My Last Run

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  • Ups got a bit behind on posting again.

    That was a good tempo run Cal and a nice longie on top.  Good news the ice is gone but wet feet aren't nice either.

    Oh no - not again LTT.  You were doing well and building sensibly.  Hope that improves quickly.

    Our cold spell seems to be over for now.  Might be up to 9 degrees this afternoon.  Means I will be able to go out in less clothing - less washing.  It has been interesting experimenting with different layers to see what works out best.  Got out every day - I decided to take a cut down week mileage wise due to the weather - rather than this week - so no long run at the weekend.  I also did a decent walk with OH on Sunday morning and didn't want to end up with nearly 40k on foot - would be pushing it a bit.  As it was I had slightly tired legs yesterday and felt no need to push around a 5 mile recovery (not the point of it anyway).  I did however put in a set of strides towards the end - should get back into the habit of doing those once a week. 
  • I need to do strides as well, Hazel, as much for form and foot speed as anything. Just 6 today though, at the faster end of easy pace. Hammy was quite grumpy still. 
    Warm though - I went out in a T-shirt with arm sleeves and then pulled the sleeves off after 3 miles as I got too hot. Amazing considering how many layers I was wearing on Sunday. I could quite easily have worn shorts too, but I'm sticking with long tights until my hamstring quietens down a bit.
  • That is what I understand strides are for Cal - sometimes I like doing them, other times it is just a drudge.  Amazing how warm it feels after such a cold spell.  Arm sleeves are such a useful bit of kit.

    Little group run yesterday evening - 3 of us - 5 would be allowed.  My standard running partner of the last few weeks and one lady I haven't seen for several months as she had a back injury and took her time to get back to running.  After a few weeks of alternating locations with the standard guy we went back to our standard Tuesday route. A few new potholes I need to familiarize myself with.  I forgot to take my headtorch but fortunately had a spare in the car. 
  • Hard 5k effort yesterday - came out as 21:14 for the 5k according to Fetch which gives me a 75% wava.  I had actually intended to do an LT effort which would have been a good minute slower but the first k felt good and I decided to press on.  4-5 were hard work though.  The 6th fastest 5k I have collected over the last couple of years.  Warm-up of 2.5 miles with 4 x faster bits and a cool-down of 1.9 miles.  More or less perfect conditions - little wind and fairly cool.  I also got a new pair of shoes out of the cupboard for the first time.  A model I am familiar with - Brooks Launch 7.  I was browsing the equivalent times for 75% for other distances and might have a go at a few.  A 6:24 mile sounds awful though.  More likely to hit the targets for 5m and 10k.  Solo TT runs for anything over 10m must be mentally tough.  Not likely to have a go at a 3:18 mara!  Won't overdo it though.  My actual intention is to get back to a decent 4 mile tempo run from P&D.
  • I find sustained speed tough myself - I think it's quite mentally draining to keep pushing when it feels hard. It's a bit different in a race when you have people around you but on your own, it's definitely tough. That's a very good 5K time. For me, a very good time is 24:xx and 25:xx is decent. 

    I didn't feel up to running yesterday - tired with a scratchy throat (I'm not sick but sometimes I get a slight sore throat, I think when I've been pushing it and sleep's not been awesome). Even though last week was lower mileage, I had some big weeks and a lot of hills before it so body needed a bit of rest, still.
    Anyway, got myself out this morning for my MLR. Weather forecast wasn't promising - wind and rain - but it actually turned out to be lovely. Mild and sunny for most of it.
    My hamstring, hip and glute were pretty awful but I felt quite good apart from that and managed 12 miles between 10 and 10:30 pace which is a lot more like it (especially as I threw in four good hills).
    I treated myself to a fresh pair of kicks (still Epic Reacts - I have one more pair after this before I have to go shoe shopping again) as the ones I've been wearing have nearly 1000 miles on them. I expected them to feel a lot bouncier but there wasn't a huge amount of difference and my feet got quite sore (I think the flyknit needs to relax a bit).
    I compared the new pair to the old ones and the foam has compressed a bit in the old pair, and there's a little wear on the forefoot, but other than that they're not bad at all. There's no wear at all on the heel (but since I'm not a heel striker I'm not surprised).
  • Nice you had much better than expected conditions for your run yesterday.  Good pace too.  Are the hills feeling generally a bit easier after your climbing month?

