Runners United: Where we support each other through the good runs, the bad runs and everything in between.

cest we have a parkrun black hole though, which is a real shame. I've been to one in Southgate with a friend but it's a long way to go. There is one nearer her house in Barnet which I might try, or MK which isn't that far either and in a nice spot. My plan is to go and reccy the MK half in good time as it's reasonably close to us.

fanny I think I should be aiming for twice a week not once as I do no other strength work. Still aching - ow ow ow. Think it was the lunges and running with leg weights wot dunnit. Though it did make me realise that losing that extra weight would make me fly along

Who's up first this weekend? rhet?

Just a quickie to say good luck to this weekend's racers !

Rhet - Go Girl up that hill ! And where's your sponsorship page (will have a look on FB profile).

Fanny - I'll be keeping everything crossed for the sub 1.50, not that you'll need me too. I reckon you'll do it.

Futurity - Hope it goes ok on your ownsome !

Was definitely thinking about the St Albans HM wench. Looks like there's a few around in the area as well, like Milton Keynes!

fanny I recall we had pretty similar training schedules. 1x long run (10 - 12 miles), 1x tempo, 1x interval plus 1x easy run if I've got time for four runs in the week. Tried to make sure the long run had hills in it as well wherever possible. Think you and I have similar problems with tailoring times properly and not running too hard on every single run so to be honest, don't have as much difference between the various runs as I should... long slow run is usually about 8.30 m/m and tempo about 7.30 m/m.

On the other hand, managed to get 1.47 at the Nottingham HM in September so it all seemed to come together okay in the end!

wench. Circuits is a fucker for draining you. I used to do it twice a week and intend to go back when I can be arsed great though for strengthening the legs and if you do sprints in them, even better!

cest would you say your training for 1.50 was similar to mine?

pan I haven't and I've seen it has a hill, they don't bother me really! Makes it more interesting plus I've a brilliant 10.5 mile route with steep hill I can train on over next few weeks. Have you heard about the goody bags they give out? Supposed to be hilarious.

fanny have you done the S/port 10 before? I ask as I did it about 5 years ago. It's pretty 'pavementy' and there is quite a long incline right at the end before the park finish, so be prepared for that one.

cest so when you move there will be three of us on this thread living only a few miles from each other! There's a HM in St Albans usually in June, but I've never done it because tbh it's pretty much the route I run all the time.

No run today, am aching pathetically from circuit session yesterday. Hoping to make it out tomorrow morning while the two oldest are playing football. Then school firework party in the evening - really hoping it's not a washout .....

Good luck with it fanny - when I got under 1.50 last year it was something like 1.49.47 but those 13 seconds made all the difference to me. Ridiculous really at it's a difference in pace of 1 second per mile...!

Moving to Harpenden (nr. St Albans). Am definitely going to do another HM early next year. Not sure when though cos I find training tends to go to shit a bit over Christmas so it's only in the New Year that I get going again properly for training.

cest sounds like a great run. Where you moving to? Aim for Sunday is 1.49:59... . However.... I'm well aware I may not manage it. I've trained at HM pace 8.22 for past 6 weeks and all threshold runs been at 7.50 so I should be able to do it. We'll see, who knows - I may not beat my GNR time. I'm determined to though and I'm a believer that majority of it (obviously if proper training done) on the day is mental. You aiming for a HM?

Frustrating bonkers. Got my VLM application turned down and was sooo keen to do it. They should have some question on these applications which they use to screen people and which all applicants are required to answer under oath along the lines of:

"How much would you like to run in this event"

(i) What's the event called again?
(ii) A bit, I might do it if nothing better comes up but I might drop out at last minute
(iii) If I don't get a place I will throw myself under a bus and my ghost will come back wearing running shoes and haunt you

I'm going to suggest this to the VLM organisers for starters - they'll remember my name when the next ballot comes round if nothing else! ("Remember that freak who wrote in with the utterly insane suggestion about screening? Guess what, they've applied again.... Think we all know where we're filing that one....")

Sorry to hear about DS DrNo... long night for you. Good luck getting out for that run later on!

Bloody hell fanny, just looked and you've got a lot of HM's in the diary. Puts my dearth of them to shame. Must get something in the diary. What's the aim for the day? Sub 1.50?

Had much better run in this morning. 11 miles at 8.30m/m and felt okay apart from ongoing niggle. Last long run along my favourite canal side route (past the Olympic Stadium) before I move... going to miss it...

Pondering over entering Stockport 10 miler on 11 December. My aim would be for sub 1.20 but does anyone think that too soon after HM?

bonkers I know exactly what you mean, hence I don't even bother entering. If they picked the most deserving then all of us committed runners would all be in it! same for VLM.

DrNo poor you and DS. Hope he's over worse of it and yes, you need to run.

