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

yes I am starting to feel a bit nostalgic for DD's onliness - she and I have become very close during DP's pregnancy

Good point Sticky, I seem to remember it "smarting" a little bit last time...though not in the fanny as was given spinal block to drag her out with forceps and don't remember the previous 3 hours "pushing" hurting down there per se, as was concentrating on hideous twisting contractions. Sounds weird but am really looking forward to feeling baby coming out this time, assuming it works out that way. You can remind me of that when I'm sitting on a donut afterwards!!!

I'm in withdrawal as I've mislaid my iPhone so I can't run a) with music, b) knowing how far and fast I'm going and c) with HRM (not that always works - seem to have issue with chest belt).

Saturday's run was measured by creating a route in Runkeeper vig googlemaps and then having to use a watch to time myself!

Fingers crossed that the cleaner at work picked it up Wed night and hasn't been been able to pass it back to admin dude as they were on holiday last week. Only other place I could have left it was the gym, but no-one has handed it in. I don't think it's been half-inched as I have the 'find my iPhone' app which just shows a big fat zero in terms of it being connected to the Internet.

It just seems so old fashioned to go out running without all my gadgetry.

I'm going to attempt something new and unusual tomorrow: getting up early and doing a 5k before work. This way I may be able to get in more than my 1 or two runs a week.

Oh fanny you are a bad influence on me. I checked and there are ony 200 places left so thought I better get on with it. So I have just entere online, gulp. Then realised I have an engagement do the night before, so think I will be leavng early. I didnt know what to put down for predicted time so put 2 hrs.

bumply :( for your iPhone. Tho the find my iPhone thing sounds very useful. Hope it turns up. FWIW, I used to do two 5ks a week before breakfast and going off to work. It worked well for me, and it's great at work sitting there feeling virtuous. But I am a really annoying morning person anyway.

LOL peach you're a crazy lady!!

orange well done you!! Meal worm coming your way...

I hadn't even heardof the goody bag before Sticky

Yayy orange, good for you! That goody bag will be worth it alone!!!

Hope the iPhone turns up bumply. Running with just a, gulp, watch! How archaic!!!

hello

had a read through, so much chat, will have a stab at keeping up

rhet well done, you did a big hill without training specifically for it and made it through at a decent time, be proud.
hope druggie waster is no longer around, what timing . glad potty training is going well, I am sure the transition from 1 to 2 will have its challenges but it will be fine
fanny well done on your time, and willingness to be sick for your time
futurity well done on your time. I am very impressed with all your progress

sticky did you manage the 27 in the park run?
sciencebint I am sorry about the apparent lack of progress I can see how frustrating it must be, the water jogging sounds good but I have no knowledge to share.

bumply definitely keep aiming for 10K I think it is a good distance to test yourself, and I hope you find your phone.
wiifit sounds like you have bee given excellent advice already, keep running
coteDAzur sorry about the cancellation disappointment but best not try an unintentional duathlon well done for going out anyway

orange ided dh got that into his late 20's early 30's, the bastard
hope things are ok with you and your family

wheely what would your MIL say about my dd? the child is barely acquainted with a comb, I gave her Will Hair
Criticism about hair from the woman who failed to secure her grandchild in the car, the blardy cheek

peach how are the BH? are you going to post when in labour? a live labour on running thread? hope you are not too uncomfortable

moshi so where you taken somewhere special?
about parking ticket, we got one on our wedding day, appeal got it down to half, still heartless money grabbers

cestlavie run was ok thanks, setting lovely, I run there sometimes as I live within 30min walk from one of the gates, absolutely gorgeous first thing in the morning with the ground mist.
did 1.05, 28 at 5k but nearly lost my nerve then as some runners were giving up and going for the half distance instead, pace suffered, and I had stared at the back, still it was very pleasant
Good luck with the move and inevitable madness that goes with it.

