Running goals, motivation and chat 2025

[Jumbojem]

All welcome! A place to share or goals and achievements and to motivate each other along the way.
A virtual mumsnet run club perhaps?

I have been on a half mara chat group the last few years but currently not training for one. So, my 2025 goals are:
Now until spring - get fitter for a 15 mile hilly trail run event in April.
Summer - try for a 5k PB, try to get faster?
Autumn - maybe do a half mara? Cross Country again ( I am slow and old but love this).

Who else wants to join me?

@OhOneOhTwoOhThree and @bloodredfeaturewall I hope your niggles are clearing up

@UnaOfStormhold hope your sinuses are behaving

@Tinkerbellflowers welcome! I've only run under 30 mins for 5k three times and I've been running forever, so I'm very impressed. I did Couch to 5k again (post breaking my hand and being too afraid to fall on it to run!) in summer 2023 and then followed a plan that bridged from 5k to 10k, which was fun.

So I went to the doc's this morning and she doesn't think it's a stress fracture but "just" shin splints as there's some big adhesions and has sent me for physio and an ultrasound just in case. So feeling a bit more optimistic that I might be able to run again soon and she's OKed me walking and rolling out my shins/stretching, so at last I feel like I can do "something" to get better, which is always easier than simply resting, I find!

Hi @Tinkerbellflowers . You sound like me! I'm gradually pushing beyond the 5km by not going too fast on every run. I'm finding running with a group and chatting is effective in slowing me down to increase distance. Otherwise I forget to pace myself and go too hard.

I did wonder about doing a park run. It's very local to me. I thought maybe running alongside others would help me pace myself. I have checked out the route and there is quite a bit up hill which puts me off! Haha!

@Tinkerbellflowers running alongside others 100% makes you run faster and you can slipstream other runners/ exploit them as pacers :-) There's also that pride element when even when you feel like you're going to throw up you don't want to start walking.

Yeah park run is fab! I love running on my own but there’s something special about park run and just doing the same course regularly is really motivating if you’re trying to get faster or lose a bit of lard, like myself.

I went for a couple of runs in snowdonia last weekend but I had the wrong shoes with me and have had to have the rest of the week off as my skins were killing. I’ve ordered some brooks ghosts wide box as I need new road shoes, and my bunions have been hurting too. Hoping they help the shin pain. I am unfortunately quite prone to shin splints.

gonna hit up park run tomorrow. Our local one is a muddy field so quite a slow one, but trying to get back under thirty minutes.

Thank you everyone for your advice. This is such a nice thread. Nobody in my family is particularly interested in my running. Although I only do it for myself, it's still nice to have some encouragement.

@Fibrous Running in Snowdonia sounds lovely. I wish I had somewhere nice to run like that.

@Tinkerbellflowers - yeah it was lovely! I was just there for the weekend but happily it coincided with gorgeous weather.

@tinkerbellflowers don't worry about the hill at parkrun, it might make you a bit slower at first but it will be great for making you stronger which will help with being able to run longer.
After a couple of glorious longer trail runs with a friend I've had to bail on today's run as also come down with dreaded lurgy. Very annoying as my event is in 2 weeks and running out of time for a long run. I've only done 8.5 miles and it's 15. Feeling anxious about it,

@Tinkerbellflowers I did c25k during lockdown with my teens and bar injuries kept it up since then.

find a nice route to run. I have a 'utility' route (well lit, mostly flat, no dogs), a 5k with small hill and a stunning 7-10k through the dunes/a long the beach.

park run here is at 8am, way too early for me on a saturday.

Well done everyone and hello @Tinkerbellflowers. My local parkrun has a big hill that comes round twice. My tactic when wanting a fast time rather than a cardio work out is to walk it. I eyeball a person just in front doing a similar pace. Then I march up the hill as fast as I can and then make sure that I over take the "target" on the downhill. Has the advantage that I'm not exhausted when I get to the top so can get a really quick downhill going. This course has a relatively short downhill for the uphill effort but this technique would work even better where the uphill is short and steep and the downhill longer.

