Any Runners On Here??

[Richard A Thackeray]

Hurrah!!
I've managed to get an entry (even though I posted it 3 days after they opened), for this years 'Auld Lang Syne'
http://www.woodentops.org.uk/index.php?topic=als&subtopic=home
http://www.woodentops.org.uk/assets/misc/ALS 2014 start list (2).pdf ('425' - spelt my name wrong though!)

Cue lots of mud, vertiginous slopes (up & down), stream-wadings, & good old moorland!!

Plus;
I was also been informed (during a chat with an GB Cyclo-Cross squad members mother) at the 'Thornes Park Cyclo-Cross' last Sunday, that the course for this years (Bingley Harriers) 'Harriers v Cyclists' will be altered, as parts of the course have been on Bridleway, & thus cannot legally be raced upon by bicycles

It's a couple of sections up on Baildon Hill, & the descent down to Crag Hebble Dam

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/563554

I wonder how they'll re-route it up there?? (as it seems that the cobbled bridleway, to the Dam, will be a compulsory push/carry)

 

[Spartak]

Did my first run last night, since leaving school ( over 30 years ago ) !

Have a four week plan which gently gets you up to speed.
So last night was walk 1 min run 1 min repeat 10 times.

Felt ok & quite enjoyed it - even in the rain 8-)

My aim is to run a 'Parkrun 5km' event by the end of the year !!!!!

 

[Mo1959]

Did my first run last night, since leaving school ( over 30 years ago ) !

Have a four week plan which gently gets you up to speed.
So last night was walk 1 min run 1 min repeat 10 times.

Felt ok & quite enjoyed it - even in the rain 8-)

My aim is to run a 'Parkrun 5km' event by the end of the year !!!!!

If you've got a good base fitness from cycling you should manage that no problem. I haven't run since my late thirties (55 now) and surprised myself the other day by slowly jogging 7 miles on only my third run. I can only presume the cv fitness from cycling was enough to make that possible.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

My racing season is finished for this year, so it's winter training time. The problem with winter is that it gets too depressingly dark to run in the morning before going to work, and coupled with the permanent snow we get here from late December, it becomes more and more of a challenge (for me at least) to run, just when I need to put more mile in: so it's 2 long runs on the weekends and changing some of my bike commute to runs. I'll probably try to get some swimming in too because I'm still not sure if I will also do some triathlon next year, but in any case, swimming is good for overall fitness. I might also do some x-country skiing this winter as a friend keeps bugging me to do some races with him. And strength work - free weights. By the end of March, I want to have lost about 3kg and be really ready to go for next season. For those of you who actually have a 'winter' or an off-season coming up, what are your plans?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

As I'm a fun runner not a competitive runner the season thing is wasted on me. But I will share my intent anyway...

Work from home each Wednesday so I can do a longish run at lunchtime in daylight (Helps, immensely, in fighting my SAD)
Parkrun at 09:00am on Saturday
Long run Sunday morning building to half-mara distance - currently at 15km max
Do as many XC races as I can tolerate (a couple a month post-Xtmas) - have a nine miler next month. Will be interesting.
Pound the pavements twice a week in the dark and when that gets too tedious run the 5k to the local track and do Thursday night track sessions with the club and then run back. Slowly.

I want to lose a stone+ by Easter so my middle-aged middle looks better in my lycra cos I am a MAMMIL.

 

[smutchin]

For those of you who actually have a 'winter' or an off-season coming up, what are your plans?

I'm in my off season in as much as I don't have any events lined up for a few months. My plans are to just keep plugging away, weather permitting (mainly running and cycling but maybe some swimming too). Specifically, I'm aiming to focus on moderate-intensity fasted workouts (eg before breakfast) with weight loss as the goal. I'm hoping to lose twice as much weight as you.

 

[Ian A]

For those of you who actually have a 'winter' or an off-season coming up, what are your plans?

Just had my kind of off season, basically a four week rest from training. I didn't have much of an "on season" to be honest so trained a bit. I generally tried to eat myself to death. A lesser man wouldn't have survived . Back on the wagon now and working on swim technique more than normal and building back up to consistent training. Planning on a few open water swimming sessions in the colder months to keep me awake and the XC running league races to try and build a little speed. I like the longer races in the summer and with the ice coming in at night time when I usually run I'll be working on intensity/speed over the winter with a few early season sprint tris and half marathons before building up the endurance for a few tough hilly half ironmans in the summer.

 

[London Female]

Did my first run last night, since leaving school ( over 30 years ago ) !

Have a four week plan which gently gets you up to speed.
So last night was walk 1 min run 1 min repeat 10 times.