weekend was busy with both pleasant and stressful things, nothing major but it takes its toll

happy running

Rhet ? sounds like a fun run! I think where I?d struggle on a run like that is to have to concentrate so much on what you?re doing, and not therefore being able to get in the ?zone? and establish a nice rhythm. My dds I think are similar gap to yours ? 22 months. DD1 settled in very quickly to dd2s arrival. I think where I struggled most was the feeling that dh and dd1 kept cavorting off out to parks and stuff, while I stayed stuck with dd2 clamped (permanently in memory) to my breasts. I felt I missed dd1 a bit. I also felt a bit stuck as most of our friends had onlies, round dd1s age, so they started to get out and about a bit more, while we were still in babydom. The only other time I really found a real struggle was about a yr later when dd1 was on one nap a day, and dd2 still on two, I just felt really limited on weekends. As a result though dd2 sleeps anywhere ? last month when we were in China we did 10km walk on the Great Wall, and she just napped on me in the hip sling... I think she had her pic taken about 100 times. She looks deceptively angelic asleep and of course the blonde hair is pretty unusual out there.

I got out for another run this weekend and have been asked by a friend if I want to do a 15km fun run with her in 3 weeks time ? not sure if that?s pushing it too much after 6 weeks with no running at all (knee probs). I only started again last week, managed 3 runs: 5k,10k on treadmill at 25 and 50min, and 11k proper run, including my favourite cliff st climb at 58:20) ... It?s a fairly small event so the embarrassment threshold in being crap/slow would be high... If I couldn?t manage sub-90 not sure I want to go out there. What do people think? Achievable?

Would probably bottle it, but feeling inspired by reading Fanny/ Futurity's reports... And after that race we're into summer so nothing really happening as will be too hot, so it's my last chance really until spring next year.

Very impressed with your catchup skills sfx, hope you are ok after the busy/stressy weekend. Only really getting BHs when walking. Ooh yes, live thread birth....won't tell anyone in RL if possible. Made that mistake last time telling family after waters broke and then was too busy being in labour for next two says so didn't update them and they were all worried

Sonic, I think it would be achievable but maybe not advisable. I think after 6 weeks of no running a race might cause you to push yourself too much either in training or the race. Wow, China with two littl'uns. Am impressed!!!!

Thank you sonic and sfx!

Sonic Wow, China, was it a holiday? Lucky you. I am sure they do a race along the Great Wall, am I right? Agree with sticky re race, if you haven't done any training for 6 weeks, you are more than likely to injure yourself as you will naturally go all out in a race. However, if you put some good training in over next 3 weeks and were prepared not to do it under 90 mins, you would probably be ok.

orange YAY! Did you watch the youtube link to the goody bag song...? That is what made my mind up, I will probably enter online today.

sticky only in the North could you get a goody bag with a mealworm in! Imagine getting that at the Great South Run!

Feeling tiny bit tired today but not stiff at all, could go for a short run if I could be arsed. Won't though but will do tomorrow to get legs going again. I have found results online, Gun time was 1.49.17 so chuffed with that. Was 347th (pretty much middle of the field!) runner out of 705 and 46th woman! Friend's official time was 1.48.28 so considering I stopped to retch, I only lost 49 seconds, I thought it would be worse. Gutted though as I would have been ecstatic with 1.48

Yes I did watch the video fanny . I am already so nervous I could not sleep last night. We will have to meet up. Hope you feel less tired as day goes on.
Sonic I agree probably not advisable after a 6 week break, but tempting I bet.

orange at you not sleeping last night! God help you night before! You'll be fine. Yes, we'll arrange to meet before. I'll be carrying a red rose and blue umbrella...

Yay, achieved the morning run. Did a repeat of the 6.something k I did on Halloween and managed it in about the same time despite lack of gadgetry and walking the last 5 minutes for cool down.

Feel better than expected at the moment. I will definitely have to curb my nightowl tendencies if I'm going to make a habit of this, as I only got about 5 hours sleep last night.

You're all being too sensible! And you're right of course that if I ran I would have to gun it...
China was hol - I've been there a couple of times recently for work, and dds very interested, so thought we'd all go - was really good fun - a great experience for them, highlight of which was probably the sleeper trains.

meant to say fanny - 46th woman is an incredible acheivement!

Well done all the weekend racers! All did great times and got what you were looking for... something in the autumn air perhaps? Actually, maybe it it is - apart from everything looking stunning whilst you're out there, the weather's perfect for running.

Great race rhet. Sounds like you enjoyed it and found it comfortable (which is quite staggering given the inclines involved!) Everyone worries endlessly about what happens to your family when the next one arrives, but it always seems to work itself out. Good you've had the opportunity to spend lots of time with DD in the meantime as well.

