runner united (we talk almost as fast as we run)

[drivingmisscrazy]

a thread for runners to chat, debate, share tips, triumphs (and the occasional disaster!) - new runners particularly welcome, the only thing that's required is enthusiasm (and a pair of running shoes)

29/05/11 - Stirling R4L: squix
29/05/11 - Plymouth Half Marathon: sungirltan
30/05/11 - BUPA 10K: MoshiMoshi
01/06/11 - BHF Canary Wharf 10K jog: june2009
05/06/11 - Tilty Hilly 5(mile): bonkers20
05/06/11 - RFL 10k: LaLa
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
12/06/11 - The Heroes half marathon - Futurity
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
06/07/11- Yately 10k (not actually booked yet): DebiTheScot
10/07/11 - RFL 5K, Kingston & Kempton Park: Wheelybug
10/07/11 - Felsted 10K: bonkers20
16/07/11 - Phoenix park 5 miler - drivingmisscrazy
17/07/11 - RFL St Albans - Pawsnclaws
17/07/11 - Dundee Half marathon - TheChewyToffeeMum
17/07/11- Chichester (Sprint) Triathlon: DebiTheScot
20/08/11 - Frank Duffy 10 mile, Dublin - drivingmisscrazy
03/09/11 - Dingle Half-Marathon - drivingmisscrazy
11/09/11 - Bristol Half- Marathon - thetasigmamum
18/09/11 - GNR: Hamster, Run for fun, popsycal, LaLa
23/09/11 - Notting Half Marathon: cestlavie
25/09/11 - Edinburgh Urbanathlon: backwardpossom
25/09/11 - Windsor Half Marathon: Doyouthinktheysaurus
02/10/11 - Standalone 10K: Futurity
02/10/11 - Bradford Half Marathon - MrsWednesday
02/10/11 - Baxter's River Ness 10k - backwardpossom
16/10/11 - Abingdon Marathon: MoshiMoshi
30/10/11 - Great South Run: Wheely, squix
19/02/12 - Brighton Half marathon - Wheely

Morning all. Thanks for the new thread Driving.

Not the bottom group Squix - as has been said, I think that will be for people who are new to exercise. Whatever group you are in, it will probably still hurt tbh....but thats a good thing, right?!! I am a bit of a weirdo and love the whole shaky/jelly thing I get from really pushing myself with weight/push-ups or core work.

I used to belong to a Hash House Harriers group in Glasgow many years ago and LOVED it - but that was before DD when 'a drinking club with a running problem' more fitted my lifestyle . I had a few raucous running weekends in the highlands though - running up hills with a hangover is not as bad when you are 25!

Working from home today so nipping out for a quick 7 miles in my new Mizuno trainers that were fitted yesterday (feel great and were in the sale!)

thanks driving marking place

Hello - wow a new thread already?! Marking my place, too

What was that I said about cherishing time with my brother? He said he'd be here over an hour ago to go out for the day. Can you tell he doesn't have small children who get bored if left waiting?!

Thanks driving. Just marking my place.

Just back from poking around in some waste ground with the kids in the name of Geocaching.

Quick question guys. My HM is on Sunday 12th June. On Friday 10th June a freind and I are having a day at a Spa and I have booked a deep tissue massage. However, read last night that a deep tissue massage can have teh effect of a tough workout and leave yuo with sore muscles. Anyone experienced this? Have rung the Spa and they had no idea.....

Should I change my treatment or still have the massage and just tell them to go easy?

Personally, I'd change the treatment - maybe go for a nice facial, head massage or something?

New thread, lovely!

Can anyone recommend a shop to get trainers fitted in London? North london or East London woud work!

The weather is nice right now, I hope it holds out for this afternoon's 10k (my first organised event :))
I would like to do it in just under an hour but not realy sure how to time it as I cannot find my watch and don't really want to be messing around taking my phone out of the bum bag.
I'm going to be watching out for people wearing watches there
I'll be back later to report ;)
driving did you get to use your new device today? Last time my neck/shoulders were stiff like you described I went to see the osteopath but to be honest I'm not sure whether that fixed it or whether it would have got better on its own. Take it easy.

