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My Last Run
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Naughty DH!.
Long mid week MLR for me 14.3 miles in 2:04. Cold again and it took nearly a third of the run for my quads to fire properly. I would have happily kept going at the slow end of my long run paces but increasing the pace to the final half being at the faster end of the pace range worked well. I am defininitely getting better at keeping things going when the legs get tired.
Took some water and a gel with me but didn't take the latter. I could have done without the water as well but decided to practice drinking regularly as I am not good at this - I tend to wait too long and then get dehydrated.
After a gym day yesterday, I was back out running today and I managed to do 10 miles without falling apart. Had a bit of an ache around the SI joint initially but that passed after a couple of miles, then after 6 miles or so, high ham tendon ache got more noticeable but stayed at a constant level without getting worse.
My 80% is by no means guaranteed, so it could well be close.....
Cal, that sounds odd. In my simple world I'd always assumed that there would be a direct correlation between heart rand breathing rates. Good luck with shedding that timber. Strategy?
9k for me today. A real Dolly Mixture session. A poor man's Fartlek!
If I had to have a nickname I think it would the Random Runner.
I am a lazy drinker in general JB (although if you were to give me a nice beer..). Some people seem to tip in pints of water/tea whatever everyday - I try to down a litre of water on top of the odd coffee and tea but otherwise..
10k recovery yesterday - took advantage of going shopping to do a run on the flat. Bit sluggish and ploddy though nothing really complained. The stench of freshly spread ripe slurry next to one field was pretty amazing!
Hazel, I've now got this image of you running very fast in full kit through the Swiss equivalent of John Lewis.
So at the age of 68 a PB for me today: 20.13, AG of 85.33%. Very chuffed. Only I second shaved but a PB is PB.
4 runners under 16 minutes; one runner with 94%. They put me in my
place!
Excellent PB, John...and yes, parkrun today. I went to do the new one at Stockley Country Park (just north of Heathrow) so I'm Londone again. It's all trail and I wore trail shoes but it wasn't muddy - just a couple of patches. Pleasant enough course though not quite flat. I scraped in under 29 minutes so I'm still lacking the ability to run any quicker, though I am not niggle free of course. Nothing hurt too badly and (more importantly) nothing hurts now so I should be good for a longish run tomorrow.
Good run; encouraging other than the fall. Interesting to link that with tour trainers. I can see the logic.
15k for me. This counts as epic! Hated most of it. Stuff aches as well. But got it done at 5.30 pace with AHR at 138, low for me.
Entered the Chester 10k, my 'international's debut (Wales - international?). Only the top 4 of each team of 10 score, so it's virtually certain that I'll make no impact on the result. Bit disappointing but I get to wear the shirt and (big thrill) we line up at the front on the mass field in which case about 450 folk will coming steaming past me in the first km!
4 weeks to go. Wish it were 5k!
Well done on completing Londone again Cal. Must be hard to keep up on such. Nice to back it up with a decent long run too. Sorry to hear about the fall - hopefully not too achy afterwards. Definitely take care with higher stack shoes when tired. So much easier to catch them somewhere. Don't know as I can advise on the shoes - I used Hoka Supersonics on my 50k which felt ok on longer training runs as nice and light but enough cushioning but I ended up with wrecked toe nails on the race. It is so individual.
Decent weekend of running for me - key run was a long one over 16 miles with 12 of those at MP (ish). I ran the 12 a bit too hard for MP so I need to sort that out. Yesterday's short recovery was sloooowww on tired but not sore legs.
And then........2 seconds into a gentle jog home something tweaked. My training session was based on something the Ingerbritsen's do, forgetting that they are 40 years younger and infinitely more talented than me.
It was all going too well!
Well done on your 16. Not surprised your legs were tired after that.
John, that's majorly frustrating. It's very easy to forget we are not youngsters...let's hope it was nothing too serious.
One thing I didn't mention here was my left knee started bitching after that long run on Sunday - inside of the knee, so felt like a muscle issue rather than ligaments or meniscus. I took two rest days (rest as in not running - Monday was 4 mile walk and light lower body in the gym, and yesterday was 4.5 mile walk and upper body).
John, 85.33%, that's incredible and Hazel is right you are continuing to give us all hope whilst getting older !
