My Forum

Also Ran -- congrats on the podium/V40 prize.

kr -- no science behind this but something I like to do for HM is run a couple of miles to warm up, then alternate 6 min and 7 min miles (doing about 6 of each), then another couple. So you end up doing say 16M in total. Strangely I find it harder to hold the pace in the 7 min miles sometimes... that's when I have been doing 75/76 min HMs, so you ought to scale the speed accordingly. Doing overdistance for HM is important I think; it shouldn't feel like a long run.

Good going with all those reps, people.

Me? Bah. I did a 6 + 6M commuting double yesterday to scrape a 40M week, and yet again a perfectly OK first run (~7 min/M) was followed by a very cranky experience for the second. It felt like I was doing a recovery run after some massive session as I struggled home at 8 min/M. Is it possible to have overtraining syndrome in just one leg? I don't have a distinct injury, it just feels achy and weak and rubbish in a rather diffuse kind of way. Both legs to some extent. I wanted to keep my mileage up to be able to do the 12 hour race in 2 weeks without losing momentum from VLM, but now I think I'll forget that, have a few days off, and try and ease back into things very gradually. Maybe I offended my body by doing that 2nd marathon 2 weeks after VLM, and running too fast on the Friday after VLM too when I had the first cranky run home.

Ah I've done plenty of other fells, but if you want to bag a quick mountain and still be back in time for breakfast with the family in Keswick then it's the most local... it's not like I explore somewhere new every time I train here from home, after all. And hey, Skiddaw is still a hell of a novelty for Cambridge-dwellers.

Another trademark big commute there Wardi.

Hello greakweak, that's quick. (Were you GAWD?)

Ah, in my defence, if I'm on holiday in a city or normal bit of countryside, I'm perfectly happy to go off and randomly explore without so much as a couple of flares or EPIRB... though I have had to rely on my Garmin marking where START is to help me find my way back if I've worked round in a loop rather than doing out-and-back. It's only up in the mountains alone where things can go very pear-shaped I'm more paranoid. And CRAB, you'd love my reckless attitude to road-crossing (I kind of merge with the traffic while running, and find my head-torch is quite good for stopping cross-traffic at junctions in the winter...).

Very nice reps TT!

Padams -- top biking, that average speed looks impressive for all those miles.

LD -- we're rooting for you!

CRAB -- you see, I'm Nervous Nerys about the mountains too. There was one morning I ran up Skiddaw though when there was a drizzle and a breeze in Keswick; by the time I got to the top, it was an icy gale (had to cling on to rocks to avoid being blown over) with sleet/hail sheeting at me, and as I picked my way across the pointy rocks, all alone at 9am on a weekday, I knew I'd be dead from hypothermia before anyone found me if I twisted my ankle and didn't have extra clothes and a survival bag (even then it would be very rough). And no longer resented carrying the emergency kit...

Another 6M on grass this morning but my shin is still niggly. Weight is now back to where I was in Feb when it was coming down after Xmas holidays, but with a half-term blowout week after next it's only going to get worse... I can't see getting any nice short-distance results out of marathon training at this rate. But hey, I wouldn't trade a great VLM for the odd 10k category trophy anyway, so I'm not too bothered.

Top training TT, you too kr.

SL --  I don't have any specific prep for long off-road runs (maybe I should). If I'm running somewhere remote, I make sure I have emergency stuff like some plasters, an extra layer or two, phone, enough cash for taxi, some calories, etc; in the mountains, also map & compass, whistle, torch, survival bag, water purifying tablets, and one of the cheap-but-effective walkie-talkies as quite a few people in the hills use those (and my wife has the other half). Easier to find me in a gully then, once someone is within a mile or two. I also leave a plan of what I intend to do and what I'm wearing etc for the Mrs if I'm going somewhere hazardous. Basically I aim to cope OK if I get injured so that I can't run any more, from a logistical and safety point of view, and in the mountains to stay alive and maximise my chance of getting rescued if something really bad happens.

Shin still niggly but did 5M @ 6:50 before cycling to work, again avoiding my normal doubles. Perhaps improved by the compressing effects of the tights I wore, and a couple of ibupro an hour before...