Notyummy there is a lot of Hashing that goes on here. I tried once in Tanzania but the whole drinking after running in 33 degrees heat got the better of me, I could only manage one part of it so concentrated on the drinking .

Chewy, I've had a look at that geocaching before, I think it looks like great fun, especially when you have to do it surreptitiously in the car park of a train station . Apparently there is even one place here. I feel though that it may lose its appeal if there are only two people in the whole of Nairobi doing it.

I ran this morning and fell over . I was covered in red dust from top to tail. I carried on but was a bit wobbly so had to walk up a couple of hills. I also must have looked pretty queer as I fell on one side so was red only on one side and not the other. Nothing was hurt apart from my pride.

Moshi, it's good to hear from you. Stay strong.

Oh and June, I've been to a great wee running shop in Pinner, don't know if that is north or too west for you?

Good lucj June

drnortherner thanks :)

re: massages, have you had it before? regular massages make my muscles very sore and i just don't have them. the osteopath said thats because my muscles are souple, not a good or a bad thing, just means that massages hurt... sorry that might not be very helpful :s
maybe ask on the bodybuilding.com forum, there's bound to be lots of people who have had them there.

well the Garmin is as good as its reputation (shame about its owner); I ran 6k more or less, 5 x 2 mins intervals with 400m recovery in between. It was bloody hard - but my max speed was 3:46 (probably for all of 10 seconds), but my intervals were

4:40
4:53
4:51
4:28
4:34

I was aiming for about 4:40. I assume it's ok to walk the recovery bits. Should I rebalance this - i.e. shorter recoveries. I must say 2 mins felt more or less my limit!

Thanks for setting up the new thread, driving. Recoveries need to allow you to recover to do the next set well so if you feel like 2 mins was that amount of time I would stick to it for now. I think for longer races, eg HM or marathons, the recoveries (and intervals) would be longer but for shorter races you need to train yourself to go again relatively quickly at a fast clip if that makes sense.

DrNo - a deep tissue massage is not what you want before a race! The most you want is something that loosens up the muscles, a superficial aromatherapy type thing perhaps?

master - was definitely not strong last night as crumpled in heap of tears before DH who listened for the first time to my point of view and how I felt about everything...

On the surface everything is wonderful and I always appear to be a strong and calm person. Underneath I currently feel like everything is running away from me and I have no head space to even think about things. I think the turning point was my mum's diagnosis. All the other things were already in place, 4 kids, no home help (cleaner left a few weeks ago) and a boisterous puppy. For many people that would be a nightmare scenario in itself but I sort of embraced the chaos as I think I had a lonely childhood with a sister who was much older than me and I was effectively a latch-key kid while my mum was off playing mahjong or in casinos in Macau (I grew up in Hong Kong). But all of that was manageable until I was confronted with the fact my mum may well die as she has an aggressive form of cancer. Then my dad's death suddenly seemed like it had happened just yesterday again and all my feelings came to the surface again. I guess it just needs to come out but it leaves me feeling a bit wibbly and liable to blow up in some form or another. Especially as I have not run since my ankle sprain last week.

Sorry for depressing post. Felt good to get it out though...?!

June - good luck for today! Try to run evenly which probably means keeping at about 65-70% for the first half and then pushing it incrementally each mile thereafter. If you are an experienced 10K runner I think that you might consider going out at 75-80% and building from there but for most of us, running at 3/4 of our max for 40+ minutes is quite difficult. Do you have a time goal in mind?

June - good luck!!

DrNo, I am always sore after I've been to the physio (she gives me a deep tissue massage) and it usually takes 2-3 days for my legs to feel right again.

Moshi, I'm really glad you've off-loaded to your DH and here too. If you are always the 'coper' then people stop checking to make sure you are ok, so you've definitely done the right thing by sharing the load. Is there anything else you can do to get yourself some head space until you can run again?

indeed Moshi we are here to help

just noticed that I've messed up the thread title - we are runner (singular) united...don't know if you can correct a thread title - anyone?

No biggie about the thread title driving. We only have to look at it for teh next 900 or ss posts ..........check out my posts - I can't talk!

