Running

Paper map & compass

Learn the trails this way, then run without when you know where you are going. It will slow you down at first but worth it in the long run when you have good knowledge of an area and can just head out in a direction and make up the route as you go depending on feel etc.

@charliesays

It also makes accessing other new areas much easier, and is a useful backup skill for if (when) tech fails.

P.s. @charliesays - always tell your mummy before you go off somewhere (as you no doubt know already).

I have a pain in my right knee on the inside just at the top of the tibia on that lil lump.

Think i need to do more hamstring stretching plus get a proper diagnosis

Can’t wait to access some new areas, I’ve been using the same closest trails throughout this lockdown repeatedly. It’s amazing how different a route can look and feel if you run it in the opposite direction though so have changed it up a few times.

Yesss

I did some back and hamstring stretches this evening and the pain in my ankle has gone again. Could my ankle and back/hamstrings somehow be linked???

Everything is sort of connected, so possibly maybe.

ammonia smell

@Rich_G - same issues for me lately. Not always, just sometimes. I usually train coming straight out of bed, no food and just a sip of water. Need to step up my liquid intake for sure (usually 1 to 1.5ltr p/day). I’ve also gone through rhabdomyolysis before and this kinda got me all worried again.

The eating before training helped a bit, and the fact that in HK and Singapore you loose so much water and salts etc from sweating so much. I really upped the water intake with dome pocari sweat. Its not a great smell! Fingers crossed its nothing rhabdomyolysis related.
now I'm back in uk no smell... But no sweat as it too f'king cold

pocari sweat

Yesssssss!

If I don’t stretch my back (hamstrings, child pose, etc) then I can guarantee a calf injury, to the extent that if I can’t touch my toes then I don’t run.

It only clicked after years of stretching and strengthening my calves to no effect: my calves were not the problem.

So yeah, totally possible that they’re connected. And usual disclaimer: #IAMADOCTORJUSTNOTAMEDICALONE

I’m going to continue not running this week and do those specific stretches and see what happens. There is pain every now and again but rather than being constant it’s occasionally when I’m going up stairs.

Hoping a 3 day rest period will help me on my weekly 10k later this morning. On this particular return to fitness I've not managed to run the whole thing again yet, there are a couple of hilly sections that I've had to resort to walking although each time I'm walking less and less and it was down to one 150m section (of >15%).

(Still 10 minutes slower than I've run it in the past, but then that'll be related to carrying ~15kg more than back then.)

opposite direction

This also helps you learn the route, I find.

My normal approach to a brand new route is map and compass (carrying map in hand), then same route again with map in bag/hand depending on confidence in memory, then without map if I could remember the way easily on the previous run or map in bag, then run it reverse.

Once you build up an understanding of paths, roads and landmarks then you can explore an area without a map with a good idea of where you are.

pocari sweat

Stocked up on some sachets to fuel up after my runs. No rhabdo, keeping a close eye on the urine colour mind. Just odd and reading anything about ammonia smell and sweat will turn most people into a full on hypochondriac.

Cheers folks. I think the issue is that i want to be running like i know the area (i.e. nothing in hand), but i don't know where i'm going.. Might look into a map of surrey hills though as that does also sound sort of fun and probably doesn't take much more time than constantly getting my phone out. Reminds me of my first go navigating to Brighton on my bike. 12 pages of google maps, which i pulled out my backpack every single turn to check i was going the correct way. I am not a good navigator...

Could you not give google maps the route and wait until it tells you where and when to turn?

i want to be running like i know the area

Then I think you are going to have to do the hard work of getting to know the area 😉

I've run with routes loaded onto my watch and it's just not as good as a map. You should expect to have to do some route figuring out like "where the fuck is the way out of this field?".

You could also try the OS Maps app, you get a code with the paper maps that unlocks that map section in the app. Then you have the paper backup for when your battery dies/there is no GPS signal/it's raining*/you've smashed your screen taking a selfie/a magpie steals your phone...

*Your paper map is, of course, safely in a map case

I usually just head out with phone in hydration pack as back up and follow my nose trying to convince my girl friend I know where I’m going. You can’t get too lost in most parts of England, just make sure you have enough snacks to get you back to car/ home.

I tend to just do:

• Stare at maps a lot before
  
• Run from memory
  
• Don't worry about it unless I get completely lost (unlikely around here)
  
• Look at the map afterwards to see where I went, and where I went wrong
  
• Don't make the same mistakes again (make different ones sure, but make fewer mistakes each time)
  
  

Having a good memory helps, although I know my memory is very visual. I've been amazed at how little I recognise (or how much is completely new to me) if I run one of my normal routes backwards for example.

10k loop run today. No walking (except for a few steps up to the lights waiting to cross the A3 by Robin Hood Gate) so no excuses any more, plus a SB by 90 seconds.

Also decided not to extend my runs longer than 10k, or introduce intervals, until my weight is under 90kg. Don't want to fuck up my glorious summer with an injury. Back to the pool from April 12th and back on the bike when MiniGB goes back to school after Easter. Some long slow distance rides (staying relatively local) should help with the calorie deficit.

Is there a consensus on when you should buy new trainers -
Is it after so many miles /Months of use, Or obvious wear?

I use them until the cushioning has gone as lifespan varies so much between different trainers. I've gone through some in 3-4 months others have lasted well over a year

600 kms is the remindr i have on Strava.
But I forgot to change my shoes on there. So shrug.

I think 4-600 km or about 3-4 months of daily ?

I change mine when the runner is worn down to the foam

I was only able to part with a pair of shoes that I loved a lot when I moved house and was told that I wasn't allowed to bring the shoes into the new place. To be fair, they stank, were super ratty and totally worn... but they were so comfy.