Running goals, motivation and chat 2026 - Part 3!

@OhOneOhTwoOhThree sounds like you have great base fitness though! Do you find it hardest to regain pace or distance after time off?

I had to work today (boo) so just did 4.5mi. Felt good though.

I typically lift once a wk and do 2 lots of circuits. Right now am getting in 1-2 short runs of 4-5mi and 1 longer, of 10-12mi.

Feel like I should do more but with kids and work and needing a rest day, don't have time!!

@JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff I’m back at the start of a HM training plan, so today’s “long” run is only 5 miles. I don’t know why I do this to myself, I build up to a marathon or a 50k every year, run really consistently 4 times a week when I’m training and then give myself a few weeks off afterwards (which means only doing parkrun) and end up starting from scratch again as the “couple of weeks” turn into a couple of months. My base fitness is fine, I also swim and cycle and walk a lot but as I’m in my late 50’s I guess I don’t have the same energy levels or physical resilience I used to have. Ten years ago I’d be able to sign up to a HM on a Saturday based in a post-parkrun coffee chat with a couple of friends and run it on the Sunday (true story, which happened more than once) but not any more!

I will be gingerly jeffing today to try out my poor bashed up knee.

Happy Sunday all!

Wow @Whataninterestinglookingpotato I don't think I will ever be that fast!!! Good for you.

I also love your username, it reminds me of my then-toddler DD2 digging up crocus bulbs and murmuring 'come to me through the soil, my interesting little potatoes!'

@OhOneOhTwoOhThree what kinds of distances are you currently running? I can do HM but want to get to the point as you say, that I can just bang one out without worrying about it.

Fantastic! Great work @Whataninterestinglookingpotato !

No worries @OhOneOhTwoOhThree hope you’re ok after falling over. Well done on a course PB.

I did enjoy my London parkrun. There were lots of tourists there and it was a fast if very crowded course. Despite all the weaving in and out of people I managed a 5k PB and broke the 21 min barrier than I have been aiming for for ages!! I was first in my age group and 6th female over all. I was really shocked. We ran there which was nearly 3 miles and I think the warm up helped me as it felt much easier than usual. If it wasn’t for how crowded the course was I felt I could have gone quicker! Which is mad as I usually struggle with a fast 5k. Maybe the answer is to run a few miles first 😂😂

Apologies, I didn't see this in time. My London parkrun experience is mainly south of the river. I hope you had a good time!

I went to a local (on holiday) parkrun and ran and volunteered. There was about double the usual number too people thanks to a combination of a nearby parkrun being off and lots of tourists. I managed to fall full length on the first lap, so was delighted with my course PB

@JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff I'm just building up again to longer distances after a bit of a break. Gone are the days when I could just pop out a ten miler/HM with no training.

Thanks everyone, for the welcomes!

I did some short runs (6-7km) on holiday with DSis but back as of last night and got up at 6 today and did 17.5km. For me, I want to be doing at least one 16-20km run a week to build comfort at that kind of distance.

Appreciate that'll be short to many here, but it's where I'm at - for now!

I am experimenting with fuelling too. I am finding jelly babies good. I tried them for a sprint distance triathlon I trained for years ago and found them horribly sickly, but right now they seem to be helping if used sparingly.

@OhOneOhTwoOhThree probably either Finsbury Park or Highbury fields as theyre the closest to where we’re staying. Any experience with either of these?

Welcome @JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff

Good to see you @TyneFilth . Hope you are feeling better - my Dad and son are both coeliac. Dad in particular has had periods of non-compliance, but has been completely GF for the last few months and feeling much better <head, brick wall, who'd have thunk it>. I still have triathlon ambitions, but probably next year now.

@tinks3110 you'll be grand. I've just got back on the HM leading into full marathon training - DH has signed up both up for an autumn HM and I have 2 full marathons next year (one deferred from this year).

@Whataninterestinglookingpotato enjoy your London parkrun! My and friends' experience is that - like anywhere else I suppose - they vary depending on local demographics. Do you have one in mind?

I'm back on 4 runs a week but mercifully all short as I'm at the start of the plan. My dodgy shoulder is still bothering me, but not as much. On hols at the moment, so trying out all the local parkruns (there are three in striking distance).