I get odd twinges of ache and pain when running all the time. Most of the time when ignored it goes away. I have this RSI type issue with my left foot toes but it only hurts when I'm walking without shoes ! Strange...
Back from Scotland and glad I sorta managed to get a long run done. Aim was run to Holyrood parkrun, complete that and go further. Rocked up 8:50am ready, no one really around. Got chatting and turns out Scottish parkruns are at 9:30 ! Anyway carried on chatting to various people for half our before doing that...
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Edinburgh is without doubt my favorite city ! Picture taken from top of Arthurs seat, top point on Parkrun...
Good that the knee is basically ok by the sounds of it Cal.
I tend to ignore the aches and twinges too DH. That caught me out a few years ago when mara training - I had a sore calf on a long run and promptly pulled it on a subsequent tempo run. I should have dropped the latter.
Looks like you had a nice trip to Edinburgh.
2 x 8 miles for me on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday's was a steady local run with quite a few undulations - I concentrated on effort levels rather than trying to maintain a pace up the hills. Mostly to try to save myself for yesterday's return to speedwork with 5 x 800m. I don't enjoy these sessions but at least I got all 5 reps done though the speed wasn't anything spectacular. Excellent conditions - cool and almost no wind.
DH, nice photo. I've only been there once (when I worked for a removals company: ouch!) but Edinburgh is a very handsome city. The climate isn't the best though. I bet it's got some fierce hill for runners. Talking of which........
Hazel, I note the 'undulations'. Of course one person's undulations are another's steep hills. I reckon a Swiss undulation is a south coast of England's fell run! 5x 800m sounds horrible................(BTW there should be some photos from my Chester race but I reserve the right to bin them!)
My tweaked muscle isn't giving me any problems other than when I sit in a certain position. I did a 5k gentle test run yesterday and it was OK. Today a 15 mile bike ride (no undulations!) and it's OK. I'm planning to do a parkrun, so tomorrow I'll do some strides to see how it copes with 'pace'.
I accidentally drowned my phone yesterday. This is a bugger for one reason or another and I'll file under 'Things you can do without' (I don't mean the phone, I mean replacing it.) It's going to take a few days to sort out so for now I'm back on my steam-driven laptop.
My son got turned away from the passport control at Gatwick en route to Madeira with his wife and 2 little 'uns on account of the expiry date (4 months not 6 months) on his passport. His fault but another little Brexit related snag, the gift that keeps on giving!
Undulations feature quite strongly in my local area as I live (almost) at the top of the biggest hill in the immediate region. I do go down to lower regions frequently for flat runs though. River banks tend to feature then.
Yesterday's undulations:
The slope around 3k was enough (for a recoveryish run). Total elevation gain: 113m.
I won't ask where you drowned your phone, I have certain ideas though. Bit of a pain indeed. Shame for your son - did his family proceed without him?
The above was my last run. Local woods mostly. I haven't run over that bump for a while and was surprised at the amount of snow and ice still lingering in parts. Stubborn stuff. With temps creeping into double figures during the day at the moment It shouldn't last too much longer. 5 miles in just under 48 minutes.
Cal, that sounds miserable. I'm not familiar with the 'ocular' variety of migraine. I get the lightshow but no pain. It always dissipates after 20 minutes or so, so I guess I get off lightly. But it's not a pleasant 20 minutes!
Good luck for a parkrun tomorrow.
5k today, making 38k for the week - my most for goodness knows how long (I know, still not great!). Might be tempted to do a bit of tourism tomorrow - Horsham where I have unfinished business. (Dropped out with a hammy after 2k and then had an episode described as a 'dissociative state', I think. This was considerably longer and nastier than the typical migraine.)
21.33 was a tad disappointing until I looked at the results and saw my AG (just scraped over 80%) was the best in the field of 350, so I wasn't the only one who found it hard.
I've only done summer Horsham, largely because that's next to the station whereas the winter route is much further away. Sounds quite tough but bet it wasn't as tough as the one I did today.
