Running and stuff

[Guest]

Good stuff, looks like there's a few of us going down to the big smoke in April - even Ian Stringer is doing it too!

Runners World Programmes are good but obviously they are generic too - couldn't agree more though about not sticking to them religiously - running is about enjoyment - not counting numbers!!!

Ha ha, yes!

*turns off the Excel spreadsheet*

[FoxesAreBlue]

Ha ha, yes!

*turns off the Excel spreadsheet*

Just to give you an idea here is a rough outline of my training plan which I wrote for myself (this is next weeks)

Mon - Rest

Tues - 45mins (plus 4 x 100m sprint intervals)

Weds - weighs and Core

Thurs - 45 mins (plus 4 x 100m sprint intervals)

Fri - weights and core

Sat - 30mins offroad

Sun - Long Run Day - 11 miles.

As This will be my first marathon my targets are, in order of importance:

1) Finish the damn race uninjured.

2) Run a negative split.

3) Finish in under 4 hours.

So as my time is of little importance i dont do much speedwork. The weekdays and saturday runs will never be longer than 60mins (plus any added intervals). I run to time, not distance on these days.

The Sunday Long Run is increased by a mile each week (sometimes two) up until about 2 weeks before the marathon itself, I will only have covered a full marathon distance ONCE before the race!

But as I said, if I miss a day then so what?! I'm not going to lose any fitness over 1 proxy day and as I run to minutes and not miles in the week I can't possibly race against myself and burn out either.

[Guest]

Schedule

I want to get under 4hrs, but my 5k time is nowhere near your best!

I ran London in 2008, and finished in 4hrs 21mins; the things I learned were a) keeping it steady works, and b) don't be honest about your own finish time, as no other bugger will, and they just hold you up. I put my predicted time down as 4hrs 30mins, and ended up in the last but one pen. Whilst it's really good for the ego overtaking everyone, there are some bottlenecks, and that's what slowed me down.

I know I could go quicker as I didn't ache at all, apart from Sunday evening, and was back running by the following Wednesday. In reality, I could've run on the Monday, but followed the advice not to.

Oh, there's also c) people won't follow the advice to run to the side before stopping. That was another minute off my time.

[FoxesAreBlue]

Don't get too bogged down in a 5k time when thinking of a marathon times! For example they say to predict your marathon time take your last 1/2 marathon PB, double it and add 30mins!!! God knows what you do from a 5k'er!

I know what you mean about people lying about predicted times etc - it's a ****er on big races like the Great North Run and stuff but what can you do!!!

[Magictv]

I realise this is the running thread, but I need somewhere to share my exercise related joy. Back from a knee injury and have been training hard rowing for the last 2-3 weeks to get back to fitness, and I surprised myself with a much faster 2k time on an erg than I expected.

Good luck to anyone else fighting injury!! And good luck in the marathon to those doing it

[FoxesAreBlue]

I realise this is the running thread, but I need somewhere to share my exercise related joy. Back from a knee injury and have been training hard rowing for the last 2-3 weeks to get back to fitness, and I surprised myself with a much faster 2k time on an erg than I expected.

Good luck to anyone else fighting injury!! And good luck in the marathon to those doing it

Good to hear your on the way back to fitness, I'm lucky so far *touch wood* that I have only had one major injury which set me back (IT Band syndrome). Not being able to run was horrendous and I was a moody asshole throughout my entire recovery.

On a slightly different topic, does anybody know of any watches that tell you your pace that are fairly accurate and on the cheaper end of the market. I was reading reviews for Nike+ Sport Band 2 (around £40) but it's got mixed reviews.... I don't need anything too fancy because Im not fussed about recording my training runs online or anything, would just be good to know I I fall off the pace in races etc.

I'm shit at mental maths so can never work it out for myself at mile markers!

Oh and thanks for the good luck message, I feel I'm gonna need it!!

[reynard]

I too am running the London Marathon this year; I'm crossing everything the West Ham game doesn't get moved to the Sunday!

My training is courtesy of the Runner's World website. I can't recommend their programmes enough. There's one for every level, and always remember that life doesn't always follow the schedules, so be prepared to use common sense and logic, and be flexible!

I have only entered two races as part of my training. I'll hopefully complete the nightmare sounding Ashby 20, and the week after, the Loughborough Half. I'm only doing that to try and get a quicker Half Marathon time than Raj.

There's quite a few of us doing it by the looks of things.

