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

or...lightening over 5k, which carries them t oa good time for 10k races......(too much oxygen)

Great race reports Wheely, and Squix, like others have said, so much of racing is mental toughness which you both have in spades by the sound of it. Great times and splits. Squix, at your dad, he sounds pretty inspirational!

Debi, hope DS2 is feeling better

Rhet, yes having guests can be pretty intense, at a time which is pretty stressful for you both. I would agree with fanny, maybe can the potty training for now.

sfx, glad DH's work went well, like you say, it is difficult to imagine what being a single parent would be like. Very very hard work, both physically and emotionally!

orange, hope you're feeling ok after your hill-tastic day!

sticky, glad you enjoyed your run after a week of half term intensity!!!

I had a few friends and their lids in this afternoon for a Halloween "party", which actually was just Halloween cakes and biscuits and playing and watching Halloween Shrek DVD. Actually quite relaxing. Really noticed being extra tired with walk to and playgroup today, after a week of slobbing at home for half term.

Catching up with thread. I work f/t so, there will be a trillion posts to get through! Split times are scarring and scaring me! Boy you two don't need go-faster stripes do you?

Just managed the fastest 3 miles of my life recent history - 25min 20 secs before darkness. 8.27mins/mile, which isn't three bad, at this stage of training? My world record 10k is 50 mins (about 7 years ago) so that is the aim for the next 10k.

Less is more? - "I don't know, but I've been told.." that in the British Army training they never run more than half of any distance planned in a race. They repeat half the distance, getting faster each time, and build strength, takes less time and best for avoiding injury. So they are lightening over 3k, and that carries them into a really good time for 10k races.

afternoon all. not popped my head around these parts in a while but just wanted to say im up for the Askern 10k in May of next year....joined a running club! almost up to 10k but VERY ploddy....currently doing about a 10 min mile which aint great but got until May to improve!

achilles still a bit sore but getting there. Still not quite seeing myself as a runner yet but definitely trying! I keep reading these threads for inspiration! goal is a half marathon i think, but that could be quite a way off....!

Well done squix! sounds like you really enjoyed the race. And what about your dad, eh? I can only hope to be running at all at 64, let alone at that pace. Grey power!

Rhet no other way of saying it - that all sounds shit. My oldest two were born 17 months apart to the day, and lots of friends were pretty horrified, but I've always found coping with small babies preferable to the pregnancy bit! Once it's just you, DP and your two girls it will fall into place, and all the potty training stuff will come when it comes. Will you accept a virtual sisterly shoulder squeeze and a slightly grubby hankie?

Well done squix great time and report. Well done to your dad too.
Hope you ok Rhet.
Yes moshi I did stretch, I just couldn't quite face it when I first got in needed a sit down.
Just made lentil curry out of rw, it was ok but I love lentils. But dh and the boys didn't like it. They are all so fussy.

Yay ! Well done squix, - Glad you enjoyed and yes, I had forgotten about the kids banging on the car with wooden spoons. V. bizarre behaviour !! And your Dad did really well. My garmin measured it as 10.20 - so maybe it was a little longer...let's say it was !!

I was coming on to post my splits as I've worked out how to do it (my old garmin did it automatically via an ANT stick but this was pretty quck and easy). Anyway, here they are - shows it went a bit wonky 8-10.

1 8:05.6 1.00 8:05.7

2 8:05.2 1.00 8:05.3

3 7:57.0 1.00 7:57.1

4 8:08.3 1.00 8:08.4

5 7:59.8 1.00 7:59.8

6 8:09.6 1.00 8:09.7

7 8:11.7 1.00 8:11.8

8 8:24.3 1.00 8:24.4

9 8:23.8 1.00 8:24.0

10 8:30.2 1.00 8:30.2

11 1:36.8 0.20 7:56.1

Legs were quite sore this morning and had cramp in my calf a few times but been swimming with dd1 which seems to have sorted it out a bit.

fanny - will watch with interest your results as I think I'm a step behind you. Guess i need to start getting up those hills (although I do normally do speed intervals instead...so am not a complete shirker)

rhet - hope things improve - has your Mum left yet ?? Sounds like its all been a bit hectic and stressful.

Monkey - hope ds is ok

Interesting talk re speeds and having to get shorter speeds up. My bro was telling me the same. I think I'd like to try another 10K soon-ish (only done one) with the hope of doing sub-50. I;m guessing the London one will be booked now but might take a look. At least that should be flat

Oh yes, and I got a real life bunch of flowers from DH's client apologising for the weekend.

