Well, my plan to run an ultra (50k) this year completely derailed over the holidays. My GF started training for a half in the fall and I thought it would be fun to train with her. So I made a plan to train for a 50k race that's taking place in April. I'm mostly a mtn biker and only run occasionally so my training started out with shorter distances. I've done a 50k and a couple of 25k's but that was a long time ago. So I know what it takes. I was on track until the holidays and then with family visiting and bad weather, I missed my training runs for 2 weeks and that pretty much did me in. Lost my mojo after that. At least my GF is still following her plan. I signed up for a virtual run challenge for Feb so have started getting back out there. But the 50k is out for now. There are a couple of 20k trail runs so maybe I will train for those instead.
The Perpetual Running Thread: 2011 Edition!
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I always find it amazing how you don;t really realise how much fitness you are losing - until you try to run a distance at a set pace and find that what was easy at one point seems impossible. Good luck with getting back up to speed.
Sounds like a better plan thasn entering unprepared. Although 50k is in theory not much more than a marathon, it can often feel like a very different sort of race - partly because they are more often on trails I guess.
In the past I've made the mistake of trying to cram the training after missing some sessions and it just ended up with injury during the race and it was ages before I was back to where I had been a few weeks before race day again.
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I don't have quite as much familarity long distances as @Mat8iou , nor his speed, but agreed 100% there. As someone who's done plenty of marathons, I can say maybe about 40% or even 50% of the time, I feel like I could hammer out another 8k no problem... the other 50 or 60% of the time I'm definitely done.
Again++;
Don't rush training. I'm trying not to do the same the next few months for me. Will see how things go!
Having done a 50k, yes, it's not a huge distance increase over a marathon but it's generally on trails with a lot more elevation gain so that's what makes it harder. I find that going from a marathon to a 50k isn't horrible. But going from a 50k to a 50-miler, and 50-miler to 100k, and 100k to 100-miler have substantially larger increases in distances. Going from a marathon to a 50k seems pretty doable. But 32 miles to 50 miles seems very daunting to me.
And I was coming from almost no running to training for a 50k so I was taking it slow to try not to injure myself. Injury can definitely throw off your plan more than anything else. So I wasn't about to try to make up my lost training by cramming it in. I'm also not a young buck by any means so I don't bounce back as quick as I used to.
My examples may or may not be a typical, as all my longer races have been very hilly.
50k to 50 miles is a big jump - but it's hard to say how much that was about the hills, not the distance. I've done 50k runs (on the flat) before where I could easily have kept on going at that pace for a fair bit further. Once I turned 50k into 58k - and only really stopped then, because i'd have been heading away from my house otherwise and I wanted something to eat.
I've probably said it before here - on longer runs, unless you are really aiming for a specific time, train for the hills not the distance - as the distance will be easier than the hills are (unless your normal routes are incredibly hilly).
Don't be too daunted by it - I'd say the training would be similar fo both. In training for 50 miles, I don;t think I went over 35k on any runs.
Training for 100 miles, I didn't go over 50k on any runs.
The longer the distance, the more the training is in the mind as much as the legs. Although you will feel the increase in distance in your legs afterwards...
My mileage for Feb was way down.
Piriformis syndrome getting more painful - down my left leg whenever I sit for a while.
Cut back to 2-3 mid week runs and then long run at weekend in hope that will help it clear up.
I've had it before, but not as bad and it usually faded after a week or two. Also, in th epast it tended to be after more intensive training, which I haven't been doing much of recently.
It's confusing - because it presses on the nerve, it makes you sometimes think there is pain elsewhere (ankle and kneee on the same site) when there most likely isn't.
Looking up some exercises online now to try to improve it.
Piriformis syndrome getting more painful - down my left leg whenever I sit for a while.
Cut back to 2-3 mid week runs and then long run at weekend in hope that will help it clear up.
I've had it before, but not as bad and it usually faded after a week or two. Also, in th epast it tended to be after more intensive training, which I haven't been doing much of recently.
It's confusing - because it presses on the nerve, it makes you sometimes think there is pain elsewhere (ankle and kneee on the same site) when there most likely isn't.
Looking up some exercises online now to try to improve it.
Take care of your health!
I'm working through some minor issues myself, as are some of my running buddies... next race is going to be brutal (aka slow), but looks like we'll all at least be in shape to finish.
I'm working through some minor issues myself, as are some of my running buddies... next race is going to be brutal (aka slow), but looks like we'll all at least be in shape to finish.
TIL about the Barkley Marathons. Inspiring, but also absolute madness.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbl0jhbpiM0
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbl0jhbpiM0
Yep. In the realm of trail running, Barkley Marathons are definitely waaay on the nuttier side.
@Cognac broken toes suck! Probably 3-4 weeks?
@gregatron5 congrats to your wife! LA Marathon was today for me.
