Little bit annoyed. I’m week 9 (final) C25K, yesterday went out and did the prescribed 30min run, loved it! Afterwards and this morning patella pain when walking 😒

I’d been working a big database project for work all weekend that was really stressful, and completed it last night before the run (the run was the reward). So maybe in my excitment I went a bit too hard on the back of that, only 9min mile though. Weird as I’ve been fine all the way through the other weeks, then this out of nowhere. So I guess I’ll need to sit it out now for a week or so

Yesterday was London Marathon, I set out with a silly ambitious goal of 2:19, which I knew was a long-shot, and I knew would be painful if it went wrong, and it didn’t disappoint!

This was our little 2:20 group who were working very well together, the guy in the red and green vest of Aldershot and Farnham District AC is Joe Morwood, Steph Twell’s husband and a very classy runner.  Everyone was well motivated and the splits were tight until well past halfway.

Half split of 1:09:49 was a PB for the distance, so a bold strategy….

Things started to go downhill with about 10k to go, and I could tell as the heart rate was climbing higher and earlier than I’ve had before.  Our group had dwindled to 3 as one guy had disappeared off ahead and several had dropped off the back, and soon after that it was a solo shuffle to the finish.

This shows how things started to go awry

I was haemorrhaging time towards the end and the final 3k were incredibly hard, I was on the edge of cramping and my vision was disturbed, so I very much knew that a complete physical meltdown was very close.

Very much my pain face here on the Embankment, willing the end to come as soon as possible.

Crossed the line in 2:23:06, a PB by 2 seconds, but quite the 4 minutes I was hoping for, but a PB none the less.

9th out of the mass start, 27th overall, 4th M40 – 2 vets on the elite start and 1 was in my group who I couldn’t quite cling onto towards the end.

I’m sure I could have gone considerably quicker by setting my sights slightly lower and running even splits, but where would be the fun in that….

@turboferret amazing effort and even more amazing time! Well done.
I can’t comprehend running a marathon at that pace. Just insane!

Ridiculous run TF, brilliant work.

@turboferret – absolute class sir. Unfortunately my race didn’t happen as I managed to completely blow my calf at Finsbury parkrun on Saturday morning (but that’s another story entirely). I was watching just after the tower bridge turn at mile 13 (and then the other side at 22) and the group you were in looked like it was in fine shape at half way. I was glad to see you were still showing good form when you passed me at 22. That’s a super ambitious time to go for and kudos for the effort put in. When you get into the territory of disturbed vision it is an awful place to be but great work for pushing through and getting the pb. I sense it is on borrowed time.
Hopefully, if my deferral goes through I will be back next year. I just need to get the calf sorted and strong again. 9th from the mass start is phenomenal.

Extra 20% off Nike sale items nike.com for members makes Wildhorse 7 £61.58 so might take the plunge based on what people have said about this shoe on here.

Tempted by those, look amazing! I need some trail shoes.

Didn’t it get mentioned the grip was poor in wet?

@mattcartlidge I need some running shoes since my Salomon Speedcross have no tread left. New Speedcross GTX have gone insanely expensive (£140, I think I paid perhaps £80). Anyway, how do I get 20% off Nike? Just sign up?

@Superficial I was a member from buying school ‘shoes’ (Air Force 1) for my daughter, email arrived this morning saying use code OCT21 for 20% off sale items so yeah I guess join and then use the code. Previously looked at the wildhorse but beyond my usual tight budget without this saving but my Asics now have 5 holes across the pair so need new shoes.

Thanks for the quick reply, I may have to give them a go.

My next question is about Achilles tendinitis, or probably tendinopathy which I have self-diagnosed. apparently this is common in age 30-40 athletes so I don’t feel too bad. My left achilles is stiff in the morning, and it’s tender when I press it, but it’s not painful in use so it’s not even really that bothersome. The trouble is, it’s been this way for months and I don’t want it to get worse (obviously ideally I’d like it to get better!).

