Runners united (come join us if you are addicted to running!)

[MoshiMoshi]

This is a continuation of the thread "Happy When We Are Running" for those of us who are committed to running in order to preserve a sense of ourselves and maintain a degree of sanity in our lives which are otherwise taken over by family and work-related matters.

All runners are welcome, experienced and newbies, if you are a keen runner. We promise to support you in your efforts and have a running (excuse the pun!) list of races (see below) which various of us have entered in order to provide advice and support along the way.

So what are you waiting for? Spring is here and there is no better time to enter those races you have been wondering about entering and lose those winter pounds, and all for free (well, as long as you have a decent pair of trainers suitable for your running gait ). Alternatively, if you don't want to race you can just join us to enjoy the racing vicariously and learn about training and what (not) to do along the way.

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
25/06/11 - Lewa half marathon Kenya - Masterandmargaritas
10/07/11 - RFL 5K, Kingston & Kempton Park: Wheelybug
18/09/11 - GNR: Hamster, Run for fun, popsycal
23/09/11 - Notting Half Marathon: cestlavie

Paws and doyou - are you both feeling lurgy-free? Everyone tells me the taper period is typified by illness and to carry lots of handwash with me everywhere, except I am already ill! Still coley with a terrible wheezy cough now which I am reaaaaally hoping has nothing to do with the new puppy and is purely viral .

misscrazy - well done on your positive sounding session! Always good to feel strong following one of those toughies.

master - how long are you in the UK for? Are you London-bound? If so what do you think to a thread jog-meet in Richmond Park for example?

We should really try get that thread-run arranged if only to out any hairy-handed truckers amongst us .

Happy lurgy and injury free running everyone! Feeling less tired after puppy slept from 11.30pm till 5.40am - hurrah! Checked the Doghouse section here but it is not as well frequented as this thread so may just ask DrNo lots of dog-related questions.

Moshi feel free to hit me with any dog related questions! I must confess when we got ours I had a period of about 4 weeks of thinking we had made a huge mistake. And ours was 9 months old when we got him, so you have more work as yours is brand new. He needs to settle down, you need to get to know him, and I promise, he will become your best mate, and that of your kids.

Welcome to all the newbies. This is my favourite section on MN. I had a nightmare day at work yesterday, discovered I have made a monumental cock up, and today I have to face the music and see my Director of Sales
Wish me luck!

Anyway, we did a run out into the dales with the club, 5.5 miles in all, and for a good while my friend and I managed an 8.40 mm. That is amazing for us and we were dead chuffed. Looking forward to our 10k on Sunday now. Not that I can sustain that speed for 10k though..........

Enjoy your dall everyone

DrNo - admitting to cock-ups requires full disclosure of the fact, admission of fault and recognition of what went wrong and why to give the necessary reassurance it won't happen again to those concerned. And possibly drinks at the pub later to laugh about it (in a nervous manner). Good luck!

Oh and well done on the speedy session last night!

DrNo hope your day at work isn't too bad and the effects of the cock-up can be mitigated in some way. Fessing up is always hard but better to get it off your chest. When I was working my job definitely had the potential for very costly mistakes - luckily it never happened but at least it wasn't a job where someone's life depended on me. Just keep saying "it's only money" .

Moshi I'm still not feeling 100% to be honest, but I think it's just a post-viral thing - I just feel wheezy and have a dry cough still. Funny enough I think I'm fine running, I just have a massive coughing fit every now and again. I'm more bothered that I feel I missed the last week of real training, but there's nothing I can do about it now. Are you going to do a run today or give it a rest?

Good luck today DrNo - there's a lot of sensible, pragmatic advice on here to which I'd just add, is it too late to pull a sickie?

Interesting point about getting sick during tapers Moshi. It does seem to happen doesn't it? I wonder what the physiological effect of cutting back exercise is on the immune system etc. Well done on getting the puppy to sleep through - guess you've got the knack after 4 kids now!

