h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I did a club 10k 9min/mile run last night which went well. The next club run is Thursday when it is the club's AGM (discussing such vital topics as whether to lower the minimum age from 18 to 16, and whether to change the club colour from orange and grey to orange and grey with some black bits) so they're only doing a short run. I want to do longer ones to get ready for the Half.

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That's a great time Beatrice!

Well done, all. Looks like everyone's in a good place training and target wise.

I've got two weeks before my first half marathon of the season and third ever. I'm feeling a bit under-trained - even though I ran the full distance in training I feel like I've not done enough long slow running. Also, entries have opened for my home town marathon in September.... need to get round to entering. It'll be my first full marathon, and it's exciting and terrifying in equal measure.

I don’t think I'd ever do a full Marathon, but then until last year I hadn't done any running since school anyway and wouldn't have thought I'd sign up for a half. Still have to get more training and run a bit further than 10k, although it is annoying it is only a short run tonight.
Is your half on Sunday 22nd? That's when the Eastleigh 10k is. If it is your 'first Half of the season', how many are you doing? All good practice for the full one in your home town. (My home town doesn't have anything like that – there is the Pier-to-Pier swim, but it hasn't been the same since Shanklin Pier blew down in the Great Storm of '87.)

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I keep thinking I'd like to do the Great Eastern Run, I think that's a half marathon. Not sure I could run any further than that though.

Although, similar to BB, I'd not really run much and this year seem to be doing decent time 5kms and 12km to 14km for fun And a half marathon is only 21km, so only 7km more than I'm running at the moment...

It's on the 15th, so I was being somewhat optimistic when I said it was two weeks away! A week on Sunday now....

I've got another one a fortnight after that, and then a third in June. Possibly a fourth in the autumn after the full marathon. The one next week is (moderately) local, and the other two are in places where I used to live - one where I grew up and another where I lived/studied/worked for over ten years or so in total. It's a chance to visit family and friends too, and also to... I don't know... like most of us I've come relatively late to running, and maybe I'm proving something to my former self, or making up for lost time.

I couldn't have thought seriously about doing a marathon before completing a half, and couldn't think about that before completing a 10k and so on back to completing my first Parkrun. I'm still not sure a full marathon is a good idea, because I like half marathons. But I'd like to do one, and then maybe drop back again.

Pastey, I reckon if you're up to 14k in training it's really not that much more... I think some HM training plans don't include running the full distance in advance. As you say, it's 21k, so it's 10k, another 10k straight after, and then a bit of interest on top.

BB - I'd imagine a pier-to-pier swim with only one pier presumably involves some kind of globe circumnavigation, which puts marathoning into perspective....

Yesterday's Park Run was a belter! https://www.endomondo.com/workouts/481796514

I woke up feeling okay, no twinges or aches anywhere, and warmed up pretty well. Got to the start and set off pretty well, not blocked in much, quite near the front, and seemed to have a decent start. By the bottom of the first hill I'd also managed to tag onto a guy I recognise from the runs, who I know does them in around the 24 minute mark, and I managed to use him to pace myself until the bottom of the long uphill part. Several times I felt I was slowing myself down, and others I felt I was going faster than totally comfortable, but it felt like I could keep it up for a while. He pulled away on the hill though, but I managed to tag onto the race director who was going much slower up the hill, but who I know does the runs in around 24:30. Top of the hill I was able to pick the pace up a bit, and then had a sprint finish with a guy from British Military Fitness. He beat me, but only just.

Split times were 4:20, 4:47, 4:58, 5:10 (up the hill!) and stopped my app on 4:44 for the last split. As I crossed the line they called out the time of 23:50!!! A new personal best and sub 24! I was a little ecstatic to say the least!

When the email came out with the times on though, it had me at 24:16, 26 seconds slower than they called at the line, and slower even than my app that I stopped after I crossed the line. Which was very disappointing.

However, when the results table went up, I was back at the new personal best of 23:50! 102 out of 546 runners, and 92 male!

