Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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32,615
My 920Xt lost GPS signal yesterday, but that was just a 5mile recovery run. More annoying was today on a 22Mile long it was acting all weird giving very slow paces but jumping really fast. Was really off-putting at the end of run when tired, I kept thinking I was crashing and running form my 8:00 pace because I had a hard time keeping 8:30 pace on the watch, then the watch started showing, 8:45,9:05,9:37 I then realized to was broken., especially when it was saying 11:00 pace when i was liekly running 7:20s.
 
Soldato
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11 Jun 2013
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2,632
I'm back to running (a little bit) as I'm doing a triathlon this year. Will only be a 5k run but Strava tells me I've done 1 run per year for the last 6 years! Am quite looking forward to training for speed rather than plodding endurance runs
 
Soldato
Joined
24 Sep 2013
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2,658
Pretty sure I just ran my fastest 5k of the year on the first run with my new watch, connected it to the pc to upload and it updated the firmware and deleted my run lol :(

I run with Endomondo and Strava running at same time (phone in my running belt pocket thing)...plus Garmin tracking me on my Fenix 3hr .

It'd annoy the hell out of me if I lost a run
 
Soldato
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floating down the Liffey
Wow the bag drop facilities at the Brighton Marathon are pathetic compared to literally every other race I've done.

If you don't have a friend/family to hold your stuff you are pretty much screwed as you may only store stuff in their provided bags which aren't big enough. :rolleyes:

Even a single rucksack is too much. Looks like I will have to pack incredibly lightly which is tricky since I'm forced to stay over the night before due to their "we don't post race packs" policy.
 
Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
32,615
Wow the bag drop facilities at the Brighton Marathon are pathetic compared to literally every other race I've done.

If you don't have a friend/family to hold your stuff you are pretty much screwed as you may only store stuff in their provided bags which aren't big enough. :rolleyes:

Even a single rucksack is too much. Looks like I will have to pack incredibly lightly which is tricky since I'm forced to stay over the night before due to their "we don't post race packs" policy.

Pretty standard in the US, 1 small clear plastic bag that is provided. Smaller events wont even have a drop bag facility,. Given what happened at Boston its understandable.

You don't need much at the end. light weight jersey and somewhere to put your car keys. Put everything else back in the car. The finish should have unlimited water, sports drinks and snacks.
 
Soldato
Joined
24 Sep 2013
Posts
2,658
Wow the bag drop facilities at the Brighton Marathon are pathetic compared to literally every other race I've done.

If you don't have a friend/family to hold your stuff you are pretty much screwed as you may only store stuff in their provided bags which aren't big enough. :rolleyes:

Even a single rucksack is too much. Looks like I will have to pack incredibly lightly which is tricky since I'm forced to stay over the night before due to their "we don't post race packs" policy.


Yeah I'm glad my wife is going to be with me, the drop bags are tiny.
And Brighton must be one of the only UK Marathons that don't post out race packs! friends of mine have done a few (one of then is doing Manchester and her pack came last week) it's super annoying. I'm driving down on the Friday to get my race pack, spending Saturday resting, then driving down again V-Early race morning
 
Soldato
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floating down the Liffey
Yeah I'm glad my wife is going to be with me, the drop bags are tiny.
And Brighton must be one of the only UK Marathons that don't post out race packs! friends of mine have done a few (one of then is doing Manchester and her pack came last week) it's super annoying. I'm driving down on the Friday to get my race pack, spending Saturday resting, then driving down again V-Early race morning

Having to collect the race pack in person has meant I need to go down on the Saturday. I'm suspect of Southern Rail's service so I can't risk getting the train Sunday morning and have opted for staying overnight in an Airbnb, therefore I need at least a small rucksack of stuff.

It's pretty poor I think considering even half marathons like Reading have decent bag drop facilities!
 
Associate
Joined
10 Oct 2006
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639
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Chichester
Newbie alert.

So I started running this year to improve my fitness for XC Mountain Biking, and I have been seduced by it. I love the feeling of being alone, it clears my mind and stymies my rage against the world.

Looking for advice on websites, forums, kit ( especially road shoes) etc so that I can move forward. I'm 41 so not expecting to get anywhere quickly but i'm a tryer! Got my 5k time down from 28 mins to 21.50 (Parkrun) and would like to go sub 20, 10k is currently 47-ish mins but I have only gone that distance for long runs at conversational pace. Should I be looking at 10k races at this pace or wait until i'm faster? Not sure I fancy a half yet, but don't have the desire to go for a full marathon at all, maybe a seniors triathlon?
 
Soldato
Joined
24 Sep 2013
Posts
2,658
Newbie alert.

So I started running this year to improve my fitness for XC Mountain Biking, and I have been seduced by it. I love the feeling of being alone, it clears my mind and stymies my rage against the world.

