Keep Fit Club - ALL exercise types!

[Terry Tibbs]

Thanks Terry, I was quite happy in that photo! Also as a Software Tester, the 404 number bib was not lost on me.

I considered doing Park Runs as there's one about 3 miles from my house but a few things had thrown me off. I do a 5km run during lunch at my workplace so at weekends, I'm normally more interested in doing a longer run between 10-20km. Despite not originally being interested in running at all a few years ago, when I realised I could run for longer than 5 minutes without dying, I really enjoyed the oddly relaxing nature of out door running. As time has gone on and I've run in different locations, my favourite run is an early morning Sunday run when no one is around my local town, my chill out music is on my iPhone and it's just me against my own will power.

After my little marathon it's made me realise that an organised race is not necessarily stressful so I'm more willing to give some something a go.

LOL, I was SO close to making a joke about that image giving me a '404'. I also work in software testing - small world!

My race number on Sunday was 42. I could have taken that to be my divinely set target in minutes for the event (sure!!), or a deeper explanation of life, the universe and everything. Whatever it is, I still don't get it.

You could do Parkrun on Saturday without sacrificing your long Sunday morning run. Depends how quickly you like to do the longer run. With a Parkrun so close by, it's definitely worth trying once, I reckon.

[charlesr]

And as I've come to realise, running a fast 5k is key to eventually running the long races fast

[Taka]

Another believer of the fast 5k benefiting the rest of your running. Friendly and welcoming atmosphere - it'll get you used to running with others in no time. Use one every couple of weeks as a benchmark for how you're progressing.

[charlesr]

Did a barefoot 5k today. I've never done more than 3k before, so wanted to see how it went.
2 laps. The first lap 2.5k was absolutely fine, so I went for another lap. Bit of an error. After 4k, I started getting hotspots - the tarmac was very warm and I was going at a decent pace (5mins/km). By the end of the final km, I had a small blood-blister on the ball of each of each foot and a very large hotspot along the outside of the left foot (very weird) which will probably peel off in a couple of weeks. So..... lesson learned. 3k is max for the moment.

[Wools]

Ohh, ouch! What made you go for a bare foot run?

I went for a run at lunch in my new Reebok One 2.0 ( http://runrepeat.com/reebok-one-guide ) and I'm happy with the comfort but have some concerns about whether I've gone too big and the grip level underfoot. My previous shoes were Adidas Adizero ( http://www.adidas.co.uk/adizero-adio...es/M29707.html ) and they sometimes felt tight but held well and aside from occasional blisters near the end of their life, they were fantastic to use and gave me real confidence.

For my Reebok One 2.0 I decided to go for a UK 11 as that's my normal shoe size and my previous Adidas always felt tight in a 10.5. When I first started running today, I thought I was going to fall out! But as I speed up the comfort of this shoe over my previous is night and day. Padded with extra width, it's such a lovely shoe to use whereas the Adidas was almost like running barefoot. Both have pros and cons and after running up a steep incline in the rain, I did feel my shoes slip as my feet lifted up behind me. Was not too happy with that and the descent was run a lot slower than normal as I get a feel for what is and is not possible.

Looking forward to using them again.

[charlesr]

Adidas come out small, so you might have been ok in a 10.5 reebok. As long as the length is good, you should be OK though : 1 thumb width from toe to end of shoe.

If the heels are lifting, you'll need to try tighter lacing.

I do barefoot runs every now and then to check my form. I haven't been happy with my right foot recently, but oddly it's my left foot that got it all wrong today I really need to do them more often before attempting more than 3k though. Blisters on balls of foot suggests foot is landing too far in front. Blisters on the toes suggest pushing off too much instead of lifting properly. All of this is applicable to the way I run in shoes, so it's a good exercise.

['Press Start']

I just got hold of these:-



Just wearing them around the house first before taking them out for a test run. Moving from Saucony Kinvera 4's which served me very very well.

[Taka]

Can't seem to get a lucky break, weather-wise at the mo. Last week was baking hot at 33 degrees during my interval sesh. This week was 15mph headwinds.

800m splits came as follows:

1) 3:02 / 3:48/km
2) 2:59 / 3:44/km
3) 2:58 / 3:42/km
4) 3:02 / 3:47/km
5) 2:58 / 3:42/km

Have a 10k race this Sunday - undecided about whether to treat it more like a training run or to attack hard (2x 1k long climbs...)

[Taka]

Gutted. Raced a 10k this morning and came back home with 40:01. Combination of the course measuring a touch long, the 2x hills and not having the belief that I could go sub-40 (reckoned I was in 40:15 shape on the course) cost me.

Never mind. Have a flat 10k coming up in 2 weeks for a new PB attempt.

Next week is a new 5k PB attempt...

[Terry Tibbs]

Ah sorry man, that's so unlucky. At least you know for sure it'll happen on a flat course, so self doubt won't be an issue next time. So close though...

[Taka]

Thanks Terry. Couldn't have sprinted much harder in the closing 400m (awkward finish route) so would have needed to find the 2 seconds out on the course, which I defo could have done. Ah well - would have gone one helluva training effect from today's race.

[charlesr]

My first foray into short distance intervals today.
10x400m @1:17-1:20 with 60s rest.
Lactic build up started at 8, so decided to call it a day at 10. Going to build up to 16 and then start speeding it up.
The first 5 felt like hell on earth and then I started to get into it

[Taka]

Good stuff, Charles. Not bad at all if you only started going lactic at 8x!

Did 4x 800m earlier in the rain:

1) 2:58 / 3:42/km
2) 2:57 / 3:40/km
3) 2:58 / 3:42/km
4) 3:00 / 3:45/km

Very pleased with the splits, where all bar the 4th came out faster than target. Only scheduled in 4x to give me a chance to recover in time for Saturday's 5k PB bash.

[charlesr]

A few seconds faster there!

[Taka]

5k PB attempt this morning, but sadly things weren't meant to be. Excuses below!

The wind was incredibly strong and smacked me about towards the end of each lap where there's also a short, sharp rise.

Wolverhampton Parkrun isn't that well attended, so I had few people to work with and draft behind. Being a multi-lap course, I ended up getting caught in and amongst some oft he lapped runners during my 2nd and 3rd lap to go wide.

Finished with 19:11 in the end, which is about in line with what I would be capable of under such conditions. Definitely feel like I have an 18:40 5k inside me, but need everything to align considering the previous PB was achieved under near-perfect conditions. Now I need to try and recover quickly for my 10k PB attempt next weekend on an ultra flat course.