^^^^^ It was the Peterborough Half, or Perkins Great Eastern Run.
Was supposed to be my first half marathon….
Spent ages tucked under an umbrella before the start before dumping my bag at the baggage bit 15mins before the start to get in the starting pen.
I was wearing a bin bag, but it was cold and wet with the rain falling pretty hard. It was about 45mins after the start time that they announced it was cancelled…cue the melee to get to the bag tent!

Apparently someone called in suspicious activity by someone on the course, which turned out to be a false alarm…

I think they are gonna give the option of refund or defer entry to next yr.

I did my regular(ish) parkrun on Saturday – felt really good and thought I was running a decent pace (a few quick glances at my watch had me running comfortably sub-8min miles which should have put me there or thereabouts close to my PB) but got to the end and I was over a minute down 🙁

Hello runners, can I ask a question about plantar fasciitis.

I’ve had a nasty bout of it recently, which was actually triggered by a vicious hike-a-bike – but flared up again following a run a week later. So now I’m nervous of running again too soon.

So my question is – how long would people expect to lay off running to prevent another recurrence.

I’ll just note again – it wasn’t triggered by running in the first place.

Impossible to answer that – all you can do is start again slowly and gently and see how it holds up.

i had a bout of it (probable) after the lairig ghru . it didnt manifest its self at the time but in the week or so after when i was trying to recovery run shooting pains in the sole of my right foot on the front of the arch.

2 months of gentle z2 2-3 k runs on the treadmill + new shoes and i seem to have banished it.

Sensible advice cheers chaps.

Don’t know; it’s about the only thing I haven’t had.

Well, in injury news, after 1.5 months off with nerve pain in the leg, I managed a bit of trotting today. Have been walking to work a few times a week (12km) and it seemed to help. Today mixed in a bit of gentle jogging, no more than 2 or 3k total in 5 min chuncks, initially pain-free but after a while the nerve started to twang again. Still, happy for now as the last few weeks even a few paces of running has eluded me.

Thanks to @sockpuppet for the Oxford Half entry this weekend, so felt I should do a little race report. Was a minor logistics operation getting the ticket collection sorted as I couldn’t make it to Oxford on the Saturday but a little search of Instagram of others doing it and some messages sent off and I had a willing (if somewhat random) volunteer. I had ran Cheltenham Half 2 weeks previous and it had been going great till 16km when I blew up spectacularly (bonked), I have put this down to a night of boozing the night before and not enough food/fueling. Very poor preparation and I was annoyed with myself even though I managed a 1:30:40 PB.

Slow parkrun done Saturday as a warm up. Weather for Sunday was looking less than ideal. Got to the rather muddy venue and had to hang around longer than anticipated as the person who had collected my ticket was running rather late. It also turned out that you could collect your race number there even though all info I found said this wasn’t possible. After a minor panic she turned up and it was a long ish dash to the start pens. Thankfully @sockpuppet had put himself in the 1:30 pen however I spotted the pacer in the one infront so I covertly nipped under the tape and joined the B area.

I set off and dodged through a bit of traffic and plenty of puddles and started to settle into my 4:05 pace, I managed to find another runner to sit with who was doing the same pace which I always prefer vs running on my own. One idiot came running up the inside at one point and seemingly splashing through every puddle possible and soaking quite a few of us. The race was really well supported considering the conditions. Half way in and the heavens really started to open while running along a closed section of carriageway, absolutely torrential rain. It didn’t really bother me, I was fairly zone’d in by now apart from the sleeves on my running top needing the occasional squeeze out of water! At this point my unintended running partner started to drop off so back running on my own. 16km came up and I was still feeling good as this was where I had blown up previously, I did my best to restrain myself and not get carried away. I said to myself I can start uping the pace at 18km. Legs still feeling fine I rain a 3:51 and continued with sub 4 kms to the end and finished with a sprint to the line with a chip time of 1:26:02, 138th overall of about 6750 finishers and 24th in the 30-34 category.

@chakaping, plantar fasciitis is a funny old beast, I’ve had a couple of bouts, and I have found rest to actually be counter-productive. Lots of rolling of the heel on a hard ball, and calf stretches got mine under control and finally banished.

York marathon this weekend, and I happen to be featured on page 47 of the race magazine! However, I don’t stand much chance of winning as there is also a Kiwi international running, Paul Martelletti, with a marathon PB of 2:16… I’m hoping to be able to sit on his shoulder for a reasonable distance and hopefully my company will encourage him not to drop me too early!

Right then folks, as London’s application was once again unsuccessful, I need an April or May marathon to enter. Requirements are:
Relatively big event, I like big city marathons.
UK based
Fast ish course, hills are fine but I don’t want a really tough one
Err, that’s it.

