Today's Run

[PaulB2]

Did another 10k today, felt good so just maintained a slightly higher than normal pace without too much strain and knocked over a minute off my best 10k time - it would have been more if I hadn't had to wait to cross a busy road towards the end. That brings me to 161.6km for February - my first 100 mile month.

[GregMay]

Ace well done! And on a short month :)

[PaulB2]

Dropped the eldest off at his group and then the youngest and missus off at swimming and then set off to run home from Stone on the canals. I went down to Great Heywood on the Trent & Mersey and then into Stafford on the Staffordshire & Worcester with only the last 2k or so being paved. 25.1km in 3h05 with a whopping 13m of climbing. 54.1km for the week.

[PaulB2]

Ran the Stafford Half Marathon today - I think I’ve run on most of the route over the last few months. The route did find every hill in Stafford but could be described as gently undulating at best. I’d just hoped to get inside 2:30 but ended up following the 2:20 pacer until about half way when I felt good enough to up the pace . Finished in 2:15:51, 18 minutes inside my PB - not that’s saying anything since I’ve only run the distance 2 times before on long slow runs. That was my first race since school sports day in 1985!

[GregMay]

Ace! That's a chunk of time dropped.

Orienteering yesterday, made some mistakes but nothing epic, came second. Thankfully snow didn't have too much of an impact on the race.

Today, pants. Poor route choice, poor weather, legs not engaging.

Either way, nice week with about 8 hours of running. Happy enough.

[GregMay]

Easy hour up on the tops after work. Ground still frozen from the windchill and massive drifts between the crags. Almost tempting enough to jump into :)

[ledburner]

Easy hour up on the tops after work. Ground still frozen from the windchill and massive drifts between the crags. Almost tempting enough to jump into :)

That was calderdale....
Over in Huddersfield Last night it sleeted and started sticking around 7pm. Roads slushy(+slippy by 8pm) the the temp plunge 7°c in an hour from 9pm it made difficult condition under foot and on 4 wheels.
From mud +slush to black ice. Slow and steady got me through.

[Bearlegged]

A little over 9km along White, Curbar and Froggatt edges. Been a good while since I've done that sort of distance, really enjoyed it.

[PaulB2]

Not a lots gone right this week running wise, only 25km for the week. Hohum, onwards and upwards. I've been using my cycling pack for hydration while running but the retaining velcro to hold the bladder upright has now snapped, probably due to the bladder moving around too much and annoyingly the bladder has now developed a leak at the top of the opening so water just starts dripping down the back of my legs. Out of curiosity what do you people use while running?

[GregMay]

Out of curiosity what do you people use while running?

Anything under 2 hours and I don't take any water unless it's brutally hot. Even then, I usually take 250ml max. I have a few springs locally, so I'll drink from them if I am passing, and detor to/via them on hot runs. This is local or not. I'll have water in me when I start, and plenty in the house/car for when I finish.

In the Lakes/Scotland - I'll maybe carry 500ml at a time and refill en route (no filter, just SMJ when it comes to water choice)
In the Peak District/Dales - long runs (4hrs+) I'll carry up to 1L - I will not drink from water sources in these areas due to higher levels of farming activity.
In Wales....very very dependant on location.

Water is always carried in soft-flasks in my running vest/waistbelt for summer.

[GregMay]

Raced yesterday, first time on a Brown course this year, nearly in a year at all! Felt ok, ran well for current fitness, great terrain. One major error on nav, but otherwise happy with my run.

[PaulB2]

Barring a couple of really hot days last summer where I just held a water bottle in my hands I've only taken water on my last 3 long training runs (well 20km+, so long for me) - enough to know that a) I was taking too much and b) the pack / bladder combo really moved around to the extent the strap broke and everything started leaking. I'll give a running vest a go.

[paramart]

Barring a couple of really hot days last summer where I just held a water bottle in my hands I've only taken water on my last 3 long training runs (well 20km+, so long for me) - enough to know that a) I was taking too much and b) the pack / bladder combo really moved around to the extent the strap broke and everything started leaking. I'll give a running vest a go.

paul i just use a cheap aonji running vest with a 1.5l bladder never fill it up and only use it for longer distances, cannock chase trail runners on face book are '
a good source of info and great bunch of people who have several members from stafford, and it is free

[PaulB2]

Ta Mart, I’ll check them out on Facebook

[PaulB2]

Long slow run out to the chase via an unfamiliar climb out of Brocton which left me on a spiky deer track before finding the right path again. I had to make another detour due to logging activity on the return valley but by this point I was in familiar cycling territory so it was just a plod home. 29.25km in 3hr 40 with 328m of climbing. 64.4km for the week.

