Any runners on here?

I've wondered how they measure courses accurately! I would have said that a bicycle wheel would be too susceptible to pressure differences changing the rolling circumference as well as the measurement of the rolling circumference usually being done with an unloaded bike which would overestimate/calculate the final distance. How do they measure round curves? Racing line or straight line and tight all the way round? Presumably they ride round the course on the left hand side of the road which could well introduce significant errors.
 
Nod said:
I've wondered how they measure courses accurately! I would have said that a bicycle wheel would be too susceptible to pressure differences changing the rolling circumference as well as the measurement of the rolling circumference usually being done with an unloaded bike which would overestimate/calculate the final distance. How do they measure round curves? Racing line or straight line and tight all the way round? Presumably they ride round the course on the left hand side of the road which could well introduce significant errors.
Click to expand...

There's a race line on the ground which is the shortest distance around the course. This should measure exactly 42,195m (though I think they add in an extra metre per km to make sure it's not short). If you look closely on the telly at the London marathon it's a blue line and the elites stick pretty close to it.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/spor...-Follows-the-Dashed-Blue-Line--330297811.html
 
JonathanRyan said:
Did we all hear about Manchester Marathon? It had a reputation of being a fast course. That's because it was short..... http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/36104638

I know a bunch of people who are pretty upset about this right now.
Click to expand...
That and the farcical situation this year where runners had to queue for hours to retrieve their bags makes it unlikely I'll be entering that one anytime soon.

My daughter's boyfriend spent 3 hours in the queue.

Thoroughly unimpressive.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Sprinting is basically genetic, distance is largely training. This is why distance favours older runners - you can train yourself to a (much) faster marathon time.
Click to expand...

That's not what the (limited) science I've seen seems to be suggesting. Genetics appear to have an important part to play in how your body responds to exercise and aerobic training.

A 3 hour marathon after a training regime of ciggies and burgers, isn't going to be possible unless you're built that way.
 
Jayst84 said:
That's not what the (limited) science I've seen seems to be suggesting. Genetics appear to have an important part to play in how your body responds to exercise and aerobic training.

A 3 hour marathon after a training regime of ciggies and burgers, isn't going to be possible unless you're built that way.
Click to expand...

That may be true. I was thinking of ultra runners like Scott Jurek and Brendan Brazier (well, he's actually a triathlete but he runs a bit). They say that distance favours older athlete because training becomes much more important.
 
Sounds reasonable. I think also for the average person on the street, 'training' for distance running is much easier than training for sprinting. And of course you have far bigger margins in which to see an improvement.

Saw a few studies suggesting your genes dictate how you respond to aerobic exercise. Placing the population into low, medium, and high responsiveness. So people with bugger all fitness, can do the same training. Some will see huge gains, and some will see very little, if any.
 
The apparent link between training and ability is a somewhat self-fulfilling prophesy though - those who are naturally (genetically/phenotypically) better runners will find training easier and therefore train harder than those who do not.

An example: I have a work colleague about 4 years older who ran a 2:30 marathon in his 20s, was unable to run for >1 year and recently restarted - when we ran together he was very easily and comfortably faster over >5K despite me having trained hard for 18 months beforehand. It is unlikely that there are circumstances excluding injury where I could match his performance if we trained similarly - he's simply a much better runner than I ever could be.
 
Just back from my last round of physio (thank you Caitlin at Peagreen near Bicester, for helping sort my knees out) prior to the half marathon in Bosnia Herzegovina.

Went for a run on Monday night, dressed to suit 7-10'C, and got rained on, then chilled when the temperature dropped afterward. Ended up having to walk down the last hill because my knees and quads couldn't take it. :p Things feel much better now - I hope this little boost will last until the race Sunday week. :)
 
2:11:41.1 chip time.

Not the best time for a half marathon, but considering all things (lack of breakfast didn't help, 2*4K section of the route in blazing sunshine) I'm reasonably happy. Legs aren't bad today and I've felt significantly worse from shorter runs. Hats off to those who can run a full marathon.
 
Last edited:
It wasn't tremendously hot - probably 25-27 degrees - but the sun was really intense at that point. I saw a couple of people collapsed and being given medical attention.

Biggest issue was running out of energy, and if I do something like this again then I'll make sure I have something to eat available both beforehand and during the run. We were staying in a hostel that I had no control over the night before, and there simply wasn't breakfast available either in the hostel or nearby (ended up getting cereal bars from a local garage). There was a stand with fruit slices available part way round, and I ate some apple and orange segments that provided enough to finish the distance, otherwise I would have only been able to walk.
 
ancient_mariner said:
2:11:41.1 chip time.

