Running

30 minute sports massage on the legs.

Ow ow ow but #amaze. Feel like I could go out and fly round a 10k (I won't obviously).

Anyone have any recommendations for headphones? Want wireless and bud obvs.

Got some cheapish Aukeys from Amazon recommend on the headphones thread but I’m not getting on with them

There's a headphones thread I think
Edit: sorry, didn't mean to be snide, thought i was in aqa thread and didn't read op properly

I loved my trekz titanium, not buds though

That's where the aukey recommendation came from.

I have some plantronics backbeat. Comfortable enough and don't move but sound is mediocre at best

Ok thanks - the Aukey ones controls are bulky and after an hour of knocking against my neck just pissed me off so removed them.

I can't believe there's no decent buds out there - the Sony ones I put through the wash sounded great but 2hr max battery life means no good for long runs :'(

The search continues...

Have we discussed this pacers rant article before?

https://fromroad2trail.wordpress.com/2017/04/26/6-reasons-i-hate-pacer-groups/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

I bought a cheap tom-tom running watch with music, I want to say spark 1 but tbh cant remember, it came with their proprietary headphones which I got changed under warranty to the latest iteration and I love em. I'd imagine you can eBay them if you don't want the watch. I can't vouch for the battery life having only done an hour or so but they are very comfortable and decent enough sound quality.

Yeah, fuck's sake Phil!

I don't hate the pacers.

I just hate the runners who think they must keep within a few yards of the pacer otherwise their chance of running that time will be gone, and they end up forming that large mass of runners that spreads sideways and ends up barging people out of the way.

My favourite though was an annoying runner (talking shit loudly the entire time) who was clinging to the back of the 4h30 pacer in the Brighton Marathon the other year. He was really happy as that was his target time and he'd been ahead of the pacer but when the pacer caught him up he was able to up his pace slightly stick with him and his dream of sub 4h30 was still alive.

That is until I told him that, according to the wave colours on their bibs, the pacer started in the wave 20 minutes after him, so if he stuck with that pacer his chance of 4h30 was definitely gone.

"...each to his own." Indeed. ;)

The chances of me turning out in Brighton to be a sanctimonious, balloon-clad irritant are looking up. 45 miles last week, longest run 12 miles off-road, should be on for 55 - 60 this week with 16 planned for Sunday, and the foot is really feeling quite all right.

me turning out in Brighton to be a sanctimonious, balloon-clad irritant

Pics plz.

45 miles last week, longest run 12 miles off-road, should be on for 55 - 60 this week with 16 planned for Sunday, and the foot is really feeling quite all right.

Nice one.

Don’t buy a TomTom, @Tenderloin

Had been putting off going for a run since the HM last weekend. School running group on Weds was cancelled as Y5 were out on a trip, didn't go out for a replacement run as the weather was shit.

Forced myself out on a 10k loop from work just now, felt great and fastest 10k of the year despite trying to take it easy.

29k long run scheduled for Saturday morning though. Ugh.

thinking of running a 55km stretch of the Thames Path to Oxford from somewhere (either Goring or wherever’s 55k upstream from Oxford) in June as training for Race to the Stones in July.

Has anyone run/walked any of the path in that area? Is the signage good enough to not need to use a map/gps too often? Any good lunch spots along the way? Plan to run it on a sunny Saturday so we can jump in to cool off at regular intervals..

Thanks!

Goring is *down*stream from Oxford... But yes I have run that stretch. I did the Thames Trot (Oxford to Henley) last year and recce'd the whole route beforehand. The signage is generally good but not "unmissable" good. There are a few spots where you leave the river or have to cross over etc without it being immediately obvious. I found it reassuring to know the route on the day but would have probably not gotten lost on the section you are describing in the light (as opposed to the bit through Shiplake in the dark).

It's obviously a pretty flat route, with the only real hill to be found between Goring and Pangbourne. I found the National Trail website pretty useful.

it was a gift from the missus, best £20 watch ive ever had. Purchased from a argos clearance place. It'll do until i can afford something swanky and posh, or in reality till i break it with carelessness.

Great, thanks! Yep I know Goring is down, but I meant that the alternative would be to start from somewhere 55km upstream instead!

But glad to know that that bit is an enjoyable stretch. The bits upstream don’t look as nice anyway. Will bring the GPS for back up.

If you are looking for upstream of Oxford, then Cricklade is about 55-60k. I haven’t done all of that route but I’ve definitely done everything from near Lechlade to Oxford in various bits over the years.

