Running goals, motivation and chat 2026 - Part 3!

I’ve just ordered a chest light as my headtorch has been irritating me. I like to wear a cap but then the headtorch has to sit on top and I can’t get the angle right because of the peak so end up running like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. I’m in the north of Scotland so it’s starting to get dark here pretty early!

Won’t have time to run until Thursday, meant to be a 9k easy run. Hopefully my quads hold up this time! I won’t manage to get out till lunchtime so should at least be decently fuelled this time…

Well done on your 12.5 miles @Whataninterestinglookingpotato! I’m missing running club this week as I have a meeting in the evening, so I’m annoyed about that as I really enjoy it. Mine is very informal, just a group of ladies who go out together, but it’s especially nice now the nights are drawing in. Safety in numbers and all that!

@BogRollBOGOFGood going on the C25k run. Sounds a very sensible approach, I admire your restraint! I love the idea of a moulded butt cushion. Do you have to be injured to have one?! Asking for a friend…

Glad you’re both. Making progress @JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff ans @BogRollBOGOF

I did about 12.5 miles tonight. 4.5 running the long way round to club and then club run. A lot of people had their head torches and chest lights tonight and we definitely needed them by the end. I didn’t yet. I have a chest light but tbh, it’s a bit annoying. I ordered new head torch today so waiting for that to arrive. It should be here ready for next week. This will probably be our last week of country lanes though. Routes get a bit more boring once the nights draw in. There’s only so many ways you can run around town! 😂.

i’ll probably just take the dog for a little recovery plod tomorrow and then hills Thursday, track Friday and probably a long run Saturday morning as won’t be able to fit one in Sunday.

I did my jeffing 6.5km today, sigh, but I can definitely feel how my stride has remodelled. Shockwave with physio this morning. Rest day tomorrow and then, strength circuits and gymming on Thurs!

Has anyone else broken out their headlight/ chest light this year? I've worn mine for first time this week, feels like first sign of autumn!

I’d recommend it @JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff especially if you’re close. It was a fab race and great to walk around the zoo after. I also won a £15 voucher for winning my category which I may, or may not have already put towards some shoes 😂😂.

Hi @tinks3110 amazing! 20mi is a great achievement, whatever else you go on to do!

@runnerducky I always train in the mornings but did it fasted for years and have only just copped on to fuelling pre-run <slow learner, me> I now have a half slice of sourdough toast with honey before I go, like a half hour before or if I don't have bread in, 2 jelly babies.

@Whataninterestinglookingpotato Marwell Zoo eh! I live..... not very far away from there.

Well done @tinks3110 you'll honestly be fine.

sorry to hear about your aborted run @runnerducky but your analysis of it is probably correct. I’ve found out that there is no point being underfuelled. It just makes everything so much harder.
I also have a 10 mile trail race in December. It’s a local one and an absolute mud bath! I did it last year but was injured so couldn’t really do it justice and I want redemption 😂😂.

I have 4 other parkruns with in a 30 min drive but that one was the nearest and it was just a bit different as on a working farm rather than a park.

That’s fantastic @tinks3110Well done! The hard work is over (except for the actual marathon obviously but you’ve done the training so just enjoy the ride!).

That’s rubbish about the Parkrun ending @Whataninterestinglookingpotato! I saw something pop up on my socials about it and thought what a shame it was, so sorry to hear it’s your local one! Hopefully they can find another route somewhere. The zoo 10k sounds great! Did you get to see the animals on the way round? That would distract me and I would have an awful time 😂 (well awful chip time, great time generally!). Amazing results for you and your daughter 👏

@JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOffThat sounds very promising, fingers crossed you’ll be back to full volume soon. Injuries are so frustrating, I was having issues a couple of months ago and had to really wind volume down and I was a nightmare to live with, my mood was awful!

I started a new training block today for a 10-mile trail run in December. Was meant to be 9k easy but got to 7.5 and got cramp in both quads simultaneously, which I’ve never had before! So cut my losses and did the walk of shame back home. I know what caused it I think, hadn’t eaten (I don’t usually run in mornings), hadn’t had much to drink, new shoes, and I’d had four days off as I’d been away, so a perfect storm of stuff. But I’m still achy now!

I completed my longest training run yesterday before my marathon in 3 weeks. I did 20 miles, I actually can't believe I am typing that! I did the first 10 miles alone and then my friend from the gym joined me on her bike for 5 miles out and 5 miles back on the canal which really helped. My knees held out and my legs felt better than on my 17 miler last week.
I am now feeling quietly confident about actually finishing the marathon. Am into the taper now, plan wants 14 miles on Sunday so I have signed up for an organised half as am bored of solo runs

Well done everyone who ran this weekend.

