Happy when we are running!

[MoshiMoshi]

Hear ye! Hear ye! All those who want to liberate themselves from the shackles of their domestic and work lives, join us here in our continued bid to run and be happy and feel free !

Hello all, I need your advice.

Used to run before ds age 6 was born, last 2 years have not run but go spinning 3-4 times a week with a couple of high inpact aerobic classes thrown in each week also.

In 5 weeks time there is an 11k for the school I would love to do. For the last couple of weeks I have managed 2 half hour runs a week and did my first half hour outside this lunchtime and returned intact.

Do you think 11k in 5 weeks is too abitious and what tips can you give me if you think its achievable.

I will be hanging on your every last words ......

Hi tulip! There is a 6 week training plan here for 5 k from runnersworld

You could make a start on this?

From spinning and aerobics you sound more than fit enough, so no doubt you'll finish it. Just a question of in what time? But as you are making a return to it just run for the enjoyment, then you'll have a PB to beat at your next one!

Oh damn damn damn! I thought I was increasing my runs sensibly, but half-way through yesterday's run, I got sharp pains in my foot exactly where I hurt it doing my 10k back in September. I'm pretty sure it was a small stress fracture, so it must still be a weak point. I stopped straight away and it doesn't hurt to walk on, but I guess I'll have to rest it for a while .

Sorry to hear you can't run pass what a nightmare.

Just 2 miles round the block today with ds1 (8) - he's doing the MiniMile when I do the marathon. Was lovely as I've had to do my short runs this week with ds3 in the pushchair, and he's too heavy (and not a proper running buggy) so it kills my shoulders.

12 miles tomorrow, half with a friend so it will fly by. Off to an Indian wedding today!

With headphones I find the only ones I can tolerate are the Philips rubbery in-ear type ones - anything else falls out. Think you can get them from John Lewis or Argos.

Happy running.

Welcome Tulip. the general advice is increase by no more than 10% per week and have a long run which you slowly increase until you are able to cover the distance, done at an easy pace, you should be able to talk!

Sorry to hear you are injured Goldberry, you are doing the right thing resting though. Maybe see a physio if it continues. Fingers crossed for you.

Enjoy your wedding paws and hope the weather improves for your 12 miler tommorrow.

I did 13.1 miles this morning in blizzard conditions at times. 950ft ascent in 5 miles. Not up to hatwoman's standards but tough enough I used to cycle the route and was pleased how comfortable I found the hills. The rain and wind was awful on the Downs and visibility became atrocious at one point. Loved it though, felt so good to be out on the Downs again and coming back down was fabulous! I averaged 10.40mm overall, 11.00mm on the hills so very pleased.

I really noticed a difference in my fitness today and can see that the training is working. Sometimes all my runs feel like a slog so it was nice.

Happy running everyone

I hope that's not the marathon route doyou! I have a love-hate relationship with hills - on the one hand I dread them, but actually find it a bit boring and plod along without them. My usual route the first ten miles is quite hilly, though anything over that I tend to go for the flatter loops afterwards. I looked at the course profile for the marathon and that looked to be appropriate in terms of training.

Last HM I did was Berkhamsted and there were some amazingly beautiful views from the long hills in the first 12 miles - then the last mile was steeply downhill and only took me about 7 minutes because my legs wouldn't stop!

tomorrow is the day....

Sorry to have been so quiet but have been away down in Devon where my horse is. Had a lovely time as DS came with me as he is on half term. Left the DDs at home and missed them terribly but was nice to have some one to one time with DS. Potted summary of what I did: I rode every day and I ran two of the three days (one day was a rest day when I went riding all day). Recovery week for me in my training schedule so all runs were gentle albeit up very steep hills being Devon.

Quick read back leaves me to say: sorry to pass that you are missing your race but better to recover than jeopardise the rest of your training for your main A race; hope that your injury comes to nothing too serious, gold; great run there, doyouthinktheysaurus - it is great when you see how training is working! and welcome to tulip - of course you can do it! Make sure you plan the next 5 weeks with precision and STICK to your schedule so you don't go injuring yourself and so you can start your race confident that you have put in sufficient training!

My God Moshi you rode all day? Blimey. Have only been on a horse once and I was petrified!

Did and armed forces fitness session this morning in the snow. Yes, we have snow in N Yorks. It was fun.

Not sure if I can run tomorrow as dh is away in Manchester for some cycling event at The Velodrome and not sure when he will be back.

Popscal - what is tomorrow?!

No paws Brighton marathon is much hillier....only joking, there is one decent hill on the course I think and that's it

Hope you had a lovely time Moshi, Devon is lovely, and indeed very hilly! I took my mountain bike when we went there on holiday a couple of years back and some of the hills nearly killed me!

Snow DrNorthener It's been ver wet down here, but no more white stuff, thankfully.