@Whataninterestinglookingpotato
trail run sounds great and well done!

I felt the same about the parkrun I was a tourist at in Liverpool, it was so busy! Think we get so comfortable in our local parkrun it’s weird to go elsewhere.
im on a deload week on my marathon plan, have done 3 x 5ks easy and got a 5 mile easy on Sunday. It is weird to me to run the shorter distances now and I struggle to keep it truly easy 😂. I am in my own head a lot at the moment telling myself I can’t do it when I know I can

Last night I went out and did a race on a school night! It’s a local trail event that I did last year and it’s always a nice evening with a bbq and drinks after.

the race it’s self is a nice route with a bitch of a hill that you have to do twice! I think it’s called the horrible hill on Strava 😂. It’s marshalled by another local club that an old friend runs for and it’s always nice to see her out on the course.

I took nearly 5 mins off my time from last year and came in 2nd lady! I got a really cool ham stone trophy and a bottle of wine.

hills tonight and then a trip to London at the weekend where dd1 wants to drag me to a London parkrun. I’m actually feeling a bit nervous about it. Like for some reason in London everyone will be really well turned out or professional runners or something. Which I know is stupid.

happy running all.

11 weeks is plenty of time. Honestly you’ll be amazed at the progress you’ll make in that time. It’s also very normal to have doubts. You feel tired, you have a bad run and think how will I make it through. But trust the process. You will be fine!

@Whataninterestinglookingpotato marathon is 18th October think it’s 11 weeks. I’m so scared but think my marathon will be one and done for me so
will walk it if I have to

How long is it until your marathon @tinks3110? it’s amazing what you can pull out of the bag on race day even if you’re not feeling like your training is going to plan.

glad you managed to get out and run on holiday @JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff its always nice to run in different places even if it’s only a shorter one.

good luck with your marathon training @TyneFilth. Dd1 has really got into running but dd2 isn’t fussed. She’s got about half way through C25k twice and packed it in. She did run the half a mile back from dropping her car at the garage the other day, but that’s it’s for months. Dd1 got into the London marathon for next year so she has to keep it up!

glad your parkrun went well @BogRollBOGOF

I went out with the trail gang today for what was meant to be a 10 mile trail run, but ended up being 17! It was a hilly 10 mile race route with about 1700ft of elevation over those 10 miles plus 3.5miles to the there and back along the old railway path. It was good fun but as I thought we were only doing the 10 miles I didn’t bring much fuel and after my race and park run on the preceding days I was a bit done in by the end!! Popped down to the coast for a sea swim after with the dds which sorted me out.

2 weeks until the next marathon so the distance probably did me good.

happy running all.

7.5 miles at marathon pace for me today, trying not to freak out at the thought of 26 miles but totally feeling like I’ve not got enough training time left 🙈

On holiday in the Yorkshire Dales with family now and got out with DSis for a very modest 6.5k this morning. I live in the SE and it's sooooo much hillier here! Celebrated with eggs on toast after.

My kids are all primary aged but they like getting out for a short run. We took them to a local viaduct last night and they did lengths of it at speed!

Hi all, been ages since I last posted. I have done a couple of triathlons since my winter 10/15k series and mid-Mar HM. I do have another tri on the calendar but my next main target is a late October trail marathon - first time doing mara distance, and it's got a lot of elevation.

I'm a bit below the curve on my current training, have been feeling sluggish because I'm coeliac and have almost certainly been glutenned while away eating out on holiday - with the best will in the world, cross contamination in restaurants is going to happen and I felt like I just had to accept that was going to be the case. Getting back now to strict GF diet so I'll perk up in the next couple of weeks I'm sure.

Have been lurking and am so impressed with the various PBs and mega distances! But most of all, jealous of those who get their kids out with them. I wish I had family interested enough to join me but it's not their thing at all. Ah well, just me, my thoughts and the trail then...

Welcome to the thread @JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff great that you’re getting back into running again.

yesterday evening dd1 and I ran a local 10k race. It’s a nice evening event that goes through the countryside with about 370 people taking part. 10ks are not my favourite but I do like this one as the scenery is lovely and it’s a bit of a mix of road and trail paths.

