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?

@SoapCollector i was much much slower at first!! In 2019 my 5k was 41 mins and after finishing C25k in 2021 I was doing around 4k in 30 mins it’s only in the last year that I’ve been able to consistently run 5k in less than 30 mins. I’ve upped my running a lot this year and I’ve surprised myself with how far I’ve come. Stick at it and you’ll get there. I wanted to get fit and improve my abilities before I turned 40!

I honestly wouldn’t stress about pace and times. Just work on enjoying it and be proud of your achievements.

like @Sparticle I use footpaths to plan routes. It’s really useful and you can see the elevation too!

Thanks all, I'm going to check out plotaroute @Sparticle that sounds useful.

Thank you @Whataninterestinglookingpotato for the encouragement.

Think I need to chill out a bit 😂 it and enjoy it for what I can do now (I'm quietly competitive!!). Considering I could only run for 60 seconds at a time a few weeks ago, what I can do now is already an improvement on that!

You are right about the c25k @JanuaryOSunshine it does get you running for the 30mins but I agree not many people would be able to cover 5k in that time at first.

Hope you all have a good weekend!

happy weekend everyone

trying more strength training to reduce my injury prone-ness.
erratic work pattern has meant that I did less running as well but I go out at least once a week.
depending on how I feel I have few good routes up to 10k. favourite is hilly and through a forest towards the beach. the change of air alone is awsome. especially if the air is humid.

Hope everyone who ran or did parkrun enjoyed their Sat morning. My legs were heavy from back to back dumbbell sessions thurs/fri plus run & gardening. So I opted for a bike ride this morning. Had a steep hill first not ideal but my legs definitely stronger as I just kept doing, where as last year I probably would have walked the first section. Hope you can all dodge the downpours & thunderstorms.

Morning all, my Vinted trail running shoes have arrived some Brooks Caldera something-or-other. I ordered the size I have in my NB Road trainers and I’m concerned that they feel tight at the ends which is very annoying. It’s already a half size up from my every day shoe size. I know the shape or them is different (and the foam sole underneath isn’t as chunky etc) but I really hope they are going to feel okay when I try them out.

Hey everyone, good to read about parkruns and the long marathon distance training run with ice cream @OhOneOhTwoOhThree
I volunteered at parkrun last week and have done a couple of "parkrun sandwiches" (doing parkrun in the middle of a long run) Last weekend I did a half marathon but treated as a faster than normal training run rather than full on racing, and it was surprising how much more enjoyable it was , not going all out. I'm looking forward to doing just a parkrun soon. Both our nearest ones are off road and you need trail shoes in the winter, but after a lot of dry weather, you can now do quite easily in road shoes.

Today I had 18 miles on my plan which I was dreading, but it was mostly OK, the last 2-3 miles felt really hard. The last half mile- 3/4 to our house is uphill which feels particularly awful on a long run! I'm quite grumpy that my tried and tested sports bra has chafed for the first time

In terms of fuelling, I would do up to about 10k without eating beforehand (but I do generally eat breakfast before a race) and up to 10 miles without eating anything enroute. I take 1 gel for a half marathon , today I had 2 gels and 2 sweets, which felt about right.

@Fizbosshoes well done on your 18 miles! That’s amazing.

@Sparticle its annoying how different all shoe brands can be with their sizing. It can make it really tricky!

I’ve just signed up for the Bristol to bath 25k trail run in September. I toyed with the idea of doing the marathon, but I don’t think I’m quite there yet and didn’t want to put pressure on myself to be ready for September when I’ve got quiet a bit on in between. Next year will be the year for a marathon all being well.

no run for me today as the 10k race is tomorrow but went for a nice walk in the woods and then lunch with a friend.
Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Well done @Fizbosshoes on the long run and @Whataninterestinglookingpotato on signing up for that race.

I was going to ask you lot - I've got the chance of a charity place at the Great North Run this year. I can fit the training in just about but I'd have to persuade DH that we should all go to Newcastle (my old uni city) for the weekend and I don't know about logistics etc.
Have any of you done it? What's it like? What are the logisitics of finding somewhere to stay etc like? Thanks!

I don’t have any experience of the great north run @Sparticle but if you can manage the logistics then I’m sure it will be a great experience.

@Whataninterestinglookingpotato - I have a place on the Bristol to Bath 25k too! May not manage it depending on my knee situation (and if I do it will be slow as I won't have trained properly for it).

Oh that’s exciting!! Fingers crossed your knee will be ok for it!!

@Sparticle I've done the GNR a few times and it's a fantastic race. Even better than the London Marathon for support along the way, in my experience.

It's a really fun race but probably not a PB course - it's hillier than you expect it to be, and obviously very busy.

