hello all 🙂 I need a real shop to try on stuff because I’ve been running in cheap shoes but I have no clue what will fit me. Does anyone have a recommendation for a manchester shoe shop ?

Are you purely running when you’re doing 60-70 mile weeks or are you also fitting in riding?

How do you structure it? Consistent runs or a long run that accounts for a good portion of that?

The biggest month I’ve done is 165km (mainly 5-10km with one longer run a week), with some commute rides on top. I can’t see how you can fit in more than that (due to time and recovery) whilst doing any proper riding or gym work.

@edhornby – if you sign up to the Nike Club (just an email address required) then free returns. Order a few and send back what you don’t need? Same for Sportshoes.com I think.

Not Manchester but there’s Running Bear in Alderley Edge who do gait analysis.
There used to be a running shop on Deansgate too which seemed quite good. Runner’s Need I think?

Are you purely running when you’re doing 60-70 mile weeks or are you also fitting in riding?

How do you structure it? Consistent runs or a long run that accounts for a good portion of that?

Riding never formed any part of my training and I cant actually recall doing any, I was running pretty much every day and sometimes twice. To run well it is very simple, you only need a handful of components. It was a few year ago but I suppose it was as follows (give or take)

Mon: maybe lunchtime run, only 4 miles but it was pretty hard as I was pushed for time. pm run home from work 12 miles
Tue: track, cant remember the sessions although I did like shortish intervals with a long recovery say 24:x400 with 1 min.
Wed: maybe just 1 run up to 6 ish miles or so
Thur: as Monday
Fri: as Wednesday
Sat: race or anything up to around 10 miles, often did 2 x 5
Sun: Seldom did long runs during this period so around 12, sometimes more.

Reflecting on it I made a few mistakes (probably running almost all of my miles a bit too quick, my runs home were often under 70 mins) although the Track sessions probably added a great deal and I certainly never got the results I should have due to stupid injuries and overtraining at the wrong times and avoiding racing which on reflection meant my times are not reflective. I was very mediocre and that training would be enough for somebody running much quicker than I did.

Up and Running, I’d forgotten about that one cheers MrSheen 🙂

Also thanks Dashed – one to remember next time when I know what shapes fit my feet, at the moment I don’t know whether I need wide or slim fittings or whether a neutral fit is the right one (I suspect it is though…)

Enjoying the thread and some interesting stories.

I’ve got some pain. There’s always some pain, but this has got me thinking. 5 minutes into a run I’m fine and do an hour or two – 11k last night, trail half at weekend.

After I cool down my lower legs and right inner ankle are really painful. The morning after it’s hard to climb stairs and come down. Walking is painful but after a few mins I’m ok.

Am I just old and approaching decredidity or should I get it checked? Stress fractures spring to mind.

It’s just recovery aches and pains, I wouldn’t worry about it. Again, it’s something I notice with increased running, the more I run, the less of that kind of stuff I get.

I think it depends on how often you are running and how much of a break you have between runs.
When I’m training for a marathon I get all manner of niggles over and above what I would normally get. I think its the body adapting to the new stresses being placed upon it. I don’t stop unless its serious and keep pushing through the plan (I don’t have a set plan, its just a case of more miles, more hills, more speed increasing over my build up period). When I get to a couple of weeks out from the marathon, when the peak weeks are behind and it’s into the taper (I don’t aggressively taper, mainly dial back the intensity a little bit but don’t drop the mileage too much) everything seems to settle down and the niggles disappear. It’s then just a case of maintaining the calm up to the event.

Talking about mileage, it’s taken me about 4 years to build up to regularly topping 100 miles a week, pretty sure I’d be more broken had I done this more rapidly. My training at the moment is certainly sub optimal, I’d be much better doing double runs for recovery. Unfortunately I can’t really fit those practically into family life without being utterly selfish, and running isn’t that high up my priority list!

TSS is a valuable score to determine the overall impact on recovery, if you do all of your running really easily you could handle loads more than hard stuff on the track, as extreme examples. This isn’t infallible though – the other day my HR strap decided it wasn’t going to connect to my watch, so it was using the useless optical sensor. It reckoned that I had an average HR of 172 for 2 1/4 hours. Given that’s 4 bpm higher than my recent fast 5k, that would have been an absolute monster effort, and as a result told me that I needed 3 1/2 days recovery 😀

Currently sat in hospital waiting to be wheeled down to theatre for a double hernia op. But smug that I managed to bash off my final few Kms last week to mean I’ve made my goal of 1,000km this year. 60kms last week though – that’s a big week for me but managed to keep my niggling IT band issue at bay!

Hope the op goes well! I also hit my 1000k target the other day. Maybe 1000m next year?

It’s just recovery aches and pains, I wouldn’t worry about it. Again, it’s something I notice with increased running, the more I run, the less of that kind of stuff I get.