As usual ? loads to catch up on! I?ll catch up properly later but here?s my summary of Sunday?s race.

First of all a big whoo hooo to wheely fellow GSR?er. What a brilliant time! That?s fab. [Grin]

Thanks for all the good wishes ? we were staying on a lovely farm in the middle of nowhere with no signal so couldn?t pop on before hand or after.

So race report ? we were renting the cottage there with Dad and his wife and we were all up at 7:30 for porridge and wee sis came to pick us up in plenty of time. She?d not been feeling too hot recently so decided to take it easy - she had a white number (couldn?t work out how she?d got that) and me and dad had an orange number so we decided that me and her would start in white and we managed to persuade dad to start in the orange wave in front of us.

Fought our way through traffic ? local knowledge came in very handy and arrived in time for the mandatory 30 min wait for a wee. Managed to get in the middle of the white wave start and crossed the line to strains of Nessun Dorma. Bizzarely ? the starting announcer was Scottish and we had bagpipes at about 2 miles in ? I had to check that we were in Portsmouth and not back at home. The first mile consisted of dodging past people then once we?d done that it was time to go through the navel dockyards ? full of history - but no chance to appreciate it. The next few miles are all a bit of a blur ? we passed a Sumo, a Panda, Batman & Robin. I must say the support on the route was fantastic ? although there were a group of kids hitting a car with wooden spoons - I think their mum was with them - I hope so. I ran all the way round with my sister - which was really lovely ? she is much faster than me normally so it was really great of her to stay with me and keep shouting ?come on? .

Mile 7 and mile 8 were hard (apart from one great house playing ? can can? music - gave me a big lift) and then came the last couple of miles along the coast - ohhh wheely they were really hard weren?t they. Windy, damp, not as much support. However the support in the last mile was fantastic. Managed a wee bit of a sprint and crossed the line in 96 minutes 46 seconds ( sounds better than 1:36:46) which I was pleased with - I tend to have 3 targets in a race (delighted, realistic, disappointed) and this was in my realistic category which for an event where it?s hard to find your rhythm at times I was pleased with.

Now for the stats:
Total time was 1:36:46. 5k in 29, 10K in 59, 15K 1:30:20

Overall position - 8079th , 2148th Woman and 1309th in my age group

Splits:
Lap 1 ? 09:14
Lap 2 ? 9:11
Lap 3 ? 8:55
Lap 4 ? 09:22
Lap 5 ? 09:24
Lap 6 ? 09:39
Lap 7 ? 09:48
Lap 8 ? 10:03
Lap 9 ? 09:38
Lap 10 ? 09:37
Lap 11 ? 08:50 (Garmin measured 10.21 miles ? 10 miles on Garmin in 1:35:07)

The star of the day was dad. He?s 64 and did 1:21:48. He came 24th in his age group ? and he?s at the top end of his category so did fantastically well. Soooo proud of him.

Flew back this afternoon with sore legs and a renewed resolve to work on my speed over the winter.

rhet oh no, hope all ok. Life us very stressful sometimes but please, take one piece of advice, do not push the potty. Leave it out, let her know what it's for (obviously she knows!) and leave her to it. You can't force it. Don't worry about having 2 in nappies - I actually found it easier.

Moshi things will work out for the best, it may be a long stressful road getting there, but you will. Re training - I know coaches say you are at risk from burning out if you run at race pace but I find that the only way for me to even contemplate doing a 4 hour marathon is to be doing my MP of 9.30m/m on my very long runs (16 miles plus). I just can't see how I could do it any other way. 4 runs a week plenty for me, I've said this before, anything extra just tires me. I aim to do a 3-4 miler a week also at my quickest pace (7.10m/m at the mo) and aim to get that pace faster. I'm hoping that this works in a similar way you are!

not having a good day here - lost the plot with DP this morning [hblush] amongst other sundry things (potty training round 3, point blank refusal on DD's part). Also realised that we have had visitors in the house for 8 out of the last 11 days and the remaining 3 I was at work. I've had enough. Am brewing a cold, too...

I did run this morning, just getting back before the elite marathoners came through - talked to my neighbour whose son was running, we saw a guy powering through who we concluded was running way too fast (she used to run herself). So that's something at least. 228km in October - more than September, but not as much as August...

will watch the quality/quantity discussion with interest, but my low heart training is working well for me at the moment anyway. Must go and make more tea/serve cake/make sandwiches.