Well done everyone on your races and runs! Sounds like everyone has had a good week in one way or another!!

great half marathon PB from @captainbarnacles123 well done!

it was the last parkrun yesterday at our local course as the landowners pulled the plug with just a weeks notice! There was a massive turn out! 650 theres usually around 250! Many people (including me) dressed up. Sad to see it go! Of course I ran faster than I intended to seeing as I had a race the next day. But what did I expect of myself 😂. But I didn’t go flat out and didn’t intend to on Sundays race either, so all was fine.

dd1 and I ran the marwell zoo 10k today. We signed up for it ages ago, well before I entered last weeks ultra and I decided to do it just for fun.

we started really far back as it’s was compelled packed at the start with 1220 runners and I couldn’t be bothered to fight my way forward (we had arrived quite late due to traffic getting into the zoo and had to wait in a very long toilet queue so only just made the start in time!).

it was mostly uphill for the first half but as it was just for fun I didn’t rush. Lots of weaving around people. I maintained a steady pace and passed loads of people going up the steep hill. The second half was mostly downhill and because I hadn’t pushed hard at the start I flew down without it being too much effort. In the end I was 4th female out of 770 (3rd if you go by chip time rather than gun time) and I think I’ve won my category. Dd1 was 18th female.

it was a really enjoyable race and despite tired legs from last weeks ultra and quite a busy week of running my heart rate stayed low and I felt really strong. Which I was very pleased with.

happy running all.

I did 8km this morning and my stride is definitely freer. Now I know what I am looking for/ supposed to be paying attention to, I can clearly feel that the injured area starts off feeling a bit grouchy, then warms up and feels fluid, and then gets to get fatigued differentially from the rest of the musculature.

Which shows me what I need to work on, I think!

Thank you! I’ve definitely overindulged since completing if today!

Just been looking at what my next half might be 😂

Oh good for you Captain!!! That a great time.

When I finally finally get back to fitness that is the sort of time I am looking for. Enjoying it vicariously through you 💞

I had my half marathon today and got a PB - 1 hour 57 minutes. I was aiming for sub 2 so really pleased! I did this same race last year and got 2 hour 14 minutes. Been for a massive lunch out and currently resisting having a bath because I’ll then want to crawl to bed!!

Is it pre marathon nerves getting going early @TyneFilth ? Any chance of getting to bed early, then getting up tomorrow for your long run?

I did a 6km yesterday. On the positive side, I can definitely feel how previously, my L hip was "dropping out" of the stride and how that is different now. Otoh, as my body is learning what is basically a new biomechanical pattern, and the hip is taking its share of the work, it's now getting fatigued. After only 6km 😬 am really hope the strength builds quickly. Am really missing my long runs.

Why have I woken up with race butterflies? I'm going to marshal at Hever Castle today, not race. I had planned to do tomorrow's Olympic distance tri, with today marshalling, but it doesn't fit with the training block for my marathon so I postponed the trip entry to next year, and will still marshal (for a race credit). So why am I nervous? I'm camping overnight to cheer on friends who are still doing tomorrow's race, and I suppose I have a bit of a "forgetting important things for camping" fear. I also don't actually know how I'm going to fit in this weekend's long run. Argh

Thank you!

In awe of you ladies bashing out marathons and ultras on the regular! I have my eye on a 70k trail ultra in 2028, need that long to come to terms with it mentally let alone physically!

Easy 10k today, nice to get legs turning over after race weekend. Picked up some Vaporfly 4s for super cheap on Vinted, unworn, so need to find a 5k I can sign up for to give them a good test!

Good for you with your pb @runnerducky !

Also good for those all feeling buzzy after races 💓

I am up at 0530 tomorrow to hit the gym again (secretly weirdly love early morning gym sessions, it's full of dedicated gym geek type people with their own kit and specialised routines).

Glad you’re feeling good after the half @OhOneOhTwoOhThree

well done on your PB @runnerducky

glad you both seem to be getting somewhere with your recover @BogRollBOGOF and @JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff

im feeling surprisingly fine after the ultra tbh and managed 10 easy miles yesterday. 2.5 run to run club then 7.5 with them. I also did a nice 10k plod around the fields with the dog tonight as I haven’t taken her out for ages and it was such a nice evening.

I have a 10k race with dd1 on Sunday and can’t decide whether or not to actually race it or just run it as a tempo run. I’ll see how I feel on the day I think.

@tinks3110 you’ll be grand!

@runnerducky - well done on your PB!

I’m feeling remarkably OK after Sunday’s HM, thanks to enforced sitting on Monday in a long journey. I had a gentle run yesterday and a swim this morning.

Managed a 10k PB at a race this weekend, 56:40 and two mins off my previous PB earlier this year so delighted with that as I had felt a bit undertrained! Now taking a couple of days to rest up as feeling it a bit in my legs and then prep starts for a 10-mile trail race later in the year with a couple of 10-15ks peppered in along the way.

I feel like you and me are in quite similar places @BogRollBOGOF with our rehab

Yesterday, I was doing weights and light treadmill jog. Then today my AI "coach" had me doing a form run of 6.5k in blocks of 4min run, 1 min walk. Yesterday and today, I could really feel my glutes firing strongly and I can see how my stride was previously very " quad dominant" which I think is the underlying cause of my ongoing niggles.

So, progress.....

Great marathon prep @tinks3110 ! Mine is 5 weeks away but I am only up to 22km this weekend and that was done at z2 pace in 3 hours - it's all on track though, I'm not panicking yet...

One of my friends doing the same race has said though that he's just seen that it features on something like "the UK's top ten most brutal marathons" or some other tempting click bait...!!