Running goals, motivation and chat 2026 - Part 3!

[BogRollBOGOF]

Hello runners!

Continuing on with our general running chit chat...

That's what I get for returning to work in a school after a significant amount of time off 😂
I've not done too badly; two seperate write-off weeks fuelled on lemsip. There was a silly (non-running) injury too.
It's been a really rough winter for absences though, and the more absences there are, the more that affects my workload. SLT haven't known a winter like it for constant waves of illness, and it started right from September.

I've been back to the gym today, just going through the motions and moving wthout straining which has felt good.

Busy busy few days, lots of travel, park run tourist, kilomathon in Edinburgh (wet, cold, hail) The plan said to go full throttle for the Kilomathon but I just didnt feel right on the day. Dodgy stomach when I woke up so I didnt eat anything, the first 5k was ok but after that I could feel I was drained but I didn't dare take a gel. Finished under 1hr 20. Was aiming for under 1hr 15 so not too bad.

Then come away on holiday to Wales for a week today, managed a nice short but very hilly run tonight and feeling much better

Ive got a half on saturday im not sure im going to make it. Childcare I had arranged had fallen through, we shall see. Ill run a half distance anyway, as its part of my plan.

@BogRollBOGOF its been awful here this winter too for illnesses. One after the other. Every other week we've been struck down with something. Kids have all got snotty noses again, but thankfully they seem in good spirits.

It's so frustrating when you've had a really good training block, but circumstances just don't align on the day.
(Not a problem I've had recently 🤪)

I'm on the mend now. Got through the day without napping or feeling like a zombie. Not quite up to running, but I've been active doing chores and catching up on the past week which is a good step forwards.

Back in action
A gentle 30 mins done.
I feel like I'm more hayfever snotty now than from illness. It is the right time for my nose to waterboard the rest of my face.

Not the best run ever, but getting back after a few weeks is always icky. The sunshine was very welcome though even if it was muddier than I expected.

Glad you’re feeling better and back out there @BogRollBOGOF

club run for me and the start of summer routes. I went in the faster pace group again and I think it was a mistake as my legs are still a bit dead from the half and our lovely run leader decided to throw in one of the biggest hills in the area! Still, it was a lovely evening and good company. Route was a mix of trail and road. But the pace was probably a bit quicker than would have been ideal given the weekend. Hey ho, I survived.

happy running all.

Fantastic, I have Amsterdam on my list for 2027. Love to hear how you get on.

Lovely sunny little lunch time trail run for me today. Then a trip to the gym after work. it was lovely to be out in the sun with the dog.

I’ve been feeling pretty tired this week following the half and it was starting to concern me a bit, as I really struggled at track last night. This afternoon I have started with a sore throat and feeling a bit rough. I don’t have time to be ill 😂. But at least it explains the tiredness.

how everyone else is having a good running week!

Hill repeats for me today, absolutely disgusting 🤢 but must keep on with the plan.
local 10k race on Sunday and can’t decide whether to do a steady 5k tomorrow or not

Urgh hill reps for me too @tinks3110, there’s a road by me that is super steep called Ivor Road, it’s become a bit of a weekly thing to do the “Ivor fiver” - five up, gentle run down, no rest 🤮. Although I’m local legend on strava now which i guess is something 🤷‍♀️

Sounds similar to what I had...
Mainline the Vicks First Defence pronto!

I hope you come off lightly.

That reminds me, time for my bedtime dose of antihistamine. On the days following taking it, I do feel better and less like my nose is waterboarding the rest of my face. I think I've got more issue with hayfever now than the aftermath of the cold.

Glad you are feeling better @BogRollBOGOF

Well done on your hills @tinks3110 and @thenewaveragebear1983

Hope you avoid the lurgy @Whataninterestinglookingpotato

@SFRSmum are you going to be able to do your HM tomorrow?

I really struggled with a 5 mile run on Wednesday, quite possibly because I'd been swimming on Tuesday. The sun was shining and the water wasn't as cold as it has been so I went twice as far as I have been doing and I think it took more out of me than I realised at the time. I made myself had a rest day yesterday and had a really fast (by my standards) run this evening (not sure I'll ever be able to repeat that pace ). I'm volunteering tomorrow at parkrun and will run later in the day to give my legs time to recover from today's efforts.

Have a lovely weekend all!

Well done on your hill repeats @tinks3110 ans @thenewaveragebear1983 good fun!

well done on your fast run @OhOneOhTwoOhThree

I hope the antihistamines sorted you out @BogRollBOGOF and your face isn’t water boarding you!!

I feel much better today after a rest day yesterday. My sore throat is gone and fingers crossed it’s not come to anything more so far! I got my last long run in today pre marathon! I went with a young lad from the running club that I often run with, I planned the route and stupidly decided that 1200+ft of elevation was a fantastic idea as if we can run at pace on that then the marathon course should feel easy 😂. So 17.3 very hilly miles done! My friend went on and did 20 as he’s doing London and is a week behind me! I’m sure he was trying to kill me off up some of those hills! 😂. But serval miles in at race pace despite the hills and not a bad average for a training run.

on the taper now and I’m so ready for it!! 😂😂

Wow sounds like a killer run @Whataninterestinglookingpotato hope you can enjoy an easy recovery day now.

just reading to catch up well done everyone some great running, and hopefully all the niggly bugs / viruses will head off soon.

