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Jan 2013
3:35pm, 7 Jan 2013
3,169 posts
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paul the builder
fozzy - measurable! I know I'm better if I run a minute faster than I did last time out, on an officially-measured road course. Me against the clock, and the clock doesn't lie. Of course, I need the runners around me in order to get the best out of myself - very few people can solo TT with full race intensity. And I'm racing them too, a little.
But off-road - how do you know if you're improving or not? Sure, you can check that you beat a guy who beat you in the same race last year. But how do you know if you've improved, or if he's declined?
At my level - for me - running (training and racing) is about improving myself and my performance. I can see that at the sharp end it's fun to go 'pure racing' - for the win, or for the minor prizes. But I'm not (or very rarely) in contention for those. I can't get excited about trying to come top 50 in a race, for example. If nothing else, because it depends on who else shows up...
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Jan 2013
3:36pm, 7 Jan 2013
14,979 posts
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FenlandFunRunner
This is returning to the type 'A' personality who classifies 'best' as something measurable.
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Jan 2013
3:38pm, 7 Jan 2013
3,170 posts
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paul the builder
Sorry if I'm the wrong personality type for this thread 
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Jan 2013
3:38pm, 7 Jan 2013
29,483 posts
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Toks
Trust me fozzy, I will love to move out of London
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Jan 2013
3:42pm, 7 Jan 2013
538 posts
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ultrapaulo
I think that is why a lot of people run, or continue to run, as they see improvment in black and white in front of them. I guess running pan flat road courses over 10k distance is something with very few variables and you can see improvement very easily. If that is what motivates someone and they are willing to work away at finding those minutes/seconds of improvement then best of luck with their hard work.
I like the trail/fell/ultra side of things whereby there are a lot more variables and the performance is less measurable but something you can guage on the day or in hindsight. Personally I would much rather be off in the hills or on trails than on roads. I do like some XC to stretch the lungs a bit too
I do 95% of my training on trails, including speed sessions. I do occasionally pop out to a road race to see if I can put a PB on the board though!
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Jan 2013
3:49pm, 7 Jan 2013
826 posts
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MudMeanderer
I came to running from a climbing/mountaineering/fell walking background, so naturally I have a penchant for the off-road. With longer events I like the element of mountain craft involved as much as the actual running, and for shorter ones I like the intensity of chasing heels and making your feet dance over technical terrain.
Possibly somewhat weirdly I prefer most of my training on road. I like to use it to almost completely switch off at the end of the day, and find just following my feet so much raider on road. If I'm going to go for an independent (i.e. not attached to race) run in the fells, I'd much prefer to make a fuller day of it, given the amount of time getting out and back.
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Jan 2013
3:53pm, 7 Jan 2013
2,697 posts
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HermanBloom
Have just remembered one friend, where the challenge for him is how long he can keep running for. Which I guess is the opposite to most of us, who want to get quicker and quicker Everyone needs to find their own thing for motivation I guess.
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Jan 2013
6:49pm, 7 Jan 2013
14,982 posts
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FenlandFunRunner
Just being able to run is sufficient for me, however I like to experiment with fuel, training, etc, to see what makes the experience more pleasurable
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Jan 2013
6:59pm, 7 Jan 2013
330 posts
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redeaston
I like the challenge of fast road races and enjoy going all out for a PB. I love the trails/fells though and these are where my heart is. I am planning on aiming for a few times at the start of the year and the second half is going to be all about the off road stuff. Running off road, particually in the fells just makes me smile. Probability due to growing up in the Lakes. I don't get to do it nearly as much as I would like to though.
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Jan 2013
8:01pm, 7 Jan 2013
17,833 posts
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SPR
The people around you works method works fine for me in XC. Might be a bit different for Fozzy (since XC league by definition will have the same faces), but I'd still expect there are a familar faces.
Invariable there will be a group of people around your level that you can compare yourself with. The odd person may have declined but the whole group is unlikely to have declined.
As far as XC league goes. I know where I started off in November, and the plan is to be better than that by the last race in February. I measure this by looking at those around me in my races.
Obviously I can't quantify the improvement as PtB says, but I believe XC is more beneficial than road racing during the winter.
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