[CantThinkOfaUsername]

Would probably have had more success swimming that run I'd planned to do 4 or 5 miles but only did 2-2.5 in the end. I normally quite like the rain and to be fair, the weather didn't look that bad when I left the house but it just turned really heavy about half a mile in. With a mixture of that and hail, by the time I'd turned round to go back, the road was flooded past my ankles all the way across. The roads where I live are narrow and uneven with poor drainage anyway so they flood quite often- never seen it happen that quickly or seen it cover the whole road before though; it normally just covers a few metres at a time. Passing drivers seemed to get a lot of amusement out of seeing me try to run through it

[Point!]

(Original post by CantThinkOfaUsername)
Would probably have had more success swimming that run I'd planned to do 4 or 5 miles but only did 2-2.5 in the end. I normally quite like the rain and to be fair, the weather didn't look that bad when I left the house but it just turned really heavy about half a mile in. With a mixture of that and hail, by the time I'd turned round to go back, the road was flooded past my ankles all the way across. The roads where I live are narrow and uneven with poor drainage anyway so they flood quite often- never seen it happen that quickly or seen it cover the whole road before though; it normally just covers a few metres at a time. Passing drivers seemed to get a lot of amusement out of seeing me try to run through it

At least they didn't get their amusement from trying to soak you with it!

[wormhole]

Hi guys
im a oversea student and will study in uk for degree next year. and also im 17 years old runner. i want to know how's the running training or clubs in uk university? im plan to join my first half marathon in uk. could you guys tell me some good marathons or famous club hold in uk?

i will be very appreciate for anyone who reply

[Cirsium]

(Original post by wormhole)
Hi guys
im a oversea student and will study in uk for degree next year. and also im 17 years old runner. i want to know how's the running training or clubs in uk university? im plan to join my first half marathon in uk. could you guys tell me some good marathons or famous club hold in uk?

i will be very appreciate for anyone who reply

Where abouts in the UK will you be based?

Most universities have fairly decent athletics clubs without you needing to look into the local scene too much.

If you're in the North there's the Great North Run in Newcastle. In the South there's Brighton in February, Bath and Reading in March, Bristol in September....

[RollandGarros]

(Original post by wormhole)
Hi guys
im a oversea student and will study in uk for degree next year. and also im 17 years old runner. i want to know how's the running training or clubs in uk university? im plan to join my first half marathon in uk. could you guys tell me some good marathons or famous club hold in uk?

i will be very appreciate for anyone who reply

I've never been to a running club or anything of the sort in my life. I just kind of started on my own, and have continued. I entered a half marathon for early October to really test my fitness. My plan is to increase a kilometre a week until I reach 20k, rather than one of those NHS or BUPA plans, and then on the day, i'll run 21.1km the actual distance.

So far i'm on 8km, and yeah it's not bad. As long as I eat right, get used to the conditions, stamina, endurance, etc, of a long run, I should be fine. I've basically not spent a penny on running (I already had running shoes, but I might soon get new ones), and hopefully soon, i'll have done a HM.

It's possible, but you need a lot of dedication to do it solo. For a beginner, i'd probably join a running club just to get the basics and not injure yourself. I'd say i'm well researched (now anyway), and quite sensible, plus I have training for other sports to keep my fitness levels up, so running is just a hobby, but I need to be and stay safe, and it's a good way to test my fitness levels.

But yeah, to answer your question, if you train hard, you should be fine. As for locations, where abouts are you in the UK? There are HM's all over the country!

[c471]

(Original post by wormhole)
Hi guys
im a oversea student and will study in uk for degree next year. and also im 17 years old runner. i want to know how's the running training or clubs in uk university? im plan to join my first half marathon in uk. could you guys tell me some good marathons or famous club hold in uk?

i will be very appreciate for anyone who reply

I would suggesting purchasing an issue of the magazine runners world or going on their website, they have a big events section, with lists of races throughout the year across the country.

For your first one, pick one close to home. For your first, its more about the journey than the actual course. A smaller event will have very few spectators, but you get the space and freedom most beginners want. The great north run is just one long snake - personally when I run its me vs the course, I dont want some guy in a rhino costume in front of me for half the journey. Also, you can get a bit boxed in, with such a mass of people, you are likely to end up keeping pace with another runner, whether being stuck in a gaggle of slow pacers, or ending up getting race legs and trying to keep up with somebody infront who is too fast.

