2015 Running Thread Part 5

[actiongirl1978]

Hi everyone, new thread started!

and at the marathon de sables Abunting
how intrepid is that

not that we get much serious heat here but I can feel myself starting to acclimatize to running in warmer weather

One of my son's teachers has done the marathon des sables. But he does ultras for fun. Massive respect Aggressive

The furthest I have been from home for running is the New York marathon. I used to live there, and had only been gone 6 months when went back for the marathon, so it was kind of going home. And I've done parkrun tourism whenever I've been away at a weekend.

Does anyone know about feet? My little toes are a bit sore, and i seem to have built up lots of hard skin. Do I need a chiropodist or a podiatrist or someone else to look at them?

have you tried filing it off OhOne?
no expert on feet but I use one of those mini cheese grater things in the bath.

Will that hurt Suzanne? When I lived in New York I used to have regular pedicures but have got out of the habit

I love my chiropodist OhOneOhTwoOhThree! I have a lot of hard skin on my feet and get corns quite regularly. Since I broke my foot it's wider and the little toe rubs on any shoes I wear and builds up hard skin then a corn very quickly. She goes at my feet with a surgical blade and they feel wonderful for a while, need her back now really. I put it down to walking A LOT as well as running.

4.8 miles with my club tonight, got lost (mostly my fault) as we were trying to femme be a route we run with the canicross club! *694.52

That's good to hear cinnamon, I was at the dentist for a check up the other day and noticed that there was also a chiropodist working there, so I might give them a go.

it doesnt hurt when I do it, and I'm nothing special in the pain threshold department!
It's just dead / calloused skin in my case, I've always dealt with it myself

Whoops 694.52

I'm quite achy tonight but I had a busy day!

Missed a few posts at the end of previous page and just realised there a few nutters impressive runners on this thread

Ooh - am a bit envious of the Rome one, Anglaise! I love Rome so much. I'd like to do a race in France though. I'm a French (and German) teacher, so I have spent a lot of time in France. The one dh did on the Ile de Re (apologies for the lack of accents - they come out as complete gibberish on the MN app) was lovely but it was blooming hot!

Three very slow miles from me tonight. Can't wait to build up to more.

Holmes if you ever fancy combining a holiday with a race, let me know. I live in Brittany, so the climate is similar to Devon and Cornwall ( a bit warmer and a lot drier in Eastern Brittany where I am). Much cooler than the Ile de Ré. I even did a half marathon in the beginning of August last year.
Running is really big in France and there are lots of races every month. If you like I'll send you a guide. I would love to organise an exchange with a UK club for my French club as a lot of my friends would love to do a race in the UK for a change!

Marathon de sables is definitely deserving of and . Although I'm not sure I can imagine a run I would enjoy less - not just the distance and the heat but the presumably monotonous landscape! Would you ever do it again aggressive?

Hmm yes I was thinking that running has made the hard skin on my big toes even worse. I must invest in a file, the pumice stone just ain't cutting it!

6.5 on saturday - after two much wine on friday evening, and I wanted to stop at 5 but then my friend text and said she was on her way to my house so I had to keep going! Just done 3 miles of intervals as well so 707.02 including morris's three.

704.62 adding on morriszapp's 3, I did a park run sat and four canal miles today so 7.1 plus the 3. (Hope my addition is correct apologies if not!!)

That sounds lovely, Anglaise! I'm not a member of a club, but have been toying with the idea of joining one. I worry that I would be too slow for them though .

We are keen campers and take loads of stuff, so although there are lots of other countries on my wishlist, France is always perfect for us (plus I speak the language, which is helpful!) I'd be very interested to see the programme of races anyway - thanks!

Im going to attempt the commute again tomorrow, feel ok if not a bit more ready for bed than usual!

Dotty I think we cross-posted, total should be 714.12 now I think!

Adding 4 to make 718.12

LaughingM I dont think I would do MdeS again, but I'm considering doing the Gobi Challenge (Racing the Planet) next May which is 250k over 6 stages. If I do I will massively minimise my pack and just live on banana chips and Bombay Mix for a week ( most calories per 100g of any non-perishable food) so that I can actually run some of it. As soon as you start getting into the non-mandatory extras the pack starts increasing exponentially (if you want to eat freeze dried meals you need a stove, if you want hot drinks you need a mug etc.)

The desert is weirdly not that monotonous, because you get dunes, sand flats, ridges, rocky bits etc. It's actually quite cool to be out there because you realise that you'll probably never get the chance again.

Ohone I get what's called a "Shanghai pedicure" about once a month which is a pedicure where they use the blade to shave the hard skin off your feet. Otherwise I get really bad build up on my big toes joint and then blisters forming underneath. I just go to a normal salon but I think I remember that most places in the Uk wont use blades anymore so you might have to DIY or see a chiropodist.

Sorry - another question from me ! Do you all belong to running clubs? I can't decide whether to join one or not! On the one hand it would be a good way to meet people as I'm new to the area. But I'm worried they would all be hardcore runners and I'd be left behind . Also, as I am working very very part time atm, I am lucky enough to be able to run during the day pretty much whenever I want to, so there is no need to commit myself to an evening run on a particular day iyswim.

So if you belong to a club, has it had a really positive effect on your running, and have you made lots of lovely new friends?

Holmes joining a club motivated me into running more, longer and doing races. Before I only ran 5k a few times a week on my own, after joining a club I was doing a 10k race within 2 months, a HM within 6 months and a marathon a year later (plus lots more other races). I don't think I'd have dared on my own. Plus it is more fun when there are a lot of you from the same club at the race. And yes, socially it has been great, I've made a lot of friends there, and often run with them outside the normal club training sessions.

Joining a club is definitely motivating! I've made several very good friends, there's always someone to run with no matter the distance, speed or time and training helped me improve pace massively. I'm on the slower side but not the slowest. Training is always at your own pace and social runs are always at the pace of the slowest runner and no one minds that. There are some sessions that I wouldn't attend as I know I'd slow people down and I'd be miserable but there are plenty to choose from that I can do!

Right. I might email the club secretary and ask if there are some slower runners! I'm also thinking safety in numbers - I'd love to do some more off-piste rural runs, but I'd be in trouble if I hurt myself or got lost (the latter very likely as I am severely geographically challenged ).

Love my running club, apart from the fun of running with a pack we get discounted physio, gym and free beet-it stuff (obviously free coaching, cheaper race entries etc too). Hope you like yours Holmes.

Thanks! I've emailed them and asked if they have any plodders like me! But preferably plodders who have a sense of direction that I can follow...

Gobi challenge sounds fantastic aggressive. And I guess your experience from the MdeS will stand you in very good stead.
I love hearing about extreme events ( that includes Mountain Marathons and 24 hr relays too!) and living them vicariously from my comfortable chair

Re hard skin I use Scholl cracked heel cream which works if I remember to use it every night. I haven't had very hard corns or anything though, just a build up of thickened hard skin over inside edge of my big toe and my heels.

3.8 intervals from me early this morning. Another 10k race in 2 weeks coming up but I'm much more relaxed about this one.

718.12 + 3.8= 721.92

holmes I'm not a member of my local running club, mostly because I have a long commute and can't guarantee being home early enough for club sessions during the week. But my parkrun buddy joined, and has taken about 5 minutes off her PB over the last 18 months or so which she puts down to all the work she's done with the club.

There's a lot of crossover between the club and parkrun (which is how I have made friends locally since we moved here two years ago).

Paula Radcliffe used to run for my local club, so maybe I could join and some of her magic might rub off on me