Runners United - Conwy Cockwatch, a live birth and Alex "Rhet" Ferguson in one thread. What more could we ask for?

great report running - really great - sorry about the empurpled toe though. Great, a heart rate running buddy! The rest of you had better watch out. Mmmm, roast duck. I miss Sunday roasts (am hoping to introduce them when dds are big enough).

I really think I need to hit some hills for my next year's plan. This is the first time that I've thought of my running in terms of ongoing plans - due in great part to the encouragement from all of you on here.

It sounds like it was a great day's running all round; due to DDs relentless dawdling (I know it sounds like a contradiction in terms, but really, that was how it was) on the way to and from the paper shop, it was almost dark when I got home. I ran about 35 miles last week, so an easy week will do no harm. Will go out and do 7 miles when I drop dd tomorrow. She wants someone to play with...

Great race running ! I hope the toe improves soon. I can't view your garmin report.

I must add trail racing to my list of things to do - I started to like it on hols in a v hilly part of italy in the summer until I sprained my ankle .

debi I think it's been said on here before about the Dorney lake one being boring. I did listen but for me, it's nearer and I like the idea of it being a beginners one - less chance of me making an arse of myself. I will time myself next time I swim and report back and hope you Tri experts can advise on my un suitability (although probably won't get a non lesson swim in for a couple of weeks.... Actually then the pool will be closed for annual cleaning. Hmmmmm. )

Well done to all this weekend's racers, and thanks for race reports. Squix I had a moment where you went off 'for a wee jaunt' where I thought, now that's a well organised race, before I realised that I was at cross purposes with you. Although given the state of my pelvic floor most runs involve a wee jaunt for me.

Futurity thanks for the link to the RW half marathon smart coach. I've had a look at it and I'm a bit confused. I put in the speed of my last HM and all the runs are slower than I currently do. Not sure whether I'm going to make sense here but my average time for a 3 mile run currently is around 9.50/mile. When I did my HM my average pace was 11.01/mile and in the three 10 mile runs I did before that it was an average of 10.55/mile. Should I be looking to run slower in training and then up the pace on the day or should I be looking to build miles at a faster average speed than my previous HM. Can anyone help?

If my hip stops giving me gip (please God) then I would like to aim to complete it in sub 2.15. Ipswich HM I did in 2.24. Is that realistic given that I have cut back radically on miles since then?

I somehow missed running's post. A great report and very impressed by your cooking!
Great reports from squix and ibby too.

no peach, I never accused running of eating rhet...

Weird identical x posting with you there sticky!!!

Well done Running! can't believe you went home and cooked for 9 and then went walking! Are you superwoman??? That's a really interesting (and technical) approach to a race, sounds like you got a great result from it too! You ate Rhet, can be heart rate buddies! Toe sounds excruciating, look after it!!

running great race report and great time! Well done. Your poor toe though! Hope it recovers quickly. Am very impressed by your culinary efforts, and a walk after. You are superwoman!

There used to be a contingent each year from my school who would go off to Bicton College. Pretty area, round Woodbury, I'd imagine it would be quite undulating though (for undulating read tough!)

Rhet, you could just run round the block about 1000 times....

Yayyy, well done Jez, look forward to hearing how you got on. Boo to pooter!

If you think of the swim in terms of time rather than distance 200m-400m is not much of a jump. I'm very slow and it 'only' takes me 10 mins to swim 400m.

Both tris I did this year had people doing breast stroke and cycling on mountain bikes or even really old rickety bikes. I did them both on a mountain bike but did have hybrid tyres and my bike is small and light (for a mountian bike). I wasn't even close to last in the swim which is my worst part.

I've heard Dornay Lake is boring as it's lots of laps. I'd love to do Blenheim and was tempted for next year but I'm not confident enough that I could get over my open water fear before then. And dh would freak at the £70 entry fee! I think there's a cycling event at Blenheim too which I might look into.
I think any sprint tri (usually 400m swim, 20km bike and 5km run but all parts can vary) in a pool will have a good mix of people in it. And they're not so expensive.

Finally managed to get on computer. Well done ibby and sonic (great times!!) and squix (your race had a lot in common with mine).

The Bicton Blister is a 10-mile trail race across lovely commons in East Devon (see my Garmin download if you're interested ). And it was an absolutely glorious clear and sunny day, although mite nippy and breezy. Its a little local one, which made it friendly, if a bit haphazard. There were no pins, for instance, and they had run out of small Tshirts by the time I finished, and only two water stations over the route. Big queue for the loos, but we had parked some way away and found a separate (empty) toilet block near the car so not really a problem. Lots and lots of club runners - some extremely annoying ones who overtake you and then almost step on you toes to get in front of you. However, the T-shirts given out were technical ones, and there were loads of marshals (important since the trails are a bit of a maze).

Course was muddy with streams,stiles and kissing gates and very undulating (1000 feet up-and-down), with most of the downhill sections consisting of loose pebbles. I tripped on a hidden rock and almost went flying at one point but managed not to end up face down in the mud. I had strapped up my dodgy toe to try and minimise pain, but all the downhill and rolling feet on very uneven trails meant my toe got some beating. It is now twice normal size and purple.

I tried to run to 85% max HR (as I have now devoured the HRM philosophy - thanks rhet) so I had confidence that I could make it round comfortably, and did mostly achieve it (average HR 156). This involved walking a couple of hills to try and get my HR down, but it meant I finished on an 8:06 min mile as I still had something in the tank. And I felt a LOT LOT stronger than at the Eden Project a couple of months ago when I HAD to walk most some hills as I just couldn't manage - this time I CHOSE to. I finished in 1:41:13 which was slower than I would have liked (and slower than my LSRs!) but I didn't feel slow. My friends finished in 1:33:? (male), 1:42 (female) and 1:49:? (female).

