The FastDay Forum

Hello all,
Great time of year for running, must say. I had not done any events this year, just lots of casual runs and trying to keep fit. But finally did have an opportunity come up last week to do a 5K, up north, as a fund raiser for high schoolers. There weren't many regular runners but three of us competed toward the finish and I ended up with 24:00 even and timely all out of gas at that. This coming weekend is another fund raiser, half M, but it looks like it could be cold and wet ( 45F). I have run in the rain mid summer and really enjoyed it but don't know about this. How do you dress for cold and wet ?

EXTREMELY WELL DONE on that 24:00 minute 5K! I'm very jealous! Being fully spent at the finish means that you left it all on the course. It doesn't get better than that.

Rain wise: Been there, done that twice. Did Kona's full marathon the first time in the rain, totally wet the entire way, mid-calf deep water through town but temps in the 80's moderated the relative misery. Changing to dry socks at mile 14 was heaven for about 1/2 mile...

Raining and in the 40's to 50's the entire race for Cincinnati's Flying Pig 1/2 marathon some years ago. A hat with a long brim of course and a long throw-away poncho worked reasonably well (for a while) to balance both the rain (and more importantly wind chill) as well as provide enough ventilation to mitigate sweat build up while not impeding movement. As an alternative a very large trash bag with very tiny holes for head and arms (center bottom seam and corners at bottom; they stretch out much too soon) also works very well for wind chill. Wear shorts (wet lower legs don't seem to care) and a tech shirt here - definitely NOT cotton. If the weather improves you can remove the poncho but keep it handy because you may need it again. Wicking socks are useful but are typically overwhelmed. No matter what though, if the rain continues you'll become completely soaked (and very pruny) by the end so bring a very large towel and a change of clothes (did I mention heaven?). Oh and wringing your shirt out occasionally will noticeably lessen weight build up and drag. No concerns about blisters in either race - totally wet feet can't blister. It's the damp ones that cause problems. Put anti-fog, like RainX, on glasses too.

Races for me an almost total bust this year (three wasted half entries...). New PB for a 5K but persistent injuries (too much too soon - darn it) have so far prevented more. Loong way to go before I'll see a 24:anything at this point.

I got into running recently. I started a couple of years ago just running on my own then I discovered something called PARKRUN. Parkrun in the UK is a timed run over a distance of 5k ( 3.1 miles) It starts at 09:00 every Saturday morning. To join all you need to do is visit the website http://www.parkrun.org.uk

sign up and download a barcode.
print the barcode and take it along to your local parkrun at 09:00 on a Saturday morning and just join in.

At the end of the run you get given a token that corresponds to your position in the run and hand it in with your barcode.

I do run when I am not yet pregnant. I did 50k. I enjoy running with my husband. Now, I am planning to get back again on the tract. I have an appointment with my Doctor and definitely will ask his permission if I can run again soon.

They then publish your time on their results page and they send you a text and/or Email.

I think it's great and you can measure any improvement against your personal best.

Thanks @ADFnFuel

Many good points I had not thought of for running in rain, I appreciate your comments. It looks like the weather forecasters have revised the outlook, pushing an incoming front back a few hrs on Saturday so it may not be an issue. But I'll still be ready with the rain gear I come up with.

[carieoates]

Hi everyone.
I'm about to embark on the ronhill challenge. Of run every day this month.
Should be different for me but it's my next challenge for sure.

Well done Bara.... 10km so that is a great time I'm aiming for sub 1hr for my next one in Nov.
Anyone want to set up a strava group??

@carieoates, all the best with your Ron Hill challenge for October. Be sure to make some of the days easy shortish runs to avoid injury. I'm sure you will get to a sub-60 minute 10k. I would like to do that myself once, unofficially. The winner of the F60 category got round in under 55, which I found far more amazing than the fastest woman doing it in 40!

Happy to join a Strava group, not sure how.

