My Last Run

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  • Will ClennellWill Clennell ✭✭✭
    edited November 2018
    Great beaver spot, Hazelnut!  There are a few reintroduction programmes for them over here and I'd love to see one. I love the geese at this time of year. A lot of them holiday in Norfolk. 

    Glad you are feeling a bit better, JT, and still banging out the headtorch miles. The last couple of mornings have been the first time in weeks that I haven't driven to school feeling sick in the stomach with nonsensical anxiety. It is a bastard thing. Hope you continue to improve.

    Good fox and chair spots, Cal. Life needs things like that to balance out the other absurdities, like Trump and washing up.

    I was up early again this morning. I'm doing a couple of 5am get ups a week, in order to fit the miles in around family life. Call me strange but I do like being up and about at that time, before nearly all others. Breakfast after that run is great too. Anyway, 4.53 miles in 41.53 mins. A couple of decent hills involved and a good leg and lung workout. Saw two other runners: a friendly one with a dog and a blanker with ear buds. 
    I run, therefore I am.
  • On the plus side, I banked 12 miles this morning. On the minus side, it was wet and windy and I was very slow. Nearly canned the run at 6 miles but it started to get light then so I carried on. My left shin is a bit sore, which is a worry. Don't need shin splints in addition to a grumbling achilles.
    Smiley chair was still on the pavement. No sign of the fox today, though.
  • JT141JT141 ✭✭✭
    10.9miles tonight. Torched up on black bridleways to the villages. Ran to an old airfield. Into a wind roaring in my ears as I ran up the old runway, and in dead quiet with the wind behind me on the way back. Distant cows were talking.
  • JT, that .9 would bug me! I always like to finish my runs on a round number. And today that number was 6. My achilles is back to being a whiny little bitch so I guess it's physio time again. On the plus side, I got to run in shorts and a T-shirt again, although now it's November I can't see that lasting very long.
  • JT141JT141 ✭✭✭
    Hello Cal. Can't really see my watch at night so don't know what I've run until I'm home. Always happier to be just over the mile than just under. I am gradually packing all my summer running stuff away and getting the merino tops and gloves out.
    12miles today in under 1hr33. Slowed a bit from halfway. Don't know why. Stopped to pet a horse.
  • I like the airfield atmospherics, JT.

    Hope the shins don't develop into anything, Cal.

    A couple of decent last runs this end. 3.5 miles last night on a hilly loop, with a few strides thrown in. Legs were a bit tired for the first half but warmed up and loosened up later on. 7.3 miles the night before at a steady pace. A lot of runners out and about and also a large bloke smashing up a white van with a golf club. Cacking myself at the sight and sound of this, I legged it at something like threshold plus. People did seem to be calling the cops, so I didn't feel too bad about fleeing the scene.

    Week 1 of marathon plan done - 31 miles.
    I run, therefore I am.
  • Seeing my physio on Monday. I'm full of aches from pilates and the sore achilles, plus tender shine and now tender hip as well made me nervous, but I wanted to hit up Kingston parkrun which was in danger of cancellation. It's a mix of hard path and dirt, and after last night's deluge the dirt was basically mud. So my mile splits were 8:01/9:11/8:08 - the middle mile was the muddy one! 26:06 total time - I've had worse. I was happy with the first and last miles at least. Only 6th in my age group as there seem to be good vets there. Onwards and upwards.
  • Nice bit of mud running, Cal, and a decent enough time.
    Mrs Will is away at the rygbu for the weekend, so I took the kids to watch and cheer my Dad on at Parkrun, then left them with him and Mum while I headed out for a longie, road and a bit of track around my home village. Legs felt heavy until about mile 6, when they started behaving. 11.18 miles in 1hr 55, so about bang on my target pace, although I found it a bit tricky not to run faster. Right knee a bit sore so icing it after a monstrous allotment based recovery lunch at Dad's. Now for a drop of Jurassic World.
    I run, therefore I am.
  • Good luck for the physio on Monday Cal.

    I need to sort out the running clothes drawer as well JT. Might even be an excuse to get some new stuff.  Horse petting sounds nice.  I now have two little pet pigs on one of my regular  routes to exchange grunts with.

    Home grown lunch also sounds nice Will.  I am slowly working through a big pile of butternut squashes.  Versatile things.

