its not painful, just uncomfortable. I’ve done a few 3-4 km runs a few days apart that were ok-ish and then did a run back to back days. stopped after 0.5km and walked home.

I’d rather get it right than rush it and do it again. watched quite a lot of those Bob & Brad videos and doing a lot of the exercises from them.

also running London in 60 days, but I need to take another week off to heal shin pain. Really low down on my shin. Where I fractured my leg 2/3 years ago.

Thought I’d do them regularly but I’ve found I prefer being out on my own doing bigger loops of the trails I normally ride on which is great fun.

Dougie, whisper it, but running on MTB trails is great fun, it turns out that single track running is as good as single track riding!
parkrun is great to push the competitive instinct and thrash yourself a little, and it’s really satisfying getting those PB’s.
But long miles in the hills and the trails will always be what I chase.

@lunge ha, yeah it’s just as much fun picking ‘lines’ on foot as it is on a bike. In fact it’s given a different perspective of my local trails that were becoming a bit mundane due to riding them over and over. Also, as I have the Cairngorms just a short drive away I’m keen to up my distance and do more trail running (which is what I’m more interested in rather than road) in the mountains over summer. Something differnt to the mtb and hill walking but accomplishing the same thing – being out in the wilds.

I liked the parkrun I did and I will need to go back and see if I can beat my time (currently sitting at 22:29) which should be do-able as I’m a shade over 20 minutes for a 5k right now (weather and course dependent!) – maybe the competitive spirit will push into sub 20 territory!. I’ve quite a few to choose from around me so there is variety without repeating the same parkrun every Saturday if I so choose!

It’s been great reading everyones journey in this thread with some great advice along the way from those that have been doing it for quite a while. I’m looking at a few events to push myself and challenge my comfort zone (without overdoing things)

Running my usual MTB routes was a real surprise. The descent from the transmitters on my local mountain down to the village is a real gem* – 45mins of ridge singletrack, tricky rock gardens, nadgery woodland descents – and it’s just as good running it, except you enjoy it for about half an hour longer!

*From Mt Jaizkibel down to Lezo, if anyone knows it from a BasqueMTBtrip

I’ve given a couple of Park Runs a go this year, they’re cross country’ish ones in Delamere Forest.

The first one I did with my eldest (7yr old) and we ran 27:40 for the 5k, pretty good really for my first time running in 4 years and his longest run ever; the previous furthest being about 2k in a school cross country event.

Last weekend he had a cough so I went by myself and could go a bit faster, and managed the course in 22:49 and 5th V40 chap so can’t grumble. I managed nice even splits too.

I’ll probably keep it going through summer when I’m not racing MTB’s that weekend and hopefully it’ll help with my cyclocross racing next winter.

@chakaping @mogrim
Re runner’s nip…

Hairy tits and tape are not good either! 🤣

Hi all, new to this forum and noticed a running thread – excellent. I have suffered from the runner’s nip situation and have my definitive cure – works for me, but YMMV. Micropore seems to have staying power – did an ultra with the stuff and it had stayed on. No problems at all.

Micropore tape can be got at anywhere really, Boots is the stuff I bought. You just need a square every time, though I cut it into an octagon, just thinking that that way the corners won’t catch on material of the top you’re wearing.

Just my observation that even stuff dedicated to running can really chafe in certain conditions, say if sweating. My Salomon running top is horrible for that. I now use a merino top sometimes, and just now a Howies Merino baselayer under a tech t-shirt. But still with the nips taped.

Had my first aborted run today, my watch decided it wasn’t going to keep a gps signal so by the time I’d warmed up, run for 2 minutes, realised I had no distance or pace info, stopped for a minute, tried again and run for a minute, then stopped for 5 minutes restarting the watch, I was cold again and after 5 minutes of running decided to call it a day as my form gone to pot, my right ankle felt like it was going to give way on every step, my left shin was aching more than normal, and now afterwards, my legs are aching more after 10 minutes than they do after a 30 minute run!