    It was interesting comparing my new shoes to the old - the new ones need a bit of wearing in as they felt a bit clunky.  I also need to sort out the laces so they are just as they need to be.  They also need a few splashes of mud!  1000 miles seems a lot for a pair of shoes, I think my oldest are at around 600 and I will be retiring them soon as they feel tired.  Maybe it is because I generally use the older pairs for recovery runs and I often have tired legs on those.
  • The Epic Reacts last very well, which is all the more annoying that they've been discontinued.

    Not good news for me, though. My proximal hamstring tendinopathy has taken a turn for the worse. A while after my run yesterday it really started giving me gip when I caught my foot on something walking around my flat, my slight stumble sent a bolt of pain through my hip that made me yelp. 
    So I'll have to take some time off and really focus on the rehab stuff. I don't know how long it'll take to settle this time but I guess we'll see.
  • Hi folks,

    Well due to my bad knee I've had to take a full week off running.

    I put it down to the 18 miler, then running in that very cold weather (minus 4 was coldest run but with a big windchill) meaning I don't think I warmed up one bit and my dreaded runner's knee returned in my left knee.  Lose, clunky and sore.

    Made a new loop of comprised of maybe 40% road, 30% trail, and 30% public footpath criss-crossing the very exclusive Royal St George golf course.  Really enjoyed it.

    Legs felt amazing for a week off, and my knee felt Ok until about mile 7, then sore, but plodded 9.3 miles and it doesn't feel terrible afterwards, but think it will take a little while to get better and will have to go very easy for a bit for sure. 

    That's a great 5k solo Hazlenut.  To do one on your own must be tough. I do think I have lost a tonne of pace over 5k, my last Parkrun was 20:23 but don't think I could get anywhere near that now with all the plodding.  Do hope Parkrun returns soon!

    Hope you get better soon Cal, annoying you've had a flare up.  Hopefully it doesn't take too long to get back out there.  You've been doing some big mileage definitely.

    My epic react Infinities have 430 ish miles and although they look virtually new above the sole, the sole is getting fairly worn, mainly on the heel and toe.  Surprising as I think I land fairly mid foot, but I think they have some sort of rocker-type design. Also until last month, all my miles were road.  I have one unused pair left.

    Again, 6 months after release they have already been updated for a version 2, which is heavier and cushier by all accounts.  Think I'd prefer these ones which are cushioned but the top is pretty lightweight.
    1000 miles to a pair of trainers is awesome Cal.

    Have a great week all.





  • Bit lazy posting again.

    Ouch to the hip etc. Cal.  Hope the running rest and some rehab clears that up quickly. 

    Glad to see you out again LTT.  Take care of flying golf balls (I imagine the course is currently closed anyway?).  20:23 was a great time.  I didn't have parkrun beforehand to miss now but I can imagine its popularity.  The advantage with regular shoe releases seems to be that the older models get cheaper (if you can find them in your size).

    Trotted through the rest of last week.  That 5k did take it out of me a bit - likely as well because I backed it up on Thursday with an undulating MLR on tired legs and also did some cycling as well involving more hills.  Not sore anywhere - just tired.    It took me a while to get going in yesterday's MLR (14.x in 2:02), bit of a battle of the legs against the mind.  I was able to pick up the pace for the last couple of miles but would have ideally done a longer stretch at a faster pace than I did.  Lovely day for it - sun felt very strong though I suffered quite a bit from it in the sheltered spots but it was actually quite bearable when I turned into the wind.  Few mouthfuls of water and a stray lemon flavoured gel (probably a goody bag one) for fuelling.  The gel went down well, could try to get some more.
  • Good grief it's been busy in the month I've been away. I'm going to have to try to catch up.

