The FastDay Forum

*Mutter, grumble*
Well it was a lovely morning, I had resisted all but a couple of small glasses of wine last night, all the tech worked, but my leg (hamstring) made me pull up after about 20 strides
I have booked a session with a Sports Physio and invested in huge pots of Ibufrofen gel. And am going to take it easy for a few days. In fact I took it so easy in a hot bath that I nearly fell asleep and dropped my book.
Pete, I am now the proud owner of a Garmin Forerunner 110, I have managed to delete all the previous owner's data and history and now have a history that consists of one circuit walking round my garden and one aborted parkrun.
On the plus side they needed someone to work one of the scanners so I stayed and helped out

Oh dear, Sian - that's awful, my sympathies and let's hope the physio can sort you out quickly.
I had a bellyful of Ibuprofen yesterday to be able to run today and was still not confident that I would be able to finish but the hip improved after a couple of miles so I managed to pass a few towards the finish, which is very unusual.
This week my Garmin measured the course much longer than last week, which messes up pace data, but overall time was 24:23, 20 seconds slower than last week - looks like the purple patch is well and truly over!
OH's Run Director role went well so at least she is pleased with her performance today...

Have looked through the last couple of pages so wondered what you are taking ibuprofen for sians??

And I am thrilled to have been out running this morning for a short run on intervals (need to get back into running for longer than a couple of mins) and am hip pain free. Woop woop. Have had to pack up running and have been seeing a sports physio and doing core exercises and it seems my hard work has paid off. Also my running style has had to change. No more slouching and looking at the floor. It's head up and pelvis tilted forward to engage glute that had stopped doing its thing, stomach in and go for it. It felt great to get back outside. Cycling and walking just aren't enough

Creakypete, how's your hip pain now? Do long runs aggravate it? Or is it an old running injury?

Happy running.
Shelley x

Hi Shelley, I too went to a posture specialist/biomechanist to be taught how to walk and run properly, with appropriate custom orthotics - stand tall, shoulders back, pelvis tilted, long strides with heel strike - and core strengthening exercises. Never got the hip pain to improve (this was before I was referred to a proper physio) despite his belief that all I had to do was keep persevering with the exercises.
Physio took one look at the way my hips flare outwards as my knees are pulled up towards my chest, diagnosed osteoarthritis and basically said to stop running & get a bike.
I have chosen to compromise by only running twice a week, speed work on Wednesdays of 6 x 400 metres with brief warm up/warm down and parkrun 5k race on Saturdays. I did upgrade my bike and have done several 15 mile fast rides and 30-odd mile steady rides, but fell off and broke my wrist slightly which has ruined most of August!
Otherwise, June & July were the best months I have had for a couple of years - I felt like a proper runner when I did run and the joints were not too stiff afterwards, and Ibuprofen seemed to control any post-run inflammation.
Last week I tried to do more and went out for a six mile run with the club and limped home after four - both hips hurt but the right was much the worse and is still not right yet. Maybe this is because I have only had walking for exercise since biking was out of the question with a cast on by arm, maybe I have evolved into only being able to run 3 miles but certainly I can no longer shuffle along all day at a slow pace.
Did the training distances years ago wear my joints out, or was it the grains in my veggie diet? I don't know, but I have stopped eating porage and shredded wheat just in case. Why have my knees survived OK but my hips not? No idea... Why does my left hip resent going climbing but my right one hate jogging? A mystery! It was a gradual process, starting years ago, rather than an injury though - and I did have a good spell in 2009/2010 where I managed to get back to running decent half-marathons, and was jogging 12 miles most Sundays. Maybe this is what finished me off...
Anyway, I'm glad the posture advice worked for you - and good luck in your future running challenges - keep us posted!

thanks pete. for me it is having children too close together. mine are now aged 22, 17, 15, 14 & 11. there is only 13 months between the 14 & 15 year old & my tummy muscles do not knit back together properly unless I make a point of holding them tight I went out again this morning & managed a whole 11 minutes of running followed by .2 of a mile walking then another .8 of a mile home. no pain in my hips. yippeeeee. used my foam roller. boy that hurts! but holding my stomach in tight for my runs has left me feeling as if someone has kicked me in the tummy. thoroughly worth it though

last physio session tomorrow so hopefully a massage & then I am hoping to be good to go. physio put me on a treadmill a couple of weeks ago and has said that my foot seems to swing out a bit when I run so I am concentrating on the pelvis thing & making sure I pretend I am riding a bike & lifting my knees a bit more. strides are small & quick & pace a bit quicker than before. is that cadence? unfortunately there is no way I am doing the half marathon signed up for the 8th september but to be able to run & have that freedom is making that bearable.

happy running. & sians, just re-read the post at the top & see that it is the hamstring that is playing up. hope its feeling better. shelley x

We have a local park run but I haven't yet plucked up courage to go along. I am only just getting back into running after having a baby. I was never very fast but did used to be able to run 30 minutes. I hope to go to my local park run once I am back to this level. Am scared will be slowest there but I guess we all have to start somewhere!

Jenmum - go to the results page for your local parkrun website - you might be surprised just how slow some of the participants can be!

Absolutely, do what Pete suggested

Before my first time I asked in here if I was likely to be the oldest/slowest/fattest and I wasn't any of those (time 34:26). But with hindsight it wouldn't have mattered anyway

Been looking into parkrun lately and this has persuaded me to give it a go - need some incentive to not go mad on Friday nights so this may be the way

Good for you hotchoc, register and print out your barcode and turn up on Saturday.
"Simples"

Good afternoon parkrunners! Did a bit better today, despite being 133 lbs (2 lbs below target, for no apparent reason). My watch seems to show 23:47 but I have had to interpolate a bit as I used it to time my big son, who had his best chance to beat me but blew it by going too fast in the first half. Still, one day he is bound to prevail... Couldn't get the young one out of bed, unfortunately.

Wife did Run Director again, very well apparently (loud voice comes in handy - and it's nice not to be at the wrong end of the shouting for once!).

How did the rest of you do?

Hi Pete,

You seem to be our sole Parkrunner at the moment, I'm still resting my hamstring and was away on another Uni Open Day - Cardiff this time. I am itching to get running again especially after the carb overload yesterday.

Your time looks good to me

A good time. Let us know your official one when it is published. If my training goes well this week I will be having my second parkrun outing next Saturday and am really looking forward to it.

Hi Sian and Simon - they gave me 23:48 so my guess was pretty reasonable. The course has changed a bit to make the start less crowded and to bring the length up to a real 5k - about 80 meters added - so assuming 25 sec for the extra that would have been 23:23 on the old course and quite acceptable, though I did enjoy having the 'under 23' target in sight over the previous couple of months.

The only other runner I could find trawling the results was itadakimasu, who started this thread, who ran at Swindon in just over 28 mins. Maybe he will be along in a bit - I would like us to keep in touch through this thread and encourage each other.

Good luck next week Simon, and I hope the hamstring allows you to get back into it soon Sian - my wife tried jogging this morning to test her Achilles problem, she is desperate to get back to parkrun!

Morning runners,

I wish you all a good parkrun, I'm not joining you today as I'm easing back into running - my physio said "no hills" and the finish of my parkrun is uphill.

I managed a leisurely 5km yesterday while KwikFit replaced my tyres, unfortunately I pressed (or didn't press) something on my new Forerunner 110 and it didn't save the run. I think I've worked it out now and my run history now consists of a walk to the butcher and back!