Official Running Thread

Ninja Elephant · Jun 3, 2019

Greg Bobkin said:
You? Late? I won't have it

No parkrun for me, just a couple of short ones and I think I'm going to give 'Run Every Day In June' a go, having got three days in. There the STE Marathon Madness thing at the end of the month, so I think I'll work towards one of them, but carry on with the short stuff. Time trial time continues to come down, but no easing off this morning as I was a bit too relaxed in the first mile. I've even put the times in a table – with mile splits – which seems quite a good motivator.

Oh – and I even contemplated entering the Phoenix 10k run. What is wrong with me?!

It is hard to believe! And even harder to believe that if I had trusted my instincts and got off the bus where I thought it would be best to, I'd have been comfortably on time! Madness. Good parkrun though, I like it. Loads of Bournemouth shirts and you pass Dean Court (whatever it's called now), I didn't have anything Albion branded for obvious reasons. :down:

I'm hoping that the Marathon Madness happens in 2020, if they do then I'll be doing ALL of them. I'd take the week off work and smash them all out of the park. I'm going to target a sub-3 marathon in Bournemouth in October. But in 2020 I'm going to hammer into as many marathons as I can manage. I've thought about 20 in 2020...

See you for the Phoenix, and the afterparty!

dazzer6666 · Jun 3, 2019

Ninja Elephant said:
It is hard to believe! And even harder to believe that if I had trusted my instincts and got off the bus where I thought it would be best to, I'd have been comfortably on time! Madness. Good parkrun though, I like it. Loads of Bournemouth shirts and you pass Dean Court (whatever it's called now), I didn't have anything Albion branded for obvious reasons.

I'm hoping that the Marathon Madness happens in 2020, if they do then I'll be doing ALL of them. I'd take the week off work and smash them all out of the park. I'm going to target a sub-3 marathon in Bournemouth in October. But in 2020 I'm going to hammer into as many marathons as I can manage. I've thought about 20 in 2020...

See you for the Phoenix, and the afterparty!

Why not go after [MENTION=12697]Steve Foster[/MENTION] and do 100 in 100 weeks?
[emoji15][emoji15]

Sent from my H8314 using Tapatalk

Ninja Elephant · Jun 3, 2019

dazzer6666 said:
Why not go after [MENTION=12697]Steve Foster[/MENTION] and do 100 in 100 weeks?
[emoji15][emoji15]

Sent from my H8314 using Tapatalk

If I could travel around to enjoy doing so, I really would. I need to find my golden bullet business idea, and then find a way to justify the expense for 2 years. It would be an epic adventure. Maybe the adventure itself could pay for the trip, I need to increase my social media presence! Or get a sponsor.

dazzer6666 · Jun 3, 2019

Ninja Elephant said:
If I could travel around to enjoy doing so, I really would. I need to find my golden bullet business idea, and then find a way to justify the expense for 2 years. It would be an epic adventure. Maybe the adventure itself could pay for the trip, I need to increase my social media presence! Or get a sponsor.

Sure it was no problem for the richest man on NSC [emoji23][emoji23]

I wouldn’t. I reckon I might get through 6-8 weeks before getting injured (although doing ONLY a marathon a week - with no other running) could be doable I guess.

Badger · Jun 3, 2019

Another successful Ragnar Relay completed. This was even more fun than last year, even though I had to do the killer last leg to Niagara Falls. Our team of 12 people completed 300km(ish) in 25:29:21, coming second in the mixed category and 11th overall out of 202 teams.

It was great to see all our runners nailing their legs and we ended up coming home only about 20 minutes behind our (very optimistic) estimated finishing time. A lot of that came down to our captain thinking I'd be able to complete the last leg at the same 4:06/km pace he'd predicted for my first 2 legs. I was running on tired legs and it was 15km involving 400m of climbing! The first 2km was absolutely brutal, going up this ridiculous hill with switchbacks. I managed to pick up the pace on the downhill bits but I was willing myself to the finishing line. I think this was a harder finish than my marathon in Phoenix.