I ride ~100 miles a week (mainly commuting) and don’t really want to stop that. I’ve never really done much running, but I have lots of trails around me and would like to be able to run them comfortably. My winter fitness regime was supposed to include some trail-running (my friend wants to do the OMM next year…) but will I make the tendon worse?

Is there anything I can do? Heel lift orthotics? Stretches? Go see a physio? Or do I just have to rest it for a bit?

Cracking effort Tubroferret. I can only imagine how hard those last few KM must have been after holding that pace for so long!!

@lunge – as owner or tester of ever shoe on the market – do any of the speedy, carbon plated ones you’ve tried have removable insoles? I’ve got really high arches so things like the Nike Vaporfly with glued in, flat footbeds would probably cripple me.

@superficial

but it’s not painful in use so it’s not even really that bothersome.

Then I would ignore it and carry on. I have written about this on here before and my own experience of it over many years. IME they can become tender or swollen for many reasons and if you are training without pain I would be tempted to ignore it. It is one of the only injuries that I would suggest this for, just ensure you warm up before any running. Pain should be your guide. even if it is tender to run on you can often scale back your hill and speed work and this can be enough but I (and a lot people I have trained with) have lived with intermittent tendon “discomfort” and carried on and it has got better even when continuing to train. Use your judgement however, if it is very painful during training then stop but its common to be tender when warming up, pain free when running then stiff afterwards.
Ice will help but i would avoid stretching or massage etc. IME massage makes it much worse and never heard of anyone who had good experience once you let people start to prod it etc…. Also I would avoid NSAID’s or pain killers as they can mask problems.

Still recovering from my achilles issue and currently up to 4 mile runs taking it steady (circa. 9.15 pace). Just been out today for a shorter (2.5 mile) run but pushed a little harder and was quite pleased with 8.26 pace with 160ft of elevation gain.

I might even get back up to my target of longer (10 mile) runs at 9 min mile pace this side of Christmas if the injury continues to heal.

Thanks guys.  @alanf I hope you get your calf sorted and are back in action soon.

@dashed yes, the last 10k was hard.

For comparison the first 10k was 3:20/km at average HR 156 BPM.

The final 10k was 3:36/km at 178 BPM 😮

Awesome effort tf, i can’t help but think the extra air resistance from the beard might have held you back

@turboferret – thanks, I’m motivated to get back to it and seeing the marathon rather than being a part of it was extra motivation. I need to be sensible though and not try and rush back. Fortunately I haven’t planned any events post marathon and was going to pick and choose what I wanted to do, so I can now just focus on getting things back in shape and not worry about pushing myself towards anything specific.

For those looking at the Nike trail shoes, also have a look at the Terra kiger as they a decent trail/off-road offering and some colours are also in the sale.

Warmed up properly and wore my new shoes and managed a few km with zero pain this morning. Hopefully can keep this up for a few months now!

@turboferret – crikey, that’s a fast marathon. I reckon I might manage that time for a half marathon. You mentioned that the group was ‘working together’. Do you feel much drafting benefit in groups like that when running or is it largely psychological?

Well done TurboFerret, that’s really fast. I made it across in 5 hours 30 mins. It appears training more than 18 miles once really is a good idea. (I purchased several of your excellent battery holders in the dim distant past of DIY LED lights. But feel OK now.

@dashed, I pretty sure the NB FuelCell Elite V2 have a removable insole. In fact I know it has as a few reviewers have said you need to add double sided sticky tape to stop it moving. They’re proper fast shoes too.
The Saucony Endorphin Pro’s don’t strictly have one but they stuck in one easily comes out with a bit of heat and very minimal effort.
None of the Nike shoes do, not sure about Adidas. Worth noting that the arch is very high in the Vaporfly’s, and I think I’ve read the same about the Alphafly’s too so maybe don’t rule them out without trying them on. Nike have free returns and will let you run in them and still get a full refund.