I got a PB there last year and quietly wanted to beat it this year. Which I did by 2.5 mins!! 43:08 2nd lady over all and 1st in my age category! I couldn’t believe it! Dd1 smashed her target and PB too coming in in 48 mins!! Very pleased. Our club bagged 1st, 2nd and 3rd lady spots!

went to parkrun this morning, one I haven’t been to just under an hour away with dd1 and a couple of friends. I was going to take it steady after last night as I was tired but I went faster than I meant to and was 2nd female there to. Went for a nice breakfast after. Now for a restful afternoon in the garden!!

Hello...👋 can I join?

I am a MUCH less impressive runner than most of you!

Pre kids, I used to really love running. Never very fast but would go out pretty consistently a few times a week and ran the Great North Run on not very much training.

Then I had 3 babies incl twins and.... it all went to hell a bit 😆 core knackered, pelvic floor wobbly etc. Plus, just: twins!!

It's been a long old journey back, but after about 2y dedicated gym work I have good core and glute strength back.

I started running again, very tentatively, in spring 25. My goal for 2025 was just to complete 10k in a race in sub 1h without getting re-injured!

Did that. Then my 2026 goal was to cover a HM distance, again without getting injured again. I did that just on my own, no race, rather stupidly on one of the heatwave days about 3w ago 🤔

Now, I am not training for an event, but I just want to build my endurance so that 20-25k feels very comfortable. I can do that distance, but it's a push.

To motivate myself I'm trying to do 500km before Xmas which should be easily doable if I get out consistently.

Well done @SFRSmum what an incredible achievement!!! You must be super proud of yourself and well done for keeping going through adversity!!

a marathon will seem like a walk in the park after that!!

100 miler done 💪 quite a high drop out rate, out of 560 starters I believe 146 dropped out.

I really enjoyed it. It was hard. Took me 36 ISH hours, I think, I need to double check. My aim was to get my fastest marathon, 50k and 100k and I achieved all 3, then I walked the rest.

I had a blip around the 70 mile mark, I was falling asleep as I was walking and then the nausea id been experiencing for a few hours before turned into proper sickness, honestly if you made me choose id have quit there and then. Thankfully my husband knows me too well, so came with the van and made me sleep for a few hours, when I woke up, the sickness was gone and I could go on.

Such a fab event, lots of grumbles from people about the terrain and route but that's why I enjoyed it, kept it interesting.

Resting now (kind of, I've walked 5 miles today to the station to get home 🤣)

@BogRollBOGOF hope the osteopath visit went well and you are back running soon, I'm going to struggle this week keeping off my feet.

@Whataninterestinglookingpotato oh exciting re the marathon, I have my first ever marathon at the end of September and I thought 8 weeks training (after my self enforced rest week) was pushing it! And well done on the parkrun super speedy.

@OhOneOhTwoOhThree glad your getting out without too many I'll effects, well done.

100 miler done 💪 quite a high drop out rate, out of 560 starters I believe 146 dropped out.

I really enjoyed it. It was hard. Took me 36 ISH hours, I think, I need to double check. My aim was to get my fastest marathon, 50k and 100k and I achieved all 3, then I walked the rest.

I had a blip around the 70 mile mark, I was falling asleep as I was walking and then the nausea id been experiencing for a few hours before turned into proper sickness, honestly if you made me choose id have quit there and then. Thankfully my husband knows me too well, so came with the van and made me sleep for a few hours, when I woke up, the sickness was gone and I could go on.

Such a fab event, lots of grumbles from people about the terrain and route but that's why I enjoyed it, kept it interesting.

Resting now (kind of, I've walked 5 miles today to the station to get home 🤣)

@BogRollBOGOF hope the osteopath visit went well and you are back running soon, I'm going to struggle this week keeping off my feet.

@Whataninterestinglookingpotato oh exciting re the marathon, I have my first ever marathon at the end of September and I thought 8 weeks training (after my self enforced rest week) was pushing it! And well done on the parkrun super speedy.

@OhOneOhTwoOhThree glad your getting out without too many I'll effects, well done.