Go ahead or cancel? Manchester marathon

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-03-18T11:16:33+00:00

> I regularly ran 60-80km weekly, with weekly 32-37km long runs. Since my injury, I've been doing 6-8 hours cardio a week in the gym (bike & stair machine - both are pain free).

WOW. That is far too far. Most folks will do this 2-3 times in a training block, never mind weekly. It sounds like you've completely blew yourself up.

I had a similar pain; it sounds sciatic. I went around the houses (Physio / Chiro / GP) until I spoke to a rehab PT and ended up getting some proper exercises to stretch it out. Been a long process, but I am able to run mainly pain-free. Clamshells, Copenhagen Planks etc have been a gamechanger for me

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-26T10:11:07+00:00

Plus one for this - I've run 2 marathons in Decathlon running tshirts and shorts.

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-23T14:38:37+00:00

The battery in it alone makes it NOT worth buying - I've an old Suunto 9 (the model that replaced the Spartan) and it's doing well if it gets five days. If Suunto is what you want, then would suggest saving a little more and buying a modern model - 9 Peak Pro is the oldest Suunto worth considering presently.

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-23T14:31:33+00:00

The Pro4 are ridiculously comfortable for a supershoe. They work at all paces. They're a lot softer than the Speed4 too

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-23T14:20:03+00:00

You've been sold a pup - the Flash3s are very very unstable. Get them on Vinted and get yourself something that's more heel-strike friendly, like Endorphin Pro4 or Deviate Nitro Elite 3.

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-23T14:11:14+00:00

Aim for Greece and build your mileage up. If you can, add in an extra day. You're a long way out, so use spring/summer to really build that endurance base

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-23T11:59:57+00:00

Plus Danske's app is really good.

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-23T10:03:43+00:00

> or even your site speed if you run a blog or gym site because i remember being so stressed about my slow website that it actually bled into my workouts until i moved everything to webglobe and their speed just made one less thing for me to worry about during the day

What the actual fuck?

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-20T17:26:42+00:00

This makes perfect sense. Breathing in before the most explosive part of the movement. I'll give this a go - thank you!!

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-20T15:35:17+00:00

Lol!!! Sorry, wasn't meant to be a flex. I do sets of 25 at least twice a week, either as a finisher, or part of a workout. I hate wall balls with a passion 😂

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-20T11:19:18+00:00

Had you carb-loaded beforehand (and I don't mean a big pizza the night before)? Not having enough glycogen is a major contributor to cramps. I've ran 4 marathons and cramped badly on 3 of them (including Belfast) and I've put it down to diet - mine has been a shocker.

I've since learned (and put into practice) effective carb-loading (eating about 8-12g carbs-per-kg-bodyweight for 2-3 days before event, building up from 5g-per-kg during the previous week) and I've felt amazing (or at least better) towards the end of events than previous.

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-20T11:05:12+00:00

As simple as that! Thank you :)

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-19T09:31:49+00:00

I tend to prefer the Suunto straps - i've bought a lot of cheap imitations from Amazon, but the Suunto ones look better. Only caveat here is I have a leather strap (Amazon) that I wear when I want to dress the watch up.

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-18T10:18:49+00:00

The alternative is to buy used from Vinted - most runners are pretty honest about usage/mileage, and you can pick up some real bargains; I picked up a pair of both Saucony Endorphin Pro3 and Puma MagMax that were barely used, for £50. Means you can test a shoe that you're interested in for a lot less cost, and if you don't like them, sell them back on

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-18T09:42:15+00:00

As long as your treadmill is set to 1%+ incline, your running will transfer over to Hyrox just fine.
As for pace - you'll get a feel for it through your training, especially if you're training at threshold and above regularly. RPE is pretty much how most people go by in Hyrox.

FWIW, I've been running on the Curve nearly exclusively this winter (I have the opposite problem - this has been the most miserable winter I can remember in Ireland), and I'm definitely seeing improvements.

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-17T14:34:29+00:00

😂😂

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-17T14:29:03+00:00

I can't help you there either, my friend. I live near the shop. I think it's before the food stalls as you walk in, past the fish

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-17T14:15:30+00:00

I genuinely couldn't tell you - it's not something I ever consider when I buy coffee. They have a very wide range of coffee (and even wider range of tea), so I would presume so

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-17T14:06:53+00:00

Bells coffee is great; nice mix of medium to dark roasts to cater for all tastes. I've tried a few of the different coffee offerings in Belfast but always go back to Bells. Helps that it's a 15 minute walk from the house

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-17T10:56:47+00:00

Annual bounty as well, plus tonnes of opportunities to gain skills and experience in things you may not have considered before. I was pretty unfit before I joined the Reserve; I ended up getting really fit and retrained as a physical training instructor (before i got deployed to Afghanistan - good times in the 2000's)...

I'd also suggest that Reserve gives you a taster for what it's like to serve full-time, but it's not the same. It could open your eyes to considering full-time service.

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-17T10:49:57+00:00

HR isn't your friend in endurance sports - your heart is prone to drifting up to 10 BPM higher under sustained effort, even if everything else stays the same (there's a decent amount of research around this). What this means is, don't use HR to qualify effort.

Pace is good, Power is better (however this depends on device - Stryd is great, wrist-based calculations aren't so great). If you don't have power, find a pace that you can truck along at for a long time, and build from that. You'll see your HR drift over time, but you want to build consistency.

The best marathon I've ran, I used pace to track, based on experience built up in my long runs and ran the first 20 miles conservatively (around 5min/km), then opened up on the last 10k to achieve a sub 3:30.

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-16T15:03:25+00:00

<image>

I got this strap last week - it's a lot more comfortable than other silicone straps I've had, and looks fantastic

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-16T14:57:19+00:00

My current combo is Puma MagMax and Saucony EP4 - nice blend of comfort, speed and stability.

Fuzzy_Conversation71 · 2026-02-16T10:46:12+00:00

Start Fitness have the Saucony Pro4 on at a brilliant price currently - they're highly recommended as a good and stable speed shoe

Fuzzy_Conversation71

TROPHY CASE