2015 Running Thread Part 6

surely if you run or run-walk regularly and consistently then you are a runner!

Another 3.2 for me so 1333.91

Another 'not a proper runner' runner here, but have been running about 18 months now. Just short distances for me but gradually increasing. Transition from non-runner to runner for me included the following steps:

Can run without stopping xx minutes
Have actually got running shoes
No longer only go late at night so as not to be seen, but actively wav at people I know when out running!

I think that is as serious as it's likely to get for me but love it all the same!

Hi Phlebas, I am just starting to experiment with carrying water/food as I am increasing my distances too.
I like a waist bum bag with one water bottle which lies at an angle across my lower back. I barely notice it once I'm up and running. I tried a belt with two smaller bottles at each side on in the shop but my arms kept hitting the bottles on the swing. There is a small pocket too.
I absolutely hated the freebie gels I got from races but I love the Torq ones - apple crumble and rhubarb and custard are yummy enough to have for treats! I tried the Torq raspberry and apple bar today and it was perfectly palatable though I wouldn't rave. I like the sound of your home made flapjacks run, might have a go at making some but suspect I would eat them regardless of running
Gels are quite expensive though, jelly babies/jelly beans or similar are popular too.
I carry a small rucksack if I need to take extra clothes/jacket too but the bum bag has given me confidence to extend my range on hot days and when running with DS (who feels the need for water more than me).

i know what you mean about feeling like a 'proper' runner. I didn't for ages. I've been running over 8 years now and it took me about a year and a half! I have slowly lost about 2.5 stone over several years and there is definitely less of me now, but it happened slowly.
9.5 miles after 7 months of running is awesome in my book!

I suspect that concentrating on gradually building up the distance but keeping the speed slow and steady has a big payoff from the point of view of avoiding injuries Phlebas.
Then again everyone is different and maybe it just comes down to paying attention to how you feel..knowing when to push through and when to rest, or at least learning from previous mistakes on that front.

I use a small backpack if I need to carry anything, anything waist mounted annoys me too much

Neither have I Suzanne! I only started on couch to 5 k in December. It seems bonkers that I could onyl run for 30 seconds without weeping then. I do feel like I'm a "runner" now though, because I have accepted that i am not a fast one, but a sturdy one! In my head I think i was hoping to be a whippet thin "proper" runner, but in actual fact i'm a 43 year old 5 foot dumpy one with sturdy legs. But I can now run 9.5 miles, no matter how ploddy!

16 mile through route in the Cairngorms yesterday. Managed to avoid most of the showers, and lovely to get out into the wild .

I only really use my Garmin for ascent and distance and sometimes don't use the GPS if I know the route well. Min/miles vary so much that it's not really very easy to compare one run to another. It is useful for interval training though not that I've done any for ages

Phlebas yesterday I took one of my homemade flapjacks (high protein lots of nuts and seed), and I had a gel with me but didn't take it. I have a bumbag (OMM waist pouch) and have a 500ml soft flask which I top up on the go if needed. I also get swollen hands that can go tingly, but seems to resolve afterwards.

No run today but took the girls to local new MTB trail park. Not quite as "trendy" as skateboarding, but lots of "cool" girls (old and young) giving the boys a run for their money .

1330.71

even so I think there is some benefit to soldiering on through the summer, I think your body adapts/blood volume increases and then you're that bit faster/better in the colder weather.

Then again I've not even completed one full year of running yet so what do I know

I agree Suzanne! I HATE the heat for running. Today's fine but tepid drizzle suited me just fine! My favourite running time is probably Autumn and early Winter. I love going out frosty and then stripping off! It makes me feel superhuman, running through the snow in a t-shirt, or at least like all my mates up north!

12.6 from me

• 1302.11 1314.71

sorry no experience of in run food/gels Phlebas but some sort of belt with a pocket may be best for water, I find those soft flasks very useful because they dont dig into you like normal bottles.

