@highlandman, I should have said I didn’t like the idea of faking something like that and am happy to go by the book for this. Will give the GP surgery a ring tomorrow to check if they’ll do something along those lines. Bit of a PITA but I’d like to enter races whenever I’m over there on holidays. The race I want to enter says in its rules:
“Foreign athletes, even if...blah blah...IAAF...blah blah...must furnish a certificate in French or have a translation if written in a foreign language...blah blah.”
@deadlydarcy - it seems it's standard practice in France. We had to supply a doctor's certificate to take part in the French Divide. This turned out to be "I know of no medical reason why X cannot take part in this event." on headed notepaper and signed.
DD How did the big race go? Enjoy it?.
DD How did the big race go? Enjoy it?.
I’ll probably stick something up tomorrow NoFeer, when I’m feeling less negative about it. Save to say, it just wasn’t really a “race.” 😐
Oooh, building the tension! I likes 🙂 Awaits tomorrows update with eager anticipation...
Did a few mountains on Sunday, thought I'd tick off a few munros, started at Baddoch near Glenshee, did the 2 munros near the ski bit then west to Carn a Gheoidh then north via An Socach and a high ridge back to Braemar. 35k/1600m. Not a route I'd do again all told, large sections of rubble, jaggy boulder / heather / bog bashing, not much path. Surprisingly chilly for July (MWIS had 'feels like' at -2 at 1100m). Pint was badly needed afterwards so popped in to the Fife arms despite looking a bit sporty for the surroundings, first time I've been in since it's became 'artified' (a picasso on the wall in a pub!?)
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Well, my GP has told me he won't certify me without a full medical - for which he will kindly rinse me of £110 - and then charge for the certificate/letter. Lovely. Time to try back-street/online dodgies. :o)
Ooft.
DrP to the running thread!.
So what happened in the SW coastal race DD?
Ah I dunno - I don’t want to whinge too much. It was a bloody expensive event to enter - and with parking & camping at their event village (again at extra cost), overall it cost us a fortune. The organisation was great - transfer buses etc all worked well and the campsite toilets, bar, showers etc were all clean and worked well. The overall atmosphere was great - friendly staff, marshalls & competitors - apart from the usual complement of merchant bankers one encounters at all “events.”
However, what I wasn’t prepared for was that this wasn’t really a race. There are sections in it which could be best described as “coasteering” - so maybe, jump in the sea, swim a bit then a long scramble across rocks back to the coastal path. All good fun. Except...you didn’t have to do them!! And inevitably, because it was single file, there were queues so you couldn’t do it at your own pace. You were just doing it at the pace of the crowd, which was inevitably slow.
We’d pass a group of runners - a difficult negotiation in itself at times - I think we all know how reluctant slow runners are to let faster followers through on single track at times - do our swim, scramble get back on the run and then pass the same group 30 mins later as they’d just not bothered doing the water section. There was no timing system to decide who’d done what. I even skipped the last water section myself and waited for my running partner to do it as I’d just had enough of the sea at that stage. If it had been a “race”, I’d have done it though.
So we have finishing times, but they’re fairly meaningless as an “unfit” person that didn’t bother with the water sections could easily have finished an hour or more before people who were “fast” but had done their bits.
So all in all, a great weekend was had by all. Whatever about it being a race or not, it was bloody tough. 1000m of climbing over 40km and 3500 calories burned. The post race beers were some of the nicest I’ve ever drunk. Good bonding with my training partners and we’ll do something similar next year, just not a RatRace event. I realise I’m shite really and not going to be competitive in my field, but I’d rather it was a race to compete in rather than an event to post on Facebook/Instagram with a chunky medal.
Nuff said. Off to put the same in an email to RatRace. 😀
Fair enough, that would piss me off anaw mate, well done though. 💪🏻
Sounds a very measured response and not whingy at all. If you’re not doing the water sections the alternative should be slower (or there’s a time penalty).
Cheers dashed and NoFeer. Anyway, moving on...who’s got what on this weekend? Anybody entered anything for later in the season?
ParkRun tomorrow morning - gonna try for a PB again (set 3 weeks ago, missed bettering it by 11 seconds last weekend). Currently training for the GNR in September.
ParkRun tomorrow morning – gonna try for a PB again
Er, ditto! Solo this week so no buggy to push so I’m going to have a crack at a proper warm up and see what I can manage. It’s about 2k to the nearest park run so I’m going to have a gentle run over there to get things moving rather than jumping straight out of a car an expecting to run quickly 😉
Nowt this weekend Darcy, I'll be spending most of it going cross channel back to Blighty, sadly.
Next Saturday Mrs NoFeer and I have run the blades ultra, 50k around a wind farm. It'll be a pootle, more of an exercise to see how the legs are at long distances, as I have 38 mile and 40 mile ultras on my tod later in summer.
Then Dunoon half the week after.