Not the best time for a half marathon, but considering all things (lack of breakfast didn't help, 2*4K section of the route in blazing sunshine) I'm reasonably happy. Legs aren't bad today and I've felt significantly worse from shorter runs. Hats off to those who can run a full marathon.
Click to expand...

Nice one :) The heat really takes it out of you.

ancient_mariner said:
Biggest issue was running out of energy, and if I do something like this again then I'll make sure I have something to eat available both beforehand and during the run.
Click to expand...

Certainly for running over 2 hours in the sun I'd have at least one gel (IIRC I had about 4 for my first half) and some salt of some kind. When I travel to a race I make sure I take stuff to make overnight oats with me and eat that a couple of hours before running.
 
Yesterday was Kent Road Runner. This is rated as one of the top ten marathons in the UK and I was gutted to miss it last year. Ran it yesterday and it really didn't disappoint. 20.5 laps of a cycle park in Kent doesn't sound like it would be fun (and at times it wasn't - I had awful cramp and was pretty much out of energy before I hit 15 miles) but the organisers get so many things right it's just brilliant.

One fantastic thing - they pay photographers. Yep, they hire people to photograph the race and then give away the photos to the runners. This means lots of good things

  1. The photos are great
  2. Nobody steals photos
  3. The photographers get a fair day's pay and so are really happy to do it - even when it hammered down with rain.
At the end, one chap had set up an easy up with a couple of Quadras in it. He made sure he got a "podium shot" of every finisher - this got emailed to me at about midnight on the day of the race - all ready to brag about it on Failbook. And of course he made sure that he got the sponsor's logo in the background :D

KRR16-podium-531.jpg
 
Well done Jonathan, I could not imagine doing a marathon which involved 20 plus laps of a course, you did amazingly well.
Was that the cyclepark near Gravesend by any chance?
 
I keep getting a sore patch under the ball of my right foot when I run more than about 30min - started happening after the half marathon. I feels like a blister from being on my feet all day, but there's no external sign of blistering and it goes away within 48 hours, happens with a couple of different types of sock. Any ideas how to prevent it (apart from stop running more than 30min)?
 
Last edited:
Couple of obvious things it could be.....how many miles do you have on your shoes? They wear out long before they look worn out and one of the first signs would be ball of foot pain.

Was it wet or hot at the time? If so it might just be moist friction. Drop this in your socks - it's like magic http://www.ultramarathonrunningstor...D-Blister-Prevention-p/2tomsblistershield.htm (I did a marathon through about half an hour of rain followed by moist heat. At the end I took my shes and socks off and dusted the dry powder off my feet. I've run though calf deep water and it's still been dry.)

Next thing to look at might be your shoe lacing - there are guides on the web to tighten the mid/forefoot lacing.

After that it kind of gets serious - but most likely it's just higher mileage on a day when your feet were damp in old shoes.
 
Thanks Jonathan. The shoes have done about 250 miles. It was yesterday, so humid and these shoes do seem quite warm inside anyway (adidas supernova glide). I'm tempted to try the powder, but will also look at socks.

Its been happening every time I try to run for forty min or more, and yesterday I ended up calling my wife to collect me after just 5 miles, more from concern of damage than actual harm.
 
Last edited:
I have a 24 hour (relay) race this weekend. So far all my preparation has been checking my tent for holes and baking. This could be fun.....
 
Good work on the half @ancient_mariner (y)

Six weeks until my first half now - not sure what happened to the last six.

Went for a longer run last night with some new mates from the Nike Run Club track sessions I've been doing. Plan was for 10k, wound up doing 11.5k and knocking off a 5k and 10k PB in the process. Felt fine at the finish, though the legs are feeling it a bit today. It made me realise how lazy I can get running by myself. Splits at 5k - 21:14 and 10k - 43:27. Makes me more confident I will be able to hit the half mara targets.

Keep forgetting Stadium Stomp is in two weeks. Running up and down 7,500 steps at the MCG, that should be fun, right?
 
Thanks James.

You're managing some good times on the shorter runs, so with a little careful energy management you should be fine for the half.
 
Ooo nice speed on those @Jayst84 :)

Just about recovered from the weekend's exertions. I was at Endure 24 which is a 24 hour trail race. Fortunately there were 7 in my relays team so I only ran 20 miles in the end. Felt a bit sorry for our girls team who were down to 5 and with injuries hit 4 members at one point. Great organisation and atmosphere - highly recommended if you want to get some mates together for a run and don't really like sleep too much.
 
