15 miles (A27 layby by the Newmarket Inn along the SDW to Southease and back). Same distance again this mornning, but from the dogging car park near the Dyke (Saddlescombe) to the Downslink, down to Shoreham and then back.
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Official Running Thread
- Thread starter Herr Tubthumper
- Start date
15 miles (A27 layby by the Newmarket Inn along the SDW to Southease and back). Same distance again this mornning, but from the dogging car park near the Dyke (Saddlescombe) to the Downslink, down to Shoreham and then back.
- Thread starter
- #2,662
Good work! I used to love my runs on The Downs and the Firle Beacon half. It's lovely up there.
Just run part of the Longman course. Bloody lovely up there this morning. Chilly breeze but nowhere better than the Downs on a crisp winter's day.......had to take a pic of a landmark.......
Beautiful shot Dazzer. Not long back from my own 15 mile run this evening. Nowhere near as scenic as your run it was a loop of Old Shoreham Road in the dark followed by the seafront back home. Pleased with the time 1:53:17 - 7:33 per mile.
[MENTION=15605]knocky1[/MENTION] - I am a bit of a lightweight nowadays (must be the weight loss). I've got 9 pb's from 11 runs so I only run when I have a chance of beating my best time, 7 pints I would have no chance. Sub 20 in the summer is my aim now.
I am using Hove Parkrun as part of marathon training. Goal time is sub 3hours 40. This is 8:23 pace giving a 5k at marathon pace of 26 minutes. You have to focus on your own pace ignoring other runners and holding back. Boring but part of the master plan.
If you carry on improving as you are, we may have to insist you have 7 pints before any NSC challenge!
Greg Bobkin
Silver Seagull
- May 22, 2012
- 14,854
Ah, I wondered where you'd got to on Saturday. I'm not sure if [MENTION=4949]7:18[/MENTION] was there on Saturday, but I seem to have 'won' by default, given that [MENTION=18183]big nuts[/MENTION] wasn't there, you were running at a slow pace, and [MENTION=26634]Simgull[/MENTION] was running with a junior. Still, I snuck under 22 mins, which I was happy with. Then 18 miles mostly along the seafront yesterday. Good weekend's running
Yes - ran with a junior but not sure if I could get below 22 mins at the moment. Apologies for not hanging around afterwards but carried on for a further 17km (including doing Preston Park park run on my own for a double!) as this was my long run this weekend, feeling it in the knee again today so will see how it goes this week.
Looks like there are a few of us around similar pace, I did a PB at Preston Park 3/4 weeks ago of 21.40. Saturdays are a bit buggered for the next few weeks with work travel and/or races but will try to get there if we're having an NSC meet up
Richy_Seagull
Well-known member
Just reading through this thread, there are some crazy times!
I am planning to do my 4th Brighton marathon this year. Had a decent second one (3:58) but last year had an absolute mare, struggle round in about 4:25 and felt truly awful from halfway onwards. I'm not sure what went wrong but for one thing pretty sure I didnt refuel nearly enough on the way round.
Trainings been going pretty well this year, I am trying to stick to the 3:45 Runners World training plan as I am determined to get sub 4 again. Did a 16.5 miler last week but am a little confused about the plans idea of "slow". All the long runs have been listed as that so far and the 16.5 I felt really good but was shocked when I checked watch and was doing 9.15 miles (although did finish in exact time plan said I should aim for). Decided to go on an 8 today and managed 7:40 miles which I am chuffed with tbh. When should I start picking up the pace of the longer runs or is it a case of getting the distance in and doing shorter quicker runs to improve speed?
Ta in advance!
I am planning to do my 4th Brighton marathon this year. Had a decent second one (3:58) but last year had an absolute mare, struggle round in about 4:25 and felt truly awful from halfway onwards. I'm not sure what went wrong but for one thing pretty sure I didnt refuel nearly enough on the way round.
Trainings been going pretty well this year, I am trying to stick to the 3:45 Runners World training plan as I am determined to get sub 4 again. Did a 16.5 miler last week but am a little confused about the plans idea of "slow". All the long runs have been listed as that so far and the 16.5 I felt really good but was shocked when I checked watch and was doing 9.15 miles (although did finish in exact time plan said I should aim for). Decided to go on an 8 today and managed 7:40 miles which I am chuffed with tbh. When should I start picking up the pace of the longer runs or is it a case of getting the distance in and doing shorter quicker runs to improve speed?
