Running

I just saw a video of myself running (and wished I hadn’t) .. so upright and pigeon-chested I look like I’m actually trying to slow myself down.

Is it pure vanity to try to adjust my form given I’m fairly injury-free? I am targeting improvements to my 5km PB but I’ve got much bigger fish to fry (~10kg over target weight for example)

It may or may not help.

https://twitter.com/stevemagness/status/1584227777611730944

https://twitter.com/higdonmarathon/status/1421824003614908417

anyone recommend trail shoes for muddy conditions? bonus points if adidas as my feet seem to get on well with them

Honestly Scottish bogs really need Salomon lugs ime

are these still usable on tarmac? i do most of my runs door to door.

Noisy without mud, after trails don’t even notice.

I wouldn’t do 10k on the road in them but they’re fine for normal life. They main issue I always had was how wet mud gets and the top layer has zero structural rigidity so you need a deeper lug to get grip and Solomon have that.

End up running like you’ve shit yourself with tiny steps without grip.

Thanks for these.. I think I’ll just avoid ever seeing myself run again.

I may well revisit if ever I can get my weight down and see some progression.

I think I’ll just avoid ever seeing myself run again.

After seeing a short video clip of me in action at last weeks xc, I am 100% with you on this. Race Photos ftw.

Used to use inov8 mud claw but if it’s a mix of rock and mud they don’t offer much protection. Bruised soles aren’t great

I now use Altra Timp. They are ace, but probs a bit wide in the toe box for some

67 miles as the crow flies in Escape from Meriden this year. Amazing how a few little things mount up quickly to binning it off early. Tracker gave up, which took some of the fun of following my position against others away, managed to aggravate my knee whilst standing still, didn’t know that was possible, then final nail in the coffin was my Garmin also gave up so didn’t have the route easily accessible… Still a great race and I’ll probably have to do it again now…

I followed the dots throughthe day, quite a few were grey "no recent update" for alot of the time.

Did 67 atcf get you to the Gold boundary?

Yep still pretty happy with a gold. Some very impressive black medals though!

Nice one! I found it pretty hard to stay motivated when you're on your own all day with no other competitors etc on the same route, no CPs, looking for unpassable/non-existant footpaths etc.

Altra Timp

The reviews I looked up said they might be a bit narrow?

I got lucky and scored a pair of adidas solar glide (very lightly used) for £20 off ebay. That's what I've been running in for the last year on road and they've been fine so my road needs are taken care off at least

Checking in 2 weeks into the half marathon plan. Finding it pretty tough tbh, I wouldn't usually run on consecutive days and the plan has me doing tue/wed/thu. Combine that with condensed work hours and it's a struggle! Weird knee sensation has returned but I'm feeling more okay about that since tackling it with physio, just need to keep up the exercises. I'm on week 4 now (skipped a week to finish week 12 on race week) and have the pleasure of 6.4km race pace on Wednesday. Kinda excited for it but also dreading it. Just lucky that my partner is home to watch the dog so I can do it in daylight and in the park.

I would say the opposite of the Altra timps I have are the widest shoes I’ve ever had, my custom footbeds slip around inside them. I thought one of the design features was the really wide toebox

Finding it pretty tough tbh, I wouldn't usually run on consecutive days and the plan has me doing tue/wed/thu. Combine that with condensed work hours and it's a struggle!

After years of running, then sudden and painful injury stopping me in my tracks, I have learnt that my body just isn't currently up for running on consecutive days. On my off-days, it's 60-90min cycle or a dog walk. I'm also giving a decent amount of time to S&C exercises - WFH definitely helps with this!

I wouldn't usually run on consecutive days

Re-jig the plan to avoid this then? Happy to look it through with you if it might help?

Was about to say...whenever I schedule three run workouts on consecutive days, Garmin pops up a warning about increased injury risk etc. I struggle running two days in a row as it is...three days is nearly impossible for me. Not suprised you're feeling it!

Same here, I was running regularly for about 10 years before I could handle running two days on the trot let alone three. I could do three days in a row now but day three is going to be terrible all round

Well... Just went and took a look and it turns out I've not actually done a set of 3 in a row yet, so feel free to ignore that! Just finding it overall tough I guess

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Take it easy and listen to your body, if two days in a row is feeling like a strain, don’t go further and injure yourself, get back to back to back days this time round and you can work up to more days in the future by cutting the distance of each run so you keep the same total but spread out and then build from there.

~6 years ago I could only manage 3 runs a week and even then I’d creak massively, but after building steadily I can now just about manage 8 session in a week, the second on a Sunday after an long run in the morning is a pain but I quite like it for running super tired like the final stages of a marathon where stuff stops working quite as well!

https://youtu.be/94LezdhOB10

Do you need a wide toe box? If you do, I urge you to try Topo's. I was using Lone Peak's for a long time and thought they were great.... until they died every 200km and became the sloppiest shoe in the world after 50km.

I now have 500k on a pair of Terraventure 3's (hiking and trail running) and they're still holding up very well. I have a pair of MTN Racer 2's turning up today to use exclusively for trail running. The fit is impeccable. Properly wide, foot shaped toe box and a good snug midfoot and heel.

One additional point is there’s a difference between feeling stiff/sore and just feeling beat/tired. If you’re doing some good training then a bit of stiffness is normal and probably a good thing. If you’re zonked then your body is telling you to ease up a little