I have lots of aches and pains but if I stop running for a week they almost all disappear (and I am 56) other than 1 or 2 things which are non running related such as arthritis in my big toe joint. That’s why I am always sceptical of people who pack in running because they have an injury. I am sure there are genuine cases but I am great believer that almost every injury clears up given time and that running (even lots of miles) does not cause any “wear and tear” issues or problems that you would not have developed anyway.

Aye, I think there are some who genuinely just don’t get past the horrible feeling when you start out running, and a dodgy knee or ankle is an easy way out!.

I’ve managed my highest weekly mileage since early summer, a mere 36 miles, last week, and legs feel great, not a hint of stiffness or anything, I’m fairly lucky that way.

I know for a fact that if I was to go back to even a bounce game of 5 a side, I’d be in bits for days though!.

Completed my first half marathon distance run at the weekend on local forestry trails. When I say run, it was really more of a slow shuffle, I didn’t set out to run that far and after 5k almost turned for home as my legs felt awful, but I kept on plodding and felt better as I went along, at least until the last couple of kms.

Not as sore as I expected the next day, but recovery is a slow job these days. So now I just need to up the climbing and carrying as I now seem to have agreed to do a Mountain Marathon next summer…see what you lot have got me into 😀

Lovely work @crewlie, a mountain marathon is on my list.

I’ve just had an e-mail saying that a actual race I have in the diary for December may well go ahead! I’m astonished.
It’ll be a weird format and the course is pretty horrible, but it’s a race and that’s what matters at the moment.

I’ve found my general running, tiredness and overall demeanour to be deteriorating over the past week, so I think my overall training schedule is a bit too heavy at the moment 😮

The 4:15 starts and 17-20 miles have become rather relentless and I’ve been struggling both with enthusiasm to get them done, and actually performing sessions. I think I’ll have to back it off a bit to get a bit more sleep, reduce the mileage a bit, and maybe split my singles into some doubles. I have found doubles so much easier to recover from that in the past nearly 100 miles a week in just my 5 days of run commuting has been a formality. Certainly not the case on early morning singles…

The 4:15 starts and 17-20 miles have become rather relentless and I’ve been struggling both with enthusiasm to get them done, and actually performing sessions.

I doubt I’m alone on this thread when I say I’m very impressed you’ve managed to do the sessions, let alone actually have any enthusiasm for them at that time in the morning 🙂

Maybe lighten the load for a couple of weeks heading into Christmas, then dial it up again?

Aye, I’d agree, consider having a light week every 8 or something?

I now seem to have agreed to do a Mountain Marathon next summer…see what you lot have got me into

I wouldn’t worry bout it, Mountain Marathons are mostly walking for most competitors anyway!

I think a lighter week every month was in my general plan, but the hard weeks need a bit of a re-think too I reckon. I have a 5k on 20th December, so I’ll have ease up in advance of that and then get on it again. I don’t have any issue running hard early in the morning, but it’s been a challenge the past week or so. I did hear that it’s better to go into a race 10% undertrained than 1% overtrained, so I think erring on the side of caution might be wise here.

I’ve just had a message that a half marathon everyone assumed was off…is in fact on and taking place this Sunday.
This is not ideal for a number of reasons.

1. I share a car with my wife (well, I don’t, it’s her car and I borrow it) and she needs it Sunday…the race is 15 miles away so I either get a cab over or cycle.
2. It was the first club run back last night and it went exactly as you would expect when you get 6 people together who’ve not run hard for 5 weeks. We basically beat each other up for 10 miles and now I feel shattered.
3. The original route of pavements and roads has not been replaced with an absolute mud bath of tow paths and old railways. This will make it even hard than it was originally.
4. I’ve been steadily upping my mileage and am on 70 per week, it’s Thursday and I’ve done 40 already this week. This is not in any way a taper…

This will not be fun. Still, first race since Feb so that’s a good thing.

My way of thinking about it is if you need to set an alarm to get up to train then you’re cutting into sleep you probably needed. So possibly it’s more the sleep pattern than the running load that’s doing you in, especially as you’ve done bigger running weeks before just at different timings. Everyone’s body clock is different, I really struggle trying to train after dinner. I reckon there is possibility in training body clock, but that’s a separate factor on top of running training.
If you’d be up anyway then it’s more likely to be the right time to run long.

Edit. Was reply to tf.
Lunge, best of luck anyway. You know you’ll love it when you get going. And there’s no time pressure with all them factors so just enjoy it. Sometimes them runs surprise you..

Also- nice one crewlie

I’ve been dipping in and out of this thread as I’ve been trying to get a bit better at this running stuff.

I consider myself decently fit, but found that running more than a couple of Km would leave me in pain the following day(s). Anyway, followed some advice, and can now handle 5-6K regularly (25-30mins) without any real stiffness to follow.

However, if I do more than 20-25km in a week my achillies tendons start to get very sore, meaning I have to lay off running for about a week.

Could it be my shoes? or is it something a 51 year old newbie runner needs to just watch out for?

There’s a few posts about what’s a niggle and what’s not recently in this thread and folk running through stuff. I would maintain the mileage your body seems comfortable with for a few weeks before increasing it gradually.

