Anybody use Hoka Rocket X shoes? Just ordered a pair for some road action.
As the resident shoe geek, the answer is “yes, of course”.
I quite liked them but I ordered a size to small so they gave me some toe issues. Good for fast stuff, a bit stiff if going slower.
Can you guys point me in the direction of some YouTube videos about how to run downhill off-road. I feel, like xc mtb, it's the secret weapon that not everyone practices.
Short and sweet
Damn, its been too long since ive done any glissading
That’s looks seriously unforgiving on the knees, mine give serious grief just walking down any steep hill.
Anecdotal but, I have a Pilates/Physio instructor who has been dealing with that very issue in me and it currently seems to be working.
Lots of core work, lots of work making sure the glutes are firing, managing hip alignment, and lots of balance work seem to have addressed issues related to long technical descents.
It actually felt quite unusual when things started working together rather than in isolation, e.g. descents feeling like its all about the knees changing to descents feeling like its in the back/core/glutes as well.
Trail ultra performance really benefits from bringing some thought into the training plan, developing proprioception, with balance board work, core strength and thereby allowing you to improve pace on tricky ground. Being able to run steadily, even slowly, on technical terrain without costing you too much of your effort or brain power will give you a significant advantage over many longer distance runners.
The place where so many of our folk come unstuck is tough, stony singletrack, so if you can run that, even quite steadily & securely, it'll give you a big advantage.
Plus, doing this without an expensive fall in terms of the energy & confidence expended through even a minor injury will keep your flow and pace better than many. At the Highland Fling in April, about 40% of the front 30 runners had taken a tumble on the trail at some point, several more than once.
If you're a mountain biker, would you go straight from a blue bike park route to an EWS stage..? Probably not. In your running plan, find a tricky trail and session it, gradually improving your ability to be nimble, for want of a better word.
Plus remember the ultra mantra: start off slowly, then slow down some more. Once you're past 50 miles, it'll repay you in spades....
In your running plan, find a tricky trail and session it, gradually improving your ability to be nimble, for want of a better word.
I'd add a caveat to that, and it's what I said earlier:
you want to train on terrain similar to the race.
Clearly any downhill training is better than nothing, but there's quite a big difference between, say, a fast, steep and relatively smooth singletrack, and a rocky scree slope.
Time for a shoe update?
I suspect this is of interest to very few, but some may be interested if only to take the pee out of me. Safe to say I have a problem and that I need more storage space!
Nike Vaporfly x 3 (300 miles and to be retired, 100 miles, brand new). Still the best racing shoe I’ve tried. 300 miles is about their limit though, they’re just started to feel a bit off.
Nike Invincible (250 miles). A wonderfully soft easy day shoe.
Nike Pegasus 36 x 2 (400 miles (to be retired), brand new). The best Pegasus model, just a great all rounder, but now almost impossible to find.
Nike Pegasus 36 Trail (150 miles). OK, maybe this is the best Pegasus model, a perfect all-rounder for light trails, well cushioned and so comfy. Also now impossible to find.
Nike Pegasus 36 Shield (50 miles). Only really worn in the snow or stood around at wet parkrun’s.
Nike Pegasus 37 (150 miles, relegated to the garden). Bang average, don’t buy these, poor upper and lockdown, and a lifeless mid-sole.
Nike Pegasus 38 x 1 (100 miles). Not bad, bit heavy and uninspiring, but not a bad shoe.
Nike Pegasus Trail 3 (150 miles). A perfectly functional easy trail shoe, bit too heavy and poor grip, but well cushioned and very comfy.
Nike Terra Kiger 6 (260 miles). More suited to looser trails, good in the mud, terrible on wet rocks.
Nike Terra Kiger 7 (20 miles). As above but with a slightly better fitting upper.
Nike Streak 7 (200 miles). Super light, old skool racing flat. Great fun to run in but they do beat you up.
Adidas SL20 x 3 (400 miles (to be retired), 200 miles, brand new). Simple, light tempo shoe. Very basic design, not well cushioned and work best at pace, my fast club run shoe. Great traction too, I’ve used these in a couple of trail 10k’s.
Adidas Adios 5 (50 miles). Lightweight and minimal tempo shoe, good for short blasts and the odd 5k race too. Good for track work too.
