Runners united: I run, I do running, I am a runner

I tell you, they're vicious b@stards when they're nesting. Going to have to re-think my route to avoid the nest tomorrow.

Oh was it a typo sfxmum? I thought it was a running injury I hadn't yet persuaded myself I've got suffered from.

I liked his book a lot. It's a while since I read it so might give it another go, it will gee me up for my arduous 5k on Saturday morning

Hello all -just checking in.

Not much running happening here at the moment - still

I will never live the boob down
It us Murakami's book on running 'What I talk about when I talk about running' very good read
Have Sam Murphy's book to read as well as Born to Run once dh is done with it

Oh meant to say re fuel. I used to take watered down Lucozade on anything over 8 miles. On the HM I did we were given Lucozade pouches about halfway and I hung onto it for grim death sipped that for the rest of the run. I've tried gels but found them truly gopping. Tried jelly babies once but didn't notice any discernible effect.

Morning all. I lost a long post on my BB last night but was too tired to type it all again before bed. It's probably just as well, flipping BB always posts twice for some reason.

Moshi Glad your mum's doing better. Erm, what is Murakami's boob?

Thanks Fannybanjo for the encouragement. I used to run, did the Silverstone HM (2:11) a few years ago and several 10ks (0:58). I've been looking forward to getting over the 30 min threshold. Next goal - 5 miles, then I can start a 10k schedule with some AIs and more interesting stuff than just plodding.

Will be out at lunchtime today to reinforce my 30 mins. DH has hidden my Garmin somewhere so I'll have to plot a new route on The Good Run Guide before I go.

More like roadkill than dolphins round my way too.

Um [;)] was supposed to be a

I live on the Moray coast and regularly see dolphins, deer and murderous seagulls... [;)] One almost took my head off last week.

We had a park session at running club last night - a bit of Parlauf (sp?) and just some daft games to work on strength. My legs are sore today! I'm going to give the club a miss tomorrow and just go out for a leisurely run instead. It's my wee man's 2nd birthday on Saturday and then we're going on holiday for a couple of weeks so think my running is going to go to pot...

Very envious of the sighting of dolphins on your run, sonic! You made me laugh talking about sightings of roadkill fanny.

Just did a fartlek strides run: 8:03M in 1:02:09 (average pace 7:44m/m). The idea behind these strides is to get my legs used to fast running so did 8 x 100m (roughly) strides of fast running focused on form which were interspersed in the run. Felt nice to be running fast within a steady paced run but conscious of need to control pace so kept it steady the whole run. My steady pace I am aiming to keep between 7:30-8m/m so the average pace was about right although most of my miles were in the 7:30m/m range as I started off with a couple of easy miles to warm up.

Does anybody who uses Garmin ever look at the pace zone summary? I have just started to look at it but am not sure how to use the information. I think it has more use if you use a HRM but I don't.

Happy running all.

Dolphins would be a nice distraction! All I ever get is rabbits.

Will look at these Hi5isogels. I've only used the gels I got free from other runs, but I found some old ones at the back of a cupboard from last year (yum! ) which I had ignored because they were cola flavoured (coke is not it, as far as I'm concerned), but when I used them I did two PBs on two consecutive days. So did make me wonder. I do take dextrose tablets with me on longer runs, after having a wibbly moment 8 miles away from home once. But do also think I have enough blonag to keep me going...

Did a 5k last night in the gathering gloom. Felt like I was wearing a fat suit while I was running it, but when I checked at home, although I was a little slower than my last few short runs, it was still faster than the May/early June efforts so I guess that is something. Must not eat lots of sausages for tea if I'm going running later! (I could write my own running book with useful tips like that... perhaps we should do an MN one!!)

sonic my friend's emigrating to Perth at the end of the year - she's a runner too - wait until I tell her she'll be able to see dolphins when she runs... at the moment she's only seeing roadkill it sounds gorgeous.

How I laughed at the spunk consistency of gels - they're vile! I take out haribo but may try those Hi5 ones.

There's a 10K trail run in Delamere Forest near me which I'm considering entering - it's 17 August but I'm dithering because I still feel dreadful. Can't shake this cold and kids seem to be ill too atm, I suspect DD1 has a urinary tract infection so Drs for us today. So for the moment my new Brooks are staying in their box...

Everyone ? thanks for the nice welcome messages.

Moshi- I?m in Perth not Sydney, so we have an imitation c2surf ? 2 k shorter and with a poor excuse for heartbreak hill (I say that now, may change my mind when I?m running it) . Next year I?m planning on flying back over to Sydney to do the ?real one? ? If I do it twice more I get a special shiny medal for ten times, which would be nice I guess... Running here at this time of the year is lovely ? it?s nice and cool, and I saw dolphins last night and this morning. Not so sure how I?ll cope in summer.

I'm back in love with running! Not that I was out of it, but just struggling. No real reason other than real life and like you say science juggling runs around things makes it hard to stay motivated.

I increased my distance tonight and ran nearly 4.5 miles (which I haven't done in a very long time!) and it felt really good. Unfortunately, it made me realise that it's getting darker earlier so need to have a think about running during the day when DD sleeps.

moshi glad your mum is on the mend again.

Ladies ladies ladies... Haven't you heard of the fabulous Hi5 Isogels?