@lunge – just go and smash it. No time to prep, no time worry, so no expectations. Go and enjoy, turn yourself inside out and marvel at your achievement. And as you say, it’s a race…
My next race is scheduled for September 12th!!!

Today’s run was a very interesting compare and contrast.

Last night I did 10k in my new VaporFly’s, my first run in them and oh my, they are magnificent. Light, bouncy, fast, just amazing to run in.
This morning I did the same route in the React Milers…and I felt like I’d got blocks of wood on my feet. And I’ve barely felt enjoyed a run less.

The conclusion is I need to hide the VaporFly’s away for special occasions or they’ll spoil every other shoe I own!

I always run quicker in new shoes…..give them a few more goes before you draw any firm conclusions!

@lunge it is indeed very easy to get addicted to supershoes which make everything else feel horrible. It can get to be a rather expensive habit too, as they have a relatively short lifespan 😮

Been reading along this thread as I’ve been slowly converting fat to fit. I only run in the hills, or at least offroad as training for that and I fancy taking my 14yo son on a short course mountain marathon next summer. He’s been doing the odd hill run with me since he was about 10 and trains weekly offroad with his club. Anyone taken a kid on such an event and if so how did it go?

Anyone taken a kid on such an event and if so how did it go?

Check they’re allowed, not all races allow under 18s to do marathons. My club organises a 26km race for over 18s, but juniors do a 14km version.

The one I’m looking at is Arran in June and a 14yo can participate with a parent, which is why it appeals. It is about 25 miles over the weekend, so not unduly onerous.

Kong Mountain Marathon? that’s a new one, not heard of it (live across the water from the island). Looks like 2000-2500 over 2 days, so not bad (I did Tarsuinn trail last year, was 2000m over 16 miles).

Are these a navigation challenge too, as I don’t see any routes?.

If he’s in a club ask his coach maybe? I’m not going to risk advising yes or no – 14yr old boys vary massively, and I’ve no idea if he’s big for his age or whatever…

If you do decide to go it would probably be worth doing a Sat+Sun runs, to get him used to running on tired legs.

Yup – route publication is limited to rough mileage and height estimate. Nav is very much part of the challenge, so you get the route at the start of day 1. Not intending to race, but it would be a great experience for him and hopefully something good to share.

Are these a navigation challenge too, as I don’t see any routes?

Yes. It’s basically longer orienteering. Variety of courses though, some are point to point (just visit all the checkpoints) others are scored (remote checkpoints count more).

They’re really good fun* weekends.

*you know what I mean.

So anyway, turns out that over training and no prep works well…
Half marathon yesterday, less a race than a time trial, small groups set off at 10 minute intervals to allow a suitable distance between people.
It was wet and cold (just the way I like it) and the course was an absolute mud bath with everything from leaf mulch to standing water to bogs all over it. Felt more like an XC course than a trail run in parts.
I’ve not raced a half since the back end of last year and it’s not unfair to say my running has taken a fair step up in terms of mileage since then. But with no races this year, I wasn’t sure how I’d go, and the lack of prep wasn’t going to help either.
The thing I was struggling with was the pacing, as I’d not raced or even done a hard run at that distance for a year, I wasn’t sure what speed I could hold, how quickly to set off and what I was capable off. I erred on the side of caution for the first half, running to a pace I was happy with and then ran the second half on feel, pushing on in the parts I could.
And all that resulted in a 7 minute PB and crossing the line knowing there’s a lot more in the tank.
A very successful morning.

I’d be entering the Kong MM if it didn’t clash with some other events. I’ve run a couple of MMs over the years and enjoy them – the Peak Raid 3hr mini-MMs are good as well if they’re running.

I did a local orienteering event yesterday – Harden Moor near Bingley. Made a total and utter cat’s arse of it, overshot the first checkpoint and that kind of set the tone for the rest of the course. Maybe a case of not quite adjusting to the map scale, may also be that I’m now running faster than I can navigate, but yeah, did not have a good run. Enjoyed being out despite the cold and wet conditions, but the run itself was comedically bad.

Cracking day out on the hills last week (looking for a second bite of the cherry here, already posted on the hillwalking thread) in the Carneddau. Mist down, 3 tops, lots of snow, lots of nav, met a man in shorts soon after I’d stopped to put ALL my layers on 🙂
https://www.instagram.com/p/CIgIEeAjXQF/?igshid=3oofd0mrvatv

In other news, local trails remain sloppy. Another pair of shoes in the bin with a massive rip, biding my time from the shoe archive till santa delivers their replacement.

Congrats @lunge on the new PB, always nice to get one of those!

Also had a good run this weekend, albeit I was at the back of the group the whole time – I feel a bit guilty at holding them up, but they were all faster than me in October, and me (but not them) spending all November in lockdown hasn’t improved matters… Gale force winds also made it interesting at times, as did the massive amount of surface water. Fun though 🙂