Glad I've got a massage booked for this afternoon. My hamstrings are so tight. I don't normally have issues with them, I can only assume it's because of the climbing.

chaileyjem · Jun 3, 2019

I'm a runner now. Not a quick runner but a runner nonetheless. So i thought i'd pop by this thread and say hello.
Until xmas i hadn't run - at all - for 30 long years. I started playing weekly 6 a side football ("Fat Dads" by son calls it) about 5 years ago and i walk a fair bit (thank you dogs !) but a runner. Nope.
My OH has been doing park runs for about a year or so and nagging me to join her , but i was bit nervous about it but then, craftily , bought me a pair of shoes to seal the deal.
I thought i need to do Couch to 5K but went out the day before a park run to see how far i could push it. Turned out a fair way. 3K or so around a few country paths before i gave up.
Did the 5K the next day - stopped a couple of time but got round. And then did the Hove Park Run on Boxing Day. - And didn't stop. 32 mins.
Collapsed pretty much at the end but got round.

I then sort of faded away but started in earnest a month or so ago. Park Run every week (still bobbing about the 30min mark) - but starting do more and more runs during the week (5Ks round my way - quite a few hills which is a bit of a killer ) .
So
- three questions for the experts or real (!!) runners on here
whats the best way to get your speed up ? -
how to move on from 5K to 10K and beyond ? - just keep running further to build up endurance ?
avoid injuries. I'm 52 ! and don't want to ruin it

- warm ups ? anything else ?

PS: Park Runs are brilliant as a target but should i just go for it and book myself in for a 10K or a half marathon and build up to them ?

thanks all. There's a lovely community on here.

Guinness Boy · Jun 3, 2019

Greg Bobkin said:
Oh – and I even contemplated entering the Phoenix 10k run. What is wrong with me?!

You've just marked yourself down as in. There will be beer and maybe even peanuts.

knocky1 · Jun 3, 2019

chaileyjem said:
I'm a runner now. Not a quick runner but a runner nonetheless. So i thought i'd pop by this thread and say hello.
Until xmas i hadn't run - at all - for 30 long years. I started playing weekly 6 a side football ("Fat Dads" by son calls it) about 5 years ago and i walk a fair bit (thank you dogs !) but a runner. Nope.
My OH has been doing park runs for about a year or so and nagging me to join her , but i was bit nervous about it but then, craftily , bought me a pair of shoes to seal the deal.
I thought i need to do Couch to 5K but went out the day before a park run to see how far i could push it. Turned out a fair way. 3K or so around a few country paths before i gave up.
Did the 5K the next day - stopped a couple of time but got round. And then did the Hove Park Run on Boxing Day. - And didn't stop. 32 mins.
Collapsed pretty much at the end but got round.

I then sort of faded away but started in earnest a month or so ago. Park Run every week (still bobbing about the 30min mark) - but starting do more and more runs during the week (5Ks round my way - quite a few hills which is a bit of a killer ) .
So
- three questions for the experts or real (!!) runners on here
whats the best way to get your speed up ? -
how to move on from 5K to 10K and beyond ? - just keep running further to build up endurance ?
avoid injuries. I'm 52 ! and don't want to ruin it - warm ups ? anything else ?

PS: Park Runs are brilliant as a target but should i just go for it and book myself in for a 10K or a half marathon and build up to them ?

thanks all. There's a lovely community on here.

Great work. We’re snookered on helping you. The default reply is to do a a few Parkruns and mix up training with some hills. You already tick those boxes. Just keep going as you are, throwing in some 10-30 second sprints now and again, then see what you want to do in a month’s time. Enjoy it, listen to your body and see some of us at a Parkrun.

