Reply With QuoteYet another no for me - got in once on the ballot in about 14 attempts
Yup. Tokyo (done March), Chicago October, NYC November. Double whammy as theyre always during school term time so I have to travel on my own and then separately take the family on holiday to pay for my marathon trip. Shouldnt complain, nobody forced me, just my addiction!Originally Posted by Mitch Buchannon
Yet another no for me - got in once on the ballot in about 14 attempts
I have done London 4 times, last one in 1995, and have no urge to do it again. If I did, I would try for a good for age - for me it is 5 hours, and I can still do a half in rather under 2 hours, so can stagger the last 13 miles in 3+ hours!
Hotel prices are crazy for Dublin!!
I didnt get in, and three people I know were also unsuccessful
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Im laid up at the moment Im told I have anterior tibialis tendinopathy.
I was just walking slow pace and a pair appeared in the middle of my foot.wakeup the next day and can barely walk. Its been 12 weeks since and although its better I still cant run without pain.
Doctor claims maybe 6 months to settle down which is an absolute pain.
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Apologies if this has been asked before (quite possibly by me) but are there any parkrunners on this thread? Particularly parkrun tourists?
Christmas Day was my 50th parkrun in 2023 taking me to 155 parkruns in total. I've done 80 different parkruns now in 8 countries - some because I happened to be there (FR, NL, US), some special visits (IE, NO, DE, AT).
I know it's not for everyone but I enjoy the 'game-ification' of parkrun tourism, mainly because it keeps me doing them. At my age (and having had two 'you should never run again' conversations with doctors) if I stopped running for any length of time I reckon I'll be stopped forever. On busy weeks with crap weather these day, parkrun is sometimes my only run for the week but it keeps me ticking over.
I’ve done 50 or so park runs, but mostly my local one as I can jog to it and home.
I have also signed up for the London marathon, so will need to start planning for it shortly. I hope to do it in less than four hours 30.
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Good luck with the London Marathon. I've done it twice in ancient history (before the 'you should never run again' conversations). If you're aiming for 4:30 you'll probably find you're with a huge 'bulge' of runners running at the similar pace and it will affect your time. You should either train for a faster time or not worry too much about the time. Both time I did it my half-marathon and longer training run times suggested I was on course to nip under the 4 hour mark but I ended up with 4:14 and 4:07. These are 20 years ago though so things may be different now.
I do Parkrun here and there, I will hit my fortieth on New Year's Day. I've done a reasonable amount of tourism around me because I meet up with a mate to run Parkrun if I can and he doesn't like repeating! (He did his first repeat with me on Christmas Day at my local Parkrun.) I'll have done 14 this year as of Saturday, which is the most I've done in a year. I'd like to do more in 2024, I think I'd like to get my 5k time down over the year. (I'm not quick, and at 52 I never will be, but I'd like to be a bit quicker than I currently am.)
Dave E
Skating away on the thin ice of a new day
I have done a total of like 5 Parkruns, which is shameful given I'm a keen runner. A number of reasons though - closest one is about 5k away, has nearly 100m elevation in the 5k (good training but never going to get my 5k PB there) and most of the time I'm in the middle of a marathon training plan which means I typically do an easy 40-45 min run on Saturday ahead of a long slightly faster one on Sunday so don't want to "race" a Parkrun.
Good luck with London Marathon! I'm doing it too next year.
Last edited by FK77; 28th December 2023 at 13:50. Reason: NEXT year
I started running in June, Parkrunning in July and also really enjoy the tourist side of it. Im currently on 22 Parkruns at 16 locations. Right now Im looking forward to two Parkruns (probably at new locations) this BH weekend.
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I don't think that's 'shameful' at all - parkrun works for some people and not for others. I love almost everything about parkrun apart from the fact it's 5K while understanding that 5K is the right distance for parkrun. I'm a plodder and only really getting going at 4.5K. In a previous life when I used to take running seriously my best distances were 10miles and half marathon. If parkrun existed back then, I doubt I'd have done many.
If you're based in Rhyl we probably have some overlap. I've run at Ruthin, Greenfield Valley, Nova Prestatyn and Bodelwyddan Castle (before that one was stopped) and have Wepre, Erddig and Conwy on my list for some time in 2024.
Good morning MCH, ye Ive run all the Parkruns youve mentioned there (bar Bodelwyddan), Prestatyn is my local which Ive done maybe 6 or 7 times.
On your hitlist Wepre is the hardest Parkrun Ive completed without having a walk break. Its actually since I ran Wepre Ive been nursing a twinge in my hamstring so Im currently running less and slower than previous to that.
Im hoping to do Delamere and Birkenhead this weekend if you fancy saying hello at either of those.
