The FastDay Forum

3rd pair of Asics Nimbus 15 for road races, and Mizuno New Wave for trail racing. I'm a girl with very narrow feet and a bad knee so lots of amorti required for the road.

As a update, I am thrilled to say that I managed to crush my 1/2 marathon time this morning by beating a very long-standing personal best by a solid 23 minutes! Still not yet approaching the finish times of the many envious speedsters here but I hope - uh...Scratch that! - PLAN to do even better by replacing more walk breaks with LSD (long slow distance) trainings. I love running at faster paces but have to balance max heart rate percentages with their durations to avoid blowing a gasket.

Some may recall my going very low carb for the last month as an experiment with becoming determinedly fat-adapted and totally avoiding the usual pre-race and water-stop carb loading. It worked to a considerable extent but was disconcertingly thwarted when I discovered that coconut oil in bullet proof coffee at cooler temperatures tends to congeal into neat, marble-size balls that rattle around as they plug up the opening in one's water bottle. A bit chewy too, if you unscrew the lid to get at much-needed moisture. Not at all giving up on VLC and will make adjustments before my next 1/2 in about 5 weeks.



John

Well done John, very impressive!
I never got the bulletproof coffee thing, as its high in cals. Much prefer to eat my coconut oil and butter and have the coffee separately

So I went for a run on the hilly forest road I've mentioned before, and I met a wild boar. !!!! It stared at me a couple of seconds then ran off. My heart was beating faster than when I do HIIT. I guess he was more afraid of me than I of him, but still.

@ADFnFuel23 mins off your PB is amazing, well done!
Does anyone use coconut water in a race instead of gels and such like? Was thinking of trying that as I prefer natural food to chemical manufactured stuff.
@MaryAnn Poor you, face to face with a wild boar! I've had one that ran in front of me once (fortunately not in my direction). They are the biggest scariest wild things around here - we don't have bears.
I've just signed up for a 27km trail nature race next Sunday, it will be my longest so far. And it looks like the Rome marathon is on the cards for March 2015 as there are a few people from the club who want to do it. Has anyone done it before?

First a well done everybody, I'm afraid to mention some and forget some, since I'm not here so much due to work load. But you all enjoy running and pushing to conquer new territory, it's quite fantastic to run a 5k, 10 k or half marathon for the first time and go yay, I did it!

As for shoes I have been through a 2 year progression towards "barefoot" or zero drop shoes. I'm not at all trying to convert any of you to that, it just seems to fit me.
List of shoes (feel free to ask about any of them)
- Asics Gel Kayano (14 mm drop)
- Vivo Barefoot Ultra (zero drop)
- Vivo Barefoot Evo (zero drop)
- Vivo Barefoot Evo M (zero drop)
- Fivefingers Bikila (zero drop)
- Fivefingers KSO (zero drop)
- Fivefingers Speed (zero drop)
- Fivefingers Seeya (zero drop and almost no sole either)
- Nike free 3.0 (4 mm drop)
- New Balance Minimus (zero drop)
- Skechers Gobionic 2 (Favourite at the moment, Followed by Fivefinger Bikila)

You can browse them here

Another different parkrun last weekend, and the worst time for quite a while - 25:05.
There was a significant hill which needed ascending twice but no excuse really, just seem to be losing running condition. On the other hand, today's bike ride went well and knocked a few seconds off last years PB which I was starting to think as unassailable... Swings and roundabouts, I suppose.
Really need to reinstate the intervals session on Wednesday evenings, it made such a difference last year.

Regarding training shoes, I wear Mizuno Wave Musha 2 racing flats if I think there is a chance they will help, and New Balance 780s (dead cheap from the factory shop in Shap) for cushioning when there are hills to run down. My old Brooks Ghost 4s never got much running, they seem much more sensible as walking & scrambling footwear because they feel a bit dead. Very comfortable though...

PS - parkrun results have not been getting through to Runbritain/Power of 10 websites since February, I chased this up with both parties to find there had been some kind of falling-out between them. This has now been patched up and historic results are at this moment being processed so they should catch up in the next day or so. Just in time to arrest the terminal plunge in my handicap...

@CreakyPete, how can you decide you are losing form when you have to climb "two significant hills"? Hills in a race is no small thing and comparing times from two non-comparable routes is hitting yourself in the head with a brick

You are quite right about comparing courses, not only the hills but the length was a bit suspect (according to Garmin), but I know how I felt and who beat me that doesn't usually...
Also, when fit I don't dislike the uphills & generally overtake people, it is the downs that hurt and when they come flying past me.
Anyway, back to our home run this week so another chance for an accurate assessment of my current condition!

Congrats to all & recent accomplishments, are we finding the heat & humidity a little intimidating ? Running Olsen, that's a nice collection running shoes ! I like how you displayed both top and bottom of each pair.... We do get attached to our running gear don't we, it's part of us. Thanks everyone for sharing what shoes are currently working for them, I'm doing a little searching around and using that input as a starting point.

I've been meaning for a while now to get back into my Fivefinger KSO's - or even to barefoot a mile or two - to verify running form. Having an abrasion-free foot after a barefoot run on pavement proves that you're doing things in an anatomically correct way. I've grown to prefer zeros to other shoes, but conceded to the Saucony Kinvara's as a happy transition when I was resolving other mechanical issues.

Hi folks, haven't been able to log in as much recently, good to read all your run reports.

My ankle is still giving me problems, but I've managed 2 parkruns in tha past 2 weeks. Last Saturday I visited Ecos, which was my 7th different parkrun I've visited, and more importnantly, my 47th in total. That red T shirt is in my sights now!

I also met up with a group of local runners who were attemtping all 18 in one weekend. That's a seriosu challenge - the equivalent of 2 marathons. But I like the idea of running all 5 Belfast ones in a single day, roughly a half-marathon, in stages.

@Melanie Cheeks good to hear from you and I'm pleased you are still able to run despite your ankle injury.
I did my second trial run yesterday, 27kms through a forest, but the conditions were tough due to the pouring rain and all the mud. We were also climbing steep banks on all fours and wading through thigh his streams...it was tough! There were only 10 women out of the 90 competitors and I was really pleased to come 2nd women (65th overall) but it took me 2H43 minutes in total, nothing like as fast as running on a road!

That sounds just the sort of run I would never choose to do, Susan! I reckon you did really well, just don't make a habit of that sort of thing!

Well done Linda on approaching the big 5-0, I have an awful long way to go to get my next tee shirt...

Hi runners, you are all legends - wild boars, five finger shoes, mad muddy trails and park runs since i last logged on. I've finally managed to map a run on my Nike app -9ks which is good enough for me, especially as i have a random approach to it all. I'm scared if I take it too seriously it will feel like work, not leisure.. Be interested in any tips you may have for building speed a bit though, bearing in mind I'm middle aged and fairly new to it all.