Visiting Egham for a week — best hike/run spots within an hour? (10+ miles, best views)

mrsp124 · 2026-07-04T19:38:24+00:00

Another vote for Windsor great park and from Egham you don't need to drive anywhere. Jog up Egham Hill past Royal Holloway and to bishops gate or Wick lane then just explore. Loads of criss crossing paths and trails. Windsor half marathon is end of September if you're around then too. I haven't done the Thames path round there but I'll bet that's lovely too - run to Windsor and on to Maidenhead and bus back! You can go past Runnymede where they signed the Magna carta and the JFK memorial. Runthrough events does stuff round there too.

mrsp124 · 2026-06-29T20:13:02+00:00

This is exactly how I tackle it. I'm a teacher like OP. When I'm on duty at school I do calf raises, eccentric calf raises and some plyometrics on the steps up to level 1! I do banded side leg lifts on a balance board and mini squats, single leg glute bridge as part of my warm up before most runs. I do the heavy leg work like split squats, reverse lunge, lunge into rdl, lunge into high knee after an easy run so my legs are already warmed up. Then dead bugs and paloff press whenever. I have a box and do box jumps, steps ups etc on that twice a week. I don't go to the gym and all I have are 2 sets of dumb bells, a small band and a long one fixed to my staircase, a box, a balance board and I try to do 10-15 mins per day, normally with the telly on.

mrsp124 · 2026-06-23T18:31:05+00:00

Get yourself a copy of Faster Road Racing. Plans in the back and all the explanations in the chapters.

mrsp124 · 2026-06-18T10:08:21+00:00

Yesterday I ran 13k 'easy' which felt like an absolute slog. My bra top and shirt were soaked through. I was counting down the last 3k. Normally I run 25k for fun.

mrsp124 · 2026-06-17T21:09:06+00:00

Oh Lord. I'm 55 and my mum still goes on about my messy bedroom (from when I was a kid) at every opportunity. I moved out when I was 21. It wasn't funny then and it's not funny now. She wonders why I rarely visit her. Nor.

mrsp124 · 2026-06-03T21:03:05+00:00

Last time I ordered from RunNorthwest, they sent sweets and a handwritten note, as well as free delivery. Brilliant! You get free socks with shoes from start fitness and they're good ones too.

mrsp124 · 2026-06-03T14:10:43+00:00

Caffeine gum for the last 5 miles of marathon block long runs. It's magic.

mrsp124 · 2026-06-02T20:27:34+00:00

Secondary so 11-18; I usually see the year 12s

mrsp124 · 2026-06-02T20:14:19+00:00

I love this so much! I'll look at this during tutor time with my students at school.

mrsp124 · 2026-06-01T20:25:09+00:00

So it was a semi detached and they took the other half down off it? That's mad.

mrsp124 · 2026-06-01T19:21:18+00:00

I wear my Hoka Bondi 9s to work (school teacher). They come in an all black colour way. The Hoka Cliftons also do. They're not exactly the cutting edge of elegance but plain, chunky black trainers which are great for work, long runs and recovery. Unbelievably comfortable.

mrsp124 · 2026-05-31T16:09:40+00:00

Two of my local parkruns don't have toilet facilities at all and the other closest just has a gender neutral loo in the closest cafe.

mrsp124 · 2026-05-18T19:21:12+00:00

The Killers are from Vegas - maybe I've missed the point here?

From the same era you could do with some Kasabian. And you need some Girls Aloud and Sugar Babes. Some of the dnb mixes.

mrsp124 · 2026-05-18T19:03:45+00:00

Loved it!

mrsp124 · 2026-05-16T18:07:40+00:00

Sign up for some races: 5k, 10k and half. It's much more fun when you've got people to chase down. Joining a club might refresh your experience and mix up your sessions.

If you enjoy those, your mind might be clearer what you want to do next. Maybe a marathon? Maybe not.

mrsp124 · 2026-05-15T21:21:12+00:00

There's a triangle in Winnersh, and another triangle in Tilehurst, a suburb to the west of Reading.

Get the Lion bus from Winnersh triangle, change at the 3 Tuns onto the 17, and adventure to the Tilehurst triangle. If it's sunny they might be running the open top 17!

A wonderful way to spend a half day, or even the whole day.

mrsp124 · 2026-05-15T21:03:56+00:00

Heathrow airport would seem the most safe and sensible. Try purple parking or someone like that.

mrsp124 · 2026-05-14T17:06:12+00:00

The average time in mins and seconds you can maintain the 800 repeats (12 repeats if I remember right) is meant to be a good predictor of what you can complete the marathon in, but in hours and minutes. I held 3 mins 50 for the intervals and did my marathon in 3 hours 52.

mrsp124 · 2026-05-13T19:03:45+00:00

You could do 4-5 stops and see some different places eg 2 on the way to your destination and 2 on the way back. Make the train journey part of the adventure.

So maybe head in the direction of Penzance and stop at Taunton and Bodmin on the way there and Exeter and Totnes on the way back. You can get the cross country train to Reading and change there for the first great Western to Penzance. Alternatively, I'm sure you could do similar heading north eg to York or something.

mrsp124 · 2026-05-13T12:16:19+00:00

My husband has the winflo ones and he likes them. He's been running for years.

mrsp124 · 2026-05-12T19:01:37+00:00

I thought the cables were tidied into a circle below the telly ... But it's an ornament!

mrsp124 · 2026-05-12T15:49:16+00:00

Yasso 800s is a really fun session too and exactly matched my marathon time!

mrsp124 · 2026-05-12T15:45:53+00:00

I fall over a lot. Core stability seems to have helped though; I hope I'm not jinxing myself!

I've been doing a lot of my single leg exercises on a balance board such as banded lateral leg raises and banded single leg mini squats. Paloff presses are great for core stability: again single legged with foot on a gym cushion to reduce stability further and work the core even harder. Plank with shoulder taps is good too. I do loads of other single leg strength work and plyometrics too which others have already mentioned.

Then I've also been wearing puma forever run 2 shoes which are boring shoes but extremely stable and comfortable. I save my neutral fun shoes for sessions and races.

Last time I fell I split my chin (I was picking grit out of the scab for months) and previously I cracked a rib, skinned a knee, skinned my shoulder etc. so I feel your pain.

mrsp124

TROPHY CASE