Runners United: Where we support each other through the good runs, the bad runs and everything in between.

[Themasterandmargaritas]

15/10/11 - Donadea Forest Trail 10k - rhetorician
16/10/11 - Abingdon Marathon: MoshiMoshi
16/10/11 - Aviemore 10K: Piffpaffpoff
16/10/11 - Richmond Castle 10k: Stickylittlefingers
22/10/11 - Shockabsorber 10K Richmond Park - sfx
23/10/11 - Thruxton Mass Attack Duathlon- DebitheScot
23/10/11 - Big Fun Run 5k Edinburgh Holyrood Park - Bumply
23/10/11 - East Coast Run 10k - Ibbydibby
30/10/11 - Great South Run: Wheely, squix
30/10/11 - Nairobi Standard Chartered Half Marathon - M&M
05/11/11 - Glendalough Trail Run - rhetorician
06/11/11 - Lancaster Half Marathon - Fannybanjo
06/11/11 - Bonfire Burn 10K - Futurity
13/11/11 - Stebbing 10 Mile - bonkers20
19/11/11 - Maasai Mara Half Marathon - M&M
20/11/11 - Leeds Abbey Dash (10k) - DrNortherner
27/11/11 - City of Norwich half marathon: ibbydibby, MoshiMoshi
27/11/11 - Bicton Blister (10M) - RunningAllDay
22/01/12 - Four Villages Half Marathon (Helsby) - Fannybanjo
19/02/12 - Brighton Half marathon - Wheely
04/03/12 - Milton Keynes Half Marathon - pawsnclaws
11/03/12 - Cambridge Half Marathon - Futurity, Runnerstipple, Cherry (what have I done??)
25/03/12 - Edale Skyline - (21 miles. 4,500 ft climb) Hatwoman
10/03/12 - Blackpool Half Marathon - DrNortherner, Fannybanjo
01/04/12 - Reading Half-Marathon - RunningAllDay
22/04/12 - VLM: ibbydibby
29/04/12 - Shakespeare Half Marathon - FairyBasslet
27/05/12 - London Bupa 10K - Futurity
09/06/12 - Blenheim Sprint Triathlon - Cherry

Hi, not been not for about a week. Silly real life getting in way . Been feeling lot better this week, starting taking liquid iron and basically after my runs I am feeling fine where as before I felt fit for bed after every run so fx that continues. Ds2 has had a good week and appointment with jigsaw went great. She talked to school before and said to me bearing in mind she has not met him yet from what the school has said about his him she thinks it is very likely he is on the autistic scale. But regardless of whether she dx him or not she still will be going in to school every week and going through strategies with him to help him deal with the things he still struggling with. The whole thing was very positive and all about how they were going to help and support him, unlike like the woman he has been seeing for the last 2 and half years who has done nothing. School had also been great, they have been giving him stress balls in assembly to keep him still.
Peachs so sorry about your dads wife. Hope you trip goes ok and fx baby peach behaves till you get back.
Hope all the racing gone well this weekend.
Sorry if I missed anything, just had a quick scan over.

Sorry missed your post bumply well done too !
orange glad things are going ok for your ds

Hi, like orange real life just keeps getting in the way, plus have only been out a for a couple of short runs as my hip is still feeling sore, although I feel like there's finally being some improvement. Off for a week's holiday tomorrow, with no running, so hopefully will be pretty much back to normal after that. Am getting very twitchy without regular runs; they totally improve my ability to deal with children life.

Wheely, I have a 110 and I love it, its about half the size of my friend's Garmin (but I can't remember what model that is). you could just about get away with wearing it as a normal watch.

Congrats to all this weekend's racers, can't wait for detailed race reports, I find them really inspiring.

quick post on phone again.

Bumply I did see the guy in the donkey/yak/whatever it was costume - quite a feat to run in that. I saw him get into it and it was some structure - couldn't have been comfortable.

