runners united: the one with the time running with other people

[rhetorician]

all welcome to come and join in - we talk a lot on here, and are always glad of new people to natter with about running (and everything else)

That sounds like a good plan for next year.

Don't be orange, that's a great time especially on a hilly course. Why don't you alternate a hill session and a speed session each week. They will both massively help your fitness, which will speed you up and get you under 30 mins. You don't have far to go, well done!

Rhet, really pleased to hear DD's grandad's prognosis is good

looking forward to this weekend's race reports.

orange - well done. You have identified the issue and I think answered your own question - what about alternating with hills one week and speed intervals the next?

rhet - pleased DD's GD has a positive outlook. Phew. The fewer upsets around this unsettling time for her the better!

4.5M easy with dog today and some strides to prepare me for tomorrow's HM. Strides came out at around 5:50m/m pace for 20 sec strides and feel much easier than when I started this marathon campaign.

I would also like to do a tri next year but need to get some stamina when swimming (and technique!)

Did my 3 miles this morning - 26 min 50 seconds. 50 seconds better than last week but was very hard! That's it though for a few weeks due to races coming up but I've enjoyed challenging myself by doing the same course each week and trying to beat my time .

Can you all just stop talking so much, please? I can't keep up. I may have to resign and go back to being a SAHM just to keep up with you all.

GOOD LUCK all you racers this weekend. June you will do brilliantly I'm sure and Moshi will fly along coming out with a PB.

I'd love to run in Blackpool, is it at night? That would be fun dodging the slags lushes and running round the illuminations.

Peachy I'm glad to hear that dd2 is fine and being nicely cooked.

Orange, as others have said, what a fabulous job you are doing holding the family together. We are surrounded by HIV and Aids here and it is no longer such a huge stigma as it used to be in Africa, but it is incredibly sad to think that your family feel the need to hide it. I'm another one who did a Masters whilst being a SAHM, I did one exam whilst ds1 was 6 weeks old and I could barely string a sentence together. .

I managed 17k today, 1hr 40 so not so brilliant, but it's getting hot, hot, hot here now. Bit like SF I should imagine .

Good luck to all racing this weekend!

orange hill training is very important part of getting yourself fitter and faster - you'll be surprised if you add hills reps (running up the hill then recovery back down) how much easier you find running them the next time you do the parkrun. If you can add an extra run in the alternate interval run one week then hill reps the next that's better than nothing.

Moshi only you could have organised 2 runs in San Fran!!! So bloody jealous - I'm determined to do West Coast America trip with the kids and DH in next couple of years. San Fran, San Diego, Coronado, La Jolla all places I want to revisit. Then Anaheim Disney for the kids!

Still no runs for me - still feel slightly under the weather however 2 hour time on feet run planned for 8am with friend tomorrow so determined to get out.

Orange part of that doesn't make sense - it should say "if you CAN'T add an extra run in then alternate a hill run with your interval run..."

fanny - is Coronado a place near Colorado where they drink lots of Corona?

Well done futurity, 50 seconds off is fab.
Themasterandmargaritas wow doing a exam with 6 week old, thats amazing.
Yes think you all right and best to alternate. Also thinking after the parkrun, if I wait around a bit might have a couple of goes at the last hill but most weeks we have plans so will need to rush off but can do it every now and then.
Whats up fanny? Hope you feeling better soon.

yes fanny what's up? See what a truly dedicated runner you have now become when you are talking about not being 100% but are going out for a 2 hour run tomorrow . That's hardcore.

Orange, hills are such a pain in the arse. There are plenty round here, today one guy walking past me as I was nearing the top of a 2.5k stretch said 'good work' and that was just enough to keep me going. Could you set yourself a goal of say running half of the last parkrun hill one week? Then the next week say to the next tree? Eventually you will be flying up it.

Moshi!!! By the way. I've always been bit unsure what strides are and why you do them? Good luck for HM tomorrow - what time you hoping for?

I'm not ill or anything ladies, just feel bit put of sorts, more hormonal I think. Thanks for asking though!

Hi all! Tri was good fun, but I think maybe not for me... Loved the swim and run, but I am a terrible cyclist. I'll write a proper race report later when I'm on the laptop - difficult to type on phone! Thanks again for the good wishes x

great to hear you had a good time at the tri backwardpossom. Looking forward to hearing more....

Orange you need to come and do our parkrun which is along a river so completely flat... I feel like Ive been cheating now . Hill training isn't exactly fun, but it is very effective. It's great for the virtuous feeling after!

rhet good to hear the news re DD's grandad.

So, I did the parkrun in 40 minutes this morning - because DD1 did it with me :) I was so proud of her. There was a lot of chatting! She only has to do 10 runs to get the T-shirt, apparently, so she's very motivated by that (and all the clapping of course )

Well done backwardpossom and futurity look forward to hearing more.

