Random Running Questions

TFBubendorfer

Cartman78 wrote: »

I would say 90% of the participants I saw were walking

Also, seemed to be mainly blokes aged 45+

Oi! There's nothing wrong with blokes aged 45+!!!

I ran in Longford 2 weeks ago and towards the end it struck me how many Marathon Club members were there and how many of them were walking. I did think that this wasn't the best advertisement for a running club, alright.

On the other hand, I have yet to meet anyone in the club who wasn't friendly and supportive at all times. In short, it's not an elite club (though, in actual fact, there are some in that club as well, believe it or not) but more of a social club with running thrown in.

Cartman78

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

Oi! There's nothing wrong with blokes aged 45+!!!

I ran in Longford 2 weeks ago and towards the end it struck me how many Marathon Club members were there and how many of them were walking. I did think that this wasn't the best advertisement for a running club, alright.

On the other hand, I have yet to meet anyone in the club who wasn't friendly and supportive at all times. In short, it's not an elite club (though, in actual fact, there are some in that club as well, believe it or not) but more of a social club with running thrown in.

I'm not having a go at anyone at all at all (and it won't be that awful long til i'm in that age category myself ) - it was just an observation.

From the guys I saw, there seemed to be one guy running close to 3hr pace, another couple maybe at 3.30 pace and everyone else either jogging or run/walking.

Maybe they all meet up afterwards and have great craic but what I saw looked like a bit of a grim slog.

Sunny Dayz

Looking to make the leap from 10k to half. (Eeek!!)
Current 10km around 65mins.
Been looking at Asics, Hal Higdon (novice2), the under armour run trainer app. Not sure which is good, bad or indifferent.
Only thing I note is that the Asics plan only goes up to 10.5 mile whereas Hal goes up to 12m the week before (nov2). (The furthest I've ever run is 15km)
But the Asics plan has a little more "hand-holding", giving you suggested pace for the run whereas Hal's plan is just 3m run, 4m pace.

SmallTeapot

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

Looking to make the leap from 10k to half. (Eeek!!)
Current 10km around 65mins.
Been looking at Asics, Hal Higdon (novice2), the under armour run trainer app. Not sure which is good, bad or indifferent.
Only thing I note is that the Asics plan only goes up to 10.5 mile whereas Hal goes up to 12m the week before (nov2). (The furthest I've ever run is 15km)
But the Asics plan has a little more "hand-holding", giving you suggested pace for the run whereas Hal's plan is just 3m run, 4m pace.

Aha! We live parallel lives Sunny Dayz....I am also hoping to move towards the HM distance from 10k (my current time is 64ish mins!)
I will be interested to see what other posters opinions ping back with as I haven't picked my plan with (even though my gut says go with Hal Hidgeon plan). I did a 10 mile race a while back and think the I might have a half in my legs, if I trained for it.

Have you signed up for a HM race to aim for?

Sunny Dayz

SmallTeapot wrote: »

Aha! We live parallel lives Sunny Dayz....I am also hoping to move towards the HM distance from 10k (my current time is 64ish mins!)
I will be interested to see what other posters opinions ping back with as I haven't picked my plan with (even though my gut says go with Hal Hidgeon plan).

Have you signed up for a HM race to aim for?

I signed up for the Rock n Roll half in a moment of madness back in March when there was a serious discount floating about. Now I have to face reality and get training in plenty of time!


Have you a running log on Boards SmallTeapot that I could follow, be interested if someone else was in the same boat as me.

SmallTeapot

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

I signed up for the Rock n Roll half in a moment of madness back in March when there was a serious discount floating about. Now I have to face reality and get training in plenty of time!


Have you a running log on Boards SmallTeapot that I could follow, be interested if someone else was in the same boat as me.

Oooohhh, that's meant to be a great race.

I was looking towards doing the Dublin Race Series half at the end of September....So aim to start a proper plan around the end of this month, to build a good base.


No, I have no log.....I'm merely a lurker :pac:

Bananaleaf

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

I signed up for the Rock n Roll half in a moment of madness back in March when there was a serious discount floating about. Now I have to face reality and get training in plenty of time!


Have you a running log on Boards SmallTeapot that I could follow, be interested if someone else was in the same boat as me.

SmallTeapot wrote: »

Oooohhh, that's meant to be a great race.

I was looking towards doing the Dublin Race Series half at the end of September....So aim to start a proper plan around the end of this month, to build a good base.


No, I have no log.....I'm merely a lurker :pac:

Hi guys

Im in the same boat. Looking to push out to half distance and have signed up to the Dublin Race Series half too. I ran two 59min 10ks but my average time seems to be 61mins at the moment.