Guinness Boy · Jun 3, 2019

chaileyjem said:
I'm a runner now. Not a quick runner but a runner nonetheless. So i thought i'd pop by this thread and say hello.
Until xmas i hadn't run - at all - for 30 long years. I started playing weekly 6 a side football ("Fat Dads" by son calls it) about 5 years ago and i walk a fair bit (thank you dogs !) but a runner. Nope.
My OH has been doing park runs for about a year or so and nagging me to join her , but i was bit nervous about it but then, craftily , bought me a pair of shoes to seal the deal.
I thought i need to do Couch to 5K but went out the day before a park run to see how far i could push it. Turned out a fair way. 3K or so around a few country paths before i gave up.
Did the 5K the next day - stopped a couple of time but got round. And then did the Hove Park Run on Boxing Day. - And didn't stop. 32 mins.
Collapsed pretty much at the end but got round.

I then sort of faded away but started in earnest a month or so ago. Park Run every week (still bobbing about the 30min mark) - but starting do more and more runs during the week (5Ks round my way - quite a few hills which is a bit of a killer ) .
So
- three questions for the experts or real (!!) runners on here
whats the best way to get your speed up ? -
how to move on from 5K to 10K and beyond ? - just keep running further to build up endurance ?
avoid injuries. I'm 52 ! and don't want to ruin it - warm ups ? anything else ?

PS: Park Runs are brilliant as a target but should i just go for it and book myself in for a 10K or a half marathon and build up to them ?

thanks all. There's a lovely community on here.

Welcome on board fella, lovely to have you.

I've been on that journey a little bit. I was very overweight but I wanted to lose it and started to jog a k or two round the local park (and posted on this thread). The thing that got me "serious" was entering the BM10k with a team of parents from my kids' schools. I had to do it so as not to lose face and got more advice on here. I did a basic 10K training plan for beginners from the BM10K site and built up the distance slowly, adding no more than 1k (distance) or 5 mins (time) to my longest run each week. I stuck loosely but not specifically to the plan but with that distance increase in mind. Also no more than 3 runs a week. All that meant I managed not to get injured at all.

I don't warm up in the sense of stretching. As a football coach you'll know not to stretch a cold muscle. My "warm up" these days is 10 minutes or a mile at the start of my run at jogging pace. If you're doing shorter runs you can jog for an extra half mile at the start or walk for a while. I stretch after but I know those who don't.

So, to sum up:

Yes, enter races, it will give you something to aim for
Don't increase distance too greatly in a week
Don't run too often or not often enough
Warm up gently with a walk or jog.
Oh, one other thing, this is probably just me but my legs did not like me running on roads AND playing football. I had to choose and chose running.

Worked for me anyway. Best of luck. See you on the start line some time.

Ninja Elephant · Jun 3, 2019

chaileyjem said:
I'm a runner now. Not a quick runner but a runner nonetheless. So i thought i'd pop by this thread and say hello.
Until xmas i hadn't run - at all - for 30 long years. I started playing weekly 6 a side football ("Fat Dads" by son calls it) about 5 years ago and i walk a fair bit (thank you dogs !) but a runner. Nope.
My OH has been doing park runs for about a year or so and nagging me to join her , but i was bit nervous about it but then, craftily , bought me a pair of shoes to seal the deal.
I thought i need to do Couch to 5K but went out the day before a park run to see how far i could push it. Turned out a fair way. 3K or so around a few country paths before i gave up.
Did the 5K the next day - stopped a couple of time but got round. And then did the Hove Park Run on Boxing Day. - And didn't stop. 32 mins.
Collapsed pretty much at the end but got round.

I then sort of faded away but started in earnest a month or so ago. Park Run every week (still bobbing about the 30min mark) - but starting do more and more runs during the week (5Ks round my way - quite a few hills which is a bit of a killer ) .
So
- three questions for the experts or real (!!) runners on here
whats the best way to get your speed up ? -
how to move on from 5K to 10K and beyond ? - just keep running further to build up endurance ?
avoid injuries. I'm 52 ! and don't want to ruin it - warm ups ? anything else ?

PS: Park Runs are brilliant as a target but should i just go for it and book myself in for a 10K or a half marathon and build up to them ?

thanks all. There's a lovely community on here.

