The Official Hype Fitness Thread 6.0 - Part 8

[Iceman]

I’ve had lots of work stress lately and lots of late nights with little sleep. I’ve only gotten in one run over the weekend and nothing this week. But the last two nights, I have crashed earlier than normal and I got a lot more sleep than normal. I think that it has been really important for me.

I’m planning on breaking from work early today and picking my youngest up from high school. We will probably play some basketball and may get in a run together. Or if he has lots of schoolwork I’ll just get a short run myself. It is supposed to be a really pretty day today.

So I’m hoping for a good report tomorrow!

Sounds great, hopefully hear good news from you tomorrow.

Sleep is too crucial. Things went really well for me yesterday after a surprisingly full sleep with no interruptions but today is a writeoff after getting 2 hours! Glad it's a rest day scheduled for tomorrow too.

 

[Iceman]

I've finally booked a running event/race! To date I've only done the 5k parkruns. And of course once I booked one, I couldn't stop myself booking a ton like an idiot. 3 Halfs and 1 full marathon across London and Edinburgh.

2025
Feb 1 Edinburgh Winter Warmer Half Marathon
March 9 Richmond Park Half Marathon
May 25 Edinburgh Marathon
Sep 7 The Big Half (London)

 

[Babillygunn]

I've finally booked a running event/race! To date I've only done the 5k parkruns. And of course once I booked one, I couldn't stop myself booking a ton like an idiot. 3 Halfs and 1 full marathon across London and Edinburgh.

2025
Feb 1 Edinburgh Winter Warmer Half Marathon
March 9 Richmond Park Half Marathon
May 25 Edinburgh Marathon
Sep 7 The Big Half (London)

That’s great! You will really enjoy these races. There a something really special about running with thousands of other people over the course of these distances. I need to take count sometime but I think that I’ve done around 9 or 10 half marathons and one full marathon, and they have all been really special. My advice is to push yourself, but not at the expense of people watching or soaking in the spectacle and the sights of it all.

I got in a good run yesterday. I went just under 2 and a half miles at just over my goal pace of where I want to get down to in the next year. I may try a park run given @iceman’s endorsement of them, and see if I can hit my goal time. I think that the sprint intervals may have been paying off when it comes to getting my pace a little better. Now I just need to get better at maintaining the pace.

 

[Iceman]

That’s great! You will really enjoy these races. There a something really special about running with thousands of other people over the course of these distances. I need to take count sometime but I think that I’ve done around 9 or 10 half marathons and one full marathon, and they have all been really special. My advice is to push yourself, but not at the expense of people watching or soaking in the spectacle and the sights of it all.

I got in a good run yesterday. I went just under 2 and a half miles at just over my goal pace of where I want to get down to in the next year. I may try a park run given @iceman’s endorsement of them, and see if I can hit my goal time. I think that the sprint intervals may have been paying off when it comes to getting my pace a little better. Now I just need to get better at maintaining the pace.

I already love the parkrun 5ks with mere hundreds at a time over a very short distance in comparison so I can only imagine. The races I have tried to get involved with in the past are very hard to get into and way oversubscribed (London marathon, London Landmarks half marathon and the Hackney Half). As soon as I saw there were a few places left on these I jumped on them. and went a bit crazy.

That's awesome. Solid count of halfs and where was the full one? Seems like the US has 3 of the 6 marathon majors (Boston, NY & Chicago).

Don't worry, at least for now these (and especially any full marathons) are going to be more about the experience rather than the time, although I definitely want to finish them all.

Does over goal pace mean faster or slower? Great that you're already even anywhere near your goal pace for a distance not far off 5k. Seems very realistic to hit that goal consistently by next year.

I can't recommend park runs enough. They have that feeling of community especially as you may start seeing some of the same people again eventually, and can be as much about taking part/even walking or pushing yourself to the max or as far as you want. At our paces there will be tons of people behind, with you and ahead of you whether you take it easy or go all out - plus these take no organising. You can literally just turn up.

