Sub 3

Padams - good work there, got to keep ticking over ready for the IMFrance build up. Back in the lido yet ?

CW - you should join PAdams club for that money esp if you dont intend on attending anything. Joining a club just for the apparant prestige of a Champs start made me laugh though, shocking behaviour  - yellow card !  I'd rather stay unattached harriers myself. Not that I'm fast enough anyway.

My back feels like its improving off less running, so next Sundays 1/2 should be ok, might beat 1:23 for once, depends on a proper or inverse taper I guess.

NOSEMI -- cor, what a feat. Sounds thoroughly satisfying.

CD -- that sounds like an excellent time for the course.

Padams -- wow, you certainly have better value there with your club. They're talking about raising the cost of ours! Maybe all the throwers jumpers and what-not make it more expensive (it's a general athletics club). I know there's a virtual internet-only club too (UKnetrunners?) which would be an alternative... but then I have got to know a few people now.

RS -- just had a peek at yours (MudClaw 300) on the Inov-8 site -- I see the stud pattern is very reminiscent of the classic Walsh PBs, which I've never had but sound promising. In general I've been happy in quite big sizes of Inov-8s (usually a 10, whereas my ordinary shoe size is maybe 8.5 or 9), but I get most trainers in 10s. I've worn quite thick SealSkinz socks in the fell shoes so it's good to have some room. However, the X-Lite 155s were like clown shoes in 10 -- I ended up with 9.5 but 9 probably would have been fine. Odd that.

CW - yes, if it's an AC that would make it more expensive. Even so, ours is still the cheapest I've heard of, and we still make a decent profit most years.

TR - yes, I swam last Monday and will probably swim again tonight. Nothing major, just about 50 minutes with the club (we now have one 90 minute session, most people just do part of it). The first time I went I was pretty rubbish but felt a bit better last week - did a few 400s in about 5:50. Still got lapped in the last one!

Afternoon, Been offline for a few days so just playing catch up a bit....

Nice half efforts from Lord Dids and CD (congrats on the double family Parkrun milestones too!). Great ultra result from NOSEMI, 35 miles would be hard enough without the mud....

Not a lot of running for me (read zero until today), figured that it's my left soleus that's not happy. Went out for my 1st run since a week Sunday today, felt ok to start with but after 1.5ml could definitely feel soreness in my lower calf, so stopped and walked back to the office. Not feeling too bad now, and I can do calf stretches without any problems, so guess it just needs another day to two to fully recover . I'm entered in the same half as TR on Sunday, but will have to wait and see how I'm feeling by then. Doubt it will be a full on race effort (unless the calf perks up by the end of the week) and I don't want to risk re-injuring it and damaging my chances of doing the Great South. So might just go along for a training run instead (shame as it's our club half champs too)

Al P.. hope that niggle clears up soonest & wishing RS78 a return to fighting fit as well.

Andy D.. another cracking weekend's training, hope the taper goes to plan.

Marmite.. good to see you popping in, any major races planned?  If you fancy another crack at the Snake Lane 10 the entries are still open (just!).

Nice half mara's from Dids & CD, congrats to CD junior as well.

Good effort in the XC Charlie.

Nosemi.. fantastic achievement in the ultra, it was a cracking day for it which must have helped a bit.  I haven't heard of most of those villages either!

Padams.. still a decent weekend's output there, a well earned rest and curry I'd say!

I was marshalling Sunday morning at the Bramham Park 10k/5k which is in aid of CRUK.  My club measure the course, build the finish, do the results, provide the marshalls etc.  Wall to wall blue skies so a perfect day for it.  They usually raise about £5000+ so a worthwhile day once a year.  I have run it a couple of times and it is a lovely mostly off road course.

I ran back home from the event with a few muddy loops thrown in to take it up to 11 miles.  A la Padams a nice curry with mates last night to finish the day off. 

Very foggy here this morning so had to cycle to work lit up like a christmas tree!

Did a 10k Hell and Back race over the weekend. 1,500 entrants. Take cross country and add swamps, rivers, walls, a mountain and all kinds of obstacles! Finished in 50:09 missing out on top spot by 0.1s on the chip. Would have been a bit strange had I actually beaten him as he sprinted past and climbed over a 12 foot high tower of hay bales to win by about 10 meters! 

I have a 10k this weekend, 5k next then a week off before 10k XC. Is it beneficial to race all of these or should I prioritise important races and treat the others as tempo runs? I have a break from racing after these and I'd rather race, but it would impact my training in between for sure.

Wardi - great to see you're still going strong and thanks for the heads-up on Snake Lane. Planning to try and get a season of XC racing done before getting back on the roads in the new year, would like to do London if I'm still in one piece by April.

Well raced from Nosemi and CD.

CW: I think most clubs are likely to have to increase their fees because the England Athletics fee is increasing from £5 to £20 and very few clubs can afford to absorb the change.  Don't know what we're charging yet; think our subs are currently about £30.