So yeah, a pretty good run!

Two PBs in successive weeks? Fantastic running, congrats!

I was a little shocked to say the least! In a fortnight I've knocked about 50 seconds off my 5km PB!

Well done!

I had a disappointing 45th Parkrun – possibly because I've been doing more long runs in the week. My time was 25:09, coming 52nd out of 171. Still, I'm still 6th in the table and I'm sure I'll do better next week.

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I've worked out a new long run route to try today, I may very well regret it and quit half way around to walk, but it's a lovely looking day out there, so who knows, I might do all 23km

Well, I'm back. I didn't do all 23km, because there was a hill and I was knackered. However, I did do 21.5km! https://www.endomondo.com/workouts/483602964

I set out on my old run into work when I worked in the city centre, and was surprised at how easy it was, and how I had to keep trying to slow myself down. So I'm guessing that all this exercise is good for me I didn't even notice the first kilometre, and because there's a long downhill stretch between 2 and 3 before being flat through the city, I didn't even notice that. Once through Manchester, dodging all the people walking into work, it was heading out along the ship canal towards Salford Quays, then through Salford itself before getting back into my current long run route in Drinkwater Park, but cutting it shorter into Prestwich (missing out Whitefield) and heading home.

I walked a couple of times, long enough to scoff a cereal bar and the second time to also slurp some squash, and then a couple of short stints of walk/run towards the end as it was coming up a steep hill getting back into Prestwich.

Split times: 6:00, 5:28, 5:22, 5:20, 5:59, 5:31, 5:19, 5:58, 5:54, 5:50, 6:13, 5:41, 8:00, 7:33, 6:23, 6:47, 6:54, 9:23 (can you guess where I walked, ate and drank?), 7:27, 7:37, 6:56. I set out aiming for 7 minute kilometres, so don't think I did too bad, once I managed to slow myself down.

The 21km, half marathon distance in 2:15:35 though I'm very happy with, especially seeing as I've never run that far before!

Those of you chasing points in the tables - you do realise you get 100 points for volunteering? It is capped at 3 times a year, but worth doing if you need an extra boost. (Well, it's worth doing anyway....)

Yes, I've volunteered 12 or 13 times this year. True, only the first 3 times count as extra points (to a maximum of 100, so if you volunteer and run you only get 100), but it's a good opportunity to get to know everyone else who goes.

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That's outstanding, Pastey. I'm very jealous - it's lovely and sunny here in a kind of pre-spring way, and I'd love to get out for a run. Club training tonight, but after dark.

I've lost track - have you entered a half marathon already, or is that something you're still considering?

I've never run more than 14km before! I'd like to be able to do the Great Eastern Run next year, which is a half marathon in my home town, but I'd never actually thought I *could* do it! But this morning's run is proving otherwise.

It's also proving I'd need to train a bit more at longer distances if I don't want to ache like this after I've done it

The furthest I've done is 10 miles, so knowing I can run 10 miles I've signed up to do the Southampton Half and if the worst comes to the worst, I can always run 10 miles and walk the last 3.

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That's what I was expecting to be doing yesterday. I really set out just to get it clear in my mind how far it actually was. And ended up running most of it bar a couple of hills and energy bar breaks.

I ran my third half marathon on Sunday and finished in a new PB of 1:38:24 (chip time), so 3.5 mins off my previous best, and my first run under the 100 minute mark. Really happy with that, especially as it was probably the toughest of the three courses. Two quite tricky climbs - one shorter and steeper and one longer, windier and only a bit less steep - although there were a lot of slight downhill sections too. And a start and finish around a running track!

I did my second ever 10mile run on Sunday, coming in at 95 minutes so only a little less time than you finished your Half. This was a training run to prepare for the Southampton Half next month, and overall I was quite pleased as it was an on & off road run with some steep hills over Shawford and Twyford Down. And it was cold.

Sunday is the Eastleigh 10k, with my son and I running the 2k version after.

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