Incoming/under debate:
Adidas Takumi Sen 8. Quite fancy a pair of fast 5/10k shoes and didn’t like the Nike Streakfly.
Nike Invincible. Love these as an everyday shoe and will be getting a backup pair, hopefully on the cheap as a new version is due out soon.
A cushioned trail shoe. For long days on the trails. The Peg 36 trail did this well but they’re no longer available, Peg Trail 3 was close but not right. Hoka Speedgoat perhaps? One of the Adidas Terrex models? Saucony Peregrine? New Peg Trail 4?
A TBC daily shoe. I'm down to my last pair of Peg 36’s so need a replacement. Peg 39’s maybe? NB 880 maybe? Brooks Ghost?
Been and gone:
Hoka Carbon X. Nice shoe, but I bought the wrong size so they never quite worked for me. Felt good going fast, less good at easy pace.
Reebok Floatride Energy 4, I know this could be a great daily trainer and it’s ridiculous value but it just doesn’t fit my feet.
Saucony Endorphin Speed, great on paper but quite a high volume toe box that didn’t work for me.
Nike Alphafly, I just found these dull and badly fitting with a really high arch. Clearly they’re fast but they didn’t work for me at all.
Nike Tempo Next, loud, heavy and just a bit weird. Just didn’t gel with these at all.
ASICS Novablast 2, well liked shoe by many but I found them neither one or the other. Not as cushioned as I hoped, and not as “poppy” either.
Brooks Launch, no, just no. Badly fitted, dull to run in, little or no cushion, little or no pop, just no.
@lunge - I can confirm the Takumi Sen 8 are a rapid shoe. As a wearer of mostly Adidas shoes these fit in a similar way to their other offerings (Adios Pro, Adios, Adizero Pro etc) but feel supple and sharp straight out of the box. I don't think you will be disappointed with these.
@lunge various of my mates swear by New Balance Hierro v6's as a "cushioned trail shoe" - useless in mud, and highly amusing to watch them run in snow, but great in drier conditions.
@lunge, have you used the Next% race shoe? I got surprisingly good results with a pair.
have you used the Next% race shoe? I got surprisingly good results with a pair.
@thecaptain, Vaporfly Next%? Yes, on my third pair, a magnificent shoe which is super fast and great fun to run in. Love them.
@lunge, just got a pair of Hoka Speedgoat 5s myself. Only a couple of runs in so far, but seem to grip nicely on loose, damp, gravelly, stony surfaces. Also seem quite grippy on grass and compacted mud (not tried on loose sloppy mud yet).
Seem a slightly narrower fit than my other Hoka shoes (Clifton 8, Rincon 3) but still plenty comfy for me.
Plus, doing this without an expensive fall in terms of the energy & confidence expended through even a minor injury will keep your flow and pace better than many. At the Highland Fling in April, about 40% of the front 30 runners had taken a tumble on the trail at some point, several more than once.
I'd echo what highland man says - thankfully I was one of the 60% top 30 that managed not to tumble this year by I did make up alot of ground on the rough stuff just by running it before and being confident on it. Specificity is key!
Thanks @lunge when I saw vaporfly in your list I just imagined the original 4%, perhaps because I'm still using some of those (bought just before start of covid lockdown). I have two 4%s (one pair is well used), a next% in the cow-slurry "gyakusou" style which is ugly as hell but was being sold cheap, and also alphafly. Fortunately they are all quick 🙂
I had a "Big Race!" with my little boy across the recreation ground today finishing by the pole and bench. Could I just run up to the bench and stop? No! Of course not. I had to run between it and the pole where unfortunately for me a hidden hole awaited which my left foot half planted itself into. Literally the in the last few steps.
It didn't feel too bad at first so I chased the children around a bit more. We had another race but foot was starting to feel painful. Had a lay down when I got home.
Foot is now painful to walk on. I don't like pain! Outer side of left foot. Predominantly forward of ankle toward middle. Upper more than lower. Tried calling 111 but gave up after 20 minutes. Not found anything specific through internet searches so wondered if you guys had any ideas?
So annoyed!
Strap it up and rest. You've probably strained some ligaments, it will recover in time (might be weak for a while). Last time I twisted my ankle quite badly (enough to DNF a race, I didn't keep running around on it!) I was jogging on roads quite soon but kept off anything rough for a few weeks, could feel it was a bit unstable.