Felt ok & quite enjoyed it - even in the rain 8-)

My aim is to run a 'Parkrun 5km' event by the end of the year !!!!!

I started a couch to 5 k programme run by my local running club, it's very similar in that we have run/walk segments where the recovery walk segments get shorter and the runs longer. They run the programme every Saturday morning alongside the Parkrun so we do the same course but start at the back so as not to get in the way of those trying for their PBs. There are about ten of us in the group and so far it's going well, but running in wet slippery mud is not much fun and I ended up hurting my back this week so may have to invest in some trail shoes.

Good luck with your four week plan and definitely have a go at the Parkrun, it's a very supportive atmosphere.

 

[SimonJKH]

Took part in The Scenic 7 - billed as "The most picturesque 7 mile road race through Suffolk countryside you are ever likely to run"...
Absolutely filthy weather with driving rain and endless thick black clouds made me doubt how picturesque this was actually going to be, but along with over 400 other runners we weren't to be put off. And minutes before start time it all cleared up and we had perfect running weather - cool with no wind - for the duration of the event! This year it was dedicated to the memory of a young local runner who had unfortunately died, and a nice touch was the release of a flock of white doves on the start line. It was a fairly flat course for my longest race so far and I got round in a creditable 55 minutes, even having enough left in the tank for a sprint finish. A great day was had by all.

 

[Spartak]

I started a couch to 5 k programme run by my local running club, it's very similar in that we have run/walk segments where the recovery walk segments get shorter and the runs longer. They run the programme every Saturday morning alongside the Parkrun so we do the same course but start at the back so as not to get in the way of those trying for their PBs. There are about ten of us in the group and so far it's going well, but running in wet slippery mud is not much fun and I ended up hurting my back this week so may have to invest in some trail shoes.

Good luck with your four week plan and definitely have a go at the Parkrun, it's a very supportive atmosphere.

Second run last night, longer run distance & I felt fine.

My 4 week plan was copied from an article in the 'I' newspaper, devised by coach Paddy McGrath !

 

[GrumpyGregry]

New PB at Parkrun on Saturday, next stop 60% age grade, I was just short, and Sunday, my longest run this year, only 15km but that's long for me, which also included the most climbing, and the steepest gradient (17%), in one run, for the year.

Slowly, slowly getting there.

 

[Spartak]

New PB at Parkrun on Saturday, next stop 60% age grade, I was just short, and Sunday, my longest run this year, only 15km but that's long for me, which also included the most climbing, and the steepest gradient (17%), in one run, for the year.

Slowly, slowly getting there.

There are two Parkrun events close to me Pomphrey Hill & Chipping Sodbury.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

A friend of mine has just won her age-category (V40) in the National 'Cross Duathlon Championships'!!
http://www.onestepbeyond.org.uk/evil-sheriff-off-road-duathlon.php (Triathlon England)

Which appears to be; 5 K XC run, 20K MTB (or CX?) ride, 3.5 XC run

I believe she's still the reigning National Duathlon Champion, in her age-group too!!!

 

[GrumpyGregry]

There are two Parkrun events close to me Pomphrey Hill & Chipping Sodbury.

Great stuff. As soon as you can run+walk* 5k, get registered, get your barcode and get down there. I guarantee you'll get a warm welcome and have a ball.

*no one at parkrun cares if you can't run the whole 5k. Plenty of people walk ours, and I've met a few folk wearing 50 & 100 Parkrun T-shirts who have never run the whole way and could not care less. It is, without-a-doubt, the most inclusive sports-related 'movement' I've ever been a part of.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I started a couch to 5 k programme run by my local running club, it's very similar in that we have run/walk segments where the recovery walk segments get shorter and the runs longer. They run the programme every Saturday morning alongside the Parkrun so we do the same course but start at the back so as not to get in the way of those trying for their PBs. There are about ten of us in the group and so far it's going well, but running in wet slippery mud is not much fun and I ended up hurting my back this week so may have to invest in some trail shoes.

Good luck with your four week plan and definitely have a go at the Parkrun, it's a very supportive atmosphere.

Great stuff. And I like the idea of doing c25 at the back of the bunch. couldn't do that in 2010 when I did mine (rehab from a busted leg) as we didn't have a local Parkrun.

Trail shoes are a must I think if your parkrun, like mine, involves lots of mud. Slips and slides can cause all sorts of problems and muscle tears/strains. If starting out and not wanting to spend lots of moolah you could do much much worse than getting a pair of More Mile Cheviot shoes. Change from £30 and all the comics say they are excellent vfm. More Mile kit is cheap but not nasty. I have several pieces (usually grabbed from TK Maxx) including a pair of Cheviots bought especially for the worst of winter on Sussex clay.