Running goals, motivation and chat 2026 - Part 3!

[BogRollBOGOF]

Hello runners!

Continuing on with our general running chit chat...

I did a very slow/ run-walk 6.5km again, which was simultaneously frustrating but also reassuring because it went okay.

I just want to run though, argh!

well I returned from my French wine and cheese adventure Monday evening not really believing that I'd manage my scheduled 13.1 mile training run which I'd delayed over the weekend.
But I put on my big girl pants and went out and I did it! I've never run a half marathon that wasn't a race. Not going to lie I found it really tough out there on my way and had to give myself a talking to a couple of times. Super proud of finishing it, it wasn't fast but it was the full 13.1
My legs are in bits today and I'm slightly worried about my planned 15 miler on sunday 🙁but sure I'll get there. 6 weeks to go!

Well done @tinks3110 you’ll be fine for your 15 miler. It’s amazing how quickly you can recover.

we are in Greece at the moment and I have done 4 miles before breakfast each day with dd1 for the last 2 days. It’s my birthday tomorrow and I have a longer run planned. Dd1 wants to come too, dd1 is someone who will not give in if she is struggling, or even admit it but just goes a bit quiet and moody. I love her dearly and I have purposely slowed down for her without saying anything the last two mornings but in a way I would like to be able to go a bit faster. Still nice that she wants to do it with me. Hopefully she’ll be on good form! It’ll be nice to run with her in my birthday as long as she isn’t being moody 🤣

@Whataninterestinglookingpotato
I hope you have a lovely birthday run with your daughter x

@tinks3110 well done!! I’m sure you’ll smash your next long run. I did a half marathon distance on Monday as a training run. My first one too that wasn’t a race. It felt a bit strange but I found it ok!

@Whataninterestinglookingpotato
have a lovely birthday! Hope you both enjoy your run ❤️

Thought I would pop back on to see if anyone else required a bank loan after gait analysis… (not from the gait analysis itself - but from falling in love with lots of different shoes!) I’ve firmly been a brooks girl for years and go between the Glycerins and Glycerin Max. I still use the Max for long runs and recovery but went I was needing a new pair and feeling some niggles I thought I’d go to have a gait analysis done. I tried on so many pairs - shoes for easy runs, shoes for tempo runs, shoes for racing… I ended up buying a pair of carbon plated shoes that I will just wear for races and fast runs but when I put them on OH MY GOD, it was like a Cinderella moment. And obviously I needed a pair of “in between” shoes as well….
so I’m now the proud owner of a pair of Brooks, Nike, Saucony and the Hokas are also living rent free in my head…

@captainbarnacles123 I have wide feet which makes it sadly easier as lots of brands just don't fit me 😐 I used to love Saucony and currently in Hokas.

How different did the carbon plated ones feel? How many miles do you get out of them?

I am back to my usual 0540 gym wake up call tomorrow, so going to lift, but gingerly....

I also have quite wide feet. I find the Brooks Glycerin fit me well. Any other brooks shoes can feel restricted though.

I got the Nike Zoomfly 6 carbon plated shoes. They fit so well, especially for a wider foot. The guy in the shop said up to 300 miles but the foam tends to be less effective after about 150-200 miles. Luckily I have a number of other pairs…. 😂

I'm back to my 5.30 5km runs with two of my friends from next week. My half marathon training seems to have peaked so I now have a bit more time to do less planned/structured runs. The early rise will be a shock though! I have a 10km race on Sunday, I’m on the fence of whether I’m hoping for a PB, I got one that I never imagined I’d get earlier this year (53 minutes which is the fastest I’ve managed). The weather looks miserable but there’s an empire biscuit in the goody bag at the end so it’ll be worth it! 😆

And just in terms of how the carbon plated shoes felt - they were very comfy, and whilst not as plush as my others, they had bounce and I didn’t feel over tired at any point. It’s unusual for me not to have very low level aches the following day but I was genuinely fine.

I've got Altras this time as I've been struggling with width since NB buggered about with the shape of the toe box on the 860 v14s.

My eyes and feet always profoundly disagree on footwear, and my purse doesn't help either.

As much as I'm a glutton for running youtube, there's no point in me watching shoe reviews. Aside from the male bias, there's no point in tempting my eyes with shoes that my feet would hate anyway.