Have had a very gentle week with just a couple of lazy runs so that the legs are as fresh as they can be for the HM tomorrow. Hoping that I will remember that I've not had the training block this time due to injury so the aim is only to finish......

Thanks for the well wishes! I got out for a gentle low heart rate run today, hopefully will be able to pick up my training plan again with a long run on Sunday though I suspect it will be a tough one.

@LaPalmaLlama sounds like you're still a bit under the weather and that's why the run felt ao tough! Hope you're fully on the mend soon.

@Trickedbyadoughnut good news that it's not stress fractures, hope you can get the shin splints sorted.

@Tinkerbellflowers welcome! Parkrun is a great idea, or you could work on building up.distance. It's good to have a goal - is there a nice friendly 10k nearby you could aim for?

@Jumbojem oh no what rubbish timing, hope you feel better soon.

@Londonmummy66 good luck for your half tomorrow!

@UnaOfStormhold thank you!

I live in a very hilly village and the two very small hills in my nearest parkrun are usually my opportunity to overtake if I’m feeling it. Got stuck behind two older guys having a really boring chat about the price of bananas in Morocco this morning so powered on past them on the hill, thankfully.

got my first sub thirty minutes parkrun in a decade this morning, very chuffed. Also my new shoes arrived and the cushioning is massive. Will be interesting trying them out.

Hope those injured and lurgied recovery quickly.

My new shoes arrived and they were not what I was expecting. I've had brooks ghosts in the past - didn't realise there were lots of different versions of them now. The ones I ordered - Ghost Max 2 Wide - are massive orthopedic style with a huge cushioned sole. Anyway, took them out this morning and managed my first 10k since 2020, delighted with them. My shorter runs I tend to do on trails but the longer ones have a good bit of road so the extra cushioning was very welcome. Nice to be in double figures again!

I'm glad they've worked out.

I'm undecided on my 4th pair of NB 860s. They're the "right size" but feel like they're twisted on my feet, like the angle is off and it needs a hammer toe not to catch the side of my big toe; but I can still wriggle my toes and they are more than long enough (size 38, for context I'm a 34 in birkenstocks which I can actually buy for my length).

I'd gone to the specialist shop as usual and the second best pair were too high up my ankle which from painful experience tends to lead to blistered ankles. I've got stupidly wide forefeet, stupidly high arches with a stupid big ķnobbly pressure point on top, but stupid slim, small heels that tend to slip around if the front is wide enough. Add in a stupid sensitive achilles that doesn't like being anchored in too much while I try to keep the shoe secure 🤦‍♀️

I wish someone would invent my shoe size!

I hate relying on blind luck from shoe to shoe and often having to suck up the least uncomfortable shoe avaliable. Then there's a remodel and one does show me the rare delights of comfort before another remodel back to something almost comfortable again.

Hopefully my big toe will deal with it and go leathery to cope and in 400 mi time, there'll be a less unsuitable model out.

And they're plain black as well. Yawn.
😂

Seriously why can't birkenstocks be suitable for everything. Like some kind of heat regulating, waterproof, grit-repelling forcefield around them. That would be so much easier!

Ugh yeah that sounds frustrating @BogRollBOGOF - I used to be a size four in shoes but that seems to have spread to a five now, and 5.5 in running shoes. I have big bunions, and my feet look quite wide, but otherwise I can't complain. Birkenstocks look bloody awful on me, though, so you have me there. I've yet to find an acceptable summer shoe, I usually just go barefoot if trainers wont do.

16 miles done today, not as bad as I was fearing post cold, though the last 30 mins were quite tough particularly if I had to stop for any reason. Glad to have it done though, just over a month to go.

Hello and welcome @Tinkerbellflowers. I second/third/fourth/whatever the parkrun recommendation. It's a lovely constant in my life, regardless of what else is happening I know I'll get 5k in every Saturday.

