Running

Managed to run a whole 5km without any pain today, for the first time in 2 months - happy trails. Booked in with an Osteopath this week. Hope I can start picking up the KMs again soon.

I've got a spot on the North Downs Ridge 50k Ultra in Feb - does anyone want it for free? (if I can transfer the ticket)

10k test done this morning in 37:16 which i was pleasantly surprised with although the last 2k certainly were not pleasant 🥵 the legs felt great actually throughout but towards the end i was really honking and my chest was burning. The cold air probably didn't help but it felt like it was my VO2 that was holding me back the most. No surprises as I've not done anything that hard for months and the plan features plenty of that kind of work so I'm optimistic that it will un tap something. Closer to a race I'll do something like 3/4/5x1k intervals at 10k pace off 10min bikes at threshold and hopefully that will help as well. But thats for later I've still got this plan to go through first.

@Baerli_Baer @hats @TheButchersDog [re. those trainer lights] cheers. Looks like there are quite a few then, but I've never seen them before! Peds might not look up and see you but it makes you a lot more visible to me on my bike and (hopefully) drivers. I'm doing a bit more running in the dark, I might get some for gits and shiggles.

Glad to hear you're on the mend.

It seems highly unlikely that this will go ahead, but if no one else takes it (please someone else take it), then I may be up for it...

Tried in wanted ads but will give a go here as well - anyone got an old Garmin/fitbit/running watch they are looking to get rid of on the cheap? Mum has started running and is tentatively looking for something that has all the basic capabilities and will upload to Strava with minimum technical knowhow...

Haven't checked this thread in a while, but I have a Garmin FR35 she can have - will auto-upload to Strava using the Garmin app on phone.

eBay sold prices are all over the place - £25 posted?

Is this just what a long off road run does to your legs or are there strategies to combat this?

Yes and no, inevitably your legs will hurt and generally it depends on your training mileage how soon that point comes but also I think the mind has a big part to play and if your training has gone well you will get further before the pain becomes an issue as the goals are different if that makes any sense???

But also as you do more Ultras you will find your perceptions change, I did the Suffolk Endurance Life as my first Ultra too and it was agony for the last 7 miles or so but having done a few more ultras and worked up to 100 milers a 30 mile training runs seems less of an issue now.

It's all about building up mileage slowly, recovering well and finding time for lots of strength work and stretching!

Obviously if you stuff up pacing, hydration, nutrition, electrolytes etc you will in a whole different problem beyond sore legs!

Yeah the last seven miles are a killer! I was craving some sort of incline on that course.

Might try and jump up to 100k on a rolling or flat-ish off road course this year and if I bail out halfway, I'll still be more than happy with it. Also got plenty of time to up the mileage. What sort of miles/week are people doing pre-ultras?

Also need to learn to run slow.

@duncs just took those fancy insoles out for a spin in some Speedgoats. Feel bouncier, definitely more comfortable on rocky sections (ie, jumping up and down off the kerb).

I currently start around 4o miles per week and build to 70 miles but peaking around 50 miles is a good approach too!

2nd dibs

Managed 11 miles tonight. Absolute maximum. I honestly wanted to get run over by the end of it.

Short run on Thursdays

@duncs just took those fancy insoles out for a spin in some Speedgoats. Feel bouncier, definitely more comfortable on rocky sections (ie, jumping up and down off the kerb).

Good, glad you’ll get use out of them 👍🏻

My club is entering the EA virtual road relays, 5 miles. By chance a recent slow muddy off rd loop was 5.01 miles, so I'm submitting that as an entry.

trollface.jpg

Ha, skills! I see they've extended the race period till end of tomorrow; I'm currently holding on to 3rd in the V45 rankings (175 finishers so far) and we're 4th team overall. Not that I'm in the scoring team but I'll be happy with that.

Haha, nice. Those big runs often end with either “kill me now” vibes or turning into the fastest splits.

Did a relatively spicy 43:11 10k tonight. Weird leg injury from October/November seems to be fully recovered although still wrapping above the ankle tightly with kinesiology tape just in case.
Managed nice consistent splits hovering just under 4:20 throughout.

Even the seasonal wheezyness of running in the cold seems to have gone.

3rd in the V45 rankings

Impressive!

I won't trouble the scorers at all but it's nice to get a result in for my new club. Their big hitters haven't really been out for this so unlikely to make it to next round.

There's a local 5km club v club knockout thing going on which I recce'd a loop for tonight, that'll be my first faster effort in a very long time when I attempt it later this week, so will be a useful benchmark test.

I did Race to the Stones 100k in 2019 – it's a lovely undulating route and was a perfect ultra entry point for me (though a big step, as I'd never even run a marathon before that...). I suffered from hip pain throughout the training, and then knee pain about a month before the run, so stopped any long runs in the month leading up to it... before that point, I would run a fast 5k, 2 x comfortable 10k runs, and then a steady 30k run weekly. I probably should've done more, but I felt like those runs were already a squeeze.

I ran one 50k run (the longest of my training) about 6 weeks before RTTS, and kept stretching and rolling throughout, as well as exercises for my hips as suggested by a physio. Probably not the best advertisement for training, but it definitely felt like mind over matter for me!

I just took Ralph out in the buggy for this. He was freezing by the end. Bad dadding.

At one point I considered walking because I was convinced walking would be faster.

This seems mental - but well done on running the 100km!

I rolled my ankle trail running on Christmas Day, and it's been a bit sore ever since. Mainly at the front, pretty much in the area circled in the below image:

It's odd as I don't have pain when walking or putting vertical pressure through the joint. Rather it manifests mostly when kneeling on the floor in positions similar to this:

Just been for my first run since then and again the running action felt fine but it's a bit more tender to the touch. Appreciate any thoughts/advice on treatment if anyone has had anything similar

After yesterdays 10k tt i was feeling the after effects this morning and wasted more time putting todays workout off (10k easy) than the actual workout took to do. First 5 k the legs felt heavy but then started to wake up and by 7-8k i felt pretty good so finished 10k feeling brand new. So if your (I'm) not feeling it one day just get it done you'll probably feel better for it.

It sounds like a regular mild sprain so stretched ligaments. Avoid that position in the picture for the time being as your stretching a stretched ligament. My ankles hurt in that position and I'm not even injured. Focus on strengthening the ankle first so walking standing on that leg on a wobble cushion, resistance band flexion both ways and see how you go. If its a little tender afterwards thats normal especially if its just that slightly tender bruised feeling but anything sharp or sudden that you'd describe as pain stop straight away. Sounds like your on the mend 💪

Excellent, thanks for the advice will give those exercises/stretches a go

Got bored on my very wet and cold morning recovery run so came up with the bright idea of interspersing it with 8 x 10 lunges and 8 x 10 squats. Legs didn't like that. Has been a while since i've had the wobbles!