Ta in advance!
As a complete beginner / late starter I am following a strict training plan for my 10k in April and it similarly confuses me. It specifies "easy" runs, "all easy" runs, long runs and recovery runs. Then it says:
"Always train at your target pace, don’t compromise or run too hard."
WTF? How can I train at my target pace in an "easy", "all easy" or recovery run? Similarly advice would be great and similarly ta in advance.
I maybe going against the grain as most plans suggest easy paced long runs but I push myself to the limit each and every run, albeit I only run twice a week.
My marathon pb is 3:55:27 but I feel I'm on course to hit 3:30 based on my times this year vs last.
I started trying to push how far I can hold 7:30 pace and that idea has brought me to my current level which is 15 miles @ 7:30. 4 months ago I couldn't manage 8 at that pace but continual efforts have really improved my ability to maintain that pace.
My thoughts being how are you supposed to improve if you continually run within yourself. On top of my long run I run a quicker hill run after work taking in New England Hill and up the hill from Hove park towards Waitrose. Very occasionally I might take part in Hove Park Run but I sometimes struggle with my longer run on a Sunday if I push the 5k too hard.
My advice to you and @Guinness Boy is to set challenging time targets for your run which will push you and see a gradual improvement. Or aim to run a time and see what distance you can cover within that time e.g how many miles can you complete in 90 minutes? Try that 3 times and then measure the improvement.
You'd usually expect to do your long runs at about a minute per mile slower than your planned marathon race day pace, but have a mixed overall programme that includes tempo runs, intervals and hills for conditioning. On that basis your 9.15 is about right (race day pace being 8.30?). Sounds like you're doing just fine !
I'm pretty much a beginner too - started in April last year, aged 59, and did my first 10k last November (the Brighton Brooks) and was pleased to come in just over 50 mins. I'm now training for the BM 10k like you, and I'm doing a mixed plan of my own, aiming for three runs a week, which is not scientific, but seems to be working in getting my speeds up -- so I do one longish (for me) run per week of 12-13k at a fairly easy pace (but often including hills, or as a trail run on the downs), one 5k parkrun (if I can face the early start on Saturday) and then a run of about 8k at my target race pace, with some hills or intervals. If have time to do anything extra during the week, I might also do half an hour of hard work on the gym treadmill (where I do 3 mins at a steady run pace, say 12.5 km/h, and then turn it up to 14.5-15 km/h for 2 mins, and then repeat the 3min-2min cycle for the rest of the session).
Sounds a good structured plan with plenty of rest days but you are pushing yourself towards improvement and each session has a purpose.
[MENTION=616]Guinness Boy[/MENTION] - each long distanced plan I read suggests running you long run between 30/60 secs then your aiming for. This is where I probably go against the common theory as I feel the opposite works better for me, push my long runs at a pace quicker than the target and come race day I should feel really comfortable and have something in the tank to push the last 5k.
I've been bricking it for the last month. Have followed the Runners World plan for a 4:15 marathon for Brighton, which may have been overambitious (best 13.1 is 2.11 in a race, but have since then reduced that to 2.04 in training). Joined a running club, and most of them are training for Rome, which is two weeks before Brighton. Managed to get up to 15 miles, but the next three weeks couldn't go any further, and totally lost confidence and any belief that I could finish.
After the PATHETIC capitulation to Forest Saturday I was still angry Sunday morning, and managed to run 20.2 miles (or 19.8, depending on whether I believe my iPhone or Garmin), but felt dreadful afterwards. My main concern is that once I get to a certain distance (normally 8-9 miles) I go from running to shuffling, and it is a real struggle to continue, I'm hoping that keeping to the RW program will see me through, but lots of doubts looming in my mind.
After the PATHETIC capitulation to Forest Saturday I was still angry Sunday morning, and managed to run 20.2 miles (or 19.8, depending on whether I believe my iPhone or Garmin), but felt dreadful afterwards. My main concern is that once I get to a certain distance (normally 8-9 miles) I go from running to shuffling, and it is a real struggle to continue, I'm hoping that keeping to the RW program will see me through, but lots of doubts looming in my mind.