@BogRollBOGOF and @Fibrous thank you for the reminder to order soe more shoes - I'm still in Ghost 14's and Start fitness have my size - yippee! They must be the least popular colour, as this will be my third identical pair. @BogRollBOGOF thanks for the entertaining foot description. Mine are just square and wide and hobbit-like. I'd live in Birkenstocks if I could.

Looking forward to @Londonmummy66's run report.

@Jumbojem you've got this!

3 x 5 miles for me this week and a 12 mile long run today. I run/walk and have started experimenting with shorter run intervals - I'm amazed that my speed has improved, despite more walking. Magic!

Well done @UnaOfStormhold - sorry our posts crossed.

@BogRollBOGOF have you tried either Altra or Topo as both have a “barefoot” toe box- ie super wide to allow a full foot splay. Altras in particular might suit you if you don’t like too rigid a heel box as many people complain of the opposite.

Not much from me this weekend- just parkrun and a 1km warm up/ cool down each side to get me to and from the car.

I've never had Altras recommended, I think they tend to be quite flat in terms of drop? I struggle with tight calves and achilles. As a child I used to run on tip toes with dying shins and calves while the PE teacher bellowed at me. I couldn't run with my heels down in my youth. While I generally walk with heels down, I still naturally rise on to my toes without thinking about it.

I've been trying to work on the strength/ range of motions in the gym, but my ankles really are stubborn and it's finding the balance so I don't strain them for days afterwards too.

At least hobbits were tough enough not to need shoes.
And they could have second breakfast.
Jealous 😂

@BogRollBOGOF your feet sound just like mine and I hate trying to get my stupidly high arches into any sort of trainer but 860s are one of the worst. I run in Hokas (Cliftons) as I find that the low drop works better for my feet than shoes that try to add in arch support as it is never in the right place/high enough. Their wide fit is pretty generous (and they come in pretty colours - not shallow at all....)

Thank you @OhOneOhTwoOhThree - race was quite tough as I went out with the 2:20 pace group and let that mess around with my head for a bit. Once I'd had strong words with myself about not trying to achieve any sort of time and just aim to finish it became much easier and I ended up a few minutes under what I thought that would look like. Legs are killing me now though as they've not had such a long run this year. I wore trails as I was worried about the mud but this is the first time I've done this half and its been dry so I would have been better with road shoes as I developed a couple of hot spots one of which might well blister. Having said all that it was a lovely run with some beautiful stretches along the river and through the Home Park and the moment Hampton Court appears half a mile before the end is pretty magical.

Well @Londonmummy66 I did tell you it wouldn't be muddy! 😀 Congrats on your HM. I can never decide if the pacers are a blessing or a curse. I think one of the issues is that some of them tend to give themselves quite a wide margin for error so they are a bit above the pace you need to be. I lost the 3:45 pacer at Tokyo at 17 miles and it kind of mentally broke me and then I saw they came in at 3:39 so if I'd known that I think I'd have been ok to drop off. In the event I was only 30 secs too slow but in my befuddled state I couldn't do the maths to realise that so I failed on my Boston time (yes I'm still pissed off about it 8 years later 😂)

@BogRollBOGOF Yeah- both Altras and Topo are low drop, which I like as I have trained myself to mid sole strike. It might work for you if you naturally lean towards running on the front of your foot. There was a phase when everyone went a bit overboard in promoting the mid sole strike as "the only way to run" (then someone pointed out that some of the world's best LDR heel strike so there is no best way) but actually, it's likely more "natural" as before shoes were invented it would have been very difficult to heel strike and roll forward to your toes in bare feet so early man almost certainly ran on the balls of his/her feet. The Clifton that @Londonmummy66 mentioned are another option.

A brisk 6k for me this morning after school drop off. Realised I need to drop the pace a bit on my longer runs to build endurance beyond 20k which is kind of my natural limit at the moment for a comfortable run. Will report back on how it goes.