Snigger at gels . I suppose I've had it drummed into me that on long runs you must eat something or you will DIE (plays dramatic music)...I can see why something is needed as I am running for a long time but my tummy just isn't so sure.

futurity - do you think you need fuel? (sorry I can't resist it: i've been trying gels for years and could say lots of nice things about them ) On the Infamous Half Mara of Indefinite Duration I ate nothing, and drank nothing (well there was so much water getting in by osmosis that hydration didn't seem necessary) but I don't think that's why I was so crap slow.

Lol at jelly babies comment! I need to get some really as will soon be up to 10 mile runs so need to practice eating again whilst running. Last half marathon I couldn't stomach much as I was running faster than normal training pace and couldn't face them. I then found last two miles very hard..whether that was due to lack of energy/food or whether due to not having trained further than 11miles..I just don't know. Maybe I should try gels but I haven't heard anyone say anything nice about them!?

hello all

veeery long day - two mornings of 5am starts, and another tomorrow :( Have re-jigged my running schedule to try and get a few long runs in as that is the training component that I am missing. And yes, futurity and I have a sub 2:15 pact...the programme involves carefully timed consumption of jelly babies. I'm first - only 5 weeks away and am feeling a bit wobbly about it. But I think I might do another (June2009 not, this year, runtothebeat - I don't think I can manage the weekend away at what is a very busy time of year for me, and DP's birthday to boot) in late September. But I am really hoping for a good time in the Glendalough Trail which I have a bit more time to train for. So stickylittlefingers you're in!

i have a goodish hill on the home stretch to my house, but possibly not of Co. Durham proportions! On the potty training front, she is just not ready but thanks for all the tips and advice. Stored away for future use!

Off to London to visit my mother, so hoping to get time to stick to my training plan - it's always good to run in a different place.

hello all

moshi good to hear your mum is fighting

busy here,we are leaving thu for festival camping trip, hopefully after all the upheaval of the start of the holidays we can start on some sort of routine with a tad more running, dh has been doing v.log hrs, and usual baby sitter is away

thought I'd share this running to work happy running

Moshi my post took so long to type that I hadn't noticed you'd updated us re your Mum. Fingers crossed things are all ok. So sorry also to hear your Dad passed away recently. When you say about running being your friend, I feel like that - I don't really ever not have it in my life, if I can't do it, I miss it - I am always preaching to people about how great it is - in fact, sometimes I am more enthusiastic about running than I am DH... - I say to people, it comes as natural to me to run as it does to brush my teeth. It's my routine. I don't know what I'd do if I had an injury. However no-one else I know shares my enthusiasm hence why I LOVE this thread!!

Quenelle well done! We all started in similar ways, it's a great achievement to be doing 30 minutes non stop running and you will remember how hard it was in the beginning!

Moshi I hope your Mum is okay.

June - Very good advice, thank you - as they say a rest can do no harm but my feet are twitching to get out - I'm in middle of GNR training so really could do without this week off, especially since I am away from 5 August to 12th so will be a struggle to do any proper runs then as well...

sticky more freak than chic, most definitely!!

No running still, probably wait until Thursday morning. I'm exhausted too, so busy with the kids plus getting work done on the garden and it just adds to the mess. Need to get out tomorrow with DC, saves cleaning up all day! Plus point of the day though is that went to get new trainers and my gait assessed. Kids thought it was brilliant and when I was on the treadmill I kept putting the speed up to see how trainers were - I have forgotten how easy it is to run on a treadmill as it's been 12 months since I've used one. I have a neutral foot in both so easy really - was good to hear that I am striking my foot down "correctly"... My legs looked like they were from a dwarf when I was watched it back - I'd love very long legs but hey ho, tough shit!! Bought Brooks Defyance (3) - they were in the sale whereas the Defyance (4) were over £80. Makes sense really. I'm not buying them to look good!

HURRAY and thanks for the supportive posts. Visited mum today and she is going to be discharged in a few days. It is a bit of a rollercoaster having her be ill and I really do think, like rhet said, it is to do with dad having died so recently.

quenelle - that book by Murakami (Murakami's boob anyone? ) is one of my favourites. As well as the one by Charlie Spedding "From Last to First". Cannot recommend both highly enough. Am currently browsing through Noakes on "The Lore of Running" which is rather large and scientific.

june - to answer your question, I have always run but had various breaks for things like hockey, children, career etc. But generally my life has had running in it. It is like my best friend, it keeps me centered, and I wouldn't be without it.

Hi all. I'm very proud to report that on Sunday I increased my run from 25 mins to 32 whole minutes At my metronomic 10 minute/mile pace that makes about 3 milesish, which means I could probably survive a Parkrun. I'm going to try it this Saturday. DebitheScot I would like to get me one of those Parkrun chums too. I like the idea of having some regular me and a mate-time on a Saturday morning.

Moshi I don't know the history with your mum but I gather she's been poorly for a while. I hope she's better soon.

Rhet DS is only 23 months so I won't be thinking about potty training for a while yet. Unusually my mum has always strongly advised against trying too early; apparently my older sister had a lot of accidents because she started her too young, she once peed in a neighbour's saucepan. But my younger brother just went straight from nappies to peeing in the toilet standing up, because Mum waited until he was ready (he used a step obviously, he wasn't 9 or anything). DS knows potties are for wee wees because he's seen one in action at the childminder, but as his idea of using it is to sit on the edge with his feet inside it I think we have a while to wait yet. Good luck with your DD.

futurity if you like running books have you read What I Talk About When I Talk About Running? It's not a how-to-run book, more just an about-when-I-ran-an-ultramarathon by a famous metaphysical-type novelist. Anyway, I really enjoyed it. Anyone's welcome for a lend if they're interested.