How do you know it’s Sciatic?

Objective is to find enough form to at least run round with the last group in some local races

Good luck with that, the Basques do like their mountain races… I did a fun little local trail race, 17km with about 950m climbing. It’s pretty clear from my final time that I need to train more in the hills, I seem to have lost all the mountain fitness I had in summer. Not too concerned though, this is the off-season and I needed a break.

Cheers Captain, I’m in decent nick at the moment. Been doing run every day since end of September so it seems to be paying dividends.   I’m not thinking about mara training proper until early next year. Just going to keep riding the wave at the moment before stepping up the mileage. At the moment I’m probably averaging about 60 mpw so should be a decent base on which to build.  what’s your mara for next year Captain? Will you be at London too?

How do you know it’s Sciatic?

L5/S1 prolapsed disc June 2017, relapse March this year. The sciatic pain is generally in my left calf, and if it is worse, my left buttock.

Solid effort, Alanf!

I had a 5-mile XC race of a much lower standard than our Surrey League, and was a bit disappointed to finish behind some folk I’m normally well ahead of.  Don’t think I mentally committed and felt pretty fresh at the finish…

I’ve just put my London training schedule into my diary; I’m following the Pfitzinger and Douglas 85+ miles per week 18 week plan, which means I won’t have a single rest day between Christmas eve and the end of April :O  Double runs for about half of those days too.  Championship entry confirmed, goal is sub 2:25 and a podium in the V40.

In terms of best runs of the year, London Marathon is top of my list.  Set a target of sub 2:30 and exceeded that by a couple of minutes, while everyone else struggled with the heat.  Unbelievable 13th place of the non-elites.

Cheers Rich, I reckon you are well placed for you VLM target next year.

I’m hoping I cab stay injury free in the build up and see where I am come the end of April.

Your VLM run this year was outstanding given the conditions on the day. My run of the year was possibly at the weekend, but up to that point, probably the Boston (UK) Marathon, getting 4th and a sub 2:45 for a championship entry to London, which was the target.

That plan sounds horrific TF! 🤣

dunno about my run of the year, lots of PBs as I hadn’t really trained properly before…. but I’d say it was the Jedburgh half with Mrs Nobeer,  she was loaded with the cold, weather was horrible, but she managed a PB anyway. I love seeing her PB as much, maybe even more, than a PB myself.

Up until last winter, at the age of 39, she had never really done much in the way of exercise, she’s slim and never though she was unfit, like lots of folk I think. Now she rattles out 8 minute miles with a smile on her face! 😊

She bloody loves running now, can’t get enough, mega proud of her!. We’ve signed up to Marcothon, minimum 5k a day for December, I like stuff like that, will force me out the door, and that’s always the hard part.

Manchester for me alanf, I’ll be aiming at the V50 podium which is of course a softer option than London. I’m not at 2:45 yet but if I get there before age catches up with me I’ll definitely head down for the championship.

Best run this year was of course 2:48 at Manchester. But I’ve really enjoyed all my racing. With the possible exception of a couple of 10ks in the middle of the summer where I completely wilted in the heat!

Some serious times up there.

My best run of the year was Birmingham Half where I managed to drop 7 minutes of my PB in the pouring rain and cold. Never has a half felt so effortless, had so much in my legs, just felt wonderful. It reinforced my suspicion that I am a much better and happier runner when the weather is grim.

Worst was the Birmingham 10k in the raging heat, 45 minutes of pure suffering, hated every step, just no fun at all.

Got 1 more “proper” run lined up this year, a 20km (I wanted to do the half but I refuse to pay an extra £5 for 1km!) job on the 19th December before spending the winter trying to get my 5k time under 20 minutes and deciding if I want to do another marathon next year (who am I kidding, it’s more which one isn’t it?!).

Managed to get a couple of runs on the Lakeland Fells again at weekend. On Saturday we had an ill fated jaunt up Seat Sandal from Dumail. It was raw on the summit so we binned off going up Fairfield and dropped back down. My Mrs then managed to smack her knee cap on a pointy rock as she was passing some walkers and ended up hobbling down using a stick as support. On the plus side I managed to have a look at the ‘good’ line back down from summit to the road. Sunday was glorious and we headed up to Langdale for a trot up Pike o’ Blisco and  Cold Fell. This was an opportunity to tick off a couple of Wainwrights and get some climb in the legs. Stunning views. The dogs enjoyed it too!

I’ll be aiming at the V50 podium which is of course a softer option than London. I’m not at 2:45 yet but if I get there before age catches up with me I’ll definitely head down for the championship.

Thats a good time. I am 5 yrs ahead of you, 55 in October. Always wanted to do the NYC Marathon and although I could manage a sub 90 min HM which would guarantee me a good for age (at 54) there is still no guarantee that it wont be over subscribed. May just buy an entry to be certain….

Edit: Cheer up Mrsparkle!