    I was a bit lazy posting this week.  Out for 5 runs, all between 8 and 9 miles, mostly steady running but one threshold pace section yesterday of 20 minutes which was hard work.  Finished the week on 66.6 km.  One more week of base training then I will probably get stuck into something more intensive. 
  • JT141JT141 ✭✭✭
    Hope the physio straightens you out Cal.
    8.4miles Saturday. Ended up funnelled into the busy city centre because of street closures around the Minster. Not sure why. There were Bentleys parked up so probably an event rather than anything sinister. Streets too crowded to run.
    Tonight 9.9miles (boo). Pace very ordinary but have now clocked up over 2000miles for the year. Have shifted myself out the door in what has been a difficult weekend.
  • I've been ordered to rest for a few days. It appears that I have overdone it.
    2000 miles is a lot, JT. I've logged over 1000. Just waiting on a new pair of shoes to be delivered as I've worn out the pair I bought myself as a birthday present in June.
  • That must be frustrating having to rest Cal. 

    And that is a great 2018 mileage so far JT - I've just had a look - I'm on a bit over 1700 at the moment and have already gone past last year's total.  Could you not have run around your house a couple of times to make up the .1 mile?  :p

    I did my first HM distance run since the mara in Berlin yesterday with 13.5 miles in 02:01:45 so for me a nice steady pace.  Lovely afternoon for it - warm and sunny and little wind.  Treated myself to a flat run along the river rather than one of my standard undulating local routes, finishing at sunset. 
  • Will ClennellWill Clennell ✭✭✭
    edited November 2018
    Good on you for getting out the door, JT. I think 9.9 is perfectly imperfect.

    Rest up well, Cal. It'll be worth it.

    Nice river run, Hazelnut. The autumn colours are still looking fantastic here. Every season has its highlights.

    Week 2 of my mara training going well. Having talked with my running mate (our sons do JPR together and we are equally socially inept) about the benefits of his daily doubles, I kind of followed suit with what I am christening 'the night before the morning after'. Last night at 8pm I had a great run. One of those where everything feels like it's in sync and is doing what it's supposed to do. 5.05 miles at 9.06 m/m, with 7 or 8 X 50 metre efforts popped in for good measure. Really satisfying. Then, after another awful night's sleep (waking for good at 3.30 am) I was out again at 4.55am for 4 steady miles in 39 minutes. Legs, as expected, felt a bit heavy but there was also some stamina in them. I know my early run seems a bit ridiculous time-wise, but so do a lot of things whirring around my head at the moment. There we are. Really enjoying my running, at least.
    I run, therefore I am.
  • This autumn seems particularly colourful Will.  One of my favourite times of year.  Sorry you are not sleeping so well but a nice little double that with a very quick turnaround time.  I would definitely keep the second run gentle and short if it follows a run with some speedier stuff.  JPR = junior parkrun?

    My turn to do the 9.9 miles yesterday evening.  I did my run in two parts with a 3.42 mile solo, then met up with one other lady for the standard Tuesday trot of 6.57 miles.  Ups.  I have the watch set to kms so I didn't notice and it doesn't matter anyway.  The 6 and a half bit was done at a sensible steady pace as we had both done 2 hour runs in the last couple of days.  The light drizzle turned into thick fog on the higher point of the route - could hardly see a thing with the headtorch light reflecting back.  Careful shuffling needed down the final steep hill on a surface of wet greasy tarmac garnished with lots of leaves. 
  • The leaves are rather precarious at the moment, aren't they?! You're right about the colours this year, Hazelnut. It's looking fantastic on the trails around Norwich, where I enjoyed a good medium run this morning. JPR is Junior Parkrun - what Sundays were made for!

     I have a 20 mile trail race coming up before Christmas, so want to get as much trail practise as possible. It's also so much nicer than the pavement and I'm sure the extra muscle work will be good for my mara training. I ran across the Marsh, which is now cow-free, and got a great spot in - a female Stonechat perched on top of a ramble of brambles. From there I followed the river down to the uni grounds, through the woods, which held some ace fungi, and then round the lake a couple of times. Cetti's Warbler and Great Crested Grebe were the best spots there. My pace was quite slow over the trails and I had a strange thing happen for the second long run in a row. My legs felt tired and heavy with no bounce until I'd run 6 miles - then it was game on and I felt suddenly a lot stronger. What is that all about? Anyway, a lovely bit of fresh air and 9.05 colourful, muddy miles in 1h 32 mins.
    I run, therefore I am.
  • Trails are fun aren't they Will.  At some point you will need to pound some tarmac on long runs to get your legs and feet accustomed to it for your road mara but practicing for your trail race is a good idea as well.
    Nice nature spotting.  There has not been much in the way of fungi around here this year due to how dry it was I guess.