This was my Saturday https://www.strava.com/activities/7292822633
I had meant to drop a tracking link here in advance for anyone to dot-watch had they been interested, but I was crazy busy last week and forgot... I can almost negotiate stairs again normally now, which is nice!
That is an incredible run @turboferret. How you can hold 9 minute miles for 100 miles and still think you can go quicker is beyond me. Amazing.
Awesome running @turboferret. How did the strategy pan out in the end?
We had our local Boundary relay race on Saturday. I got the tough leg (6 - 11.4 miles) which takes in Wharncliffe crags and a couple of large climbs. I was doing great until coming off the crags, just before the gate, thinking I had negotiated the worst of it, and down I go. If I was a car I would have dinged every panel (except fortunately the windscreen). I have both knees, left shin, left hip, left forearm, left shoulder, left chest (this is giving the most jip) and right hand scuffed and bruised. I managed to get up and drag myself to the finish. Fortunately no-one saw me tumble! Managed a steady 6 miler yesterday so I can't be too bad...
It's the West Highland Way race this coming weekend, just over 200 runners starting at 0100 Saturday in Milngavie. Sleep deprivation beckons, along with stress and anxiety..
We've had quite a few Covid call offs in the last few weeks, some of these for people with earlier infections still who are unable to train and some more recently acquiring it and floored. That's yet another hazard to add to the routine ones that knock out 30%+ of the original start list before they actually get to the start line.
Finish line medical duties of this race usually have a theme each year; might be a particular anterior tibialis tendonitis, it might be trench foot. Or perhaps could be cloudy eye, persistent vomiting or postural hypotensive collapses on the line. But there's always one thing that you see over and again and it's different every time; dunno why that is but it adds to the challenge. At least I'm not running this year, just get the race started, medic teams in place and kit sorted, then head for the finish line and await developments. Happy days.
Nothing like @Turboferrets's amazing effort, but I completed the Coniston Half marathon yesterday with my buddy.
I got diagnosed with anaemia recently and was bricking it that i wouldn't get round, but felt really good yesterday and coming out the other side of it. Two weeks ago i could barely get up the stairs without being out of breath and light-headed so finishing this was a major milestone for me this year.
It was miles off my usual pace on a course like that, but with my lack of training and stress levels through roof recently i actually felt a bit emotional that i knocked this off. Edd's calf started playing up so with 3.5km to go he sent me on my way and i knocked out a 5:40min pace to the end.
We both have the Lakeland 55km Ultra in a few weeks, both massively undertrained for it, for lots of reasons, but we're going to give it a good try at it
I did the 55k last year if you need any pointers. Not particularly quick mind!
Might be different this year if it's a mass start but one of the checkpoints in the langdale section (forest) was running low. The rest were great though. Grasmere was good in terms of seating and being able to properly refuel. The climb up to Grisedale Tarn and descent after see the longest bits of climb/descent. First climb to Kirkstone Inn is relatively gentle compared to the road which you only join near the end.
On Saturday I did my last proper long run before my 100 miler at the beginning of July. We did the route of a local ultra, the TP60, which is just over 60km going up and down some of the local mountains. Got to the end feeling tired but fully intact which is a good sign.
That's me in the long sleeves - it was over 30C but it's either long sleeves or sunburn...
Funnily enough the pace was nothing like @turboferret 's effort - that's pretty amazing!
That looks epic @mogrim - you're in Spain if I recall, where is that picture taken?
@mrsheen - Oh good info, thank you. We're aiming to beat cut-offs and survive, neither of us are racing whippets!
My strategy was to try and set a new course record, and not make so many of the mistakes that I did at the Thames Path last year - mainly setting off far too fast, taking on way too many carbs, puking everything up at halfway and crawling to the finish. I also saw that the winner of the Thames Path this year held all of his kit in a waist belt, so wasn't carrying anything on his back. This looked like a great idea, and would leave the back exposed to dissipate heat, which if it was warm would be a great benefit. I sewed a big pocket into the back of an old pair of Skins compression shorts which had lost the elastic from the waistband, so were pretty much useless anyway. They worked nicely so I could have my whole torso free, and while it wasn't particularly hot ~20ish degrees, it was pretty sunny all do, so I think this made a difference.