All I can say is if I can do it; a middle aged overweight grey old git then any of you can!

There's a great quote which goes something like a marathon runner can spend days and hours worrying whether they can do it but the rest of their lives knowing that they did.

Good luck!

[reynard]

Just to give you an idea here is a rough outline of my training plan which I wrote for myself (this is next weeks)

Mon - Rest

Tues - 45mins (plus 4 x 100m sprint intervals)

Weds - weighs and Core

Thurs - 45 mins (plus 4 x 100m sprint intervals)

Fri - weights and core

Sat - 30mins offroad

Sun - Long Run Day - 11 miles.

As This will be my first marathon my targets are, in order of importance:

1) Finish the damn race uninjured.

2) Run a negative split.

3) Finish in under 4 hours.

So as my time is of little importance i dont do much speedwork. The weekdays and saturday runs will never be longer than 60mins (plus any added intervals). I run to time, not distance on these days.

The Sunday Long Run is increased by a mile each week (sometimes two) up until about 2 weeks before the marathon itself, I will only have covered a full marathon distance ONCE before the race!

But as I said, if I miss a day then so what?! I'm not going to lose any fitness over 1 proxy day and as I run to minutes and not miles in the week I can't possibly race against myself and burn out either.

Really good luck The first marathon is always special and when you finish it you feel you can do anything. Your training plan looks great but don't forget to put in time for proper stretching (sorry if this is teaching you to suck eggs by the way).

You really don't need to cover the full marathon distance unless you really want to. If you can get to 20/21 miles in training you will be able to finish if you get your pace right from the start. 26 miles is a long way and you will need time to recover. It is obviously up to you but there aren't many training packages which would advise covering the complete distance in the training schedule.

A negative split is a tough ask. I know some people who have run 20 plus marathons and have never achieved it so good luck with that one. I'm a slow old git who couldn't get near your time but one thing I would urge is to sort out your running pace on the long runs and whatever happens stick to it at the start of the race. I've seen a lot of people rally struggle late in the race who have gone off too quickly. With your training schedule you should be fine but to do a negative split you would need to be able to cover the first 10-12 miles using up as little stored energy as you can.

Anyway really good luck and if you see a slow old git towards the back it will probably be me!

[reynard]

Nice one, I have tried the old Facebook and twitter a number of times but there are that many people raising cash (albeit for good causes) that I think everyone becomes a bit immune to it.

Also as I don't have a personal story ie - I'm "just" running for NSPCC and not for somebody I know with an illness etc I think people in general find it harder to relate to if that makes sense.

I like the pub quiz idea - I've even got a bottle of MOËT I can I can use as a prize but don't you have to have a permit to fundraiser in town? One idea I had was using the gym I work at to run a marathon on the treadmill and people can donate etc also everyone who does donate get their name written on he back of my race shirt too.

By the way www.justgiving.co.uk/andycallus

Oh as for the mates, they're ok, just all skint (ain't we all!) and they think I will just keep badgering them - last year they actually were rally good with the sponsorship I was expecting a fiver off each but most of em gave £25 quid!!!!

You need a permit to collect on the street from the local council.

You could try a sweepstake based on your expected time. Say £2 a guess and give half the proceeds to the winner. You could put a time between say 3.45 and 4.15 if that is your range at minute intervals.

Are there enough of you who could help pack bags at a local supermarket? I know someone who did this one Saturday and got £200!

Charity car wash (though not in this weather?)

I'm fundraising as well and it is pretty tough going.

[FoxesAreBlue]

Ha ha don't worry about the stretching tip!! I dostretch anyway but it is definatel worth repeating. Infact, as a personal trainer I am always hammering my clients to stretch even though some hate it! If they saw me get off a treadmill and not stretch I think I would get lynched!

I absolutely can't wait for the marathon - my first half was the GNR and the atmosphere will always stay with me, I've been quite lucky with some of the experiences in my life so far but that first half has been my best life memory so far - especially as I beat my target with an injured leg (1:51:40).

Also thanks for the sweepstake idea, I'll definately do that.

As coincidence would have it, I was talking to my old PT today and she basically echoed what you said about the negative split so I think I will re-order my goals - both you and her are more experienced than me I and don't want aiming for the negative split to affect my 1st goal of finishing! So now my targets are:

1) Finish.

2) ...under 4 hrs.

3) find the cheapest hotel possible, under someone's car will do.