Good for you - are you doing Brighton based parkruns? A good number of us know each other by sight now and we're all doing the Phoenix 10k on Wednesday 10th July. That one is always followed by a few jars in the Brunswick, you're welcome to come along either for the race or the drinks - or both!

Personally, I would ask yourself what you really want to do. Do you want to take it more seriously and aim for an event? Or do you want to keep it nice and social, running weekly parkruns and a few runs in the week to get out and about? No shame in not wanting to run bigger distances or events, I know a few people who just enjoy the run without wanting to push on. If you do want to build up some pace, the key is running shorter distances at quicker paces. For example, running 200 metres at something close to top pace and then having a recovery jog. I generally do 8 or 10 200 meter sprints per session, with 30 seconds recovery in between, best to extend that to a minute or 90 seconds at the start and don't run so quick you can't sustain any pace - pace sessions are about running faster than you usually would, but not about keeling over! See how you get on, and then you can think about making it half KM reps, and then full KM reps.

The running brethren are strong, and we're always here. :thumbsup:

Simgull · Jun 3, 2019

chaileyjem said:
I'm a runner now. Not a quick runner but a runner nonetheless. So i thought i'd pop by this thread and say hello.
Until xmas i hadn't run - at all - for 30 long years. I started playing weekly 6 a side football ("Fat Dads" by son calls it) about 5 years ago and i walk a fair bit (thank you dogs !) but a runner. Nope.
My OH has been doing park runs for about a year or so and nagging me to join her , but i was bit nervous about it but then, craftily , bought me a pair of shoes to seal the deal.
I thought i need to do Couch to 5K but went out the day before a park run to see how far i could push it. Turned out a fair way. 3K or so around a few country paths before i gave up.
Did the 5K the next day - stopped a couple of time but got round. And then did the Hove Park Run on Boxing Day. - And didn't stop. 32 mins.
Collapsed pretty much at the end but got round.

I then sort of faded away but started in earnest a month or so ago. Park Run every week (still bobbing about the 30min mark) - but starting do more and more runs during the week (5Ks round my way - quite a few hills which is a bit of a killer ) .
So
- three questions for the experts or real (!!) runners on here
whats the best way to get your speed up ? -
how to move on from 5K to 10K and beyond ? - just keep running further to build up endurance ?
avoid injuries. I'm 52 ! and don't want to ruin it - warm ups ? anything else ?

PS: Park Runs are brilliant as a target but should i just go for it and book myself in for a 10K or a half marathon and build up to them ?

thanks all. There's a lovely community on here.

Welcome - you’ve come to the right place!

All of the above is great advice. I’ll add a couple of things...

If you want to move from 5 to 10k, start by just adding an extra bit to your park run after you collect your bar code -if at Hove Park - the short lap is 1.4km, the long is 1.8km. So run 6.4km one week (maybe at a slower pace than you run 5k) then 6.8 the next and slowly edge it up. Don’t worry the bar code checkers will still be there when you finish!
Interval training and hills are the best way to increase your speed.
For injury prevention, think about adding some gym work in - concentrate on core and leg strengthening to take the strain off your joints.
If you are running at Hove Park parkrun regularly then do make contact, Ben Elton’s Brother and I are there most weeks. Others on here make regular appearances too. And if you are aiming for a 10k sign up for the Phoenix 10k in July always a good event and as it’s in evening many on here will refuel properly on the Brunswick afterwards! Even [MENTION=24635]Greg Bobkin[/MENTION] is entering this year.

Greg Bobkin · Jun 4, 2019

knocky1 said:
Excellent news.

Guinness Boy said:
You've just marked yourself down as in. There will be beer and maybe even peanuts.

Simgull said:
Welcome - you’ve come to the right place!

All of the above is great advice. I’ll add a couple of things...

