Running

I know a guy who has completed the Bob Graham Round, who lives in Cambridge and regularly did a LOT of reps on either staircases or in a multi-storey car park for his hill training. Bit of a nutter, in a good way.

Excellent! Good time 'n all.

I've done that at Westfield in he can park. The bonus there being a lift to take the strain out of the descent. Shame about the fumes though

Thanks, another small PB off another pleasing negative split, I might even start considering myself as a controlled runner at this rate!

1:23:49 chip and 1:24 dead gun time, 4 min kms for the first 10.5k and 3:56 for the second!

https://www.strava.com/activities/1447078854

only downside was that my hrm fell off at about half way so no idea how close I was to the limit...

Hello. I’m doing some running now. Tried parkrun in late 2016 when looking for a time-crunched cycling alternative during my MA/full-time job combo. I was a sprinter in my youth, but had a bad injury at 16 and was told I should probably give up sport for good. A decade and a half of general mind, body, and substance abuse followed, as is often the way. I commuted by bicycle, but didn’t really get back into it until my 30s. Switched to gentle rambles on foot in my 40s…until the running bug.

I’ve occasionally browsed this thread for information and inspiration. There’s been plenty, thanks.

Today I ran my first half marathon. I did the inaugural Harpenden Half, the first ‘eco half marathon’. On the fluffy side of things this meant wooden medals and hessian numbers and biodegradable cups and whatnot. On the decidedly unfluffy side of things this meant a course that was predominantly muddy parkland, sloppy muddy field edges, thick ankle deep compacted meadows, churned up woodland tracks, and rock-embedded bridleway.

It was brutal. I bought some hybrid/trail shoes last week (Roclite 290s) and was grateful to have them on my butchered plates of meat this morning.

I made the decision to quit at km 7, then postponed that decision, bringing it back to table for further consideration at every km thereafter. Rocks got in my shoes and aggravated my blisters. It was complete fucking Bambi on ice for the final field edge navigation.

But I enjoyed it, despite getting up at 4:30am and running to St Pancras to catch the first train.

I managed a 1:29:24 and came 9th out of ~320 finishers, but I’m now regretting not using my sprint finish to get an age group podium. Time to hit the bottle hard. Once I’ve done a late-March half and the MK marathon in May, I’m going to start on the faster stuff for which I’m built.

Thanks for reading. And thanks for inspiring me with your own exploits.

Blimey.
That's not bad going for an old man.

Good work. I am jealous.

Top HM debut!

Rocks got in my shoes and aggravated my blisters.

See if you can get hold of some debris gaiters:

https://www.inov-8.com/debris-gaiter-32

Thanks. That’s got me thinking I could attack an old pair of overshoes with some scissors.

(it was a couple of pebbles really, but you’ve got to embellish)

I now have four black toes. It may be nothing to do with running. More necrosis. Slow descent into death’s embrace from the extremities inwards.

Yeah, Peckham multi-storey would be ideal, what with it not being a functioning car park any more. And Frank's Bar at the top for refueling at the end.

@BringMeMyFix - Great effort!

22 miles this morning, fairly slow after a hard week (82 miles total, quite a few of them quite quick) but not too stiff by the end of it.

Today I ran my first half marathon... a course that was predominantly muddy parkland, sloppy muddy field edges, thick ankle deep compacted meadows, churned up woodland tracks, and rock-embedded bridleway....
It was brutal.

I made the decision to quit at km 7, then postponed that decision, bringing it back to table for further consideration at every km thereafter.
I managed a 1:29:24 and came 9th out of ~320 finishers

I hate this guy. How do we make him go away?

It might be frostbite.
Only way to test is to row to south Georgia.

thanks all for the Hill terminology clarification. Who'd have thought it actually meant a hill.

I live in Bermondsey, near enough to the river so the nearest hill I can think of is Denmark Hill in Camberwell. The car park in Peckham doesn't have ramps open all the way to the top anymore since it reopened as Peckham levels, as there are studios and workspaces on the first to third or fourth floors. The stairs are narrow and wouldn't be suitable for running up and down as they're busy.

Can I substitute sprints for the hills?

I've looked for a half marathon training plan for people living in flat areas, can't find anything specific. My google-fu isn't so hot right now though.

You’re a short run from Greenwich Park. Go there.

Runhead?
That goes up and down the anerley ridge doesn't it?
Alternatively:
Ride to college road. Get off and lock bike at Sydenham hill. Run up the Sydenham hill wood path.
Or run up and down rock hill.
They're both very quiet paths.

Oh wait!
There's that nice bit of Camberwell that goes up parallel to Denmark hill. If you run up it you come out by the salvation army campus?
That's long and not very full of cars (unlike Denmark hill). On the other side of Denmark hill (Dulwich side) there's Sunray avenue.

There's also Stave Hill at Russia Dock - ok for for short, sharp, steep repeats.

I don't usually start running until 9:30 pm, so many parks aren't an option, either cause they're closed or it'd be a bit scary.

You’re a short run from Greenwich Park. Go there.

^ @dubkev : This, the Greenwich Tritons hill sessions (as @kl, @duncs and I can all attest) around there are brutal but super effective and you have a number of roads where the grades are different to alter how hard it'll be.

hyde vale and crooms hill are good, or point vale if you're a sadist as it's the steepest.

they're all street lit roads and outside the park walls so you can run them at night even if the park is closed.

also I'm in the camp where if you find the session is hard to finish then taking your sweet time on the downhill (walk if you have to) to give yourself time to recover is perfectly fine if it means you can put your best effort into the uphill and complete the session (ditto for track intervals recovery laps).

and if running alone without others to help guide you then knowing what is good form will be important too, watch some videos on yt for tips but basically, shorten your stride, land with your foot under you, try to drive your knees up, if you want to go faster increase your cadence not stride length.

also I'm in the camp where if you find the session is hard to finish then taking your sweet time on the downhill (walk if you have to) to give yourself time to recover is perfectly fine if it means you can put your best effort into the uphill and complete the session (ditto for track intervals recovery laps).

I am in this camp.

+1 Greenwich Park. Such a good variety of hills to play with in terms of length and gradient, and also choice of tarmac or grass. (And if you do want a specific staircase work-out, the foot tunnel nearby has ~90 steps at each end, although you might get dizzy!)

isn't box hill now in elephant and castle?

Thanks all for the Hill tips. I think I will try the one parallel to Denmark Hill, the quieter one. It's closest to me and the training programme only says ten mins easy before hitting the hill. Greenwich a bit far innit. Thanks @Chalfie

Also tomorrow night the training plan says "7 minutes easy, 7 minutes @ threshold, repeat 3 times". Is it just me or is that a bit unclear? I'm assuming they mean do it four times in total? Or is it just three?

3 times.
I think.
It is late though.

It is a bit ambiguous, can you do it 4 times at the same pace? If so do it 4 times as presumably it will progress to 5 at some point, if not do it three times and next time do it 4!

Threshold means the pace you could manage for an hour’at best effort, I.e. running equivalent of your ftp just in case you aren’t sure..