Moshi sorry it all feels too much right now. You have a lot on your plate without an ill Mother. I think you need to go easy on yourself. Tis not your job to hold everything together you know. Hope dh took your feelings on board? Can only iamgine what you are going through re your Mum, but as you know, I lost my Dad very suddenly too and know that screws you up long time. How is the ankle healing?

Right you guys have made up my mind. No deep tissue massage. Might get a luxury pedicure instead.

I know drNo, but I have responsibilities now...

Moshi I've just re-read your post and I think what you are describing sounds very familiar - once you've suffered a bereavement, every subsequent one recalls the first one - even the prospect of thinking about your mother's illness would be enough to bring back an earlier bereavement fresh and raw; particularly and especially if you haven't had enough time to grieve. This happened to me when we had a miscarriage - I was distraught to a degree that wasn't rationally warranted and it was because this loss brought to the surface all sorts of forgotten about and neglected feelings about my father's death, all those years ago. So I second DrNo I think you need to go easy on yourself, and try to find a little space to put yourself first - I know this isn't exactly easy with 4 kids (and a dog!), but just a little 'you' time seems vital at this difficult time. We are all thinking of you.

moshi I am sorry you are feeling like this, but the fact that you let it out with dh is a good sign, I hope he responds as you wish or is receptive to providing you with the kind of support you need.

I only have one child and not by choice, but I did find it hard, she arrived when I was 36 and the change of pace took a while to adjust to, I knew I wanted to stay at home for a while and although every choice has a flip side

I was also aware that a lot of my childhood problems would feel more raw, I wasn't entirely prepared for the strength of it. I think the intimations of mortality start playing a part when our parents are ill or die.
It is part of life and what is needed is a network of support to keep us going, sadness and joy to share

I hope you find some balance and some proper practical help, what happened to the nanny/ housekeeper?

June hope the race went well

Thank you driving, sfx, DrNo and MrsWeds for your posts. It feels strangely reassuring to know what I am feeling is probably quite normal and what you say sounds accurate, driving. I will try to think of carving out some me time. We are interviewing a candidate for housekeeping role tomorrow. It's at 5pm so hopefully the full flow of teatime, bath and tidying up won't put her off the job!

I am continuing to try single leg dips and closing eyes when standing on weak leg. I think I will have to try a run on a flat surface soon before I burst though.

Now where is June's race report?!

My running club was ok tonight not as bad as I thought I was about in the middle of the group I was in. My legs are hurting tonight I think I ran much faster then I usually do.

heya :)

Only just got back, it was GREAT! I loved it!
The event was well organised, I don't know how many people went , they had 1500 last year. Got there, got my t-shirt, pinned my number and had a coffee with dh and dd who came along to watched me run which was really nice for me.
There were cheerleaders there, music and we had a bit of a warmup with some instructors from the reebok's club on a stage which was good fun.

My goal was to do the run in under an hour. Last time I ran 10k (which was also the first time I ran 10k) I did it in 65 minutes
We left at 6:30 on the dot and had to do 8 laps of 1.25 km each.

It was in the middle and around Canary wharf so it was still buzzing, going past cafes and restaurants (with peole drinking and smoking and cheering), and past the tube station with ppl wondering what the hell was going on ;)
The atmosphere was really friendly, there was one tiny little hill the rest was mainly flat. They had a couple of bands playing, some music, and the cheerleaders giving us high fives on the way!

So time wise I had a look at my phone half way through and I had done it in 25 minutes, and did the second half in 27 minutes, so:

• 10k, 52 minutes, personal best and really happy with that!!

I feel like I probably could have gone faster at times, need to work on pacing myself properly. The last two laps were definitely my fastest but I think the 5th and 6th lap were probably the slowest.

Some people sponsored me as well , I raised £17.50 which is better than nothing :D (even though some people raised like 6k!) I'm going to try and convince dh our company could match this as well.

I'll catch up properly with the thread now.

THANK YOU all for your words of encouragment and for inspiring me to do this in the first place!
We walked past a sign advertising canary wharf triathlon at the end of june, watch this space ;)

That's a fantastic time! Well done!

Well done June! Glad you enjoyed it.