If you want to move from 5 to 10k, start by just adding an extra bit to your park run after you collect your bar code -if at Hove Park - the short lap is 1.4km, the long is 1.8km. So run 6.4km one week (maybe at a slower pace than you run 5k) then 6.8 the next and slowly edge it up. Don’t worry the bar code checkers will still be there when you finish!
Interval training and hills are the best way to increase your speed.
For injury prevention, think about adding some gym work in - concentrate on core and leg strengthening to take the strain off your joints.
If you are running at Hove Park parkrun regularly then do make contact, Ben Elton’s Brother and I are there most weeks. Others on here make regular appearances too. And if you are aiming for a 10k sign up for the Phoenix 10k in July always a good event and as it’s in evening many on here will refuel properly on the Brunswick afterwards! Even [MENTION=24635]Greg Bobkin[/MENTION] is entering this year.

WOAH!!!! Hold your horses, you lot. Yes, the tab is still open on my browser but I'm a LONG way from actually signing on the line.

Although peanuts could be enough to persuade me... :lol:

Greg Bobkin · Jun 4, 2019

chaileyjem said:
I'm a runner now. Not a quick runner but a runner nonetheless. So i thought i'd pop by this thread and say hello.
Until xmas i hadn't run - at all - for 30 long years. I started playing weekly 6 a side football ("Fat Dads" by son calls it) about 5 years ago and i walk a fair bit (thank you dogs !) but a runner. Nope.
My OH has been doing park runs for about a year or so and nagging me to join her , but i was bit nervous about it but then, craftily , bought me a pair of shoes to seal the deal.
I thought i need to do Couch to 5K but went out the day before a park run to see how far i could push it. Turned out a fair way. 3K or so around a few country paths before i gave up.
Did the 5K the next day - stopped a couple of time but got round. And then did the Hove Park Run on Boxing Day. - And didn't stop. 32 mins.
Collapsed pretty much at the end but got round.

I then sort of faded away but started in earnest a month or so ago. Park Run every week (still bobbing about the 30min mark) - but starting do more and more runs during the week (5Ks round my way - quite a few hills which is a bit of a killer ) .
So
- three questions for the experts or real (!!) runners on here
whats the best way to get your speed up ? -
how to move on from 5K to 10K and beyond ? - just keep running further to build up endurance ?
avoid injuries. I'm 52 ! and don't want to ruin it - warm ups ? anything else ?

PS: Park Runs are brilliant as a target but should i just go for it and book myself in for a 10K or a half marathon and build up to them ?

thanks all. There's a lovely community on here.

Welcome! Not much else I can add to what the other lads have said: mix it up; increase distance (and pace, if you want) gradually) and enjoy it. There will be times where you lose your mojo, but you can't push it, you'll probably find it comes back naturally.

Despite my post above, the Phoenix race is pretty good, but I have a severe HATRED of 10k road races (purely because of my lack of fitness/ability) and prefer the longer, trail stuff, if I'm honest.

Actually I will add one thing, but it sounds like you're already there. If you've got an idea of an event or a distance in mind there are two things you need: 1) the desire to do it and 2) the willingness to put the effort in to get match fit.

You're right about a lovely community here – best thread on the board :thumbsup:

Garry Nelson's teacher · Jun 4, 2019

chaileyjem said:
I'm a runner now. Not a quick runner but a runner nonetheless. So i thought i'd pop by this thread and say hello.
Until xmas i hadn't run - at all - for 30 long years. I started playing weekly 6 a side football ("Fat Dads" by son calls it) about 5 years ago and i walk a fair bit (thank you dogs !) but a runner. Nope.
My OH has been doing park runs for about a year or so and nagging me to join her , but i was bit nervous about it but then, craftily , bought me a pair of shoes to seal the deal.
I thought i need to do Couch to 5K but went out the day before a park run to see how far i could push it. Turned out a fair way. 3K or so around a few country paths before i gave up.
Did the 5K the next day - stopped a couple of time but got round. And then did the Hove Park Run on Boxing Day. - And didn't stop. 32 mins.
Collapsed pretty much at the end but got round.

