The Running Thread (formerly How fast can you run a 5k?)

[Ric Flair]

13 hours ago, VLC86 said:

Achilles is definitely quite tender so it’s a couple of days off running for me. Bit of a shitter because I’ve been feeling really good considering I’ve done 100 miles in Jan, probably the result of changing to running across fields/trails I guess.

Trail running is a different beast to the body. Just got to mix it up a bit until you get used to it.

[LcFc_Smiv]

So having never won anything, today I have only gone and found out Ive won a spot in the Manchester Marathon. I have 11 weeks to get ready, my mate who encouraged me to enter the competition is on week 9 of his prep. My weekly load is at 25k, Ive got some work to do 

Edited 29 January by LcFc_Smiv

[VLC86]

2 hours ago, LcFc_Smiv said:

So having never won anything, today I have only gone and found out Ive won a spot in the Manchester Marathon. I have 11 weeks to get ready, my mate who encouraged me to enter the competition is on week 9 of his prep. My weekly load is at 25k, Ive got some work to do 

Stay injury free and you will be all good if you are running 25k a week already.

[LcFc_Smiv]

17 hours ago, VLC86 said:

Stay injury free and you will be all good if you are running 25k a week already.

Thats my plan, not going to even consider anything time related, just build my distances in training and finish the race, all injury free is the aim. Whatever comes after that is a bonus.

 

Makes me laugh, my longest continuous run to date was 17k, I signed up to sheffield half as my big running challenge for this year, now 3 weeks after that Ill be doing a full Marathon.

[VLC86]

55 minutes ago, LcFc_Smiv said:

Thats my plan, not going to even consider anything time related, just build my distances in training and finish the race, all injury free is the aim. Whatever comes after that is a bonus.

 

Makes me laugh, my longest continuous run to date was 17k, I signed up to sheffield half as my big running challenge for this year, now 3 weeks after that Ill be doing a full Marathon.

I’ve been there mate. While training for mine last year I had about 8 consecutive weeks where my training run was the longest one I’d ever completed. It’s amazing how your body adapts.

[VLC86]

14 miles done this morning and my Achilles didn’t let up for any of it. 

[David Guiza II]

On 07/01/2026 at 09:52, David Guiza II said:

Good morrow chaps!

Long time no post (and a new account after forgetting my details), but I always keep an eye on this thread and the anxiety-inducing football topics. I'm still running and decided to take the plunge with a charity place for London after receiving my 10th consecutive rejection last year. 

 

I work in the property sector and also volunteer at a soup kitchen through work every couple of months and thus decided that Shelter would be a great charity to run for. 

Hoping for a sub-3 hour time - but we'll see how confident I am come mid-March! Quite looking forward to the training in a sadistic way. It's long and boring, but it does help provide a little bit of structure to an otherwise chaotic world. 

Sorry to join the fundraising pile on of the past couple of pages - but if anybody does have a spare bob or two then I'd be eternally grateful, though I appreciate it's not an ideal time of year to be throwing cash around (so Top and Rudkin say). 

Shelter: Mark's page   

Managed to pull a 1:24 out of the bag for the Warwick Half Marathon yesterday - a PB by a couple of minutes. 

For anybody who's interested, as a somewhat seasoned runner of a few years now, I would definitely say that the Sunday long run is the most important of all the runs if you want to get quicker/improve endurance. It doesn't need to be especially quick, but doing that regularly and incorporating the odd pickup along the way seems to be working thus far.

I'd also highly recommend joining a club for anyone who's thought about it but not taken the plunge. I only go once a week on average to a club run, but that healthy competition with friends definitely improves you over the longer term.

[David Guiza II]

On 01/02/2026 at 11:54, VLC86 said:

14 miles done this morning and my Achilles didn’t let up for any of it. 

I've had achilles problems for years - I'd suggest seeing a sports physio as they were far better than my GP/NHS in terms diagnosing a sports injury. My turned out to be insertional achilles tendinopathy, which is slowly getting better with strength exercises (when I remember to do them)

[Heart-Shaped Fox]

Thought my hammy was better after I managed 13km at 4:24per km average pace....felt much better. 

 

Thought I'll do a similar one today but lighter, get 4km and feel it pull, have to limp home again. 

 

So demoralising. Maybe I did too much too soon on it but thought I'd be ok. Hoping this is another few days resting now

[VLC86]

34 minutes ago, David Guiza II said:

I've had achilles problems for years - I'd suggest seeing a sports physio as they were far better than my GP/NHS in terms diagnosing a sports injury. My turned out to be insertional achilles tendinopathy, which is slowly getting better with strength exercises (when I remember to do them)

Thanks, I think mine is just down to over use but instead of doing the sensible thing and resting, I did 4 consecutive days culminating in the 14 miler.

 

It’s pretty swollen today so I’ve got no choice but to rest and ice it. Hopefully that does the job and I can replicate the time on runs for time on a bike in the gym.

[Trumpet]

Reluctant to say this as I’ll be struck down by an injury / illness soon no doubt, but feeling as though I’m making great progress recently. I’ve switched my watch to base my HR zones based on %LTHR and I’ve set up a plan on Runna and feel as though I’m flying. Hoping to get some elevation in this week’s long run to try and prepare for the Leicestershire half in a few weeks. 
 

This time last year I’d maybe ran 25 miles in my entire adult life. Since starting running in August I’ve managed to put a 45 minute 10k in and get out for about 20-30 miles a week. A bit annoyed I didn’t give it a more serious go in my 20s tbh.
 