Initial thoughts are Liverpool rock ‘n’ roll marathon, Manchester again or Brighton.

Any further suggestions or thoughts on the above?

Any use?

Home

How busy/big is it Mr Sparkle? I did a small marathon this year (Worcester) and found it really hard as there were no spectators and no real encouragement on the route. A bit of noise helps me keep going.

Bolton was one of the first UK mara’s. Really huge at the time. Had celebs like, er, Jimmy Savile doing it. Next year will be the first time they have organised it for years and years. They are pushing it massively and I think it will be very well supported as the Ironman UK is.

I did Liverpool in 2017, they run a 10k, half and full on same day. Fairly standard city course, a couple of longish drags but nothing too steep, the final 4 miles along the river are not the most pleasant end to a Marathon, pretty straight, no support and it seems to go on forever, the headwind didn’t help. Bit of a mixed bag support wise, the actual town centre and some of the parks had good support, other parts not so much.

From memory there were less than 3000 runners doing the full. Overall I enjoyed it and would run it again.

I am tempted by the Bolton marathon and it’s pretty good value too. Certainly seems a bargain when compared to the Leeds Abbey Dash in a couple of weeks – £27.04 (including the rip off booking fee) for a bloody 10k! Arse to that – I’ll get up at the same time that I would have to get up to get to Leeds and just go for a much longer run around Harrogate.

Need some new trail shoes, mostly for Urban Orienteering (on/offroad mix) and the odd trot round the woods.

Been using Adidas Kandida 7’s which are dying, I bit stiff for harder surfaces and not great for my over-pronation – also fairly narrow and shallow.

Any recommendations?

I know going to a good running shop is probably the right thing to do, but they all seem to lack options when it come to Trail shoes.

Do you need full off-road shoes moff? I ask as I do a lot of similar running to that and now use road shoes as they’re fine on hardpack and in the woods and only really struggle when it’s really muddy.

The Nike Shield range is a good compromise, they offer a bit of water resistance, a slightly aggressive sole and work well for mixed terrain. I use Decahtlon/Kalenji shoes off-road but they are too stiff for any distance on the road.

Aye, I’d go road shoe probably, I like to keep the proper off roaders for hill races and ultras.

I know a lot of folk frown up on goretex shoes, but I like goretex road shoes in winter, puddles everywhere, keep feet dry and thus less blister/toenail issues.

Asics gel pulse 11 bought last week for the next few months wet road duties, had the gel pulse 9, these seem just as good.

I do most of this running over the winter and know from experience that road shoes aren’t up to the job.

Also the local Parkrun is offroad so a trail shoe would give me a good option for this too.

I’m very pleased today as after returning to running following a break of 20 years and doing a 5km in 29.17 on 5th March 2018, I dropped below 22 minutes with a 21.46 today. My goal for 2019 was sub 22 so now a new target of sub 21.30 by the end of the year. For a slightly overweight 47 year old I’m very happy.

Got a bit of plantar fasciitis going on here too. Hard to say if it’s due to new shoes or a bit more running – maybe both. It’s irritating at the moment rather than being disabling and calf stretching and rolling ball under foot/heel seems to be keeping it at bay.

I’m planning a bit more riding and less running over the next couple of weeks to see if that has any effect.

rolling ball under foot/heel seems to be keeping it at bay.

I was advised to roll a frozen water bottle under my foot and it was like magic when I was suffering badly.

I will see about doing 2.5km to test the feet out this week, then do more if that’s OK.

Surprised I haven’t had any other running ailments really, but maybe because I only ever do about 30 or 40 mins.

Anyone else doing the beachy head 10K/marathon at the end of the month?
Ran a 48:57 10K last year, looking to match that at least this year, but I haven’t been doing a lot of training so it could be interesting :/

Diz, superb mate, well done!.

Moff, fair enough, you know the terrain fella. I only eventually buy asics, as I like the fit, and can buy online.

Fujitrabuco 7 are awesome trail shoes, not heavy and comfier than my road shoes, in fact comfier than any running shoe I’ve ever had. So much so, they’re now my go to hill walking shoe too…

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Lunge, assuming you don’t mind only the first 5% actually being in the city, Edinburgh is an option! Depending on the weather it can be very fast too. I’m doing it next year, a month after London and the day before the Vitality 10k 🙂

Lunge, assuming you don’t mind only the first 5% actually being in the city, Edinburgh is an option!

Mrs Lunge did Edinburgh this year and had a terrible time. The city bit was great but the seafront bit was horribly exposed and getting back to the city after the run was also a mission. Not one to be repeated.
Debating Bolton I think, seems an interesting option.

Anyone doing the Fell Relays on Saturday? Helby Vets, nav leg here (ha ha!). Say howdy if you see the green vests.

