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

Morning. Boys back at school and did my hills this morning. Did the big dreaded hill at the parkrun 4 times then I was bursting for the loo the loo in the park is round the lake then up some steps so I ran to the loos. The step were alot steeper than I realised, although walked up them millions of times and that is exhausting. So by the time I had ran to the top of the steps I was gasping for breath and done in. So after the loo jogged back to the car. I am exhausted now and tryng to muster the energy to stretch so thought I would come on here for 5 mins. But it felt good and pleased with my self. The hill had quite a different feel to it when not crowded with the park run. It goes through the woods and when eveyone else is around you you forget to take it all in.
How strange, hope he feeling better soon Debi

wheely I have gone up to 16 miles in prep for this HM as it definitely helps mentally and physically. I also run all mid distance (6 up to 10 miles) at HM or quicker. Then at least I'm used to efficiently running at the speed I need to. If i manage this HM at 1.50 then it's worked! If so, the next I'll shift my training towards getting my HM pace to around 8.00m/m to attempt 1.45 for my next HM. It is doable, I just have to WANT to do it. Like you said, it's a lot in the mind. My run yesterday should have been a 10 miler, I'm gutted I couldn't do it (time constraints) as psychologically I'd have felt stronger for Sunday.

Meant to say "gutted could only do 8 miles instead of 10 miler yesterday)

Hope DS better Debi - I've really bugged this thread with my germs!

Hi everyone! Congrats wheely on your great time, and glad the ankle held out. That's a great base line to be working from for your HM, I'm sure you'll be able to work up the speed over the next couple of months.

My girls are back at school too, so first proper run for a week. My knees were feeling it a bit when I started, so I kept it to 5.5 miles, and properly off-road. I do love my new shoes and the way they don't slip in the mud :). Tomorrow is meant to be properly nice (today was not rainy, but was a bit dull and weirdly warm) so perhaps will venture out further. I've so missed it!

Moshi I do feel for you, it seems like you're taking all the stress of sorting out the DC's education. I don't have real advice, but just two things - my first year room-mate at Cambridge had done what you're doing, i.e. her Dad had moved to California for work. She went through to graduation at a public high school, graduating at 15. She then went abroad for a year (to become fluent in another language at a European school ), then came back to the UK to do her A-levels at the right time, as it were. Obviously this worked well for her, she had benefitted from the US system (for instance, in that her public speaking was great!) but it didn't hold her back in the UK system, iyswim. The other thing was, do you have any contacts with the university? Not that academics' children have to be bright, but some will be and the academics tend to care about that kind of thing! I wondered if some tips might be had there (if you don't, and wanted to, I'm sure rhet and/or my DP could think of someone to ask).

Speaking of which rhet, I'm in awe of your mileage! I've not hit 400 miles yet this year, so Im feeling distinctly lazy...

Some great advice from you and so reassuring. Thanks all. Stories like that of your roommate sticky really reassure. Did she have an American accent though...? [hconfused]

I'm interested in the whole "less is more" (total mileage) debate too - quality versus quantity. I suspect each of us have a magic number (or a band) within which we improve - too little and it's not enough to make progress, too much and we end up tired and jaded and overtrained. Wouldn't it be lovely to know exactly what that band was for each of us?!

My legs just won't go fast at the moment, but I'm starting to do some more hill work in the hope that (as fanny said) this will help with leg strength and ultimately speed. I always love that feeling of going downhill after uphill, the feeling of your legs flying along that bit faster ....

Boys went back to school today, to be honest I'm dreading it a little - I'm worried about ds1 (8), who is a bit of a spod and finds the whole school/social thing a bit overwhelming. He said at half term that apparently the "gay" thing has been dropped but now the boys are describing each other as "crap" and "shit". Sigh.

Goodness Moshi, so much to consider. Life's never simple eh? I think I would think twice before putting DS up 2 years. As others have said, he may just not be emotionally mature enough to cope, especially in a few years. I saw that you were considering home schooling. I would certainly think about this, assuming you could put some childcare in place for the two little'uns. It might just give you some breathing space while you all get settled in to your new life. You and kids staying in the UK till next summer certainly sounds appealing but I understand if this is not financially viable or if being apart from DH for such a long time would be too much.