My club membership was £12 for many years although I think it's gone up a little recently.  It's very much a no-frills thing although I don't make the most of the club sessions available as they don't normally suit my timetable.  They're sticking with EA for now but are thinking of leaving which would leave me without a champs entry spot.  Mind you, the champs start isn't what it used to be (what happened to the carpeted toilets?  Since they let women in we've had portaloos like everyone else ).  Going from the FGFA wouldn't be a problem tbh.

My club fees were £15 for years but recently went up to £20, which includes free entry to 10 XC races, 5 Summer League races plus any races you're asked to run for the club such as relays or the Midland 5/7, and use of the leisure centre changing rooms and showers on club nights. I reckon they'll go up to £25 though as the 'off track' affiliation fee is going up from £5 to £10. Joining Notts AC next year just to run on the track may bankrupt me though, they're already charging about £60 plus track fees each session. It would be cheaper if I just changed clubs and joined Notts, but I live less than 2 miles from Redhill and I used to be club secretary so I'd feel like an utter traitor! Plus Notts only do the one XC league and I *love* XC. 

CD - they may be portaloos on the champs start, but the queueing time is about 100th of the time on the GFA start. Off GFA I had time to go to the loo once. Off the Champs start I think I went 6 or 7 times, just because I could!

I've just paid £27 to join Heaton Harriers up here whereas Heathside was £35 but has gone up to £40 more than anything to do attempting to cover costs of Finsbury park track. You get your moneys worth imo so I'm always happy to pay and it's not much really.

You have to be a club member to run from the champs start?? Thats bollocks really.

Re clubs - I've had to switch my 1st claim to Heaton so that I can run XC up here or other team events and count as a runner. Term time and living up here will mean that I wouldn't be able to run XC for Heathside anyway. But ironically the Nationals are a stones throw away in Sunderland which poses the question really - would I run for Heaton (if selected) against my former 1st claim club? Don't think that would go down very well so would probably have to sit it out either way. Anyone else had a situation like that before with two clubs. Didn't realise you had to be 1st claim even if you were running in a totally different XC league.

CW - bloke in start fitness today who runs for another local club was telling me he runs for Northumberland fell runners. It's basically a conglomerate of runners from different clubs in there area. They all share travel to races in the area and the lakes so that sounds like a winner. Only a small yearly fee too.

Bkins - thats pretty bloody impressive

30 easy mins but had a bit more kick in the legs

RS - Glad to hear that you're feeling better. Isn't the champs start for all those who are entered into the clubs championships (individual and team)?  On the clubs thing I never had it in athletics but I did change clubs a couple of times playing rugby and it was never an issue.

AL_P - Hope that injury clears up soon.

B_Kins - Nicely done on the race.  I don't understand your question though - beneficial to what?

AndyD - That was a nice weekend of training.  Enjoy the taper!

Nosemi - Very well done.

I think that the cost of membership to an athletics club is smaller than almost any other organised sport and is almost irrelevant when compared to the money that many runners shell out for trainers and other equipment.

I'm not quite ready to declare myself off the bench yet but I've got a lot closer since I dug out my orthotics on Friday and put them back in my runners.  I don't like to wear them as I don't think that I fundamentally need them but if it's going to get me back running quicker it's worth doing I think.  Anyway, very slow jog to and from the gym yesterday and today.  The body is complaining loudly but it's a complaint I'm happy to listen to.

I think technically the Champs start is the UKA/AA Champs rather than simply a race open to anyone, hence the need to be a member of a club.  You only have to wear your club vest if you are competing in a full team.  In fact, if you sponsor requires you to wear something other than your club vest, you are not a scoring member, as B&W discovered to our cost this April - we didn't get the team title despite having the fastest cumulative time for 3 ladies as Claire H ran in sponsor's kit.  And she is a bit good.

Our £12.50 doesn't cover EA affiliation (lots of people don't want that so it is an optional extra), so that's partly why it looks so cheap. Still ridiculous value though!

RS - generally in XC leagues you can run for your 2nd claim club as long as your first claim club is not part of the same league. Your 2nd claim club might have to tell the organisers which of their runners are 2nd claim. That's how the Met League works anyway. In the Champs races, every club can compete, so it makes sense that you can only run for your 1st claim.

Clearly - good news, hope the comeback goes to plan.

About 3k in the pool last night. Main set was 500,400,300,200,100. I felt like I was going OK (7:20 for the 500), but still got lapped when the pace picked up in the 400 and 300. I wasn't far off being lapped in the 200!

CLearly - great news, pleased to hear it.

Padams - you swim with some speedy folks.

Dids - I like it, so you and CW are trying the make the Ryder Cup and I'm trying to play in the Open as an Amateur. Nice. I'm running sub3s each VLM as its a test and takes a certain amount of achieving (for me), when I achieve it its something worth having.

I'm no fan of running clubs, as a kid I was embroiled in a fair amount of rediculous internal politics (as was my dad) with a couple of prominant Bristol coaches and I witnessed numerous good athletes ruined by these "experts" in the search of the next big thing, 20 odd years later the same people are still doing it.and still trying to uncover the "gem" and ruining kids enjoyment of sport in the process.

In other news I did a load of lunges and other such strengthening exercises, 4 days later I'm still sore!!