You're WAY ahead of me but quite an inspiration. I'm "only" 43. When I entered the BM10k I had to put a target time. I put 1hr 10 based on the fact I was doing consistent 10m / mile pace at the time and allowed for some congestion after the corrals and in turns. Actually I have picked up a bit since then but ran my 40 minute run on Sunday at about 10.30 because it was described in the plan as "all easy". At the time I was quite pleased I'd covered the time completely unscathed. Now it seems I had under run it.
Anyway, if you can do 50 mins at that age then that's my new target. Two months to go and I am going to up the pace as well as time, as well as sticking to my pledge to only have booze at weekends.
It's amazing how quickly your body improves. I'm also 43 and started running, again, a few weeks ago.
Nomatter how unfit I am (currently: very) and overweight (currently: a fair bit but moving in the right direction) I refuse to do any less than 5k, so I found a convenient 3.8m (6.1km) loop from where I now live and my progress has been:
23/1 - 10:40/mile
26/1 - 10:37/mile
29/1 - 10:22/mile
30/1 - 10:22/mile
2/2 - 10:06/mile
3/2 - 9:53/mile
7/2 - 9:42/mile
I intended to stretch it out to 5 miles on Sunday, but after a discussion with @nail-Z I extended that and did 7.2 miles (11.6km), finishing it strongly too.
My mistake was going out last night, at about 9:30pm through boredom. My legs were very heavy from Sunday's run so it was a really hard slog to get round the 3.8 mile loop, particularly as the second half is all uphill.
Nomatter how unfit I am (currently: very) and overweight (currently: a fair bit but moving in the right direction) I refuse to do any less than 5k, so I found a convenient 3.8m (6.1km) loop from where I now live and my progress has been:
23/1 - 10:40/mile
26/1 - 10:37/mile
29/1 - 10:22/mile
30/1 - 10:22/mile
2/2 - 10:06/mile
3/2 - 9:53/mile
7/2 - 9:42/mile
I intended to stretch it out to 5 miles on Sunday, but after a discussion with @nail-Z I extended that and did 7.2 miles (11.6km), finishing it strongly too.
My mistake was going out last night, at about 9:30pm through boredom. My legs were very heavy from Sunday's run so it was a really hard slog to get round the 3.8 mile loop, particularly as the second half is all uphill.
I was hugely surprised to come in at 50 mins, as it was my first race of any sort, and my training times had been a lot slower. What I hadn't realised, never having raced before, was how much you sort of get carried along with the crowd, and end up running quite a bit faster than you think you can. I inadvertently started the race at a point which was probably too near the front of the crowd, and was trying to keep up with the group of people around me -- and although I lost them all by about halfway round the course, it meant that I'd started at a pretty good pace.
I also think that the course being flat was a real help, because all my training runs had involved hills, since living where I do (Brighton just north of fiveways), there's pretty much no route you can take that doesn't involve hills -- so the the race was the first time I'd run that distance on the flat, and inevitably the speed went up.
I'm aiming for 48 min in the BM10k, and my parkuns are currently coming in at around 24 min so I'm hoping that with a couple of months training to go, that should be possible. Like you I've also cut back on the booze, which seems to help.
So far I'm really glad I took it up again, not having run since my late 20s, although my only nervousness given the age thing is about overdoing it and getting some kind of muscle or joint injury (nothing yet, apart from sore quads in the early months).
Ralphingtonpuss
Active member
I'm in training to run the Brighton marathon for the second time this year. When I'm running I experience sharp stabbing pain below my left knee and sometimes a lot of pain in my right hip. I'm gutted because I have no problems pounding the miles it's just the amount of pain, once the pain is noticeable I continue to run convincing myself it's ok because the pain doesn't get worse. I'm doing some exercises for ITB problems but apart from that the pain continues when I run. I've even had to result to running miles on the treadmill to get the training in with less pain. The obvious answer is to stop I know but I can't and won't, I have to start and complete my second and last marathon. Anyone with any helpful hints or tips, thanks.
Camicus
New member
Just back from my first 5k in 20 years. Jesus h Christ what happened? Tell me it gets easier?
It gets easier. One and a half miles nearly killed me first run back.