Well parkrun PB achieved (25 seconds off my previous PB) but definitely my lungs / breathing that is holding me back. Legs feel fine but struggling to breath properly. I guess the only way to improve that is to work on some speed training or track work??
Oh, and optical HR monitor definitely not accurate - virtually all of the run in z3 again despite going at my limit. Suspect it’s a sweaty wrist that interferes with its accuracy??
Na, they're just shit for anything active. If sweat was the culprit, chest straps wouldn't work.
I reckon it's a combo of vibration and the wrist not being a great place to get hr from.
Is there anybody running at Thunder Run next weekend? I ran it last year in a team of 5 and somehow got roped into going again this year!
It’s a great weekend. I’m definitely not watching the weather forecast already :-0
DD, re the medical cert - if you've to pay that much for a doc's note which is pretty much useless, why not do a ramp test so at least you've got some useful data? I used to have to do them for my Spanish competition licence (cycling tho), didn't begrudge the fee as it gave VO2 max etc. IIRC the GP just does an ECG at rest which I doubt is that indicative of your capacity to climb for 20mins at threshold without dying! We got them done at the Uni, which was a fair bit cheaper than a private lab.
DD, re the medical cert – if you’ve to pay that much for a doc’s note which is pretty much useless, why not do a ramp test so at least you’ve got some useful data?
+1 - I've had to get a load of useless doctor's certs for various races, and all they do is measure your blood pressure and do a quick listen to your heart. You're-fine-and-that's-30€-thank-you-very-much.
If you have to spend the money get a proper test done.
Jaysus, it’s a fitness to race certificate for an 18km trail race with about 200 entrants and I should now go to University of Bristol or somesuch and get a full VO2 Max ramp test (or whatever it is) done? These certificates are an exercise in shifting liability from organisers to competitors and their doctors. From internet research (yeah, I know) it ranges from “my doc signed one for free” to “only after a full medical etc...cost me £200...” [For ref, I’d be somewhere in the middle leaning towards the £200 option.] I’d happily sign a waiver on the day.
The more I read about how seriously these certificates are taken, the more tempted I am to just fake one - but I know I bloody won’t at the end of the day. It’s just all bollocks though.
EDIT: Apparently, a quick visit to a French GP and you can get yourself one for around €30 but I have to enter online and upload a pdf. Bloody shite.
Not a regular poster on here but did the Wyre Forest Half Marathon today - a mixture of fire roads and trails. Have started to do a little bit of running recently but my longest run to date was a flat 9 miles on tarmac. Managed today's half marathon in just under 1 hour 58 minutes and only stopped in total for a few minutes at the water stops. Happy with that for my first attempt at a trail half.
A quick check on the route shows it as having 200m-ish of climbing stuc. Bloody well done on coming in well under the 2 hr mark on that one. Great stuff. 👍
Ta.
Strava/Garmins saying just under 1200ft but not sure how accurate that is. Looking forward to trying to keep this running up.
So I managed to get a PB in the ParkRun - 22 seconds better at 23.35. then did the Race for Life with my daughters, their friends and their mums (took my wife's place as she was injured). A much more leisurely run but very impressed that 10 ten years olds and some mums that don't even run managed to get around 5k in 33 mins.
Well done Stuc! 💪🏻
Wee thought for those involved in the like of BGR, PBR, CRR....etc.
How do you find folk to run with you? Assume it can't all be people you know, and you'd really need local folks for the knowledge etc?
Are these support runners folks that are keen to try a round for themselves? Or maybe veterans of the various rounds?.
Not that I'm anywhere near even thinking about such madness, but, well, 18 months ago (with the exception of an embarrassing Edinburgh marathon years ago!) I hadn't ever done any proper running really, now I've knocked out a few hill races, half marathons, got an ultra this weekend....
It's not beyond the realms of possibility that in a couple of years time, I could be a few steps nearer....
Who knows?. 😊
Club runners nobeer? I did a shift on the WHW for a friend. I don't go that often to club training nights, as I sometimes feel clubs suck the fun out of stuff. But they provide a good support network.
PSA - Prime members get 30% off Garmin wearables for the next 48 hours, might find a bargain or two
Aye, I'll be doing a shift on the WHW next year for a clubmate, but that's a different monkey altogether, its a marked path, no nav issues, the rounds are completely different. A tired runner must be very reliant on not only being paced but also assisted with route choice.
Spin, who was gonna do your winter round with you? Guys you knew, or do you post on a forum and ask for folks?.
First track session for me tonight. Eeek! Suspect it's not going to be pretty...
Been trying to get some mojo back recently, still doing the miles but no pace and not much enjoyment.
2 things have happened:
1. I've entered a 1 mile track race at my local track. I suspect it'll hurt like hell but I quite fancy something different
2. I made a slight tweak to my commute run, and this morning, I ran it in the rain. Oh my, it was wonderful, I was slow but the tweak in route is really nice and running in the warm rain is such a treat.