Stadium Stomp done yesterday. Up before dawn on Melbourne's coldest day so far this year (a balmy 3ºC - that counts as really cold down here OK!)

GPS had no chance in the stadium, but we think it was about 8km, ~7,400 steps, done in 50 minutes.

Really good fun, and nowhere near as hard as I thought it would be, given my history of sucking badly at running up hills. Legs definitely started to feel it towards the end of the second footy match that afternoon though.

ETA: A couple of firies did it in full fire fighting gear, complete with helmets and carrying a hose each. Took them about 4 hours I hear. Hardcore.
 
Last edited:
Blimey - 7,400 steps? I can't even begin to imagine.

Meanwhile, I did my first ultra on Saturday. A very very short ultra ;) But it did end in a thunderstorm so I felt epic.
 
Am I th only one still running......?

Endure 1250 at the w/e. Start at 7pm, run until 7am, see what you can do. Much much much harder than I imagined. Basically I messed up my nutrition and ended up exhausted after 25 miles. A couple of quick sleeps and some determination and I struggled through 35 before calling it a day.

Of course all my mates think I'm a lightweight because they either did Race to the Stones (2 marathons over 2 or 1 days) or the Samphire 100 (yes, miles). Still, I got a shiny medal and a PB for 50k that should be relatively easy to beat :D

endure1250.jpg
 
That endure thing sounds like the opposite of fun. :D

JonathanRyan said:
Am I the only one still running......?
Click to expand...

I had x-rays on my foot and lower leg on Friday. Possible couple of stress fractures. Back to the doc's in the morning for their interpretation, but I don't think they show much. Stress fractures rarely show up on x-rays anyway I'm told.

It doesn't feel great though. Seriously peed off one week out from my first half marathon. Training was going better than I hoped, with the last two 18k runs feeling pretty easy for the time I did them in. :(
 
I've been winding back the running, having swelling in a knee that wasn't going down and finding my legs increasingly painful. Had a nasty cold last week too, and haven't run for 10 days now.
 
Jayst84 said:
That endure thing sounds like the opposite of fun. :D



I had x-rays on my foot and lower leg on Friday. Possible couple of stress fractures. Back to the doc's in the morning for their interpretation, but I don't think they show much. Stress fractures rarely show up on x-rays anyway I'm told.

It doesn't feel great though. Seriously peed off one week out from my first half marathon. Training was going better than I hoped, with the last two 18k runs feeling pretty easy for the time I did them in. :(
Click to expand...

Ooo that's not so good. It's worth finding out how much your GP knows about biomechanics. Some are great at it (often they are runners) and some are surprisingly shaky. If your goal is to get better then it's easy, the doc will tell you to stop running, you stop running and you'll get better (pretty much guaranteed eventually - it's very unlikely you have done something your body can't heal). If your goal is to run then it might be worth talking to a sports physio. My doc actually recommended I went to the one he uses when I thought I'd broken my foot.

"Stress fractures" could easily be some kind of tendonitis just pretending to be a broken bone ;)
 
Still putting in the miles. Have a half marathon in September and did a longish run at the weekend. Doing around 35k a week at the moment and will be ramping it up soon but current heat is not conducive to enjoyable training runs.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Ooo that's not so good. It's worth finding out how much your GP knows about biomechanics. Some are great at it (often they are runners) and some are surprisingly shaky. If your goal is to get better then it's easy, the doc will tell you to stop running, you stop running and you'll get better (pretty much guaranteed eventually - it's very unlikely you have done something your body can't heal). If your goal is to run then it might be worth talking to a sports physio. My doc actually recommended I went to the one he uses when I thought I'd broken my foot.

"Stress fractures" could easily be some kind of tendonitis just pretending to be a broken bone ;)
Click to expand...

Yeah, appears may not be as bad as first thought. All clear from the X-rays today (as expected really). Seems to be easing after four days of rest and a bit of time on the good old foam roller, which makes me think it's possibly a tendon / ligament thing.

Doc asked if I wanted a referral to a sports doc, so I have that option if I want. Just have to decide what to do about the race on Sunday now, I'm shooting every day 'til then so won't be able to get in to see the sports doc beforehand.
 
Always worth going to a sports doc if you can, they'll point out loads of things you didn't know and hopefully help prevent future injury.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top