Glad you’re enjoying your new shoe hall @captainbarnacles123

i have two pairs of carbon plates. Both Saucony. The pro 4s and the elite 2s which I recent brought massively reduced in the sales. I’ve only worn them for a couple of track sessions so far but they’re very bouncy and fun to run in.

the pro 4s are very stable for played shoes and are probably not the fastest but their stability means they handle mixed terrain well. I actually managed a 10k PB of 43:08 n a mixed terrain race recently wearing them and they served me well in a recent marathon, where half of it was on gravel paths.

Neee to do a purely road race to test my elite 2s properly.

my fave it’s shoes though are my Saucony exodus 4 trail shoes. I absolutely love them!! I have another pair in my sport shoes basket as they’re in the sale now! But really I need new daily trainers. I’m going between a pair of asics nova blast 5s and a pair of Saucony speed 5s both of which probably have over 500 miles on!! But trail shoes and carbon plates are so much more fun! 🤣

I am really tempted with all this shoe talk 😆 but my Hokas work and I don't need anything else so....

Interesting about the carbon plated ones @captainbarnacles123 !

So did my lifting today. AI guided me to step away from my standard barbell lifts and just use dumbbells, and reduced weights, which was probably correct.

Although it also diagnosed me with (classy alert) "dead butt syndrome" - I mean, feckin' cheers, for one thing....

But I think it's right 😔 it refers apparently to the whole of the glute not activating or "firing" sufficiently, so that just the lower part fires but the glute med doesn't engage enough. It would explain why I am getting fatigue/ over use injury in the glutes despite training them quite hard.

It does make sense. I spend a lot of hours in the gym each week doing squats, split squats, weight walking lunges, lotsa lotsa box jumps... and I know this is super vain but my bum is never as perky as I want, given how much training I do. I'm always disappointed in it. But if the muscle isn't engaging sufficently it won't be "growing" because other muscles will be taking the strain.

Think I need to go back to physio.....

I ended up volunteering today as my home run was a bit tight on numbers and I've got a wide skill base.

It would otherwise have been my 200th run, but it's probably good that I didn't run as my tendon is pretty narked about 2 long, hard days of sitting at work. It seems less disgruntled when I'm walking around gently, so 🤞that it perks up next week when normal service returns.

In other news, I've started HRT and I'm hoping that a bit more oestrogen in my life can help with managing the near constant niggles that I've had for a year...
I certainly have a monthly cycle of feeling them more intensely when my oestrogen levels drop in the second half of the month.

Hi again all, as usual too many things to catch up with but continuing to be awed at @Whataninterestinglookingpotato 's range of races and amazing times... On the shoe topic, @BogRollBOGOF and @captainbarnacles123 I have narrow feet so I'm similarly limited to what actually works. I bought a pair of Merrell walking sandals for holiday that only actually fit after a couple of hours I got weather when my feet swell up a bit, and that's still on the tightest velcro setting!

@RappelChoan I've recently upgraded to a Garmin 265S. I haven't yet worked out all its functions but I like the sleep score/sleep coach, it has music and calendar, read messages (even pictures!) and it will give you Garmin coaching plans if you set up a calendar with a race on it I think - including strength training I suspect. It also has an altimeter/compass function I found AFTER getting slightly off track on the side of a Wainwright recently...

It is now 8 weeks until my trail marathon in Sussex and I am feeling sluggish. It's 3 weeks till my last triathlon of the year (Olympic distance, Kent) where I'll be doing a volunteering day so I can get free entry to one of their races next year. Today I need to do 2 hours "easy" but I absolutely must do my prehab first. As well as coeliac and peri I am also hypermobile which makes me a lovely basket of niggly problems! My main problem area is hip flexor/TFL so I'm doing lots of eccentric single squats, same-side birdogs, and very slow calf raises. I have learned to just trust the process - we've worked on various things over the past couple of years and I've benefited immensely. (Going to put physio details in a separate post just in case it falls foul of a rule).

Right I am getting my arse in gear and going for that 2 hours easy.

This is my physio (also my friend, for full disclosure!) https://www.formatphysio.com/

She has a research project going on where she's doing a "Benchmark Performance Systems" tie in, for a fiver you get a set of reference exercises to do, then you follow whatever programme you're normally doing, and re-test after 12 weeks. Mine have shown that whatever's going on in my hip seems to have caused some compensating effects, so I'm weaker on my left for some things, weaker on my right for others. We knew that already but we're both data geeks so we like to show it!!

I did my run! (and my rehab!) 15k, just slightly under 2 hours. Yay me!

That is a decent run @TyneFilth !

