Running thread

Malcontent said:
I ran FLM back in 2005 and one of my running friends wrote this amusing tale which probably chimes with anyone who has ever run a Marathon.

Let's be clear about this. Running a marathon is an epic undertaking.
Running London involves training in December, January, February and March,
every single weekend. You may notice that these months are not noticeable
for their warmth. So every weekend, Kevin has had to motivate himself to
get off his arse and pound the lanes of Wiltshire for hours at a time, in
rain, sleet & wind. His body has been subject to intense stresses, as
probably has his relationship with his family.

"Kevin, when are you doing your training run today so that I can plan the
rest of my day?"
"Er, well, it's raining right now, maybe I'll wait until this afternoon".
"But we were going to Ikea this afternoon".
"Right, as I said, I'll definitely wait until this afternoon"

Two weeks ago he will have reached a peak of fitness he could only dream
about. He can run 10 miles without breaking sweat. In short, he is READY!
He will have spent last week dreading every little ache, every sneeze in
case a more major problem is about to manifest itself. He will have tried
to keep away from people to avoid catching a cold. He has given up beer for
weeks in order to be READY.

And on the big day itself he will have woken up at some ungodly hour,
stuffed some breakfast down him, sat for ages on the bog because he is
damned if he's going to trust one of those portaloos, fought his way onto a
train carriage redolent with the smell of unshowered bodies, ralgex, and
banana-scented farts. He will have stood around at the start freezing while
some bloke beside him is doing something with Vaseline that would have him
arrested on any normal day on Blackheath.

And finally the start. Yes, the runners are off. But 3 miles behind the
start, poor Kevin is shuffling in a huge crowd at about half a mile per
hour. Fifteen minutes after the start, finally he's off running, only to
have to stop fifty yards later because there's been a bunching of runners.
You see it all the time on the motorways; imagine it with 30,000 runners.

After 3 miles he is finally able to run at his pace. Every mile he has to
stop and walk because some poor dears can't manage a mile without stopping
for refreshments. Why don't they open the pubs? That would clear the
streets after 5 miles.

After 10 miles he thinks he's running well. He's at his pace, feeling good,
thinking that he's over a third of the way through it. And then, the
ultimate humiliation, he's overtaken by an F-ing toucan!

The half way mark, and he can see the faster runners already at the 20 mile
mark. Surely there's a chance of taking a short cut. Not with 2,000
spectators watching. So there's no alternative but to turn east away from
the finish and trudge around the docklands. The crowds are thinner here,
it's windy, cold in the shadows of the buildings, and Kevin is seriously
knackered.

Back to Tower Bridge, and he's done 22 miles. 22 miles. Only 4 to go. But
this 4 is like no other 4 he's ever done. Normally 4 miles would take him
30 minutes. But he's exhausted, dazed, can barely run, and in fact is half
walking, half-running. Everyone else is as fresh as a daisy, apart from
those lying on the ground being tended to by St. John's Ambulance personnel.
The crowd are shouting inane things like "Come on Chippenham, nearly there".
Nearly there? At this pace (on all fours by now), he's got another hour to
go. And now he's been overtaken by a pantomime-bloody-horse. Why, why did
I do this, he asks himself. He'd rather watch a box set of Mrs Brown’s boys than go
through this.

Somehow he covers the next 3 miles, and he can see Buckingham Palace. He's
actually going to make it. Rounding the last corner, he's on the Mall, and
glory beckons. From somewhere he manages a typical sprint finish, and
overtakes a few runners. No sign of the toucan or the horse though.

Kevin, as George Galloway said to Saddam Hussein:
"Sir, I salute your courage and your indefatigability"
Click to expand...
Superb sir
 
Update on my injury, it was my It band, I've had not pain for a week, problem is due to an imbalance in my left and right hip, the physio said to start running again and also sent me some stretching videos, oh and ruben dias is in here :)
 

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Manchester33 said:
Anyone who does park runs...

Do you have your barcode printed or can you show it on your mobile phone?
Click to expand...

I bought one of their plastic wristbands when I started doing them. Barcode on the front & emergency contact number on the back.
Saying that, I never carry my phone with me when running & there's only room in my shorts pocket for my house keys.
However, all the Parkruns I've attended so far accept barcodes on phones.
 
A bit of a reset for me this morning.