Andy
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I've already got plans for the weekend (Pavilion Gardens, Buxton on Saturday and Alexandra, Manchester on Monday). I can't comment on Birkenhead but Delamere's a good one.
Is Delamere in the forest?
Where is your local Parkrun?
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Yeah, it's all in the forest - 1km out to the lake, 3km round the lake then 1km back. There's some deal with the parking there if I remember right - I think there's a code that knocks some money off the parking charge if you park in the Visitor Centre car park.
Macclesfield is my home/closest parkrun but I also run at Alderley Park and Pavilion Gardens when I'm not 'proper' touring.
I've just got back into running after a bit of a hiatus, and recently did a 10K at Rutland water with my 18 year old daughter. Going to start Park Runs again in the new year, probably either Market Harborough, Rutland Water or Victoria Park in Leicester.
Glad this thread has popped up again, it reminds me what my priorities should be the following new year, although quite often that hasn't materialised.
I am also a big fan of Parkruns. Love the community spirit, the atmoshere and my local one is in a nice country park. I think I have done around 70 odd, will try to add to that signficantly next year, although tricky as kids clubs now always seem to clash.
I do plan to do tomorrow and the 1st Jan run which is always a nice way to start the year. I have always done my local and never 'toured'. Always liked the thought of it, but it hasn't happened so far!
Also signed up for a 10k in a month or so, I will be snail's pace, but need something to aim for.
Good luck to all for your running in 2024.
Good time to get running shoes too. Some nice deals.
Good luck with your running 💪🏼
Im well stocked in the running shoes department still have two unused. As usual, all the gear - no idea haha.
I will though take a look at the sales.
Hope all is well and good luck to you too, although you dont need it!
Running shoes are like watches - you can never have too many. I just bought 3 pairs despite constantly getting grief from my wife about shoes taking up too much space. To be fair, 6 of my pairs are nearing retirement mileage so made some sort of sense to buy now in sales rather than at full price 2 months later. At least thats how I justified it lol.
Agree, they are like watches.
Which sites are you browsing for the sales?
Managed to go and beat my pb for a half marathon by 90 seconds, so pleased with that. Might reward myself with new trainers!!!
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sportsshoes.com, saucony.com and asics.com (private ASICS sale but anyone can become a member for free) for example.
Thanks. I did buy a couple of Asics in the recent cyber sales, etc. but will check the site out again.
Ive had a good morning driving to and running Birkenhead Parkrun. Im now looking forward to Monday where Ill travel a similar distance for Delamere Parkrun. Feeling good
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Delamere is nice Parkrun, Ill definitely be returning in the summertime.
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Never done a parkrun, but have signed up to my 3rd London Marathon for a charity and reality hitting home now :-( ......................... last two were '04 and '05 and my how harder it is now!!!
You have my respect. My last two London Marathons were '03 and '04 and there is no way I'd take on another one. Feel free to message me with a link to your fundraising page.
Started my year (and marathon training) with a 10k race + 3 and a bit miles of warm up and warm down on NYD. I ran 5x a week and weight trained 2x a week for last 2 marathons and same frequency in my downtime too but ambitious (unrealistic?) target calls for 6x runs a week this time. Probably asking for trouble given my age, injury history and limited experience but we'll see! Got my own place for London but thinking of raising funds nevertheless for the same children's charity that I'm running Berlin Marathon for in September.
I ended up getting injured 8 months ago.
Essentially upped my frequency and mileage too much in one go.
Anterior tibialis tendonitis I ended up having. The pain is the where the bottom of my shin connects to the foot. The large tendon has caused me serious grief.
Ive been going to physio one a week for 6 months and only now is it starting to settle down.
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Last year was my worst for running and cycling owing to injuries. For running down to 600 miles from 1500+ the year before. Then knocked off my bike in Turkey in September, and a remedial operation 2 weeks ago, so hopefully back in a few more weeks.
Anyone local is welcome to join us at the Harrow Parkrun - I am run director next week, and if you cannot run, I still need 3 more volunteers!!
Great to see so many runners on the forum...I'm attempting to ramp up the miles (gently..knees allowing) for the Cateran ultra Trail in May. Its up near Glenshee and lovely part of the world. Did the Moray 100 last June and my body hasn't been speaking to me since....
https://www.sportpursuit.com/product..._search=Brooks have loads of half priced Brooks shoes, which are my go to brand.
Good thread to have a glance over.
I started back up in December with a view of doing the Yorkshire marathon in October. Never done one so I'm getting in 10k three times a week, doing sherwood pines half marathon in March and contemplating signing up for one of the garmin trainer things.