Hi Barbarita- the two performances are very similar (using the WMA age-grading tables) but the F60 girl would have to be 64. At the 10k I did at the weekend a F50 girl came second overall in 38 minutes, 15 seconds behind the fastest bloke! She does seem to be the second-best 50-year-old in the country, though...

At the 10k I did at the weekend a F50 girl came second overall in 38 minutes, 15 seconds behind the fastest bloke! She does seem to be the second-best 50-year-old in the country, though...

Wow, 38 mins for a F50, that is good! I'm F50 and do 46mins, but I'm hoping to get down to 45mins this year because I know I've improved over the last year. I'll never get to below 44mins though. I find that the best older runners are those who have been running for years, many started in their teens. I only started running properly a couple of years ago (sothat's my excuse for not doing better times!). But I'm happy to run at regional level for all races (including cross country), its always nice to beat runners who are much younger, too!

[carieoates]

Goodness me I had to stop the running streak. I was seriously struggling with low energy . As I exercise at aerobics four times a week I was having to double up on exercise on these days. Silly to attempt it but I managed almost a week. So I'm back to two maybe three runs a week taking me up to one rest day a week, as I don't run very long distances unless I'm getting read for a race.
This is my next one but I've started doing virtual races. They're great, money to charity, rather than to put the race on and a medal at the end.
http://www.virtualrunninguk.com
After that it's bonfire burn.

Please forgive a mini brag, managed 24.51 in today's parkrun, first time under 25 minutes. ☺

Well Done brian1 (sorry I can't tag, the banner is in the way and won't budge). I can only dream of that time! Brag away, and not in a mini way

@brian1 aha now I can tag (by editing my post).

I start the Poppy Challenge (virtual runner) tomorrow @carieoatesIt's only 33k (running, walking, cycling or swimming) needed in the month but I'm aiming for much more. I do prefer to run by myself most of the time so these challenges/runs are a nice way to give to smaller charities and get some bling.

I got the best of both worlds last week, I did a HM (in 2'30"). Hadn't trained as my longest run of 17k was in August and I'd only managed a few short runs in Sept and Oct due to work/life definitely not balanced. Only decided the day before to go as I figured I could at least walk it in 3hrs-ish. Anyway I found myself in a space between runners and for a large part ran, slowly, by myself (I don't like crowds and avoid as them much as I can). Result on several levels.

[carieoates]

@AnnieD I'm also doing the poppy challenged and after today's 10km local bonfire burn run I am one third the way there. Wooo
@brian1, I am part of a Facebook group for women and it's the best place to celebrate. I hardly ever post my running on my regular FB page as regular people just don't understand. So tell all we're not going to tick you off for bragging never ever.

Please forgive a mini brag, managed 24.51 in today's parkrun, first time under 25 minutes. ☺

Congrats Brian, nicely done, those first times are treasured memories !
I guess I'll ask for forgiveness with my own brag, last event for the year was completed Oct 3rd. Benefit(heroes on hines) for local first responders was run, half M. Finishing with 1:48. I was definitely out of my comfort zone getting caught up in the exuberance at the beginning of the race, but legs held up and I was happy with my best half for the year. I was in awe of the overall winner who achieved a time of 1:13, a young man from East Europe with very long legs and thin as a rail !

Congratulations @brougham and @brian1, great times! I have got a bit stuck in my pursuit of ever-faster 5k parkrun - three at 23:45 and one 23:46 recently but now heading past 24 again. However, despite a sore back from a fall at the climbing wall last night I went out for an undefined long run this afternoon and came home having done 13.2 miles in 2:01, the longest run for 4 years and only 3 minutes slower than that dismal last half-marathon race. Don't want to race until I can expect sub 1:50 but hoping that it will not be too far away.
Yesterday was 50 weeks since my hip resurfacing operation...

Some time being racked up on here! Seriously good times. Well done y'all.
I have taken the plunge and entered the Manchester Marathon in April 2016. Is this on anyone's radar? I am targetting a sub-4hr race but there is a lot of training to do between now and then so I will have a better idea in the new year.