I've done almost nothing for three weeks, and I wasn't doing a huge amount before that either. I've been ill (stress-induced), then I've been away on holiday. I've also been boozing quite a bit, drinking whisky every night, and sometimes adding in a few glasses of wine. I've put on quite a bit of weight. Not been sleeping as well. I've been overloaded with work and other things, and lost motivation and any sense of routine.

Dragged myself out this morning so I am now seeking to re-establish healthy habits. I'm going to do things a bit differently this time.

Normally, I would build up the mileage with only slow runs, then introduce some speed work later. However, I happened to be listening to a health podcast about the benefits of HIIT training when I was out on my run, and that motivated me to turn my run into an interval session. I am going to focus more on high intensity / speed workouts rather than distance for the moment. I will let the distances creep up gradually rather than having big miles as the priority. I'm also thinking that interval / threshold sessions will naturally facilitate increased mileage anyway.

I won't be doing any events this autumn so I will now aim to have a good winter of training and aim to do something in the spring.

How are you guys getting on? Anyone having success with running? Getting faster / further? Feeling the health benefits? Taking part in any events?
 
Stuuuuuu said:
A bit of a reset for me this morning.

I've done almost nothing for three weeks, and I wasn't doing a huge amount before that either. I've been ill (stress-induced), then I've been away on holiday. I've also been boozing quite a bit, drinking whisky every night, and sometimes adding in a few glasses of wine. I've put on quite a bit of weight. Not been sleeping as well. I've been overloaded with work and other things, and lost motivation and any sense of routine.

Dragged myself out this morning so I am now seeking to re-establish healthy habits. I'm going to do things a bit differently this time.

Normally, I would build up the mileage with only slow runs, then introduce some speed work later. However, I happened to be listening to a health podcast about the benefits of HIIT training when I was out on my run, and that motivated me to turn my run into an interval session. I am going to focus more on high intensity / speed workouts rather than distance for the moment. I will let the distances creep up gradually rather than having big miles as the priority. I'm also thinking that interval / threshold sessions will naturally facilitate increased mileage anyway.

I won't be doing any events this autumn so I will now aim to have a good winter of training and aim to do something in the spring.

How are you guys getting on? Anyone having success with running? Getting faster / further? Feeling the health benefits? Taking part in any events?
Click to expand...
Good luck on your way back mate. Lapsed a bit myself and done hardly any miles May/June. Trying to get 3 runs a week in again even if only up to 5k at minute. Typing this as I warn you for park run. Not feeling it so pretty sure it'll be my slowest but getting it done
 
Stuuuuuu said:
A bit of a reset for me this morning.

I've done almost nothing for three weeks, and I wasn't doing a huge amount before that either. I've been ill (stress-induced), then I've been away on holiday. I've also been boozing quite a bit, drinking whisky every night, and sometimes adding in a few glasses of wine. I've put on quite a bit of weight. Not been sleeping as well. I've been overloaded with work and other things, and lost motivation and any sense of routine.

Dragged myself out this morning so I am now seeking to re-establish healthy habits. I'm going to do things a bit differently this time.

Normally, I would build up the mileage with only slow runs, then introduce some speed work later. However, I happened to be listening to a health podcast about the benefits of HIIT training when I was out on my run, and that motivated me to turn my run into an interval session. I am going to focus more on high intensity / speed workouts rather than distance for the moment. I will let the distances creep up gradually rather than having big miles as the priority. I'm also thinking that interval / threshold sessions will naturally facilitate increased mileage anyway.

I won't be doing any events this autumn so I will now aim to have a good winter of training and aim to do something in the spring.

How are you guys getting on? Anyone having success with running? Getting faster / further? Feeling the health benefits? Taking part in any events?
Click to expand...

Healthy habits are very hard to get started and easy to fall out of, that's what I found. It's the consistency what matters, just keep showing up and before you know it, it will be like 2nd nature to you.

I'd say be careful doing all HIIT, certainly do't do back to back days if your just coming back into it. The easy runs are what aid recovery and improve aerobic fitness. The HIIT sessions are great for getting your speed up and improving your tolerance to that speed.


Mines going great, definitely feeling the health benefits, started running properly again in May. I reckon I could just about manage running a couple of miles back then, now a 10 mile/16km run seems fairly easy. Probably knocked 45 seconds per km off of my comfortable running speed now, wont be far off my A goal for the marathon (3:30) if my training keeps going this well.
 
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