    5 mile recovery for me yesterday at lunch time on a flat mostly off road route dodging lots of dog walkers.  All well behaved (the dogs and their owners).  Pretty tired legs from the recent mileage.   
  • We have had quite a wet last month so some stonking growths in the woodlands, Hazelnut.

    My final run of Week 2 turned out to be a recovery too. My groins felt a bit tender, due to mileage I think and so I plodded out 4 gentle miles in 40 mins. 33 miles completed for this week. All feeling good so far and finally getting some decent sleep. The only thing I appear to have neglected is my nipples! Sore as hell post-run today. Must crack out the vaseline more often!
    I run, therefore I am.
  • It was rather annoying to miss running on some lovely sunny autumn days, for sure. I went out for 4 easy miles today to test my sore bits, but I think it was a bit of a short run to tell, honestly. I will do parkrun tomorrow and see how it goes.
    Will, ouch. Sports bras remove that problem for us girls but I've chafed my underboobs a few times (actually, often it's only the right one, don't know why). I learned early on that I absolutely have to Vaseline my inner groin area when I go for a long run but I often forget about the other bits. Had chafed armpits a few times when wearing a vest and that's not nice either.
  • Grovelands parkrun for me today - a beautiful park in North London with a large lake and a manor house (now a private clinic). Bit of an incline on each lap which seemed fine at first but took its toll later on. I clocked a rather subpar 26:21 but given my niggles, I suppose it's not terrible. The parkrun itself is very pleasant and the people there are really friendly (got some hellos off dog walkers as I went to the parkrun which is not that common in London!)
  • With nipples well oiled up I did a Parkrun sandwich this morning. Jog with some strides to get there, then clocked a pleasing 24:55. Easy jog back and ready for my 6 run week this week. Took my boy to a local reserve to see the Starling murmuration this evening. It was well cool.
    I run, therefore I am.
  • Ouch to the chafing. I've been lucky so far. 

    Good mileage for the week Will.  And good parkrunning by both of you.  I hope the rest has helped your niggles a bit Cal. 

    The starlings must have been great to watch Will.

    I did an eight miler yesterday with 8 x strides then a 10 miler today accompanied over the first six miles by OH.  I chose a route involving woods on both days to get out of the cold wind but this meant quite a few inclines on both days.  The legs were not very impressed by a steep hill today so I walked it instead of doing a really slow shuffle. 
  • Apologies everyone for not keeping up with this thread, I'm still clocking up the miles and recent highlights are a 44 mile week last week followed by missing a parkrun pb by just 12 seconds on Saturday! This week has consisted of a very smooth and quite easy 20 miler on my day off followed by a steady 10k last night. I'm on a run of shifts at work that are making it difficult to fit in anything other than short runs at the moment but it'll come to an end eventually! 
  • Matt, it sounds as if you're going from strength to strength. Well done on the quick parkrun and the 20.
    I did 15 miles today - partly a stress test for the body (which it passed, mostly - just a couple of grumbles) and a test for my new Zoom Flys which I intend to wear in Valencia. I've only done one parkrun in them so I needed to test their comfort level, and I'm pleased to say they'll do nicely.
    Nice and sunny but with an icy wind. I was glad of my long sleeved Cabbage Patch top (the race not the dolls) but I did see a few hardy girls in short sleeves and one in very short shorts. Most of the guys I saw were wrapped up to the gills.
    Quite a quick run - most miles were sub-10s and it's an undulating route. I feel happier about my chances now.
  • I went for a 10.4k run today through some of the neighboring villages with my headlamp as it was almost completely dark out. It was about 2 degrees Celsius but really a quite fun run with some hills (like always if you are living on one yourself and all you have is valleys and some more hills around you, but still, I <3 hills), nice forest roads and a friendly husky wanting to run with me :D
    It also started to snow when I was already close to home, which is our first snow this year. That makes me excited for Christmas and anxious at the same time as this will be my first running season in snow :#
  • Thanks Cal, I feel as if I'm just kind of getting on with it at the moment and biding time until next month's marathon, which an achievement in itself given that six months ago I wasn't running at all!

    bit of a heavy day at work today but I still just about found the motivation to do 7.4 miles this evening, made all the better for watching the sun set while on the three mile sea front!
  • Solid week Matt with a good parkrun, mileage and a 20 miler.   Sun set on the sea front must have been lovely.