I then sort of faded away but started in earnest a month or so ago. Park Run every week (still bobbing about the 30min mark) - but starting do more and more runs during the week (5Ks round my way - quite a few hills which is a bit of a killer ) .
So
- three questions for the experts or real (!!) runners on here
whats the best way to get your speed up ? -
how to move on from 5K to 10K and beyond ? - just keep running further to build up endurance ?
avoid injuries. I'm 52 ! and don't want to ruin it - warm ups ? anything else ?

PS: Park Runs are brilliant as a target but should i just go for it and book myself in for a 10K or a half marathon and build up to them ?

thanks all. There's a lovely community on here.

You've had the customary thread combination of warm welcome and good advice. All I'll add is that as one of the senior statesmen here (defined by age not gravitas) I'd direct you towards age-grading. This is a great way of levelling the playing field with younger runners and a good motivator. Good luck!

knocky1 · Jun 4, 2019

Weakest Link Team Time for 2 weeks tomorrow. The following 5 are definite.

big nuts said:
Available if selected for the Weakest Link.

Ninja Elephant said:
I don't have any conflicts so I'll be proud to compete again after missing last year.

Greg Bobkin said:
Count me in, skipper!

BenElton'sBrother said:
I'm available for this again and would be proud to be the weakest link for any given team
Hope it's bloody warmer than it was last year too...

Mr Blobby said:
Ohhhh not done this for a while, I am around on the 19th June. I need to go in the snail paced team please.

From last year we miss [MENTION=13836]deletebeepbeepbeep[/MENTION]beep hope your swimming is going well. [MENTION=27279]dazzer6666[/MENTION]
can’t make it. I can’t commit until nearer the date due to this annoying tendon issue.
From last year [MENTION=26634]Simgull[/MENTION] (guaranteed a NSC team this year), [MENTION=3736]Mr Banana[/MENTION] [MENTION=11716]Pennys Harmonica[/MENTION] [MENTION=4417]The Complete Badger[/MENTION] need to sign up for this year.

[MENTION=25508]soistes[/MENTION] @GNT anyone I have missed and any lurkers need to sign up if interested.

This year it’s first come first served. So get your name down. Next 3 guaranteed a team. Places up for grabs in a weakened Super Ego’s team.

dazzer6666 · Jun 4, 2019

knocky1 said:
Weakest Link Team Time for 2 weeks tomorrow. The following 5 are definite.

From last year we miss [MENTION=13836]deletebeepbeepbeep[/MENTION]beep hope your swimming is going well and [MENTION=27279]dazzer6666[/MENTION]
can’t make it. I can’t commit until nearer the date due to this annoying tendon issue.
From last year [MENTION=26634]Simgull[/MENTION] (guaranteed a NSC team this year), [MENTION=3736]Mr Banana[/MENTION] [MENTION=11716]Pennys Harmonica[/MENTION] [MENTION=4417]The Complete Badger[/MENTION] need to sign up for this year.

[MENTION=25508]soistes[/MENTION] @GNT and any lurkers need to sign up if interested.

This year it’s first come first served. So get your name down. Next 3 guaranteed a team. Places up for grabs in a weakened Super Ego’s team.

I've never done it [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

Sent from my H8314 using Tapatalk

knocky1 · Jun 4, 2019

Now simply edited to appease the justifiable pedant.

Garry Nelson's teacher · Jun 4, 2019

knocky1 said:
Now simply edited to appease the justifiable pedant.

Should be OK - can possibly bring +1 or +2 (i.e the totality of my mates...………...and one of them is my son!)

Artie Fufkin · Jun 4, 2019

Badger said:
Another successful Ragnar Relay completed. This was even more fun than last year, even though I had to do the killer last leg to Niagara Falls. Our team of 12 people completed 300km(ish) in 25:29:21, coming second in the mixed category and 11th overall out of 202 teams.