What I hadn't managed to do was get as many miles in during training as I would have liked, nor hills. Commuting to Dunkirk (not famous for hills) most weeks this year didn't help either, and lack of preparation became apparent fairly early on. I had in mind a 13 hour goal pace, which was perhaps rather optimistic, but even 14 hour course record seemed unlikely at the halfway point. I was doing plenty of sums working out how my current pace compared to what I needed to run, and I quickly reverted to trying to stay ahead of 2nd place, who was never more than about 3 miles behind.
Again I had crew who did an amazing job of keeping me fueled and also cooling me down with ice, and I had some pacers too who joined from halfway doing short stints. Basically I worked on the marginal gains, but had neglected the core aspect of training, so I was very lucky to sneak the win, and it was my smallest winning margin ever, about 15 minutes, regardless of race distance.
On the fueling front though, instead of aiming for 80g carbs/hour, I just went with what my stomach could take, which ended up as about 5.5 litres of McMaurten (my own Maurten mix) over the distance, which worked out as about 30g carbs/hour, on the low side of what you might expect, but was all I could handle without any GI distress. However, I was still peeing without issue all the way to the end, and afterwards, and only lost about 2kg of weight, rather than the 6 I did at Thames Path, so this wasn't a complete fail.
Was it fun - not entirely sure. It's a long time to be running, even just the 1st half solo, morale improved significantly once I had a buddy with me, but of course the pain levels ramped up.
I walked all the uphills, probably more than I should have done, but it did mean I didn't completely slow to a crawl at the finish, so the ups were a relief as a good excuse for a walk 🙂
@alanf that's the Laguna de los Pajaros, the peak you can see in the background is the crest leading up to Mt. Peñalara which is the highest mountain in Madrid (2,428m).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pe%C3%B1alara
Anyone here use a Bosu ball? My physio has advised itd be useful for some of my numerous issues....
Looking around the price seems to vary from £30 to approaching £200 and ive no idea why beyond looking better made.
@piemonster - no experience myself, but my friend swears by them for improving strength around joints and hips
Cheers @spawnofyorkshire
Thats pretty much what im getting from the Physio too.
Just a question of whether to go cheap or ALL IN.
Ergh, first running injury after starting in November.. flowly got up to 22.30min 5k's from 31 mins so been quite pleased with myself. Was going with a bit of spirit around the park run and had to dodge someone who stopped in front of me, hit a rock and over the ankle goes. Thankfully not broken and I can put weight on it but it's very purple.
Slow road to recovery for me... sad times.
Todays questions@
Given it's 30 ish degrees here in the midlands and I have a 10k race this evening...
1. How many pints is it advisable to drink before?
2. How many minutes from a PB of 37 minutes will each pint take from the time?
3. How long will the first pint last after the run? (please answer this to the nearest second...)
Beer or water?
Beer or water?
Either or...
Yesterday was my first ultra, the bishops castle 50k. Been training pretty hard for it so was fairly confidant in my ability going into it. I wanted to run sub 7 hour but dream time was sub 6 hour. I felt real good and strong running until around mile 22, then hips started to hurt and it became a bit of a battle! Kept plodding though and made it over the line in 5 hours 46 minutes!! 5th place finisher!! I’m over the moon with my running after so much self doubt not having great training runs leading up to it
I’m stiff this morning and walking like an old man but so happy!
Half thinking what’s next already!
Saturday was grim.
High route was shut due to windspeed (80mph) and wind chill (-11/12)
Started our journey at 2am got our athlete to sign on and swim start. A slightly stressed Frenchman trying to park a manual hire car managed to crash into me twice while I was parked.
Our athlete come out the water quick. Onto bike. Put in a storming ride round to garve then the wind exposed the fact she was built like a climber / runner and the power wasn't there for the 40 or so km of 40kph headwinds
Came in off the bike 1.45 later than expected due to that.so we headed out on the run at 3.30pm
Had my work cut out just getting her to the t2a cutoff. Which we made with 5 mins to spare.
Got off the mountain at 10:30pm. I couldn't have been any wetter had I jumped into the loch. I had to give our athlete my warm hill gear she was really struggling with the cold and I was only mildly discomfort due to the lack of fatigue that she had.
But.......if you ever get a chance to do support at celtman do it. What an atmosphere. No plans to even plan to want to do it.... But what an event.