Well I didn't manage 20 miles today! I made it to 12, but was just exhausted and couldn't get enough air in my lungs to go any further - definitely not over this cold, as I was producing huge quantities of snot and felt very wheezy afterwards. So .... two weeks to the marathon and my confidence has taken a massive beating because I know from experience just how hard those last 6 miles are from 20. Now it's those last 8 miles from 18.

The trials and tribulations, eh?

Well done backwardpossum.

Welll done on parkrun orange, sticky and stickyDD. I ventured to a different one this morning with DS1 and DS2, at Gorleston, by the sea. Weather was fantastic - blue sky, sparkling sea, and actually rather warm even at that time in the morning. It was a very matey set up more so than the one I usually go to, but possibly because they have smaller numbers. Unfortunately DS2's shoelace came undone while he was running (I don't run with him) and he was really upset about having to stop and do it up. He passed the finish line and burst into tears. He usually finishes ahead of DS1, so when DS1 crossed the line first I knew something was up...We did enjoy a paddle in the sea afterwards! It was DS2's 10th run, so he will possibly get the t-shirt next week (though the weekly email has referred to a delay in getting the t-shirts since they switched sponsors)

Moshi envious that you have already planned runs in SF.

Fanny hope you feel better soon, do you think it is also post-GNR anti-climax type thing? Have a good run tomorrow.

Now knackered, due to early start with parkrun (30 miles from here). Before we went I surpassed myself and put the washing machine, baked some choc chip muffins, had breakfast then hung the washing out. After the parkrun, went on to my mum's (about a mile away). Took her to Homebase in the morning and then spent the afternoon digging over flower beds ready for bulb planting. DH not back until tomorrow afternoon, but 10k not until 4pm (weird) so lots of time to psyche myself up...

Good luck to others racing tomorrow.

hey paws having a cold really affects your performance, you should take it easy in the next few days to make sure the cold is really out of the way.c also the first run after you've not been well is usually disastrous so try not to worry...

fanny I'm always not 100% after a long run, it really takes a lot out of you.

ibby Oh wow you really have packed the day with stuff :D Poor ds2, aww, they have to learn that side of things as well don't they. Hope he gets his t-shirt soon!

So, my very important question:
Do I put my "cheer me on" sticker with my name at the front or at the back of my t-shirt? I keep changing my mind.

June - my preference would be front-of-t-shirt. not sure why though!

Do you have any of that paper where you can print on it from PC and iron whatever you have printed on to the t-shirt? Or could you write your name on a piece of paper and stick it/glue it/saftey pin it to whichever side of the t-shirt you don't have your sticker on?

Re my previous post: I should add a disclaimer that I do not normally manage to pack so much into a day..today a bit of a one-off I think.

We've had a lovely relaxing day here today. The boys were mostly on good form so that helped. I cycled to Parkrun this morning (26:54, had tummy issues again for some of it) then cycled home and then went for a run with ds1 again. He did 1.55 miles in 17:30 which is a minute faster than last week.
Then watched rugby, played, sorted photos, dh and ds1 did some gardening, I took ds1 out on his bike (his 2nd ride without stabilisers) then we all went out for tea.

Our Parkrun is 2 laps and you can do 1 and get a time so I've told ds1 he can do it once he can do the 1.5 mile route we do in 16 minutes. He's only 5 so I don't think he should do much further than that yet.

Well done possum on the tri.

Strides, fanny, are series of fast paced short intervals towards the end of runs (usually general aerobic runs) where you focus on form. For example, today I did 4M with 4 x 75m with 75m jog recoveries in between. I don't stress over running exactly 75m and just count in my head to 20 each set. The idea is that you teach your body to run fast without constantly doing tempo runs or speed intervals and putting yourself at risk of breaking down from overdoing things. I think they have more of a place in marathon training which mostly consists of lots of longer runs at a slower pace. I have learnt a lot from my ballet teacher about how movement requires as much electrical (ie neuron) stimulation as muscle work (ie run training) and I think the strides help with that aspect in getting the neurone firing so that on race day it all comes together and you can run the entire race fast!

Ok race report time!

Up at 6am and had some Weetabix and got my things together before heading off at 7am. Arrived on time, got my bike sorted out and registered. I was in the second heat for the swim and I was feeling very comfortable throughout the swim. I did a mixture of crawl and breast stroke (i.e. a couple of lengths of crawl, one of breast stroke to get my breath back) and did the 400m in 9:32 which was 13th fastest of 32 women (19th fastest of all competitors - there were 50!) and only 7 seconds slower than the guy who eventually went on to win the event, which I'm rather pleased with. Got out the pool to the transition area. Put my helmet on, socks and shoes, chucked a t-shirt on over the tri suit and then tried to lift my bike off the rack... this is where it all went wrong! I trapped my finger in the metal under the seat and as it was so heavy, as I was putting the bike down onto the ground, it got more and more stuck. I realised I couldn't get my finger out and a bloke came over to help me! How embarrassing! So, eventually managed to get my finger free, but the transition 1 time was up to 2:32! :( My finger is still sore, I suspect I might have a purple nail tomorrow!

