Runners Rehomed

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Here we are in Sports, I've been so lax about keeping up with anything outside our little thread that I'd no idea it was here - but have just spotted a cycling thread, so will be later to bed than planned....

well, i ran 1.5miles again today (2nd time) so am aiming for 1.7 or so next week. my lungs feel "bigger" and i manage to ward off stitches now by really concentrating on my breathing and trying to keep a relaxed pace (i still don't look relaxed though, my face is still like a tomato but i'm sweating less and definitely recovering quicker after i run).

Jones, have you thought about getting a pedometer which can show you how far you've run, so you can just try do to that tiny bit further each time like I do? or perhaps varying the route you take?

peanutbutter - have invested in a pedometer (very cheap one from Asda!!!!) and the last time I went out I ran / walked 3.12km

Don't have a clue what that is in miles sorry!!

Keep up the good work - I haven't been out for about a week now - decided to have a break while DH is on holiday - he goes back to work tomorrow and hopefully we'll have more of a routine again. I'll probably be useless tomorrow, but felt I needed to not do it for a few days.

Am definitely going to go out tomorrow morning.

Hi
I have been reading your discussion with interest. I started running 9 years ago when my first child was a year old to lose weight and found that running became my time to challenge myself and quite quickly became addicted to it. I found the best motivation is to pick a fun run and train for that.

Recently I founded a running website with some others which you may find helpful. Have a look at www.goodrunguide.co.uk . We have an interactive training log, a route planner where you can measure and save your own routes using our online maps and also a database of mapped runs. Some of our runs are 'lone runner' routes for safety. Unfortunately we do charge for full membership but it is only £10 a year and we are continually adding new features and runs.

Anyway, as a long term runner I would be happy to give any tips - but the main thing is keep on running - its really worth it in the end.

Managed 2.7 km (run 2 min, walk 2 min) this morning but after about a week off so not feeling too bad about it.

Felt faint towards the end so had to stop earlier that I intended.

Will persevere though don't feel I'm improving at all.

Jones well done for persevering, that's more than a lot of people would (and think of the clothes you're getting into ). i'm a bit worried that you're feeling faint though. i don't know anything about fitness/sport but feeling faint doesn't sound right.

I'm afraid that I've decided not to continue running while I'm pregnant, I haven't been for a few weeks due to the bad cold, hot weather and feeling very tired. Now I have found out that I am pregnante with twins which is a whole new thing for me and i just don't feel right about starting up again!
I'm going to keep dropping in here to catch up with how everyone is doing.

Jones 3.12Km is about 2 miles! That's great! its not bad at all to have a rest, but don't give up, its always hard to get started again. I also think its a bit funny that you were feeling faint. Are you breathing to your stomach adn getting enough air in?

Rowlers - great that you have manged to increase your distance !

Peanutbutter - are you only running inside or are you running outside as well?

leogaela - what wonderful news! did you have any idea that you might be carrying twins - is there a history of twins on yours or your husband's side? hope you start to feel a bit brighter soon. when are you due?

leogaela - congratulations on your news!

Please keep dropping in on this thread as it would be nice to hear how you're doing, and also your support and advice has been really helpful!!

Hopefully the feeling faint thing won't happen again. I have a bit of a cold, so maybe I wasn't breathing right.

well I'm sorry to say I have been a complete lazy moo for the past 3 or 4 weeks. A combination of the weather being far too hot, a week in even hotter Spain, work and the temptations of our local. all excuses I know, and have almost decided not to do the GNR.

However I did go out last night and managed 35 mins of running, although with 2 x 4 minute walking breaks in the middle. I have to say I was quite pleased - I thought my fitness level would have plumetted, but the legs held up OK - bad bad stitches though. will go out again tomorrow and aim to do same route but with just 1 x 4 minute walking break. IF I can get back up to running for an hour non-stop within a week then I might reconsider and do the GNR, but in all honesty I don't think I'm going to be able to get up to that distance in only 6 weeks. Very ashamed - at Easter I actually ran for 10 miles, my one and only time I've ever done that distance, and back then I thought by now I'd being knocking off 15 mile runs without even thinking about it.