My timing was from imapmyrun and as usual I forgot to turn the thing off but I reckon 34 minutes is about right, not a PB but then it never was going to be with that hill!

What made my day was DH and the children came to the finish line! Was so lovely to see their little faces cheering me on!

Oooooooohhhhh is it too late to join in last week's ahem ... "runs" conversations iyswim? Had dodgy mussels last night and feeling really rough today :(
Hope thia weekend's races went well, saw on fb there's a 1:59:50, that's my next target, well done :)

Been doing a lot of sprints ather than long distance because of my knees, rather enjoying it :)

Now need to hope i'm going to feel better soon, have cancelled all my engagements for the beg of the week. Boooo ....

Oh dear June hope the collective tummy bug doesn't last too long.

Peach I am glad to hear the journey was ok and the weekend hasn't been too bad so far. Your stepmum sounds really stoical and brave.

No running today because I am cream crackered from yesterday. Cycled to the park about 3 miles away with DS on the back. Then when DP got back from work, we went out en famille with me running and DP on my bike with DS in the child seat. DP suggested I did a tempo/threshold run and tried to explain it to me as doing saying 45 mins in the fastest time you can do or 2 miles in the fastest time you can - I don't think I really got it, can anyone else explain tempo/threshold runs any better? As it was managed two short sprints during a 57 minute run of just under 5 miles, so felt quite happy with that.

Just eaten my lovely tea of dahl and rice and looking forward to the last ever Spooks - anyone else watching? According to my mum, Tom/Matthew MccFadden is back!

And well done Fairy and bumply and debi and anyone else for racing today

Wheely well done, sorry about your Garmin. I have unisex Garmin 110 and it is fine (some of us posted our wrist circumferences in an earlier thread around September time, as I was concerned that it would not fit. Discovered that I do not, after all, have the smallest wrists ever)

Fairy well done, is lovely to see family at a run isn't it.

Orange glad things going well for DS

Debi well done, sounds like it was tough.

Peach glad journey went well and your dad and his wife in good form.

The 10k East Coast Run. In brief, had great run this morning and finished in 50.56 (gun time, chip time a bit less). V chuffed as previous PB was 52.33.

So, the report. Arrived in Gt Yarmouth with plenty of time to spare. Found decent loos in shopping centre and had a good wee, ie not one of those trickles that leave you thinking there is more?Picked up number and chip from church hall, slightly chaotic but found running club friends to chat to which always helps. Start delayed by 5 minutes due to chaotic number & chip distribution. Although the day had started dull, by now was quite sunny. Was glad to be wearing club vest and shorts.

First 3 or 4 k headed south along river, and a strong headwind meant it was hard going. Then had complete change of direction and headed back along seafront. This stretch was really warm. 5k water station very welcome. Up to this point had seen very few spectators, other than those close to start. As approached touristy part of seafront, there were increasing numbers of people clapping and cheering, which was really great. Saw DH and boys, and a few other friends too. Another change of direction away from the sea front for the final push to the finish. This was perhaps the final 2k or so and once again went into the wind which was hard. DH and boys told me to ?sprint? but felt completely spent and jelly-legged. Caught sight of finish clock and realised I could make it under 51 if I pushed?so really pleased with the result.

As so many club runners were there, I was keen to see presentation of results, as felt sure one or 2 of them had got prizes. DH less keen though and pointed out that DCs had been hanging around a long time ? so we decided to head off. M&S was nearby though, so we stopped there to buy a few goodies for my mum, then DCs wanted to go in WHSmith. Before we knew it, it was time for presentation of prizes so managed to persuade DH and DCs to go back. Turned out rather fortunate for DH, as I was called up as second place in my age group, and won £20 for my efforts! To say I was gobsmacked was an understatement. Didn?t end there though. There were medals also for ?county? runners, ie those resident in Norfolk ? I won a bronze in my age group (age groups were classified differently in the county champs) AND a gold medal for the female vets club team prize . DH has since said several times how guilty he would have felt if we had not been there.

