Northern Ireland Running

Rodney - heading to a physio in about 15 minutes!

Diagnosis - hamstring tendinitius..no tears or anything...physio says he was able to work it out and loosen it up. Probably a bit of 'overtraining' I think. Anyway...he's hopeful I can start running again very soon...take it slow!!

Great news JP. We'll see you back on the road soon then.

Kenny, what's energy drinks are they using on Saturday and will they be bottles? Trying to encourage a few friends to go to watch and hand me drinks at 6miles, half way, 19miles and 22-24 miles but if the drinks on offer are ok then I might not need that.

Certainly hope so Rodney.

Joel and I will probably go down and watch on Saturday after Parkrun so if you need any help with that let me know.

Rodney they are from a local company they do them for Centra. Water in 330ml bottle energy drinks in 500ml bottles. 5 water stations round the 13 mile course.

The weather conditions looking favourable.

Sorry to hear about the injury Paul.

John, it seems we have had the same confusions about all this HR stuff. My 70% is 150, RHR 46 MAX 194.

I actually just recently found out that you can input all this data into your user profile in training centre and it gives you a nice wee chart. You get to it by going to "user-profile for". I then synch the watch and volia. Set the upper and lower alerts as Z2. I've been struggling with hills (I live in Ballyclare) and am not sure if I should walk them or slog them out and let the HR creep up. 

I have been trying out this aerobic HR slow running and am struggling to stay disciplined - I have been run my last two runs (both 10 milers) just below 70% @ 137 bpm but it is ridiculously slow producing 11 min miles! Embarrasing -  albeit very comfortable and gives the feeling of being able to run for ever! (no tired legs the following morning either!)  
The Hayden Institute link from C75 says ALL running should be done below 70% to get maxixmum aerobic effect/fitness and goes on to say that even one hard run will negate some of the effects of previous aerobic work. This contradicts other training advice in my "Lore of Running" bible which clearly states that running slow produces slow runners! and whilst it emphasises Long Runs should be at least 1min/ml slower than marathon pace it also suggests at least two speed/hill sessions p/wk.

Confused!

Psychologically I would prefer to mix it up in any given week with some hard sessions but maybe this is the wrong approach & I should stick to some base building with this slow low HR running for a few months?

Any thoughts?

Thanks for that C75 - that's a relief as I wasnt relishing the thought of running so slow all the time!
I think I'll train along your suggested lines and mix it up.

Just back from a 3 mile recovery run a few BPM less than last nites 10 miler & plan to do a tempo run tomorrow evening. Happy days again.

Ricky, it seems we are about the same level. I'm attempting to run only at less than 70% HR, but I've read conflicting opinions. Be interesting to see how you get on, I'm giving the low HR stuff a good 3 months. I reckon I'll probably cave and do an interval run along the way though. 

BBC1 8.00pm "The Truth About Sports Products". This should help me put together my final preparations for Dervock. Sports drinks or water.   I will have to stop and read the label at the energy stations to see if it "does what it says on the tin"  This might effect my finish time but you can't be too careful.

They didn't have these problems when KK McArthur was running marathons or BBT for that matter. Just water and PE gutties.

Thanks Rodney, was trying to remember to watch that! 

Jonny thank goodness someone's as slow as me! That'll be interestin to compare notes in a few months time - I am reverting to 2 70% or less runs per week (one LSR & one recovery run) and 2 tempo/hill sessions. Have returned to running  4 mths ago and motivation was weight loss - delighted to have gone from almost 17stone to 14'5" in those 4 mths. My pace has increased too although slower improvements here than I expected.... maybe its an age thing.

I have a neighbour who has run many marathons and he depressed me a little when he said I'll never get back to the pace i was running 6 years ago (I was 35 then). Hope he's way off with that statement as my goal is to get back to that sort of pace by the end of this year! Anyone any thoughts on the age "v" pace debate?

A pal I used to run with 6 years ago is now in his late fifties and is running faster than he ever has  - clocking a 1'34" pb for the half this year... so I'm pinning my hopes on his experience!

Anyway I'm away for the weekend from tomorrow so Good luck all for Dervock!

Maybe something in this low HR running after all - just back from early morning 6ml tempo run and managed just over 8 m/mls - 49mins for the run. This is off the back of a couple of weeks slow/easy running. Well chuffed and fastest since my return!

Seeing improvements like this are part of the motvation for me and is why I would find it hard to stick to slow running all the time so fair play to those who can stick it out (Jonny!)

We have 14 heading up tomorrow from Larne, 3 in the marathon & the rest in the half.  The forecast looks not bad, just hope it doesn't get too warm along those wee country roads!!  My aim is just to do better than I did at Stranraer when I had the biggest disaster ever, with 10 minutes onto my time.

Looking forward to seeing some familiar faces!

Ricky, don't listen to your neighbour, there's no reason you can't become faster. Like your pal, I'm 56 and recently got a half marathon pb of 1.36. It's just that, as you get older, you have to run a lot wiser. I've learnt that I'm much more prone to injury and have to balance the running with cross training such as circuits, cycling, swimming and weights plus plenty of stretching & foam rolling. At 20 or 30 I could have run every day, but now I can't. My tuppence worth is that you have to be patient and give your body plenty of time to adapt. As you lose more weight, you will steadily get faster. I'm 5'10" but just 10st 6lbs, which is too thin but does make running easier. So if were you, don't rush it. Just enjoy the running and allow more time than the end of the year for your goal. Best of luck.

Good luck to all running in Dervock tomorrow and elsewhere over the weekend.  I've got the usual marathon nerves but also looking forward (I think) to the novelty of a marathon on country roads instead of city streets.  Hope you hit your target Rodney, although I'd love to see you discussing the label with someone handing out the drinks.  I did the Portaferry 10 miler on Tues - not exactly text-book tapering but glad I went to it anyway.

10 miles this morning try to relieve the stress. There was a nice breeze but it was hot. Look forward to seeing you all tomorrow in Dervock. We'll be on the go from 6 in the morning setting up the course. Good luck to all running. HMM I'll have to get the cameras set up for the re-enactment.