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The Running Thread


Saint Keith
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so whats your plans / events for this year?

 

as you might remember, i did the great south run for charity back 2 years ago. well for one reason and another, i hardly ran at all in 2014, and only really started running back at the end of 2015. sadly i am also about 2 stone heavier than i was as well. so a lot to do

 

i really struggled for motivation, finding a cause etc. but have decided that i need to prove i can do this for myself, and not some mis-guided guilt trip over someone elses illness

 

i got back up to around 5 miles in mid december, got a bit poorly over Christmas, and got back into it about 2 weeks ago, and just done anther 5 miler yesterday. am now doing 3 times a week

 

events i am booked in for

 

Chichester 10K - 7 Feb

Surrey tempest 10 miles - 13 March

Reading Half - 3 April

Southampton Half - 24 April

Edinburgh Marathon ( relay) 29 May

 

going to be struggle, but ive just got to stay focused, motivated, and aware of what i can and cant manage

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Did the Chicago Marathon in Oct 2015. Recommended. If you do the lottery at https://www.chicagomarathon.com/participant-information/registration/ then you are meant to have about a 60/40 chance of getting a place without having to do any sponsorship etc. Registration is open March 15th - April 12th. This is better than the New York one that is meant to be about a 20/80 chance.

 

For anyone thinking of doing a running holiday in the USA then the Chicago one is a great event. Well organised and you do a big 26 mile loop that starts and ends right in the heart of downtown by the lake. A great way to see a lot of the city.

 

I have over-rested since that but may do a few more races this year. See what happens...

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Loved Chicago last year, great atmosphere but being a chubby runner I struggled in the unseasonably warm weather.

 

This year aiming for Cardiff as well in March, London in April, Wings for life world run in may with the Great North later in the year with either Munich or Amsterdam to finish off.

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Loved Chicago last year, great atmosphere but being a chubby runner I struggled in the unseasonably warm weather.

 

Yeah it is a good event. What time did you do? I did 3:44 (I was 20 mins slower over the 2nd half of the race compared to the 1st - yeah, I'll blame the heat getting up...)

 

Are there any other marathons in the USA that you (or anyone else???) have done/recommend doing?

 

The Indianapolis one ( http://www.monumentalmarathon.com/marathon/ ) is meant to be quite good. The next one is on Nov 5 2016. It is a lot cheaper and easier to get a place in than Chicago is.

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Any advice on doing a half marathon? Considering doing Reading half in April. Running 10k twice a week right now, much of a step up?

 

 

Get yourself on about 30 to 35 miles per week and you should be fine for a sub 2 hour half. When you increase your range do it gradually dont go from a five mile run to a ten extend by two miles or so at a time.

If you run around Southampton you cant help but get some hill work in which is a great way of increasing stamina.

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Any advice on doing a half marathon? Considering doing Reading half in April. Running 10k twice a week right now, much of a step up?

 

Yes, no comparison, you'd need to be at least 15-16k runs on a weekly basis to even think of running a respectable half, respectable meaning not less that 90% of your 10K pace.

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Any advice on doing a half marathon? Considering doing Reading half in April. Running 10k twice a week right now, much of a step up?

 

yes. Have done a few of them

get out on the road a fair bit before hand. I built up and did the whole route a week before the event. Get a feel for the hills etc

 

eat right the morning/night before.

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Any advice on doing a half marathon? Considering doing Reading half in April. Running 10k twice a week right now, much of a step up?

 

i found 10k to 10 miles wasnt too bad, but the extra 3 really were. need a good solid base of miles in the bank, min 3 times per week, about 12-15 in total as a minimum i reckon

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Any advice on doing a half marathon? Considering doing Reading half in April. Running 10k twice a week right now, much of a step up?

 

I think if you can run 6+ miles twice a week it isn't that much of a step up to run 13. You could probably do it now if you had to.

 

It all depends on how *easily* you want to be able to run 13.

 

What time are you doing the 6 in?

 

Just the usual advice really:

 

- do some longer runs than you've been doing. Long in time. Don't worry about your pace too much

- run your usual distance faster - as you get fitter you'll be surprised how much quicker your time can be. Try and keep the pace steady

- find a hill that you can run up and down. Run up it as fast as you can. Walk down. Get your breath back. Sprint up it again. Praps 5 times to start with. Add extra goes as you get fitter. Soon you'll be up to 20+

- Similar to the hill work. Go out for a jog. Every 5 mins turn it into a 30 second sprint

- Most of all - just get out there and do something. Don't stress it too much. Reverse of that is don't over-train. Rest days are important too...

 

Enter the half. It will encourage you to do the training that you require. It won't be long before you start thinking about what time you want to be able to do it in - rather than just 'can I do it?'.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I think if you can run 6+ miles twice a week it isn't that much of a step up to run 13. You could probably do it now if you had to.

 

It all depends on how *easily* you want to be able to run 13.

 

What time are you doing the 6 in?

 

Just the usual advice really:

 

- do some longer runs than you've been doing. Long in time. Don't worry about your pace too much

- run your usual distance faster - as you get fitter you'll be surprised how much quicker your time can be. Try and keep the pace steady

- find a hill that you can run up and down. Run up it as fast as you can. Walk down. Get your breath back. Sprint up it again. Praps 5 times to start with. Add extra goes as you get fitter. Soon you'll be up to 20+

- Similar to the hill work. Go out for a jog. Every 5 mins turn it into a 30 second sprint

- Most of all - just get out there and do something. Don't stress it too much. Reverse of that is don't over-train. Rest days are important too...