Futurity well done on getting under an hour - you must be well chuffed

And fanny, fantastic, well done you! That is such a result and bloody fantastic progress knocking that much time off your last run. Absolutely amazing improvement, you are flying! You were properly under 1.50 as well. Hate it to say it, but well done as well on running hard enough to make you throw up - you just know you've pushed yourself as hard as you can when you get to that point! Lots of mental determination there.

sfx sounds gorgeous and I'm very jealous - wished I lived near enough there to run. Thanks for best wishes for the move.

sonic, hate to say but agree with other people. You could definitely do it but if you're competitive (like, um, me) you'll just end up pushing yourself too hard and putting yourself out of action for a while...

How're you doing peaches? Under 2 weeks now and counting....!

Thanks sonic!

cest I DID IT!!!! . I truly didn't think i would you know. It was very hard, last 2 miles mentally and physically pushed me to my limits and I couldn't have shaves 0.001 of a second off that time. There are places on the course (few downhill bits) where I could have speeded up (my friend did) but I took those places to recover and it bode me well. Beauty of it was it was a flat course in comparison to where I train. That race taught me a hell of a lot re how I mentally can push myself past my comfort zone. I don't have a killer instinct to compete against other people and actually didn't enjoy running against my friend much. I felt like she was wanting to be a step ahead and I kept losing my concentration. That's competitiveness for you but I don't tend to have it with other people, only myself. Looking forward to next race, I'm going to enter Stockport 10, good training race for my next HM in Jan. how's things with you?

fanny I know, you did so well mate! I just can't run with other people in a race. Love having a friend there at the start to chat with whilst you're waiting for it all to kick off but I've absolutely got to run at my own pace every step of the way.

Well done on both properly planning your race and pushing yourself. On my fastest HM this year it was soooo tempting to go that bit too fast at the start when it was feeling easy and to not use the downhills to recover from the uphills but it helped massively on the last few miles.

Last couple of miles was just all in the head for me. By that point your body's just screaming at you "slow down a bit, you'll only lose few seconds, you'll feel so much better" and you just have to separate your mind from your body. I remember just focusing on holding pace, counting down each 500m through the pace and concentrating on technique and trying ignore everything your body's saying. It's kind of a weird feeling actually - your body just becomes this 'thing' carrying 'you' along. Hmmmm, slightly metaphysical thought there actually! Does anyone else ever get that?

cest YES! Exactly like that, i just zoned into a place in my mind where I've never been before (well, probably went to a similar place when giving birth) but I have no idea how I got back from mile 12, I was chunnering away in my head, I must have looked crazy. At the GNR when I felt uncomfortable, I stepped back (understandable for first ever race) whereas at this race, I "raced" it. I bloody loved it, I think I'm made for racing as it has totally turned my running around. it has given me a huge sense of purpose and fulfilment. I was too frightened as a child to fail so didn't do anything. It's funny how you learn so much about yourself from one half marathon. Yesterday feels like I finally completed a task that I set out to do and I shocked myself!

Sorry for going on about my race everyone. I'll shut up now.

Huge congratulations to all this weekends runners. Sounds like everyone exceeded their personal targets. I'm so inspired by the race reports and training talk. Have a mad week this week so not sure when I'll get out. I'm feeling angsty at not being able to get out there...

Fanny that's wonderful! It sounds like you've really turned a corner, psychologically. You're an inspiration, my dear.

runnerstipple hope you get time to go out again soon. Definitely know what you mean about getting antsy: I was going slightly nuts by the end of half term!!

sfx I didn't get to do the park run, because poor old DP had to go to some silly research seminar (on a Saturday!), so I just went out for an hour by myself. Next week...:)

Had a lovely run this morning while the sun was still out and everything was frosty. 11.5 miles at 10.25m/m average, so very comfortable. Beautiful out, especially in the woods where all the fallen leaves were all sparkly with the frost. The fret's in now tho and it's got all dark. I want to hibernate!

"it's the goody bag, for the Stockport 10, it's the goody bag for the Stockport 10"

several hours later

"it's the goody bag, for the Stockport 10, it's the goody bag for the Stockport 10"

several hours later

"it's the goody bag, for the Stockport 10, it's the goody bag for the Stockport 10"

FANNY I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!

deb loved that video!