A local running club event (circa 100 competitors etc) will probably be much cheaper, and can be far more enjoyable. I mean, the london marathon is an icon event, but its hardly going to be a nice route is it? A local club that has a route taking in some nice sights is a far better run for the fun of it IMO.

If you are looking to post a competitive time, shop around for a course that plays to your strengths, if for fun, a county level event is the most fun IMO.

[dews1290]

Anyone have any experience of running on roads in trail running shoes? I ask because I've got a job in Switzerland and I want to keep up my training, just don't have the room to take one pair of trail shoes and one pair of runners. So do you think running in trail shoes would mess up my feet? I was thinking something like this http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/salomon-...g-shoes-p99613

[c471]

(Original post by dews1290)
Anyone have any experience of running on roads in trail running shoes? I ask because I've got a job in Switzerland and I want to keep up my training, just don't have the room to take one pair of trail shoes and one pair of runners. So do you think running in trail shoes would mess up my feet? I was thinking something like this http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/salomon-...g-shoes-p99613

no! no! no!
They are race shoes, iv seen guys with them before. I really wouldnt recommend training in a race shoe, they are designed to be light and minimal for the race day edge.

I would suggest going for a middle range trail shoe, I used to run in a pair of saucony jazz trainers, i cant remember the model. Black and yellow, able to cope with on and off road well. If i were you I would go to a specialised running shop and say you are looking for a trainer that will be good on the road but equally cope with some off road.

I think the problem with trial on road is that they tend to be more bulky and designed less with impact injuries in mind, like a road should would be.
Decide what you expect to do more of.

A proper running store will advise you on a good pair for your needs, unfortunately Iv been running in a trail shoe for a good few months, and all the good shoes I had are no longer available so I cant be model specific.

[nexttime]

(Original post by dews1290)
Anyone have any experience of running on roads in trail running shoes? I ask because I've got a job in Switzerland and I want to keep up my training, just don't have the room to take one pair of trail shoes and one pair of runners. So do you think running in trail shoes would mess up my feet? I was thinking something like this http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/salomon-...g-shoes-p99613

I was told that generally speaking road shoes adapt better to off road than the other way around. At least as far as the term "off road" means in the middle of Oxfordshire. I guess it depends on how much/how extreme the 'trail' will be.

[addylad]

(Original post by dews1290)
Anyone have any experience of running on roads in trail running shoes? I ask because I've got a job in Switzerland and I want to keep up my training, just don't have the room to take one pair of trail shoes and one pair of runners. So do you think running in trail shoes would mess up my feet? I was thinking something like this http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/salomon-...g-shoes-p99613

Might as well get road shoes, if the trails are dry and grippy they will probably be fine. Trail shoes will be uncomfortable, affect your running technique, and wear down quite quickly on road.

[Yellow-nutshell]

Anyone good with injuries!? After my half marathon about 2 weeks ago, the outside of my right foot (little toe side :P ) and slightly underneath on that side were really painful to walk on. Didn't hurt to touch and wasn't swollen but couldn't really bear weight on it. Anyway it seemed to heal, had my first run last night at the gym on the treadmill, only 5k, and the pain has come back and again it's really painful to put weight on my foot properly. Has anyone had anything similar? It's so annoying as I really need to get back into running again otherwise it'll be such a struggle!

[rural_boy]

Hey guys, i've decided to start running this week, or later this week - I'm in shape and everything I just have absolutely no stamina at all, I play football twice a week and if I get into Uni (hopefully) in September I want to join the American Football and regular football teams there, but I just want to be able to go for longer without wanting to collapse after 10 minutes!

I've always been a sprinter and never really been that great at distance running, I don't want to run marathons or anything like that, but I was just wondering what a good distance would be to start off with; obviously as I get better I'll run further but until then what would be a good distance to start?

I live in the country so we have quite a few quiet country roads that I could use, and could anyone recommend some good, but cheap, running shoes or would astroturf football boots be ok?

Thanks!

[knowledgecorruptz]

Hi,

I started jogging in the evenings on Monday. Running about 1.35km (kinda pathetic, I know). I've been getting some cramps in my thighs and joint pains (I think), around my ankles.

Should I stop or keep going?

I wanted to start fresh with the Couch-to-5k thingy. So should I stop and let the cramps settle and then start afresh next week or just keep going, jogging every night this week, and then start the C25K thing next week?

Thanks

[silent ninja]

(Original post by rural_boy)
Hey guys, i've decided to start running this week, or later this week - I'm in shape and everything I just have absolutely no stamina at all, I play football twice a week and if I get into Uni (hopefully) in September I want to join the American Football and regular football teams there, but I just want to be able to go for longer without wanting to collapse after 10 minutes!