I’m done with the fossil ‘sport’, had enough of its issues and unreliability.

So, cheapest place for a forerunner 245 music?

I’m training for a half marathon in a little less than a month.

Did 15km last night at a decent pace, for me. But again my knees started hurting after about 13km.

Any thoughts from that rather vague description?

Sounds like runners knee, https://www.runnersworld.com/health-injuries/a20854077/whats-the-best-solution-for-runners-knee/

It does indeed, thanks lunge.

I think I need to look into some exercises and maybe get assessed by a physio, as I know my legs are a bit wonky from when I had a bike fit.

@jambo

What do you mean by “uncomfortable”? Its natural to have soreness/stiffness even a bit of repeated swelling (IANAD) after a bad sprain. Depending on level of discomfort I would be tempted to carefully push on and see if you can “go through” it.

NSAIDS (if you can take them) plus ice about 3 times a day will help. Balance ball/ballons are very useful

I would be tempted to carefully push on and see if you can “go through” it.

Aye, I can see both sides of this tbh, reading about fell runners continuing on when going over on an ankle in many different books, but I’ve also seen some subsidence in my own ankle swelling by having 3 days off running at the weekend there.

I went on a hill training run last year with a large-ish group up on the moors, I went over on my ankle, it bloody hurt as well, and if I’d have been on my own I’d have stopped for sure. I carried on, and it never really caused an issue, either on that run or the days after*.

That has made me push on through some issues, maybe foolishly, who knows?.

*Every chance mine wasn’t as bad as yours jam bo, just my experience.

What do you mean by “uncomfortable”? Its natural to have soreness/stiffness even a bit of repeated swelling (IANAD) after a bad sprain. Depending on level of discomfort I would be tempted to carefully push on and see if you can “go through” it.

that approach was working ok when I was leaving it 4-5 days between running. stiff and uncomfortable when running but no lingering pain. its the ‘push/spring’ off the ground that hurts and I guess why walking etc is fine. tried a run 2 days after another and a lot more discomfort, enough to think it wasn’t worth pushing it.

coupled with an unfortunately placed outbreak of eczema in the bridge of my foot, another two weeks off seemed like a sensible option,

gonna try again later today to see if a bit more time and lots of balance ball exercises have made a difference.

Best of luck mate.

I daren’t do much more than jog on sand for now, that’s after 4 weeks yesterday. It’s still swollen too.

It’s moot though – entered 5 trail races this last month and didnt get drawn in any of them 😂 I think this year will be about learning to ride an MTB again

Was nice to run along the beach today without getting soaked, hammered with hail, or blown aboot like a chip poke.

20200228_162023-01 by [/url] – Flickr2BBcode LITE

The final week of C25K begins.

Week 9, Run 1

3.48 miles / 5.6km
29:59 moving time
8:37 /mile / 5:21 /km average pace

Had to use the GPS on my watch rather than the watch + phone gps and as well as the very poor GPS track, it also dropped 20% battery on the 30 minute run…

A garmin forerunner 245 music has been ordered!

nice one @ta11pau1 I think those were about the same as my numbers today!

I put a brace on and went down the beach again, this time mixed jogging with a few sprints, some zig-zagging along the foreshore (it’s canted at quite an angle so certainly gets the ankle moving), then strapped it up with that rubber band stuff, forget the name, and did some hopping and propioperception stuff.

Wondering if it’s too soon for a gentle trail run, or if I’m getting a bit too excited.

Anyone got experience of the Swede-O?

I put a massive hole in my head headbutting a lock hasp, so didn’t run at all. Another couple of days rest…

Kenny Stuart will be passing on his knowledge and experience.