If you want them to record your results for continuity then you have to register and get a barcode that you take to the race (can take on your phone/smartwatch/on a bit of paper/designated bracelet and that can help with setting PBs at different courses and long term seeing all your history which is a great aspect of it. It also encourages parkrun tourism which makes travelling an excuse to do a parkrun in a new area (even country).

The intervals have made a huge difference to my speed on these, the start and the final push. I need to strengthen the middle of the race where I lose a fair bit of pace, maybe tempo runs will help with that.

 

[Babillygunn]

Does over goal pace mean faster or slower? Great that you're already even anywhere near your goal pace for a distance not far off 5k. Seems very realistic to hit that goal consistently by next year.

Over means slower. But I’m very happy to be knocking on that door already. I’m definitely ahead of where I thought that I’d be!

 

[Iceman]

Over means slower. But I’m very happy to be knocking on that door already. I’m definitely ahead of where I thought that I’d be!

Gotya, yes, when you have a goal it’s great to be anywhere close to it early on. With months of consistency on top of the goal not seeming miles away (like the 20 min park run seemed to me when I first targeted it), it seems very realistic.

Today I did a different park run and started fast and then blew up a bit in the middle running almost 2 minutes a mile slower for a bit. Just over 25 minutes is good for consolidation but I had thought I might be a minute quicker on a flat course on park roads. All building blocks though and I’m happy to be in this ballpark at this stage.

 

[Iceman]

Treadmill intervals today.

20x500m @16kph
2x400m @18kph (these were tough near the end)

14.8 miles total.

Oct runs: 165.6 miles / 266.5 km

 

[Babillygunn]

I did sprint intervals on the treadmill last night. I went for 29 minutes and did a little over 3 miles.

@Iceman, do you use an Apple Watch and Strava when you run? For some reason, my watch won’t load Strava anymore. I’m wondering if anyone else has had this problem.

 

[Iceman]

I did sprint intervals on the treadmill last night. I went for 29 minutes and did a little over 3 miles.

@Iceman, do you use an Apple Watch and Strava when you run? For some reason, my watch won’t load Strava anymore. I’m wondering if anyone else has had this problem.

Nice. Intervals are a staple of my week now every Monday.

Yes I use Apple Watch and record using the workout function on the watch. I then upload that manually on Strava (there’s a prompt as soon as I bring up Strava). I don’t use Strava itself to record - used to have a lot of issues when I used my phone to record with Strava before getting a watch.

 

[Iceman]

15.9 miles on way to work and 4.5 miles on way back. Very happy with that for post-intervals day where it can be hard just to complete the miles. Oct runs now 186 miles / 299.3 km.

 

[Iceman]

15.3 miles on way in to work today, felt harder than yesterday.

Oct runs: 201.3 miles / 324 km

 

[Babillygunn]

15.3 miles on way in to work today, felt harder than yesterday.

Oct runs: 201.3 miles / 324 km

I am constantly amazed by you. If I ran 15 miles to work, I’d have to leave about 3 hours early to get there. And then my coworkers would hate me because of my smell. lol.

 

[Iceman]

4.5 miles on the way home and I guess this counts as a tempo run as it was about 8.30 mile pace. Very glad to manage a big interval session as well as a tempo with a park run 5k race and long run to come in what I’m hoping will be my first 100 mile week. Peanut butter at work seemed to help a lot with the run home compared to yesterday where it was far tougher.

 

[Iceman]

I am constantly amazed by you. If I ran 15 miles to work, I’d have to leave about 3 hours early to get there. And then my coworkers would hate me because of my smell. lol.

Hahaha. I DO leave 3 hours early! I start work around 1pm though so that’s not particularly hard to do and it means I can take a long route through parks and canals rather than main roads. Also we have this technical innovation at work called showers.