Goodness Moshi, so much to consider. Life's never simple eh? I think I would think twice before putting DS up 2 years. As others have said, he may just not be emotionally mature enough to cope, especially in a few years. I saw that you were considering home schooling. I would certainly think about this, assuming you could put some childcare in place for the two little'uns. It might just give you some breathing space while you all get settled in to your new life. You and kids staying in the UK till next summer certainly sounds appealing but I understand if this is not financially viable or if being apart from DH for such a long time would be too much.

Love the way you talk about a little half!!!

I'm interested in the whole "less is more" (total mileage) debate too - quality versus quantity. I suspect each of us have a magic number (or a band) within which we improve - too little and it's not enough to make progress, too much and we end up tired and jaded and overtrained. Wouldn't it be lovely to know exactly what that band was for each of us?!

My legs just won't go fast at the moment, but I'm starting to do some more hill work in the hope that (as fanny said) this will help with leg strength and ultimately speed. I always love that feeling of going downhill after uphill, the feeling of your legs flying along that bit faster ....

Boys went back to school today, to be honest I'm dreading it a little - I'm worried about ds1 (8), who is a bit of a spod and finds the whole school/social thing a bit overwhelming. He said at half term that apparently the "gay" thing has been dropped but now the boys are describing each other as "crap" and "shit". Sigh.

Some great advice from you and so reassuring. Thanks all. Stories like that of your roommate sticky really reassure. Did she have an American accent though...? [hconfused]

Hi everyone! Congrats wheely on your great time, and glad the ankle held out. That's a great base line to be working from for your HM, I'm sure you'll be able to work up the speed over the next couple of months.

My girls are back at school too, so first proper run for a week. My knees were feeling it a bit when I started, so I kept it to 5.5 miles, and properly off-road. I do love my new shoes and the way they don't slip in the mud :). Tomorrow is meant to be properly nice (today was not rainy, but was a bit dull and weirdly warm) so perhaps will venture out further. I've so missed it!

Moshi I do feel for you, it seems like you're taking all the stress of sorting out the DC's education. I don't have real advice, but just two things - my first year room-mate at Cambridge had done what you're doing, i.e. her Dad had moved to California for work. She went through to graduation at a public high school, graduating at 15. She then went abroad for a year (to become fluent in another language at a European school ), then came back to the UK to do her A-levels at the right time, as it were. Obviously this worked well for her, she had benefitted from the US system (for instance, in that her public speaking was great!) but it didn't hold her back in the UK system, iyswim. The other thing was, do you have any contacts with the university? Not that academics' children have to be bright, but some will be and the academics tend to care about that kind of thing! I wondered if some tips might be had there (if you don't, and wanted to, I'm sure rhet and/or my DP could think of someone to ask).

Speaking of which rhet, I'm in awe of your mileage! I've not hit 400 miles yet this year, so Im feeling distinctly lazy...

Meant to say "gutted could only do 8 miles instead of 10 miler yesterday)

Hope DS better Debi - I've really bugged this thread with my germs!

wheely I have gone up to 16 miles in prep for this HM as it definitely helps mentally and physically. I also run all mid distance (6 up to 10 miles) at HM or quicker. Then at least I'm used to efficiently running at the speed I need to. If i manage this HM at 1.50 then it's worked! If so, the next I'll shift my training towards getting my HM pace to around 8.00m/m to attempt 1.45 for my next HM. It is doable, I just have to WANT to do it. Like you said, it's a lot in the mind. My run yesterday should have been a 10 miler, I'm gutted I couldn't do it (time constraints) as psychologically I'd have felt stronger for Sunday.

Morning. Boys back at school and did my hills this morning. Did the big dreaded hill at the parkrun 4 times then I was bursting for the loo the loo in the park is round the lake then up some steps so I ran to the loos. The step were alot steeper than I realised, although walked up them millions of times and that is exhausting. So by the time I had ran to the top of the steps I was gasping for breath and done in. So after the loo jogged back to the car. I am exhausted now and tryng to muster the energy to stretch so thought I would come on here for 5 mins. But it felt good and pleased with my self. The hill had quite a different feel to it when not crowded with the park run. It goes through the woods and when eveyone else is around you you forget to take it all in.
How strange, hope he feeling better soon Debi

wheely that is a fantastic report, it is amazing how the mind training is just as important, I think this thread is a huge boost in that area too. and at MIL

moshi I can imagine that for your ds to go from his type of school on to a far less broad environment can make his skills stand out and bore him rigid, I would be weary of placing him 2 years ahead but it will often depend on his character/ maturity, such a hard choice, would it be possible to have a good tutor/s & extra activities, to keep him engaged and school there more for the social side of things? maybe until you are more familiar with the local options?
I hope you manage to talk all of this through and find solutions which you are reasonably happy with, at least in the meantime

Child at school dh big worj thing paid off/ worked well , so he can relax for the next couple of weeks. I have tons of work/ study to catch up with but must prioritise a little jog, first since the 10K

happy running

I realised in the middle of the night wheely that I'd got myself confused and it must be your mil who lives near Basingstoke.
I'm in the town between junctions 4 and 4a of M3.