Last run before race. 1 mile slow, 1 mile HM pace (8.22m/m) then 1 mile slow. Piss easy run and got me fired up for Sunday! No period yet BUT looking back, I ran 15 miles in training on the same day I came on last month then 2 days later did 8 miles at HM pace so should be fine. I've bought feminax (hilariously my iPhone spellchecked that to demonic!) so as long as I am not flooding, I'll be fine.... Found a very interesting article on a study re women running during their cycle. Will link to it when I'm at computer.

Happy running ladies and two boys!

oh drno grrr indeed! They're ganging up on you...

But yes, as soon as dh returns from work, I'm out of here

3rd load in the machine as I type He managed to throw up all over himself, my bed and our cream bedroom carpet. Then, my friends walked my dog this morning and before I had time to clean him (he had been rolling in mud and swimming in the river) he charged upstairs and sat at the top of the landing so I had big splodgy dog marks all over my stair carpet. Grr.

poor DrNo and son of DrNo (that does sound like a film). Hope your laundry equipment is all working well.

Any chance of you getting out later?

futurity and bonkers - I get cross each time I have the chance to enter a competition to get Olympic tickets - got a scratch card with petrol a couple of days ago, for instance. I genuinely am not bothered about seeing the Olympics in person. If I won a ticket it would be a travesty, and stupid that some petrol company was allowed to buy loads (and power companies etc), when they could have been i the main ballot. It's definitely not fair.

I just typed a huge message and lost it

Welcome newbies.

The shits and vomiting struck ds last night. I was awake with him from 12.30am to 4.30am. Am knackered. Have just eaten 2 slabs of giant choc brownie.

I need a run!

I know what you mean Bonkers ...hopefully though the Olympic run will be full of nice genuine runners who will appreciate the opportunity to run there. People who apply for the VLM for a laugh and then get in and then don't bother to do it wind me up...I figure this sort of ballot wouldn't have been entered by those type of people so all the places will have gone to genuine runners who will turn up whether rain or shine. Still though of those who got in!

I emailed the Olympic Run people and got a reply (from a real person...I am shocked!),

It says:

"I have checked for you and unfortunately you were unsuccessful in the ballot."

I'm so sad. I didn't get tickets in the first or second round of ticketing and now this. I know it's just a money making exercise but I can't help feeling angry and upset knowing rich sods who just happen to work for sponsor companies will be getting loads of free tickets when they don't really care about the sport itself. There'll probably be empty seats in the stadium because they can't be bothered to turn up.

[bitter]

Debi I was trying to prove how the formula for a standard deviation for grouped data can be written in a different format. . Am a distance learning tutor in statistics. Have just done it though - after hours of trying to figure it out myself, and trawling through t'internet, I finally found it in an ancient (1951) textbook.

Sticky, yes sessions like that are a huge advantage of joining a running club. In fact I did not realise that sessions like this existed until I joined the running club . When I ran the London Marathon in 2007 (my only marathon) my training consisted of just LSRs...Another advantage of the running club is running with other people.

Was thinking tonight about what I think about when running with them...I often marvel at how peoples' running gaits differ so much. Sometimes I can identify someone who is running behind me, just by hearing the way their feet fall (or by the way they are huffing and puffing - some more than others). No shouts of LFDI though!

Ange sorry about sinusitis - have never (touch wood) had a full blown attack, sounds very painful.

Still no email about Olympic Park run for either DH or I....

What's the formula ibby? What do you do? I'm a physics teacher although I don't remember much of the complicated stuff anymore!

I can't work out what causes my stomach cramps, or my lack of bladder control, or my nerve pains in my pelvis/bum/top of thigh. I do usually only get one at a time though

Oh and sympathies with sinusitis, I had it just before the marathon and my face was so painful. I found the sudafed spray very good (not the tablets though).

ibby that does sound complicated (the running session, rather than the formula - which would be utterly beyond me). That must be the huge advantage of joining a running club.

ange I get cramps unless I avoid alcohol, wheat, and high fibre foods in the couple of days before a long run. Dehydration can also make it worse.

Crikey all this talk of hills....not many of those in my neck of the woods (Norfolk).

Sorry about tummy probs Ange

Feeling better after yesterday's trauma, thanks for kind words. Went training with the club tonight. We did a complicated (it seemed to me) session, consisting of warm up lap, followed by few warm up exercises (heel flicks, strides etc). Then a 10 minute tempo run, then pyramids: 1 minute 5k pace run, 45 secs rest, 2 min run, 45 rest, 3 min run, 1 min rest. Then the same in reverse (ie 3, 2 1). After that, 1 minute flat out run with 50 secs rest, 1 minute run 40 secs rest, 1 minute run 30 secs etc, down to only 10 seconds rest before the final 1 minute flat out. Phew. Realised that I don't often post details of my runs on here, as when out on my own I just do a LSR. Bit lazy I know but have come to rely on the club for the more technical stuff.

Still attempting to prove the formula that was struggling with when I posted last night.

Still on a mathematical note, DS2 (nearly 11) has gone to bed trying to calculate in his head the square root of 2...