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The runners' thread...

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I've been running between 10K and half-marathon pace over the last week or so and although it's aerobically harder than 'plodding' for miles on end, I've been enjoying it all the same; so much so I've made a list of my local runs so that I can track and hopefully improve upon my personal bests.

I'll also be aiming to run the routes with elevation more often as I got caught out a bit in the marathon with some of the hills along the route - I'd lost my hill legs thanks to a compromised training schedule and the fact that I spent a lot of the latter stages of my training running around my local neighbourhood which is pretty much as flat as pancake (a decision I took because the marathon was described as being flat so I was surprised to find that that description wasn't entirely accurate). And I'll also be aiming to run at least 20 miles per week for the next couple of weeks before pushing on to level off around the 30 miles per week bracket.

After that, I guess I just need to sign up for the 2018 Glasgow half-marathon and maybe find a training plan.

Incidentally, I don't have any desire to run another marathon so I reckon I'm going to be of those people who's done it once and is happy to leave it at that. The only exception would be if Glasgow put on another full marathon, but apart from that, my marathon days, and I say this with no regret or disappointment, my marathon days are over :)
 
I pinched a nerve in my back this morning so my race tomorrow night is (theoretically) in jeopardy. Hopefully will be able to muddle through with some painkillers though...
 
Well Derek, you did it real justice and I have a coupl eof friends in the same boat. Did one, proved they could and are happy to run the 10k's and halfs but never another marathon
 
Still got a sore calf. Resorting to Ibruprofen and a few days off now. Absolutely gutted, and hoping it doesn’t last long, the thought of not training and making progress is not good for my state of mind. The thought of being forced to have some days off isn’t doing me any favours.
 
Feeling a bit better. Skipping tonight's easy 10K in favour of a gentle walk with the dogs. Definitely going to be on the starting line tomorrow though, I have a time of 36-odd minutes from last year to beat. Great race, very wet at the turn (sometimes up to your knees) but not so long that you need to do any specific prep...
 
lordsummit said:
Still got a sore calf. Resorting to Ibruprofen and a few days off now. Absolutely gutted, and hoping it doesn’t last long, the thought of not training and making progress is not good for my state of mind. The thought of being forced to have some days off isn’t doing me any favours.
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You will pick up all kinds of injuries along the way lordsummit. Calf injuries are difficult to shake off but also look at it as a positive sign; you are stretching and working muscles, they just need some readjustment. You may have just overdone things a little, walking before you can run so to speak!...be patient, rest, if you rush a return you may cause more damage. When your calf tells you to run (yes, listen to what your body tells you) start very, very gently (some gentle stretching before hand to warm them up, you'll find exercises on line to help). Being injured is part and parcel of our beloved past time unfortunately...look forward to the day you can run once more and always believe. Rest that calf and remember your other muscles are resting too, a bit of downtime never does any halm. Best of luck in a speedy recovery, we all wish you well.
 
windhoek said:
my marathon days, and I say this with no regret or disappointment, my marathon days are over :)
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Until you get bitten by the tri bug and sign up for an Ironman. :eek: Seriously - don't do that, but I think the short tris. are a good way to stay in shape.
Well done on the marathon - never done one myself but mulling it over - I'm afraid of overuse injury.

I think that the 5k is a great race to try to improve - it's an easy run to finish but not an easy distance to run well, yet you can train to run it well without spending all of your spare time running, and with a relatively small risk of overuse injury.
 
sean99 said:
OK, flight's booked - I'll be in Horsham on August 11th and 18th - I think the 18th is a better date to aim for a ParkRun. Hope I can see some of you there.
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Hope to come along as well.

Thanks for the Boston offer. I will take you up if I am there on a Sat but it is very unlikely as I usually come home on Fridays.
 
That sounds good - it would be good to have a few PFM runners in Horsham. I'll report on the Boston ParkRun when I get around to doing it - probably not for another month or so.
 
