Runners united: I run, I do running, I am a runner

[DebiTheScot]

We've run out of room on the other thread so I hope you don't mind me starting the new one.
This thread is for runners to share running stories and chat about life in general too. Anyone with running shoes welcome!

Our latest race list is below. Feel free to add or remove races from it.

06/07/11- Yately 10k: 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
24/07/11 - Harrogate town centre 10k - DrNortherner
20/08/11 - Frank Duffy 10 mile, Dublin - drivingmisscrazy
03/09/11 - Dingle Half-Marathon - drivingmisscrazy
11/09/11 - Bristol Half- Marathon - thetasigmamum
11/09/11 - Bristol Half- Marathon- N4nny
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
25/09/11 - London Half Marathon Run to the beat: June2009
25/09/11 - New Forest Half Marathon: MoshiMoshi
02/10/11 - Standalone 10K: Futurity
02/10/11 - Bradford Half Marathon - MrsWednesday
02/10/11 - Baxter's River Ness 10k - backwardpossom
02/10/11 - The Run, Northampton - YeahThatsTheBadger
09/10/11 - Great Eastern Run, Peterborough - Futurity
16/10/11 - Abingdon Marathon: MoshiMoshi
30/10/11 - Great South Run: Wheely, squix
20/11/11 - Leeds Abbey Dash (10k) - DrNortherner
19/02/12 - Brighton Half marathon - Wheely
27/05/12 - London Bupa 10K - Futurity

made it out for 6.5k - time slow but solid - I still feel somewhat grotty but not enough to justify not running at all IYSWIM. Day also gone pear-shaped somehow - midday and nothing done. Oh well. Going to go to circuits tonight if I feel up to it.

Hope everyone is having a good day.

Well done Rhet for going out.

I seem to have fallen off the thread a bit - busy with DCs at home/friends over/other stuff. Off on hols tomorrow for 2.5 weeks, oop north. Frantically trying to get last minute packing etc done.

On the running front, have done my usual 2 nights at running club plus parkrun on Saturday. Also ran last night with neighbour who is training for HM in Sept. His wife had told me she was worried he was not doing enough training, so I offered to go out with him (on the basis that if you have fixed up to go runnning with someone else you are less likely to opt out, so thought this was useful way of getting me out as well). Anyway his wife showed me his training schedule and looked like he was due to do 7 mile run (I thought). Had a few routes in mind, then when we met up I asked what we were doing and he said he wanted to be out for half an hour. So my plan for a 7 miler was scuppered, and it was such a gorgeous evening - beautiful sunshine but not too warm.

So, felt a bit disappointed but stilll good to get out with someone, and I think if I had not arranged to go out with him, would not have bothered at all.

Am probably going to have a complete break from running while on hol - though when I asked DH if he was planning to run, he said that he was taking "just one "outfit" "..whihc really cracked me up as do not think of blokes having outfits, specially not for running!

Re children, have been enouraging DS1 (14) and DS2 (10) to do parkrun whenever possible. They seem to enjoy it but struggling at the moment and I do feel sorry for them as there are some v speedy children there!

Hi all,

Just checking in, thank you again for your kind sentiments about DH and the naughty rioters. Last night was much quieter so he was home mid evening. I'm hoping it'll all fizzle out. All police leave has been cancelled until next week though ... meant to be going to a wedding on Saturday ... grr.

I was going to do my recently purchased Shred DVD tonight but I am just too knackered so will go swimming tomorrow morning I think.

Talking of which, Jillian Michaels - how scary is she?? Maybe she should be deployed to deal with the rioters!

herecomesthesciencebint - good time - perhaps the scary bits helped your speed! I kind of know what you mean about Dave C - I was just thinking how disappointed my DD would be if one of us had suddenly to disappear for work. But probably a minority view, as you say (but I seem to be in a minority on the riots issue anyway and think I should just keep out of discussing it)

I think it may be my fault DC had to finish his holiday early. I was having a, er, debate with DH over whether it was necessary to take the laptop once we realised there was wireless where we were staying. One ofmy arguments was 'Even DC gets 2 weeks holiday in tuscany'. Um... waiting for that one to come back and bite me on the bum.