Thanks for good wishes for my mum, she is ok today (fingers crossed) but I worry about her a lot as she is so unstable. One thing I have remembered though - when the ambulance crew left, one of them suggested she had a glass of brandy, which surprised me - thought that alcohol never a good thing medicinally as fools your body for thinking it is warmer than it is? Wondered if she misheard him, but she has told me this twice.

That was me June, it wasn't a hm though. It was a duathlon.
Hope you don't get full blown food poisoning.

So race report. As usual for before a race (esp one more complicated than just running) I didn't sleep very well so was quite tired this morning. Also felt queasy with nerves but managed to eat 3/4 of a bagel.
Got there fine and got registered and put bike in transition. Did some 'races' with ds1 and 2 on their scooter to warm up. They loved that they could scoot on the race track.

I was flapping a bit about silly things like what to wear (it was sunny and warmish but also quite windy and I'd heard someone say the bottom end of the track was very exposed), what to do with my garmin and that my bike still has its bell on it so I'd look like a loser compared to all the pros (yes stupid I know).
I don't have a speedo on my bike yet so needed the garmin to be ok bike mode for the cycle but obviously didn't want to have to faff about switching modes between the runs. Was also concerned that if I timed my run on bike mode (I have cycling set to speed instead of pace) I might forget to reset before the cycle and that'd could be dodgy as we had to count our own laps. Eventually went for having it on but not started for the first run so I could at least track my speed.

So we lined up to start the run (only just over 100 people and only 15 of them women) and I stayed near the back. It was 5km which was just over 1 lap of the track. I took it slowly so I didn't knacker myself but possibly started just a tiny bit slow. Just over half way round the first 2 men came whizzing past on their super speedy bikes with solid back wheels. I'd forgotten this would happen and got a fright. An old man I was running beside said "oh their the national champions". The next guy to go past was wearing a GBR team top so these were hardcore racers.
According to the results that run took 27 something minutes.

Into transition and it was easy to find my bike as there were only about 4 left in the area! Got started well and my first 4 miles (plus another 3 later on) all took exactly 3:23! It was 8 laps totalling 30km. We had to count them ourselves so I had put 8 strips of electrical tape onto my handlebars as well as having garmin to check. After each lap I took a bit of tape off and psychologically that was good. I was feeling pleased with myself after 4 laps that I was half way round and still doing ok but then I passed the leader just starting his second run! It was tempting to run him over!
Laps 5 and 6 were hard, my thighs were shouting at me to stop.
It was the hardest cycle I've ever done as it only had 2 small downhill sections on each lap which were into the wind and not steep enough to free wheel. So it was constant pedalling. My max speed was only 21mph whereas on a normal cycle round here (which isn't exactly hilly) it'd be around 28mph. The wind was really gusty in places and the track was very exposed. So I was more than happy with time of 1hr 8 and an average speed of 16.5mph.

Dumped the bike into transition again (very full this time!) and started the second run. This one was 1 and a bit laps too but the bit was shorter and it only ended up being 2.6 miles (4km?) but oh my goodness it was hard. The last bit of the cycle was uphill and I'd really pushed it so I could hardly move. It was the hardest run off a bike I've done. My legs were so wobbly. I did two 9:30 m/m which is slow for me (8:30 this week in both my brick sessions) but I really couldn't have gone faster. Or I thought I couldn't until I saw the clock said 1:59:30 and I realised I could do it in under 2 hours! Came in and collapsed in a heap at 1:59:49
It was the closest I've ever been to the back of a race with only 6 behind me. The winning female did it in 1:30.

Sorry that was a bit long!

Well done on your prize winning places, ibbydibby.

Meant to say that dh and the boys were cheering me on at every lap and if they hadn't been there it would have been so much harder. Esp the 2nd run where I was on my own for all of it.