I then had to get back and entertain friends, doing roast duck for 9 and going for a lovely stroll in the country in the biggest wellies I could find to accommodate my toe balloon. I am SHATTERED and off to bed shortly.

Lessons learnt:
like squix, I love the trails, but they are hard!
could do with some trail shoes too, if I can find any for my horrible feet
the continuous hill training has done me a power of good
can't wait to put all the HRM philosophy into proper use
looking forward to a nice, flat road race....

sticky but I bet you miss bockety yokes that you made a hames of (got dd to say that the other day!)...surely you've some good turns of phrase up there in Geordie land?

wish I could get out for 12 miles sometime soon! I think I am limited to about an hour and half of running at any given time - oh well, next year, I hope

Brilliant race report squix, sounds like squelchy fun (ooer!) and you got a great time. I like your list of conclusions at the end, really good to reflect on what we've learned from our races. Mince pie, coffee, and a bath after. Sounds awesome, well done.

sticky, I shall pray to the wind gods, to rid me of garden leaves!

Cherry, now you be careful with that vacuum cleaner. I am assuming Miele is some kind of uber cleaner?

glad to see you safe home jez and look forward to your report. Sure you'll sleep well!

futurity can beat you there - I walked past a market stall selling bed jackets and thought...hmmm, that's a good idea . Poor old DP!

Just done Shred 2 (how monkey do you do 2 at once? Shredmonkey). Watching Shred 3 now to see if I could move on. Was looking fine til they got on to the jumping lunges - eek! Plyometrics....

12 miles planned tomorrow. Honestly can't wait! It's so addictive, this running lark.

rhet I at least don't do the "I'm after ... ing" construction! I miss the Irish way of speaking.

drno it must be so hard, all those little reminders of your Dad. Hugs, I love my Dad very much too xx

Well done Sonic, Ibby and Squix.

I did it! Have just written most of my report and then the computer went loopy and it disapeared!

I'm sooo tired now that I'm off to bed. I'll fill you all in tomorrow.

They are expensive aren't they...I am enjoying my swimming lessons and I do love riding my bike but I wonder whether I would just rather enjoy those activities separately and then only enter running events...at least until I get my marathon place (prays for 2013!). I could then see myself moving onto tri's for a change of scene. Saying that, I'm not getting any younger ...(puts on slippers, flat cap and rocks in chair)

Wheely crawl is by far the better stroke for open water swimming - if you're outdoors then you are likely to be in a wet suit and it is actually quite difficult to do breast stroke with a wetsuit on. But you need more residual fitness for crawl. I just didn't have that last year, plus I didn't feel as confident with crawl and was a bit freaked out by the whole situation i.e. in a race situation in a big lake with 50 other people. Still exited the water only about half way down the field (then the other half overtook on the bike!).

Here monkey/futurity - what puts me off is the cost especially for just 'trying it out' plus costs of Tri suit and other equipment'. Plus there's a training day which would be v. Useful but that's another £65!!

www.humanrace.co.uk/events/women-only/womenonly-triathlon

futurity - I think it might be on or near
The London to Brighton bike ride which I've said I'd do too so I need to decide which to do too !

monkey - yes there are longer ones. I think the sprint is 400m swim, 10k bike and 5k run. It's the swimming that means I'd probably stick to the novice which is annoying but next time I get in the pool
For a non lesson swim I'll do the 200m and se e how long it takes and compare it to the results. cherry interesting you say you did most of it breast stroke. Although I now think my crawl is my best stroke, I would, at the moment, need to do a mix i think as I find breaststroke less tiring.

monkey, thanks for the pub tip, I have been to the one you are talking of. Hmm, need to get my arse in gear with more wedding planning.

Ibby, sonic, squix well done on your races.

orange, I'm with you on the PMT front! As a result, hiding in the study from DP this evening allegedly "working".

Peach glad to hear you had a better night and nice pub lunch

Fanny our wedding is next May. Sort of partly why I have been getting more into running so I look ok on the day! Has your DH returned to help out with the girls?

monkey, wheely et al you should definitely give the tris a try! I am doing blenheim next June, and did it last year. I've heard of the dorney lake one, it's meant to be good. At Blehheim they are generally single sex starts. The one I did last year had a swim of 450m I think in the lake, that's the equivalent of 13.5 ish lenghts of our local pool. Really wasn't too bad at all. I wasn't so good at crawl then, so did most of it breast stroke, but it was fine. The place I lost time and places was on the bike because my bike is totally rubbish - it makes a massive difference if you have good equipment.

Had a great threshold run today - did a specific route that normally takes me 18 to 20 mins to get to a certain point - today 14.5 mins!! Just worked out that to be 8.9 minute miles! I did have to walk a bit on the way home as felt like I was going to vomit, but I'm amazed that actually I don't have to run at a snails pace to get anywhere.

In other news, two very exciting moments for me today:

1. DS has learned to tell me when he is doing a poo. Roll on toilet training.
2. I brought a new proper Miele vacuum cleaner. And it's bloody amazing.

That is it. Aren't you jealous of my exciting life?

Oh and cherry you know I said about the pub/restaurant where we were having our class party? The food was absolutely amazing! And really good value! Love the sound of the red petticoats, sounds very decadent!

wheely I would love to try a tri! When is the one you mentioned, and is there a slightly longer one? I would really prefer an aquathlon but they seem to be few and far between.

Great race report squix and a great time for the course. There's something strangely satisfying about getting muddy!

Did about 7 miles this evening, relatively flat route so it felt easy after yesterday's 8.5!

wheely looks tempting but it's the same day as a half I want to do. Suppose I better decide what I wish to do in the spring/summer months..a tri or another half?