Swansea Harriers Seaside 5K Series - Race 2

Morning

Well done Simon - walking is a good cross training exercise, also good for the soul to be out marvelling at the wonders of nature...

The wonders of nature here are just trying to wind me up! The domestic grass grows like it is on speed, whilst the fields I have topped and set aside for the animals to move on to is just sitting there laughing at me! As for those little annual weeds that are sprouting up everywhere on the veg plot....

Rain might not be as bad as forecast today Tracey - Oops that has done it now, sorry!!

Not sure about Father's Day - seems a bit marketing created to me? Where will it end, Brother and Sister day right down the line to Pet Rabbit Day? Never really supported Father's Day, but it is a fine excuse to have something nice for dinner - steak in the Boffin household - Oh and pie of course, apple pie in this instance

Mmmmm Pie

Evening all

Sounds like you had a good day out despite the weather Tracey.  

Boffin - I agree.  Its all very commercial.  My father enjoyed having all the family together last night though.  Doesn't happen very often.

Pie, cake - what else do you need?

Father's day - yes, marketing opportunity deliberately created to sell stuff people don't need. Rather like Valentine's Day, Easter, Christmas...

Tried to cycle out of Merthyr yesterday. Turns out that unless you want to go North/South on the Taff Trail, you are stuffed. NCN 46 starts in the town and has some wonderful cycle tracks later on towards Hirwaun, but there is no way to get past the A465 (horrible on a bike, I did it yesterday). Most annoying.

Morning

A change in transport policy nationwide is called for - more cycle paths and less dependence on the car. Even for us out in the wilds of Carmarthenshire where the nearest shop is 8 miles away, a cycle would still be a viable option until we got too frail to ride one. But like your A465 Tracey, I wouldn't want the children to cycle on the A40 - National Speed limit trunk road with lots of artics and no pavements.

Evening all

Thats a shame Tracey - the A465 isn't nice in a car never mind a bike!  Glad you got home safely.

Boffin - I agree.  It would solve lots of problems - obesity, pollution.  Everyone would be much happier.  I am guilty for driving 1.5 miles to work every day though as I am rubbish on a bike. 

Lovely evening here.

Tracey.thge old road goes parrallel to that the a465 doesn't it.......

Hello everyone, I am sorry to go on about myself here but I'm feeing a bit confused about my foot.

I have had almost a week off running and although I've walked a few miles every night I haven't done anything overly strenuous. Tonight's walk was my fairly usual 4.5 effort, but what started off as a little uncomfortable ache in my left foot ended up as me having to limp over half way home, and get the ice and ibuprofen back out. It's hard to explain where the issue us exactly, but it feels like a sprain on the top of my left foot, on the outer edge, a littke bit in front of the ankle.

I'm just annoyed now that after a week off I'm feeling worse than if I hadn't taken a break. There is no way I can run on this as it, just hope it passes over. I was planning on getting back running on Thursday, so it may have sorted by then (many of these niggles to go quicker than expected I guess). Sorry for my moaning, things could be worse!

Seren Nos there is the old road that runs up from Glynneath to Rhigos, running more or less parallel to the A465, if that's where you mean? Would be much quieter and safer than the dual carriageway.

Simon - get it checked out. Go and see a podiatrist or at least your GP. Feet don't heal well on their own because we're always using them.

Seren - there's a section of the A465 just outside Merthyr, going up hill from the viaduct which is along the line of the old road and which doesn't have any parallel route that I can find. NCN 46 goes through the housing estate nearby and gets you about half way up, but after that the track is gated and padlocked. We lifted our bikes over and carried on, but the track is running with water and is very slippery with algae. There's also a ditch and a stile. Once you've negotiated these, you are very near the top so you just have to ride the last bit. We did it and had a good laugh at what we were doing and even more so that we were enjoying ourselves, but I can't ask my friends to do that on our cycling weekend, especially as we will all be carrying touring panniers. My best solution so far, is to see if I can find a friendly taxi to drive us up! Unless I'm missing something here?

Morning. 

Bristol / Swindon 4 days this week  

Just as I was saying things were getting easier!

