This is the New Running Thread

[Wallace]

I can't find the old one in Health, and we deserve to be in brand new shiny Sport and exercise anyway

arf @ Orm. That would suit me too.

Twink - hope the week went OK.
And that you've booked your holiday Pleased to see that you've got back out.

hat - I'm very impressed with your training. Are you running for a charity?

I'm still plodding. My knee has obviously decided it likes me to do 47 mins And No More. So that's what I'm doing, although I have every intention of persuading it up to 5 miles in the near future. It will complain I have no doubt. In the meantime I have developed a excellent rowing style [knackered emoticon]

hi how is everyone getting on? I think soon we will need a new thread

am pleased that I have managed to run both Saturday and Sunday and again today, am ok averaging 3.5/ 4 miles

like your thinking Orm yep even I can do it in a week or two

Hi everyone. a first for me today - I went running with the dog. It was ok but not great. A bit of a pain to have to stop and put him on the lead to cross a couple of roads - most of it was on footpaths though so he just ran and mooched and sniffed and chased imaginary rabbits as usual. But when i got to a flat bit i did some speed work (hate that phrase - sounds so much grander than the huffing puffing reality)and he thought it was a great game. he ran alongside me more or less touching my feet. I kept trying to teach him "away" and my garmin kept bleeping at me to go faster. I'll do it again though, but maybe just when I want to do a nice easy trot.

saggar (if I may call you that) - I'm doing it for Merlin - they provide medical care in conflict and natural disasters and places where national health care has collapsed. they do a lot of maternity related stuff, eg training midwives in Afghanistan (one of many countries where hardly anyone has any sort of medical professional attend them at birth). I like them a lot. their work makes you realise that although it certainly has its faults the NHS puts us way way above so much of the world in terms of healthcare.

hope everyone's ok.

hello everyone, I come here very sheepishly as I've just managed to do my first 5k today.
I skipped a couple of weeks on the podcasts and just decided to run! I ran for 30 mins and it felt ok(amazingly)

I am nowhere near you amazing people and don't feel worthy enough to be here but I wondered if anyone knows of any good programs for doing a 5-10k? I feel that I will run better if I have some sort of goal

hello kittywise, well done with 5k. i just sort of built up from there according to how i felt. i got stuck on 6k for ages and now am again on 12k, so don't expect to have a linear progression.

hat that is a great charity.

i have just been looking back at the beginning of the thread. four months on sunday wow.

kitty - Well done! I didn't follow any real plan to get from 5k to 10k but ran 3 times a week. On the weekend long run I just added a mile each week and ran two shorter ones during the week. If I were you I would book a 10k run as it is so much easier to motivate yourself when you are training for a race.

Am running 9 miles this weekend for the first time, Wish me luck!!!

Thanks fishie
peachsmuggler, wow 9 miles, how long will that take?
So you run an extra mile a week, that's about an extra 10 mins by my snail pace then

Don't know about a race, I'd come last and I'm not good at loosing (sad person)

ha ha! If you can run 5k in 30 mins then you won't come last believe me!

I am also a snail and run at 10 mins a mile so the 9 miles should take me 90 mins. Am working on my speed with one of my shorter midweek runs by doing interval training. Last night I did 4 miles in 37 mins and looking back at my diary that is a whole 9 minutes faster than the first time I did that distance back in November, when it was a shameful 46 mins!

kitty - 5k in 30 mins is just fine. You wouldn't be last. If you're looking to up your mileage don't increase by more than 5 minutes or 10% distance each week certainly to begin with - that way you won't get risk injury. If you do increase by a mile one week then don't do the same the following week - consolidate it.

Just found this Runners World smart coach. Key in your 5k time and the distance you're training for and it'll bring up a schedule. I'm off to have a play

hat - that charity sounds fab - I've had my own moans about the NHS this week but despite that I know how lucky we are.

I've been really rubbish and not done any running at all since my half marathon nearly two weeks ago . Have signed up for another one in three weeks though so need to do a big run tomorrow.

Hat, have chickened out of doing a full marathon, am going go stick with half marathons this year and do a full one next year. Great charity you're running for - would I be able to sponsor you nearer the time?

Peachsmuggler, good luck with your run.

Kittywise, would definitely agree about signing up for something, I find it gives me a reason to get out and run when I'm not really in the mood.

Harrogatemum, are you doing the Jane Tomlinson or the Leeds half this year?

Twink, hope your DH's last chemo went ok and that you've got your skiiing holiday booked.

Hi all

Hatwoman that is a great charity excellent work they do, hope training is going well, are there banners being made?