Great to see

I did a mountain marathon / ultra in Asturias, north Spain yesterday, 57km in total with 3600m of climbing… and I’m hurting now 🙂

It’s an absolutely stunning part of Spain, as green as Wales but much warmer. There were even daffodils out at one point. But damn it was hilly, and as a Madrid resident I’m not used to that much mud! Of course there’s a reason for all that green and mud, and it did rain a bit at one point, but mostly it held off and I seem to have got my first sunburn of the year.

Next ultra is 6 weeks off, and there’s work to do as it’s a proper 100km+ race. Back to training it is then.

Ben Nevis ballot entry in. 🙏🏻🤞🏻🙏🏻

That went ok. 6km off road, ankle is still sore but bearably so. It’s a bit odd in that it starts hurting as soon as I run, stops as soon as I stop and doesn’t seem to have any lasting effects.

Seemed a lot more stable than when I tried running last.

Hopefully I won’t be crippled in the morning.

Anybody else do the Duergar out of Rothbury on Saturday night? First time running it for me. Absolutely brilliant event. Pretty brutal weather conditions on Simonside, with high winds and horizontal snow.

Well the Big Half went pretty well, albeit with a bit of a major error.

I was pacing 1:20, which according to the results puts me in the top 1.5% of finishers (306th out of 22125). However, my number suggested I was to be in the B wave, and it when queried no-one around me wanted to run anywhere near that time. I moved forwards into the A pen, but didn’t move close enough to the start, so didn’t cross the starting line until over 3 1/2 minutes after the gun, and again no-one around me was running anywhere near 1:20 pace. I ended up scything through the field virtually solo until about half-way by which time the differential between my pace and those around me had come down considerably.

After this point I started to pick up a few followers in my group which was nice, as it seemed a bit pointless to be just running past people while wearing a flag 😀

I was actually a bit ahead of pace, as I wanted to get a bit of time in the bag early with a tailwind to counter the sections later where we would have a headwind. As such, the people who started ahead of me, who I caught, were actually on course to finish pretty much exactly on my 1:20 target.

All in all, it was good fun, and the legs came to the party, as I wasn’t entirely confident of my abilities, given recent issues.

Felt pretty good afterwards too, no sore legs Sunday night, and I’ve had a couple of gentle trots since, so perhaps I’ve turned the corner and am on the path to recovery 🙂

Reminds me of a bike race where I was wearing a different colour dorsal to everyone else. After a brief spell of thinking I was special, it turned out there were two races in the same town. Well done for turning it back round!

Well after missing out on the draws for the 5 races I wanted to do this year, finally got “lucky” with the 42k trail I did last June. Just the small matter of returning to training. Did my first jog yesterday not on sand (hilly 10k to work) and the ankle felt okayish except when changing direction, and being terrified of it folding again. Took forever though, hope no-one I know saw me…

@mogrim Was that in Cangas?

What are peoples thoughts on calf compression socks/sleeves? I see TurboFerret is wearing them and wondered whether they’d help with the calf issue I can’t shift?

Also, having started running at NY I’ve noticed that now I’ve upped the distance I run in a session that more often than not the first 2 miles feel terrible and the remaining 2-4 miles feel much easier. Does this change?

I received a yellow number years ago for the GNR. Didnt pay any attention until the day when it turned out to be an elite number. I was on the front line with a rope between me and 18000 other runners…. Made the first mile quite interesting….

What are peoples thoughts on calf compression socks/sleeves? I see TurboFerret is wearing them and wondered whether they’d help with the calf issue I can’t shift?

I suspect they’re snake oil…and still wear them…
For longer runs, I think they help slow down fatigue in my calf muscles where I’ve had a few issues in the past but in truth I have no idea if it’s in my head or not.
I also wear them for cold runs as, and again this may well be in my head, they keep my calfs a little warmer and stop the odd ache and pain.
They’re also great for trail runs as they stop nettles stinging my legs.

@mogrim Was that in Cangas?

@bob_summers that’s the one. Made a nice change from the sand and rocks of Madrid 🙂

It’s funny what a difference a couple of days makes.