    The good news is over the weekend I managed two runs, the first in over a month and both of 4 miles and very much of the run/walk variety. Which always makes me feel as if I'm cheating. Saturday was along the Adur with 5 min jogs and 2.5 min walks. It certainly felt good to be out. Sunday was along the seafront from Southwick heading back towards Hove and this time 6 min jog with 2 min walk. Once the achilles actually warmed up it didn't feel bad at all, certainly not the burning sensation I was getting before. Legs, however, felt very stiff.

    Work had become absolutely stupid. We finally went live with one of the projects at the beginning of February, but any thought of being able to slow down were soon dispelled as I was given another piece of work. I was feeling my stress levels going through the roof as I'd literally spend 9 hours a day with headphones clamped to my ears being on calls whilst simultaneously dealing with emails and having 5 conversations on Teams covering different issues.

    It came to a bit of a head a couple of weeks ago when having been on calls since 6am I finished a meeting and started to feel pain in my left shoulder, which rapidly spread over my chest. Bit of a shock and after telling my partner that I didn't want to worry her, but I was having chest pains we looked at the 111 website, answered a few questions and in big red letters it told us to call 999. Forty minutes later an ambulance turned up, stuck wires on me and started checking my heart. The ECG turned out normal, but I was advised to go to A&E, which I duly did and spent 8 hours having further ECG tests, blood tests, chest x-rays. They were concerned that an enzyme was borderline, but other than that no real explanation for the pains, although I suspect it was caused by stress. I did take the next day off where I did nothing but watch a bit of cricket and go for a long walk and as it was a Friday it made a nice long weekend. However when went back to work on the Monday I'd got 250 emails!!
  • Oh no - nasty GD.  Glad you are basically physically ok - sounds like something really needs to happen with your work situation though.  I guess it wouldn't help to get yourself signed off sick for a couple of weeks - the problem is it might mean you would come back to even more stress and emails... :/

    Run/walk isn't cheating - if it is what you need then do it like that.  Don't put any extra pressure on yourself feeling you have to achieve something there.  You'll be back to running through in no time.  Glad the achilles is feeling better.

    Monday: dropped my usual recovery for a slightly longer / faster run (10k in 52:15) with some strides as I was anticipating a recovery style run on Tuesday with a couple of other people.  Wrong! Only one lady joined me and the run was a bit harder than I was needing - up a hill and back down it again at a reasonable pace for the environment.  (7 miles in 1:05).  I therefore junked plans of speedwork yesterday and caught up on the recovery run (4.3 miles in 40:17).  With the spring like weather I no longer had the woods to myself meeting several walkers (with and without dogs) and 3 runners.  Took a bit of discipline not to run down one guy ahead of me as I gradually caught him up up an incline.  
  • Thanks Hazelnut, and you're right I do need to do something. It may be as drastic as deciding to do something else with work, although commitments do make that a bit more difficult. It took me a week to catch up on all the emails and having taken last Friday off to have the car serviced I had much the same situation this week.

    Well done on the runs this week. And nice to hear you're enjoying better weather after the cold and snow there. Nice to be able to get out and not have to wrap yourself up in multiple layers.
  • Wow, scary, GD....that job isn't doing you much good is it? I think you need a chat with HR, as Hazel suggests.

    Nice running, Hazelnut - it is definitely feeling more like spring although it's chilly (if sunny) today.