Ive had been busy life week but got in the usual 3x 5k plus long dog walks to keep ticking over. Parkrun was bonkers this morning nearly 800 and didn’t see anyone I knew it felt “pushy & racy” normally it’s a chilled one but think there was lots of tourists. It’s a holiday location. I nearly bailed out passing the carpark at 2k as wasn’t e joying it at all but I’m glad I finished. I’ll give it a miss next week though and hopefully it will calm down abit in May before the main summer season hits.

parkrun sandwich for me today. It's been a while since I've done parkrun, but it felt good even after 9k at the start and we completed a total of 26.5km for our long run.

I'm really lacking in motivation this time round for some reason. Last year, I was so diligent with my training, and getting really excited about Boston. I just haven't felt the same this year.

@OhOneOhTwoOhThree I did! Husband came down late last night and was able to take over child responsibilities.
It was a beautiful run, trail, half marathon, incredibly hilly (950m gain, 3100 feet) and it took me over 3 hours but I'm pleased with myself, I ran along with a lovely lady in her late 60s/early 70s and she was a true inspiration. I probably could have pushed and knocked a few minutes off my time but I enjoyed her company and it was never on my plan to race this run anyway.

@xsquared do you have anything big your working towards? Well done on your long run, i like to sneak a park run or social run in on long run days to help break it up.

@TheDaffsareOutRunning sounds crazy! Our local parkrun has 70 to 100 usually, I saw they had 140 this morning!! I really dont enjoy them the same when they are busy. Ive done a couple as a tourist and they have been 300+ people and i really disliked them.

@Whataninterestinglookingpotato glad your feeling better. Sounds like a good last long run, i love a bit of elevation but not at race pace 🤣 im a walk the hills kind of gal, enjoy the taper!!

Amazing running all, looks like a bit of a hills theme this week. I also had hill reps Thursday, four times up the longest and steepest hill near me. Then up it again and on some more hills for todays 10 miler, although flattish fields for the return. Ran with a friend and the second half was a new run route. I was a bit worried as last time I'd been on a walk that way there had been cows in some of the fields. Thankfully looks like there is a crop planted in the o e this year and some of the others the path had been fenced off from the field so it is a route I can enjoy again over the summer.
I have the hilly 15 mile trail run next weekend, the entry pack says the first 2 miles is all uphill, yikes!

@TheDaffsareOutRunning that sounds bonkers for a parkrun. I like the sound of @SFRSmum's 70-100 participants. We had just over 400 yesterday, which was a bit quieter than usual.

Great work @SFRSmum on your trail HM!

Well done on your hills @Jumbojem and your long run @xsquared

Glad you are feeling better @Whataninterestinglookingpotato . Enjoy the taper!

6 sunny and windy miles from me today. While I was out I saw a young guy wearing one of the tops from last week's 20 mile race, and wanted to tell him I had one of those too even though I'm twice his age and half his speed .

13 mile long run on the plan for me tomorrow.

Well done all on your respective runs and races, especially if you ran today in the storm!

@SFRSmum I have Edinburgh coming up in May, but I'm just not feeling it.

Last week was my highest mileage in decades. 32 miles and with 3 decent sessions in there too.

Going to be careful and hover around this or even reduce slightly for a couple of weeks or I’ll end up injured. I am in my 50s now and surely should have learned by now that throwing yourself 100% into training every week is a recipe for injury.

morning all,
hope everyone who ran yesterday enjoyed.
I didn’t have the best race but finished in 53.55 and should probably take it as a positive that this time last year my 10k pb was over an hour! I am very much in my own head at the moment and spent a lot of yesterdays race telling myself it was too hard and I couldn’t do it . I am hoping the slower pace of a trail half next week will bring the enjoyment back for me

Congratulations @tinks3110 that's a great improvement on last year!

Well done @etchedinstone - are you training for something?

My friend and I have decided to defer the marathon we were planning to do together in May until next year as her training hasn't quite gone to plan. I have a couple of other options for that weekend so will carry on with my own training (although the temptation to sack it off is strong!)

Well done @tinks3110 on your pb.

Well done to all who ran and raced this weekend.

I marshalled the running clubs easter 10k today. Dd1 ran it and got a PB of 55:53 which she is chuffed with. She’s made a big improvement in such a short space of time she’ll soon be faster than me!

@tinks3110 hopefully the slower trail races will be a bit of a reset for you. It’s easy to put too much pressure on yourself with regards to time and pace and be disappointed if it all feels harder than it should. You’ve done so well and made so much progress in a year. I do think it’s natural to plateau a bit for a while, but that doesn’t mean you won’t continue to improve. You’ve done great.

Well done to potato junior!

I had a good 13 miles, stayed strong for most of it but got really hungry 11.5-12 miles in. Like proper sick with hunger hungry. But made myself finish. Luckily I was meeting DH for lunch nearby and he’d already got a table and the food came quickly.

I have managed to find a replacement event the same weekend in May as my deferred marathon so have booked my spot and accommodation as it’s in a nice place for a weekend away.

Hey all, hope everyone's had a good week, running or otherwise.
All my runs this week have felt awful, heavy legs and felt like running through treacle. I've got my hilly trail 15 miler Sunday so I'm hoping my legs wake up by then!
Think I'll be glad after that to have nothing planned and just enjoy some early summer runs with no pressure. At the same time, thinking it's nice to have the focus of an event to train for...