I don't have any useful advice either I'm afraid moshi other than I don't think you should put your ds up 2 school years. When moving abroad the social side of life is so important that I think he needs to be with boys his own age.

My ds2 has had some weird sickness this morning. You know when you've got a bug & have spewed it all up & are just dry retching and spewing up mucus, well that's what ds has done a few times this morning. But he hasn't been properly sick!

Thanks Fanny - Yes pretty happy with time. Would have been really happy with 1 hr 20 but given that was aim before I sprained my ankle but I think that's just being silly. 6/7 weeks ago I was looking into pulling out because I couldn't run on my ankle.

My bro (a running obssessive but has only come to it fairly recently so is a bit like a born again christian - apologies to any on thread) and he had plugged my time into Macmillan just after the race and was telling me HM/ Marathon time. I am booked in for half marathon in Feb so am hoping to at least maintain this time for half marathon ... if not improve on it a little (really don't know if that's realistic or not - I think maintaining the speed is).

I think I need to do more runs at the race distance to stop the negativity setting in towards the end. This was my plan this time and had done 10 miles in August but only got back to that distance a few weeks ago after the injury. I can't see mentally how I can do another 3 miles in race conditions (think I could do it out on my own no probs) but I think if I get lots of runs in of that distance it will help. A year ago I did my first 10K and couldn't see how I could do 10 miles.

Mind you I am still in awe of those who do a marathon. I think that is going to take a lot for me psychologically.

Moshi - sounds like a terribly hard time you're going through at the mo with all the moving and sorting. Can't advise I'm afraid, I don't know what I'd do in that position. Presumably the problem with staying here until Sept (if that was an option) would just mean your ds would be even more ahead of his peers although holding him back isn't ideal either. What does your ds feel about the whole thing ?

DD1 not back at school until tomorrow although DD2 at pre-school so I foolishly promised DD1 I'd take her swimming this morning. I am aching all over (shows you do get a full body work out) and keep getting a cramp spasm in my left calf. I'm hoping the swimming might help.

Hmmm Moshi I hope saying "DS will have to be bored" doesn't sound flippant, I know at that age how important it is for them to enjoy going to school - what I meant is, if you have no other feasible option, it's going to be a case of him having to re-do some work and maybe employ a home tutor to keep up him to scratch on his best subjects.

wheely great report and well done. Are you pleased with your time? I am hoping to run at the same pace for my HM on Sunday. Hoping I can maintain it!

Moshi I've read your thread . What a dilemma. It doesn't sound like you are entirely happy with this move, I can understand DH wanting you all there from the start as he's probably concerned that you may never get out there if you don't make the leap in the New Year. However, I think you may have to just accept that DS will have to be bored for a couple of years until the school catch up (no matter where you go, this will happen if he's been educated in one of the best schools in the world). I can see your reasoning for them to finish the next two terms here and if you've been able to afford a rental in New Forest, is it not possible for DH to rent a small apartment in SF and then you all visit during holidays until you make a definite decision re school? You say boarding school an option, do you mean in the US or UK? If the US, are there are superior boarding schools in other parts of California that DS could board at? Dear me Moshi, this is a very difficult decision and you must be very stressed.

Very tired today - DD1 not back to school until tomorrow. Just lying in bed with youngest two. DD1 still causing me aggro, DH and I very stressed last night with her attitude. She just won't keep her opinions to herself, DD2 was unwell and DD1 wasn't happy as attention wasn't on her. She's quite mean a lot of the time. Makes me very sad as I do my damn best to bring my children to be polite and kind. Grrrrr. I feel like I need Supernanny.

No running for me today. Taper week so not sure yet what I'll do this week.

No Debi. MlL lives,between basingstoke and newbury. We were staying there I am on SW London

It's not far from me at all. And I live about 1 min walk from a train station about 15 mins from Basingstoke. Do you live in Amazingstoke wheely? I didn't realise you were that close to me (or maybe you're not)

Great report wheely. I also drink roisbos.
Moshi I have read your other post but unfortunatley don't have any advice, hope someone canbe more helpful.