    I finally cracked and went out for a very cautious run this morning. I spent a full 45 minutes on the hamstring rehab plus glute, hips, core and a few other things, and I walked around the block before I started running. But after a week and a half, I felt like the tin man. I could feel the hamstring but it wasn't acute...but I also had a few other strange niggles in places that don't normally get them (eg left adductor and right knee) which I'll put down to the inactivity. With that in mind I just did two miles as I don't want to over-egg the pudding.
    I will see how it behaves during the rest of the day and judge whether I will try again tomorrow or wait until Monday (which I think is more sensible and therefore more likely).
  • Hi folks! such an incredibly busy week so well behind.

    The first few races have begun to be rescheduled, my postponed10 mile race is now on May 16th.
    It's being said that hydration will not be provided at many races so I have bought, a hydration vest!  It's taken me a while to get used to wearing it, but wow, it's great to have as much drink as I like on runs.

    My knee seems to be much better for a full week off, but is still far from great, and still clunks like hell and hurts, so the patellar is still well off alignment.  The bio-mechanics in my left knee are rubbish,  I know I've definitely over done it this week, but it's been such a crap week at work running has been necessary.

    I've dug out my low drop, pretty minimal Sauconys later in the week and they definitely put more pressure on my calves and peroneals, but they do seem to take a bit of load of my knee compared to my high stack Nikes, definitely feel like you have to work harder though.

    Four runs to report.

    Monday: 4.4 miles. Timed a quick mile (pretty dumb idea this week). A mediocre 6:53.  Even in tights a and a hydration pack that is pretty slow.  Used to be able to run three miles together much quicker than that! Will try again, maybe one a week.

    Wednesday: 5 miles of trail.  If I rush home from work and am out the door at 5 pm I can just about get round my trail loop before it gets dark!  warmed up and back in shorts at last, do hate leggings.

    Friday: 4.5 miles of trail, (really getting into trail at the moment!)  All runs fairly easy pace, 9 minute stuff.

    Sunday: 10 miles. My new hybrid loop I've made that I'm quite proud of!, town, river, golf course, seaside, bird reserve, trail.  Saw some birds I didn't know what they were (lapwings) and got in an awkward dual with a horse, mud drying slowly.  Absolutely stunning morning, would have been nice to do a big run, but really pleased to manage 10 miles, the last half mile did hurt a fair bit though.  RICED well after all runs this week. going to begrudgingly book a physio appointment.  My left knee naturally turns inwards regardless of strength training and has caused me no end of grief.

    Great running Hazlenut, lots of miles and hills!  Agreed, my trails are getting busier now too, although I can always skirt off them onto farmland to avoid all the walkers, better than running in the road.  Lots of runners here too, I think the local race promoters will see a big spike in people at their races with all the new runners out, far more than normal, Physios may have a bumper year too!.

    Guarddog, really do hope things improve.  It sounds like you are under an incredible amount of pressure.  Really not good when it gets to the stage of affecting your health.  Worse when the coping tool of running has been temporarily removed through injury.  I really struggled last year when out of action for 3 months.  Glad you're back out.  I hope HR can help.  Have you lost much efficiency through working from home?  Are you likely to be going back to being office based?


    Glad you're back out there Cal.  Your lack of posts have been noticeable.  Hope you can get out there and back at it soon!

    Stay safe all.














  • GuarddogGuarddog ✭✭✭
    Hope the hamstring improves, Cal. Take it steady. Very wise to ease yourself into things and hopefully the tin man feeling will not last long as you start to get things working.

    I think there's a big debate to be had about going back into the office, LTT. Difficult to say if efficiency has been lost through working from home. A lot of the people working in my team are offshore anyway, so being in the office wouldn't make a great deal of difference. The issue has been losing experienced people and although I said this last year making the point it would affect delivery and being told that was being taken into account it hasn't been. Hence pressure has built up to deliver in less time with less experienced resources. Well done on the runs, and glad to hear your 10 mile event has been rescheduled. Your hybrid loop sounds absolutely fantastic, taking in all sorts of terrain and view.

