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?

@chutneypig I'm hoping to start building the stamina up once again too. I'll keep a look out and post any progress. It may be slow at first but the thought of having someone to hold me accountable is encouraging.

I sympathise @chutneypig i used to be an old hand at parkrun just rock up and run but then menopause & injury wiped out all my confidence and fitness. It’s taken me a year to find the courage and form to eventually go back in Nov and have a chatty run with an old friend which was lovely and we both suprised ourselves coming in just under 35mins. I’m down to about 32mins now on a flat route but that’s probably my limit now without doing lots of strength & speed stuff to get faster. I’m just enjoying actually being able to run at the moment as I honestly didn’t think I’d get it back.

Just been thinking about this today!

half in April, my 5th. I’d like to get closer to 2h than I did in late 23 (2.09 in Manchester)

parkrun in under 27. My pb is under 25 but that’s many year ago

get my ds (11) running! I have been doing couch to 5k with him. I want him to do his first 5k parkrun this weekend or next

mosf of all though my first marathon. Eyeing up York in October.

I did Manchester Marathon a couple of years ago and loved every stage of the whole thing other than the 20mi training run (lousy weather and knackered after bringing it forward due to a snowy forecast and still recovering from racing a HM)

It's weird because I loved it, never thought "never again" but can't be bothered to rush into another marathon block yet because I found the 3wk taper and recovery period quite disruptive to my running routines. I actually get better consistency of milage by doing 3 HMs per year.

Welcome! I hope you are enjoying your time with dc1 and that recovery is going well. I don't know where you are, but you may be able to check on Facebook whether there is a women's running group that also have a post natal session to get mums back into running.

I thought I was getting all organised with the accommodation and tickets etc for Boston, but my running partner has had to defer, so I have a bit of a dilemma with what to do with the hotel I've booked. I'm pretty stressed about it and I've only just started on the 16 week training block!

Kudos to your dh for doing both Boston and London back to back! Will he be aiming for a PB in London after Boston?

@BunBabbitBun - worth seeing if RunMummyRun have a facebook group local to you. there may well be someone on that who is in a similar position and there will be plenty of well meaning ladies who've been through it and go back to running who will have lots of useful advice.

Great to see so many people posting on the thread and all the plans!

I'm still off work so had a frosty run first thing this morning. I was super-slow as my legs were so cold but it was good to be out in the sunshine.

I've put off doing my local parkrun because the course is currently really muddy (and hilly) but I'm planning to give it a go tomorrow. And got DS to help me put my barcode on my watch. (Hopefully I'll remember how to find it!)

Well done everyone who is getting out there in this baltic weather - it was a beautiful day for it and I was very jealous of all the runners I saw out and about!

Had my physio appointment today and I'm allowed to start some walking on the treadmill now, which is a start. Buuut she also had the results of the bone density scan which I had because my stress fracture was atypical, and I apparently have early onset osteopenia, which is a bummer. So it's going to be a longer recovery with lots of weight training before I can get back to running seriously.

Hi, hope I can join in too

I'm an over 50 slow runner trying to up my distance and speed. I ran London Marathon in 2018 having done numerous races/distances up to then (slowly) but it was so awful I didn't do another race until Oct last year. Well, I did change career and go to uni so there were other factors.

My DD encouraged me to do a 10K in Oct, then did another in Dec but couldn't break the hour (1.01!). I didn't train well for either though as struggle to get out 3 times a week around work commitments. I am now keen to improve though so signed up for the Manchester great run half in May.

I'm using an app called Runna for the first time and have done my first run, second one is this morning. I'm actually liking the personalisation the app gives so will see if it motivates me through the next few weeks of awful weather and no daylight.

I'm looking forward to see how everyone gets on with their goals 😀.

Welcome @bluefineliner ! You’ve had a lot on your plate, huge well done for your uni and work achievements 😊

Runna sounds great - I know a few people who’ve had success with it and they have a postpartum programme I’m looking forward to trying. I hope it helps you in the dreary weather, this time of year can be hard (although we’ve been lucky to have some beautiful winter sunshine here the last couple of days).

Thank you to the PPs who recommended Run Mummy Run! I’ve joined the FB groups 😊🏃‍♀️

I didn't parkrun this morning. There's a mixture of cancellations and late all-clears and I wasn't motivated to get ready to see what was going ahead at 8:20 10 mins before leaving the house.