Popsycal are you running today?

Sounds like everyone's doin pretty well!

Good luck with aiming for the 11k tulip - depending on your speed over the 30 minutes you're running, it feels like you should be able to up that by maybe 5-10 mins per week. Bit longer than the 10% recommended but at those times it feels like it should be okay. If you're up to an hour by race day I imagine you'd be able to make it round the 11k which is a great target in its own right1!

Good work on the hills doyou. I soooo need to do some hill work but living in London and running to and from work it's incredibly hard to find any decent hills without going miles out of the way.

Been running a lot around the London canal network lately. Absolutely stunning to run through - expensive new flats, barges with cats, wide open parks, run down industrial plants not to mention the Olympic stadium to inspire you! Absolutely as flat as a pancake though obviously. Gorgeous 11+ mile run last Friday on them at 8 min/ mile. One of those runs that feel like you could keep on forever - doesn't happen often but have to love it when it does!

Happy running all.

Hamster - sound slike you are making great progress. June is quite a while away and if you are running 2.2 miles now non stop you definitely have lots of time to get to 10k.

Iread - I use the in-ear-bud ones and I find they stay in really well, you can get non branded ones quite cheap. I very rarely run with an ipod anymore having for a couple of years ALWAYS used one. Think I might still use one for a long run but it has been a looooong time since I did a long run

tulip - would echo the others advice that is is very doable but take it steadily and build up the miles slowly, good luck!

goldberry about the sore foot. Very frustrating

How was the Indian wedding paws, sounds fab! at your unstoppable legs

Doyouthink - your blizzard ridden run sounds a nightmare fun

popsy - how did it go?

Moshi - your break in Devon sounds heavenly! How often do you get down to your horse?

DrNorth - are the military fitness sessions fun? I see them in the park sometimes, and it all looks quite hard core.

cest your canal run sounds lovely. I might look into it. I live on South London and sometimes get a bit bored doing the same old routes all the time, though obviously good to be running near to home.

Did 4 miles yesterday after 8 days with no running . Planning a bit more this week. Not very much to report, no races or training but just nice to come on and catch up with everyone!

Not long now till Kilimanjaro Master, how are you feeling about it?

cestlavie your running route sounds pretty amazing! Funny you can't find any hills, where I live you struggle to find a flat route! Know just what you mean about one of those runs where you feel great, just have to enjoy them when they happen. I had the opposite tonight, just 5 miles with the dog and god I felt every foot step. It was hailing and sleeting, plus I'd not eaten much lunch, but glad I persevered all the same.

popsy - how did it go?!

peach it is Military fitness i do and I love it, except it is so wet and muddy and the moment you come back covered in mud. Not good. It is pretty hard going, lots of running and pace is fast but lots of core stuff too - plank, situps, burpees, bastardos etc plus a great dollop of comaradarie and fun! You can obviously run well so give it a go - they have 3 different ability groups.

What's a bastardo???? Sounds...er...painful!

How did Eton half go Passmyglass? Are you too tired to log on to let us know?

So much going on since I last logged in!

Iread I had some great over ear earphones but I ran too close to a tree and they ripped right off my ears! I carried on running and only realised after a bit that one of the ear wires had torn right off and is probably still swinging in the tree to this day... Anyway I found some REALLY cheap ones in one of those ultra cheapo shops that seem to be springing up everywhere - 99p and they are perfect for running. They're not loud enough for the gym but just right for the road. So it's worth keeping an eye out. When I looked on Amazon the good ones sell for a fortune!

Not going to get much chance to run this week as hubby away and kids on half term, but next week am in New York so will be taking my trainers and running in Central Park - yeeehaaaa!

A bastardo is a press up, squat thrust and a jump in the air. Hard work!

Goodness! I need a lie down just thinking about that.

Lordy lordy, I can't keep up with you all anymore either electronically or physically.

We have just been at 10,000 ft this weekend on the slopes of Mt Kenya and I went for a small run, fine on the slight downhill, not so fine on the uphill! Oh the joys of high altitude running.

My half is on Sunday and I am woefully ill-prepared. I am perhaps the only foolish person on this thread that will actually cross a border and enter another country simply to get away run a half marathon. Wish me luck, I blardy well need it this time!

Will catch up properly with you all tomorrow.

LOL M&M - good luck for the half !

Loving the sound of the bastardo - not ! One of my best friends does 3-4 BMF classes a week. THey sound hard...

moshi - glad you had a good half term break, the horse riding sounds lovely. I keep meaning to go but never seem to get round to it.

Not much to report on the running front - we were at Center Parc at the w/e with friends. Managed a v. hilly 5 miles on saturday morning but not run since (also a bit of swimming, cycling and tennis but nothing too strenuous on any of those counts !!). Meant to go when we got back yesterday but was exhausted from all the fun (i.e. fresh air, too much alcohol and non sleeping almost 2 year old). Not sure when I'll run this week as its half term here.