 

[Iceman]

14.9 miles on way in today, managing to get all the miles in, full house if I manage the run home tonight ahead of tomorrow's rest day. Would be on for a 100 mile week with 2 more 13 mile runs on Sat & Sun.

Oct runs: 220.7 miles / 355.2 km

 

[Iceman]

Managed the 4.5 miles home at casual pace to be safe. Still on course for the 100 mile week including all the workouts. Will be stoked if I get that done and hopefully that can become the norm
long term.

225.2 miles / 362.4 km

 

[Babillygunn]

Managed the 4.5 miles home at casual pace to be safe. Still on course for the 100 mile week including all the workouts. Will be stoked if I get that done and hopefully that can become the norm
long term.

225.2 miles / 362.4 km

That’s amazing! Great job.

And no problems with the Achilles?

My 2.2 miles this afternoon looks pretty soft in comparison. 😄

 

[Iceman]

That’s amazing! Great job.

And no problems with the Achilles?

My 2.2 miles this afternoon looks pretty soft in comparison. 😄

Achilles and hamstring got totally cured by months of diligent rehab and I kept on doing the same movements most days as prehab after to protect against them coming back. My only niggles at the moment are toes and I hope they go away as those aren’t the rehab type injuries.

Every mile counts buddy! I still remember the 2 miles that started it all for me about 5 years or so ago. It wrecked me but lit a fire for what was possible and what was to come.

 

[Babillygunn]

Every mile counts buddy! I still remember the 2 miles that started it all for me about 5 years or so ago. It wrecked me but lit a fire for what was possible and what was to come.

I hear you. And I was even thinking this morning about how much I really enjoy running, even if right now my runs are shorter.

I’ll pick it up hopefully in the spring when I start training more intently for my half marathon in late April.

 

[Iceman]

Well today didn't turn out as planned and I found the 5k park run very challenging with the terrain (grass, mud, tree roots), and I am always worried I will sprain an ankle (did that 4 times in a year once) in those conditions. Also curtailed the total running at 7 miles and not confident I'll go out for the long run tomorrow (actually missed that a few weeks in a row). The 100 mile week will have to wait lol but it will come sooner or later. In the meantime I see it all as good consolidation with some runs bringing more progress than others but all of them a vital cog to building towards the future.

Oct runs: 232.3 miles / 373.8 km

 

[gohei_]

Damn, I’m proud of myself today.

New 5k treadmill PB @ 21.17!!!

It wrecked the rest of my workout though and had to stop a few km later, but well worth it in this case.

I love doing pace on treadmills where you can control it exactly and plan what you need to achieve a specific time with the live rolling maths in the head. I know I can get under 20 mins on the treadmill one day now. Just got to find a way of pushing myself outdoors where I’m way too conservative till the end (and often have enough left in the tank to do a half marathon after).

4.7 miles total. Oct runs lagging @ 17.5 miles / 28.2 km (but I’ll definitely take it for the speed improvements!).

That's a really good time! I've never done a 5k for time but I'm pretty sure I'm not even near those numbers.

Due to illness I've had a total of 5 weeks with zero running, and it's been pretty rough getting going again, with a bunch of sore calves.
I'm slowly working my way back to where I was, and I've even managed to do a bit of strength training as well; something that I struggle a lot with.

 

[Iceman]

That's a really good time! I've never done a 5k for time but I'm pretty sure I'm not even near those numbers.

Due to illness I've had a total of 5 weeks with zero running, and it's been pretty rough getting going again, with a bunch of sore calves.
I'm slowly working my way back to where I was, and I've even managed to do a bit of strength training as well; something that I struggle a lot with.

Just to clarify I've never achieved that outdoors. Just under 24 minutes is still my best to date but I think I'll be beating that on flat courses on parks with paths rather than grass pretty soon. For eg today on a tough course and not quite feeling it I was more than 4 mins slower and got overtaken by a guy in his 70s. (good on him!)