Decent weekend of autumn hill runs, Saturday was 30k Keiloch/Slugain/Quoich/Mar lodge/Braemar
Deliberately chosen scenic route rather than just banging the hilltops. Required a couple of river wadings and some deep heather bashing but worth it

Sunday another 30k, Gordon way to Bennachie. A fair chunk of hacking through overgrown brush and assorted grass and mud squelching, Gordon way is one for earlier in the year I think, all told would have been better just expending the energy around Bennachie which is much nicer

Amazing pics as ever Mike! 💙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

En route to Fance for family holiday with sore legs today.

Tuesday was 800m hilly reps. Trying to keep up with Runners that are faster than you is great training. It appears I still have it on the hills, which is encouraging. Spent by the end but managed jog back to base.

Not fully recovered it was track last night. Moneghetti session was suitably brutal. This was followed by the Kipchoge challenge for men to see if we could run 200m in 34 seconds, which was his marathon pace. 15 of us lined up and all pretty much made it. I was very happy as I came in a close third with 32 seconds. Second time out I was second as the leader pulled up. Haven’t run so fast in many years and felt great, but certainly pushed myself. Gasping for breath by the end. Just need to keep that up for just under 2 hours – truly mind boggling for us mortals.

A week of recovery now. I think I need it!

Been meaning to post something on plantar fasciatis for a while as there was a question up there somewhere ^^^

Anyway, I suffered quite badly from it for a year or so and even now it’s still lurking in the background but I know how to manage it and the triggers. For me, what started it was getting into running in shoes with crappy footbeds and poor arch support (and most footbeds in running shoes are pretty average at best).

Recovery was a combination of working on calf stretching and strengthening, rolling with golf balls and frozen water bottles, avoiding hard floors in bare feet (massive trigger for me – always wear Birkenstocks around the house now!), and using better footbeds in my shoes. I now use Sidas 3feet high footbeds in my running shoes as I’ve a high arch and seem to make a massive difference. I also now have powerstep 3/4 orthotics in my work shoes as they are almost completely flat and without any arch support and I went through a bunch of different “smart” shoes that were awful and crippled me within a day of wearing them.

I know that what I have just achieved doesn’t compare with some of the epic runners on this thread but I have finally completed the couch to 5k plan. 8 months ago, I could ride a bike all day but couldn’t run 1 step due to a couple of ops. I have had to stop and start lots of times due to minor injuries but it’s great to be running again in my fifties. New goal is to break 25 mins! Thanks to everyone for keeping me motivated

Claudie, as I keep telling my wife when she looks longingly at other people’s times, it’s only your efforts that are of any relevance to you.

Well done mate, that’s a great achievement, onward and upward.

Festival des Templiers in town this week.
13000 runners, 17 races.
Today I am running (walking) the Mona Lisa, 28km and 1400m elevation.

Anyone doing the Fell Relays on Saturday?

Well that was proper good fun. 8 miles of unpleasant off piste bogs, tussocks and steep hillside, with the occasional sheep-trod for light relief. 2h+ And 2200’ of climbing gives an idea of the terrain. Absolutely nowhere on the results board but a sprinkle of smug points coming ahead of our open team 20 years younger. Really well organised by Dark Peak and bumped into an old mate I’d not seen in forever.

Slightly OT but I rode today for the first time in a while after pretty much exclusively running for the last 6 months. Blitzed it, PR’s all over the place. Haven’t felt that strong in a bike for a long time.

Aye, me too Jam bo, hardly biked at all in the last 2 years really, but once a month I go out biking and I’m sooooo much stronger, out the saddle attacking stuff and can climb all day.

Been coughing quite a lot after a few minutes running. Like there’s phlegm I can’t get of. Quite irritating. Might try an inhaler before running as heard this can help. Don’t think it’s too serious but will see what happens.

Did not feel like that when I got back on a bike after 9mths. Felt fat, slow and by christ did my arse hurt.

Recovery still going ok albeit slowly. Have found that walking has improved things, progressed to running alternate KMs, did 20k off road today just walking the ups.

Need nerve flossing exercises to get the tibial nerve loosened off if anyone knows any.

First cross country race last weekend, county championships relays, 4 man team 2.4 mile lumpy route through park and sand dunes, was bloody brilliant and I ran fairly well, even overtook a couple of guys, lol!.

Only downside is that it’s a bit like cyclo cross, ie. it kinda takes up your whole day for a very short run. I’ll keep doing the odd local race, but I’m o travelling to do it.

Opposite end of the scale this weekend coming, Jedburgh 3 peaks ultra, 38 miles including some Eildon hills action. I’m not bothered about my time this time tbh, just looking forward to getting this and a couple of half marathons out the way, and then into a hard winter training hopefully resulting in some improvements next year.

Still not really had a proper go at the sub 20 parkrun, despite saying I would….