Did my first xc race at the weekend , tough but fun

Just for you, surfer! ;0)

Out again this morning, second time this week and it rained literally all the way round. Lovely. Felt a bit warmer than the last couple of mornings though. Unfortunately my stopwatch decided to pause itself halfway around so I don’t know how long it took me, but it felt like I held a pretty steady pace all the way round, and going by the time when I left / got back it was probably around the 20 minute mark, which I’m pretty happy with.

I also ran the HRM on my watch out of curiosity (it’s not accurate enough for training I don’t think) which seemed to sit around the 140-150bpm mark while I was out. I have in the past used a Garmin chest strap, and that seems about right – puts me somewhere in the middle of zone 3 and 4 (my theoretical max is 182, and from doing intervals a while back that’s about right. Resting is about 58).

I’m not really fussed about HRM based training for the moment, I’m mainly going by feel, but it suggests I’m somewhere in the right kind of ballpark. I may dig out my old Forerunner at some point, but for now I reckon I might just start Strava tracking on my phone to get a better idea of times, and as I start to mix up routes.

I’m now starting to think about goals for next year, as long as I can keep going without injury. We’re staying up at Loch Katrine for a week in July, and there looks to be a good path along the lochside there. I’m thinking it might be nice to be able to run from the lodge to Stronachlachar (just over 14 miles, but I think quite flat) then get the ferry back over.

I don’t really want to enter any events as we’ve a baby on the way and I don’t want to commit to too much, plus I much prefer running when no one else is around, but I like to have something to aim for. 14 miles seems a long way away at the moment, but that’s about 8 months to train so should be just about doable…

Good stuff fmc,  there’s a marathon along LK,  looks fairly flat.

http://www.audreymcintosh.co.uk/loch-katrine-info/

Ace, I think we walked a bit of the track a few years ago, I remember it as being a bit like the track round Ladybower in the Peak, kind gently undulatey rather than proper hills.

I struggle to train on hills ‘cos it’s so flat around here, I have to drive to get to any and if I have that much time I’d kinda rather be on my bike.

**edit** There’s an old railway track that pretty much goes from my house to the coast for 14 miles, that might be a good training plan for next year.

Any one trying a marcothon this year ?

I tried last year and made it to 12 days of minimum  5k a day.

I feel like my legs will have a much better chance of supporting my ambition this year.

Also got a duathlon next Sunday 4km and 20km bike. Get to dust down the olde TT bike……it’s been a while since we have entered the Hurt locker that bike is the utter pain cave for sure.

A week off here – loads of travelling with only hand baggage, plus after Mondays run one of my upper thigh / groin area was strained and painful over night…

Last weeks SDW was fun, wedding in the afternoon meant I drank loads and slept lots.. even managed a  doze/snort during the speeches (how rude)

This weekend back on the trails of QECP, a couple of laps should be fun.

Back into it all after my hernia scare..

Weather looks kinda warm, i’m holding off dragging the long legs out yet..

I’m doing Marcothon Terry, planning 5 miles a day minimum. Hardest bits getting over the door, once out, another couple of mile isn’t much.

Currently waiting to get out and do a parkrun somewhere in Northampton. It’s pissing down.

Dry is good. Wet is good. It’s the going from dry to wet that I don’t like. 😀

Did my first ever 10k yesterday. It was on a treadmill and took me just over the hour to do, but feeling pretty chuffed after building up to it throughout November. Just need to keep it up throughout December as ski season training

Did my first ever 10k yesterday. It was on a treadmill and took me just over the hour to do, but feeling pretty chuffed after building up to it throughout November.

👍

good work dude.

Nothing wrong with that tennis shoes, 10k is 10k.

Cheers guys! 🏃‍♂️

Nice one oldtennisshoes….

I did my first a few weeks back, well chuffed.

First proper coast path 10k for me today. Love the challenge of hills, slipperyness, tourists and rain

Having only started running in 2017 I clocked up a nice little milestone this week and exceeded 2000km for the year.

Still trying to beat 23 minutes for a parkrun which was my other target for this year.

Annoyingly finished on 23:00 dead a couple of weeks back and 23:03 last week.

Just started doing a bit of Pilates and a military fitness style boot camp to improve .

I’ll get there soon….

Also signed up for first marathon in April.

After having done very little running in the second half of this year I did my first event in ages yesterday. The last running of the Grim Challenge in Farnborough (off-road on army vehicle proving land). Sold as 8 miles I think it was about under that however I finished in just under an hour in 22nd place (of 1000). Happy with that :). Would have been a few places further up if I’d managed to get to the front before the start. Not run Grim for nearly 10 years and I was 20 minutes faster than my younger self to boot.

If you had told me a year ago I would run up Dumyat for lunch, I would have laughed in your face while stuffing another sandwich down. Once again, thanks to this thread I just did… 5k and 217m up.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xCcPDvUyakNTB3Ui6

Last night was my second run of the year!

Combination of zero motivation and niggling injuries have stopped me running this year! Hopefully get some decent mileage in over winter now I seem to have found my mojo again.