@dashed – the Adidas adizero adios pro (originals at least) have a stuck in insole too. Not sure about the V2 but I would think they are likely the same. The other problem is getting hold of them.

More shoe chat, Pegasus 38’s are £60 ish with the code OCT21, https://nike.app.link/D7RVRYUE9jb

Infinity React 2 for £70 as well, both very good training shoes.
https://nike.app.link/fLOnc62E9jb

Thanks @lunge and @alanf – just ordered a pair of vaporfly’s for a free trial (as well as a pair of cheap Terra Kigers – had a pair of the old ones and really liked them for the summer / drier trails so hoping the 7s are as good).

@stevious there is certainly a benefit to sitting behind a group tucked in – not as pronounced as on a road bike, but the faster you go, or the windier it is, the more noticeable it is.  What was interesting was that one of the guys in the group who was very keen to go sub 2:20 and was shouting at us if our pace dropped below target, did zero turns on the front.  I spent a fair amount of time at the front, which might have cost me a bit of time, but it’s not all about the finish time at the end of the day, it’s the whole experience which counts.

@Wally, thanks for your custom, that seems like a very long time ago now!

I would recommend training, it does help 😀

What was interesting was that one of the guys in the group who was very keen to go sub 2:20 and was shouting at us if our pace dropped below target, did zero turns on the front.

Ha, I think I’ve met that guy at sportives.

Cheers Mr Ferret

A good weekend for me – still recovering from an injury and slowly upping the distance. I thought the route was about 4.6 miles (previous post-injury max distance was just shy of 4 miles). I was beginning to tire a bit by the end which wasn’t a surprise as it turned out it was a 6.12 mile run. I have no idea how I managed to do that but very happy to have completed it in under an hour (just) with no signs of the injury flaring up. Still hoping to be back up to 10 mile runs before Christmas.

I’ve said on here that I’m the opposite of Lunge, Turboferret and a few others on here: I’m not good at going fast, I’m good at going slow for a long time. The last year’s been targeted to one event for me – the Lakes in a Day ultra: 50 miles, 4,000m of ascent, the full length of the Lake District north to south.

Won’t write up the full blow-by-blow here, but had a decent day in relatively tough conditions. Visibility was low and we were in the clag for High Pike, Blencathra and the whole of the Helvellyn ridge. Navigation was tricky – there’s not a huge amount needed but you can save some energy if you’re following a better line, obviously – and the ground was just wet enough for the rocks and grass to all be greasy underfoot. After Ambleside the course gets a little less wild, but there’s still 1,000m of ascent in the last 30km so it’s not a walk in the park.

I moved well over the first stage, had an awesome run down Hall’s Fell off Blencathra, navved well and made decent steady progress to Grisedale Tarn and up onto Fairfield, and paired up with a bloke moving at a similar pace to me as we descended to Ambleside. We stuck together from there, through the last two sections, both having problems with our knees (ITB issues, not insurmountable but annoying) and just sticking to jogging where possible but mainly fast hiking – trekking poles are a saviour!

I think I’d said on here, my last 50 miler I finished in just under 23hrs, but that was a decade ago now, out in the Pyrenees, and so I had no context for an estimated finish time. I’d set my goals as:
Bronze – don’t miss any time cutoffs and just finish
Silver – Sub-23hrs
Gold – 20hrs

Happy to say that even with being slow over the last sections, I finished in 19:02:04, so very very happy with that (though my knees and thighs disagree with me this morning!)

Anyone else completed the C25k? Where did you go from there?

I like the idea of sticking with a structured plan so I don’t overdo things too quickly as I progress. Any recommendations for plan?

There’s this Nike Run club half plan I was considering. https://nikerunning.app.link/dr6gWOlclkb

It seems to progress at about 1 mile per week, mixed with speed and recovery runs

Can I just say that barryshitpeas is the best username on here!