I was at the gym last night and I'm feeling a bit used after squat lifting 30kg for the first time. That's nearly a DS2!

I'm looking forwards to normality resuming on Monday!

I've done a few 5k and 10k training plans on my garmin. They're good for focusing on improving pace and I've had new pbs out of them.

I need to get back to some structured speed work.

@bluefineliner and everyone that feels they are slow (I include myself in this!) - it is worth including speed intervals into your training and increasing your cadence.

@thepurplepenguin oh that's a very mixed bag on the recovery front! A lot to take in.

We felt the same on NYD @BogRollBOGOF on the parkrun front. Quite a few were cancelled locally today but not as many as last month so we did get out.

I only managed a lap at parkrun so was a bit dispirited then looked at the faces of the rest of the family as they finished. Everyone found it tough. How did everyone get on who went to parkrun today?

Couldn’t make PR as on lift duties for my kids sports but got a sunrise trail run 5k in with ddog which was lovely. Mix of frozen puddles and frosty trail ddog was happy and I loved feeling fit enough to run up the hilly bits. Compared to last year I’d of puffed walking up them. I’ve lost 3 stone since then and really starting to enjoy my 50s now despite some pretty stressful times being in the care sandwich years with send teens & elderly parents, running has become my happy place. Hope the cold weather doesn’t hamper too many of your runs this weekend.

@MagpiePi interesting you should say about speed work, it is something I have never done or wanted to do because I am lazy and just plod 😂. I just did a 4.5mile 'progression' run on the Runna app which showed me how rubbish I am at knowing how fast I run, and how I set out too fast every time. I tried to stick to the laps and times but ran the first 2 mi too fast then struggled to hold a faster pace for 0.5 miles at the end.

So it has made me more motivated to do the speed work as part of my HM training and having the app telling me to slow down or speed up will be a real help. Just need to stick with it now!

I've never done a park run as too rural but like the idea of it.

Good morning @chutneypig well done for getting out there even if only for one lap. I had a slow and chatty parkrun this morning with a couple of friends. It was quite frosty out so we took it slowly. I cycled there and back and my hands are slowly defrosting. I think I need some better gloves.

@bluefineliner - my user name was my 10K time for years. I did eventually get below an hour, but am not even anywhere close to an hour these days.

wrt intervalls I tend to mix it up.

either by time (1 min jog, 1min faster jog)
or by distance (run faster to the next lamp post)
or up hill (find a 20-30 min gentle slope and run up, walk down)
or add in knee work (jog a min high knees)

and don't forget core strength training!

For a (mentally) lazy speed session, I like the NHS C25k+ podcast. 5 min walking warm up. 5 min easy run. 6x 1min sprint/ recover reps. 5 min cool down.
Bish bash bosh, done in 27 mins

For other sessions, setting it up as a garmin workout really helps keep on track and monitor pacing. That was a game changer for my running.

I'm totally off core strength training today. And legs. And arms.

It doesn't feel like weights are helping with the running gains this morning.

Long live rest day 😂

@bluefineliner - are you me by any chance? I'm also hoping to get a sub hour 10k. Speed intervals are the only type of running I can bear to do on a treadmill - maybe worth bearing in mind if snow messes with a training programme. Most dreadmills have an interval programme so you can just plug the speeds in and watch the clock.

I did parkrun today the weather was absolutely baltic (-2°C) but not windy, or icy. The ground was frozen so actually didn't get muddy but pretty hard going, happy with my finish position though.

I've used women's running magazine (online) for free training plans before. They include interval training and speed sessions although can be a bit complicated. I also use training peaks app which you can sync with your watch so it tells you when to start running the fast/er effort (and more crucially, when you can stop! 🤣)

I’m rubbish at assessing my pace too and find it difficult to run to a set pace. I follow a Garmin program which gives you the paces for the session and my watch beeps if I’m going too fast or too slow.
I am particularly bad at running slowly on easy runs - I feel like I am doing an unbearably slow plod but am actually about 1 min/km faster than I should be.

I have made an effort to increase my cadence and it has made a difference to my speed.

Ooh I’d forgotten about the nhs 5k+ app I’d used that a few years ago to try speed intervals. I’ll find it again, normally I try find a stretch of lamp posts and do 4-5 sprints or count 10paces flat out and 15 recovery then repeat. My teen helped me with her play list of pacy songs as we share Spotify.