Any recommendations for a fairly lightweight waterproof for fell running? Need one for the mandatory kit, but prefer to buy one I can use all year round rather than an ultra lightweight one which will be no use if I actually need it. One which will ok with a racevest/pack.
Prefer to buy a decent one which is packable/breathable and robust as possible.
I've got a Decathlon one that's doing great service - one of these:
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/men-s-waterproof-jacket-trail-running/_/R-p-164431?mc=8556433&c=BLACK
I have a Montane Spine Jacket which so far is superb.
I do also have what i think of as an Ultralight waterproof, an OMM Kamlite Smock, which i half expected to be little more than a windproof but has actually done a very good job in poor weather.
Both jackets have the best breathability ive ever experienced from any waterproofs. But neither are what you'd call bargains.
The Decathlon jacket above is probably a sensible shout although ive generally not got on well with their stuff, but then, plenty seem to rate it highly.
Any recommendations for a fairly lightweight waterproof for fell running?
I’ve got this one for Harrier which I like a lot. Good value too.
https://harrierrunfree.co.uk/products/exmoor-waterproof-jacket
The Decathlon jacket above is probably a sensible shout although ive generally not got on well with their stuff, but then, plenty seem to rate it highly.
Decathlon has weird sizing, you often need to go a size. And their cheap stuff is definitely cheap for a reason - but go up a range or two and I'm a huge fan.
Montane minimus stretch - this has the stretch material and doesn't sound like a packet of crisps. It's also waterproof/windproof and does exactly what you need. It's not as thick/heavy as an OMM Kamleika but that gives options for layering and it works well just over a base layer. It's a great jacket that I would recommend.
Any recommendations for a fairly lightweight waterproof for fell running?
+1 Montane Minimus - I have the smock version (discontinued) as well as a OMM Kamleika - the Kamleika is a bit of a sweat bag in comparison. Got caught out in heavy rain the other day and was surprised at how effective it was.
Barefoot/forefoot? Does anyone do it? I've been off running for 9months, and just about to get back into it. Seems like the ideal time to transition.
I've effectively started the couch to 5k but with barefoot shoes/style. Seems infinitely harder than the old way. Anyone got tips or on-line resource to look at?
I started wearing barefoot shoes about 10 years ago primarily because I have massively wide feet and they fit me much better than traditionally shaped shoes and secondly on the recommendation of my wife who started wearing them as a means of strengthening her ankles to prevent recurrent sprains.( She has never sprained her ankle again since starting wearing them!)
My wife took up running about 5 years ago with a local couch to 5k club, and did a couple of 10k races in her barefoot shoes no problem. She was always trying to get me to come out and train with her, on the few occasions I did it was obvious that she has developed a beautiful smooth technique. I tried to keep up but I have never been a runner, in fact I was so bad as a child my parents took me to see a specialist doctor and I was diagnosed with mild dyspraxia, hypermobility, flat feet (fitted with orthotics) and told that I would never be able to run like other kids. Aerobically I could keep up with my wife no problem due to my cycling fitness, but my muscles would get destroyed and I would be hobbling with DOMS for days after a 5k easy run. During the first lockdown I started walking a local 6km circuit with the family to keep us active, they quickly got bored of the same route everyday but I could see that I was getting faster and faster, eventually I started to break into a run for short sections and after building up the running distance gradually over a year I could run the whole circuit.
I ran my first 5k race in April in 25:04 not fast,, but not bad for someone who didn't start running until their 40s.
Vivobarefoot have course of videos on technique and strengthening exercises
https://www.vivobarefoot.com/uk/vivo-courses.
Best advice I would give for barefoot running, is don't run before you can walk. It takes time to build up the strength in your feet that have spent years cocooned in overly supportive shoes. Build up a strong foundation by going completely barefoot as much as possible when at home or in the garden. Switch to barefoot shoes for everyday wear not just for running, so you are building strength and proper movement patterns all day every day.
Another Montane Minimus user here and would recommend it on the whole. I've got the smock version, i do find the hood annoying sometimes if it's not up, but otherwise it's nice and breathable
Nice one Ballsofcottonwool. Confirms what I thought really, that it just takes a long time. Sticking at it...
Good weekend of running?
I had a classic Saturday, 4 miles to parkrun, parkrun, 4 miles home. This was the first time since 2018 that I've run a parkrun and not volunteered as well. It was quite nice having a week off.
