Running goals, motivation and chat 2025 - Part 2!

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Hi all, just setting up a second thread - I hope you don’t mind @Jumbojem but the other one was getting a bit close to ending…

Sorry to keep harping on about the weather but it’s still raining up here so instead of running this morning I’m going to get back on my lovely water rowing machine which I’ve neglected totally since starting running back in Jan/Feb. I miss it (and I miss the muscle toning it gave me) so I’m going to get back on this morning for a change.

Might do parkrun tomorrow or a longer run, haven’t yet decided.

The ND chat was interesting. It’s seems a good portion of us may well be undiagnosed ND. There is quite a strong link between enjoying endurance sports and neurodiversity so it’s probably not all that surprising.

well done on your 10k @SFRSmum that’s a great time!! How your long run goes well tomorrow.

Well done on XC @Jumbojem it sounds like fun!!

@BogRollBOGOF sometimes runs just don’t feel as they should. Hope your next one goes better. There’s no point dragging yourself round when you’re really not feeling it.

the half went ok today. After driving the 1.5 hours to Southampton my hip was feeling pretty stiff and we were walking to the common from dd1s. I had to take paracetamol to even get there. I also couldn’t lift my leg to put my trousers on. But in my true irresponsible style I thought, I’ll just see how it goes, as didn’t want to let dd1 down.

anyway. I started ok and I was actually ahead of my target pace for the first half, and then the pain kicked in and I just couldn’t keep it where it needed to be. So no sub 1:40 for me today. But never mind. I still managed 1:41:45 and was 12th over all finisher, 2nd female and 1st in my age group. But I am a little annoyed because it was only the pain that was slowing me. I’m confident that I could have kept up the pace for a 1:37 half if I wasn’t injured.

need to be sensible and get myself properly healed ready for my next race, which is a 10 mile trail in early December.

Well done everyone.

None of us have a diagnosis, but there’s ADHD tendencies running rampant through my family tree.

Today’s running musings ate do I want/need Gortex trainers for winter. I can’t avoid long grass so I will spend every run with wet socks if I don’t get some.

@Stripeymouse i love my gortex trail shoes I wear them daily for walking the dog and trail runs. Mine are Salomon as I like a wider shoe and I replace the laces with reflective elastic ones as I like slipping my shoes on/off. You mustn’t scrub the mud off them though as I found out with my last pair after 6mths they were desperate for a clean & I flipping scrubbed off the waterproof coating. I did respray with proofer but were never as effective again. They have been really good with general wet grass but obviously won’t cope wading a deep stream.

Hi all,
I had a bit of time off last week as very tired but on Friday managed 9 miles which I'm very proud of and feeling much better about my 8.8 mile race on 23/11.

Last night I did a 5k lift the curfew run with a local running club which was fun running with lots of other women with glow sticks.

I am out leading run club again tonight, not really feeling it but usual leader is sick so I'll have to go. Aiming for a 5 mile out and back so I can loop back and keep an eye on my flock!

How did it go @tinks3110 ? Weather has been a bit wet here lately so sacked running off last night, hoping to get out later then I'm off tomorrow and Friday so was thinking about a long run. Friday would work better but apparently a weather warning for rain whereas tomorrow is nice. Tomorrow was going to be a big shopping day which is too tiring to to combine with running!

@Jumbojem
we managed 5.5 miles in truly horrendous weather. Lost 3 who turned back about 3 miles in but quite proud of my little group who soldiered on! I’m tired this week, been to gym class this morning and probably going to have a relaxing evening tonight. I will probably try a 5k tomorrow, my new headphones arrived so looking forward to trying them out.

it’s so hard to stay motivated to run when the weather is bad! I need to try out my new running jacket that I got for my birthday, which is now the most expensive coat I own 😂

Well done for getting out @tinks3110 the weather was awful yesterday.

I went to try and go to run club. Got to the end of the road and the pain started up again so i thought id best try and be sensible and give it a miss. Went I the gym instead to do an elliptical work out as it’s kind of the same action but without the impact.

i hate not running. Hoping to be back on it by the weekend but who knows at this point!

Well done for getting out. It’s been so so wet that dog walks have been in the fake dry robe and I last ran on Sunday morning. Had hoped to get out today but work, rain and then dark evening plus teen logistics I missed it. Will try tomorrow as weather looking bit better.

Hope the niggle settles down soon @Whataninterestinglookingpotato and cross training instead helps. Took my hip 8-10wks to settle down in the summer it never goes away sadly but cross training and yoga has helped

How is everyone managing the dark wet weather? My running club meets at 630 and does a lot of trail runs. I’m struggling with it.
ive signed up for my first half marathon (in over 15 years) in March so need to keep going!

@Cantbesure i don’t mind the dark evening and even wet is ok as long as it’s not freezing. Our club sticks mainly to road routes once it’s dark in the evenings though so it’s easier to negotiate. I’m not sure I’d be up for too much trail in the dark. That sounds like a broken ankle waiting to happen. I save the trails for the weekend or if I can manage a quick lunch break run.

maybe a really bright head torch might help. I’ve seen ones advertised, I think they’re called lumilights which are meant to be super bright. Don’t know how good they are in practice though.

Going off road is a complete nightmare now the ground is wet and slippery. I’m going to buy some trail running trainers before I fall. I’m missing the dry, dusty footpaths of summer already. I had to walk half of today’s run otherwise it was so slippery.