I suppose the one close to my heart is
winston's wish but I have no plans for a Marathon anytime soon

kitty that is great I have been far too chicken to actually enter a run but usually do 3-4 miles a few times a week, really need to up my mileage and run a bit faster, but for me it is mainly a keep fit, clear mind exercise so that is ok

hope everyone is well

smbk, thanks for that, I've typed it all in and have got my plan! The only thing is............... how can I best measure the distance? Do you use a pedometer or just go by your time?

I need someone to recommend a good pedometer I think.

hatwoman those Garmin's are tres expensive aren't they?I had a look at some today, they looked amazing but my God the cost

MrsWednesday, that's amazing, a half marathon.

You ladies are brilliant, how do you manage it?

Have not run at all since SUnday. I've been carless so having walk to work every day (about 3.5 miles a day) so by the time i get home it's a bit late (and I'm a bit tired)

hi again - Kitty - yes they are. I've wanted one for about 2 years (been dropping enough hints at Christmas!) and in the end decided to forego some other things and treat myself. also there was some stuff that dh spent money on for him that made me wonder why I wasn't spending on myself. (it all comes out of the same pot so the logic is slightly flawed). I've recently moved to the countryside which has put lots of spending temptation out of my way. must have saved a quarter of a garmin by virtue of having no coffee shop round the corner.

it is, it has to be said, excellent. I love it.

kitty - the great thing about running is that there's no secret...there's no need to compete against others - you can see yourself improve, set yourself targets, enter races (which, I assure you, are packed with ordinary people of all shapes, ages and sizes) and just enjoy it. I know there's no voting involved, but I think of it as a very democratic sport. very inclusive. it doesn;t need to be expensive (ok, trainers aren't cheap but they're a lot cheaper than gym membership - and you need the trainers as well for that anyway). I just think it's the best exercise ever.

for measuring distance use www.goodrunguide.co.uk (charges £10 a year) - and you can keep a log book on it. or mapmyrun (free, I think, but not sure how good the log book is). The measuring is the same on both. There are others too if you google.

I use the goodrunguide.co.uk kitty. If you don't save your routes you don't have to join so you don't have to pay if you want to just try it out.

hatwoman thanks for those links, I've had a look and they are useful in some ways, but where I live the roads are not straight forward so the mapping system gets confused ( like me!)

I so want one of those garmin things

This might be a strange question but what do you all eat after a run?

I'm finding it hard to know what to eat - I'm often not that hungry straight away so don't bother, then get extra hungry (and therefore bad tempered!) a few hours later. Am I supposed to eat protein or carbs? Or biscuits? I honestly don't know!

Apologies for novice question

found this

personally I have a thick smoothie home made or porridge this if short run after very small breakfast

no thought or science behind it but my favourite post-run breakfast is bagels (with cream cheese or jam). They;re so lovely and dense iykwim, they feel like really good, filling, carbs. bread/toast/cereal seem a bit weedy at their side. I agree re porridge too - again nice and dense and filling (but I'm too lazy to make it straight after a run)

Fantastic, thanks for that both of you. I do usually have porridge before I run and last night after running club I wolfed down a bowl of alpen and haven't had the bad-tempered hunger thing today (everyone around me must be heaving huge sighs of relief ).

Kittywise, have you got a birthday coming up soon? My husband, his parents and sisters all contributed to buy me my Garmin, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to afford it. Had to go out for a run without it on Sunday (forgot to charge it before I went out) and it was rubbish not knowing how far and how fast I was going!

MrsW, no sadly not until SEPT, but I have already been thinking along those lines, I really like the idea of the whole beeping thing to keep pace as I'm never quite sure when I'm going too slow (rarely too fast though.

I have had some shocking runs these last couple of weeks, I've been very tried and breathless, but today and yesterday i managed one 2.8 mile and one 3 mile at 10 pm pace so I was really chuffed.

I know it's not a patch on you lot though!!!!!

I'm desperately trying to build up muscle tone and stamina but it takes time doesn't it?

Has anyone got any tips on interval training?

I have started to usethese as quick carb boosts

Hi Kitty - I do one of my midweek runs interval training. I run about 7 minute warmup then stop and stretch then do 1 min fast 2 min recovery pace and do this 10 times, I then run at a normal pace for a few minutes at the end. It has really helped with my speed and stamina. (you could start off just doing 5 or 6 intervals and then build up)

Did 10 miles yesteray for first time. It took 1 hour 43 (my target was 1 hour 40) and it was actually ok. Am finding the longer runs are not getting pregressively harder, which I was worried about. Legs are a bit stiff today but not too bad!

Got some new shoes yesterday. We don't have any proper running shops near us so I just got some Adidas shoes. Adizeros LT+. Very light and comfortable. Chap in shop said they were for long-distance running (). Anyone heard of these?

Oh and my first attempt at off-road running yesterday. Took off across a footpath for a part of my run. 2 strides and I tripped over a bramble stem and went arse over tit