Glad your holiday helped you sort some ishoos Science. Having 2 girls it is a worry especially as v. slim dd1 has said things like 'I don't want to wear a padded coat it makes me look fat' etc etc. DD1 seems to enjoy sport thankfully - currently biased towards dancing but she has DH's legs () so think she'd make a decent runner. Poor DD2 seems to have my short and dumpies but also my family's hyperactivity so she'll make up for it in other ways. Actually DD1 has already decided with her cousin to do race for life next year - they'll both be 7 so I suspect a walk/run strategy will be employed.

Niceto see you MrsW

Glad your DP was ok last night Cherry - hope it stays that way. Grim about the wedding. I always live under threat of DH not making 'things' due to work and its v. annoying especially as he doesn't do anything important like save people's lives.

In the gym tomorrow for 10K intervals. Then off for pre-holiday waxing. Not sure which will be more painful.

wheely! lol. I was mooching around on the street outside today (DD loves to trail along after the bigger kids), it was drizzling and I was wearing my hoodie, cue many jokes about it being my national costume etc...(English, living in Ireland)

Science I meant to say the same as wheely - I do worry about this too as I know how quickly they pick up on stuff - not so much me now, but DP's mum and sisters often talk about being fat etc - I read something terrifying about this recently and how important it is to refrain from comment on one's own perceived shortcomings. It's hard for them to see healthy female bodies - most of the younger women at DD's nursery are significantly overweight (interestingly none of the older women are) - and we all know about the media images. I do think that physical activity helps build confidence which must help...

off to gym for some intervals myself tomorrow - 6 x 800s plus w/up and c/down, so probably about 8k in total

hello everyone, not much running but have been trying to get out the Dvds for some extra push and some sweating, not exactly the same

mrsW nice to see you around glad to hear things are getting better

about girls and body image I am horrified by what comes out of dd's mouth, she only just turned 6 is very active cheerful and confident and yet the talk of thin/ fat pretty ugly has started to creep in, she is apparently 'babyish' presumably because I strongly disapprove of don't listen to silly suggestive chart pop.
also she tells me her ears stick out and therefore she wants long hair and never wears it up - something her 'friend' told her

she also tells me if she eats certain foods she will get fat I keep telling her all food is allowed and eating too much of anything everyday isn't very sensible - but this is a minefield

rant over sorry

btw Wheely following from the Race for Kids dd want to do 'the pink race' next year. In fact she asked me if there are 1mile kids runs as she would like to enter, she run that on the day last time without stopping, the run walk came on the next 2miles

sfxmum I know, it's awful. I had an eating disorder and a mother with a seriously peculiar attitude to food (she still does, last time I was there she pointedly put away the chocolates after i asked for a second one!! that's only the start), but I don't recall having any real issues about my body (except the ones given to me by my mother) until puberty. Apart from anything else, as anyone who has/is recovering from an eating disorder will tell you, it takes up so much space in your head that could more profitably be used for other things.

Rant away

rhetorician I worry a lot that the peer pressure is already so strong at this age and that they have already decided who is cool who is pretty and so on

but I have to smile about your mother hiding chocolates from an adult, she should never meet my FIL who always sends us tons of chocolate at Easter and decorates his house with chocolate things at Christmas

well my MIL is virtually a pusher of choc, cake and all things sweet. DD adores her :o

I always come home starving from my mother's house - even the food she does give me is horrid (the grilled yogurt topped 'brulee' was last visit's particular horror)

I am a believer on not making things forbidden, (with caveats) I quite like that dd although loving all sorts of sweets, want it or obsess about it all the time

I meant does not want it or obsess about it all the time
(watching Newsnight and Gove disturbed me, apologies)

well Gove would put you off the nicest chocolate...and he is very disturbing, somehow, isn't he? wasn't he on last night, as well?

It was a snipped from last night shown again

Can I ask a quick questions please. I have recently started running using a tread mill at the gym and have reached 5k now. However although I have running shoes I can feel a slight soft ache in my knees.
Is there something I am doing wrong? Is there a particular way to use/runon a treadmill to avoid hurting knees? Thanks

Evening all

I too seem to have dropped off the thread abit. Bloody life gets in the way. I do think about you all though!

