Running goals, motivation and chat 2026 - Part 3!

[BogRollBOGOF]

Hello runners!

Continuing on with our general running chit chat...

Easy 6 miles with run club for me tonight, very nice now it’s a little bit cooler

Glad you enjoyed your run @tinks3110

I too ran with the club tonight. An easy 8 miles which our stand in run leader decided to chuck the biggest hill in the area into the middle of! Very inconsiderate of him! Still, nice to have a cooler evening.

That's reminded me of when I was post-marathon and doing a few rebound training runs before a half, mainly fuelled by prior marathon training about a month afterwards.

It was a sloggy long run. I'd been fine on short runs, but my legs just weren't buying into my brain's grand notions of boshing out 12mi that day. The run ended up abruptly when I failed to ignore the greasy, vinegary wafts coming out of a chippie and my legs and stomach walked me in there

I had an easy 6.5k only this morning.

My legs are just kind of tired atm. I am now working 18th? 19th? straight day at work - getting up at 0530 weekdays to train or 0600 on Saturdays - kids in holiday club but behaviour deteriorating as a result as they are frazzled. Did my HM distance run last weekend and now feel like my glutes are just not really switching on to power me through!

I need a new pair of fresher legs 😆

Happy Sunday all, I went out solo for 11 easy miles this morning although I ran past my run club on the canal 🤣 enjoyed it in the sunshine but also lots of shade on the canal.
8 weeks to marathon 🙈

Well done @tinks3110 8 weeks is loads of time! You’ll smash the marathon.

I went for a 20 mile training run today with the trail gang. We did 10 miles of the middle section of the ultra that 3 of us are doing in September as an out and back. I was very pleased to see that on my 4th day of consecutive running after a marathon last weekend it all felt pretty easy! So that was reassuring. I have an all inclusive holiday between now and the ultra though! So hopefully it’ll feel just as easy after that! 😂. We shall see.

Well done @tinks3110

@Whataninterestinglookingpotato what can I say - you are just a running machine. Sounds llike your holiday is well deserved. Have a lovely break.

We're just back from 3 weeks away. I'm just plodding around the first half of HM training - 7 miles today. I did OK until mile 6, but foraged some blackberries which perked me up a bit. Also had an unusually fast (by my standards) parkrun yesterday.

Have a great week all.

Eurgh my legs are dead. I can only dream of your resilience @Whataninterestinglookingpotato !

14.5k yesterday and was fine if a bit sluggish but afterwards, my whole left posterior chain is just like "no thanks" and is really stiff and sore. AI reckons I should have a lighter week so I will, but also just feels like - well my training is not that heavy already!

I guess I just have to "be where I'm at", as Yoga with Adriene would say....

@JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff I heart Adriene!

Hope you feel better soon.

from what you’ve said @JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff you’re juggling a lot more than I am with family life and work commutes. I work full time, but unless I’m out on visits I am working from home and the summer holidays are actually a quieter time for me (it’ll go a bit crazy when I’m back from holiday in September) my kids are also young adults and can sort themselves out. Dd1 is also a runner and we often run together when she’s home from uni. So I have a lot more time to run these days. A few years ago things didn’t look like this and I didn’t and therefore couldn’t run as much.

you’re doing great with the time it seems you have.
do you strength train much alongside? I find it boring but if I want to be durable I have to be regular with it. Found that out the hard way after an injury last autumn took me out for ages and despite being ok generally now I can still often feel it and am very paranoid about reinjuring.

i hope you’re feeling better soon.

Ah thanks @Whataninterestinglookingpotato

Yeah my kids are 11, 8, and 8. They all run but just short distances at this age. We allow them to go for a run by themselves which is often just 10-15 mins, but I figure what matters is building as a fun positive thing from an early age. Hoping it'll pay dividends later!

Yes I lift heavy weights once a week (so squats, deadlift, bench etc) and do 2 lots of reasonably intensive circuits each week too. So that would be stuff like rounds of box jumps, press ups, sandbag lunges, mountain climbers etc. So 3 sessions a week really. I think my body is just adapting to running longer distances and there'll be peaks and troughs!

I think you do more strength training than I do @JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff I really have to make myself!! 🤣.

Hopefully you’ll adjust to the longer distances fairly quickly, it does always feel harder to start with or when getting back to it after a break, but I’m sure you’ll get there. Make sure you rest hydrate and fuel well alongside your busy life!

... argh :/

My L glute med is still really fatigued and glitchy. It is then pulling on adductor and hamstring and making the whole area kind of hum.

I am going to try jeffing a short distance tomorrow after 2 days of gentle stretching and mobility, but feel really down in the mouth about it tbh! Just keep thinking of all the fitness I will be losing....

Still in the injury sucks club.

I've had a better parkrun today, and the only walking section was the second uphill. My injury did make its presence known but brain was in "shut up, I need the endorphins" mode. My knee hurt more, but I'm more familiar with knee pain and when I can get more strength work going, I should be able to resolve that. Third pain was finding chaffing in the shower afterwards.