I’m still on track to hit my target of running 1,000km this year. I typically run 5-7km 3 times a week but have been flirting with some longer runs when time allows.

Monday i went out and did 12km. Felt terrible all the way round, had to stop and walk quite a few times for 30 seconds or so. Just felt terrible slow, heavy, “lumbersome” if you like. No rhythm.

I went out again today and did the same loop. I didn’t stop and made it round at a 4:55min/km pace. According to strava i clocked my best 5km time (22:53) and 10km time (52:25). I don’t really care about the times but it was one of those runs where i just felt strong and fast the whole way.

What a difference a couple of days make!

As things are going rather well with my running I decided I needed a few targets to keep me motivated and interested. I figured events were the best thing so started to have a look around at trail races and came across the Kielder Ultra weekend. While I have no intention of doing an ultra anytime soon I did see they had a shorter 32km/20 mile route and thought that was ideal – a challenge but not something that would leave me broken, had a chat with my wife and we booked a long weekend in the area and I sorted an entry for the race. My intention is soley to complete the distance and enjoy the day.

This lead to having another look about for something a little later in the year and (having read about it on here) I decided I’d enter the Arran Tarsuinn Trail race in June (with another excuse for a family holiday weekend). A work colleague is also entered in this one so I might have a bit of company to start things off.

Also contemplating an entry to the Run Balmoral trail race which will be 2 weeks after Kielder, this one is local(ish) so doesn’t need a weekend away! After doing the 20 miles at Kielder the 15 miles at Balmoral should be easy, right?

@dooosuk I have been wearing compression socks for quite a few years for racing (not training) and as I’ve been improving every time I’ve worn them, I suppose psychologically they’re a help

I think this was about the first time I wore them. The combination of the then new magic Nike 4% shoes, long socks and being better able to cope with the warm conditions meant I finished in a totally unexpected position. Or maybe it was massively increasing my training volume…but either way I haven’t wanted to mess with the formula! Who knows if they actually have any beneficial effect

Another benefit of this running lark.

I no longer have a suit that fits me, one in particular that I couldn’t possibly have squeezed into 2 years ago, now hangs off me.

Did I say benefit? Gonna cost me a packet!

😊

and the ankle felt okayish except when changing direction, and being terrified of it folding again

2 weeks of using a balance ball a couple of times a day and my ankle feels a lot stronger and more stable.

had a chat with my wife and we booked a long weekend in the area and I sorted an entry for the race. My intention is soley to complete the distance and enjoy the day.

Sounds pretty much what I do – it’s reached the point now my wife decides she want to go somewhere, then asks me if I know of any race there…

A mate is from a village up there @mogrim and was nagging me to do it a while back but my ankle had other plans. He mentioned another from Cangas later in the year which comes recommended but unhelpfully I don’t remember the name. Was an acronym so guessing the TPE in June.

2 weeks of using a balance ball a couple of times a day and my ankle feels a lot stronger and more stable.

Going to progress to that now I can trot on the flat. Spend a lot of time at work balanced on one leg with my eyes closed which must look odd but no-one has ever mentioned it 😅

Any tips for running shoes that handle muddy trails better than road shoes that don’t cost the earth?

I’ve just bought a pair of New Balance MT590 V4 for £40 inc delivery, bought them as a pair of hard wearing everyday trainers for work etc but seeing as they’re trail shoes I may well do a few trail runs on them too 😉

£35 + £5 postage from here I went with the slightly less garis khaki ones. They’re a little tighter on the toebox than my Asics but seem pretty comfy on first impressions.

Also got my Forerunner 245 delivered yesterday, not used it in anger for a run yet, but I can already tell it’s an altogether different best to my Wear OS watch…

Edit: Some posts have gone missing – I was quoting someone, honest.

Any tips for running shoes that handle muddy trails better than road shoes that don’t cost the earth?

The Kalenji trail shoes from Decathlon are great for the money. They are a tad narrow but are fine as long as you’re not doing mega-mileage in them.