Love my Nike Pegasus Trail 4 too. Like the running shoes equivilent of a gravel bike. So comfy

new father figure

My parents split when I was 10 years old. Mum met my now step dad pretty qucikly. I remember my Mum asking if I wanted to call him Dad. It was a strong no, didn’t need anytime to consider that. Step dad, he was fine, a nice guy, but NEVER a new Dad. Their split was messy, but I always admired and loved my Dad. And always looked forward to Friday nights with great anticipation when we went to sleep at his flat.

Dad was totally skint too, lived off beans on toast etc. But we did cheap stuff; went on our bikes too the woods, and fishing, and camping etc. Memories that stuck with me for life. At 42, those are the things I do with my kids, and my Dad loves that he planted those seeds.

You are her Dad, you are irreplaceable.

I went through a mental health “situation” over Christmas. I’m dealing with it now, on meds and CBT booked.

I feel like I’m just beginning the journey. I faced up to the fact I have mental health issues (anxiety and depression), which was the major win for me. It’s way more common thatn you’d think.

A couple of things that have helped;
Quit the news. It’s mostly just vying for your attention, and it’s not doing you any favours. Clickbait, fear, and scary stories. Where’s the good stuff eh!!!? I have very little idea what’s going on in the wider world, and I don’t care anymore – tell me I should.

Quit the booze, we don’t need it. It’s just societal norm. It’s weird really when you think about it. The cons greatly outweigh the pros.

Try and live in the moment. I find this hard; I am a massive worrier too (3am awake etc). BUT I have been achieving it here and there, having a word with myself, and realising what I am doing right now, is fantastic. It might be I am running through beautiful countryside and nothings hurting, aren’t I lucky to be fit and healthy enough to do this! Or I’m sat around the table with my wife and kids – this is amazing, stop and be in this moment, be present.

Still a relative newbie to running, but I find it impossible (and boring as hell) to stay in zone 2 vs bike.

The only thing holding me back from a Pixel 7 Pro are the reports of the camera glass shattering for no apparent reason

Same. I’ve been hovering over the buy button for a few days

As mentioned above, you can’t roll the IT Band. But you can rol the muscles connecting to it, which if tight could be pulling on it. I roll legs aafter a longer run, and quads really well, in three separate sections on and down – inside, middle and then really well on the lateral side which is connecting to the IT Band. Roll the glutes too, espcially the glute medius area.

I’ve had similar injury before, I am back running now and so far I’m doing Ok.

What’s different is now a couple of times a week I do strength work for glutes, just some goblet squats with a kettle bell, some kettle bell swings, and some clam shells with resistance band.

Hi Bill.

I was going to start a thread myself, may do..So also another one here ✋

I had to come to terms with my mental health issues over the Christmas break. I’d been aware, my wife kept telling me to go see GP, but I kept kicking the can down the road and just living with it.

I’d really slipped into some deepening depression during the time off work, just had the strong sense of doom, and felt tense to the point I would be trembling sometimes. Hard to describe. On top of that, I’ve had some recent “difficulties” in the marriage, some caused by my mental health, some by the stresses of kids, all this caused me to need some help – quite urgently, I don’t want to go into detail here.

But, I’m now on a new journey. I have admitted to myself, and openly to close friends, that I do have anxiety (most knew that already) and depression, I am not well but I am working on it. Although embarrassing, it felt amazing to admit it.

I’ve been like it since our eldest was born I think, some 13 years. Increasingly anxious, matching most of the symptoms of generalised anxiety, have a very hard time making decisions and catastrophising a lot about every day stuff (moving house was fun!!). A hard time concentrating, or getting stuff done that needed to be done. Very poor sleeper, often awake at 2/3am, worrying about nonsense! And I’m quite gloomy about everything, depressed. This has increased over time.

I started taking some medication 10 days ago now, and I’ve been referred for CBT.

I’ve never had CBT, so willing to give it a go. But during some of my darkest nights recently, I feel I did make some progress on myself. Some self-reflection, and realisation why I do things, why my personality is as it is. Also the realisation of what my poor wife has had to live with! I am a nice, honest, hardworking, genuine guy. But my god it must have been painful listening to my sh1t day in day out!

Doc said allow 4 weeks to see any change on the medication and that we may change the dose or type, but my sleep is now a.mazing! It’s to early to say if it’s working, I do feel calmer already, but have a lot of uncertainty with my marriage, so that doesn’t help calm the mind or speed and type of thoughts. So anxiety is still quite high.

Oh, and I turned the news off! About a month or so ago!

OH ‘desperately’ wanted the concept 2. She ordered one, there was a long waiting list.
It sits forlornly in the corner.

As did I! It’s stored upright so not taking up much spaces, but there it stays. Probably getting it on eBay this weekend
(even I know this is BS, I won’t do it)

35:56 here, 80kg ish though!

Can’t see me ever getting near that again tbh. Who knows

I love him, he’s one of the best.

Hard to choose. Probably Castaway. Such a great movie – the quietness of it!

Stating the bleeding obvious, but a large part of the love for him is the nostalgia it brings. For instance, my first trip the cinema was with my lovely Grandad, my favourite person in the whole world, to watch Apollo 13.

Tom’s movies have been blockbusters spanning decades, so bound to happen.

This Jan I decided I need to stop or at least reduce massively.

I’ve probably been proper drunk 4 or 5 times this year – social commitments, where just thought ahhh fk it!

But I’m loving been clear and sober 99.9% of the time, and will be sticking with it through 2023.

Quite a few of my mates have also adopted it too, during the week at least. There’s so many decent 0% beers now. Those Guinness Zeros are amazing.

