Running

Chilterns. Train out to Tring, run out to Ivinghoe Beacon and do some of the better end of the Ridgeway.

First cross country of the season tomorrow. Guinness and black pudding for tea tonight.

Ditto, without the guiness or black pudding tho.

Am I allowed to be in Tenerife and still jealous of your muddy exploits tomorrow? When you're warming up round Wimbledon Common I'll be touching down at beautiful Gatwick.

Smash it!!

Will parkrun tomorrow, first one for months. Need to get back into that habit (and then volunteer).

[EDIT] A lie in. Lucky as my ankles probably didn't need another bashing.

Gentle spin to xc leaving now, I've a feeling I'll get round in trail shoes it's been so dry here. Spikes packed just incase tho.

Hope those of you also racing have fun (aka get muddy).

Surrey League race 1 @ Roundshaw Common. I so suck at cross country running but that's ok. My lungs only threatened to shut down a few times rather than many, so training works. Long run tomorrow then a boozy lunch - noyce.

Happy days, found one significant puddle and made the most of it each lap, was defo 3 or 4 seconds quicker than those mincing around it.

Trail shoes dry enough to pedal home wearing them. Stopped for a replenishing beer so not quite home yet.

Hoping for a puddle or two at race 2. Puddles make xc running 'fun'.

Are there any met league xc runners here?

They've put our second xc league fixture the same weekend as Snowdon Marathon, I try and finish top ten overall in the series but that's out of the window if you miss one. I think we'll win the team title though :)

I know I keep going on about it :D but I'm absolutely smashing it in training :) ran 9 miles this morning quicker than my 1/2 marathon pb pace, it wasn't that far off my 10k pb pace. Not sure where it's come from but it's fun while it lasts.

Was the pacemaker for 7 minute miles at Kingston breakfast run, after talking to the group we settled on 6:55 to give the sun three guys a shot while not pushing the people going for good for age time 3:05 too much of a positive split, the group was only about 10 but by the end we had three who got sub 3, 5 who hit their sub 3:05 target and one guy who had to stop for the loo at 15 miles and missed out as he never made it back onto the group so struggled on his own not sureness happened to the others, the ones I chatted to we're going for huge lbs so I think they overlooked it and blew up...

I stopped after 17miles to as the other pacer joined me at 13 miles. And jogged the rest of the way back to the finishing line before getting changed and waited for the group, so pleased so many did so well!

Slightly gutted I stopped as I was going really well but felt like I had become a bit of a passenger and was worried if I didn't stop I might cause a gap in the group so needed to stop and let the group go.

I'm getting better at even pacing but it would still terrify me pacing in a race, must be very rewarding when so many hit their targets though :)

It is a little stressful, but more so when prepping for the race rather than once you get running, as really it's just a case of being consistent and not over correcting if you get ahead of or drop behind on pace a little bit.

I've only paced halves and 16 milers before but seeing so many marathon pbs means a lot more!

Just signed up for Eastbourne half in March and the ballot for Hampton Court.
Time to get running again. Lost my love for it after destroying myself training for Paris last year. Had a very enjoyable 6k in 31mins today so not a bad starting point.

Does anyone else have painful calluses on their feet? The soles of my feet are out of control. Is it a good idea to go to a chiropodist and get them cut off? There's no pumice stone in the world that could begin to remove them.
(sorry, I know this is kind of disgusting)

I've had them and I eventually went to a chiropodist then now (semi)regularly use a body shop foot thingy. Feet maintenance gets more important as you get older, especially as a runner.

you can buy what is effectively a cheese grater for the foot from the chemist, use with caution...

Thanks! Looks great! Will try this as well

Would anyone be interested in this weird Mapei running vest in Small for £6?
http://www.prendas.co.uk/mapei-day-re-stelvio-2014-running-vests.html
I bought 2, and kept the Medium - It's made by Santini, who usually do clothing for whippet-like Italian cyclists, so this is very-fucking-small.

I actually quite like that. How big are you? @ 6ft and 70kg, small is probably going to look like a crop top on me, no?

5 11", 70kg and it looked ridiculous on me, mainly because the front is quite short. Do it!*

*Don't!

How do the inov-8 tops size up?

Looking to get a thermoshell. Should be a handy bit of kit. But I want to run in it, as well use it as an emergency insulation layer when snow biking. So don't want it too baggy. But if the arms are cut for runners physiques. I'll need a large.

Was the chiropodist painful? Could you walk afterwards? Mine are covering the balls of my feet :(
I know regular foot maintenance is important but I just think my life would be easier if I was fabulously wealthy and could afford to pay someone to do it for me. Any time I try scrubbing my feet I end up with sore arms and no real dent in my feet.