Sunday was a traditional LSR, 18 miles around the fields and the hills at a lovely slow pace, bloody hot mind you. The bacon sarny afterwards tasted magnificent!
I had a pretty good run yesterday - 23km with 660m+ of elevation gain.
I used it as a dress-rehearsal for the lakeland 55km in two weeks, carrying the full kit and finalising my fuelling. The ultra will be all about survival to the finish i think.
I'm still recovering from the anaemia but feeling a lot better, my VO2 max has dropped from 47 to 42 from it though :/
It's only a couple of weeks ago that i couldn't walk up a flight of stairs without getting out of breath, so whilst i'm feeling under-prepared it could have been a lot worse!
Dad's race at daughter's nursery on Saturday morning. ~50m sprint isn't necessarily my forte but managed to sneak a win by a hair's breadth!
Junior parkrun on Sunday saw another 10 second improvement from last week. I've worked out that at this rate it will take 36 weeks for Wilfred to beat the 2km world record 🙂
1500m this evening in the vets league, again not really my distance but should be fun
Bit of a damp but awesome 11 miler, 2000ft climbing on Saturday evening, but riding Sunday morning.
How do you folks balance the run/ride schedule? I can’t decide which one I’d rather do at the moment…much easier to answer in winter
Anyone else at the Chevy Chase on Saturday?
last long run yesterday - 15 miles with a pack, to get used to running with a pack again.
does anyone else suffer with anxiety, bought on by the amount of pockets a pack has? it freaks me right out. I always feel I'm not making best use of it 🙂
Anyway, run was alright, suffered last couple of miles, but I ran too fast, had tired legs and was relentlessly tarmac. Chevy will be a bit more stop start, and softer on the joints, so pretty confident....
Just under 20k with about 1200m+ on Saturday morning, and thankfully it wasn't too hot. I'm now officially tapering for my 100 miler coming up in two weeks.
does anyone else suffer with anxiety, bought on by the amount of pockets a pack has?
I've got the opposite problem - my large volume backpack is seriously lacking pockets, and has a single main compartment. Which is a complete PITA when you need to get anything out as it's almost certainly guaranteed to be at the bottom and you have to get everything else out to get to it.
How do you folks balance the run/ride schedule?
It's mostly running at the moment with my big race so soon, plus it's too hot to use the turbo in the garage. But otherwise I'd do 2 runs and 2 rides during the week, another run or ride on Friday, then Saturday long run / Sunday long ride.
About 10k run to Kingston last night, 1500m race, then ~10k home again.
Given how much fatigue there still is in the legs from the 100 miler I thought a tactical sit-and-kick race would suit better than taking it out from the gun. With 300m to go I surged to the front, and was surprised that someone came with me and pushed me hard to the line, but I still sneaked the win in a rather pedestrian 4:34. Can certainly feel it in the legs today, a couple more easy days before I get back into the swing of things.
I still sneaked the win in a rather pedestrian 4:34
We have very different interpretations of pedestrian!
Well done on the win!
Too hot for proper running these days IMO, even with this fairly miserable summer as soon as the sun comes out it's ruddy hot. Summer is cycling weather, you get much more of a breeze and can roll along much easier than you can run.
Did a tolerable sub-20 parkrun last weekend and doing the Leeds 10k on Sunday, just because it's there really, to keep me ticking over. Hopefully sub-40 (did it in 38:30 a few years ago but doubt I'll match that) and then mooch around looking for a cafe and something interesting for lunch. First trip to Leeds since...probably 2019 some time! Got to get up at stupid o'clock to pick up number before the 9am start, which is annoying.
I'm back at the physio again on Thursday. After my last visit, suspected meniscus tear that just wont heal. Stretching has been aggrevating it, so it is a very slow process. Some days I feel like I could go running, the next day I feel like an 80 year old with arthritis.
@thecaptain personally I love running when it's hot, and the more training you do when it's warm will help you when racing, especially if it's a warm day for your race. Spending 5 years in India meant I couldn't really avoid the heat and I got pretty well acclimatised, although I think that's wearing off now
Agree @turboferret it's certainly possible and improves with practice. My first marathon was an autumn event in Japan, the long runs through the summer there were a struggle but I did get through it. If I had no option, I'd grin and bear it, but I like the change of pace with more cycling in the summer and mostly running in the winter. Plus winter cycling can be a bit grim. I don't get cold feet running, or a bike covered in mud!