Wow everyone! Since I am not running atm (and thanks everyone for your sympathy at my injury), it's good that I can live vicariously through your amazing achievements.
Themaster - if running the slopes of Mt Kenya constitutes 'not keeping up physically' ... well, I'm speechless!
DrNorthener - Bastardos sound aptly named.
Moshi I am very of your Devon break. I was trying to persuade DH a while back that we should move to Devon - saw a lovely job for him in Ottery St Mary and I really wanted to up-sticks and go!
Iread - I have the tiny ear problem too! I just keep having to put the earphones back in. It's very annoying.
Popsy - hope it went well!
Happy running to all.

Master - lots of luck and I hope you enjoy your half if not run it in your best time!

Half term part 2 as DD1 is off this week and it is proving difficult to get the runs in when I want to as we are also in the throes of building work. Am shuffling them around a bit which works but is less than satisfactory as my hard-easy-hard rhythm is broken.

I received an email today from BUPA 10K about the race which I supposedly entered. I had better amend the list as I thought I was doing the British 10K in July but it appears not and I am doing a 10K in May instead (between my two triathlons)!

Happy and injury free running everyone (in the rain ).

20/02/11 - Eton half marathon: Passmyglass (DNS due to illness)
27/02/11 - Kilimanjaro half marathon: themasterandmargaritas
06/03/11 - Bath Half Marathon: MoshiMoshi
13/03/11 - Spen 20: Mrs Wednesday
19/03/11 - Dorney Lake Half Marathon MoshiMoshi
27/03/11 - Kingston Breakfast Run 8.2m wheely
02/04/11 - Miles for Missing People 10K: MoshiMoshi
10/04/11 - Brighton Marathon: Pawsnclaws
17/04/11 - VLM: MoshiMoshi/ Passmyglass/ Doyouthinktheysaurus
10/05/11 - Burbage Skyline 5.75 miles: Hatwoman
14/05/11 - Chester Half Marathon: IreadthereforeIam
15/05/11 - Oxford Town and Gown 10k: Goldberry
22/05/11 - Edinburgh Marathon: MrsWednesday
30/05/11 - BUPA 10K: MoshiMoshi
08/06/11 - Claver Peak 5 miles: hatwoman
11/06/11 - Clumber Park R4L 10k Hamster
12/06/11 - Bath R4L 5k Dillinger
12/06/11 - Redcar half marathon - DrNortherner
10/07/11 - RFL 5K, Kingston & Kempton Park: Wheelybug
18/09/11 - GNR: Hamster, Run for fun, popsycal

Hi all, am itching to get out today but am stuck indoors with three ds. Will get out tonight for a rainy run. I did my 12 miles on Sunday but felt dreadful, came home shivering and feverish and then spent the rest of Sunday and Monday with a temperature and a sore throat. Managed a gentle 4 miles last night and felt a little better.

So - a marathon training question. I've got 20 miles in my diary this Saturday with 6 weeks to go. I've got a bit ahead of myself because I allowed a few weeks off for illness but then managed to catch up regardless.

Do I:

• do a second 20 mile run two weeks after the first. This would still leave me 4 weeks recovery time;

• do a second 20 mile run three weeks after the first, leaving me 3 weeks recovery time (this was the original programme);

• be satisfied I've done the 20 miles albeit a bit early, and concentrate on speed/medium runs.

Any ideas?

Sorry to hear you were ill, paws. The 20 milers are meant to build endurance and it is often said over on Runners World that the more the better (within reason). Most aim to get 5 in during a single campaign with the objective of reaching 100 miles or thereabouts. I am planning on 6 on total with a few 16s, one or two 18s and a 22. I think if you are planning on reaching a time goal it is good to focus on endurance but if you just want to get round comfortably it is not something to get too worked up over. I think a second 20 two weeks after the first is fine as long as you feel you will benefit from it but it is important for you to gauge how you are feeling when making the decision. No point in doing a long one and feeling worse for it. Better to undertrain and be well than overtrain and get ill which takes more time out from training.

Sorry for the long ramble!

paws I am unable to offer any advice as I take my hat off to you with a 20 miler

I am in awe of all you long distance folk. I seem stuck in an 8 mile rut atm.

Goldberry what is your injury and how long are you out for? I hope yuo have a speedy recovery. Injury is frustrating.

Did a tempo sesh last night at running club, always laugh when the coach says run this at your 10k pace it's not a sprint and the fast folk peg it and I have no chance of catching them up. We covered 6.5 miles last night and what is good is it pushes me to run faster than I normally would.

Plus I am running pain free at the moment and it feels great. I wish you all pain free running.

Sadly tho ate about 29 Thornton's chocolates at work today.......