I did a carefully controlled 8km today and felt okay. I'll go back to my normal training pattern on Mon but will modified exercises and considerably lower weights and much less impact (no box jumping 😒). Then I'll see about repeating the 8km, and then, if I can build back to something more like.

One step at a time....

Physio booked for Tues.

Well done on your run @TyneFilth your physio assessment sounds really interesting. I know that I am weaker on my right side, both hip and ankle and have been trying to target these to rehab injuries and prevent future ones. It has made quite a bit difference so far. Though I’ve been doing it myself as when I went to see a physio earlier in the year she just told me just carry on with what I was doing as she wouldn’t tell me to do anything different. I’m not a physio but another healthcare profession and have worked closely with physios in the past on rehab settings so do have some idea. Which is kind of helpful.

@RappelChoan i also have a garmin 265s and have been happy with it. I’m trying to really practice with the navigation on it at present in prep for up coming ultras.

well done on your 8k @JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff

I went out and did 10k this morning. I was going to go a bit further, but it was hot and I didn’t have a drink and what with being a bit dehydrated from last nights cocktails I thought it was probably best to leave it there. I have got the crown bow though for both of the Strava segments in the local area. So I’m leaving my mark 🤣.

on the cocktail front I had one many the other night and saw on Instagram that the ballot for Lakeland 50 and 100 was open. I entered on impulse and didn’t expect to get a place. But turns out I did. So I’ll be running the Lakeland 50 mile next july! Im actually really excited about it, if slightly daunted by the strict kit list etc!! It looks like an amazing race!

home from holiday tomorrow and I need to get straight back on it with training ready for the ultra on the 19th. My current diet of as much food as I can stuff into my body and too many beers and cocktails is not doing my training any good at all! 🤣🤣. Still, it’s been a nice break.
Happy running all.

Well done @TyneFilth and @JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff

I have done 15 miles this morning, my lovely friend joined me for the first 10k
and even leant me her headphones as mine wouldn’t work.

it felt good tbh, my legs didn’t feel any worse than the 13.1 I did on Tuesday and I am quite proud to have managed 2 long runs in a week

I did a 10km race with two friends yesterday. I thought it was good timing for my upcoming half and then hand out empire biscuits at the end so I was completely sold after that.

I managed a PB - chip time was 52.53 and my watch was 52.27, either way it was quicker than my last 53.10 in April. So pleased with that. Keeping everything crossed I can get a half marathon PB too in a few weeks.

I was supposed to do intervals straight after work today. I brought in my running kit... Except the bra. Ain't happening! Hope to get out later this evening though.

Ha @TyneFilth ! I am currently on an Ai coached remedial exercise plan to get through my injury - it had me doing a short treadmill run along with my weights- and I was wearing my medium support lifting bra! I got on the treadmill and was like, this doesn't feel right... why.... oh no!

So I went to see an actual human physio today and he mostly agrees with the AI 😲

The AI has me doing modified workouts EOD rather than "blocks" of several days like normal. It's also dialled the impact load right down, so whereas today would normally be - 6x 20 press ups + walking sandbag lunges + weighted box jumps + crab walking with resistance band and weight, today it said fewer, weighted press ups, box step ups instead of jumps, etc.

It felt very "lite" as normally I really go for that session - but, I have to say, I could start to feel my glutes turning on much more using the modifications. I think the AI is right!

Physio shockwaved me so enforced rest tomorrow 🤨

My plan called for easy 3.25 miles today which almost felt like not enough 🤣 intervals on Thursday and 7 miles easy Sunday to finish off deload week

Reader, the intervals did not happen.

Hello!

Can I join please?

I am early 40s and quite new to running, I’ve been running for about nine months now. I did my first 10k in June and surprised myself with 58 mins, but I’ve been a bit sporadic over the summer holidays with kids, illness, niggles so don’t feel I’ve progressed much since then in terms of speed.

I just did my first half-marathon distance on Sunday; I got carried away on a long run and just kept going. Proud I did it but my toenails are in a bit of a state and I had stomach cramps for hours after!

Anyway I have a 10k race in a couple of weeks and then some trail runs before Christmas to work towards before a proper half marathon race next year. My ultimate goal is to do a trail ultra, but got a lot of work before I get there!

Oh and to piggy back on the shoe chat, I am awaiting delivery of a pair of Novablasts and just bought a pair of Merrell trail shoes which I am breaking in! My usual everyday shoes are Brookes Ghosts for tempo and intervals and Glycerins for long and easy runs.