Running goals, motivation and chat 2025 - Part 2!

[Sparticle]

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.

Glad to hear that some of you have managed to get out despite the heat. I had physio today and he said that if I can come back and leg press my body weight next time he'll let me start to run again - guess what I'll be focusing on at the gym for the next two weeks......

@Londonmummy66 everything crossed for you at your next appointment!!

Hope the leg pressing goes ok @Londonmummy66 and you can run again soon. Hope the legs of lead improve @BogRollBOGOF
Welcome @tinks3110 and @MissScarletInTheBallroom.

Went out early again on hols and it was a ‘cool’ 20c first thing running at 1000m altitude but my heart rate was feeling it this morning even on a relatively easy 5k along the river. There’s a big running obstacle ultra event on in the town near where we are staying with bonkers things set up all around town (think large cargo nets up waterfalls & vertical climbs up Mtn sides whilst running in 25-30c) and a large influx of fit looking young folk have appeared in the local shop. It looks like a tougher mudder on steroids type thing! Hope they all survive as suspect the heat will cause some issues.

@RunningInto that sounds like a fun event!! But maybe not in 30 degree heat!

Well done for keeping up running on holiday. I never have run on holiday before but I think I’m going to this year. I’m not a morning person but will try and get out early.

Nice bit of cross training today swimming with my 18yr in a beautiful 50m pool. She stopped competitive swimming a few years ago as switched sports but it’s lovely watching her swim. She inspired me to get nearly 1.5k done in the pool but my shoulder is feeling it now. We don’t do “sit down” holidays 🤣

I managed 3.5 miles last night in my first run as run club leader. Not as fast as I’d have liked but got to go at the pace of the slowest runner which I found really hard!

can’t decide whether to parkrun tomorrow and 5k race on Sunday or sack off parkrun 😂

Legs of lead improving. Did a 5km easy run today and they were back in their normal range. Big improvement on two days ago.

I had a couple of walk breaks but the second half was easier than the first and the vast majority was consistent, gentle running.

Hello runners, and welcome to the thread @MissScarletInTheBallroom and @tinks3110.

@Londonmummy66 great news about your progress - everything crossed for you!

I've had a decent week, went out on Tuesday and decided to keep it simple and stay on the flat as it was so hot. I also found some shade, which was nice. Swam 1km on Weds night, and got out running through the fields on an old railway line yesterday morning. Parkun tomorrow, where we will celebrate a friend's 250th.

@RunningInto I'd love to be able to swim well - I love watching swimmers like your daughter. I keep meaning to get myself some lessons to improve my technique.

@OhOneOhTwoOhThree i taught myself front crawl in my mid 40s after watching my kids learn and you tube. I like the effortless swimming guy. I’ve not got great technique but I can keep going now whereas when I started it was one length FC then hugely out of breath because I couldn’t get the breathing right. Worth practicing if it’s something you enjoy. I love that I can now do FC after years of being too scared to try.

@tinks3110 just with how you feel about the race and park run. You could always do a gentle park run as a warm up 😜.
fun being run club leader!

@BogRollBOGOF glad your legs are improving and you’re getting back to normal!

@OhOneOhTwoOhThree glad you’ve had a good week of running!

@RunningInto id love to improve my swimming form. Dd2 also loves swimming but as she’s self taught her form is pretty terrible. I always feel bad I never put her in lessons as she really loves it. But she had taught herself functional swimming by the time she was 4 so never felt she needed them.

I’ve been to track tonight for intervals, which was tiring. I’ve clocked up nearly 20 miles already this week and have a uni visit with dd2 tomorrow so that’ll be a rest day. I might do a long run on Sunday but I should also do strength training as I’ve definitely been neglecting that again and last time I did that I ended up injured. But do I learn my lesson, oh no, that’s just not how I roll 😂.

I was a regular on the Cold Water Swimmer threads. I love an open water swim, especially when the wildlife is out to play. It's amazing being at their level on the surface of the water.

I learned to swim at 15-16. It was an adult class, but everyone else was geriatric, and a few of them really didn't like having a whippersnapper in their midst. When I'd built up to multiple lengths they complained about me swimming up and down the middle of the pool. The instructor did point out that I couldn't use the edge as requested because they spent most of their time loitering there

In the 2½ years I went there, they made no progress on the actual swimming, mainly because they'd wade out, do a bit of heads up gliding and chat for 5 mins to recover.

@BogRollBOGOF i remember you from the cold swim thread as I was an active contributor. I still cold water swim just not as much since I lost weight as it’ feels a lot colder plus we’ve had a lot of sea pollution over winter as a main pipe burst last year and the replacement of the sewer main is taking years with a lot of trucking & dumping going on by SWW…grrr. Sorry derailing the running chat but it’s great cross training.