Hullo all - just back from our fabulous hols in Denmark. Will try to read your posts when I get a moment. Am very pleased with myself that I managed 8 runs in 3 weeks whilst away, so still on track for my 1/2 marathon in September.

Leogaela - put your feet up and take it easy. You've got the rest of your life to run and frankly carrying one baby around can be hard enough, let alone two.

welcome back pidge & well done for doing all those runs while on holiday. where in Denmark did you go? do you have family there?

peanutbutter - we were at a summer house near the coast on the east side of Jutland, then a trip to Legoland and Aarhus, and finally 5 days just north of Copenhagen. We don't have family, but did visit two sets of friends, which was great.

Fabulous running territory too. At the summer house I had a lovely 5k run along a deserted cycle track, with the sea on one side, and forest on the other. I saw a hare, a snake, a thing resembling a pole cat (!), rather different to my London runs, though I do run into foxes here.

Tomorrow I have a 5 mile race with my club, so that will be a test of how fit my legs kept on holiday. The only other 5 mile I did was just under 38 minutes, so I'm kind of hoping to match that .... we will see.

Went in search of a marathon entry form yesterday, but all the sports shops had run out .... anyone else here tempted? I'm definitely going to enter, but this is my first try, so I'm unlikely to get a place. I've been considering other marathon options if London doesn't come off.

that sounds lovely! we went to copenhagen last year when i was 4months pregnant and it was there that i felt ds properly move for the first time (ie couldn't mistake it for wind). i really liked copenhagen and the people there.

good luck for tomorrow.

Well we had a nice cool day for the 5 mile race, and I way exceeded my expectations again, doing it in 35.20. I really went for broke, and I must say it hurt. I think that time is going to be tough for me to beat.

Now I need to start doing some longer runs again in preparation for the Windsor 1/2 mara, I've not done anything long since before our Danish holiday.

How's everyone else doing? Looking forward to some cooler late summer / autumn running?

Where's everyone gone!!! .

I was out with my club last night and for the first time ever plucked up the courage to go out with the fast group. It was great, though really hard work, we did 8 miles altogether, including a big hill. My little legs are rather stiff today!

Hi Everyone.
I've been very quiet on this thread recently - not a big fan of summer running, but am back from hols now and am looking forward to getting back to running more regularly (first run is tomorrow night). Will be looking for a half marathon to take part in, so if anyone has any tips that would be great.
Pidge - You have as much chance getting in to FLM through the ballot as anyone. Does you club receive allocated spaces? Else you could always go for a charity place, I got a space quite easily that way last year.

Have also received my netball fixtures for the upcoming winter season while on was on holiday so really need to get a few runs in to improve my fitness. Will also try for a few speed sessions, or hills maybe.

Leo - I vegged out while pregnant with one, I think you now have a doubly good reason now!

Hi all, I've not been running either - gave up for a while after the FLM while the knees recovered and never got back into it again. Been cycling a lot instead. Will get back to it, am aiming to do the Wilmslow half marathon next March and beat this year's time!

Pidge do apply for the FLM. You may not get in thro the ballot first time - it took me 4 goes - but you never know. The more rejections you have, the more likely you are to get in the time after. After 5 rejections you get an automatic place. Or as JoPG says, go for a charity place.

Thanks for the encouragement paddingtonbear and jopg. I'm definitely going to enter the FLM, and we'll just see how the ballot goes. I think it's a 1 in 5 chance first time round. So, if I don't get in, I have been contemplating some other marathon options for next year - maybe Abingdon or Nottingham. Meanwhile, I have my FLM entry form, and have promised myself I'll fill it in AFTER the Windsor 1/2 mara.

I just did a 10 mile run in preparation for Windsor. I'm in Wales staying with my parents, and it's hard to go anywhere here without hitting the hills. So it was pretty much up, up, up for 50 minutes, then down or flat for the rest. Quite hard work, but nice to be in the countryside and not on London pavements.

