Sub 25 - and beyond!

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  • Tracey
    You can't have much weight to lose - and you have great legs! If you were depending on those multiples of 10 seconds per pound to get faster then I would be a bit worried. But you are getting faster through training (and racing).

    Chouette and I have discussed the lose that last bit of weight get faster issue. As you know she is probably the lightest runner on the whole website! Like most women I think "hmm just a few more pounds, a couple of minutes off my times." But it's bloody hard work getting slightly - but not unhealthily - underweight - because that's what it would be I suppose.

    Are you following an actual diet? Or just watching what you eat a bit? I find sometimes small extras can creep in unnoticed until the old jeans feel a bit tight....

    Having said that, running is the only thing that has - almost - ended the war between me and my "sprinter's" (read hefty) thighs.
  • sharkie

    I need get rid of the pounds to be able to wear my swim wear on holiday.
  • sharkie, even when I lost the 2.5 stone about 18 months ago (going down to a slight 8) I still had thunder thighs. I swear that the time I should have spent in the boob queue was spent in the thigh queue! ;o(
  • Kazz,
    You sound like me! How on earth can someone who takes a small size 8 have gi-normous thighs? Behave!

    But I have been there. There is very little correlation between my actual size and shape and my idea of same. Although at 53 and a lot I am beginning to think it's about time I made peace with my body.

    Anyway I bet you HAVENT got thunder thighs.
    Miss Speedy!
  • Oh I really have got the archetypal pear figure and an awful lot of cellulite.
  • And as for you
    Tracellina G

    Are you sure it's not just a bit of toning up that's neeeded? The Pilates will help with that - or perhaps you could do a few of Kazz's abs exercises if it's your middle you're worried about. I bet you'll look fabulous in your swim wear.

  • No run day today.
    Just a quick bike ride (7 or 8 miles) to the dentists and back.

    Mix and matching the advice I have been given means that this is the plan: another month of miles for me. It is very hard to be patient and those miles take so long, but I will do it. I will attempt to do 30 for 3 weeks this time and then cut back for a week again. So just a mini speed session this week. If I start feeling glum and ploddy then I will allow myself some 100s as a treat!

    I am relying on Chouette for the proof that base miles work. No pressure then Chouette!
  • sharkie

    How did you get on at the dentist?
  • Slightly better news. I'm not now going to have £6000 worth of implants, and bone grafts and sinus lifts and all the other stuff I can't afford anyway.

    There has been this inexplicable - by anyone at the practice - OVER a centimetre of bone loss round my very back molar. I've got to lose the tooth but that should stop the gum disease. I won't go into any more boring details. It's bad but not as bad as it was on Thursday.

    Anyway perhpas it will give me high cheekbones!
    On one side.

    Old Hollywood stars were reputed to have all their upper back teeth taken out for that glamorous wasted look....
  • sharkie

    At least it is your back tooth.

    I have a bridge on my top front teeth. Got the first one at 16 on the NHS at the dental hospital at White Chapel. Had that one on for about 15 years then, my dentist referred me back there and I got another set free.

    When I was pregant with Andre, Kierrah kept knocking one of them out and I got that replace free, because of being pregnant.

    Next time round it is a couple of thousand pound per tooth. Last time they put one back on it cost me £80, just to cement it back on.
  • SivSiv ✭✭✭
    Oh-errr, don't get me started on teeth...

    Thanks Pammie, I had a great time. Total for the week was about 12 miles - just what I needed!

    sharkie - I am definitely NOT doing base training, which from what I've read on here means running gazillions of miles for several years before doing any speedwork or races.
    I've simply cut back to one speedy session a week while increasing distances generally. I have a race in eight weeks' time and will then probably do about one a month during the summer.
  • SivSiv ✭✭✭
    I shall blather endlessly about weight&co when I have more time...

    For now, just one tip for Tracey:
    Cut back hard on salt and salty food (that means nearly all processed food). You'll retain less fluid round your middle and look better in a swimsuit almost overnight.
  • Chouette
    Hello, glad to see you here. Grovel, grovel, ok you aren't doing base training. I thought 'base training' covered more or less everything that isn't speed sharpening. I thought it was what I was doing in a limited sort of way. Err, getting the miles in and all that. But I never mind being wrong. I have had years of practice!

    I very much look forward to any blathering you care to do.
    Please do it here, I am always up for a rambling discussion as you know.

    That's a really good tip by the way - especially if someone likes crisps and cereals and hmmm... lots of stuff.

    I don't put salt on my food at all and rarely put any in cooking - certainly not if it's for me or me and Mr. Shhh.
    Now garlic - yum - that's another matter entirely. I reckon I have at least 3 cloves a day. And it's true I never get colds, even when peeps around me are snifling and snuffling and pegging out.

    Crikey, Shouldn't have said that. It's tempting fate.
  • Pammie*Pammie* ✭✭✭
    Sharkie

    I rarely put salt in food either in the preparation or the en product.
    Last week when i made Rosemary chicken i did put salt in, but that was the first time in years literally years.

    Garlic now and then i use.
    What type of foods do you eat, or maybe thats for another thread.


  • cealceal ✭✭✭
    Has anybody been following Fiona Bruce's programme on Food on a Thursday pm BBC2?
  • ceal
    no I haven't - is it good?

    pammie
    I am very interested in food and diet and I know some of the others are too. I think this is a good place to discuss it.
    I eat LOADS of vegetables. I just love them - weirdly not that keen on fruit. If I follow the porion sizes in all the 5 a day type info then I have about 14 portions a day, no problem!