Wow Ibby, well done on a brillaint run and 3! medals!

Well done ibbydibby! Fantastic time and prizes to boot - you must be on cloud nine.

Great report Debi - that race sounds incredibly hard to me - cycling does me in.

Love reading the reports - as someone else said, inspiring. Fills the weekends when I can't run, and is a great deal easier!

Fantastic time ibbydibby, and well done and the prize winnings very impressed.
Oh my word Debi I couldn't imagine doing all that no wonder your thighs felt like jelly. Well done.

Well done ibby prizes and everything !

Great race report debi - well done again. The whole tri/duathlon thing is mindblowing.... I don't know how you do it !

Than ks for the garmin advice (here and on FB) - for those not on the FB thang, I have ordered the 110. Hopefully delivered to my MIL whilst we're on hols and i have friday/saturday to work out how to use it before GSR.

We're off to the Isle of Wight tomorrow (glamorous I know) so don'tknow how much I'll be on. squix - In case I'm not on before next week (probably will be) good luck ! Just in case we are standing next to each other in Orange pen, I am v. short and probably wearing a turquoise t-shirt and I think we share the same first name (mine's the long version)...... Loving the pre-printed race numbers with names on (I think !). Wierd getting your race stuff readiy a week early though !

some great results - ibby am so impressed! weather here utterly foul, gale force winds, and very heavy rain, so might have to revise my transport plans for tomorrow.

Did drag my sorry arse out and did 22km! it was slow, but I managed to do it before the wind and rain set in possibly because this enabled a long time away from DD's grandparents - actually it's only the grandad who is really awful. Just appalling, really. Fortunately I don't have to spend much time in his company - mostly they took dd out and about. She had a good time, but is shattered, and there will be fallout...I feel like I need 24 hours in the recovery position, but no, a full week's work, plus my mother arriving on Thursday. She is hard work in a completely different way...

anyway, it's done for now

Great race reports Debi and Ibby - total admiration for you both - duathlon sounds pretty hard core and medals and prizes I could only dream of. Actually, did you read about the 100 year old guy who did the Toronto Marathon? I'm thinking if I keep running till I'm that age I might actually win something!

Hoping to head off to Edinburgh Zoo today so looking forward to that.

Well done ibby on a great time and how lovely to receive a prize too - bet you were chuffed!!

Debi bloody hell, that sounds hard work - you do like to make it hard for yourself doing these dualathons! Respect!

Peach glad weekend went well and your step-mum seems in good spirits. I know a couple of people who have had terminal cancer and they have planned their own funerals, extremely sad.

wheely I have the unisex 110, it is so easy to set up, set your laps up to what distance you want (I have mine to lap every mile) and then press button to start! Road test it on your last jog before GSR do you know what you're dealing with. I tell ya, you'll wonder how you managed to run without it. I forgot mine a few weeks ago and felt like I couldn't run properly!

Legs were fine after 16 miler. Recovered Saturday then did 4 miles "steady" yesterday at 7.49m/m. I'm getting quicker so something is working. . These LSR on very hill course are, I assume, working.

Well done fairy and bumbly too!! Posting from phone is a nightmare. However half term equals no chance of computer being free.

hello first day of half term so getting ready to keep dd busy

debi well done, great report, love the bursts of motivation the clocks gave you, and the competitive spirit overtaking you (felt like running him over LOL)

fairly & bumply well done on the hilly but scenic route

Ibby well done with all the prizes how chuffed you and yours must have been

peach glad the journey went well, I expect your stepmum is one of those people who keep others needs ahead of hers, give her a big hug, I hope she finds some peace, does she have children?

paws so does MIL have wisdom to share?
about hill I did not really feel it most of it was gradual and I was only freaked out by a step short descent near the start when I was worried I would topple over

wheely hope you have a nice break yeah for new gadget

june hope your tummy is better today

orange good to hear you feel your ds is starting to get the help he needs

runners enjoy your holiday, do some lunges, walking and pilates or something to keep you moving

cherry sorry can't help with tempo threshold I am keeping things simple with burst of speed or splitting 200/400x4 with rests
I think I need to build up more running time otherwise I fear I will get injured