Love the way you talk about a little half!!!

not having a good day here - lost the plot with DP this morning [hblush] amongst other sundry things (potty training round 3, point blank refusal on DD's part). Also realised that we have had visitors in the house for 8 out of the last 11 days and the remaining 3 I was at work. I've had enough. Am brewing a cold, too...

I did run this morning, just getting back before the elite marathoners came through - talked to my neighbour whose son was running, we saw a guy powering through who we concluded was running way too fast (she used to run herself). So that's something at least. 228km in October - more than September, but not as much as August...

will watch the quality/quantity discussion with interest, but my low heart training is working well for me at the moment anyway. Must go and make more tea/serve cake/make sandwiches.

rhet oh no, hope all ok. Life us very stressful sometimes but please, take one piece of advice, do not push the potty. Leave it out, let her know what it's for (obviously she knows!) and leave her to it. You can't force it. Don't worry about having 2 in nappies - I actually found it easier.

Moshi things will work out for the best, it may be a long stressful road getting there, but you will. Re training - I know coaches say you are at risk from burning out if you run at race pace but I find that the only way for me to even contemplate doing a 4 hour marathon is to be doing my MP of 9.30m/m on my very long runs (16 miles plus). I just can't see how I could do it any other way. 4 runs a week plenty for me, I've said this before, anything extra just tires me. I aim to do a 3-4 miler a week also at my quickest pace (7.10m/m at the mo) and aim to get that pace faster. I'm hoping that this works in a similar way you are!

As usual ? loads to catch up on! I?ll catch up properly later but here?s my summary of Sunday?s race.

First of all a big whoo hooo to wheely fellow GSR?er. What a brilliant time! That?s fab. [Grin]

Thanks for all the good wishes ? we were staying on a lovely farm in the middle of nowhere with no signal so couldn?t pop on before hand or after.

So race report ? we were renting the cottage there with Dad and his wife and we were all up at 7:30 for porridge and wee sis came to pick us up in plenty of time. She?d not been feeling too hot recently so decided to take it easy - she had a white number (couldn?t work out how she?d got that) and me and dad had an orange number so we decided that me and her would start in white and we managed to persuade dad to start in the orange wave in front of us.

Fought our way through traffic ? local knowledge came in very handy and arrived in time for the mandatory 30 min wait for a wee. Managed to get in the middle of the white wave start and crossed the line to strains of Nessun Dorma. Bizzarely ? the starting announcer was Scottish and we had bagpipes at about 2 miles in ? I had to check that we were in Portsmouth and not back at home. The first mile consisted of dodging past people then once we?d done that it was time to go through the navel dockyards ? full of history - but no chance to appreciate it. The next few miles are all a bit of a blur ? we passed a Sumo, a Panda, Batman & Robin. I must say the support on the route was fantastic ? although there were a group of kids hitting a car with wooden spoons - I think their mum was with them - I hope so. I ran all the way round with my sister - which was really lovely ? she is much faster than me normally so it was really great of her to stay with me and keep shouting ?come on? .

Mile 7 and mile 8 were hard (apart from one great house playing ? can can? music - gave me a big lift) and then came the last couple of miles along the coast - ohhh wheely they were really hard weren?t they. Windy, damp, not as much support. However the support in the last mile was fantastic. Managed a wee bit of a sprint and crossed the line in 96 minutes 46 seconds ( sounds better than 1:36:46) which I was pleased with - I tend to have 3 targets in a race (delighted, realistic, disappointed) and this was in my realistic category which for an event where it?s hard to find your rhythm at times I was pleased with.

Now for the stats:
Total time was 1:36:46. 5k in 29, 10K in 59, 15K 1:30:20

Overall position - 8079th , 2148th Woman and 1309th in my age group

Splits:
Lap 1 ? 09:14
Lap 2 ? 9:11
Lap 3 ? 8:55
Lap 4 ? 09:22
Lap 5 ? 09:24
Lap 6 ? 09:39
Lap 7 ? 09:48
Lap 8 ? 10:03
Lap 9 ? 09:38
Lap 10 ? 09:37
Lap 11 ? 08:50 (Garmin measured 10.21 miles ? 10 miles on Garmin in 1:35:07)

The star of the day was dad. He?s 64 and did 1:21:48. He came 24th in his age group ? and he?s at the top end of his category so did fantastically well. Soooo proud of him.