Sorry to hear about your profit Simon. 

Morning all

Simon - rest up and get some advice.  What a shame when recovering from your race.

Tracey - sounds like a laugh.  Are you doing a cycling trip for charity?

RK - oh dear.... 

Have a good one all.

Morning all

Simon - this  is the podiatrist I saw. http://www.feetinmotion.co.uk/ They are based in Cardiff but have a clinic in Swansea once a week. The NHS podiatry service is very good I hear, but it takes a while to get get a referral.

The other thing I would say is that if you can, it's a good idea to get another sport which will allow you to stay off your feet, like swimming, cycling or the gym. Walking is brilliant in so many ways, but if you have a foot injury it could be making things worse. I say all this because this is exactly what happened to me and it took months before I realised and did anything about it.

Clare - not for charity, just a laugh.

morning

Simon, what Tracey said, best seen sooner rather than later, and cross training is the way to help avoid such injury

I am coming to swansea this weekend....

there is a bike ride just for fun that is leaving Cardiff at sunset and riding to swansea for sunrise on the beach........as its the longest weekend...

I originally thought it was friday night and so fitted it into my plans........just noticed it is saturday night so will have to time my ride back on sunday morning so that I am back in time for the big new event of teh Caerphilly 10k.....should be 1000 runners in it

Morning

No worries about having a moan about anything on here Simon - saves us commenting on the weather.... which I have to say is looking rather nice today and tomorrow... I digress!

Your foot - bothersome things, as Tracey says - you are always on them so rest is problematic. Likely the change in activity levels have given you a soft tissue injury of some sort (helpful aren't I!). Professional specialist advice is best - GP's can help but they don't spend all their time on feet, so how good can they be? My advice, discomfort is OK, pain is bad. If you do an activity that gives you pain, stop doing it. Likely your foot is weaker in some areas than others - cannot stress the value of cross training enough. Get advice and change activity - plenty of good options. Swimming is excellent (although you do tend to need a pool unless you are Seren or Alex!), cycling is great for feet, legs, bum and core. Also don't forget stretching - even feet - stairs are good if you have them - hold the bannister with toes on the edge of step and raise/lower yourself with your toes. Kind of figure with stretching, just put your body into any passive position you can think of and see what stretches!

Tracey, have you tried using this new fangled mapmyrun site for an alternative route around your dodgy road in Merthyr? I know you have used mapmyrun because the site nicely told me so when I played with it yesterday! Despite me telling it that I didn't want to register through Facebook - This Social Networking thing is going to get out of hand methinks...

Morning all. Thank you for all the above advice. Lots for me to reference there in all of your posts.

I was in a lot of discomfort last night right up until I went to sleep, foot looked inflamed, the ice brought out a bit of swelling around my ankle, and I really struggled to put any weight on it at all last night.

However this morning when I woke up my foot had miraculously returned to 100% fine.  Not going to complain about that!  This tells me it was nothing serious (I hope) and will just put it down to one of those things. Still got a couple of days off running at the moment, will get back out there Thursday I think. Been working out my 10k training plan to get the most out of my runs, without over doing it.

I have struggled with the idea of a long slow run as every time I go out I try to beat my time on that same route.  I also tend to feel a bit conscious that I look like I am running too slow.  I've read a lot about the best ways to train though and have finally got my head around the fact that its not the recomended way to do it!  My long run will start at 10k this week, and each week I will increase it by 2k, up to 20k, then maintain that as my long run distance for the foreseeable future.  Also worked out a steep hill route planned to throw in the mix once a week. Mixing it up seems to be the key, so that is what I am planning.

I will have to look into some different cross training idea then, though my dog wont be happy with me as he currently gets very nice long walks on days between my running, which is why walking has been so easy to fit into my lifestyle really.

Evening all

Simon - don't worry what other people think.  You are running whilst they are probably walking! Glad your foot is better this evening. Be gentle with it though not to cause any recurring problems.

Tracey - sounds like a great thing to do.

Seren - enjoy your overnight ride. Can't believe its the longest day already.

Lovely out there now.