Sorry to hear on that as you seemed to be in a good place to build after that recent 10k race. These extended forced breaks are all part of the process IMO and I've had at least one a year since I started and you'll get a good run at some point without anything getting in the way where you will realise much more potential and will also realise that the work done before these kinds of events all contributes to what you can achieve later. The reason I can pull out 16 milers now and then also run home from work the same day for consecutive days is because I did 13 milers in the last cycle before injury, and 8s in the cycle before that and 10ks in the cycle before that and 5 milers in the one before that.

Good luck on getting restarted slowly and building again. The strength training is absolutely invaluable. Try and make that a long term habit too.

 

[Babillygunn]

I had to forego my run this morning. I had planned to go out for at least 4 miles because the weather was set to be beautiful this morning.
But last night night I got in from work late and my youngest son jumped out and grabbed me from behind to scare me. He’s much stronger these days and I almost lost my balance and threw my foot back to steady myself and I accidentally hit my pinky toe against his ankle.

My toe let out an enormous pop with shooting pain. This morning when I got up to go run the toe was swollen and black. I’m afraid I may have broken my toe!

 

[gohei_]

Just to clarify I've never achieved that outdoors. Just under 24 minutes is still my best to date but I think I'll be beating that on flat courses on parks with paths rather than grass pretty soon. For eg today on a tough course and not quite feeling it I was more than 4 mins slower and got overtaken by a guy in his 70s. (good on him!)

Sorry to hear on that as you seemed to be in a good place to build after that recent 10k race. These extended forced breaks are all part of the process IMO and I've had at least one a year since I started and you'll get a good run at some point without anything getting in the way where you will realise much more potential and will also realise that the work done before these kinds of events all contributes to what you can achieve later. The reason I can pull out 16 milers now and then also run home from work the same day for consecutive days is because I did 13 milers in the last cycle before injury, and 8s in the cycle before that and 10ks in the cycle before that and 5 milers in the one before that.

Good luck on getting restarted slowly and building again. The strength training is absolutely invaluable. Try and make that a long term habit too.

I'm sure you'll get there pretty quick if you keep on pushing for it!

Yeah I was getting up to some decent volume (for me) without any feelings of overtraining or soreness, so that was a bummer. But it's like you say; as long as the consistency is there these setbacks won't matter much in the long term of things.

I had to forego my run this morning. I had planned to go out for at least 4 miles because the weather was set to be beautiful this morning.
But last night night I got in from work late and my youngest son jumped out and grabbed me from behind to scare me. He’s much stronger these days and I almost lost my balance and threw my foot back to steady myself and I accidentally hit my pinky toe against his ankle.

My toe let out an enormous pop with shooting pain. This morning when I got up to go run the toe was swollen and black. I’m afraid I may have broken my toe!

Yikes! Sorry about that! I've sprained my toes a few times but never had anything break though. Early this year I hurt my foot while sparring and there were a bunch of cracking noises but no broken bones fortunately, but it did swell up like a mother and hurt for quite a while.
Hopefully it won't be a long recovery for you.

 

[Iceman]

I had to forego my run this morning. I had planned to go out for at least 4 miles because the weather was set to be beautiful this morning.
But last night night I got in from work late and my youngest son jumped out and grabbed me from behind to scare me. He’s much stronger these days and I almost lost my balance and threw my foot back to steady myself and I accidentally hit my pinky toe against his ankle.

My toe let out an enormous pop with shooting pain. This morning when I got up to go run the toe was swollen and black. I’m afraid I may have broken my toe!

Oh gosh, what an unfortunate accident from what should have been a bit of fun. I’ve had issues with toes that have been bugging me and hoping they will eventually heal without having to rest. My original rest attempt didn’t help at all but at the same time doing tons of miles isn’t making it any worse. But I’ve had an X-ray and confirmed there’s no break for now. I was worried about a stress fracture rather than a regular break. Best to get checked asap mate so you know for sure and can adapt accordingly. Best to rest if you’ve actually broken it.