Flew back this afternoon with sore legs and a renewed resolve to work on my speed over the winter.

Yay ! Well done squix, - Glad you enjoyed and yes, I had forgotten about the kids banging on the car with wooden spoons. V. bizarre behaviour !! And your Dad did really well. My garmin measured it as 10.20 - so maybe it was a little longer...let's say it was !!

I was coming on to post my splits as I've worked out how to do it (my old garmin did it automatically via an ANT stick but this was pretty quck and easy). Anyway, here they are - shows it went a bit wonky 8-10.

1 8:05.6 1.00 8:05.7

2 8:05.2 1.00 8:05.3

3 7:57.0 1.00 7:57.1

4 8:08.3 1.00 8:08.4

5 7:59.8 1.00 7:59.8

6 8:09.6 1.00 8:09.7

7 8:11.7 1.00 8:11.8

8 8:24.3 1.00 8:24.4

9 8:23.8 1.00 8:24.0

10 8:30.2 1.00 8:30.2

11 1:36.8 0.20 7:56.1

Legs were quite sore this morning and had cramp in my calf a few times but been swimming with dd1 which seems to have sorted it out a bit.

fanny - will watch with interest your results as I think I'm a step behind you. Guess i need to start getting up those hills (although I do normally do speed intervals instead...so am not a complete shirker)

rhet - hope things improve - has your Mum left yet ?? Sounds like its all been a bit hectic and stressful.

Monkey - hope ds is ok

Interesting talk re speeds and having to get shorter speeds up. My bro was telling me the same. I think I'd like to try another 10K soon-ish (only done one) with the hope of doing sub-50. I;m guessing the London one will be booked now but might take a look. At least that should be flat

Oh yes, and I got a real life bunch of flowers from DH's client apologising for the weekend.

Well done squix great time and report. Well done to your dad too.
Hope you ok Rhet.
Yes moshi I did stretch, I just couldn't quite face it when I first got in needed a sit down.
Just made lentil curry out of rw, it was ok but I love lentils. But dh and the boys didn't like it. They are all so fussy.

Well done squix! sounds like you really enjoyed the race. And what about your dad, eh? I can only hope to be running at all at 64, let alone at that pace. Grey power!

Rhet no other way of saying it - that all sounds shit. My oldest two were born 17 months apart to the day, and lots of friends were pretty horrified, but I've always found coping with small babies preferable to the pregnancy bit! Once it's just you, DP and your two girls it will fall into place, and all the potty training stuff will come when it comes. Will you accept a virtual sisterly shoulder squeeze and a slightly grubby hankie?

afternoon all. not popped my head around these parts in a while but just wanted to say im up for the Askern 10k in May of next year....joined a running club! almost up to 10k but VERY ploddy....currently doing about a 10 min mile which aint great but got until May to improve!

achilles still a bit sore but getting there. Still not quite seeing myself as a runner yet but definitely trying! I keep reading these threads for inspiration! goal is a half marathon i think, but that could be quite a way off....!

Catching up with thread. I work f/t so, there will be a trillion posts to get through! Split times are scarring and scaring me! Boy you two don't need go-faster stripes do you?

Just managed the fastest 3 miles of my life recent history - 25min 20 secs before darkness. 8.27mins/mile, which isn't three bad, at this stage of training? My world record 10k is 50 mins (about 7 years ago) so that is the aim for the next 10k.

Less is more? - "I don't know, but I've been told.." that in the British Army training they never run more than half of any distance planned in a race. They repeat half the distance, getting faster each time, and build strength, takes less time and best for avoiding injury. So they are lightening over 3k, and that carries them into a really good time for 10k races.

Great race reports Wheely, and Squix, like others have said, so much of racing is mental toughness which you both have in spades by the sound of it. Great times and splits. Squix, at your dad, he sounds pretty inspirational!