    I also eat a lot of fish, some meat but not much - mainly venison. Plus bread and LOTS of espresso coffee. Oh and a small amount of decent dark chocolate. Every day.

    Don't start me!

    Next post from me will be about today's training - which, thanks to ceal, went well.
  • cealceal ✭✭✭
    sharkie
    I wait with bated breath:-))


    The food programme is very interesting, one knows most of it, but it is reinforcement, and I quite like Fiona Bruce. There was LOTS of raw garlic eaten last week by men.
  • This is supposed to be a 30 mile week for me. Well that's the target.

    According to the Running for Fitness tables my VO 2 max is 35.6 - that's using my best time over a 4.3 mile race. Another table on this site (which I think is a very good one) then gives me target paces using my supposed VO2 max.

    My long slow/ recovery/easy pace should be 10:43 per mile or slower (6:39 per k)
    I feel that quite a few of my easy runs have been more like 11 plus, sometimes nearer 12 recently and they haven't felt particularly easy. Mainly because the snailio pace at the beginning has then meant that I get anxious to speed up later.

    I always jog half a mile or so - sometimes do a bit of dynamic warm up on the way - then stretch, then take the next mile pretty slowly. It feels a struggle. Ceal suggested that I should do a few strides after the stretching - not all out sprinting more wake up calls to the legs and systems.

    The lap of the park is 1.1 miles. That first lap usually is done at almost 12 min miling. Today I did the whole first lap as a mixture of strides and very relaxed jogging. None of the strides was more than 80 metres I shouldn't think. Some as short as 40. I made sure they weren't all out - which is my natural tendency over a short stretch. So they were quick but comfortable - I wasn't out of breath on the whole lap. To my surprise it was a minute quicker than usual - even with the slow jog recoveries. And I felt fine. Average pace about 10:20 - certainly no slower.

    I carried on for another 4 laps, all done at between 10:05 - 10:15. pace. I felt MUCH more comfortable than I have done lately, and kept the speed much more even. No HRM but perceived effort - well I could have chatted with short sentences and raise a light sweat.

    DId 7.2 miles in all and don't feel tired. I thought it was interesting what a difference doing the strides made. Thanks ceal!
  • cealceal ✭✭✭
    It's a pleasure sharkie.

    Hopefully you weren't running too fast. A HRM would have been confirmation of that

    You will be able to experiment with the idea so it suits you, which you have already done so.

    Let me know how you feel tomorrow.
  • The interesting thing is that I don't think I was running too fast. It was comfortable at all times. As you say my HRM would give confirmation, I will wear it on the next similar run and hope it behaves instead of giving me peculiar readings. But I certainly could have chatted - I madly mumbled a few sentences to myself and sang a few words to make sure!

    Sorry if whole thing seems like no big deal to most other peeps. But training paces is a BIG topic.
  • SivSiv ✭✭✭
    It's a HUGE topic, sharkie. How are your legs today?

    I usually feel better (probably just the adrenaline) after running a bit faster but sometimes there's a backlash a day or even two days later.

    I'll definitely give it a go tomorrow though as I'm planning another pyramid session à la ceal.

    Re base training, peeps have corrected me about it in the past so I wouldn't like to give the impression that's what I'm doing and then have someone pop up and say I'm not doing it properly. There was a long thread on it somewhere. I think it may be what Hipps is doing?
  • SivSiv ✭✭✭
    Garlic is wonderful stuff. I put half a dozen cloves in just about anything savoury. Never understand why peeps spend time chopping and crushing it... I just stick the peeled cloves in with whatever I'm making and squash them up when they're cooked. You can even put them in unpeeled and squeeze the flesh out later to save time.
  • Love garlic. I've got one of those little chopping gizmos. Bung loads in, chop it all up and then put it in a jar, cover it with olive oil and keep it in the fridge. Always have chopped garlic on hand then. Lasts about 3-4 months.

    Sadly, I use far too much salt (and always have). I try to cut back but I've got to the stage where everything is completely tasteless if it doesn’t have a huge amount of salt on it. And it's second nature so even if I decide to cut back I find I've put it on without even thinking about it. I know - don't have it in the house! In my defence I do use the low-sodium stuff at home.
  • Ooh, Ooh! The Sale Sizzler 5k series has appeared in the RW Event system.
    The first of the 4 fortnightly races is on Thursday 28th June.
    There's nothing on the Sale Harriers website yet, but this must be the thin end of the wedge.

    I know it's a long way off, but these are the main races where I will be aiming to SMASH my 5k PB in 2007...
  • Hippo - 5k Race Tip (even though I've only ever done ONE 5k race before myself)

    Don't start too near the back, as you risk getting held up behind the general crush, and there isn't enough time/distance to make up the time you lose...

    ;o)
  • Totally agree Daz - no time for niceties in a 5k!!
  • The first time I did a 5k race at Serpentine, I started at the front with Ceal etc. When I looked at my Garmin I was doing 7mm, it was that or get run over LOL.
  • Hiya Tracey,
    I'm surprised you didn't continue the race at 7mm! I saw what you were up to on your club run last night, you competitive little speed merchant!

    Are you SURE you're a marathon runner at heart :-)

    xx
  • Tonight's session was definitely easier than when I did it a couple of weeks ago. Still slow but better!!
  • sharkie

    Some time your leg want to fly and some time they want to plod.

    Daz

    So you want to do a marathon.
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