Yeah, probably. I made the situation worse by not really accepting it for the first week. Somewhat luckily I'm on a work trip at the moment, which pretty much gives me a forced two week break. I should be able to manage the remainder after that. It'll just remain delaying by return to 3-4 runs a week by a couple of weeks.
Went on one of my usual early morning routes and at the start of the river path noticed them setting up for a race.
A bit of searching showed it was this one.
www.phoenixrunning.co.uk
Now - multiple lap races aren't really my thing, particularly not on and out and back course rather than a loop. The price seems high too, considering I've done 50 mile mountain ultras in amazing landscapes with huge amounts of support crews needed for only double the amount.
If I was going to run up and down a flat path, I'd do it self supported, with my car at one end to top up on supplies when required.
But, setting aside the above, who does races mid-week. Sure, I know a few people work shifts or unusual days, but are there enough to base a race on? This isn't the first I've noticed in this location either - probably at least 4 times a year they are setting up for a weekday race.
Who does these races - do they take time off work to do them, or do they just happen to be free on weekdays? And why would someone do them, considering how many weekend races there are available?
A bit of searching showed it was this one.
Phoenix: RM - Jubilee River Races 2.
RUNNING MILES is inviting you to join us for our Jubilee River Race 2, one of our Thursday series of runs at our lovely Jubilee River route.
Now - multiple lap races aren't really my thing, particularly not on and out and back course rather than a loop. The price seems high too, considering I've done 50 mile mountain ultras in amazing landscapes with huge amounts of support crews needed for only double the amount.
If I was going to run up and down a flat path, I'd do it self supported, with my car at one end to top up on supplies when required.
But, setting aside the above, who does races mid-week. Sure, I know a few people work shifts or unusual days, but are there enough to base a race on? This isn't the first I've noticed in this location either - probably at least 4 times a year they are setting up for a weekday race.
Who does these races - do they take time off work to do them, or do they just happen to be free on weekdays? And why would someone do them, considering how many weekend races there are available?
That's from the link..
Sounds like a local running club doing a gathering/run not so much a big formal race. Have seen plenty of little running clubs do this. Because many focus on a 5k or 10k or half marathon or some other standard distance, the race-event-calendar trackers often pick them up too.
"everyone get together 6pm Wednesday and we'll do this route at place x, if you want to do y miles it's one lap, 2y miles is 2 laps out and back, etc..." And then to formalize them they'll often have a table or two with drinks and snacks, sometimes even tiny medals, etc.
I wish I could remember the local running club that did this a while back that a friend kept annoying me with.
I'd get it if it was 6pm. But 08:30?That's from the link..
Sounds like a local running club doing a gathering/run not so much a big formal race. Have seen plenty of little running clubs do this. Because many focus on a 5k or 10k or half marathon or some other standard distance, the race-event-calendar trackers often pick them up too.
"everyone get together 6pm Wednesday and we'll do this route at place x, if you want to do y miles it's one lap, 2y miles is 2 laps out and back, etc..." And then to formalize them they'll often have a table or two with drinks and snacks, sometimes even tiny medals, etc.
I wish I could remember the local running club that did this a while back that a friend kept annoying me with.
The only explanations I can come up with is that the runners are mix of retired people and maybe a few stay at home mothers / wives. There aren't many of the latter in my town that aren't full time child minding, but in some of the wealthy areas nearby, there are a fair few that might fall into that category.
Still seems expensive though for a run up and down a cycle track.
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I honestly forget the name of the local running club near me that did a lot of “races” like this but i just remember the times being seemingly random to me as well, and I have no idea who their audience is, but I wouldn’t make too many assumptions there. Especially as someone who is working remote or hybrid a lot now…
Did my first fast(ish) run in a while today. Sub 45 minute 10k for the first time since Jan.
Still trying to shake off piriformis syndrome, which has been been bothering me since end of Jan.
Doing some exercises / stretches for it and have reduced the intensity of most of my runs, but it's still lingering there, ready to annow me when I'm sat down in the car or office.
Until last week had only managed 1 week with my usual weekly running volume sice end of Jan.
Note to self - challenges like RED January (which essentially for me means dropping the one rest day per week) agravate any existing issues far more than you think they will.
Annoyed that my VO2 Max in Garmin seems to keep going down. I think at some point there was a change in the way they calculated it - but even so, It's dropped from a peak of 61, down to 53 at the moment. I know that partly it doesn't play well with taking slow runs, but it was going down before that.
Was pleased I managed to hit the sub 45 time today, despite a slow road crossing. That has for a long time been my benchmark time for good fitness (partly as I can't hit the next significant milestone of sub-40 easily). Managed it fairly comfortably too - with 10 seconds to spare on most of the km splits except for one uphill one and the one with the road crossing at the end.