I don't mind the dark nights, I have a light and try to stick to well lit routes. I should run tonight even if its just a 5k but am procrastinating. I'm very tired but if I run tonight I can have a complete rest day tomorrow which is so appealing

My DH runs with a chest light if he’s going off trail works quite well rechargeable i think. I squeezed in a trail run / walk with dog this morning 7am as getting light and it wasn’t raining yah as weather looks crap again for next 2days.

I've got some hi-viz kit on order. The zip on my old neon jacket died last winter.

I want to squeeze in a mid-week speed session but time/ energy are being awkward to put together. The twighlight/ rain haven't helped either. (Or hormones this week!)

DS is keeping up his mid-week running though!
He's also loving his new runners from the specialist running shop. They cost more than mine! The poor sod has my wide feet and Decathlon weren't fitting him well. He's at the delightfully springy stage

Well I’m thanking the lord that I went out and did 5k last night as the weather here is awful.
I am having a complete rest day today which is unheard of for me! Strength class tomorrow and then will try a 10k on Sunday which will be my 4th run of the week! (Usually only do 3)

I have a chest light which is ok but I still stick to well lit areas. It’s so hard when it’s dark

Well done everyone on your runs.

the weather was so nice yesterday lunch time that I couldn’t resist attempting a run. Took the dog on the trails near my house. I was so slow as it was just too painful to go faster. I did 2.5 miles in the time I would usually do 4! I also lost my house key and had to call dd2, who was luckily driving to mcdonnalds on her lunch break, to come and let me in! So all in all not the most successful run, but still glad I got out!!

I have a chest light but it’s more to be seen than to see and wouldn’t trust it lighting my way on dark trails. I mostly just stick to routes with street lights.

Hi again all! Not going to attempt call outs, just well done to everyone for all your runs. Chest light wearer here too, and weirdly keen on running in the rain/muck. Think I'm a trail runner at heart!!

What sort of total distances per week are you all doing? I am working towards 15km trail runs in Jan/Feb and another HM in Mar, and I think I need to be doing just more distance per week than currently which is about 10-15km.

Yesterday I squeezed in 30 mins run between work (in the office) and a leaving do in a pub. Included a set of sprints, should have been 2 sets but I ran out of motivation. Still, better than nothing. The run was at roughly 6:30min/km and the sprints were about 4:00min/km which I'm pretty pleased about.

Chest light wearer here but I wouldn't trust it inntrauls and prefer to stick to well lit paths in the dark.

I've had a light mileage week as I have a 10 mile race this weekend. Been a bit sloppy with training of late, but I'll still try to get a course pb.

I had today off and original plan had been to try and do a slow steady long run, at least 10 miles. It has peed it down all day and the furthest I have been is the wheelie bin at the end of the garden. Its dark now so the puddles will be hidden, had a horrible experience of accidentally running through at least 3 puddles in the dark last week and got soaking feet. The shoe drier is on constantly at the moment, expecting another drowned rat son home soon.
Anyway I've decided I don't need to run that much that it's worth getting soaked for. Looks like it will be dry tomorrow so I will go then. Meanwhile I will be enjoying a glass of wine and being thankful I don't need to leave the house today!

@TyneFilth im a trail runner at heart too. Something joyful about running through loads of mud!! In terms of average mileage. Mine tends to sit around anything from 25-32 miles when I’m not training for anything specific and got up to about 40 at peak marathon training.

this weeks so far is 2.5 and it’s making me sad. I’ll continue to moan about it until I can run properly again. 😂

good luck for your race this weekend @xsquared

@TyneFilth I’ve trained for a few HMs in the past and each time I did 3 runs a week, a fast 5k (I used parkrun), a mid week steady 7-8k, then a longer run each week which I just added a 1k a week until I got up to nearly HM distance 2 weeks before the race then had a really easy week and nailed it on the day. I wasn’t going for a particular time though.

Have managed two dog walks in between down pours today one at 6:30am but we went to the beach which was fab in the dark with her flashy collar on as twilight crept in. And at dusk the rain radar was accurate for once & I got a dry hour. No extra time for running but did get a strength session in around work. Hope you can all get out for some running around the rain this weekend

I noped out on exercise today, including commuting and told myself that there's no medals for spending half the day drying out. I didn't regret it at the end of the day either!
I got past my step goal though and have even cracked 10k steps on functional movement.

Jury's out on parkrun. I can feel my tonsils this evening and DS1 sounds like he's going down with something. It's about 4 weeks since I was ill and on basic function mode. Parkrun would be easy anyway as I'm racing on Sunday. I can dial back to Jeffing if I'm under the weather.

@Whataninterestinglookingpotato hopefully your niggle settles down soon and you can get back on it! Nothing worse than forced rest.

@Jumbojem thanks for the boot dryer recommendation, purchased!

@Cantbesure I do alot of my runs in the dusk/dark and quite a few miles on unlit roads. I had a head light, like the lumilight but purchased from my local hardware shop for £10. Its amazing. Really bright and lights up everything.
I also wear a chest strap front and back that lights up, a reflective jacket, fluorescent gloves, and clip on flashing lights!

@TyneFilth im doing about to 60 km a week at the moment, over 5 runs. 1 long (18k atm) 1 park run, the rest easy runs. Building up for my long runs in spring next year.