The running thread continues into Spring

[sfxmum]

just to house the runners

hiya badgermonkey at confidence to wear shorts - i prolly should cos i get quite hot but the world isn't ready for my so-pale-they're-blue thighs just yet...

are you anywhere near a parkrun? i've heard good things about them and they're more for 'serious' runners than rfl, but still very low key, so i hear. if you're so inclined you can also check out the times for previous races and not even think of taking part till you're sure you're not going to come last (who would be so vain? )

The nearest one is 100 miles away from me, grr! There are hardly any races round here, so RfL is probably the most accessible (and not booked up yet either).

I did have to use fake tan moisturiser stuff before venturing out in shorts though! But my legs get so hot, even tights get a bit sticky.

I'm a recent convert to tights, mine are Addis ones, though i do rather have to push and pull my way into them . Running in the tropics gets mega hot and sweaty and i do find the tights help, especially those that claim to 'wick away the moisture' I even have a hat too that claims to do it!

Well done Muff (I can't call you anything else now ) It sounds like you now have the bug.

I ran 16k this morning, embracing and bonding yet more with my mountains hills. I managed it in 1h 38 mins and was very pleased. I am slightly worried in that my shins are starting to hurt a little.... anything I can do about that?

Badger welcome, you sound like a pro already

Hi Badger - sounds like you're doing brilliantly.

Does anyone find having their period affects their running? I had a terrible one today - felt like lead and really breathless so only managed a painfully slow pootle round the park. Or maybe I'm coming down with something.....very demoralising though.

Liath, I was going to post the same thing last week! The day before af came I was able to go like lightening (well in my imagination I was) but the second day in I too was leaden and slow. Have you tried to alter your diet just before af is due? Plenty of water and fresh fruit and veg is supposed to help a little.

I am on blown away by my last 2 runs! Friday - about 5 miles, today 11. And both were so much faster and easier. I have had a few months when any run nearly killed me, I kept having to stop, and I couldn't hack hills at all. But I seem to have got over that! Why does that happen? it's so weird.

I have decided that I like off-road much more. It's more tiring and requires more concentration but I love it! And my knee is much less painful than after 12 miles nearly all on the road.

Sod the marathon, I'm looking for some off-road 10 milers

Thank goodness, themaster! That makes me feel better.

OrmIrian - do you have "proper" trail shoes? I was wondering whether to fork out on some or not & which are the best brands etc.

I don't know liath. I have only 1 pair which I use for both. I resisted off-roading for ages because I was afraid for my wimpy ankles but it's been fine.

wow orm you back up and running already? glad to hear the knee's holding up.

well so much for my horror at wearing tights - i wore short shorts in public today [cringe]. it wasn't exactly through choice - i washed my kit but left it wet in the machine all weekend, oops.

very thankful i didn't run into anyone i know (i often do), and actually the shorts were good to run in, the wind whipping round me legs felt great but wearing a normal cotton tshirt with them meant i still got too hot. i'm rather alarmed though that i went out and got a spare proper running tshirt today, but no spare bottoms, which i suppose means i'm planning on wearing the shorts again

Thanks falcon. I am ignoring it and so far it's behaving itself reasonably well.

V brave for running in short shorts But perhaps you have lovely toned thighs without so much to wobble. I get paranoid about my arms when I run in sleeveless tops in the summer. I need my running rights to stop my thighs causing earth tremors

pmsl @ lovely toned thighs

hiya im new i started running in jan, found out my friends little boy has cancer and now running in race for life next month in Edinburgh, anyone else going here?

Funny about the whole AF thing - I felt fine today, totally got my running mojo back. Had a bit of a search on the RW website and loads of threads about leaden legs on certain days of your cycle!

Hi speeder. That's very sad about your friend's little boy. I hope he's doing OK.

I was thinking about the race for life. Are you doing 5 or 10k? I;m doing a leg of the Edinburgh marathon relay at the end of May, so it'd be good to have something to aim for after that.