Part of the problem is that running long tends to also mean running slower - I don't think its feasible beyond a certain point to train for a super fast 5 or 10k time, but also for 100 mile mountain runs - and given the choice I think I'd go for the latter (although both would obviously be good).
Still trying to shake off piriformis syndrome, which has been been bothering me since end of Jan.
Doing some exercises / stretches for it and have reduced the intensity of most of my runs, but it's still lingering there, ready to annow me when I'm sat down in the car or office.
Until last week had only managed 1 week with my usual weekly running volume sice end of Jan.
Note to self - challenges like RED January (which essentially for me means dropping the one rest day per week) agravate any existing issues far more than you think they will.
Annoyed that my VO2 Max in Garmin seems to keep going down. I think at some point there was a change in the way they calculated it - but even so, It's dropped from a peak of 61, down to 53 at the moment. I know that partly it doesn't play well with taking slow runs, but it was going down before that.
Was pleased I managed to hit the sub 45 time today, despite a slow road crossing. That has for a long time been my benchmark time for good fitness (partly as I can't hit the next significant milestone of sub-40 easily). Managed it fairly comfortably too - with 10 seconds to spare on most of the km splits except for one uphill one and the one with the road crossing at the end.
Part of the problem is that running long tends to also mean running slower - I don't think its feasible beyond a certain point to train for a super fast 5 or 10k time, but also for 100 mile mountain runs - and given the choice I think I'd go for the latter (although both would obviously be good).
Piriformis syndrome is no fun!
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Not sure if it's just getting older or more wear and tear accumulating or whatnot. But yeah... I stopped doing things like those run-every-day challenges and have started listening to my body more as time has gone on.
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Yep, got first hand experience there too.
Not sure if it's just getting older or more wear and tear accumulating or whatnot. But yeah... I stopped doing things like those run-every-day challenges and have started listening to my body more as time has gone on.It is a pain in the butt - literally. At least that's how it started. Now though, because the swollen muscle presses on the nerve, it confusingly manifests itself at other random points on that leg, giving the impression of pain in a different location to where the cause it.Piriformis syndrome is no fun!
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Yep, got first hand experience there too.
I know some people who run every day for years - but they limit the distance and rarely go over 5k. My long runs tend to be 30k+, so take longer to recover from.
Man, I'm pushing myself to get under 50 minutes for a 10k run. 45 would be great.
Not that long ago, 50 felt like a push for me - suddenly before I realised it, 45 was easy. Sub 40 is a major struggle though - 41:44 is the fastest I've ever logged. That said, I might do better if I tried to run 10k fast more often. I tend to do fast runs as 2k warmup, 6k fast and 2k cool down, so it equates to a moderate pace 10k average. According to Strava my fastest 10k was as part of a hal marathon a couple of years ago - so I ought to be able to manage faster (back then anyway) if I was doing 10k flat out.
When my son was little I used to do a 50 minute 10k with him in the stroller - no idea now how I managed it - apart from anything else there is so much air resistance on those things.
While the past few years have been rough for me, I used to be able to consecutive low-8 minute miles in the middle of a half marathons regularly... but for whatever reason for me, cracking a 50 minute 10k hasn't happened yet. OTOH I don't focus at all on 10k's so I have only myself to blame?
During the marathon I ran in 2021 we were targeting 5:15/km, but we weren't super strict about it. The adrenaline absolutely got the best of us and at about the 15km mark we realised that our pace had slowly crept up... to 4:30/km! We slowed down to get back on track, made the halfway point at about 1:51 iirc. But I was cooked by the time I got to 30km. Ended up finishing with a time well over 4 hours.While the past few years have been rough for me, I used to be able to consecutive low-8 minute miles in the middle of a half marathons regularly... but for whatever reason for me, cracking a 50 minute 10k hasn't happened yet. OTOH I don't focus at all on 10k's so I have only myself to blame?
Morale of the story is that I can run fast if I'm not paying attention, but only when I'm not supposed to!
I think you are right that a lot of it comes down to what you are focussing on - 15 years ago I did a few 10k races - but at that time I wasn't really training as seriously, nor did I really have much understanding of training - I went for a run one evening a week and that was it.While the past few years have been rough for me, I used to be able to consecutive low-8 minute miles in the middle of a half marathons regularly... but for whatever reason for me, cracking a 50 minute 10k hasn't happened yet. OTOH I don't focus at all on 10k's so I have only myself to blame?
Thinking back, the reason I did the 10k races back then was because my cousin was entering them - he found that he couldn't manage half marathons due to ankle pain - his dad (my uncle) though was an absolute legend of the 10k in his day. In 1963 he held the British record and was 4th fastest worldwide with a time of 28:52.4 - something I can't even imagine getting close to.
Don Taylor obituary
Other lives: One of the first British athletes to break 29 minutes for the 10,000m
www.theguardian.com
I've often found in longer runs where I'm pacing myself to stay relatively slow, that towards the end I can manage an unexpectedly fast pace without really realising it. It's really easy to let the pace creep up sometimes - particularly in a race.