[GregMay]

Rest week for me, so I spent a lot of time on the bike. Went over on my ankle quite badly racing last weekend, so it synched up well with some rest time.

Did an easy 40 min run last night and ankle felt ok so I decided to do a spirited hour today. Just under 10km, 400m vert, in an hour. All fell running, in what can only be described as Peppa Pig conditions. HR low, effort low, legs felt great. Very happy. Looks like I'm actually able to run fast again. Rest day tomorrow then a hard week before a bit of rest and the JK Orienteering Festival over Easter. Hoping to run well.

[PaulB2]

22km this afternoon with the gps oddity that I apparently sprinted 2km north of town in a couple of seconds and then back again in another 2 - I don’t think I’ll ever beat my 2:15 km pace
A couple of firsts this week, 211 km in March for my first 200km month and first 10km inside an hour on Monday.

[sean_iow]

That's good going Can't beat a GPS anomaly for a good pb

I'm back running, tomorrow will be week 5 and the knee seems to be ok. I've waited until I was sure (ish) that it's ok to post in case I jinxed it. The first couple of weeks I thought I could feel a slight pain but equally it might have been wishful thinking hoping I could stop, running is hard work but I did an 8 miler last Tuesday and actually enjoyed it so getting my running legs back now.

[Bearlegged]

Did a short loop round the local woods at teatime yesterday, then out and back today along Froggatt Edge. Physio exercises seem to be helping, I'm aiming for some longer runs - 9.3km the longest so far since I re-did Couch to 5k.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cqlo_vUsKde/

[PaulB2]

I've done C25K twice and managed to injure myself twice while building post plan distance up and then had to take several months off before restarting almost from scratch. For the 3rd restart I was much more cautious and gradual about increasing the distance. It took me 15 months to go from 6km to 13m which was probably overly slow but no injuries so it worked for me. Then I got talked into training for a marathon so I threw that whole gradual process thing out of the window and my longest run has jumped from 13km to 28km within 3 months

Had to cut my run short to get back in time for a meeting but both todays and yesterdays were in sunshine and blue skies which I could get used to.

[sean_iow]

7.2 miles in 1 hr 20 mins, off road, must have been enjoying it as I was seeking out the hills and managed just over 1200 ft of climbing

Trails are drying out and the sun was shining, perfect way to unwind after a busy day at work.

[redefined_cycles]

Has anyone overcome serious sciatica to start running again. I'm at the back end of it and started riding shorter (32 mtb miles so far is the record) distances again but whenever I've done a short run for errands of some sort, the numbness has almost come back immediately.

I think I'm now at that stage of runners-fright! Any advice/experiences welcomed as my mtb pace is currently back to really crap (started off at crap so I can't afford to be any slower if I wanna enter any decent event).

[GregMay]

Has anyone overcome serious sciatica to start running again. I'm at the back end of it and started riding shorter (32 mtb miles so far is the record) distances again but whenever I've done a short run for errands of some sort, the numbness has almost come back immediately.

I think I'm now at that stage of runners-fright! Any advice/experiences welcomed as my mtb pace is currently back to really crap (started off at crap so I can't afford to be any slower if I wanna enter any decent event).

Yes. A lot of physio, a lot of time doing strength and conditioning work, a lot of time focusing on how I spent my down time (not seated) and resolved. 3 years since I've had an issue.

[GregMay]

Local short, brutal fell race, 4.8km in 21 mins. Broken man. Good times.

[redefined_cycles]

Has anyone overcome serious sciatica to start running again. I'm at the back end of it and started riding shorter (32 mtb miles so far is the record) distances again but whenever I've done a short run for errands of some sort, the numbness has almost come back immediately.

I think I'm now at that stage of runners-fright! Any advice/experiences welcomed as my mtb pace is currently back to really crap (started off at crap so I can't afford to be any slower if I wanna enter any decent event).

Yes. A lot of physio, a lot of time doing strength and conditioning work, a lot of time focusing on how I spent my down time (not seated) and resolved. 3 years since I've had an issue.

Thanks v much Greg. Fills me with hope/confidence. Had it not been for the physio/massages I'm certain I'd not be back on the bike just yet either. Will keep focused and keep it as a target (and get back onto listening to the Strength Running podcasts).