 

Enter the half. It will encourage you to do the training that you require. It won't be long before you start thinking about what time you want to be able to do it in - rather than just 'can I do it?'.

 

Thanks for the advice. Will try some of your tips.

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Thanks for the advice. Will try some of your tips.

 

That's nothing earth shattering in those tips - just the typical sort of advice you'll find in most half marathon training guides.

 

The main tip there really is to just enter one - then work out some sort of loose training schedule between now and race day.

 

There's probably tons of similar sites out there now but I've always found http://www.mapmyrun.com/ very handy. You can map out routes based on googlemaps but with the added advantage that if you uncheck 'auto follow roads' you can include parts of your routes when you are running across fields or whatever.

 

Oh one other tip - if you are planning on say a 10 mile run. Try and do it as one big loop - not two 5 mile ones. That way you can't just think 'sod it' after 5 miles and call it day. If you do stop half way you still have a 5 mile walk home. This makes it much more likely that you will keep going.

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Ok, signed up for the Reading Half Marathon. 7 weeks to get ready.

 

I ran it 2 years ago. Not a bad event but avoid having to use the bag drop facility if you can. I had to queue for 45 mins in just my shorts and vest in about 5 degrees after the race because it was so badly organised. They issued race numbers based on estimated finishing time, and the bag drop numbers matched up with race numbers so there were huge queues for 1 bag drop section at a time.

 

Save a bit for the last 5k as well, it's a long stretch of dual carriageway back towards the football stadium where there's likely to be a headwind.

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Got the Ford Dunton Test Track 10 Mile on Sunday up here in Essex. 10 mile is a new distance on me, usually do 10km, half or full. I assume go at it mentally like it is a 15km and just carry yourself for the extra 1km. Looking forward to it, 1.15 in training so could be on for a decent time on a flat course.

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Got the Ford Dunton Test Track 10 Mile on Sunday up here in Essex. 10 mile is a new distance on me, usually do 10km, half or full. I assume go at it mentally like it is a 15km and just carry yourself for the extra 1km. Looking forward to it, 1.15 in training so could be on for a decent time on a flat course.

 

Ended up with a 1.14 PB on what was the windiest day for a run. In headwind down the straight on the circuit made it feel like you were going backwards. And it's a not a flat course either ha ha!

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  • 3 weeks later...
Any advice on doing a half marathon? Considering doing Reading half in April. Running 10k twice a week right now, much of a step up?

 

I'f you're doing 10km twice a week, it's not much of a step up in the grand scheme of things. When I've done my half's I normally train at 10km then step up a couple of the runs 4 weeks out to 14km then to 18km (normally I try to ensure I have had a couple of 18km runs under my belt before the run). The last one I did (McLaren Vale 1/2 Marathon) my final 3 weeks training were 2 * 10km, 2 * 14km, 1 * 18km and 1 * 7km intervals then took a week of running immediately prior to the 1/2 and ended up with a PB (1:40:58).

 

To be honest, I don't need a marathon to motivate me to run in McLaren Vale :) ............

 

McLarenVale-vines-MFP.jpg

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3 weeks to go. Have developed sore knees, diagnosed as ITB Syndrome so just being careful about the mileage. Will take it easy this week but prob do a 20k next weekend before shorter tempo running for final fortnight.

 

Aiming for 1:45 now.

 

That'll be a good time. I'll still be in the 1.50 to 1.55 category at Cardiff on Easter Saturday with Mo Farrah!

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3 weeks to go. Have developed sore knees, diagnosed as ITB Syndrome so just being careful about the mileage. Will take it easy this week but prob do a 20k next weekend before shorter tempo running for final fortnight.

 

Aiming for 1:45 now.

 

Make sure you get to see a good physio. My one sorted my knees. I also wear minimalist (barefoot) running shoes which have also helped (as it has changed my running style).

 

This all takes time (took about a year and a half to sort out) but was worth it.

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Been spanking off the PBs in the last 2 weeks. 5km no at 20.08, 10km at 42.53 and the 10miler above. Half Marathon in Brentwood this weekend. 4 PBs? Maybe...

 

Absolutely smashed my PB on the half. Previous was 1.42. Confirmed chip time of 1.34. Get in. In fact, beat my 10k, 15k, 10mile and 20k PBs at the same time.

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ive done a 5k and 10k PB the last 10 days. did the surrey tempest 10 mile a couple of weeks ago and was only 50 secs of my great south run time, despite it being a very hilly course. got reading half in 2 weeks, then southampton 3 weeks after that.

 

Peaking at the right time! Good luck!

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Reading Half next Sunday. Did some interval training today. Got to the walk bit at 10k (ironically a PB for 10k) and knee seized and was so sore I stopped there, fine all the way until that point.

 

Going to increase the muscle strengthening of quads and stretching as prescribed by physio and have a few days off. I did 20k Monday night so I've got the aerobic bit in the tank for next Sunday. All about the time now!

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What stinking weather today in Cardiff! I raced off for the first five miles and then the horizontal hail stones began in gale force winds! It didn't last long but I struggled from then on. Practically crawled home and just got over the line at 1:58:47. I've had better races!

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What stinking weather today in Cardiff! I raced off for the first five miles and then the horizontal hail stones began in gale force winds! It didn't last long but I struggled from then on. Practically crawled home and just got over the line at 1:58:47. I've had better races!

 

Ah man, that weather must have been a butch to run in. Fair play in the time, bloody good going in the conditions.

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