A new 10k in under 60 mins thread?

Louise,

Well done.

Lisa,

Good luck with the training.

WB Sam! sounds like you had a great time - and well deserved I'm sure

Back to reality for you now and good luck with your HM training. I've just started trying some speed sessions/hill reps for my 10k at the end of Jan though doubt I'll be able to emulate your excellent time.

Sam, am sure a week of walking up hills will have helped your fitness

My 10k is at Buchlyvie (between Stirling & Glasgow) so a fair way from me and will mean an overnight stop as I wouldn't make the last Ferry home (good excuse for a steak dinner and beer of course).

I tried my 30 second hill sprints up a 14% incline tonight, good news is I made it to the top of the 14% incline hill in 30 seconds (its about 100 metres long) but the bad news is I only managed 5 reps this time then came home. Now I'm not sure if I should hit this hill a few more times or move onto a longer, steeper hill and start again. This had better do me some good cos I ache tonight lol.

@Samantha - well done on the sub 60!

@Andi - thanks.. I know I should cycle or something, problem is I just only love running!  I can just about tolerate rowing at the gym, so I should try to do more of that.  By the way I use sportstrack 3 and that has a plugin that does pull out the best section from longer runs.  It does have a tendency to spot and get hung up on abberrant gps traces though, so you see a load of super-fast 500m sections from the beginning of runs where you didn't have a good lock - maybe that's why garmin connect don't offer the feature.  Those times from Macmillan look about right to me for someone who's around the 60 minute mark - you can def do a better mile than that 9:24

I have an appointment with another physio tomorrow, this one comes well recommended by a running friend.  I'm becoming convinced that my heel/achilles problem is some kind of nerve thing - it still absolutely kills to stretch it, but there's no pain in the achilles at all when I press it; added to that, I've got a large spot at the back of the heel/ankle that's totally numb to the touch.  The calf/shin pain went away after a few days which is a good thing, and the arch is no worse than ever and better than it has been so I hope the right orthotic and getting things stretched out and moving could see me back on the road.

My diet is going well by the way - I'm at my lightest ever at just over 87kg and though that's not a huge loss from my starting weight of just over 90, I certainly look like I've lost a lot and I'm no longer craving all those crisps and snacks

Sam,

Well done.

Daveo,

Good luck with the physio

Daveo, my garmin sometimes loses the plot at the start of a run but is generally ok, even in the wilds And yes, the 9:24 is the one I'll be trying to beat in the next couple of weeks - it was probably because I'd just run 1k in 4:52.

It sounds like your getting on top of your injuries and fingers crossed things go ok for you tomorrow. Well done on the diet so far, 3kg lighter will have you flying along 

My physio session was kind of inconclusive.  He agrees that the heel pain is some kind of nerve thing but doesn't think it's much to worry about.  He says my calf muscles are very short and my achilles is super tight meaning that I don't have much flexibility to pull the toe towards the shin (dorsiflex?).  All the calf muscles behave like they're one unit all tied together, on both legs, though the tension on the right was eased by massage while the left remained tight.  The muscles around the achilles are almost over developed and the symptoms I'm getting are as if the muscles supporting the arch, both sides of the shin bone and the muscle in the arch are over working; the ankle though behaves as if it's overflexible laterally and so that's why the foot squats inwards so much.  He also spotted something going on on the outside of the foot, similar to what the pod saw.  The thing is, he doesn't really have any idea what to do - the orthotics would help if the muscles were being over stretched, but they're overworking which he seems to think was almost counterindicative... So I'm left without much more knowledge apart from it's probably ok to stretch through the heel pain because there's nothing wrong with the achilles, and he says walking around barefoot is probably a good idea which is nice because I'd read I should wear shoes all the time and I don't like shoes much!  I should try to stretch and elongate but at the same time strengthen those stirurp muscles that support the arch, and can run until the pain in the middle part of the posterior tib comes back, which is a sign I've gone to far and need to back off.  He also recommends I go back to the pod and get those custom orthotics, but he admits that those bits of advice are all a bit self-contradictory because he can't really identify the root cause of the problem.

Daveo, so much to take in in that paragraph! Sorry a solution wasn't found but hopefully the orthotics will help (but as you say may be counter productive). Take things easy(ish) and keep us informed

Sam, sorry bout the whiney kids but thats what kids do best a  lot of the time fingers crossed you make it our for a while tomorrow

Had a hard 12k today and thought I was taking things easy  but at about 8k I could see me improving on my fastest 10k to date so pushed things a bit. At 10k I stopped the watch and took a rest for a few moments and was almost 90 seconds faster than ever before - still slow at 1:10:41 mind but will hopefully get into the 60+ min bracket soon. My right hamstring felt a bit tight after the break so hobbled back to the car with a 12k time of 1:28:41 and about a minute faster than the only other time I'd covered 12k. Not sure if I should push for 14k next week or stick at 12k for a while as my lsr?

Daveo,

That sounds a nightmare with all that conflicting info.

Andi,

Well done.

Sam,

Neither did I.  It was chucking it down yesterday and the best part of the day today is going to be taken up by Xmas shopping as it's going to rain this afternoon.  Hope the little one gets better soon.

Daveo to echo what HM4 said what a nightmare, and really hope it gets sorted soon. I know that I have mentioned this before but I attended the running show yesterday and attended the seminar on barefoot running and again to me it all seems to make sense. Although I haven't actually gone out there and run barefoot yet myself, I am slowly making the transition. I am currently running in Saucony Kinvara's have a pair of VFF's on order and currently considering these little babies .....!!  http://www.xeroshoes.co.uk/buy-xero-shoes

I appreciate that this way of running is not for everyone - however there appears to be lots of positives

Andi well done on your tough run, hope the hamstring behaves itself.

Daveo - actually it was really interesting listening to the seminar yesterday, as they actually said not to forefoot strike. It was all about where your foot impacts the ground in relation to the axis of your knee and hips. They suggest that pronation is normal and we should use all of our foot flexing and naturally stretching out all the bones and ligaments.  I guess we have to find our own style as we are all so different, pretty frustrating though. 

Very difficult 5.6 mile trail run today on saturated and flooded land, with loads of hills. Found it pretty tough, and have been exhausted all day today.  Rest day tomorrow (pilates class excluding), then HM training starts .

WOW Lisa! they are minimilistic! I have a friend in York that has been barefoot running for about 3 months and taking things really slowly - think she is up to about 500 metres now. I read lots about and whilst I understand the principles I'm not sure it's for me (yet).

Your run may have been tough lisa but the terrain will probably help your core/stamina in the long run (excuse the pun). And good luck for your HM training, 8 weeks till my 10k now so best knuckle down and do some serious training.

Daveo, have you looked at the Hoka shoes? A bit expensive to 'try' then not like but am still considering trying them next year.

I may have overdone it today, 40mins on resistance bands then a 6k jog along a new route that is flatter than I had thought so will plod along it a few more times I think.