As Philly says, "love the grind"

I'm going to start HRT. Lets see if some more oestrogen in my life boosts my energy, recovery and breaks the niggly injury cycle...

Healing vibes to you guys who are injured.

I hope HRT has a positive effect @BogRollBOGOF

@JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff do go careful if it’s spreading into you adductors. They’re temperamental little buggere. That’s what I injured almost 10 months ago now and though I can run fine, it’s been a long road, I can still feel the injury at times and for long races I still tape as a precaution. I’m hoping not to have to for my upcoming ultra but I thought that for my recent marathon and then felt really tweaky the week before and didn’t want to risk it. The fear of reinjuring is strong!

I went to my local parkrun today for the first time in a couple of months and got a course PB! I was also First Lady which I believe is the first time I have managed that at a parkrun! It was an absolutely chucking it down but it actually made a nice change to run in the rain.

20 miles with the trail gang on the cards for tomorrow. Hoping for dryer weather as we’re going to do the last part of Septembers ultra as an out and back and we all want a sea dip at the end!!

Ah thanks!

Yeah I asked AI (mark of desperation) for some advice, and you know what, it really came good. It advised a mix of very simple gentle stretches and mobilisation, including lots of legs up the wall + straddle! The little girl from next door was over and was looking at me like "wtf is X's mum doing?!" 😁

I did 6.5k on 4mins run, 1 min walk. I thought I would find that beyond frustrating but actually, it was okay. My injury areas were a bit tired but not painful and warmed up as it went on. So let's see!

No running for me this weekend, I’m enjoying wine and cheese and rugby in Toulouse

I’m glad that your injury was feeling better today @JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff something else I have found really helpful during recovery and I still do them regularly now has been resistance band work outs. There’s a guy called Vlad Ixel and the channel is called strength for runners on YouTube and he does 16 minute works outs which target all the right bits. I’ve found them to be really helpful.

enjoy the wine cheese and rugby @tinks

20 miles and 3200ft of elevation done today with the trail gang. A really fun morning that included my favourite bit of the race, crashing downhill through the woods towards the finish!! I am now cut to pieces and a bit stingy but we had a nice sea dip and a pint after. Pleased to see again how well I fared. I just hope I can do as well on race day. Off on holiday early hours of tomorrow morning. Will try and keep the running up while away but inevitably it will slide a bit. But I’m looking forward to the break.

happy running all.

I've looked a few things up on AI for reassurance. It's useful for clarifying what you already have awareness of. I've got decent lay knowledge and see the osteopath, but it helps in the gaps between appointments.

Hello… please can I join? I have a marathon to run in April 2027, I’m not a natural runner but I do sponsored things every few years. I will be 50 by then and I think I need to be less haphazard and do more than just rely on mental attitude and Nike Run Club.

If anyone has a Garmin recommendation I’d be grateful as there are so many - I want to be able to hear music and Nike coaching runs through it and know that it will all work for 6 hours or so!

I am very conscious of not getting injured as I have a weak ankle and can feel myself getting older so I basically need to read all your energetic posts to feel that I too can do this!!

👋 hello!

Have you looked up plans yet? I'd look for one that includes strength training.

I had to defer my marathon a few years back due to achilles tendonitis so was concious of injury risk when I did it. I adapted a Jeff Galloway plan and liked the 2 weekly cycle of long runs, so in the main block of 13-20 mile long runs, I'd do a mid-length run every other week and that kept the fatigue and load down. It also made it easier to wriggle long runs around winter weather. I don't run high milage plans because I already spend time and energy on other exercise such as weights, swimming and yoga which still benefit the running potential.

Thank you! Not done much at all except hope Coach Bennett will see me right… I love yoga, hate running, so I’m happy to do a mixed program for sure. I’m terrible at eating, so I also know I have to get that organised. And maybe see this as a long term lifestyle not something to get over and done with.

@RappelChoan
Hello! If you’re looking at signing up to a running plan I recommend Coopah. I heard about it through Women’s Running podcasts and gave it a go. I have friends who like the Runna app too.

I am doing a half marathon at the end of September. This will be my third. I had a half marathon run on my plan for this morning, although not at race pace and managed to do this 7 minutes faster than my race last year! I’m aiming for a sub 2 half (this morning was 2 hours 6 minutes and was mostly “easy pace”).

The Coopah app had strength programmes in it as part of the plan too but I also do a bootcamp every week. The apps aren’t for everyone and I wasn’t sold before but I’m really glad I gave it a go this time.

Morning all and welcome @RappelChoan !

I've just upgraded to a Garmin 55 - mainly as I wanted something waterproof for swimming. Before that I had a 45S.

I've had another week of running to plan (I'm just using a runners world 12 week HM plan). A nice 8 miles yesterday, although I didn't run my planned route as I realised 3 miles in that I'd lost my key - luckily it was on the ground near my starting point. Phew. Especially as I was locked out on Saturday morning after parkrun and had to wait for DH to get back from his run .

I've also had an open water swim and been out on my bike, and stayed up to date with the YWA August calendar so not too bad a week at all.

Well done @captainbarnacles123, sounds like sub-2 is well within reach!