Running

re: gels, Hywel Davies (~2.30 marathoner) reckons if you can't get it from real food, you don't need it.

Makes sense, my diet is fairly random and sporadic though so a little pickmeup halfway round a long run will be a godsend. I've not even completed a marathon yet and only manage halfs in just under 2 hours so my body is a long way from being that efficient...

Yeah, my post not to be suggesting anyone should ditch gels immediately, but it's certainly worth thinking about long term as part of wider dietary changes.

His comment is part of a response to this link: http://armadillokerfuffle.blogspot.se/2014/01/why-we-will-continue-to-eat-full-fat.html?m=1#!/2014/01/why-we-will-continue-to-eat-full-fat.html which is probably being discussed here in a more relevant thread as it's quite a hot topic it seems.

Oooh - I was looking at getting one of those - can I try yours on?

aye lmnh next week?

You'll need to let it out a bit, Ciq, so I hear...

caffeine gels- you will win

10k race on Sunday- fun run sort of thing.

So, of course, I would like to do well.

What hints'n'tips do people have from their first "race"?

I'd treat it like a running version of an FTP test on a bike, try to play on the edge of what feels sustainable, until you can basically see the finish line then go all out...

10k race on Sunday- fun run sort of thing.

So, of course, I would like to do well.

What hints'n'tips do people have from their first "race"?

10k,
my p.b is 40.38
In 10ks,
dont worry about the 1st and last k,
the adrenalin will be pumping so much youll easy make youre time,
2-9, try and do 4 minute k's., then youll be glad to have rinsed a 40 min 10k
good luck
dont forget the caffeine gels

Get as near to the front at the start as you can, use your elbows.
Otherwise you'll spend the first 1km weaving through everyone.

Know exactly how your gonna get there for the start time but
don't arrive too early and get cold/nervy before.

For christ sake tho pin those dam numbers on your t-shirt *before you get there..
Best if you can arrive on the dot in a slight rush and use the extra adrenaline on the course.

Spare pair of shoes for walking home in afterwards probably a good idea when its gonna be as wet as sunday.

Plan what pose your gonna throw for the course photographer.. wave with a smile or concentrated excursion deciding while running will eat up seconds & look rubbish.

Ah, good point - got to look good in the photo.

Blue-steel at speed?

Plan what pose your gonna throw for the course photographer.. wave with a smile or concentrated excursion deciding while running will eat up seconds & look rubbish.

lol

Marginal gains.

I'll practice in the mirror tonight.

I'm just back from the top of one of the hills. The race is a lot of fun, I did it twice when I was a student. But I imagine without local knowledge, it would be tough. I saw a lot of people go the wrong* way. Do you know the city well?

*Or at least different from what I thought the quickest way was.

I know the city reasonably but not brilliantly. Am planning at least one recce weekend once marathon training is out of the way.

Anyone else running Parliament Hill this afternoon?

Preparing myself for today's long run. Had a weird craving for cheap hotdogs, so had 2 of them with a fuckton of salad in a wrap. Washing it down with a coffee and water.
Quite possibly the most inappropriate breakfast ever but I've got an hour or so to digest it before I head out...

Good luck, Ed.

I'm just back from Hilly Fields Parkrun. Sore shins now, after a busy-ish week of running. Was hoping to get out on a long run tomorrow as marathon training is still going very poorly. Will roller the hell out of my legs, have a bath and put my feet up for a bit.

^Nice. If I could run that quick I'd be onto a winner. Will report back to see if the mechanically seperated chicken and pork did the trick..

I really want to start getting into this Parkrun ting, especially seeing as there's one right by my house. Annoyingly saturday is my long run day so think I'll wait til Paris and Essex/Halstead are out of the way first.

I look forward to hearing how cheap hotdogs go down on a run!! Yesterday I had a thai green curry and some pomegranates and then ran, would not recommend. I can only imagine cheap processed meat to have the same evacuation speed...

Also, this:

Plan what pose your gonna throw for the course photographer.. wave with a smile or concentrated excursion deciding while running will eat up seconds & look rubbish.

Best advice ever.

Hackney Marshes Parkrun - 19:38!

So happy with that, might just hang my shoes up now. Thought I was gonna miss out on the sub-20, garmin was telling me I had 4:05 to run the last km and then bang on 1 min for the final 250m. Was really struggling to stay with the required pace but luckily it had underestimated the distance run and the finish was ~80m closer. Would've been very close otherwise.

Really surprised it was over 70 seconds quicker than my Finsbury Park PB. Never expected such a big difference.

There was one of them fixie bikes locked to a lamppost near the start. Hung around near it for a couple of mins before leaving to see if it belonged to anyone on here. Does it?

I've run 45 miles this month- which came as a total surprise.

I am well aware that this is nothing to many on this thread, but a couple of years ago my annual mileage was ~200 or so.

Just ordered one of these for my larger bag. Essentially a stuff sack with straps and a removable back pad. Freaking love Marmot kit so hopefully it'll be a winner...
And for £20 instead of £50-£70 for everything else I've considered it's gotta be worth a punt.

had my 15th run of 2014 yesterday (all <=10km) and it felt like it finally "clicked" - I could have happily run for another hour. It helped that I was running on the pan-flat shores of lake Geneva with the snow-capped peaks in the distance.

a new year's resolution which actually seems to be sticking... I've been using runtastic app on my phone to log my progress... are there any benefits to trying out Strava or other alternatives?

Yes. Strava is fun. Do it.

I assume the Strava Run app is what i'm after right?

i already know the answer to that