Maybe, just maybe I'm back on track.
Im not having a good month.
Since the lairig ghru ive been off the feet pretty much .
Did LG and thought i got away pretty lightly with no real "injuries" so to speak- just toenails and blisters.
Kept my self moving with the bike and swimming to let the blisters heal - lots of stretching etc.
at skipinish the following friday - i became aware of a golf ball in my shoe under the arch on the right foot - and the golf ball was growing. Spent a week hobbling and massaging the area with a golf ball. - thought i was good . Tried an easy run wednesday this week - nope its back within 3k .
MY IT band on the left Knee is good for a bit of dualing banjos - so foam roller has been applied liberally and my back has been stretched lots .
probably a couple more weeks of rest required 🙁
It's nae fun getting auld Terry.
If we’re talking injuries wondering if any of you had had peroneal tendinopathy? Overdid things a few weeks back and been unable to run since. Pain and swelling in foot seems to be easing slowly and just wondering if you have any tips? I suspect my calf muscles are a bit tight and a contributory factor so I’ve been stretching them a lot. Will go and see a physio soon I think if it takes much longer to heal.
Spin, who was gonna do your winter round with you? Guys you knew, or do you post on a forum and ask for folks?.
I was going to run solo but have static support at two points. That's how I did my summer CRR and BG. Obviously you need to be confident on nav etc but it makes you more flexible. Most folks would lean on club mates but not every club has that kind of expertise. There's the fell runners forum and also a FB group called Ramsay Recces that people have used to find support.
I'm in the Alps just now with shonky WiFi but happy to offer advice on rounds when I'm back or better connected!
A few thoughts on rounds...
How you do in races is a poor measure of how you'll do on a round. I regularly beat people in races who have much faster round times than me and vice versa. At the end of the day only one time matters and that's sub 24.
As for building up to it, racing has a place but massive days out are better, after all you only have to average 4kph to do a CRR! If you're serious nobeer, keep doing what you're doing but throw in some big hillwalking type days, try to keep the pace up but don't worry about it too much. By massive days out I mean 10hrs plus. Build up to doing a few days like that back to back. Mountain marathons are also good prep. If you can do the A class in one of them without too much damage then I reckon you're fairly well on your way.
Watched the Eiger Ulrra Trail yesterday in places, very scenic 110km/6700m ascent. Might dust off my ultra shoes again and get an entry in for next year. Watching the lights as I sipped a bottle of red last night reminded me I’m an old man but still have some energy !
Cheers spin, done great food for thought there.
Did run the blades 50k yesterday with my wife, she was awesome, her longest previous run was 15 miles, so 50k was a stretch.
I found it tough, sounds silly (but hopefully not condescending!) That slowing down to her ultra pace actually made it very tough.
After last weeks half marathon, which I'm going to call a success, I thought today I'd try a run in the Peak District.
I headed up to Kinder Downfall from Edale. Some walking involved and some scrambling when I missed a turning and ended up following the course of a stream, until I was actually pretty much in the stream. I need to brush up on my navigation as I'm so used to the main areas of the Peak by bike - found it easy to follow what looked like a defined path heading in the right direction which soon turned vague. Think I may invest in something with a better display than my Edge and revisit my map and compass skills as well.
Also bought a Salomon ADV pack in Hathersage. Really nice to run with - cant really tell it's there. Looked at the Alpkit bag but even though I'm not the slimmest of people the straps were pretty much cinched tight and it still moved around a bit.
Just over 12 miles in total - not fast because of the walking and scrambling bits but a really nice day out, and something I've wanted to do for a while.
Been upping my miles recently (although absolutely nowhere near the distances some of you guys do) and have done a couple of 6 mile runs (two runs over three days to push tiring legs a bit) in just under 9 minute mile pace but wanting to get that to around 8.30min - aiming to do GNR in <2hrs in September.
Well done johndoh.
Best thing I've done for my pace is long slow runs combined with a tempo run a week, and a track interval session.
Cheers nobeer - that's kind of the aim, however (due to injury) I lost a whole season in 2017 then nursed my way back last year by just doing Park Runs. Up until 6 weeks ago I hadn't run further than PR distance since January 2017 so I am building up the distance (which I aim to do on week day evenings) then aiming to beat my PBs in the ParkRun on Saturday mornings (which I managed last time out) when I have people to run against.
Hey Johndoh, I'm doing the GNR and also aiming sub 2 hours. I'd echo what Nobeer says. I'm doing a couple of easy runs and a tempo/interval run through the week with a longer one on Sundays (about 8-10 miles at the minute). 9.09 minute miles is dead on 2 hours but I think you are right. In a big event like the GNR, there's crowds and faffing to deal with so 8.30 pace is reasonable. Coming from cycling I find that I have a decent level of stamina, its the pace that I need to improve on.