I've been under house arrest for two weeks now with an agressive infection so am getting very antsy now and extremely frustrated with not being able to get out. My last run was Monday before last (was early stage on infection in fairness) that was 10k and took 1hr 20mins :eek::eek:

So feel like I will have a lot of catching up to do when I get back. Am signed up to the Terenure 5 - don't know if it will even happen now but the original plan of sub45 is well out the window.

On the subject of plans - I used the myasics plan to aim for a sub 45 5mile in Raheney. I was running it in about 50mins before doing the plan. I ended up with a time of 45:45 so wasn't too bad.

Fingers crossed I can get my runners on again soon. SERIOUS cabin fever

hot buttered scones

I'm looking for a small but of feedback/sanity check on my plan for the year. It's not 100% set in stone, but I thought I might just put it out there and see what people think. So I'm running the Cork City Marathon on the 4th of June. After that I'm looking at the following:
A few weeks recovery (including my annual family holiday from mid June to early July). Then some base building, maybe a couple of shorter races until the 31/07 when I'll start a 12 week programme for Dublin. This will incorporate a buffer week for the Charleville HM. Actually another question - should the buffer week come before or after the HM? I also want to try and work the Ballycotton 5 in on the 24/08 (very soft PB here).
An 18 week plan would start on the 26th of June - when I'm still on holidays. I think maybe it will bit soon since Cork (3 weeks) to start a full scale training plan again, and besides I don't want to do sessions when I'm away this year. I like running on holidays, but this year I don't really want to be tied to a plan while I'm away so no real training.
For Dublin I'm thinking either one of the P+D 12 week plans or the McMillan Strava plan. I'll follow one of the P+D Recovery plans and then I'll have three more weeks to get the mileage up to start the plan (all easy, with maybe some MP miles?)
I had also considered Hanson - the first session on week 2 is scheduled badly for me, so I'd have to move it forward a day or 2, so it might suit, but it's going to be very awkward fitting in the all sessions around shift work - the other plans just fit a bit better.

For the longer term after Dublin - just recovery and base building - maybe follow a short 5k plan in December, then seriously tackle the 10k in the New Year. No spring/summer marathon and have a good rattle off an Autumn marathon. And yes, a club is probably my best option, but with the way I work, I'm not sure how much benefit I'd get from it because I wouldn't be able to train with them too often.

Maybe I should have just posted this in my log, but this thread gets a bit more traffic. So like I said I'm just looking for a sanity check really - I think the 12 week plan for Dublin is the most sensible approach to give me enough time to recover from Cork and build a bit of a base. Of course I'm also prone to changing my mind at the last minute so there's every chance I'll do something completely different on a whim. :rolleyes:

HigginsJ

hot buttered scones wrote: »

So like I said I'm just looking for a sanity check really - I think the 12 week plan for Dublin is the most sensible approach to give me enough time to recover from Cork and build a bit of a base. Of course I'm also prone to changing my mind at the last minute so there's every chance I'll do something completely different on a whim. :rolleyes:

What sort of training plan have you followed for Cork? You are not going to lose that overnight so with the Charleville half as part of the programme then I would say a 12 week plan would be good as you will still have a lot of fitness from your current cycle, assuming you continue to tip away in the mean time.

HigginsJ

Has anyone here done the Achill Half Marathon? Thinking of a weekend away with the family in July and was going to take this in. There seems to be a pretty tough climb in the 1st couple of miles but after that it looks a pretty OK route.

Cartman78

HigginsJ wrote: »

Has anyone here done the Achill Half Marathon? Thinking of a weekend away with the family in July and was going to take this in. There seems to be a pretty tough climb in the 1st couple of miles but after that it looks a pretty OK route.

Haven't done it in a few years (and I think they might have reversed the course since I did it) but it's definitely worth doing, especially if you're doubling up with a family weekend away.

It's a tough course (with real hills, as opposed to the fake hills in Limerick ) but the scenery is amazing and it's very well organised

hot buttered scones

HigginsJ wrote: »

What sort of training plan have you followed for Cork? You are not going to lose that overnight so with the Charleville half as part of the programme then I would say a 12 week plan would be good as you will still have a lot of fitness from your current cycle, assuming you continue to tip away in the mean time.

I more less follow the"meno" plan from boards. I had to make a few changes and move things around a bit, and I also didn't do the races as specified in the plan so it ended up looking like this:

CCM 2017 actual

My thinking was the same as yours I suppose - I'm not starting from scratch for Dublin and am hoping to build on this training cycle after a proper recovery.

muddypaws

I've seen a few people on here comment that runners bought from cheap sites such as Sportsdirect are inferior quality, is this true? I assumed they were just old season, or unsold stock from other shops, rather than made differently.

The main reason I'm asking is because I have some Salomons and I find my feet get very hot in them, it may just be me of course, I've tried different socks with no difference.

HigginsJ

muddypaws wrote: »

I've seen a few people on here comment that runners bought from cheap sites such as Sportsdirect are inferior quality, is this true? I assumed they were just old season, or unsold stock from other shops, rather than made differently.