Hi Squix - I tend to wake up waaaay too early before any race anyway so have plenty of time to get some food (usually brown toast and bananas plus lots of water). I also like to get down the start fairly early to enjoy the atmosphere, stretch my legs and drink more water! Love getting to big half marathons early - there's always loads going on.

Not a great running week here. Times slipped back a little on both my interval session and tempo run this week (not much, but by about 5 - 10 secs per mile). Feeling a little like I've reached a plateau over the last few weeks and not really being able to get past 7.30 m/m even on tempo runs even when pushing hard.

Am doing 3 runs per week - distance circa 5 miles (tempo), 8 miles (interval) and 13 miles (long run). Am a bit restricted as they need to be in on way to work so need to be relatively time efficient. Any thoughts appreciated on what other people have done to get through their own plateaus (absent running clubs etc).

Actually, to put it a slightly different way - I can (reasonably) happily run 13+ miles at close to 8.00 m/m. On the other hand, running 5 miles at 7.30 m/m virtually kills me...

Hope your day went ok DrNortherner and that they appreciate your honesty - you're only human remember !

moshi - sorry you're still not feeling any better, although good news on your puppy's sleep. The taper-illness thing sounds a bit like getting ill when you go on holiday.. you keep going and then suddenly stop and it plays havoc with the immune system.

I'd be up for a run round Richmond Park if we can sort it out.

Cestlavie - hope you have a better week next week.

Nothing to report here other than aching a bit from the class yesterday. I can feel the bits I obviously don't use when I'm running (upper body is a bit sore from press ups !!).

cestlavie - I reckon some faster 10K type intervals would change all that quite quickly for you if you were interested in improving your short form speed. I find shorter stuff much harder work too unless I am on a treadmill and then just have to move my legs to make sure I don't fall off! After the London marathon and as part of the HIM training I might incorporate some 10K interval stuff into my week and see if that helps me in my bid to get a sub-40 time in May. It should be possible in theory as I can do it easily enough on a treadmill but I need to be able to convert that onto the Tarmac.

Thanks Moshi. Yes, on a treadmill it would be a lot easier - you can be much more structured and I think you push yourself harder (whereas I'm sure I tail off on my interval work out on the streets and it's hard to track exact speeds). What faster 10K intervals were you thinking of? At the moment I do 12K intervals, split 1k fast, 500m recovery though like I said, they're definitely not structured or hard enough.

Moshi just an idea, I tend to get a bit wheezy in the spring anyway when the tree pollen starts - and obviously being outside and exercising makes it worse. Maybe try an antihistamine and see what happens?

Thanks for all the suggestions, I need to find a route, my dsis says she is close to lots of lovely countryside but I find that hard to believe in EN5

Moshi - a Richmond Park MN Easter run What a fabulous idea. Is anyone around over Easter Weekend or even on the 25th? I am back from 20th to 26th on my own with no small people. The 21st and 22nd are already spoken for but would love to meet you all. In fact I'll be meeting other MN'ers with whom I've bonded over the years.

The only condition is that you, Moshi, go very very very slowly.

Peachy, don't push yourself too hard, its hard work with a baby in the tum.

I find it hard to push on speed if I'm not on a treadmill - which I hate - it's the rational brain thing again, just watching the numbers tick down is easier somehow than keeping going without a clearly defined goal in mind. Ha ha, my intervals/speed/tempo is as fast as most of your 'slow' paces...

If there's going to be an Easter run then I insist on there being chocolate?!

oh I would love to meet up in Richmond Park, especially with visiting, VIP Master being here. I am busy on the 23rd but could do any other day! Don't worry Master am going to be taking it very slow, in fact if we meet I may not even run as would be so slow at the moment would be miles behind, but would still love to meet!

Haven't run since Saturday. Was thwarted today by horrid weather and (hurrah) feeling vile! Am feeling a bit reassured by hideous nausea.