Charlie Brooker is genius

Anyone else completed the C25k? Where did you go from there?

Personally, I just slowly increased my mileage and entered a few more events, 10k’s, half’s, etc. Then I joined a running club which has been brilliant and really pushed me on. Going after parkrun PB’s is great fun too.

I didn’t follow a programme after C25K, just sensible upped mileage.

First XC race of the season yesterday, great to be getting muddy again, albeit being almost entirely dry given recent weather.  Delighted with a 10th (my best result to date) in the ridiculously competitive Surrey League division 1. Even more so with the utter domination of our club, placing runners 4,6,9,10,12,13,18,19,27 and 46th, totalling 164 to the nearest rivals 319 (lowest score is best, a theoretical perfect score being 55).  Unfortunately one of our decent runners broke his ankle during the race and is going to be out of action for a while 🙁

Same 6 miler as last week and took 1min 30 off the time. That will do for now, but still some way away from where I want to be.

Starting to enjoy my 5-6km runs, pace is still sluggish I think but happily I have zero aspirations as an actual runner, just happy to be (literally) going through the motions and getting a sweat on!

Hip flexors still get pretty tight/tender by the end, any recommendations for a good body weight exercise I can do at home? I feel stretching isn’t enough.

Second ever Parkrun on Saturday. First one was 2017, when not long after I stopped running. I wanted to do one to get a benchmark.

Managed it in 25:57. The one I did in 2017 was 21:35, but I was a lot fitter back then from TTing, and around 6/7 kgs lighter too.

But now have shin splints in left leg ffs!

Loved it anyway, felt great pushing, and opening the legs up for the first time.

Will just take a few days – a week off and let the shin splints settle. I’ve got myelf some new Salomons to go and play of the hills and trails!

Does anyone use those compression thingymabobs for shin splints? I’ve seen people wearing calf sleeves and assume that’s what they’re for?

Shoes: what sort of mileage are you getting before changing them? My runs are logged on Garmin Connect and it tells me I’ve almost 500km on my current Speedgoats. It could be my imagination but it’s starting to feel like they’ve lost a lot of “give” in the sole. I actually have a new pair ready to go as I saw them cheap so maybe I’m just looking for an excuse to start wearing them.

@scotroutes, I tend to get between 300 and 400 miles out of a pair, depending on the shoe and what they’ve been used for so you’re at about the point mine get moved on. The odd pair seem to last forever (adidas SL20’s, I’m looking at your) and there are some that feel off much quicker than that too.

It always seems a waste as often the upper is still fine, it’s the outsole and particularly the midsole that has gone.

@barrysh1tpeas, great work on parkrun, as many know here, I bloody love the event so glad to hear you enjoyed it.
Re. calf sleeves, there are people who swear by then, some for shin splints and some for reducing fatigue in calf muscles. I’ve not seen much compelling scientific evidence to back up any claims, but that’s not a reason not to try them. I use them in the winter as they keep my legs a bit warmer and also find them good for long slow runs, though I’ve long accepted it may be in my head. The Decathlon ones are fine and can be picked up for £15, https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/compression-running-sleeves/_/R-p-308493?mc=8574246&c=BLACK

300 miles on those, clearly visible reduction in support. Theoretically I think I get more out of trail shoes, but tbh the soles tend to outlast the upper (the opposite of road shoes)

@lunge great, thanks. I was heading there today to grabs some camping bits. Always dangerous heading to Decathlon!

@barrysh1tpeas I used to suffer from shinsplints when I was younger and while at uni I was taught a fantastic stretch from the XC captain which worked absolute wonders for me.

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, and lift the inside edges of your feet up as high as you can, so you are only standing on the outer edges of your shoes (best done in shoes I think).  Hold this pose which should be mildly uncomfortable for about 30 seconds and relax.  Try this before every run for a week or so and see if that improves things.

Thanks TF! will give it a go