Running

No, that's great, I appreciate the tips. The pain now, as I sit at my desk, is a 2. A couple of days ago when I did to do a mile or so on the treadmill, it got to 7 and I had to stop. Then it hurt all yesterday, to the point that going down stairs made me wince. I think I'll try to do some stretches at home, cycle to and from work and go back to Parkrun the Saturday after this one to see how I get on.

Running uses a lot of muscles, cycling doesnt. Personaly I'd keep going, but prepare myself to quit early if I did'nt like the feeling.

If you are running on asfalt, you will be attempting to dampen your stride using muscles in the lower leg. Try running off road. The variation in stride due to terrain also helps to reduce strain.

My answer to everything^

It depends on the distance.

5k & 10k - Green all the way.

I'd go bright yellow for a speedy 5k.

I have orange for <=5k, red for <= half marathon and black/green for >= 20miles

So I'm still down to be racing the TP100 at the beginning of March but now I'm thinking about throwing my hat in for the Pilgrims Challenge as well, almost exactly a month before. The Pilgrims is 66 miles over 2 days and has a rep for being pretty lumpy. On the plus side it could be really invaluable experience, but I'm also nervous about it being too close to the TP100 (my primary goal).

The main reason I've started thinking about it is that TP100 and Pilgrims would get me 4 UTMB 2013 qualifying points, leaving me only one more to collect during the rest of 2011/2012. UTMB was essentially the main reason I started thinking about ultras. I never had it in my mind that I would try to qualify, I just found it inspirational, but you know... maybe I should give it a crack.

So is Pilgrims too close to TP100 or should I go for it? Obviously I'm incapable of making the decision on my own so I'm hoping that by asking LFGSS I can absolve myself of responsibility for the decision. :)

Go for it, a friend has now qualified for next years UTMB, running paris marathon with her, imagine that it will be a lot harder for me than it will for her!

What colour shoes will you be wearing?

I'm rather enjoying the colours in the new inov-8 range. Yellow for road shoes and green for trails. Clearly the primary criteria will be the brighter the better.

I wouldn't want to mix base colours when running imperial distances. Metris, sure. But imperia? Yuo're asking for trouble.

Technically they're a black base but the green is very obvious....

Havent been on the Innov8 site for a while. The Bare-grip shoes look fecking amazing.

I'd split my running into road, maintained trail/ gravel path, and proper off-road. The bare-grips might be fun for the proper off-road stuff. I'm just a little unsure about the stretches of exposed mountian rock. The lack of cushioning might not be ideal.

I think we have to remember the key fact: once you've run through a bog, all shoes will be brown, so it doesn't matter for off road!

I like the constrast of mud against briaght colours. Thats why orange MTBs are so nice.

Everyone seems to be wearing far too much clothing - talk about wearing hats and tights at this time of year is ludicrous. Don't dress for the first 10 minutes, dress for when you're warmed up. It's still shorts and vest weather - if you feel cold, you're not working hard enough.

Erm, what time of year am I allowed to wear tights then?!

Panto season and panto season only...

I'm still wearing shorts but with a baselayer + t-shirt on the top half.

I'll switch to tights when it gets below 7 degrees.

If you are too hot you are not fit enough..

It's difficult to gauge at the moment though. Mostly its been shorts+baselayer+Tshirt weather recently but there have been a couple of mornings when it's been unexpectedly cold and defo leggings wear.

On the subject of which Blacks in Oxford have everything 30% off. Apparently the deal is definitely on again tomorrow and maybe until Sunday... I snaffled up 2 pairs of skins leggings for £80 :)

Erm, what time of year am I allowed to wear tights then?!

For running, only when it's below zero and you're running more than an hour.

And race shoes should be pink:

oops i wore tights for my 57 min run this morning.

i think my shoes fit your criteria a bit though.

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^ Your shoes have "ED" on them!!

I want shoes with EWAN on. I wish shoe companies made their shoes in more colour options as it is inov-8 have loads of colours but only one for each model. I'd love a pair of neon pink x-talons :)

The only companies I could find who did decent design your own trainers were Nike and Adidas, and Adidas have less baggage. And had a nicer shade of pink.

the nike ones are frustrating as some of the colours arent available on all shoes, so you end up wanting the wrong shoes in the right colours..

^^ KL = you?
I'm slow to catch on. Off to the adidas site.

While we are on shoe colours, unless I misunderstood something, Inov-8 offer the americans loads of colour options while we are stuck with just one.

What we get:

http://www.zappos.com/images/742/7420600/10757-647367-p.jpg

What the Yanks get:

http://www.runpals.com/image-files/inov8-f-lite-230-9.jpg
http://www.runpals.com/image-files/inov8-f-lite-230-1.jpg
http://www.runpals.com/image-files/inov8-f-lite-230-8.jpg
http://www.zappos.com/images/z/1/2/8/1283490-p-2x.jpg
... and more!

I want the Pink/Yellow ones!

blimey.

kl = me

Found the pinks somewhere that will ship to UK, but $41 shipping - not too bad, works out at £94, when wiggle sells the black ones at £81 - prob may find a better deal, will keep looking...

http://www.runningwarehouse.com/descpageMRS-I8F23PW.html

8.5 miles including a quick stop to buy some new socks, fed up of tights and compressions sock overkill.

2x xsoxks sky run and 1 pair of hillys :D

110km week done. Furthest ever running week and the first week in a while that I've actually hit my target distance. Tough but good. Now to do it again next week.

(I have a graph but won't bore you with it ;) )

@ewan: proper job. Highest I ever got was 72 miles but that broke me a bit. I'm happy to hit 50mpw these days.

(I also have graphs)