Hope it all went ok today at work DrNo

Moshi, hope you feeling ok tonight.

Agree with regards the treadmill - I find that for intervals or if I just want to work on speed, the treadmill is OK. I was converted this winter - when it was impossible to go out for a run without ending up on my backside every 10m 'cos of the ice - I started to use the gym more. Longest I can do is about 5 miles - which I did today in the gym - but only with a distraction of really mindless TV. Still, I much prefer being outside.

I work from home for myself, but am often out and about at client meetings. So sometimes on days like today, when I have a gap between meetings when I can't get back to my desk, an hour or so at the gym fills the gap nicely.

Oh wise ones, I am running a 10k race on Sunday and normally do an rmed Forces Fitness sesh on Saturday - is it best to give it a miss the day before a race?

Reading through all my race info it says it is not a PB course due to challenging terrain and there will be cattle in fields Have visions of me running round some sheep instead of through them.....and there are only 189 runners in the field. I always worry about coming last! They give prizes to age groups, then a special prize to the runner who showed the most determination, whatever that means.....

I probably wouldn't do the Sat fitness sesh, depending on how physically demanding it is! Good luck for the 10k - I'm sure you wont finish last! I'm not the quickest runner in the world, but I've never been last in a race - even in the first 10k I did that took me 1 hr 15 mins! I'd just try and relax and enjoy it :) x

I would definitely miss it the day before unless you're planning to treat the race as fun and aren't bothered at all about the time.

I think there's a certain cachet to coming last. First and last always get the biggest cheers!

Puppy started at 5.30am. Hmmm. DH hates her after she deposited both types of matter on the floor and living room rug yesterday while I was at A&E with DD3 who had fallen onto her head from the sofa. I was a bit scared as she got very sleepy about ten minutes later and was not easily roused so called an ambulance thinking the worst. When said ambulance arrived all the excitement caused her to wake up and have a good look at everything going on. By the time we were in the paediatric A&E waiting room, she was up and about playing with a boy who had hurt his finger. I hate those moments when you realise you are in for a long wait and your being cautious, while not unmerited, was (in fact) a waste of time. Meanwhile back home, puppy was not showing her best aspects to DH who was trying to put DS, DD1 and DD2 to bed while simultaneously looking for a missing passport for a business trip today.

cestlavie - look at some 10K training schedules and the types of intervals will be structured to work on your pure speed, eg 8x400m off short (60-90 second) recoveries or similar as opposed to 6x800m or more which are found in HM type schedules. You may find they help your pure speed?

DrNo - I would do the session on the basis it is not running but good crosstraining that you can easily recover from. However, if neither of those two do apply (ie there is lots of running and you are tired the next day) probably best not to. Mind you, I can err on the side of doing too much too!

paws - thanks for the suggestion. I popped an antihistamine last night so will see if that helps. I am still a bit sniffly and wheezy today so will bin the planned session on the Alter G Trainer and save myself for my last LSR at the weekend.

peach - hurray, nausea!

master - sadly I am not in London over the Easter weekend, however, I still think a MN Richmond Park run is in order! Who is in?!

On no Moshi, poor dd3. Been there done that with the miraculous recovery of children though.......at least she is OK. Poor dh having to clear up the dog mess. It's not her fault though, you have to expect mess at first.

Regarding my Armed Forces sesh, my group normally does alot of running. Usually fast, short shuttle sprints (my forte actually!) And I often ache the next day after the lunges and stuff. Could always do it but join a lower ability group....will see how I feel.

Raining here today.

I am very about the Richmond Park meet up. Tis a long way to come for a run for me

Oh dear Moshi, better safe than sorry though. Sleepiness would worry me too - in some ways much more reassuring when there's a visible bump or cut. I've sat there a few times with ds1 who is quite accident prone and has a lovely selection of glued cuts and bumps!

Don't worry about the puppy stage it doesn't last long. Hard work though. We've had puppies before but this time went for an adult dog. Can I recommend biological washing powder to get rid of the smell or your puppy will keep going back to the same spot?

