The Running thread

[____no5]

I went out for an evening run and I did following 3 things differently: 1) Wore my glasses 2) Went from routes that I never run before 3) Listened to an Iron Maiden playlist.
It felt like time travel! One of my more enjoyable runs in years. It was like if I saw the city for the first time. Glasses helped I guess hahaha. It was wonderful.

Genghis Khan. Start of the run.
The Nomad
For the Greater Good of God
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
To Tame a Land
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
The Legacy
The Duellists
Darkest Hour
The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg
Powerslave
Mother Russia. At this moment I took a taxi back as her ladyship was waiting for dinner.
Phantom of the Opera
Revelations
Transylvania
Afraid to Shoot Strangers
Hallowed be thy Name
Where Eagles Dare
When the Wild Wind Blows
Fear of the Dark
Hell on Earth

 

[____no5]

Back in the holy city of road running, London. Yesterday I did a 4k loop in south Kensington and today a full Hyde Park loop plus some (10km) before starting my day.
Bought some new shoes, Adidas Supernova Rise (nicknamed Atlas, RIse!) as there are some crazy discounts only 80 USD can you believe it. They are great for travelling as the stack is quite low, less volume in the bag than my Superblasts and can pass as a walking shoe as well.

They are made for easy or steady paces, but they deliver this well and I like this grounded feel in the forefoot after 1 1/2 of running in nothing else than high stacked ASICS shoes.

*This run marked the 2,000km running distance milestone this year. With this pace I'll possibly be at ~2,200km by December 31th.

 

[____no5]

I didn't think I would ever brag for running a 5:44/km 10k but there you have it. Went yesterday in the stadium close to my old apartment, joined the team and run without stop for 10k straight.
I was wearing my beloved Metaspeed Edge Paris, first time since they hit my right ankle last March and they hurt my both ankles. Anyway, a good run.
Today I did 6k treadmill and was not a bad run either.

Year to date mileage: 2,104km. Let's see if I'll make 2,200 by December 31st.

 

[Spambot]

A lot time has passed since I last posted here, so here's what happened since I ran that half-marathon in May:

- Did fuck all to no running during summer. I was on my first proper vacation in years and the place I was (the island) had no longer stretches of road. Actually, it has no roads, at all.
- Ran a 3/4 of a marathon on August 31st. It should've been a checkpoint to see where am I with my marathon that was mid-October. It was awful. The first 20 km was good. The last 10 km I had such a huge pain in the knee that I limped those last 10 km, almost in tears from the pain (It took me around 2 hours for those first 20 km and then another 2 hours for those last 10).
I decided to add big proper leg workouts on days I wasn't running, bought a bit of equipment, and some new shoes.
- Day of the marathon, October 13th - FINISHED IT! It took me longer than I planned (a bit over 5hr) - still made a lot of mistakes, still had a lot of pain, and still went unprepared and proud I managed to pull it off (and a bit lucky I didn't pick up any serious injury when I look back now. I may do one or a marathon next year but gonna prepare myself much better.
I got even more serious with my training, tried wholla lotta new apps, started following a lot of people on IG, and got some running equipment as a gift. Rigorous weekly plans with 4 days of running (one of them was a long run on weekends) workouts for legs, intervals, hill repetitions, and so on.
- Mid-November ran a halfmarathon 1:59:12 - no pain at all.
- Two weeks later ran another half marathon at 1:58:38. - no pain at all.

I have big plans for next year, but I have to see how far I can get with them (haven't left the house for 5 days now - picked up COVID and it feels like it drained every bit of energy I had).

 

[____no5]

A lot time has passed since I last posted here, so here's what happened since I ran that half-marathon in May:

- Did fuck all to no running during summer. I was on my first proper vacation in years and the place I was (the island) had no longer stretches of road. Actually, it has no roads, at all.
- Ran a 3/4 of a marathon on August 31st. It should've been a checkpoint to see where am I with my marathon that was mid-October. It was awful. The first 20 km was good. The last 10 km I had such a huge pain in the knee that I limped those last 10 km, almost in tears from the pain (It took me around 2 hours for those first 20 km and then another 2 hours for those last 10).
I decided to add big proper leg workouts on days I wasn't running, bought a bit of equipment, and some new shoes.
- Day of the marathon, October 13th - FINISHED IT! It took me longer than I planned (a bit over 5hr) - still made a lot of mistakes, still had a lot of pain, and still went unprepared and proud I managed to pull it off (and a bit lucky I didn't pick up any serious injury when I look back now. I may do one or a marathon next year but gonna prepare myself much better.
I got even more serious with my training, tried wholla lotta new apps, started following a lot of people on IG, and got some running equipment as a gift. Rigorous weekly plans with 4 days of running (one of them was a long run on weekends) workouts for legs, intervals, hill repetitions, and so on.
- Mid-November ran a halfmarathon 1:59:12 - no pain at all.
- Two weeks later ran another half marathon at 1:58:38. - no pain at all.

I have big plans for next year, but I have to see how far I can get with them (haven't left the house for 5 days now - picked up COVID and it feels like it drained every bit of energy I had).

Your progress exceeded my expectations by far. When you started this adventure I knew you would make it (and told you so more than once) but my impression was that it would be a one off thing.
To my pleasant surprise I see you have doubled down, not only in your running but most importantly: strengthening. This is the key to sustainability /injury prevention. And you are mastering it, I can tell. Respect.
From what I see, your tone and other small nuances in the post, I won't be surprised at all if next time you hit a sub 4.

By the way which shoe did you wear in your races? There's a new kid in town, Adidas Adizero EVO SL, which has full racing foam, ultra beautiful, not expensive and most importantly: No carbon plate (leg killer for us mortals).
I just come back from a threshold session and it works like a charm! Beautiful! (literally). Not meant as a marathon shoe per se, but I'm seriously considering it for the next one.

Spoiler

 

[Spambot]

Your progress exceeded my expectations by far. When you started this adventure I knew you would make it (and told you so more than once) but my impression was that it would be a one off thing.
To my pleasant surprise I see you have doubled down, not only in your running but most importantly: strengthening. This is the key to sustainability /injury prevention. And you are mastering it, I can tell. Respect.
From what I see, your tone and other small nuances in the post, I won't be surprised at all if next time you hit a sub 4.

By the way which shoe did you wear in your races? There's a new kid in town, Adidas Adizero EVO SL, which has full racing foam, ultra beautiful, not expensive and most importantly: No carbon plate (leg killer for us mortals).
I just come back from a threshold session and it works like a charm! Beautiful! (literally). Not meant as a marathon shoe per se, but I'm seriously considering it for the next one.

Spoiler

View attachment 40788

Thanks!

In the beginning, I was using the cheapest ones from Decathlon, but after some time I realized my fingers hurt if I ran over an hour or longer than 10 km (got even black toes due to it).
As I didn't know which one would fit me and my running habits (I did my research, but theory is one thing, and trying to put it to practice is another) I bought the ones that had the biggest discount - Asics Gel Cumulus 25. It ended up as an excellent choice, I already did 600+ km with them, but will keep them for some "dirtier" trail competitions I have in March.
A couple of months ago I also bought two more pairs. One is for the athletic track and the pavement (Asics Patriot 13) and the other one is for natural terrain and trails (Adidas Terrex Soulstride Flow).