Pidge i'm in awe. 10 miles of hills? i'll only ever do that in my dreams i think. utter respect.
dh is now away for a month so i'll be lucky if i make it to the gym once a week and only from the 7th september onwards (that's when the creche re-opens). i'd run 1.7 the last 2 times i went so i really don't want to fall behind.

Jones - where are you? how's the running going?

Well, have made the most of the lovely weather and have managed 2 runs since I got back from holiday. Fiday night was a sprints session, not the ideal introduction after a holiday, but it was what my friends had already planned so I tagged along. Went out for 6 miles at a steady pace today, and then am planning 7 miles for Tuesday. TBH - It has been a bit easier to get back into it than I thought, my muscles must have remembered what to do!

Is there anybody there?

Peeking back in as I'm supposed to be doing the Hydro Active thingy in Brum on Sunday. It's going to be a hobble though as I'm having trouble with my achilles again

How's everyone doing? Jones, are you still ploughing on?

Hi - can I join you? Only just discovered this thread.

A bit of background - I'm a regular runner (DH would say obsessive!) with about 4 years' running under my belt, several 10Ks and half-marathons, and three London marathons (best time 3:20, April 2006). I run around 30-35 miles a week unless I'm marathon training, when it goes up to 40-50. I run 5 days per week.

At the moment I'm 14+5 weeks pregnant, and am currently still managing 5 runs a week, although I have cut down to about 25 miles a week and my longest run in around 6 miles.

Reading back, I'm really impressed with the progress you've all made - especially Pidge; I'll have you down for sub-1:45 for Windsor. It was my first half there too in 2003 - it's quite a hilly route and I ran 1:50, so I'm sure with your fast 10K and 5M times you'll be able to do better than that.

Presumably some/all of you have babies/children, and have to fit in running around that. Can I ask how you've managed this? It sounds really selfish, but at the moment one of my biggest concerns is how I'm going to fit my running in once the baby comes along. I may get a baby jogger, but I'm determined at the moment that my running will be "me" time while DH looks after the baby. It should be reasonably easy to manage while I'm on maternity leave, as my mum has said she'll pop in for an hour or so during the day if I want to go for a run, but am dreading fitting it in when I have to go back to work - even if I go back part time. What with getting the baby to nursery, getting myself to work, getting home, getting baby to bed, cooking dinner etc. I can't imagine there'll be a spare slot unless I run at lunchtime (which I generally don't like doing as we don't have very good shower facilities).

Would be interested in how others have coped!

CurrantBun - Welcome! You sound quite scarily good for this thread! I am sure we will all be after you for advice on the running, and you can pick our brains for combining exercise with baby.
You obviously know a lot about running and I am sure you know your own body very well, but in my experience it can be a mistake to expect too much too soon after the birth, esp if you are breastfeeding. I found it really tiring running, and it didn't help that I had a couple of 32E boobs to heave round when I was used to a rather more modest 32B!
Am very over your FLM time, I could only ever dream of that!

JoPG, thank you for the welcome! Am more than happy to offer advice to other runners. I should add that my first marathon took me 4 hours, so I wasn't always speedy, but somehow I've taken 20 minutes off each time - 3:40 in 2005 and 3:20 in 2006. My goal is sub-3:15 at FLM 2008, so that I qualify for a Ladies' Championship start position in 2009.

I will try to remember that about running post-birth. I am very 'in tune' with my body but do get frustrated at times if it won't do what I want it to as quickly as I'd like, so will try to remember what you've said and allow myself time to get back to pre-pregnancy fitness. My boobs were 32B too (currently 32C) - scary to think they may get to an E cup! I'm not sure yet about breastfeeding. To be honest, I really don't like the idea of it at all, but feel I ought to at least give it a go as I know it's best for the baby. I very much doubt I'll do it for longer than the first few weeks though, if I do it at all. How long does it take for the milk to dry up and for boobs to get smaller again?

Hello everyone. I'm gearing up for the Kingston breakfast run - 8 miles in october. I've been doing about 4-5 miles every other day for a couple of weeks and I have a very important q - am I going to stop feeling so tired all the time? I'm just exhausted, all the time. Is it giong to stop?