4) find a hot masseuse for the day after the race to be at my beck and call.

5) Nose dive into a curry first meal after the race (had my last curry this week)

I totally hear what you are saying about running the distance during training and if I'm honest my written plan goes up to 20miles then the next week is just 20+ and as many as I feel like. But it's my own OCD that will force me to do the full distance (I have already measured it too) because if I don't do it I know my brain will remind me when the going gets tough in the race. But I will be able to say "fvck you brain, Ive already done this shit". I'm a bit messed up like that!

My training plan really is just that though - a plan, honestly it has changed so many times already and no doubt will continue to do so - only small changes mind, but changes all the same!

I also settled on a gps watch - the Soleus GPS 1.0 £89 new from eBay. It's not as fancy as the Garmins etc but I don't want all the bells and whistles - this was cheap and has had some billing review regarding its accuracy to distance and pace measurements. Can't wait for it to arrive so I can test it.

Bloody hell - just writing this is getting me all excited!!! Tomorrow morning I'm meeting with the guy I'm running London and silverstone 1/2 with to do a run (we swapped sunday and sats Lin runs around this week) were doing a 10 miler off road at 9:00 am tomorrow somewhere near his new house, god knows where I just have a post code! It's gonna be freezing in the morning but really, who cares - this is whats its about.

Now, as I cant sleep I'm going to go back and read this entire thread until I just nod off. See you tomorrow

PS

I'm not drunk - I can just talk A LOT. I also like to big myself up too so sorry 'bout that. The good thing is I like to big up other peoples achievements too so ya know, swings and roundabouts....

EDIT: Apologies for the AWFUL punctuation in this post - I am going to hell for that.

[Haydos]

Did 30 mins at 11.5km/h.

Not sure how people run marathons yet, I'm not sure I believe in marathons. Gonna try and up this to 30 mins at 12km/h and then 45 mins at 11-12km/h over the next 3/4 weeks (I'm still interval training twice a week)

[FoxesAreBlue]

Did 30 mins at 11.5km/h.

Not sure how people run marathons yet, I'm not sure I believe in marathons. Gonna try and up this to 30 mins at 12km/h and then 45 mins at 11-12km/h over the next 3/4 weeks (I'm still interval training twice a week)

Good work

[VinceNoir]

Best of luck to everyone in reaching their personal goals!!

I used to go for a few runs, albeit not very far, and found it really boring. It was difficult to find any kind of motivation to go for a run, so instead I've started to play football again as well as squash. Each to their own, I guess Btw, I can highly recommend squash to anyone who hasn't played it! It's an absolutely brilliant game.

[skinnydipper]

Running is wrong.

My running consists of giving the appearance of an Olympic athlete when anyones about and walking like a 50 a day smoker when it's quiet.

[FoxesAreBlue]

Turns out my mates 10 mile route was actually just over 7 which was a bit of a wounder but was great to run somewhere new and with some lovely country side views too.

We raced the last mile and he beat me by about 10 seconds but I didn't know where the finish was in his village.

Also on the drive over to his place I saw a shit load of coppers heading into town for the EDL march. Got a bit worried because my new tax disc hasn't arrived yet so I hung back behind he convoy... Like a ninja

[reynard]

Turns out my mates 10 mile route was actually just over 7 which was a bit of a wounder but was great to run somewhere new and with some lovely country side views too.

We raced the last mile and he beat me by about 10 seconds but I didn't know where the finish was in his village.

Also on the drive over to his place I saw a shit load of coppers heading into town for the EDL march. Got a bit worried because my new tax disc hasn't arrived yet so I hung back behind he convoy... Like a ninja

Sounds like you had a good run though!

Managed 9 miles this morning but it was bloody icy underfoot. Pretty pleased though I'm training only to finish as I buggered up my achilles in November and wasn't able to do any form of running until Christmas Eve. I'm still a bit nervous about extending it especially up hills but the seemingly endless painful time down stretching it seems to be paying off.

Can't really believe we've allowed that lot to march again but that's democracy for you I suppose.

[FoxesAreBlue]

Yeah I enjoyed it a lot - I've been on treadmills all bloody week so it was good to actually run outside!

Some of the grass was still frozen solid and rock hard and was very bumpy underfoot and a couple of times I nearly fell so went back to the paths beind my mate, also running inthe grass put a bit of a gap between us for me to make up and given that I'm about as competitive as it gets I wasn't a fan of that!