Half term here too. Taking the boys swimming today. Then going to try and do some intervals on treadmill at the gym this evening

Well done bumply and fairy - that 5k route round holyrood is about as hilly as you can get without going ?off piste?. Bumply - I often find downhill tough too ? partly I find it hard on my quads but for me there is also a voice in my head going ? I?m going down hill, I should be going faster, I?m not going fast enough?? .

Fairy - enjoy the Zoo !

Debi - well done too, great race ? as always, bringing something else into the mix looks like a real challenge and is inspiring

ibby - brilliant stuff ? well done!

wheely - I think I?ve missed you?. Hope you have a great week and sort out your Garmin . I haven?t managed to get transport advice yet from sis but if I do I?ll post on here and fb just in case you managed to get on. And yes ? we have the same name (in fact my surname used to be ?H? too!). I am tall ish and will probably be with a bald man and another lady who looks remarkably like me! Good luck!

orange - hope this is the start of a good phase for DS

Peach hope everything went well on your travels this weekend.

June - ? hope you are feeling better

Easy paced 4 miles for me this morning in the wind ? really enjoyed it. Just going to get a couple in this week ? taking it easy before Sunday.

Afternoon all, it's me . I'll give you the secret password OK? YLFDT!

Sounds like a fabulous weekend of racing/running, debi I'm amazed you can get your legs to work running/cycling/running (is that right?) in succession like that. And as for ibby ..... amazing. I don't think I can see myself ever winning a prize for anything athletic. Maybe for being really elderly and being the only one to turn up?

bumply and fairy well done, is it an annual race? Sounds fun.

orange I'm glad you're getting some support.

I did my 10 miles nice and easy on Saturday, think I was still feeling the effect of the marathon in my legs as they got tired towards the end, but I managed 11 minute miles which is not bad for me on a medium run.

No running yesterday as we were down in Kent for MIL's birthday. Quite stressful as she kept trying to give ds3 food from her plate, and just won't accept he can't have food out unless we're guaranteed it's nut free, which is never going to happen. He's perfectly happy with his little packed lunch which we cleared in advance with the pub and they were great about it.

DH ended up phoning her last night and explaining again that having had ds3 in full blown anaphylactic shock and in A and E with them trying to prevent him having a heart attack, we are understandably very careful. Her response was just to say that "in my day" people never had these problems, and that we had epipens with us, so so what?

I just found it all really depressing and it's left me and DH feeling ever so flat today. I feel I have to make so many allowances for her behaviour and it wears me down. I know it's not much in the scheme of things, but after 20 years .... sigh. Sorry for the rant.

Quick hello to everyone else, I seem to have filled my post with a bit of a me me me moment .....

Hi monkey
My word ..MIL's comments are unbelievable ..."in my day...!" Must be very frustrating for you.

Have been reading the thread but no time to add anything as in the middle of kitchen hell combined with trying to work and kids being on half term! Joy !

Ohh a wench in our thread.... . Bloody hell, I thought my MIL was bad but good God, that is abominable behaviour monkey. How you kept from exploding I don't know. Of course they had allergies in "her day", they just weren't aware of them and food was very basic. Do you have to make everything from scratch for DS? Well done on the 10 miler, you've done well to get back out and do the distance so soon. I take on board your comments re pace for marathon training but at the mo, I'm totally undecided whether to do one. I want to do at least 18/19 miles before I decide, crazy I know but marathons aren't for everyone and I don't want to spend £60 entering one then realise there's no way of me of me finishing it in the time I want to. I know people say just aim to complete it but I'm not one of those people who are happy with that! I'd want to do it in 4 hours. Hmmm, no pressure then....