Debi, hope DS2 is feeling better

Rhet, yes having guests can be pretty intense, at a time which is pretty stressful for you both. I would agree with fanny, maybe can the potty training for now.

sfx, glad DH's work went well, like you say, it is difficult to imagine what being a single parent would be like. Very very hard work, both physically and emotionally!

orange, hope you're feeling ok after your hill-tastic day!

sticky, glad you enjoyed your run after a week of half term intensity!!!

I had a few friends and their lids in this afternoon for a Halloween "party", which actually was just Halloween cakes and biscuits and playing and watching Halloween Shrek DVD. Actually quite relaxing. Really noticed being extra tired with walk to and playgroup today, after a week of slobbing at home for half term.

or...lightening over 5k, which carries them t oa good time for 10k races......(too much oxygen)

Wheely, how thoughtful of DH's client, that is very sweet!

orange, your family are mad, lentil curry sounds yum!

Ahhh vicar, it's yourself!!!! Good to see you back.

I am really rather of all you folk running, I have literally forgotten what it feels like! Looking forward to getting back to it in new year though slightly depressed at thought of running with realistically an extra 2 stone on me. Hmmm, what will I wear? Running tights certainly won't fit!!!!

wheely your splits are great - however the majority of us when we are pretty new to racing will naturally slow down the last few miles of a longer race. That's where pushing yourself at the end of a long training run will help - I need to do this myself. Also, I think I need to do more speed intervals - I do a good fast tempo one a week but I could with improving on this. I want to get comfortable under the 7m/m pace for 5k. My splits for my 8 miler were all constant yesterday except my first mile was 8.17 so started slightly top fast. I warmed up before I set my Garmin too. I definitely come Sunday need to make sure my first mile or so is the slowest.

Fab race report squix these big races are addictive!

Welcome back Vicar.

You'll soon shift those 2 stone Peach but give yourself a chance to get over it all first !

Well done Pan !

On the subject of more mature runners, I was boring DH with my stats on the run and I said I was the fastest 'mysurname'. And he asked me what they were and the first one I looked at was a man in the 80-120 age bracket who had done it in 1.47 ... respect !

fanny - On my training runs I do usually do the last mile faster but I guess I'm going slightly slower on the rest of hte run (usually 8.30 ish). I should really should get in some more race practise as well. I have been back running over 2 years now and only a 10K, a 8.2 mile, a 5K and this 10 mile. And before that I had only ever done 1 5K.

I have just found a local 10K for the start of December... tempted...

Can you please all send a big dose of lfdi to me. On my way home and I really fancy a run but it's dark and I am a bit of a wuss plus it's Halloween . Thinking all main roads and high vis jacket. Maybe dp's riot baton and pepper spray too ??

LFDI cherry. Go for a little one and see how you go. Wasn't it you who went out running whilst the rioting was on ? What's a witch or two ?

thanks for words of support, all, and congrats on excellent races all. My neighbour did his first marathon in just over 4 hours, and a little competitive spark has lit...

trick and treaters out in force - it's really big deal here. My mother has gone now, and I know she feels marginalised, but really, DP is 4 1/2 weeks away and we have a lively toddler on top of all the other things that we have to do. I am really missing my work (e.g. the thinking, writing part of it, as opposed to the teaching part which gets done anyway) and feel that I am losing my way.

But I have a 15k race to look forward to, and longer term goals. Running is the way, the truth and the life (aka, my salvation) - apologies if that offends anyone, but it's the closest to religion/spirituality that I am going to get...

off to scoff remains of Halloween choc and to drink wine - think I am close to not being able to drink, as the limit is now 50ml rather than 80, so even one glass would tip me over. About time too, as it happens

thanks for the warm welcome ladies....i am also going to have a glass of vino to unwind but daren't touch the left over chocs....got enough to sink a small battleship!

wish - go on....you'll feel better for it! i went this morning and not being a morning person i literally had to drag myself out...glad i did though - means i get tomorrow off (sort of - back to work tomorrow)
go on....you know you want to!
ill bob back when i can! cheers folks happy halloween!