Great to see some serious running going on, and I love how this thread often touches on other serious issues too and yet retains its sense of humour. It's my fave part of MN.

In other news, I went to running club yesterday and did a woodland interval sesh and got my mojo back. I loved it, and went to bed with that familiar ache that I had worked my body 10k planned for tomorrow.

Just wish the rain would buggar off.

Rhet your Mum sounds seriously odd, what's all that weird food thing about? I had an issue with my Mother tonight (again) but that's a whole other thread...

rainbow have you had you gait analysed? it is worth making sure you have the right kind of shoes
also does it improve if you ice it after running?

btw hi and welcome

rainbow welcome

How long have you been running for? Pain in the knee is very common it's called runners knee...) and I think for anyone new to the sport a certain amount of aches and pains are par for the course. Some are simply biomechanic issues that sort themselves out as your body gets fitter and stronger. Only you can decide whether or not to continue running. It may be a case of too much, too soon. Have you increased your distance or your speed too quickly? In the early days as you are getting better it is easy to go to far or too fast without letting your body fully recover.

Make sure you have proper shoes with adequate support. Treadmill running is better for you actually than road running. Good luck!

Thanks for the quick replies. I have been running on the treadmill on and off since around easter but only seriously in the last few weeks. I recently had my gait done and have asics which have made a big difference as I had started to get pain in my shins which I dont anymore.
The pain in my knees isnt really a pain and I dont feel it whilst running. It's more of a soft awareness of them which I have been feeling for the last few days. I did do some running outside this past week but am back to the gym now. I prefer the treadmill tbh.
I run on no gradient. Is it worthwhile putting it up to 1%?

I have pushed myself this last week although still every other day so my body can recover. I have upped from 3k to 5k.

Welcome to the thread rainbow. Treadmill running is easier on the joints as the impact is much less than outdoors and especially on Tarmac but if you plan on getting into racing or even trying outdoor running, then get out there and accustom yourself to the outdoor terrain.

Getting too used to treadmill running can make your ankles weaker and more susceptible to sprains and make it harder to acclimatise to the impact of Tarmac and increase the likelihood of shin splints. Running is a balancing act of training to improve and not overtrain and injure yourself. Aches from the former are good but pains from the latter less so! The trick is working out what your pain is.

I think a physio is best placed to identify the cause of any problem although not necessarily a viable option for everyone. So the general advice is to get gait checked (which you have done) and then seek the advice of someone suitably qualified eg a trainer in your gym who is good at assessing running gait, a running school or physio specialising in running. Everyone will have a different angle on it depending on their particular expertise (eg podiatrist, chiropractor, physio etc). After a while you will work out what it is that you are inclined to suffer from (eg is it your biomechanics meaning your knee turns in slightly making the outer side sore which is common in women with our wider hips) and adjust your gait accordingly.

Sorry for the essay!

And yes adjust the incline to 1-1.5% to account for the relative ease of treadmill running or else outdoor running will feel like running in treacle!

DrNo she is most strange. It's all about control . But yes, another thread...

welcome rainbow - I think you should scale back your distance slightly - if you are running 4 x week (every other day) that was 12k, you've increased that to 20k, i.e. nearly doubling your distance. The runner's rule of thumb is no more than 10% per week, and not every week (and bear in mind that most of these running 'rules' are formulated with very good or elite, male, athletes in mind, who are also young and at a point in their lives where their bodies - assuming they already have some talent for running - are very forgiving).

The odd feeling in your knees might simply be your body adjusting (although it sounds like inflammation to me), but if it's not actually painful and isn't stopping you running, then I'd keep going, but with a more graduated approach to increasing mileage. We wouldn't want to lose you!

just did a killer hill interval thingy at the gym, mostly due to my incompetence with the buttons. I had been messing around with 800s, and then thought that I couldn't be arsed with fiddling with the speed all the time, so ended up running 6% hills at race pace.... It was ok, actually, despite the fact that I am still digestively challenged....