DrNo - what made you think DH cleaned it up? He kindly left it to me. Hurrah.

paws - am off to buy bio powder now as the spray from the vets obviously doesn't work on carpeting. Thanks for tip.

Taking another day off and will end up having a week off running with my cold and cough. Better be raring to go for my LSR at the weekend... Only good thing is that my shin pain seems to be dissipating.

Lots going on again!

Sorry you're still not feeling great Moshi - sure all the excitement with hospitals and puppies doesn't help, but you still have enough time to recover before your race.

DrNo your race sounds interesting! Doesn't sound to me like your session on Sat is a good idea. I'm also scared of coming last in my 10 mile race in June, so understand, but you seem to be in very good shape, so don't think it will be a problem for you. You can show your determination by hurdling over the cattle!

How did the work thing go yesterday? Hope they went easy on you .

Cestlavie I have to keep reminding myself that you are naturally faster than most of us due to your gender - your times sound amazing to me...

I'd love to meet you all at a get together, though can't promise depending on DH - he travels a fair bit at short notice.

Thanks Moshi - I think you might be right in needing to download properly structured training plans plus investing in that Garmin so I can track interval paces more accurately. I'll have a look through RW for something suitable. Sounds like quite hard work with the new puppy - makes me glad we've got cats!

Without knowing the detail, I'd be inclined to skip that session DrNo. I absolutely always leave the day or two before a race free of training... and that's coming from someone who gets very edgy about not training/ tapering. I think you'll definitely feel the benefits of a couple of days rest before the race.

Thanks thecoo - although in distance running I think the gap between men/ women and old/ young is pretty small. Being, ahem, a little competitive, it's just trying to figure out how to improve on my current times which I'm struggling with.

Oh, I've also signed up for another race - another HM in late June (which should be interesting from a temperature perspective!). Pleased to have another one in the diary! New list below:

27/03/11 - Kingston Breakfast Run 8.2m wheely
27/03/11 - Elgin 10k: backwardpossom
02/04/11 - Miles for Missing People 10K: MoshiMoshi
03/04/11 - Arkendale 10k, DrNortherner
10/04/11 - Brighton Marathon: Pawsnclaws
17/04/11 - VLM: MoshiMoshi/ Passmyglass/ Doyouthinktheysaurus
02/05/11 - Ashdon 10K: bonkers20
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
21/05/11 - Clare Burren Marathon Challenge - drivingmisscrazy
22/05/11 - Edinburgh Marathon: MrsWednesday
22/05/11 - Merchant Taylors' Triathlon: MoshiMoshi
22/05/11 - Edinburgh Half Marathon: backwardpossom
30/05/11 - BUPA 10K: MoshiMoshi
05/06/11 - Seaford Half Marathon: Doyouthinktheysaurus
05/06/11 - Tilty Hilly 5(mile): bonkers20
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
19/06/11 - Dash for Dads - Pawsnclaws
19/06/11 - Half Ironman UK 70.3 - Twink, MoshiMoshi
25/06/11 - Lewa half marathon Kenya - Masterandmargaritas
26/06/11 - Stortford 10 miles - thecoo
26/06/11 - Colworth half marathon - cestlavie
02/07/11 - Achill Half marathon - drivingmisscrazy
10/07/11 - RFL 5K, Kingston & Kempton Park: Wheelybug
10/07/11 - Felsted 10K: bonkers20
17/07/11 - RFL St Albans - Pawsnclaws
18/09/11 - GNR: Hamster, Run for fun, popsycal
23/09/11 - Notting Half Marathon: cestlavie
24/09/11 - mooathon, donegal: drivingmisscrazy
25/09/11 - Edinburgh Urbanathlon: backwardpossom
16/10/11 - Abingdon Marathon: MoshiMoshi
10/12/11 - Clonakilty Waterfront Marathon (half): drivingmisscrazy