Running

Good luck @hats

19 for you today yeah? Enjoy!

i've invented a new kind of long run, the postiive split, see it in trainign plans soon.

Long run was supposed to be 53 minutes at 4:19 with 4:05 on the way home in 47 minutes, managed the 4:19s (just) 53 ticked around, pressed lap on my watch and i just got slower and slower!

Ah, the 'regressive run'. Did that last week for my 24k run. Not enough rest from previous activities I guess.

Started off with (what I thought was) an ok pace through the hilly/muddy section of Richmond Park and expected to pick up the pace once I got onto the pan-flat towpath at ~9km but just got slower and slower and slower. Hideous.

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Invented? Pah I've been doing that years.

Yeah positive splits is my tried and tested strategy too. Not sure exactly how positive it was today, but hey, positive means good and therefore it must be alright? Also I fell off a kerb putting my rubbish in a bin unlike all the other fuckers who just chucked stuff on the road, where's my goddamn good karma?

@hats you get massive good karma from us on the Running thread,
the people exposing the nodder mamils on the road chucking their gel packets around and all the volunteers manning drinks stations. we love you. KARMA. GOOD

my legs are trashed from new forest 18 miler @Pifko will have the tech, well done mate was an epic day

@hats you get massive good karma from us on the Running thread,
the people exposing the nodder mamils on the road chucking their gel packets around and all the volunteers manning drinks stations. we love you. KARMA. GOOD

+1

The joy of 10x800 intervals this morning, and only 90s recovery between each.

I do these on a 1.3km loop so I know where the bin is and pass it often, so I time it so I pick up bits of litter during the recovery sections and drop them in the bin as I pass. Helps take my mind off the impending doom although the other training must be paying off as it felt a bit easier today and HR not as high, the 800m intervals ranged from 3:53 to 4:10 which puts me well on track for my worst case marathon target (4h30). Hoping for a magic 3kg weight loss in the next 6 weeks to take me closer to 4h15.

Bins are good for puking too. #purgingisgood

my legs are trashed from new forest 18 miler @Pifko will have the tech, well done mate was an epic day

Yeah, was a good day out, even if I did turn it into more of a hike than a run near the end. The electronic 80's finished it off nicely.
My fitness if there, but my body fatigues too quickly - Yoga?

Hurrah user49586 junior is going from strength to strength - chosen to represent Lewisham in her age group.
GMU in a weeks time- not feeling ready :(

I'm feeling pretty gloomy following my race yesterday. Obvs I knew I wasn't going to be super fast or anything but to still be so slow... :( Will I ever improve? Why does running come so unnaturally to me? Why do I give up so easily? Urgh.

So, I'm trying to think of positive things I can do to get better. Should I join a club? (or will everyone mock me for not being good enough?) What else can I try?

Didn't you just run a half marathon while sick? Kind of the opposite of giving up easily. Pretty tough in my opinion.

hats you should do some track work, my speed always improves most when i am going once a week.

if you didn't want to go to the effort of joining a club the run dem track sessions at mile end on thursdays are open to anyone and have a decent amount of women and I don't think I've ever heard an RDC member mock another for their running ability). the sessions are loosely coached. only cost is paying to use the track which is about £3.20

if you seriously can't stomach track then you could look into doing some training runs with WMN Run http://wmnrun.com/ it was setup to get more women into endurance running

they're all training for manchester marathon at the moment but it's an amazing group and you'd be very much welcome to join them I'm sure and would offer a challenge but in one of the most supportive ways possible.

Join a club. There'll be a really wide mix of runners, and absolutely no sneering from the more competitive in the bunch. Sessions will be targeted to help everyone at all levels (in my experience). People will generally be nice. Going to sessions helps you to keep motivated and you will inevitably try harder when you're not running on your own. If you ask, you'll get plenty of guidance on how best to structure your training.

I'm not a club member at the moment, but when I'm a bit further down the recovery route, I'll join one again.

As others said, join a club.
I go through fits and starts running with the Greenwich Tritons. @HatBeard started running there too, before he moved over to cycling, before he moved back to running. Without doubt I get faster even with just the one run session a week.
Plenty of range, probably 2.5 hr through to 6 hour marathon runners and no snobbery around. Also dirt cheap at £30 for the year.

GT have a 2.5hr runner now?!? Thought all their better runners went off to Cambridge Harriers...

Anyway, they still can't get an XC team to travel as far as Parliament Hill.

I also say join a club. Clubs are good*. I'm at the slower end of my club, but everyone is really supportive during runs and track sessions. It's helped me get faster, I'd never have the motivation/discipline to do speed work alone.

*Not all clubs may be equally good. I tried another one first, and slower runners felt like a burden to the faster. Try before you buy.

2.5 might be optimistic actually, was guestimating based on one of the quicker guys aiming for 2hrs 50 this year, and someone comfortably faster's quickest 5k @ 16mins. Lets say 2hrs 40ish.
Not massive strength in depth though.
We're only triathletes, can't expect us to get too muddy. Did Parliament Hill last year, I didn't make it this year though...

My fitness if there, but my body fatigues too quickly - Yoga?

Yoga for everything! Seriously, my core strength has improved loads without really doing any core specific training, and I only really have time to do yoga once a week. Likewise with flexibility and balance both are much improved. Also as a dad it's nice to have some time where you can focus on yourself without thinking about nappies/dinner/(lack of) sleep/partner/etc etc and it's completely non-competetive which can be nice after constant training, timing, racing, pacing...

Get @_Leon on the case.

when the student is ready the teacher will appear.
Next full series after Easter @pifko you know where
@hats theyre all right, try a couple of regular clubs sessions, then choose.
Its the 2 day after for me, 2 day after rule should apply but feel fine, did a Brownsea Island circular last night too.
Steve Way blog says a lot- if you wanna get better- do more!
http://www.steveway.co.uk/?p=1643

Wow, thank you everyone for your advice. I really appreciate it. I'd actually been getting a bit teary this morning thinking about how rubbish I am at running so this sort of practical advice is just what I need. I've had a look at clubs nearby (I live and work in south London so realistically I'm not going to go much further afield than this) and am going to try some out. All the clubs say that they're welcoming to all abilities - fingers crossed...

I did Parly Hill for GT a few times - never got a full team over, once I was the only runner. Went to support this year (and to offer to run if you were short), and there wasn't a single Triton there. Much disappoint.

+1 to joining a club, however that alone won't necessarily make you faster, you need one of these for that:

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/meet-tomatan-wearable-robot-that-feeds-you-tomatoes-you-run-1488706

+1 to joining a club, however that alone won't necessarily make you faster, you need one of these for that:

ibtimes.co.uk/meet-tomatan-we­arable-robot-that-feeds-you-tomatoes-you­-run-1488706

And some new (red) trainers.