I think turbo really does exacerbate any little imbalances, or irritate old problems, that can go unnoticed riding outdoors.

I started a post a couple weeks ago now, about knee pain but only on the turbo. And to be honest, I haven’t been back on since – just running instead.

Another thought that springs to mind. Those classic news stories like this morning – of people stuck in their cars, in snow on the M25 (or wherever). How long can you keep the car warm with an EV vs a tank of dirty diesel? (Hopefully you’ve planned appropriately and have a full tank for your journey, venturing into the winter conditions!).

Genuine question, not a dig.

Fantastic!!

Stretching hip flexors (and that will also stretch quads) is useful.

But more important, and worked well for me, strength work. I do squats with kettle bell. And kettle bell swings (they really fire the glutes up!)

I think the primary problem with sitting too much in a modern office job, tight anterior muscles, and weak posterior muscles opposing them. Meaning we don’t move correctly, and the smaller muscles compensate and get tight (psoas). It all becomes a bit of a mess eventually. Anterior pelvic tilt.

I feel miles better for doing some strengh and really trying to fire up the glutes! It’s one of the easiest strength workouts too for us cyclsts, unlike upper body stuff..

Oh and i get a happy smile every time i sit out in the sun hearing all the neighbors having to mow their lawns

I love mowing the lawn! Amazingly therapeutic. Am I alone?!

KFC wrap of the day! £1.98

I saw these when in Decathlon, so ordered a pair. Will see how they are, I’m a bit dubious, but a proper a brgain if they fit! £39

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/men-s-trail-running-shoes-tr2/_/R-p-312120?mc=8569906&c=BLACK

I also much prefer running in the winter. Currently still on the roads, slowly building up the time. But will mix in some trails if these fit.

I also just bought myself some New Balance 1080v12. Not sure about them yet tbh, they are definitley comfy, but I don’t love the higher stack. I’m a size 12.5 (or 13), but these are big old shoes!

Aerobic threshold/lower threshold is just above the top of traditional zone 2. You need to be below this threshold, but close to it. Which makes sense.

Which is actually a nice place to be training in when you find it (conversation test). It’s not piss easy, but not tempo.

That’s if you’re using the 3 zone model, rather than the 5 or 7 zone model. Zone 1 (3 zone) would finish just above zone 2 (5 or 7 zone).

No, I think if you go above z2 for that long, you ruin the session.

80/20 is the sessions, not the time split. If you were lucky and could fit in 5 rides per week. 1 ride would be fast/hard. The other 4 would be all zone 1 or 2.

I found, using RPE and the conversation test, it’s around 145bpm for me.

My zone 2 according to BC is 115-141bpm. So being just slighly above that seems about right if you are intending to work at the limit/aerobic threshold.

So if I’m doing zone 2 for an hour, I’m trying to keep it around 138-144bpm. Feels ridiculously easy to start, after an hour, breathing remains fine, but you can start to feel it slightly in the legs

@stanley I have experience of what your suggesting I think, with chronic (now resolved) back pain. Read some stuff from Sarno, and others. TMS/neuroplastic pain. It’s quite fascinating.

But I think this is different, as the knee aches afterwards. It could be though..

I’ve got a very worn Molteni cotton cap in my kit drawer, so good to go! 😁

Ok thanks guys. Will have a look for some used rollers. I’ve never used them before. But the benefits raised above do make sense.

Only recently bought the bloody Kickr!

zone 2, on rollers?! 😫

That might be it @steve_b77 . I can feel the pedalling motion/body is different on the turbo now I think of it. Perhaps when outside I waggle a bit more and don’t notice.

TTing was about the only thing I was actually good at.

To be fastest on a TT, spend less time going slow (go hard on the slow bits – hills).

What are you’ll chatting to yourselves about though?!

I just go on breathing, you can tell when it changes/goes from easy to more air required..

I’m just imagining all these solo cyclists out on the lanes, chatting away (or singing) to themselves to stay in the “conversational” zone 2! 😂

I’m 42, if they extend offer to under 50s I’ll get one.

I’ll just reduce my overall social media interactions

That’s my goal! I use them all, and it’s a massive waste of time.

I know STW is kind of social, but it’s infinitely more useful (to me).

It does seem weird/short sighted, people jumping ship from Twitter to Mastadon, a platform which they know nothing about, if it’s secure (apparently it’s not), know nothing about the people you’re handing data over to0.

Surely, if you’re annoyed at Elon and Twitter, just leave. It’s not that compelling anyway!

@rockhopper70 I did c25k all the way through last year. I stayed unjury free until a few weeks after where I developed shin splints, I was running fast. They very very common for new runners.

This time I’m doing the Nike Run Club, much more fun.

Has anyone done Maffetone training?

I have just completed a 4 week starter course on Nike Run Club, I really enjoyed it. The next plan on the NRC platform would be a 5k plan ( https://www.nike.com/pdf/Nike-Run-Club-5K-Training-Plan-Audio-Guided-Runs.pdf ), but I’m going 5k already, so contemplating where to go next as a begineer. Considering something like MAF or 80/20 to try and limit injuries.

The NRC plans have quite a lot of speed work, prob 2 out 4/5 days. As much as it is fun, my goal is to get further along the journey injury free first, build some base.

That looks epic @lunge !

As a begineer runner, it’s mindblowing!

Surley he’s jsut f@@king around with them all, after booting him out?!

Get them all running around like headless chickens, screaming “not Boris!!!” for a giggle.

Also, I am intentionally not recording my running on Strava.