    Two runs this weekend very much in the vein of trying to build up sensibly. Ran from Shoreham through to just beyond Lancing Green along the seafront on Saturday. Pushed it to 5 miles with 7 mins running and 2 mins walk. Achilles a bit stiff, but not the burning sensation I was getting. Worryingly the back at one point when into a mini spasm when I tried to up the pace to catch up to my partner after a gap opened up when trying to get past people. Had to slow down and just concentrate on relaxing. Fortunately it eased off.

    Sunday we ran along the undercliff from Saltdean towards the marina. Like Saturday a gorgeous sunny morning and having made the mistake of going for leggings, hat and gloves on Saturday and getting some odd stares from people running in shorts and short sleeves I went the other way, much to the amusement of my partner who was convinced I'd be too cold. A wry smile crossed my lips as she then said she felt she was overheating. We had planned 10K on our normal route along there and decided on 8 mins running and 1.5 mins walking. As we approached the path that would take us behind the back of Asda we noticed the gate was locked - not sure why - and after a moments discussion we turned left and started running along the path on the marina wall. It's the first time either of us has run along there and it was actually really pleasant. It also added a bit of extra distance in. Managed to keep the pace sensible, although I was certainly struggling towards the end. 
  • Got behind on posting again..

    Great to see you back on the road Cal.  Hope everything stayed nice and quiet since your run and you can have another successful one today.

    That is a pain with water not being provided at races LTT - especially with the likelihood of some being put back to the summer months.  Hydration vest is a good thing for longer runs and hot weather I find.  I still have to remind myself to drink though.  Take care with the mile tests.  A nice week of running for you - good to have a new route.

    Similar situation here with the home office / offshore combination GD.  And generally with offshore resources.  If it makes you feel better we finished a project more than 2 years late thanks to that.  Customer insisted on working with these resources though as they would supposedly be cheaper.  Combined with a project manager with no idea of the subject matter.. Sigh. Great to see you progressing with the run walking and finding a new route is always a bonus if it turns out well.

    Decent week of training completed.  Did some fast speedwork on Thursday with 2 x 400 / 4 x 600 and 2 x 400.  Had thought about doing 800s but as always set off too fast on the first rep and didn't like it at all so I changed the session.  By the looks of it all came out pretty decent though (I don't use the lap button as I can never find it when I need it!).  Friday saw a local MLR (11.3 miles) with some pretty awful climbs - was surprisingly ok with these.  Saturday was group training (6.7 miles) - it was too cold to lie around on a mat so just a run with more hills.  Sunday a long run of 16 miles with a faster 10k slotted in towards the end. 

    Will keep going in that sort of style for now - some decentish speedwork and short long runs of around 16 miles.  No races on the horizon yet here. 
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Glad everyone is getting out there - nice to see you manage 10 miles, LTT, after your problems.

    GD, hope you don't get a recurrence of that, that sounds painful.

    Good week there, Hazel.

    My ham tendon didn't react well to the 2 miles on Saturday - it became very uncomfortable later on so I took another two days off. I did have a decent 7 mile walk on Sunday and a fast 4 miles yesterday. 

    The good news is that I managed a 5K run today. Went out at lunch as my niggles hurt more first thing. Could definitely feel the ham tendon but it wasn't too bad, maybe 2 or 3 out of 10 on the pain scale. My left groin felt a bit weird again but running felt quite awkward in general due to the layoff. Still, both warmed up OK and I could have run further but decided it would not be in my best interests at this point. The test is how it reacts later today - it did not react well after Saturday's 2 miler but I am feeling more optimistic about this one...I've had lunch and it feels OK for the moment.
    I dialled back on the rehab stuff which may have helped - I am sticking mostly to isometric stuff  for the ham and it seems a little less angry. I am also sitting on a pillow now when I use the computer and also swap to kneeling on a cushion every now and then to take weight off my sit bones. I don't tend to do that for very long, though, as (even with the cushion) it's a little hard on the knees.
  • 6.5 miles of trail tonight, knee seemed to cope passably.  Really nice evening, ran right up to a fox, maybe he was a bit deaf, certainly didn't expect me to be there.