I fancy doing another run to tonight now but I'll wait for tomorrow I think.

[Guest]

There's quite a few of us doing it by the looks of things.

All I can say is if I can do it; a middle aged overweight grey old git then any of you can!

There's a great quote which goes something like a marathon runner can spend days and hours worrying whether they can do it but the rest of their lives knowing that they did.

Good luck!

Thank you!

Ran 15 miles this morning; however, I've had a niggly injury, which wasn't affecting my running, literally bite me on the bum. A bit of internet self-diagnosis suggests it's Piriformis Syndrome. I could kick myself, well, if it wasn't my dominant leg affected. I have always stretched properly, but have been less stringent about it over the past few months, due to running before work, and not making the time.

The treatment is, funnily enough, stretching. I shall give it a go, and see if that helps. If not, it could be something a lot more serious.

Fingers crossed.

[Haydos]

Thank you!

Ran 15 miles this morning; however, I've had a niggly injury, which wasn't affecting my running, literally bite me on the bum. A bit of internet self-diagnosis suggests it's Piriformis Syndrome. I could kick myself, well, if it wasn't my dominant leg affected. I have always stretched properly, but have been less stringent about it over the past few months, due to running before work, and not making the time.

The treatment is, funnily enough, stretching. I shall give it a go, and see if that helps. If not, it could be something a lot more serious.

Fingers crossed.

What time did you do 15 miles in?

The longest I ever ran for was 45 minutes back when I was playing rugby and that was 5.5 miles I've never tried to push for longer than that but I just see myself getting bored or not being able to pace myself etc.

[FoxesAreBlue]

Thank you!

Ran 15 miles this morning; however, I've had a niggly injury, which wasn't affecting my running, literally bite me on the bum. A bit of internet self-diagnosis suggests it's Piriformis Syndrome. I could kick myself, well, if it wasn't my dominant leg affected. I have always stretched properly, but have been less stringent about it over the past few months, due to running before work, and not making the time.

The treatment is, funnily enough, stretching. I shall give it a go, and see if that helps. If not, it could be something a lot more serious.

Fingers crossed.

Bloody hell, unlucky - I'm no expert but would foam rollering help? Probably not though because it is quite a deep muscle.

I'll consult my book on muscles tomorrow (i've left it at the gym) see if that says anything

[Guest]

What time did you do 15 miles in?

The longest I ever ran for was 45 minutes back when I was playing rugby and that was 5.5 miles I've never tried to push for longer than that but I just see myself getting bored or not being able to pace myself etc.

I ran it in 2hrs 15mins, give or take a few seconds.

I had to slow down after about 12.5 miles, which was disappointing.

My iPod keeps me company on these runs.

Bloody hell, unlucky - I'm no expert but would foam rollering help? Probably not though because it is quite a deep muscle.

I'll consult my book on muscles tomorrow (i've left it at the gym) see if that says anything

Thanks, that would be great!

I've not really tried the foam roller thing; I don't know what to do with them!]

Which gym are you at, just out of interest?

[FoxesAreBlue]

I work at "The Gym" which is behind Next in the Highcross, it's a bit of a bugger to find, basically go out of the back of Debenhams and take the first left and it's there.

Pop in and say hello, it's quiet during the day and I get bored!

[FoxesAreBlue]

Also, today I met a girl at work who is training for the Silverstone 1/2 marathon (5 weeks today!) - she wanted to run outside but couldn't because ofthe snow so kudos to you Lisa!

She did her 2 hour long-run on a treadmill - fair play to the lass, I would have died of boredom (I think she did just over 1/2 marathon distance)

[Guest]

I'm already a gym member, at a competitor, sadly.

I also did my run on a treadmill today; there's no way my dodgy joints and asthma could cope outdoors!! I think Silverstone's the same weekend as the Ashby 20?

[FoxesAreBlue]

I'm already a gym member, at a competitor, sadly.

I also did my run on a treadmill today; there's no way my dodgy joints and asthma could cope outdoors!! I think Silverstone's the same weekend as the Ashby 20?

Ahh shame, don't worry, I'm not into the hard-sell!

Oh, bloody hell you to?! I suppose I had the impression in my head that you went outdoors - I know closer to the time I will do some longruns I the treaddy and set up a donation bucket to try and get some cash in from members but for me the mental strength required to look at my own face in a mirror for four hours is verging on superhuman levels