Running

I was there yesterday and parts of the course were still clearly visible, it was just hard to work out a) where the start was and b) which of the existing, well-worn paths it used.

Hope the recovery is on track.

Map of course here https://beckenhamplacepark.com/events/southern-main-cross-country-championships

Edit - Didn't see you had a reply already

Having just got back in to routine after ankle knack my knee has decided to be a pain in the knee.

Anyone help with this. I'm OK to walk, OK to hyper extend but when bending past 90deg it feels v tight almost as if there is a pillow blocking up the bend dull pain back right hand side of the knee On ascale of 1 -10 . 3. Hoping its some sort of sprain ??

I fucked my right ankle on NYE in a race and have noticed at times the opposite knee has been sore over the past month. I’m guessing my gate has changed slightly to protect the bad ankle, if it persists I’ll see a physio.

Yeah gonna try and get one sorted in a week or so.
It's the same knee I had surgery on 2 years ago for meniscus and ligament tears...bit worried

If anyone is doing the London Landmarks Half Marathon on 2nd April and aiming for sub-1:30, I've just been confirmed as an official pacer. Yay! I'd best get my weekend long run beyond 11 miles at some point.

I’ve now got a sore right ankle, left knee and right side of core.

Does anyone on here use a Whoop band?

I’m using Nike Run Club on my phone (with headphones), either guided runs (some of the coaching is a bit annoying) or non-guided (will still tell you intervals.) Haven’t been running for that long and don’t want to buy a watch (yet.)

has anyone posted about this yet? I'm a bit out of the loop

https://athleticsweekly.com/blog/richmond-park-bans-cross-country-racing-1039964759/

The trail and error podcast and Interview with Ellis Bland - Really great insight from one of the best Ultra runners
https://open.spotify.com/episode/49qp9Tcdy6VzVQjT7kqXhr?si=RJPfSxZlS7CLq9OPG6Tgow

Just been sent it. Such a ridiculous decision. Driving cars obviously better for nature than runners.

Madness.

I wore one for a few months.. told me I was drinking too much and not getting enough sleep.

My eldest son who is 17 but very competitive athlete wore one every day for a couple of years.. he said it could fairly accurately predict where he was liable to overtraining, getting ill etc..

The graph of his HRV during his GCSEs was interesting.. his training-load constant, no other external changes but stress of GCSEs seemed to contribute to noticeably lower HRV readings for the duration.

He chose not to renew this time around as he felt he was not getting much actionable data from it any longer.

Thanks that’s really helpful - need to think on it a little more

There is a very good DC Rainmaker review on the Whoop, it looks like the accuracy of the readings (which the whole thing stems from obviously) is not perfect. And some of the suggestions it would give also sounded quite strange

I wore one for a year. The best insight it gave me was that even a single drink in the evening can throw my sleep off for the night.

Ok - will watch this

Even if I don’t get one, the good thing is I have managed to stop £42 of monthly outgoings which I don’t need (had done this to make myself feel ok with paying £25 a month for whoop)

Should I get a heart rate monitor or running watch or smart watch or nothing? I'm only just starting to run more regularly: I did my first 10k run this week and I'm hoping to run 3 times/week, currently doing the half marathon plan with the Nike Run Club app on my phone. Would knowing my heart rate be useful? If so, should I get a heart rate monitor or watch? Which one should I look at? (I'm generally not a consumer-tech fan.)

I really like the idea and was researching it to see if it was worth it. From what I could glean online, it feels as if the tech (both the hardware and the app that runs alongside) isn't quite 'there' yet to be fully useful and worth the monthly outlay. Would be interested to hear your thoughts if you go ahead.

At the moment I don't really need to pay £25 for my phone to tell me how run down I am and how shit my sleep has been for the last 4 months. My 2 year old/4 month old can probably let me know every day for free

If you are happy using your phone then you could get a HRM like the Wahoo Tickr which would sync to the phone (Strava, Nike app etc) to give readings. But tbh if you're happy using your phone and not overly fussed about having HR data, I'd just crack on as you are.

Personally I'd find the ability to leave the phone at home convenient, and if you got any half-decent sports watch it would have wrist-based HR (not as accurate as using a strap, but for what you're after would most likely be fine).

But if you want to avoid unnecessary buying (you're on the wrong forum), I'd just keep going without any extra purchase. I find HR data useful to keep my 'in check' on my slow runs, it enables me to suppress the ego a bit and target staying under a certain rate e.g. under 145 for my regular easy runs. But you could achieve the same result by trying to talk/sing to yourself - if you can maintain full sentences easily, you're going easy enough. If you can't, then you're beyond 'easy' pace. Not scientific by any means but a pretty good proxy IMO.

I've always appreciated the VO2 Max metric and that's HR based so a HR capable watch works for me. The newer ones also do music etc. and I like leaving the phone behind so that's another plus.

I'm using the Apple watch 6 and my only regret is I'm wearing it daily so I don't wear anything nicer. I still find the daily stats useful. From conversations I've had with Garmin fans it does a bit more for training and stats but I couldn't get along with the size day to day.

Here's the more accurate statement from Royal Parks.

https://www.royalparks.org.uk/whats-on/latest-news/running-in-richmond-park

They turned down that single application because it was going to bring too many people to certain bits of the park.

Royal Parks need to speak to Ealing council and remind them of the importance of skylarks.

General chat in groups I'm in is that they want more money from x country runners despite Richmond Park already being one of the more expensive venues used.