Any recommendations or are they rubbish? I know there's loads and loads of blurb out there but I'm just enjoying running again at the moment and don't really want to lose that by having to follow strict training schedules.
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I don't have experience of Garmin training plans but whether or not you should follow a plan depends on your marathon goal IMHO. If you just want to finish, don't care how long it takes and open to taking walking breaks as much as you need then doing your own thing 3 times a week casually just to keep the legs ticking over will probably be OK. If you have a specific time goal in mind (whatever pace that may be) and don't want to go through absolute hell in the second half (it's a long distance that commands respect) because you pursued that target in the first half, I would say training plans including "something of substance" runs are worth following.
Personally I very much like the discipline that following a structured marathon training plan brings. Just getting up, doing what's needed, day, in day out, week in, week out for 4-5 months has inevitably spilled into other aspects of my life too. But then I am pursuing a very specific target and will (I hope) keep trying until I achieve it. Everyone has difference reasons so may not apply.
Managed to break the 80% age grading for park run for the first time, absolutely delighted!
Can't stress enough how important strength and conditioning is, 2 good sessions a week for injury proofing and general running strength.
That's really good going, well done. If it was the 23/12 event in Belfast that was a silly quick one, all chasing Ciara Mageean's world best!
Fantastic - National Standard.
My best is 78.6%, at which time I bought a pair of Nike Next% carbon plate shoes to get to the 80% mark. Unfortunately, fitted with injury, so they are still unworn. I have now decided to leave it until I get really, really old.
Back on the Park Runs tomorrow to shift a bit of Christmas excess. Doing the Rutland Water one.
80% is outstanding, I feel Im doing quite well for my age and lack of fitness history at a pb of around 57%
What sort of strength and conditioning are you doing in the two sessions a weeks?
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Just back from the Rutland 5K, its a lovely scenic run. Bit of a slow time as its a narrow path so it takes a while for everybody to spread out. Nice feeling to have got it done before 10am and still have the whole day ahead.
Did my local today, never seen it so busy. Lines of cars to enter and no parking in the large car park. I think must be a record attendance for this location today of over 850 people.
The Jan resolutions clearly kicking in!
Rutland is on my long list of parkruns I plan to do but hasn't got a date yet on my spreadsheet. Maybe see you there one day.
Blimey - where was that? I think there were a lot of cancellations today in some (flooded) parts of the country so that may be a factor too.
I was at Pavilion Gardens in Buxton - my third run there and takes my Wilson Index to 61.
The Rutland one today was really busy, because loads of other runs in the Midlands had been called off due to flooding, so people came here instead.
Good idea though that link isnt working for me?
Cheers guys!! Im 47 this year and very happy to get nicely into the 17s. My target this year is to break 10 mins in the 3k and sub 17 in the 5k. Id love a sub 35 10k but its less likely, Ill settle for a pb of sub 36. On the half Im not so sure. Ive booked Carlingford in March but its a hilly brute. Never done a marathon.
I go to a place called the run hub-stronger fitter faster in newtownards. Its run by a guy called Norman Mawhinney who took up running at 51 and now has cleaned up all the records from 3k up in the 65 plus age group with sub 2h55m in the major marathons. He does 3000 miles a year injury free which he puts down to good strength and conditioning.
He takes 3 classes a day 5 days a week personally. Its specifically set up for runners, working everything from ankles up. I must say Ive been feeling faster and stronger since I started in the summer and set all my pbs from October to Christmas so intend to keep it up. If anyone wants to listen a good podcast listen to the running rules with Alan Ladd. The latest episode interviews Norman and its a cracker interview.
He is an advocate of 3 targeted sessions a week, interval (usually 5ks worth of work so 12 x 400 or 6x 800 or 5x 1k) with 50% recovery so if it takes you 4 mins to run 1k, rest for 2.
A tempo which is 30 secs slower than your race pace so for 20 min 5k guys youll be running just below a 7 min mile. This is for 20-40 minutes depending on the length of your target race and how far away it is. Minimum 1 mile warm up and cool down.
And a long run, minimum of 90 minutes.
The rest should be done at easy pace. Ive really enjoyed sailing around at 9.30 pace the last 6 months on the other day.
These sessions can be substituted for parkruns, races etc. A good cross country season or mountain race series is great for building strength and stamina.
Its a great hobby and I absolutely love it for both mental and physical health. And the social side. I took it up at 40 coming from a zero exercise or sport background. Tried cycling but got bored plus it takes so much time.
Last edited by Irish boy; 6th January 2024 at 17:05.
Thank you for the insight/info, very much appreciated. I have also found the Alan Ladd podcast for next time Im out and about, hopefully I can learn some more about what youve outlined above.
Thanks again.
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