 5 hours sleep a night, plus a fast parkrun yesterday followed by a tough exercise class) but also lovely because it was gorgeous out (I started just before 6, so it wasn't too warm) and I was enjoying the warmth on my skin and the early morning light. I ended up running 11 miles, but pretty slowly. The highlight was hearing the screeching of a jay and then seeing him chase a fox into the trees by the pond.
    I feel very tired now but I am about to go up to see my friend in Manchester and we're going to Blackpool tomorrow to ride the new coaster. I hope my legs appreciate the break, however short.
  • Sorry half term keeping me occupied and exhausted in equal measures!

    Great running going on despite these muggy temperatures.

    I did a couple of slow paced runs and a speed work out last week. I was really pleased with the speed work. 3 x 1km splits in 7:08, 7:12, 7:18. The fastest consecutive ones so far.

    I then couldn’t get out for a few days and decided to do a bodycoach workout on Thursday- it was just 20 minutes and I got through it fine. OMG I was literally in agony the next day and the day after. It completely affected my parkrun. I have since decided I need to do more on my non-running days, so I’ve joined a gym! So any tips on what I should be doing in the gym to help my running would be greatly appreciated.
  • HazelnutCHHazelnutCH ✭✭✭
    The legs felt more like rubber rather than steel during yesterday's race Cal.  Nice early running.  Hope you are enjoying you trip to Manchester / Blackpool.  

    Good cross training Nessie.

    Can't give you any help on the gym work Andrea sorry - never been near one though I probably should.

    10 mile hill race for me yesterday with 790m of ascent.  Beautiful alpine scenery though I was struggling a bit too much with the running to enjoy it properly - definitely remember some impressive waterfalls though.   A combination of the hike on Thursday, not enough good food on Saturday and high humidity left me with unwilling legs not only on the steep bits but unusually on the flat sections which I can normally storm along.  1:48:00 time - midfield result in my age group.  Four others from my Tuesday group also took part so good little outing with lots of chat.
  • HazelnutCHHazelnutCH ✭✭✭
    How was your trip to Kiev AWC?  Hope you enjoyed it.

    Nice session Scott.

    I'm enjoying reading about you enjoying your running a the moment SQ.  Nice early 20 miler.  

    I hope your knee / hip is nothing serious Millsy - good luck at the physio on Thursday.

    Nice of you to accompany your GF SteveMac.

    Nice bit of track racing Jools.  

    Great Chester result Joe.  Enjoy that trophy.  There must be a nice long blog entry coming up off of that..

    Nice bike run combo Ramjet.

    10 mile race for me on Sunday.  Humidity and probably lack of food/sleep the day before left me with unwilling legs and I struggled a bit - not only on the steep bits but also on the flatter sections I would normally run fast on.  Marched all of the steep bits though I did summon up a shuffle jog for the last 200m to cross the finish line.  Mid-field result in my age group.  
    Lovely course with a mix of tarmac and paths, some along the side of an alpine torrent - some impressive waterfalls.  Four others from my Tuesday group took part so lots of chat and a nice post-race beer.         
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