Coming over from the couch to 5k thread to ask you experienced runners a question...
My knee hurts when I run. It's as though I'm twisting it at some point in my stride, and it hurts on the inside (of the leg, not the knee). Might a knee support help, and if so, which one (I looked at ones with a hole for the kneecap, and ones without a hole, and there was one which looked like a band).
I know I probably need proper specialist advice, but that's going to be £££s whereas if I can just get a support which at worst wouldn't do any harm, obviously I can save my ££s for a Garmin .
TIA.

hi violet. absolutely no kind of expert, but i would say a) are you wearing the right shoes? running shop/treadmill yadda yadda b) are you warming up properly (e.g. if you run first thing you may need a longer warmup, have you tried specific warmups for your knees) c) if your biomechanics are wonky and that's affecting your knees wearing a support could just transfer that problem elsewhere e.g. your hips iyswim and lastly d) supports seem to be quite pricey actually - say £25 for a support vs £35 for a private physio session, i know which i'd go for.

just popped in to say did anyone see helen thingy from blue peter doing the desert ultramarathon? was rather inspiring (if more than slightly mad ), is on iplayer here.

Gawd falcon! DD was watching this this morning and told me about it when we were on the way to school. I told her she must have got it wrong . No-one could run that far in one go,through a desert! She said that just cos I couldn't it didn't mean that no-one could. Cow!

God, am seriously lacking in motivation. Have only done a handful of runs since my half marathin, which is almost 6 weeks ago

Have got a 10k in 9 weeks and have just downloaded a runnersworld 8 week training schedule which I will start next week but until then, I can hardly be bothered to get out there.

Someone come and give me a kick up the ass please???

lol @ orm's dd

smuggler - what's your favorite kind of run? morning or evening? rainy or sunny? fast or slow? instead of thinking about a training plan, and running because you have to how about running just because you enjoy it (you do enjoy it, right?). i had a good fartlek session today - i get ridiculously redfaced and try to avoid meeting the gaze of any proper runners i pass, but i really love the feeling of flying along quickly, instead of just plodding my usual plod.

but that said, i'm really looking forward to my saturday run cos it's a different route and it's sooo quiet at 7 on a weekend and i'm pretty much the only person in the park, and this week i get to run for a whole hour too. bliss

so sorry, no kicks from me, just a reminder that it's fun

good point milen - I ended up doing fartlek yesterday too and it was really good! Am going to do a nice long easy run on sunday and hopefully will enjoy that too!

SV - you could try some strengthening exercises to stabalise your knee. Have a look here. Wearing a support isn't always for the best as mileniwmffalcon says; it can make you more aware of it and you end up overcompensating and causing damage elsewhere.

thanks all, yes I have decent shoes, I'm probably not warming up/stretching enough/properly so I'll look at that, plus try the knee excercises. I had thought that specialist physio stuff would be more expensive than £35 or so a session (had seen some running anaylsis sessions for £125 a go which was why I was a bit ) so I'll look into that - although I feel a bit stupid as I can't quite manage to run for three minutes in one go yet .

i had tweaky knees at the same kind of stage vi - i stopped for a few days to let it calm down, and when i started back up i did a longer warmup and some mobilisation exercises - the vlm info appears to be lifted straight from my running book i do the hamstring swings and prone kicks before i go out (cos i aint lying face down in the mud in the park ) and i've not had a whisper of a problem since

btw physio is pure guess but worth calling a few local and asking.

Wow, thanks milen for linking to that Blue Peter - talk about inspirational! (As an aside, that was so much better than a lot of 'grown-up' documentaries I've watched; so nice to see something without schmaltzy manufactured drama). It does make me feel a bit about stopping to walk 20 minutes into my 3-miler this morning because I had a stitch!

I've inherited some brand-new Adidas tights from someone who bought them without trying them on, and they're a bit of a step up from my Aldi gear, so I think I'll get up early tomorrow and try for 4 miles. The best thing about living where I do is being able to run along the seafront first thing in the morning. It really is fab!

hello all, i came on to say thanks to Wallace for linking to the bupa running programme. i'm about to do the third run of week two on sunday, ran in the freezing may rain this morning and it was really very nearly enjoyable.

my question is, however... is there such a thing as an mp3 player with stopwatch combined or summat like that? i could do with one, as my phone nearly got jiggered by the rain today.

i have found making playlists to match effort is better than timing. my rule is never to look at watch unless i am going to be late. i do run exactly the same speed whatever though. me and fartlek aren't friends.