The main reason I'm asking is because I have some Salomons and I find my feet get very hot in them, it may just be me of course, I've tried different socks with no difference.

I got my pair of UA Charged Bandit 2's on sportdirect and they were exact same fit and feel as the shop I tried them on, 100% perfect quality, no complaints.

IvoryTower

i very much doubt they are of inferior quality, they are a huge brand, they would have no need to be selling knock off goods

ThisRegard

muddypaws wrote: »

I've seen a few people on here comment that runners bought from cheap sites such as Sportsdirect are inferior quality, is this true? I assumed they were just old season, or unsold stock from other shops, rather than made differently.

Reminds me of the old suggestions that Powercity only sell seconds.

Sunny Dayz

muddypaws wrote: »

I've seen a few people on here comment that runners bought from cheap sites such as Sportsdirect are inferior quality, is this true? I assumed they were just old season, or unsold stock from other shops, rather than made differently.

The main reason I'm asking is because I have some Salomons and I find my feet get very hot in them, it may just be me of course, I've tried different socks with no difference.

If you buy a well known brand from sportdirect such as Nike, Addidas etc, they are not knock offs or inferior quality. I've bought those branded shoes for my son and they've been just as good as ones bought from say Elverys or Lifestyle sports.
However Sportsdirect's business model also involves buying up fledgling brands such as Slazenger (remember them, they were big in tennis) and use that previously good name to sell cheaper quality goods.

ThisRegard

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

buying up fledgling brands such as Slazenger

Slazenger have been around probably well over a 100 years, probably older than the vast majority of other brands. They don't really fit into the fledgling category.

Sunny Dayz

ThisRegard wrote: »

Slazenger have been around probably well over a 100 years, probably older than the vast majority of other brands. They don't really fit into the fledgling category.

You're correct - wrong word used there (I think I need to swallow a thesaurus) . Waning companies? Basically companies which were well know and have reduced in popularity (and value) over the years but still have a brand name.


Then what happens is that I see , say Slazenger products for sale, think ah I remember them being around when I was younger, weren't they a well known brand, didn't they do tennis rackets and such, hadn't noticed them for ages, and I'm more likely to buy something then. But I've just looked on sports direct and not one tennis racket to be seen in the first 3 pages!

Spirogyra

How would a half-marathon (Galway Bay) fit into training plan 3 weeks before the Dublin marathon?. Do 20 miles the weekend before and 20 after?. It's nearly 6 months away but no harm in 'looking ahead'? 13 miles wouldn't be too few?.

Singer

Spirogyra wrote: »

How would a half-marathon (Galway Bay) fit into training plan 3 weeks before the Dublin marathon?. Do 20 miles the weekend before and 20 after?. It's nearly 6 months away but no harm in 'looking ahead'? 13 miles wouldn't be too few?.

Don't race it, incorporate it into a long run (i.e. do 7 miles beforehand).

hot buttered scones

Spirogyra wrote:

How would a half-marathon (Galway Bay) fit into training plan 3 weeks before the Dublin marathon?. Do 20 miles the weekend before and 20 after?. It's nearly 6 months away but no harm in 'looking ahead'? 13 miles wouldn't be too few?.

What Singer said would work. You could also do something like a 2 mile warm up and then run the half at marathon pace, the 1 mile cool down. That's 16 miles for the day and a decent session into the bargain. It all depends on what plan your following I suppose.

Gavlor

Spirogyra wrote: »

How would a half-marathon (Galway Bay) fit into training plan 3 weeks before the Dublin marathon?. Do 20 miles the weekend before and 20 after?. It's nearly 6 months away but no harm in 'looking ahead'? 13 miles wouldn't be too few?.

Yep, I've used as part of a 20 miler before. As singer said I got the 7 done before hand and running the half made the miles tick by nice and easy. I actually paced friend to 1.39 to make sure I kept a slow pace.

jake1970

hot buttered scones wrote: »

I'm looking for a small but of feedback/sanity check on my plan for the year. It's not 100% set in stone, but I thought I might just put it out there and see what people think. So I'm running the Cork City Marathon on the 4th of June. After that I'm looking at the following:
A few weeks recovery (including my annual family holiday from mid June to early July). Then some base building, maybe a couple of shorter races until the 31/07 when I'll start a 12 week programme for Dublin. This will incorporate a buffer week for the Charleville HM. Actually another question - should the buffer week come before or after the HM? I also want to try and work the Ballycotton 5 in on the 24/08 (very soft PB here).
An 18 week plan would start on the 26th of June - when I'm still on holidays. I think maybe it will bit soon since Cork (3 weeks) to start a full scale training plan again, and besides I don't want to do sessions when I'm away this year. I like running on holidays, but this year I don't really want to be tied to a plan while I'm away so no real training.
For Dublin I'm thinking either one of the P+D 12 week plans or the McMillan Strava plan. I'll follow one of the P+D Recovery plans and then I'll have three more weeks to get the mileage up to start the plan (all easy, with maybe some MP miles?)
I had also considered Hanson - the first session on week 2 is scheduled badly for me, so I'd have to move it forward a day or 2, so it might suit, but it's going to be very awkward fitting in the all sessions around shift work - the other plans just fit a bit better.