My friend with a car offered to drive somewhere and I picked Brentwood in Essex as that one's not accessible via public transport (not easily, anyway). It's in a large, partly wooded country park and from what I read online, it seemed like it would be undulating. It was, however, actually hilly and bloody hard. The course was an out and back and rather rollercoaster-like in nature and I admit I basically ran out of puff during the last mile and had to walk briefly a couple of times to recharge. I managed to pick it up on the last downhill section for a decent finish but my time was 31:35 (that was an AG 1st, too, so yes I'd say it was tough). On reflection, it might not have been the best choice for a parkrun after having two days off with crushing fatigue but you live and learn. I actually feel OK though, and the downhills didn't seem to bother my dodgy knee.
We also got there so early I ended up helping with setup so managed to bag a tourist volunteer credit at the same time.
I've had 3 of those episodes. The trick is not to panic but easy to write that when you are feeling OK.
Are you still thinking about the ultra? What is the timeline?
Good on that older runner - I wouldn't go on betas either.
My watch measured HR a bit lower than recently today and yesterday (148 average on this run - it was 160 average last week with a peak of 186) - I suspect the recent update it got might be the reason for that. It did seem quite absurdly high before.
The short(ish) weekly distance does seem to suit you though JB. You could do more but would it achieve much? I remember doing my first 100k months when I first started running - it felt like a long way. Your parkrun seems pretty good considering the course and your wava result.
I have more or less completed my cut-back week but actually feel more tired than before. Work stress and not too much sleep hasn't helped maybe. Friday saw a few steady miles but also some hill efforts and some strides and the former were hard work. Bit over 8 miles in total. I should probably have left a day until yesterday's MLR as I struggled a bit through the whole thing - 14.3 miles. I forgot to take my watch and had no reference to my pace but fortunately had my phone to record the run with the strava app. Pacing was actually ok - neither too ploddy nor too fast. I wasn't in the mood to negative split the run though as I often try to do on an MLR with a few faster k at the end. I was just glad to get it done. Nice flat route (up and down a river) but pretty busy with walkers during the second half.
Well done on your run, it sounds well-judged. Hope the work stress aleviates soon.
Last week: 15k, 5.28 pace, AHR 138
Today: 15k, 5.26 pace, AHR 163!
How does that work? The terrain was pan flat for both runs. I didn't feel any different in that I hated them both.
You have far more experience on these things than me, so any ideas? And well done on a very good run.
Hazel, thanks for the supportive comments. I think you are right in that my 5k stuff is fine without longer runs. It's only the upcoming 10k event that is getting me out of the door to clock up a few more kms. When it's done, I'll relax partly because the extra distance is messing with my knees.
After the 10k my only ambition is to keep running until my 70s!
Sorry to hear about the work stress.
I'm sure weve all been there and sympathise. I retired 5 years ago and still get work related bad dreams! Running is and should be a stress release valve but sometimes can just be an extra stressor!
You do seem to be blessed with really robust running frame and engine! Long may these continue.....
John, AHR could be a sign of an incoming illness, hope not. I've had a few like that though. Recently I could run a loop avg pace 5:30, HR 150. The other week I was pacing 6:00 with HR 165+... I cut that short as found previously I've pushed on and done more harm that good - I'm learning !
Having said that lower mileage week was with the aim of running Parkrun all out. Completed Cardiff in 21:03 where aim was sub 21:30 so happy with that. Not quite catching John yet but give me 6 months. Short long run yesterday too at 16k where legs felt ok after that Parkrun...
Dreading my 18k MP session tomorrow having not done that distance and pace in over a week with Scotland in-between
My HRM had my heart rate drop off around 30 beats on speeding up yesterday.
Good idea to do a few longer runs prior to the 10k JB. I do niggle away but tend to ignore it - hopefully that won't bite me in the bum at some point. No reason you can't keep up the running with careful management.
Sunday saw a "multi-exercise" day - walking, cycling and a recovery run (4.x miles). All low key though and good to keep things moving.
Back to the harder stuff yesterday - a 12.4 miler. Struggling a bit with this sort of distance at the moment. Short enough (compared to a long run!) that I have to rein myself in not to run it too fast but long enough that I can get bored if I just easy run it. I have a couple of proper tough runs coming up this week so needed to do the latter really. I did put in 2 x 2.5 miles at around mara effort though. Enough to wake up the legs a bit but not make me too tired.