Sports & Fitness The Running Thread (All Abilities)

Ha! Maybe! Let me build up for a bit! When I finished up I was running short on time and felt like I had another 5k's in me then yesterday.... Glad I didn't go those extra 5k's! I have a dodgy back and ankle and they were letting me know big time they weren't happy.

Back to the gym this evening though but just interval training with 14kmh work speeds and 4.5kmh rest speeds. That worked out all the kinks

 

I'm struggling a bit just now, I was finally feeling like I'd turned a corner after the Ultra. Heart rate on runs was coming back down again, speed going up again a little but then out of the blue last week my big toe started hurting, like really hurting to the point I couldn't actually walk for 2 days. 2-3 days further of nothing more than a shuffle and now. almost 10 days later I can almost walk properly (albeit with a slight limp as I still get a shooting pain tin the top of the toe if it over bends). I managed a 5k walk last night and it wasn't too bad but even sat on the sofa of an evening or in bed it's agony, feels like someone is ramming needles into the top of it. Going to give it another few days and if no further improvement off to the docs I reckon. So frustrating, missing out on some glorious running weather!

I have a very high pain tolerance, but even I have to say it is extremely painful.

At least it's given me the incentive to break the cycling drought whilst I wait to be able to run again. Cleaned all the bikes up and put almost 200k in the last 10 days. Quite enjoying it again, much to the excitement of my buddy who's been a bit lonely on his bike since I started running... poor chaps been feeling a bit neglected Got a few multi day rides planned this year to mix things up a bit.

 

Just got tested again some 16 months later.
Bodyweight down from 79.4kg to 77.8kg.
Muscle mass slightly up from 41.8kg to 42.1kg.
Body fat % down from 8.5% to 5.4%. Definitely wasn’t expecting to be that low but will take it.
I could get more shredded for sure but I need to keep strength. I also enjoy ice cream every night and milk/sugar in my coffee so not going to diet for a bit of extra fat loss.

 

@Ace in the Hole 5.4% wow! I'm a lean looking 76kg at 6'1" but the electronic scales tell me I'm still 14.5% body fat. I can't see how it can be as high as that, I'm not ripped but I don't have a lot of excess, I guess the home electronic resistance scales aren't that accurate?

How's everyone's 2019 running year starting out? Nines been useless. My right toe is finally coming good, just the nerve pain on a night in it now, I could run on it but one of our Great Danes stood on my left little toe 2 weeks ago and bent it right round to the left side of my foot, I think I've damaged the tendons in the left side of the foot from it being wrenched around so far, I can walk OK but I can't run on it yet. So, we're what, 6 weeks into 2019? and I've done all of about 6k. It's going to feel like starting again when I can actually lace up.

We've finally finished moving house, it was a mammoth effort (especially not being able to walk properly for most of it), the upshot is I think that has kept some strength and fitness up. Been averaging 30,000 steps a day for the last 2 weeks just with the move!

Got my parent here form the UK, first time I've seen them in 5 years. They are here until the first week of March. I think I'm going to try and not stress about the fitness I'm losing, use Feb as a rest month, get the toes right and start a new program to get the distances back up from early March, ready for some long winter adventure runs.

Hope everyone else is still out there pounding away and envying themselves?

 

I've done ~175km so far, including a 10k last night. Happy to say going running has become a habit now - get home, change, grab running gear, head out. No inclination at all to just hit the couch and watch TV.

Next race is the BBB run at Wentworth Point on 3 March - hoping to knock a minute off my 10k best.

 

Great stuff @marty998

 

I've been running consistently, semi-sprinting more specifically.
I guess that's why my body fat got so low, but I'm going to try and increase strength a little now so it will probably rise a point or two.
For the past couple of months I've done a reset to improve form/technique by doing 2 x 5x100m.
Started at 16.5s pace and now down to 13.5s at semi-cruising pace and haven't put the foot down yet, so hopefully my flat out top speed has improved due to this.
Had a little bit of posterior shin tenderness, but when dropping my running frequency this improves a lot, so just finding the sweet spot right now.

 

Struggling for motivation to do any more marathons. I'm training ok but the thought of travelling, booking accommodation and the nervousness I get beforehand is becoming too much. Bloody hard training by myself for all these years. I'll keep plugging away but losing interest in the competitions

 

My new year resolution this year is to run around a lake every week. Started the resolution a bit late. It was like last weekend. So far, I’ve done Albert Park Lake and Lysterfield Lake. So 50 more lakes to go!

 

How is everyone's running going?

I've entered the UTA11 in Katoomba in May this year. First proper run I'm go into id say at this stage, there are a few others I have my eye on (run west, west syd marathon 1/2, .running wild) The 22km sold out way to quick for me to get into. It will be as fun starter and I'm very excited for it.... I might even try and do a park run or two in prep rather than rely on my diy

 

Nice work @bob shovel looking forward to hearing how it goes.