Not noticed my hands swelling but I dont wear any rings so it's quite possible that they do a bit in the heat but I just dont notice.

Speaking of heat I really enjoyed the lack of it today, rain and wind on the south coast, running cold feels so much easier :)

Thanks for adding my miles! I always forget and it's dodgy on my phone when i've just collapsed sweatily into the car and am devouring a banana.

I wondered a couple of things you ladies might be able to help me on:

1: I am now running for distances that require me to eat. I used up my freebie gel from my last race goodie pack and it did help me today. But it was pretty gross. Any recommendations? Also, I don't currently carry water, just hydrate really well before i go, but I am reaching the stage where I need to. I hate holding a bottle, i'm thinking bum bag? Any good ideas there?

2: I noticed my hands are swelling past 8.5 miles, they go whitish and I had to take my rings off today! They go down onec i've stopped running though. Anyone else have enormo hands when running?

Anglaise I have a friend who ended up giving his Suunto away as he was basically using it as an expensive stopwatch. Interestingly I always track km with mine, but I had a training session with one of HK's best trail runners last weekend (aiming top 15 for UTMB this year) who said that for trail running just measure ascent and time on your feet as they're the critical success factors in his opinion. I'm actually considering going watchless for a race that I really want a PB in, just as an experiment. I know the course, so I know how far I've gone and how far to go, and knowing the time may actually do more harm than good- if I'm ahead I'll panic that I'm going to blow up. If I'm behind, I'll have a collapse of morale.

Ten miles from me. First five at 12min miles last five at 11.

6.21 progressive run (so got faster with each mile) in the lovely (and not particularly flat) countryside
Obsolutely glorious. Totally reminded me why I run in the first place. Feeling on a major runners high now!

1279.21

8 hilly miles, total climb of 800 feet, although I know that's nothing to some of you! Lovely quiet run in the forest, like you family I only met one dog walker.
1273

11.5 early morning miles, just caught the end of the sunrise and it was really lovely running towards a red sky with misty hills in the foreground. So quiet and peaceful, saw one dog walker and not another soul

1254.57 + 11.5 = 1266.07

I agree KeyserSophie. As soon as the marketing companies get involved suddenly almost everything becomes 'essential'

I am definitely fixated on gadgets, and my max cushioned running shoes
and hoping someone will hurry up and invent clothing that will cool us down in the summer...I'd pay through the nose for that:o

Seriously though Sophie, I get your point, profits are being extracted from us running enthusiasts!

Crosspost- adjusting total to 1254.57

Well after a bad week in which I ran once (on the treadmill) I pulled it back a bit today with a lovely long trail run with some friends. Suunto gave me 23k, Strava (the tight bastard) only gave me 20, so let's split the difference and call it a half marathon- 1244.17. Absolutely torrential rain, but quite a bit cooler as a result. It's rained non-stop every day for about a week here. Thought we might have dodged the bullet on that this year, but "summer" always comes eventually.

A lot of the French girls where we live skateboard. It's DD's dream (she's 3 though, so may be a few years yet). Monkey bars are hard, plus you need the technique cos once you lose the forward momentum you're basically stuck, kicking frantically like a hanged man.

I have been thinking about running watches a bit, just from a thread on Run Mummy Run where so many runners (many of whom are almost beginners) rated them as "essential kit". I wanted to totter out on my zimmer and say "I'll have you know I ran 3 marathons and a multi-day ultra before you were born I had a GPS watch". I do think they have their place but I think people can get fixated on them and they become the judge of whether a run was good or not, compared with just how you felt. It also occurred to me that the marketeers have really moved in on running in recent years- watches, compression gear, 5 pairs of trainers, protein shakes, race fuel etc. Makes me want to run off to the hills with just a pack of sandwiches and my Green Flash.

7.5 miles from my last two runs to add here makes 1241.57. That felt better today.

4 from me, parkrun and putting signs out 1234.17, not as wet as I expected!

5.2 interval session this morning, cool and dry, perfect weather.
1230.17