Morning all. As DH put it ‘it’s like winter out there’ this morning so I can’t be bothered to get out for parkrun.

I was in London for work yesterday and enjoyed the heat! I treated myself to a magnum and sat outside Euston soaking up the warmth because I knew it would be 14 degrees, heavy rain and 20 mph wind when I got home 😭

Morning all,
I’ve been to the gym to strength class and metafit but sacked off parkrun, no one else was going and it’s peeing it down here 😂

Morley 5k tomorrow so hopefully resting today will set me up well for that

have a good weekend all

@Sparticle that weather doesn’t sound like fun. It’s a bit drizzly down here but still over 20 degrees.

good luck for tomorrow @tinks3110 i hope the rain holds off for you!

I didn’t think I’d be able to go to park run today as have a uni visit for dd2 but turns out I could have. But I didn’t. Planning a potential 15 mile coastal path run tomorrow possibly with my doggy running buddy. So I’ll save my energy for that. Might try and get there next week.

I have also signed up for a trail 10k for August this morning. Sounds like a nice event with a bbq and stuff after. Does mean I have two 10k events in the same week but I’m sure it’ll be fine.

Ooh that trail event sounds lovely @Whataninterestinglookingpotato☺️

Last week was an interesting Parkrun for me. A 6 hour drive and a bit of camping meant I did one that's often touted as one of the best in the country: Newborough Forest. I assumed it would be flatish as it was by the sea. Nope. It had some long uphills, and as usual, seemingly not a similar amount of downhills. The path was sometimes pure sand, and there was even a sodding sand dune to run walk up. The sandy//dusty track was very welcome when I tripped over a tree root and fell. A quick mental check on the floor and I was straight up to carry on.
And did I say I was on antibiotics for bad tonsillitis?
I can't believe I was only 3 minutes short of my best 5k time!
Back to my local today and another 30 seconds off my record. That's a total of 4 and a half minutes better than my first attempt a year ago.
On leaving today's Parkrun I was given a flyer for a 10k race in October. I'm considering it.

That does sound like an eventful park run @Mysterian

if you can run 5k then doing a 10k in October is very achievable. I’m sitting here considering doing a trail marathon in August having never run more than 14 miles 😂.

Ooooh a cold water swimming thread you say @BogRollBOGOF and @RunningInto . I will go and have a look.

Glad you enjoyed your trip @Sparticle. Hope the weather was not too awful on return home.

Hope tomorrow goes well @tinks3110 .

I like the sound of your coastal path run tomorrow @Whataninterestinglookingpotato. I'll be out on the trails but the closest I'll be to water is the river.

@Mysterian what an eventful parkrun. And what great progress you have made. A 10K is certainly do-able.

A good parkrun for me today, I ran the first mile with a friend who is slightly faster than me, and then chased her the rest of the way. Turned out to be a course PB (only my second outing at that parkrun several years apart). I think I'll use the fitness I've gained from all my long run training to focus on speed once my big run is out of the way.

Well hellooooo, I think you are my people!

Parkrun today no records set, but I paced my friend for her very first one and she did brilliantly. Then I added on a bit more and ended up with 12km total today, averaging 7min/km. That was fairly comfortable for me but something about the weather or probably my working weeks recently has led to completely flaking out the rest of today.

I am also an OWSwimmer, and an occasional triathlonist... (I can't say triathlete, it feels fraudulent)... Next race event is Reigate standard distance triathlon is mid Sept, and thinking of Royal Parks half marathon in Oct. Those feel a very long way off (in attainment terms) at the moment because I can't really seem to get a lot of distance or strength sessions in at the moment.

Looking forward to sharing motivation and the small steps forward with you all! Loving the stories of coast paths and trails...

Welcome @TyneFilth well done on your park run with a bit added on today! The royal parks half sounds like fun! A few people from my running group are doing a local triathlon soon, I’m starting to like the sound of doing one but don’t own a suitable bike.

lots of people I know have done the ham to Lyme ultra today. Seeing all their pics is giving me serious FOMO! I kind of wished I’d given it a go this year, but I’m all signed up and ready for next year!!

Well done to all the parkrunners today!

Welcome to the thread @TyneFilth 😀
@Mysterian I've got a 10k booked in Oct and can only cover around 5k at the moment. It might be a run/ walk 10k for me, see how my training goes!

No parkrun for me today, but I did get out later in the afternoon, I managed to find a very flat course to run and ...🥳 I managed 30 mins of none stop jogging! Really pleased with that, I should be able to finish C25K later this week now, fingers crossed!

Well done @SoapCollector 30 mins of continuous running is a real mile stone! You’ll smash couch to 5k!

Thank you @Whataninterestinglookingpotato