It was great to see all our runners nailing their legs and we ended up coming home only about 20 minutes behind our (very optimistic) estimated finishing time. A lot of that came down to our captain thinking I'd be able to complete the last leg at the same 4:06/km pace he'd predicted for my first 2 legs. I was running on tired legs and it was 15km involving 400m of climbing! The first 2km was absolutely brutal, going up this ridiculous hill with switchbacks. I managed to pick up the pace on the downhill bits but I was willing myself to the finishing line. I think this was a harder finish than my marathon in Phoenix.

Glad I've got a massage booked for this afternoon. My hamstrings are so tight. I don't normally have issues with them, I can only assume it's because of the climbing.

That is epic mate! Well done and congrats! :thumbsup:

Artie Fufkin · Jun 4, 2019

chaileyjem said:
I'm a runner now. Not a quick runner but a runner nonetheless. So i thought i'd pop by this thread and say hello.
Until xmas i hadn't run - at all - for 30 long years. I started playing weekly 6 a side football ("Fat Dads" by son calls it) about 5 years ago and i walk a fair bit (thank you dogs !) but a runner. Nope.
My OH has been doing park runs for about a year or so and nagging me to join her , but i was bit nervous about it but then, craftily , bought me a pair of shoes to seal the deal.
I thought i need to do Couch to 5K but went out the day before a park run to see how far i could push it. Turned out a fair way. 3K or so around a few country paths before i gave up.
Did the 5K the next day - stopped a couple of time but got round. And then did the Hove Park Run on Boxing Day. - And didn't stop. 32 mins.
Collapsed pretty much at the end but got round.

I then sort of faded away but started in earnest a month or so ago. Park Run every week (still bobbing about the 30min mark) - but starting do more and more runs during the week (5Ks round my way - quite a few hills which is a bit of a killer ) .
So
- three questions for the experts or real (!!) runners on here
whats the best way to get your speed up ? -
how to move on from 5K to 10K and beyond ? - just keep running further to build up endurance ?
avoid injuries. I'm 52 ! and don't want to ruin it - warm ups ? anything else ?

PS: Park Runs are brilliant as a target but should i just go for it and book myself in for a 10K or a half marathon and build up to them ?

thanks all. There's a lovely community on here.

Welcome [MENTION=24867]chaileyjem[/MENTION]! Here's to a healthy and happy running journey.

A lot of great advice from the guys here. The best bit of advice I received to improve my running and get "faster" and I'd suggest for all three of your questions and I’d recommend to everyone really is to SLOW DOWN. It might sound crazy, it's strangely quite hard to do (we only have so much time to squeeze in a run and we all want to see how fast we can run right?) and it's a game of patience but it works.

Unless you’re training to be a sprinter it’s all about endurance fitness for us distance runners (and that includes parkruns). How do we improve our endurance? Consistency is the key word. To be consistent it really does help to slow things down. Easy, conversational-paced, aerobic running will really help gradually increase:

1. running frequency (# of runs a week)
2. time spent running (running volume)
3. and probably most importantly reduces risk of injury (less intense stress/work)

= Consistency

A lot of runners work too hard in their runs which has an impact on consistency (not able to maintain 1 & 2 and risks time out with injury). Plus it’s good to try to remember that improvements don't come during the runs themselves but during rest, recovery & sleep when your body is adapting to the stress/work its covered. As well as his diet, we all read how Bruno :bowdown:

was very strict with his sleep schedule and his afternoon naps were an integral part of his daily routine. If only we could all have afternoon naps!

Short pre-run dynamic warm ups (5 minutes) are important as well as post-run stretches.

4-6 weeks of consistent and gradual increase in frequency and volume with easy-paced running alone (no speed work, intervals or hills) will build a runner’s aerobic base to an improved level of aerobic fitness which will lead to getting faster.

The legendary running coach Jack Daniels explains the benefits to easy running much better than me. His book Jack Daniels’ Running Formula is the don of running books.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veAQ73OJdwY

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NOT the Honey Badger

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Tofu eating wokerati

Well-known member

Tofu eating wokerati

Doctor Elephant

Well-known member

Silver Seagull

Silver Seagull

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

like to run

like to run

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