    That's great news Cal, seems like it'll take a little while, but heading in the right direction.  being positive, at least you have six or so weeks until any races.

    Glad you're also improving Guarddog.

    Great weeks training Hazlenut.  If my knee is holds up I'll start some careful speedwork.

    Races l've decided on, Covid and injury pending.

    April: Kent Spring Half marathon.  Hilly but picturesque, not a PB course.
    May: Bettshanger 10 mile race: PB effort
    June: Saxon shore half marathon: Want one crack at a half marathon PB this year, fast and fairly flat course.
    July: SVN Olympic challenge: Want 18-20 miles ideally.
    August: Canterbury Half: Cracking, but tough course.

    Autumn marathon maybe if things go to plan???




  • Hope the new attempt at a run was more successful Cal and you didn't have any issues later in the day.

    Foxes can act a bit strange sometimes LTT - maybe he was intent on hunting something?  Nice plans you have there - let's hope it works out (some of the races at least). 

    Rather undisciplined run on Monday - as I can generally expect to do a recovery speed run on Tuesday with other people, I've switched Monday to doing some general aerobic miles instead with a set of strides.  Despite Sunday's long run with a faster section I was feeling quite frisky (maybe the springlike air?) and ran quite a bit faster than I should have been doing.  I didn't overdo the strides though - kept them nice and relaxed.  5.6 miles in a bit under 48 minutes.  

    Yesterday evening a local round with my faithful Tuesday pal.  I checked out a suitable route per bike in the afternoon (also to get some daylight in as we didn't run until 7pmish).  6.5 miles with around 150m of ascent.  This involved a loop of the village at the end - I couldn't persuade my running partner to do that so we ran 5.7 instead.  A couple of variants on top as neither of us fancied running down a steep bit of road at the beginning so onto a rough track in the woods instead needing a bit of care and some other bits I didn't do with the bike. 
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    LTT, I happened across a fox on my Sunday walk and he completely ignored me. They can be quite brazen, at least in London.

    No ill effects from Tuesday's run so I had another run today. It was less comfortable which may be due to going out earlier or to the exercises I did before I went out. However, I was able to complete 5 miles so if it doesn't get worse during the day (it seems OK so far) then I can keep moving forward.
  • Hope things keep going that way Cal and you can (gently) rebuild.

    Speedwork on Wednesday - finally plucked up the courage to have a go at one of P&Ds main marathon training elements - a straight through LT run.  4 miles @ 6:55 pace which was more or less bang on target.  If anything a bit fast.  The first km (sorry) felt fine, the second ended with a slight incline which left me puffing and blowing.  The third km was a bit slower as I was suffering from stitch a bit.  Managed to pick up the final 3 and a bit though.  The legs held out well, the lungs struggled a bit to keep up. Did a warm-up (progresssive) and  a cool-down on top.

    Yesterday's run was an MLR - took a late and long lunch break for 11.2 miles in 1:37:19.  Either down or up (some of which a bit steeper).   Mostly off-road but nothing technical.    Have a good weekend.
  • 7.5 miles last night at slightly harder, but still not too hard effort.  First run on the road for a while, felt really hard after a few weeks of fields!

    Knee seems to continue to improve, which is pleasing, although still wearing a knee support.

    Great news Cal that things continue to improve!, it is so nerve racking when you hurt something not knowing if it'll be weeks or months.

    Some cracking runs there Hazlenut, you must be on got a sub 20 min 5k? or very close.

    Quick question Cal, Hazelnut... if you were training for a half marathon and hoped for X minute miles, how many would you do in a block in a long run.

    Would you do some thing like 6 easy, 6 at race pace, mile on, mile off? 4 easy, 8 at race pace?