For the longer term after Dublin - just recovery and base building - maybe follow a short 5k plan in December, then seriously tackle the 10k in the New Year. No spring/summer marathon and have a good rattle off an Autumn marathon. And yes, a club is probably my best option, but with the way I work, I'm not sure how much benefit I'd get from it because I wouldn't be able to train with them too often.

Maybe I should have just posted this in my log, but this thread gets a bit more traffic. So like I said I'm just looking for a sanity check really - I think the 12 week plan for Dublin is the most sensible approach to give me enough time to recover from Cork and build a bit of a base. Of course I'm also prone to changing my mind at the last minute so there's every chance I'll do something completely different on a whim. :rolleyes:

I have used the P&D plan on both my marathons to date. I had completed a 10k training cycle about a month before starting marathon training. In the month between training cycles I increased the mileage which was mainly at general aerobic pace and had my long runs up to 16 miles.


I also used a buffer week. In 2015 I used it as a mini taper for the Athlone Half and for the week after the half I continued with the plan but eased off on the pace to aid recovery from the Half. In 2016 I incorporated the Athlone Half into the plan and ran it at PMP and I used the buffer week the week after because real life stuff got in the way.


One thing I did change with the plan was that I dropped the tune up race 4 weeks out from the marathon for a 20 mile LSR as I thought that another LSR in the 12 week plan would be more beneficial than the tune up race.

Bananaleaf

I know this is a bit of a pathetic post, but sure anyway. I'm approaching my 3rd week injured and the depression is really starting to kick in.

The injury is not running related, but the nature of it means that not only can't I run, at times it's very uncomfortable and painful to walk. Best case scenario is that I'll be out another week, worst case (I'll know Monday) could be longer if any surgery is needed.

I had built up a decent amount of progress to date. I'm not amazing, but was making my own gains. Have quite a few race registrations too, but it's unlikely I will even make the race.

I'm very down about the fact that I can't go out, but I know that is just the fact and I should be grateful there isn't something more serious wrong with me.

My question is - what do people do to avoid the anger/frustration of not being able to get out? And is there anything productive at all I can be doing during this time? (food, stretching ...??)

Thank you

IvoryTower

can you swim?

Bananaleaf

IvoryTower wrote: »

can you swim?

I'll need to check with the doctor on Monday to see. Sorry for the detail ahead now .... The injury is a cyst which has an infection (maybe all cysts have infections, I'm not sure) It is a kind of an open wound at the moment and Monday's visit to doc is to see if it will need to be lanced/removed or whether the penicillin has been doing enough. My own instinct is that it will need a lance. So, it might sound stupid, but I'm not sure if I can swim with that. Cyst is in an area that would be submerged in the water. I would think that it's probably not good for me or other pool users if I'm getting in with that.

Annie get your Run

Bananaleaf wrote: »

I know this is a bit of a pathetic post, but sure anyway. I'm approaching my 3rd week injured and the depression is really starting to kick in.

The injury is not running related, but the nature of it means that not only can't I run, at times it's very uncomfortable and painful to walk. Best case scenario is that I'll be out another week, worst case (I'll know Monday) could be longer if any surgery is needed.

I had built up a decent amount of progress to date. I'm not amazing, but was making my own gains. Have quite a few race registrations too, but it's unlikely I will even make the race.

I'm very down about the fact that I can't go out, but I know that is just the fact and I should be grateful there isn't something more serious wrong with me.

My question is - what do people do to avoid the anger/frustration of not being able to get out? And is there anything productive at all I can be doing during this time? (food, stretching ...??)

Thank you

It's not pathetic at all, it can be very hard to deal when you're told you can't run Hopefully you get it sorted asap. What about cycling? You mention it's painful to walk - could you do yoga or pilates?

With regard to food, definitely, you can use this time to focus on getting you diet as healthy as it possibly can be, If you don't cook for example, learn.

robinph

Bananaleaf wrote: »

My question is - what do people do to avoid the anger/frustration of not being able to get out? And is there anything productive at all I can be doing during this time? (food, stretching ...??)

Thank you

When I was out of action many years back, but hadn't quite got to the running level where I was sure I'd keep up with it after being injured for a while, I just made sure that I still went along to all the races for the social side and then I started taking photos at the races instead, just to give me something to do.

Annie get your Run

And also, volunteer at your local parkrun, it's a great way to stay in touch with running.