Logistics-wise, I always stay in south Shields rather than Newcastle so my car is there and I'm not fighting to get the metro back to Newcastle at the end. Much nicer to finish, hang out on the beach for a bit, and leave from there. Plus getting the metro to the start line in the morning has always been fine if you leave early enough.

Thanks @FeelinTwentySixPointTwo! Just need to persuade DH as I wouldn’t want to do it without his support (in the run up and on the day/weekend)…

So I made it out for a quick 25 min run with DD12 on the field/woods nearby to test out my trail shoes. They are fine which is a big relief as the few times I’ve bought things from Vinted previously I’ve had buyers remorse afterwards 😬

@Sparticlewe’ve used Nirvana packages before. They do coach and accommodation packages. When I did it I got a coach on the Saturday up, stayed in halls of residences and then they took our bags to the finish and picked us up there for the trip home. When DH did it last year we drove to a hotel Saturday and they bused us there and back and we stayed the Sunday night too. The trip back from the finish took a while but I think there was an accident which gridlocked everything.

Didn’t run yesterday but did get out for a first attempt at 30 minutes this morning. First 10 minutes awful as usual and then it was fine. In fact I wasn’t ready to stop so did a few minutes extra which was a first, usually I am counting down the seconds. I was so chuffed I went straight to Greggs for a sausage and omelette bap, scoffed it on the walk home and it was bloody lovely 😄

congrats norma

that's exactly how a good, gentle run should feel like!
it should feel like you can go on forever.
but don't be dishartened if you don't feel like that on occassion.

Well done @NormaMajors1992coat mist runs should feel as if you have a little more to give. That’s really good!!

I got my PB this morning for my 10k with a chip time of 49:11. Super pleased with that and nearly 2 mins off my previous PB!! Though I am a little concerned that it saw an air ambulance heading towards the course as I was leaving. It’s was super hot. Really hope whoever it is is ok.

happy weekend running to everyone.

Just check and my chip time was actually 48:57 the 49:11 was my gun time. Super happy with that!

Great work on the PB @Whataninterestinglookingpotato . I also did a 10k on a hot and very hilly course, definitely not a PB though, I really hate the heat. I did see one lady close to collapse at the end, she did cross the line with help from her teammates after the paramedics had checked her over.

Well done @Whataninterestinglookingpotatoand @UnaOfStormholdon your races today!!

I got out for a 9km run this afternoon. I’d plotted a route that I could extend to be much longer but in the end I was really happy with my 9km as I had a really busy morning.

The weather isn’t hot up here, 15
degrees, overcast and drizzly for the last ten minutes but better than what you had Una by the sounds of it!

Well done @UnaOfStormhold still an amazing effort on a hilly course in the heat. Not every course can give you a PB but the one I did today is pretty flat and a lot of people go for PB on it. The last one I did before this there was no way I’d get a PB on but I was happy with my time for that course.

one guy behind me fell into the railings at the end. I thought he’d tripped on the bumps they use to over the wires for the timing stuff but did see him a bit later having his blood pressure taken by the paramedics. Though he was sat up and chatting so don’t think the air ambulance was for him. It was bloody hot here, it just shows what can happen.

Well done runners and racers! Great work in the heat.

I skipped my long run today as I went to see my Dad and take him out for lunch. I have a marathon next week, as part of my ultra training, so am treating today as tapering. I got out on Tuesday and Thursday last week, and did parkrun and swam yesterday so am not feeling too guilty!

Just discovered that I have to pick up DD from uni on Saturday so no debut parkrun this week for me. (I was not expecting this because they have to be out by 10am that day and we live 4hrs away so who in their right mind would do it then and not the day before..)

Anyway - it gives me an extra week to prepare and overthink it 😆
I will finish C25K tomorrow but have found a C210K app which carries on in a similar format so I’m moving onto that next. I would love to do a 10K in October if all goes well.

@Sparticle
I did the GNR in 2009. Was going for under 2h and unfortunately collapsed in a heap about 300m from the end. Some wonderful person dragged me to the first aid tent. I did then stagger to the finish an hour or so later once puzzled dh had found me

Despite that and the fact it was 24 degrees degrees it was a great event. Def not flat! I notice it’s timed earlier in September these days so be prepared for warm weather. We stayed in a lovely small hotel in Jesmond and walked to the start
I will say that back then there were not nearly enough toilets at the start and dh and I ended up having to improvise in the bush (not my finest hour). Also the queue for the metro back to town was very long. Maybe 1.5-2 hours (if you’re fast you’ll prob be ahead of the queues). So if I did it again I would stay in south shields instead. But I bet the traffic getting out that day is intense. We stayed for 2 nights I think so missed that.

37mins done this morning, the first run in the 10k plan I have moved on to (although I haven’t actually reached 5k yet 😅). Felt hard but good. I can’t believe I can run for that long without stopping, it’s very weird. Bargain watch was good although it did announce every km quite loudly. I hope I’ve switched that off now 🤞