    Hard to know.. any advice? Thanks
  • HazelnutCHHazelnutCH ✭✭✭
    edited March 2021
    Good news on a decent road run LTT.  20 mins for a 5k is beyond me - best I've done was a downhill segment of a race (about 7 miles) down a hill in 20:56.  

    Hmm - regarding the HM training - I would rather set training paces on what you can do at the moment rather than what you would like to be able to do.  The former will get closer to the latter if you get a decent phase of training in.  But it is hard to say what paces would be suitable for training at the moment.  Coming off of an injury and with no races in the last months.  I would normally say go out and TT a 5k but I don't want to get you injured again!  For my last HM I trained for my core workouts were building up to 40 mins of threshold running (slightly faster than my goal HM pace) via timed rather than distance intervals, a few nasty progressive runs with 3-5k ending at that pace (10 miles to 16 miles) and some short speedwork at 5-10k race pace or effort (hills).  6-8 miles at HM pace in one go would be tough.

    Recovery 5 yesterday and a nice route explorer with 3 others today and a few solo bits (post office and drills) - 9.81 miles in 1:36 with plenty of hills.
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Good news on the knee, LTT.

    That sounds like a hard session, Hazel.

    After a horrible cold walk yesterday, I was keen to run today. It is still not particularly comfortable - unlike when I have a sore achilles, it doesn't seem to improve as I warm up, but at least it doesn't get any worse either. I did 6 miles and it was a bit quicker than the last run so I've got that going for me at least.
  • Thanks for the reply Hazlenut, I'll take that on board, useful stuff!

    Did a session that was pretty tough today, for me. A six mile trail loop at 9:45ish pace, with a couple of decent, long slopes in it, then five road miles and HHMP (hopeful half marathon pace!) followed by a mile cool down for 12 miles.

    My HHMP is 8:45 min miles (1:54 pace) but they were a bit all over the place, and too fast, 8:36, 8:21, 8:36, 8:46, 8:18.  First hard run since my 18 miler.

    Knee seems to be heading in the right direction, but have a first; achilles pain, undoubtably caused by a sudden, abrupt shift from high drop shoes and all road, to low drop shoes, soft surfaces and lots of mud since shifting to trails, so will have to keep an eye on that.

    Still, nice to be out.  I find the new format of races (going off in small groups of predicted finish time, at 5 minute intervals) a little unnerving.  Play it safe, and put yourself in with a "safe" group, or put yourself in with a "best possible day" group, probably the way to get towed round to a PB, but risk running a half marathon-through deepest Kent countryside on your own if you end up off the back!


    Another great weeks training Hazlenut, always nice to make a new route.

    Great news Cal.  Seems to be slowly improving.  Know what you mean about this weekend, decidedly cold!  

    Have a great week all.


     
  • That was a good run LTT.  Like the idea of doing an off-road section and then the road miles.  If you can do those paces towards the end of a 12 miler you might well be looking at a faster HM time than 1:54 given an injury free block of training.  How long do you have potentially until a race?  Looking at those splits you could try sorting them so that the slower are at the beginning of the road miles and the faster towards the end - would have been a nice progression.  Be careful with that achilles - can take a while for any niggles to clear up there once they get set in. 

    I did a couple of races in that format last year and found it quite relaxing compared to the big huddle at the start, the bang and everyone rushes off too fast.  When do you need to decide which group to join?  I would probably go for somewhere between your two options - would mean people to hunt down and overtake which I like doing if I'm having a good day and wouldn't leave me too adrift if I wasn't.

    HM distance yesterday - didn't want to run longer as I had already done plenty of miles for the week.  Easier out and faster back (with some unintened progression) for the first 20k and a bit of a cool-down for the rest.  Managed to get up and out reasonably early with just a small breakfast.  Was worth it - less people out and meant I could also go for a walk with OH later on in better weather - it was sleeeting when I set off for my run but we had sunshine later for our walk.  
  • GuarddogGuarddog ✭✭✭
    Good couple of runs there, Hazelnut. And to have the energy to go for a walk after doing HM distance, you put me to shame. 