Gutted not to be doing one this morning. No real pain from the calf, just feeling a little tight. Can do tiptoes, stretch it on the bottom stair, been foam rolling it. Might try it out tomorrow. When I went on Tuesday it started off feeling stiff, then it went away. Perhaps I’m being over sensitive. It doesn’t hurt, just feels stiff now. Hope you have a good weekends running guys.
 
lordsummit said:
Gutted not to be doing one this morning. No real pain from the calf, just feeling a little tight. Can do tiptoes, stretch it on the bottom stair, been foam rolling it. Might try it out tomorrow. When I went on Tuesday it started off feeling stiff, then it went away. Perhaps I’m being over sensitive. It doesn’t hurt, just feels stiff now. Hope you have a good weekends running guys.
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That's a bummer, but if taking a day off means it's better for you in the long run - no pun intended - then despite what your head says, it's probably better for you in the long run. I know you know this already, but sometimes we runners blind ourselves to our obvious need for a rest just so we can lace-up and run. But as our Graham used to say on Blind Date: The decision is yours! :)
 
windhoek said:
That's a bummer, but if taking a day off means it's better for you in the long run - no pun intended - then despite what your head says, it's probably better for you in the long run. I know you know this already, but sometimes we runners blind ourselves to our obvious need for a rest just so we can lace-up and run. But as our Graham used to say on Blind Date: The decision is yours! :)
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Yes, I know. I think really I’m not going to be out this week at all. I’ve already missed two training sessions. Two weeks off right now isn’t what I wanted. I’m gutted that within two weeks of the end of the training plan I’m broken. I feel like I’ll be going back to square one. I just keep hoping I’ll wake up in the morning and it won’t feel tight. I’ve found running such a crutch for my state of mind I’m kind of struggling without it.
 
I actually told my best mate a few years ago that I'd probably top myself given the right/wrong circumstances i.e. no loved ones in my life and my becoming a burden on the state. But it just so happens that since I took up running I've noticed that I no longer feel that way about life - or death if you know what I mean. I now feel like living life as it comes as I know that death will come in due course, and as far as I know, I'll be dead for a very long time - like for eternity! I remember the relief I felt at letting all that out and now my mate just jokes about it and we laugh at my erstwhile folly.

It just so happens that I've got some troubles of my own when it comes to running and in my case, it's mental: motivation. Now that I'm no longer running for a purpose, running towards a goal, my desire to run is tapering off. I mean, before I'd even managed two miles this morning my head was like, just stop and walk home, what's the point?

But I now know what's going on: the marathon was a project and now that the project is over, I'm at a bit of a loose end. A little bit lost. Sure, it might not have been a project like building a house extension or something more tangible like that, but it was a project all the same as it took up a lot of time, focus and energy. This realisation lets me know that I need a new project, an undertaking that's a good match for my abilities. I don't think it'll be a running project though and if it isn't, then that means I need to accept that I'm going to be someone who runs for the joy and benefits it brings rather than as a runner who runs to become a better runner in the hope of achieving better running goals.

I didn't intend to mention this but somehow something you said resonated with me. Oh yes, running and one's state of mind. So that's where I'm at. Who knows where I'll be at tomorrow or the day after or the day after that - maybe I'll just go for a run and see how it goes. Anyway, you're not alone in coping with life with or without running :)
 
I get that Derek. I book ‘races’ to give myself something to train for. I’m a musician by trade, so much of my life is ‘project’ based, at least the bits I enjoy are. It’s tough when a project ends. You can end up feeling bereft. I often walk round in a sulk when projects end for weeks.
 
Derek, profound words. Running does give you a high, but for every high there's a come-down. My approach is to ensure that there's always some other goal on the horizon; I'd booked Strathearn before I'd run London, say. So, even though London was a bit of a bad day, I was able to lick my wounds, reflect and refocus on the next thing. Which has kept me sane, too. But, seriously, though, pop through some weekend and we'll do a parkrun or something. And you might consider joining a running club; pick a decent one and it's a social fabric as much as a training regime.
 
Thanks John, I'm still waiting on a day off at the weekend to happen. Anything less than half-marathon distance will be fine for me :)
 
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