Anyway, went off on the run on the bike (11.3km), and it was so slow! The route was similar to a 10k I'd done there before, so I kind of knew what was coming. The bike I have is a mountain bike, and was really heavy and I just didn't feel like I could get properly going. I'm actually embarrassed to type my time! (35:43 - 27th out of the 32 women and 45th out of 50 in total).

T2 went much better though, and got off the bike, put it up onto the rack, helmet off, cap on and off to the run in 39 seconds . I left the transition area saying "which way, which way?" then saw the MASSIVE luminous yellow sign that pointed the runners in the right direction. Ah well, gave the small crowd a giggle anyway! Did the 3k in 17:58 (16th of the 32 women, 31st out of the 50 competitors) which was slower than I had hoped for, but I misjudged the distance. I got confused as I was running and was thinking it was 5 km (I think I thought 3 miles instead of 3km) and I didn't have my Garmin so had no idea what my pace was. There were no km markers, so couldn't even judge it by my watch. I knew I was going more slowly than my normal pace but I passed a few runners on this leg and came home in 1:06:15. So I finished 41st out of everyone, and was the 23rd woman.

So all in all, it was a little disappointing, but I enjoyed the day. The cycling was a bit of a disaster and the 1st transition lost me some valuable time. If I were to get into doing triathlons, I'd really have to work on my cycling and possibly invest in a roadbike. A mountain bike is really no use in an event like that, it's far too heavy and the tyres cause too much resistance. I'm delighted with the swim and the run wasn't too bad, although could have been better. Wish I'd remembered my Garmin so I could have paced myself better! I'm disappointed with my overall finishing position, but it could have been worse! I think I'll stick to running for now...

Baxter's 10k next week, which I'm starting to get really excited about. Backwardpossom junior is doing the under 5s 400m run! Never too early to get them involved, right?

Well done possum, looking forward to the details!

sticky, sounds like a lovely parkrun. Well done to your DD1, how old is she?

Hope the run goes well tomorrow fanny

master, if you don't mind me asking, do you live in a small town/village, or is it a big town that is near so much amazing wildlife?sorry, don't know too much about Kenya

Rhet, hope you are enjoying DP's birthday, and having a wee drama

ibby, poor old DS2, bless him. Are you superwoman, can't believe how much you achieved today!!! I went to the post office with DD (whingeing as was making her walk most of the way) to pick up doorbell (more about that in minute) and was so shattered couldn't do much for rest of afternoon except have 90 minute nap!!!

Had a real dufus moment. Couple of weeks after we moved in here the doorbell stopped working. After couple of weeks trying new batteries then landlord ordering new one which I couldn't collect as he had ordered it in his name by mistake. Anyhoo, after missing it being delivered yesterday we went to collect today and when I opened it saw it was one of those ones you screw the button in at the front door and then plug in the receiver to a socket. I though, ooh that looks familiar. Realised the plug in thing in the kitchen is in fact the doorbell receiver. I had thought it was one of those air fresherner things and turned it off!!!! Of course turned it on and doorbell is fine. What a twit. Am so embarassed.

Sorry forgot the lovely paws, sorry the run didn't work out today, but the thing to remember is that you have done the marathon before. Take confidence from that and concentrate on recuperation over the next few days. What's your tapering schedule?

Possum sorry about stuck finger, hope it is not too painful. Sounds like the tri went well for you, apart from that little mishap.

Peach re your doorbell, how funny (that is the sort of thing I do, you are not alone)

Rhet, I hope you are having a "wee dram" rather than a "wee drama" (see Peach's post above - unless there is something subtle that I have previously missed!)

And I meant a wee dram Rhet. No drama, however wee!!!

no, moshi's already done the wee drama, so rhet doesn't have to...

Possum that sounds painful, hope your finger's OK tomorrow. Fab race report! I'm never likely to try a tri, but it's really interesting to hear what they're like.

peach that's hilarious!! Good to have a working doorbell again, tho. DD1 is 7 (and she's been on top of the world all day!)

Trying to decide what to do tomorrow. I think a 10k, trying to do it fast and see what my baseline is, then work off that to see how to improve. Most plans (I've seen, at any rate, please do someone let me know if I should be looking at something) seem to assume you'd be working up to 10k, rather than just wanting to improve it. Any voices of experience gratefully heard!