    Take care of the achilles, LTT. That's how mine started, with a niggle, and unfortunately I ignored it. In terms of the new format for starting races I'm with Hazelnut, it's actually quite relaxing. We did Goodwood just before Xmas and that was the format they used, starting people off in slots based on projected finish time. We went for 1:55 and it does give you people to run off of in a slightly more competitive mode than running with a pacer.

    Well done on the 6 miler, Cal. Hopefully it is improving and it's just a question of confidence that it's not going to get worse. And it is cold - frost the last couple of days down here.

    Two runs over the weekend. Still eschewing hills so Saturday was a 4 miler utilising the flatness that is the Adur. Two miles out and back which was all run, albeit at a very sedate pace. At least it's progression from the run/walk I had been doing.

    Sunday ran from Southwick - heading east back towards Hove. The plan was to get to 5K and see how things were going. Ran the whole distance there in a touch under 27 mins, slow in comparison to last year, but pleased with it. A regroup at that point we decided to run on to the i360. That took us to a touch under 4 miles and having walked down the slope to the lower promenade and then having to walk through some busy crowds we set off again and decided we'd make the run up to 8 miles. I was determined to run the whole piece and although it seemed a rather slow slog I was pleased. Of course the egg and bacon bap at the end of the run was most welcome and when the breeze dropped it almost felt like Spring sitting on the beach eating it. 
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    I seem to have taken a step back, unfortunately. I had a good walk on Sunday but yesterday's run was a bust - hamstring never really warmed up and I just did 3 miles and called it quits. It was aching a lot when I woke up at 4am and I had trouble getting comfortable enough to go back to sleep after that. Anyway, I've found out my physio is working so I'm going to see him tomorrow. Hopefully he can do something to help.
  • Sorry to hear that Cal.  Bits hurting enough to keep you awake are not nice at all.  Hope your physio can sort you out.

    Good progress GD!  You earned the egg and bacon bap - bet the sea air additionally makes you hungry when running.

    Tried to make the most of the first few days of the week without overdoing it as it will be windy for a few now.   6 miles on Monday with some strides.  Tuesday was a group run - we are up to 3 now, I think once the clocks change we should be back to our normal standard route and group as people come out of winter hibernation.  As it was we met at the guy's place and ran a hilly route including a steep bit of trail we power-walked up. Must practice that as it left my calves screeching a bit.  Yesterday was speedwork day for this week - I wanted to do another 4 miles of LT running but cut it to 5k as I was struggling with the surface a lot (and found a good excuse therefore).  Last week's fast run was on smooth tarmac and yesterday's was on a slightly rutted field track with sharp stones and badly mended pothholes meaning I had to work a lot harder to keep my feet stable and was weaving around quite a bit.  Decent sort of run nonetheless with a good warm up and shorter cool-down. 
  • Well hello again everyone, it's more than two years since I last posted here!

    I really fell out of love with running for quite a while, essentially I suffered a mental health breakdown in the summer of 2019 and just as things were beginning to look up along came the pandemic and lockdown one. Lockdown three hit me really hard but I'm (slowly) on the up now!

    I've made more effort at getting back into running since New Years and I'm enjoying it more again. I've lost a huge amount of pace so I'm focussing on increasing my distance at the moment, motivation is still hard sometimes with no races to aim for but with some luck I'm hoping to get a marathon in by the end of the year. Today was a good one but a bit windy along the sea front, five miles in 46.40 took five minutes off my fastest time this year (and last year) so in that respect it was very positive. Brand new shoes today too so maybe that helped put a little extra spring in my step!

    Up to 47 miles this month so far which is more than I expected but I've got to be careful not to aim too high only to be shot down again.
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