L hivernale des Templiers for me at the weekend.

12km and 600m elevation off road .the main downhill was so steep had to use my hands a few times.

Good fun.

Not doing a specific marcothon as such but I have been doing run every day since 30th September and managing to stay committed so far.  I can squeeze some lunch time runs in with one of my dogs instead of taking both for a walk.  My minimum distance is I think around 4 miles, but I don’t use a watch and don’t really track my runs too closely so it’s a bit vague, but it’s certainly no less than 3 miles.

It’s helping that I’ve got plenty in the calendar coming up to train for and also I seem to be hitting a rich vein of form.

I managed another PB this weekend in the Percy Pud 10k (Loxley, Sheffield) and knocked 62 seconds off (34:27) and won the V40 category.

I’ll be doing my last monthly half this coming weekend at Keyworth.

I mean after the last post I feel a bit inadequate, but it’s all good right? 😉

Anyway, been out a couple of times this week, and after a false start with Strava on Tuesday where I managed not to track or time anything, I managed to track the whole run today. I say whole run, all 2.1 miles of it.

According to Strava, I covered 2.17 miles (sounds about right) in just under 22 minutes, at a pace of 10:05 min/mile. Fastest split was 9:51 min/mile. I’ve set up a segment so I can track it better, but that’s not showing up yet.

I’m pretty happy with that – I know it’s a million miles from most of the folk on here, but it seems to be heading in the right direction, 10 minute miles seems like an achievable aim. Hell, even 9 minute miles doesn’t seem too crazy.

I think the plan next is to up the distance a bit, we’re away this weekend so no riding which means I should be pretty fresh next week. I think I’ll go for a 3 miler early in the week, then back down to a 2 midweek then ride on Sunday.

ran with a local club last night at their speed work sessions.

8 x 300 hard with 300 jog recovery

all a bit structured for my liking I’ve never liked someone else telling me what to do – but then for speed work i probably need that.

managed my 5k a day for 6 days so far.

Racing sunday so 2 easy 5s the next couple of days and then its duathlon time.

Should be on for a PB run – its been 10 years since i did this event and i didnt run at all back then !

since august 1st this year I’m down 12kg , instead of being 1 belt hole away from needing a new belt ive moved 6 belt holes to the right and am 1 away from needing to punch more in so it can go smaller. ive gone from 25% BF to 18%. and ive gone from 5k being a battle to 10k being a trivial matter.

5 weeks till Spine time and I’m struggling with tendon pain down the front of my shins. I’ve not got half as many miles in as I would have liked. Just got to hope the body holds together long enough, and some proper weather kicks in.

since august 1st this year I’m down 12kg , instead of being 1 belt hole away from needing a new belt ive moved 6 belt holes to the right and am 1 away from needing to punch more in so it can go smaller. ive gone from 25% BF to 18%. and ive gone from 5k being a battle to 10k being a trivial matter.

Love it. Hopefully I’ll be posting something similar in a few months. Getting out regularly is definitely making me feel better in general, I definitely miss commuting every day (well, some aspects of it anyway).

I probably need to up to more runs a week, but I’m happy to take it steady and build up.

I’m pretty happy with that

I think that’s all that matters to be honest. Given where you are now, you have the chance to see that steep improvement that comes with taking it up, and getting more into it. It’s a really enjoyable phase. Good work!

Anyway, I hadn’t read my parkrun email properly from last week, where I ran, with a bloody hangover again, a soggy 5k in Northampton with 190 others while we were visiting friends for the weekend.

I knew I’d finished top 20 because of the place chip they’d given me. But I came first in VM45-49 category and wasn’t beaten by anyone pushing a buggy. That’s probably one I won’t be repeating any time soon as the fields in the other runs I do tend to be 400+ runners and there are always a few VM45-49 gazelles that come in well sub-20. Obviously, there were none of those types turning up on Saturday where I was. Still, you can only compete against who turns up, yeah? Yeah!

@trail_rat – training needs to have a structure. Whether that’s a run “leader” or trainer telling you: “full effort to the end of the road” or yourself telling you the same, it doesn’t really matter. Possibly a bit easier in a group as hopefully the competitive instinct kicks in and you work harder as there isn’t the temptation to ease up 50m before the line.

Not all sessions need to be structured though – you can get a good workout with fartlek sessions for example – and it’s good to mix things up to prevent it all getting a bit stale.

I think that’s all that matters to be honest. Given where you are now, you have the chance to see that steep improvement that comes with taking it up, and getting more into it. It’s a really enjoyable phase. Good work!

Yeah I reckon. There’s a benefit in comparison I think, especially as you start to get a bit ‘better’, but at the moment I’m taking the posts of epic runs and 5k a day as inspiration more than anything. Am I there now? Nope. Will I get there? Maybe. Am I enjoying trying to get there? Actually yes, pretty much for the first time I’m enjoying running on the road (I’ve always liked trail running more, but that’s a drive away).