So far as I remember there aren’t any complicated bits. Barring a small stretch around bablock hythe, the path follows the river the whole way. I actually think I prefer it to the downstream sections... it’s just a small path winding through rural fields.

If you want stopping opportunities, then there is a pub at almost every point where a road bridges over the river, which isn’t often. There are definitely pubs at Radcot (~35k from Oxford, can’t remember the name, it was closed the only time I went there), Tadpole Bridge (~30k from Oxford, the trout, a nice gastropub last time I went. They were also very friendly about filling up my water bottles once when I was dying on a long run), new bridge (about 20-25k from Oxford, 2pubs, the maybush is a great cycle friendly pub owned by a good local cross rider and sponsors a local cycling team, the rose revived is a bit bigger and more chainey). The pub at bablock hythe is supposed to be rubbish (I’ve not been there). If you don’t fancy any of them then there are other options nearby but all would need you to leave the river.

A clubmate of mine is running the capital ring footpath this weekend, around 80 miles in total.

nuts!

I'm in Harwich for the Essex 5k champs, otherwise I'd have joined him for a jaunty 10 miles or so

That all sounds brilliant, thanks! I think the deciding factor will be which spot is easiest to get public transport to from London, and Goring looks easiest.

Thanks for the tips all

Oh I see, I misread your original post. You can get a stopping service from Reading that stops at Goring (and all the other little stations) as the train line basically follows the Thames you're never too far from the river path wherever you get off the train (just don't get off at Didcot). Likewise whenever you pass through a village you're likely not too far from a train station. A nicer run might be to link two of the smaller villages together? But I guess you're after a high speed connection straight back into London?
Goring has several good places to eat, and there is a cafe right on the river bank that you will run through at Benson (no train station here though). The last few miles into Oxford are not so great scenery wise, and the path gets busy with tourists. Might not be what you're after if you're getting tired/hungry/grumpy toward the end.

Dear Forum,

Please may I have some suggestions for what to do next with my running?

I shall set the scene. Five years ago, I was at my running "peak", with weekly mileage of 35mi or so. Since then I've had a really shit time with injury and laziness, most recently tearing my ACL and meniscus and having to gradually build myself from 30 second jogs up to where I am now which is running for 35 minutes four times per week, every week, with ease. I'm a big unit and I'm slow, so that's only about 13 or 14 miles per week depending on the wind (fuck the last week of weather!). I'm niggle free and feeling strong right now.

I want to aim towards a time goal, perhaps running for 60 minutes, four times per week. I'm in no rush to get there. I'm bored with my current routine.

Does anybody have any suggestions on a decent plan to follow? Perhaps a fun 10k training plan, given that I'm so slow? Suggestions would be very much appreciated.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Athletes-Fitness-Fanatics-Exercise-Enthusiasts/dp/0980848466/

Does anyone want this? Free and I'll post it to you for free, but only in the UK.

Let me know on this thread, and then PM me your address please if you want it. Thx.

Awesome, thanks! We plan to end in Oxford as @IdealStandard’s sister lives there, so she can give us food, beer and a bed (and deal with our grumpiness, hopefully!). Plus, She lives on a boat on the Oxford Canal, so it’ll be river/towpaths all the way to her door! We’ll get the Oxford Tube back the next day.

Ive been playing around with the Thames Path distance calculator online, but it’s so incredibly clunky.. I just want to make sure that it is actually 50-55k from Goring to Oxford and not more!!

Are you still in/around SE10?

Last couple of months I've tried to get into the habit of going to Sutcliffe Park track on Tuesdays to run with Cambridge Harriers. Shorter, sharper stuff than I'd normally do but it's been a really nice change from 45min plodding lunch runs. Plenty of quickish people, plenty of not so quick people.

Please may I have some suggestions for what to do next with my running?

If your aim is to run for an hour then take your current weekly mileage, whack it into a spreadsheet with a couple of calculated columns for weekly total and what 10% of that is, and you can easily calculate your weekly total target for the following week. Play around with what works for you and when you can realistically fit the runs in. I guess you'd keep all bar one of your runs the same length and add distance (time) to one or two other runs to build up slowly and spread the load so one run doesn't become twice as much work as any other. TBH it sounds like you're most of the way there already.

Running with a club is a good shout too as per @duncs suggestion. Running with other people is a good way to take your mind off how you are feeling and just run and chat and the miles pass by. You could see if there is a Run Together group near you if you aren't too keen on a "proper" running club.