    That sounds promising Cal.

    Welcome to Grizzly.  Sounds like you have some good running around where you live.  A fresh layer of soft snow is lovely to run in - especially in the woods and also in the dark.  It can be a real pain when it turns to slush and ice though.    I guess we have to take what nature throws at us and adapt training plans when necessary.

    Talking of snow:  I set off for an 11 miler at lunch with just a couple of small flakes falling and well wrapped up aginst the cold wind and around 0 temperatures.  The falling snow got thicker as I went and was at times slightly unpleasant being almost horizontal and straight in my face.  It was just starting to settle as I arrived home but has stopped again now.  Overall I enjoyed the run though - very quiet out due to the weather and time of day and I was able to swiftly settle into an easy pace which suited my legs tired from yesterday's hiking.
  • Hello Grizzly - thanks for sharing your run :) Where are you? Outside the UK I'm guessing.

    Good to see you're running well, Matt. Keep it up!

    I'd love to be able to run in the snow Hazelnut -  you're lucky.

    A couple of runs to add from me. I postponed my LSR until today, as was busy with the family yesterday.  Nye got his 2nd fastest Junior Parkrun time and then me and him had a biteless pike fishing session on the river. Saw a pair of kingfishers though, which were quite stunningly blue. I did a bit of hill work in the evening - approx 60 metres X 8 and then some gentle running to round off to 4 miles. My hills lacked a bit of oomph due to a pre-run curry and generally tiring weekend. Will do better next time.

    No work today so headed out for my longie. This week it was 13.2 miles at a pace of 10:15. Tiredish legs after the weekend's efforts but kept it steady and enjoyed the peace. A Bullfinch was a nice surprise and there were loads of noisy Jay about. Need to get new shoes, but Christmas presents need buying too! Better hunt down a bargain.
    I run, therefore I am.
  • Welcome grizzly.
    I see a lot of jays, Will - noisy buggers they are, but pretty colours.
    Should have run yesterday but took a literal raincheck. I figured as I'm tapering now and nursing some niggles, if I didn't want to run in freezing rain, I didn't have to.
    Made up for it today with 7 early miles (actually 7.25 but I always round down). I felt good and rested but my achilles still had a moan. Averaged 10 minute miles. Valencia is less than two weeks...
  • Pre-run Curry and hills sounds quite dodgy Will ;) Can you drop hints about the new shoes for Christmas or do you need shoes urgently?

    We get jays here too - definitely noisy.

    Valencia has come up fast Cal.  I hope the achilles holds out for it ok.  Do you otherwise have any targets for it?

    Standard outing yesterday with two others.  Cold at -1 and I had to talk myself into going but it was worth it as it was a clear starry evening and we soon warmed up on the hilly bits.  Fairly gentle round in comparison to some recent weeks which suited me fine as I had a bit of DOMS from walking back down the hill on Sunday.  Short recovery (3-4 miles) planned for later.
  • I'm quite enjoying the colder temps, Cal, and I actually like running in the rain. Nice morning miles. Take it easy with 2 weeks to go!

    Yep, curry and hills definitely do not go together , Hazelnut! The trouble with my increased mileage is I have a massive appetite. I'm generally being quite disciplined but can't always hold off from temptation. I'm currently having a post-run munch on sweet potato chunks roasted in curry spices :)


    An achey  3 mile recovery trot around the cemetery yesterday was quite relaxing but very slow - as it probably should be. Feeling a bit more energised today and so put a bit of pace into my 5.25 miles, going at 9:16 mm in 48:39 mins. Took a wide berth around some 'wild' ponies on the Marsh track, which is getting very slippery in places. Shoes required definitely before Christmas, so will just have to sweet talk my wife. Happy running, all!
    I run, therefore I am.
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