The FastDay Forum

No parkrun for me today, as I was taking my son on a University Open day visit - the first of 5 over the next few weeks. I'm hoping to sneak off to next week's parkrun before going to the dreaded end of term prize giving at his school

Hello all, I'm back. I haven't been here for a while and running went out the window for 4 weeks :O But I finally managed to get out yesterday! I'm still following the C25K programme. The last time I went out for a run I did 25 mins, I decided not to begin again with that. I went for one of the more staggered runs: 5mins followed by 8 mins followed by a final 5 min run (with walking in between) I think that was the right decision. I have woken up stiff! I've taken as a good thing, I've taken this as a good sign but I wasn't expecting it because I didn't think I was pushing myself that much. Tomorrow is going to be two 10 min runs and then from then on it's just running.

I hope you're all well. SianS, the sacrifices you make for parenthood!

Oh I am in envy of you runners. I haven't been able to run for over a month and am missing it soooooooo much. I have a hip injury. Swollen inside but resting up and its getting better. Never done a parkrun but it sounds very tempting. I have my second half marathon booked up for September so need to get back out there soon. Happy running x

Having only run once last week I decided to shift my arse and get running this week. I did my usual 5k training run on Tuesday and decided to do it again yesterday. Then last evening a running group leader from Run Britain who I had contacted a few weeks back rang to say they were starting up again this morning so I've been out again. A proper training session this time. Tough ,especially after a Fast day, but I had a 6.30 AM snack of museli and dried fruit, which helped me get through it. I'm hoping it will help me break the 30 min barrier for parkrun

Elaine let us know how your C25K is progressing

Morning all! My hundredth parkrun today, rested and fed well yesterday and went for it - 22:53, my best time for 15 months and a few seconds faster than my first parkrun 30 months ago - well chuffed. Big son also got a PB and wife did well but just off her best, but she has a 10k Race for Life tomorrow anyway.
Hope you all did well today too...

Fantastic achievement Peter, and with a good time as well - no wonder you are happy

My twin girls, aged 8, myself and my friend with her twin girls aged 9, all did the Race For Life today Typically, after weeks of uncertain weather, it was blazing hot this morning, especially as the usually strong sea breeze was barely wafting around However, we were sensible and took it steady, drank water and slapped on the sun cream etc. Handily, the course runs past our house (twice) and there were home made smoothie lollies waiting when we had finished I'm really proud of all four little girls, especially the one of mine who has asthma.

Thanks Winsome - just back from Race for Life, really hot, windy and run on long grass in places - and only 4.75 miles instead of 6.2/10km. Wife tempted to ask for a quarter of the entry fee back... But having a 52 minute 10k PB is pretty cool!

Hello all. I'm new to the forum but wanted to post on this thread so joined. I started a C25K programme in Sept and did my first 5K parkrun yesterday. I also started 5:2 on Monday, with my first fast day on Tuesday, so it's all happening here.

I wanted to cheer Elaine on - I never thought I would be able to run for that long, but yesterday I did it. I ran the whole 5K and it took me about 38 minutes. Before I started the C25K, I couldn't run 100 yards without feeling like I was going to be sick!

And I also wanted to get a bit of advice, although you may have already covered this earlier in the thread. During the run, I got a horrible headache which persisted throughout the day. I was at work in the afternoon so needed to take some really strong painkillers that I haven't taken in years. Clearly I was dehydrated but I don't usually get like that when running. I can only assume that what I did on the 5:2 contributed so I am going to make sure I drink more on fast days this week.

So how much do you runners drink on fast days? Do you have any other advice to offer as I'm hoping to do the parkrun again.

Lovely to meet you all

[Tracieknits]

Welcome to the forum, righthandmum.

I'm not a runner, so can't help there, but I just wanted to give you a proper welcome

Thanks Tracie. I knit too, and crochet. Lots! Nice to meet you

Hi righthandmum, you should drink plenty on fast days for two reasons - you get to feel less hungry with a drink inside you, and it passes the time a bit like snacking. Many of us drink black coffee/green tea/ginger tea etc without milk so zero calories but some (like my wife) include the milk they use in their daily allowance, which seems to be equally fine. Lots of us use veg. bouillon or Bovril/Oxo to get a salty drink at some point during the fast for very few calories.
As regards getting dehydrated during running I don't believe it happens until after an hour or two - I would never take a drink on a half marathon until my last one recently when I tried but found it worthless. I get amused by young girls jogging around the estate with a bottle in their hands for fear of dehydration - it is the same sort of thing as fasting, you can spend time without a drink without your brain shrinking/coma/worse - but of course it pays to be hydrated before you start and a headache is a bad sign...
Of course, what suits me will not suit everybody, YMMV as the Americans say...

Thanks creakypete. I guess I was dehydrated before the run, then, because the headache started while I was running.

I'm thinking that if I drink min 2 litres of fluid (green tea, redbush, peppermint, camomile, water) on a normal day and 3 litres on a fast day I should rectify it.

Oh I am in envy of you runners. I haven't been able to run for over a month and am missing it soooooooo much. I have a hip injury. Swollen inside but resting up and its getting better. Never done a parkrun but it sounds very tempting. I have my second half marathon booked up for September so need to get back out there soon. Happy running x

good luck with your recovery.

I'll be doing my first half marathon this fall if all goes to plan. I've mostly been doing 10k, but hope to increase my distance as I lose weight.

I love it when there's a drizzle or a light shower on the way back from a run

Today I finished Couch to 5K, which for me means week 6 day 2. I like the intervals, and want to work on my speed but have plenty of stamina, so I'll continue on with Freeway to 10K for the next two and a half weeks.

Then I'm going on vacation for two weeks, and I've decided against the hassle of bringing my running clothes, and trying to run where it might be significantly hotter than here. Instead I'm going to do some squats and hope for the best.