I've always been a sprinter and never really been that great at distance running, I don't want to run marathons or anything like that, but I was just wondering what a good distance would be to start off with; obviously as I get better I'll run further but until then what would be a good distance to start?

I live in the country so we have quite a few quiet country roads that I could use, and could anyone recommend some good, but cheap, running shoes or would astroturf football boots be ok?

Thanks!

If you play football seriously your stamina should be good. Don't be one of those lazy guys that makes a handful of sprints, cover your entire area NON-STOP. I play football with a lot of effort and am wiped for the day.
Having said that, most likely your problem is that you are jogging too hard/fast so you're not actually jogging, and/or you are not warming up properly. Drop the speed so its a mild jog and go for longer. That's better for endurance. The second strategy is to do some form of interval training. So run for 15 seconds, jog for 30, repeat, maybe mix a walk in there if you're getting tired. There are a variety of ways of doing HIIT. I try to do 100% heart rate maximum effort sprint types at least once a week, but be warned it kills you for the day. So I sprint hard on a bike for 30 seconds, then slow it down for 2 minutes and repeat 5 times. It's very effective but not practical to do anymore than 2-3 times a week.

I've heard of another tactic which is to go for a slow jog with maximum distance once a week, medium pace medium distance once a week, and fast pace short distance once. That's three different types of running. I forget what it's called but someone on this thread may know and might be able to offer guidance on those distances.

The best way to know how hard you are running is not to measure time but to wear a heart rate monitor. A light jog should be less than 65% of your maximun heart rate and this is actually something most runners find difficult to do as it's so slow-- they end up overdoing it on their rest days. If you can talk while you are jogging then that's a rough indication you are going at the right speed for jogging/fat burning/endurance.

[silent ninja]

(Original post by knowledgecorruptz)
Hi,

I started jogging in the evenings on Monday. Running about 1.35km (kinda pathetic, I know). I've been getting some cramps in my thighs and joint pains (I think), around my ankles.

Should I stop or keep going?

I wanted to start fresh with the Couch-to-5k thingy. So should I stop and let the cramps settle and then start afresh next week or just keep going, jogging every night this week, and then start the C25K thing next week?

Thanks

Is this something that is causing you problems afterwards?
Always rest if you have aches and pains. Your body is telling you something. Maybe you ran too fast/hard and need to ease yourself in to it more? It depends on your level of activity. In the first few weeks of regular running, or indeed any gym or fitness routine, you will need longer periods of recovery (including more sleep, more food).

If it's only when running, are you eating and hydrating properly before and possibly during your run? It may just be that you are over exerting yourself.

[knowledgecorruptz]

(Original post by silent ninja)
Is this something that is causing you problems afterwards?
Always rest if you have aches and pains. Your body is telling you something. Maybe you ran too fast/hard and need to ease yourself in to it more? It depends on your level of activity. In the first few weeks of regular running, or indeed any gym or fitness routine, you will need longer periods of recovery (including more sleep, more food).

If it's only when running, are you eating and hydrating properly before and possibly during your run? It may just be that you are over exerting yourself.

Hey, thanks for the reply.

Well, I went for another run yesterday. The cramps seem to be lessening. It's not causing me any real problems but, yeah as you said, perhaps my body's trying to tell me something.

So yeah, it's after running - it's actually okay whilst running. Maybe I should slow things down a bit? Keep it going but then start properly next week with the C25K program?

[KingMessi]

Did 38:58 last Saturday in the Ranleigh 10K. Next big event is the Oxford Half in October, when I'd love sub-1:30 and dream of sub-1:25.

[pinkpenguin]

(Original post by KingMessi)
Did 38:58 last Saturday in the Ranleigh 10K. Next big event is the Oxford Half in October, when I'd love sub-1:30 and dream of sub-1:25.

Running that too! I'll be the 1:40-45 mark though I think

[KingMessi]

(Original post by pinkpenguin)
Running that too! I'll be the 1:40-45 mark though I think

Have you done a half-marathon before?

[pinkpenguin]

(Original post by KingMessi)
Have you done a half-marathon before?

2 in the last 8 months or so. One was the day after a weekend of rugby camp (error) and hurt like hell (1:59 after a mega-sprint at the end to get under 2 hours), the other I was pretty fresh and ran 1:47.

Excited! I've heard the Blenheim grounds are amazing too so should be a pretty marathon.