I also think at my age and size, it's good to mix things up so as to not over-use the joints. A lot of talented locals are now ex-runners with knee and hip problems.
I'm sure this has been done before, but does anyone have a recommendation for a running suncream?
Preferably something small i can carry with me in my pack
I love running when it’s hot
Me too, spent 2 weeks in Crete many years ago in August. Ran a very hilly 7-10 miles every day. Came back and won the County 10k track champs the following weekend 🙂
I’m sure this has been done before, but does anyone have a recommendation for a running suncream?
Decathlon sells a smallish spray, otherwise check out the flying and less than 100ml options.
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/spf50-sport-sun-protection-cream-50-ml/_/R-p-142883?mc=8355417
Interesting article about running in heat, says that performance drops off (gradually) above 15C, surely that will vary with person, distance, other conditions but sounds reasonably plausible to me. Sun is also important IME.
https://runabc.co.uk/running-in-hot-conditions-north
The rubber sole on one of my shoes has lifted from the foam mid sole - can anyone recommend a glue to repair please?
Contact adhesive
Is "shoe goo" still a thing?
Just had a thought. Is shoving a soft flask of water down the waistband of your shorts a thing or is it a stupid idea? Only occurred to me after watching the film Unbreakable and seeing some of the runners stashing presumably empty hard bottles down the back of their shorts.
@rollindoughnut
They've got pockets built in to their shorts to hold the flasks/bottles in place.
Some use a storage belt under their shorts
Look for ultra or trail shorts for ideas
I've got a pair of shorts that'll take a soft flask, I'm not a fan tbh, I've mainly used the pocket for my phone instead and carried the water
I thought those were pockets for gels! 10/10 to the Internet today 😄
Edit; just checked my Ron Hill shorts, no those pockets are tiny, definitely for gels. Boo!
I hung out at the final feed station for the Hever festival of endurance 50mile race today. Was just cruising home on my bike after helping out at the Pippingford mtb marathon (God I love being active), when I came across it. Was just in time to see the first two runners. Very different animals.
I love this stuff.
Anyone know any good routes in Kent worth doing? 10 - 15 miles with nice scenery.
About 41 mins today for the Harrogate 10k on a lumpy mixed course. Really enjoyed it, a lovely run along paths and country lanes. Happy enough with the time (2nd vet50) considering I've not been training, just jogging around a bit.
The Greensand way is always a good bet. I know the section from Ightham to Oxted very well from my mtb riding. It'd all run very nicely too I expect.
Chevy chase fell race yesterday.
20 miles, 5000ft of climbing. So hard. Died on my behind the last 5 miles, quads were battered, went to a run walk, and just went backwards.
Today has been ‘interesting’…
It’s weird how expectations change.
Did a half yesterday, sneaked just under 90 minutes and was not happy with how it went. Felt stodgy from the start and couldn’t really get in any rhythm. Held on to the pace, but I was on the edge all run.
12 months ago I did the same event and was absolutely chuffed to break 90, this year I did an almost identical time and wasn’t at all satisfied.
Standards have gone up.
I've got some of those trail shorts that can carry water - you can stick two 250ml soft flasks in the back. It's not a bad idea and they're not uncomfortable with the flasks, but tbh 500ml is a bit of a no-man's-land when it comes to carrying liquid: it's not enough for a long run, but for anything under an hour I wouldn't carry water anyway (and that's living in central Spain, with proper heat...) I suppose it's quite nice to be able to wet your mouth when it gets hot, but from a hydration PoV they're pretty useless.
When I want to carry water I use a waist belt with bottle holder. Do all my long runs with this (it also has a pocket for food and keys etc). Took a bit of experimentation to find a waist belt that works for me, I have to do it pretty tight but it's round my hips so isn't uncomfortable.
500ml is ok for me in winter, even for 3h runs. In summer, well I don't do 3h runs 🙂
The key with hydration is to plan your routes to pass a church or 2. Every church in the UK has an outdoors tap that is perfect for wetting your whistle and topping up any bottles.
I carry 2 500ml bottles for longer runs, but on a hot day I’ll get through those so a church or 2 is perfect for a top up.