My running ran out. I've really struggled to get back to feeling good since the Ultra, I think it took more out of me that I'd care to admit. I've only clocked 70k so far this year whilst my main running buddies re up over 400k for the year already. I kind of lost the love for it a bit, sorely lacking motivation, not helped by the toes issue.

We moved house in January, that was a mammoth task this time around, then we had my parents out from the UK for all of February and into March, I hadn't seen them for 5 years. It was good timing really, a forced break while my toes healed and I've started running again last week, a few 5k's an 8 and then a decent 11k yesterday which I felt quite good. Toes are holding up, engine felt good just need to get some strength back in the legs.

Planning to hit some new trails this weekend, see if that sparks a bit of love again.

The cooler weather is helping too, I find summer running very tough.

Hope everyone else is clocking some k's and enjoying themselves?

 

Great to hear everyone is still at it.

It's been a good few months for me as i moved from my 5km (2 days off one day on) and been doing 8 km runs and including longer 12-15km runs on the weekends. Trying my best to include long slow runs to rebuild stamina but i've always found it hard to run slow... so slowing the 5Km pace has been a bit of a challenge but as usual, consistency pays off and i'm really enjoying the longer runs these days.

Still not into competing but i thought i'd join the local Park Run and then realised that they have almost 200 participants on most runs in my area ... not my cup of tea but still aiming to at least join one run for the sake of socialising with fellow runners

 

What would the more experienced runners in this thread consider a fast 1km average over 10kms distance?

Thanks
Al

 

@alexm , open ended question really but to my mind, around 4 min 20 seconds is a good pace for a 10km run which puts you around 43 minutes all up.
Anything less than 40m minutes ( 4 min/km) is fast pace.

 

Busy periods can get in the way I guess. Sounds to me like you might ease back into it then be hooked again (I hope for your sake)

I haven't run for 2 weeks. But buying a ticket and requiring a day off work means I have something to work for, can't waste the opportunity

Time wise I'm wanting <1hr30min. If I get some good runs in Ieading up to it, I'd like to get very close to the 1 hour mark . Having never done a "proper run" it will be a learning curve, but also think adrenalin will push me
@alexm find some runners on strava and see their times and trails. I follow brendan Davies, so see some fast times and get ideas for trails

 

@alexm everyone's different. For background, I was always pretty fit from cycling, I've been running just over 2 years now and Strava tells me I've clocked 2700k in that time.

My running buddies tell me I'm "fast", but it's all relative, EG my fastest ever 5k is 20:48, 10k 44:51 and half marathon 1:41:34, the 44 minute 10k almost killed me in effort, yet I regularly run 47 minute 10k's without issue. To me, a sub 45 minute 10k and a sub 20 minute 5k were my dream speed goals. I'd really have to do some very specific training to try and get below that, and to be honest, at 43 years old with no natural running ability and a few structural issues with the old bones I doubt I'd get there and I'm not hungry enough for it to try (prefer the long distance trail runs).

I've ran with guys that regularly run 35-37 minute 10k's that's another league altogether. I also run with a mate who's always ran his whole life but can't break 50 minute 10k's with regularity.

Main thing is to just enjoy it. If you're serious about chasing times then you'll need to look and some specific training plans tailored to the distances you're most interested in.

 

@bob shovel thank mate, Tuesday's run helped a lot, back up to just over 10k and at my old 10k pace too. Engine felt good, legs need a bit of strength to come back but the main thing is I enjoyed being out and doing it (and the feeling afterward). Toes held up pretty good, bit of nerve pain in them last night but certainly a massive improvement on where they have been.

I'll head out for another 10k at lunch time, maybe on the trail along the train line and I've arranged a 21k trail run in the hills with a mate on Sunday which I'm really looking forward to now.

Also ordered some new runners, a new pair of runners always helps the motivation ;-)

 

@paulF Never fancied a park run myself, mainly due to it tying up a Saturday morning with a fast 5k when I'd rather head into the trials instead. Couple of mates do our local one regularly now though, they love it, appears to be very addictive. Great way of working on your 5k times as the people around you make you dig a little deeper without it being an actual race if you know what I mean?

 

Definitely agreed @Propagate that people around a Park run might help one dig a little deeper but to be honest, i don't want to take it too seriously. I obviously want to get better at it but i want that to come naturally if that makes any sense, without getting too involved in competitions or specific training schedules.

The best thing that i have done lately was not to worry about time or pace and just go by effort(which i always give a 100%) and most importantly, enjoy the run wether its a 15km in 40 degree weather or a 5km in icy cold conditions. Since i've got into that mentality, i've found myself craving longer runs and just enjoying running in general.

And funny enough, my times have improved since starting to do that. The long easy runs especially have made a great difference to my 5km times which i can do in low 18 minutes now on a regular basis now.

As @bob shovel mentions above, ease in your way back into it and make it a habit again. That will bring back the love for it for sure.