If you have a watch that can monitor your pace you might be able to set an alarm if you are going over / under your expected pace. Polar watches have this feature, I expect Garmins probably have an equivalent.
I kept having the same problem, in the first full I did I accidentally ran the first half as my fastest half marathon to that point. It wasn't any fun to run the last 10k, made worse by the appalling hill the SD Rock n Roll has at mile 22.
Setting a plan for my pace and then programming my watch to beep at me if I was going too fast in the first half helped in later races.
I have that set on some workouts.
The first time I set a custom workout I configured it wrong - I think it was so the alarm went if I was over or under the target by 5 second / km. Basically this meant that it went off the entire time. In the end I had to run faster or slower to avoid constantly crossing the threshold. Now I have it set for a much wider tolerance.
Does any company make shoes that don't fall apart after 2 or 3 hundred miles?
My Saucony Endorphin Speeds are still holding up after 550 miles. They've long since lost the pop from their plate, but the foam stack still gives my feet much less abuse than other shoes.
My shoes tend to go in one of 2 places - either the subsole starts showing through on the outside rear edge of the heel (normally left foot first) or hte fabric starts to split along the time where it bends above my toes.
Normally neither occur unitl 1000k though. Heels happens most on shoes used on roads and tarmac paths. The fabric by the toe on trail shoes.
I sometimes keep them for a bit after that stage for slow runs - but then by 1500k they are too far gone.
Normally neither occur unitl 1000k though. Heels happens most on shoes used on roads and tarmac paths. The fabric by the toe on trail shoes.
I sometimes keep them for a bit after that stage for slow runs - but then by 1500k they are too far gone.
In an attempt to rid myself of piriformis problems, I took a break from running - from May 8th until 27th - just about 3 weeks.
Felt it a bit after a run then, but not so bad.
Have avoided running this week - trying to ease back into it gradually - while at the same time hoping that the break hasn't lost me too much fitness.
A bit annoyed at the moment that my newest pair of running shoes are consistently rubbing on the inner edge of the instep on 1 foot even after nearly 100k trying to break them in. They were identical to an existing pair (purchased in the same order) that I used relatively early in their life for a 50 mile run - wihtout experiencing this - so not sure quite why these ones are behaving different.
Felt it a bit after a run then, but not so bad.
Have avoided running this week - trying to ease back into it gradually - while at the same time hoping that the break hasn't lost me too much fitness.
A bit annoyed at the moment that my newest pair of running shoes are consistently rubbing on the inner edge of the instep on 1 foot even after nearly 100k trying to break them in. They were identical to an existing pair (purchased in the same order) that I used relatively early in their life for a 50 mile run - wihtout experiencing this - so not sure quite why these ones are behaving different.
Trying to get back into running. I'd run almost every other day and did 5 or 6 half marathons between 2012-2018, but developed a plantar fasciitis that sidelined me through 2019 and since then every time I try to start back up, I'd do too much and end up overtraining myself to another injury. Last year I got up to a reasonable distance but injured myself again in Oct. Seems like mentally I'm still there, I'm not getting winded, but the rest of my body can't take the jostling.
Pandemic weight gain has not helped at all, and I suppose being in my mid 40s isn't really either.
Couple weeks ago I finally decided to go back to the beginning and re-start C25K (well, C210K) and it's been going well. Love getting back out there early and enjoying morning before traffic and noise. Been taking an extended cool down walk afterwards and it's been great, just have to quiet that voice in my head telling me to push it and skip to the next week.
Pandemic weight gain has not helped at all, and I suppose being in my mid 40s isn't really either.
Couple weeks ago I finally decided to go back to the beginning and re-start C25K (well, C210K) and it's been going well. Love getting back out there early and enjoying morning before traffic and noise. Been taking an extended cool down walk afterwards and it's been great, just have to quiet that voice in my head telling me to push it and skip to the next week.
Getting back into running, as unpleasant as it may be in some regards, always feels good to me in the end.
Week 8 down, technically the first 5k run but was getting pretty close with the 30 minute runs leading up to it. The C210K program I'm mostly following should get me to 10k over the next 4 weeks. From there I think I'll work on getting faster before adding too much distance.
Still having trouble getting back to my normal running pattern. Piriformis syndrome just won;t go away.
Am going to sign up for a local gym again for a bit and do some more strength training to see if that helps things at all.
Have only been doing easy runs for ages now - feel I've lost so much fitness as a result (and Garmin's assessment of my VO2 Max also reflects this).
Am going to sign up for a local gym again for a bit and do some more strength training to see if that helps things at all.
Have only been doing easy runs for ages now - feel I've lost so much fitness as a result (and Garmin's assessment of my VO2 Max also reflects this).