Running

I have done basically no exercise for the last year but I am going to start. How stupid would it be to sign up for a 50k ultra in July next year?

Depends on your goal: Finishing or running a specific (fast) time but plenty of people do 0 to Marathons on a "near-zero to marathon in 20 weeks" training plan. July gives you a few extra months so getting to that distance shouldn't be a problem (with the right mentality/training/etc).

Ah, explains why I saw loads of THH signs on Wimbledon Common down by Beverley Brook on my Sunday morning run.

Legs coped well with the new combo of Saturday 'Fast' 5k (Parkrun) and Sunday 'Easy/Long' 10k so that looks like a good plan each weekend now. Legs even feel ok now but have to get used to Monday being a rest day.

Finally followed @aggi 's advice and went to Epping Forest to put on some miles.
Damn that was fun! So muddy I could have drown!
Definitively going back once dry days come back.

I was a few places behind @juanito on Saturday. Reasonably happy with my race but I really need to work on my start. Still, first XC of the season and a good warm-up before this Saturday's race in Dublin. I've been selected to run for the England over-40s team for the GB & Ireland Masters Cross Country International. Each home nation has a team of 6 in 5-year age bands, with the first four runners scoring for the team. So that's the target - top four in the team and hopefully win some bling. 'B' target is not to embarrass myself, so that I can wear my England hoodie with pride. ;-)

Still plugging away on the dreadmill at the gym but trying to get my 5k times down at least once a week and only doing 1 aerobic run a week.

Managed a 25:30 last thurs and just did a 24:30 without suffering too much so it's slowly coming down again and while I still feel slow I think it's mostly a mental thing at this point and my times will steadily fall over the winter again.

Still hovering around the 16.5stone mark and want to either be at or close to 15 stone asap so going to have to get my distance up as my diet has sorted itself pretty nicely now and I seem to have my carbs balanced well enough for short hard sessions while not making a glutton of myself.

I'm stuck with only 3 runs a week while I get used to my new strength training programme on 3 other days a week and coaching basketball on my 'off' day but another few weeks and I'll add an easy run after work onto my strength training days and hopefully i'll be used to it when I come to the meaty bit of my marathon training plan.

Get off the treadmill if you possibly can.
That's my only advice.

i will soon but it's easy to go to the gym get changed run, shower, get back to work and it's the same routine as my strength training days so it's working quite well at keeping me motivated to do both as it's the same every day except weds.

once i'm more confident in my speed over distance in a couple of weeks I can rejoin my mates on their sunday runs where I'm still not 100% i could keep pace for the distance. but by end of this month that shouldn't be a problem anymore.

I often go to my gym and just use the shower/ changing facilities to go for a run. I really can't deal with people seeing me run indoors. Also I find the outdoors just too tempting.

Anyone got any good track recommendations? I hear Mile End is quite good - 3£ a pop though..

Any free out there? Probably not ay..

I work by moorgate and Running around the city at lunchtime is about as appealing to me as trying to get on the central line with a full set of luggage at 5.30pm. it's bad enough walking around here.

When my runs call for enough distance that I can run at least 1/2 the distance home I'll go back to my old ways of running to balham after work and getting tube home from there where it's nice and quiet the rest of the way. and slowly finish one stop further from work as my mileage goes up.

£3.50

If you're going often enough, you can buy a monthly pass or a yearly membership.

It's a good track though - the only people that have fuck all lane discipline are the triathletes from canary wharf...

I think Ladywell Arena (Lewisham) is free before 9am, otherwise similar price to Mile End. Or join Kent AC and use it for the bargain price of £1.55 per session. ;-)

Or, if you fancy somewhere flat and traffic free for measured interval sessions, I've discovered that Millwall Park on the Isle of Dogs is almost exactly 800 metres round, if you cut off a couple of corners. Great for (half/)mile reps.
http://gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6342690

I only use the track very rarely and the university track I use is almost always completely empty during the day, and being a triathlete I'm clueless anyway... but what exactly constitutes good lane discipline and bad etiquette?

Just so I don't act like an idiot and embarrass myself/ annoy others.

If someone behind you shouts "track" then drift out and let them pass but pull in quickly behind them and trip them Zola Budd / Mark Decker style.

I think it mainly comes down to not getting in the way of people running quickly. So:

• Do any warm-up/jog recovery, etc. outside of lanes 1&2, but also being aware of any sessions which are using outside lanes as well. e.g. sprinters in the home straight, or bend running. If in doubt, warm-up/jog/recover off the track in the middle.
  
• If you're doing an interval session on the inside lane, rather than stopping dead at the end of the rep, step immediately off the track to the inside or veer off to an outside lane, in case someone is coming up fast behind.
  
• Don't wear bloody headphones.
  
• If someone is doing a session on the inside lane they've got every right to be there even if they're going a lot slower than you, so just overtake them, giving them reasonable room.
  
• If someone is getting in the way (e.g. by jogging slowly in lane 2), an assertive shout of "track!" should help get their attention.
  
• If you hear someone shout "track!", look behind you and make sure you're not in the way. (If you're in lane 1 and doing a rep, carry on.)
  
• Don't wear bloody headphones.
  

...If you're a sprinter practising drills, please don't overtake me whilst running backwards. It's really not good for my confidence. :(

I've discovered that Millwall Park on the Isle of Dogs is almost exactly 800 metres round

*like*

• Don't hang around in a bunch in lane 1 / 2 at the start / finish line.
  
  

To be fair, the kids tend to have great track discipline. The adults less so.

Thanks a lot - I'll give that a go

so I'd concentrate on half mile/800m, km and mile reps.

6x800 this morning with 90s recovery between each. Ran them at a pace that I thought I'd be able to do all 6 at, faster than recent 5k pace (5:40/km but then I think I was slacking on that parkrun) but pacing was a bit hit and miss (5:17/km, 4:55, 5:08, 5:04, 5:17, 5:08).

Nice to have something to aim for (the end of the 800m rep) and recovery to look forward to.

if you called that a yasso 800 workout it would be predict a 4:07 marathon :)

I was doing 250m reps last night, was nicely consistent on 45 second reps, just need to be able to do that for 5k and I'll be a decent runner!

4:48 min/mile pace? yeah that'd be pretty decent.

if you called that a yasso 800 workout it would be predict a 4:07 marathon :)

Yep, that's why I was rather happy with it.

If I can get the # of reps up (to 10 ideally) and the time down to 3:45/800m I'll be happy. I've got 5 months to do it. Wednesday is my speed workout day.

Good work. Apart from the fitness improvement, I think that working on getting the reps evenly paced whilst working hard will also translate to helping with 5k/parkrun pacing. You get a better feel for how much you can afford to let it hurt whilst still maintaining the pace. On the other hand, don't get too tempted to "race" the last rep, as you want to keep good form all the way through.

What's your 5k PB?