Could anyone recommend recovery shakes? I’m having a protein shake after my runs but I don’t think they’re specifically recovery shakes. Wouldn’t mind trying something that targets recovery.

Edited 3 February by Trumpet

[VLC86]

4 hours ago, Trumpet said:

Reluctant to say this as I’ll be struck down by an injury / illness soon no doubt, but feeling as though I’m making great progress recently. I’ve switched my watch to base my HR zones based on %LTHR and I’ve set up a plan on Runna and feel as though I’m flying. Hoping to get some elevation in this week’s long run to try and prepare for the Leicestershire half in a few weeks. 
 

This time last year I’d maybe ran 25 miles in my entire adult life. Since starting running in August I’ve managed to put a 45 minute 10k in and get out for about 20-30 miles a week. A bit annoyed I didn’t give it a more serious go in my 20s tbh.
 

Could anyone recommend recovery shakes? I’m having a protein shake after my runs but I don’t think they’re specifically recovery shakes. Wouldn’t mind trying something that targets recovery.

Sounds like you are smashing it mate, well done.

 

Not sure exactly what recovery shakes consist of but I tend to make myself chocolate protein shake, with a scoop of peanut butter and a banana. You can add coconut water for electrolytes to that as well, tastes unreal and should tick most of the recovery boxes.

[Trumpet]

55 minutes ago, VLC86 said:

Sounds like you are smashing it mate, well done.

 

Not sure exactly what recovery shakes consist of but I tend to make myself chocolate protein shake, with a scoop of peanut butter and a banana. You can add coconut water for electrolytes to that as well, tastes unreal and should tick most of the recovery boxes.

Thanks!

 

I might start by adding coconut water then. Im not overly keen on coconut water but adding it to the shakes I have at the moment should be easy enough.

[VLC86]

41 minutes ago, Trumpet said:

Thanks!

 

I might start by adding coconut water then. Im not overly keen on coconut water but adding it to the shakes I have at the moment should be easy enough.

It’s not my favourite thing to put in them shakes but i think it’s decent for electrolytes.

[Trumpet]

3 minutes ago, VLC86 said:

It’s not my favourite thing to put in them shakes but i think it’s decent for electrolytes.

Needs must sometimes 

[Sol thewall Bamba]

First 10k last night since I've been out and it was actually a PB (despite stopping to help an old boy cross the road).

 

Very happy that taking it steady during my recovery has paid off.

 

Got a few targets for this year which I hope I can hold myself accountable to.

[CosbehFox]

Considering pull out of Ashby 20. Just too much going on to dedicate the time for training. 

[VLC86]

My Achilles still isn’t great, the creaking sensation is a weird one but looks common for this.

 

I’m going to try to get some miles in on the exercise bike instead of running for a week and see if that sorts it, otherwise I think I’m pretty much ****ed for doing this Ultra in 3 months.

 

Pretty shite in all in, I’ve really been enjoying running and the mental/physical benefits that come with it.

[Grebfromgrebland]

If you have a sore achilles after exercise then you need to try squeezing it as hard as you can take for about 15 minutes up and down, it will be really painful to start with but after a while it goes a bit numb and is bearable.

 

I had sore achilles after playing football for about a year. I did this just ONCE and it has fixed the pain and it hasn't come back. Apparently the squeezing realigns the fibres in the tendon, either way, I was amazed at how this worked for me. It is painful to do though so don't be a wimp about it.

 

Found the link!

 

 

 

Edited 5 February by Grebfromgrebland

[VLC86]

29 minutes ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

If you have a sore achilles after exercise then you need to try squeezing it as hard as you can take for about 15 minutes up and down, it will be really painful to start with but after a while it goes a bit numb and is bearable.

 

I had sore achilles after playing football for about a year. I did this just ONCE and it has fixed the pain and it hasn't come back. Apparently the squeezing realigns the fibres in the tendon, either way, I was amazed at how this worked for me. It is painful to do though so don't be a wimp about it.

 

Found the link!

 

 

 

 

[Grebfromgrebland]

57 minutes ago, VLC86 said:

 

Don't try it then and suffer with your dodgy achilles. Don't come hobbling to me when the pain flares up again. 

 

You know what they say, you lead a horse to water....

Edited 5 February by Grebfromgrebland

[VLC86]

40 minutes ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

Don't try it then and suffer with your dodgy achilles. Don't come hobbling to me when the pain flares up again. 

 

You know what they say, you lead a horse to water....

I got up to the point in the video where it said “if touching it hurts, you shouldn’t do this” and stopped because I think it’s past the stage at which this would have helped.

 

If I’d have tried it a week ago I recon it might have helped.

[Heart-Shaped Fox]

Had dropped the mileage recently due to a hamstring strain. Did my first long run in a couple of weeks of 20 miles and seems to have held out well. So hoping it stays that way. Managed to PB my 30km too which I definitely did not intend to do, so pretty pleased overall.

[VLC86]

My Achilles is loads better so I’ll be back running on Tuesday.

 

Pretty pleased as to replicate my long run today I spent 2 hours on the wattbike with no padding and let me tell you, that is not a good idea. I’d have a more comfortable couple of hours watching Jordan Ayew’s highlights with Rudkin I think, horrendous.

[sdb]

Got a really weird pain in the inside of my right knee. Sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not. Sometimes running seems to tweak it, but other times it doesn't. Sometimes it just goes when I walk. Got 2 10ks in the next 2 months. Really unsure how to play it? Rest? Train through it? Hope for the best?