Looking for advice on websites, forums, kit ( especially road shoes) etc so that I can move forward. I'm 41 so not expecting to get anywhere quickly but i'm a tryer! Got my 5k time down from 28 mins to 21.50 (Parkrun) and would like to go sub 20, 10k is currently 47-ish mins but I have only gone that distance for long runs at conversational pace. Should I be looking at 10k races at this pace or wait until i'm faster? Not sure I fancy a half yet, but don't have the desire to go for a full marathon at all, maybe a seniors triathlon?

I'm not on any running forums, however I do find the "Run for fun" FB group very helpful and informative

btw I started this time last year at the same age as you are now. welcome aboard.
Personally once Brighton Marathon is done I'll probably be sticking to half marathon as my weekly run, it's a nice distance
 
Associate
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14 Feb 2007
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676
The bag drop at the Great South Run is just an unsupervised hall, its not great as its probably the most expensive run I've done (£42 I think) and no £2 discount for club runners.

Silverstone Half was really good, they send you a see through bag (Which was the only bag they accepted) you stick your race number on it, and drop it off in one of the pit garages. All organised by Army cadets, drop off and pick up al done in less than 30 seconds, pretty good for a race with 6000 people.

I don't mind picking up a race pack on the day at smaller events run by clubs, where they are trying to keep the entry price down. But it seems crazy at a big event like Brighton run by a commercial company.
 
Associate
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Location
Chichester
I'm not on any running forums, however I do find the "Run for fun" FB group very helpful and informative

btw I started this time last year at the same age as you are now. welcome aboard.
Personally once Brighton Marathon is done I'll probably be sticking to half marathon as my weekly run, it's a nice distance

Thanks, I will check it out. Trying to up the mileage slowly is difficult, done a bit too much hill work and felt the first signs of IT band becoming sore a few hours after running. Any tips for IT band strengthening other than slow it down?
 
Associate
Joined
14 Feb 2007
Posts
676
Newbie alert.

So I started running this year to improve my fitness for XC Mountain Biking, and I have been seduced by it. I love the feeling of being alone, it clears my mind and stymies my rage against the world.

Looking for advice on websites, forums, kit ( especially road shoes) etc so that I can move forward. I'm 41 so not expecting to get anywhere quickly but i'm a tryer! Got my 5k time down from 28 mins to 21.50 (Parkrun) and would like to go sub 20, 10k is currently 47-ish mins but I have only gone that distance for long runs at conversational pace. Should I be looking at 10k races at this pace or wait until i'm faster? Not sure I fancy a half yet, but don't have the desire to go for a full marathon at all, maybe a seniors triathlon?

With a 21:50 Parkrun you should be able to go under 45 for a 10k, (Mcmillan says just over 45) My Parkrun PB is 20:03 (hillyish course) and 10km 41:27 (flat) So I'm only dropping 1:30 over the distance. I'm hoping to go under 20 at a 5km along Bournemouth sea front (flat and straight) in a few weeks.

This tool is very useful and really accurate (for me anyway) and predicting race times based on PB's at different distances.

https://www.mcmillanrunning.com/

If you want to race 10k's I'd up your conversational pace 10km to 12 and then onto 16km (10mile) once your there you'll feel more confident about a half.
 
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Man of Honour
Joined
27 Sep 2004
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Glasgow
Having to collect the race pack in person has meant I need to go down on the Saturday. I'm suspect of Southern Rail's service so I can't risk getting the train Sunday morning and have opted for staying overnight in an Airbnb, therefore I need at least a small rucksack of stuff.

It's pretty poor I think considering even half marathons like Reading have decent bag drop facilities!

Can you ask the Airbnb host to leave the stuff with them? It's not ideal and does mean you'd have to go back but at least you wouldn't be quite so limited with the luggage.

Newbie alert.

So I started running this year to improve my fitness for XC Mountain Biking, and I have been seduced by it. I love the feeling of being alone, it clears my mind and stymies my rage against the world.

Looking for advice on websites, forums, kit ( especially road shoes) etc so that I can move forward. I'm 41 so not expecting to get anywhere quickly but i'm a tryer! Got my 5k time down from 28 mins to 21.50 (Parkrun) and would like to go sub 20, 10k is currently 47-ish mins but I have only gone that distance for long runs at conversational pace. Should I be looking at 10k races at this pace or wait until i'm faster? Not sure I fancy a half yet, but don't have the desire to go for a full marathon at all, maybe a seniors triathlon?

In terms of trainers it's very much a personal thing, it's worth going to a shop and getting a gait analysis but you might well find that some brands of shoes fit your feet better than others. There's usually sales on last seasons trainers so it doesn't have to be hugely expensive.

As for races it depends what you want to do and why - there's typically people from the quite speedy to the more sedate at pretty much any race you go to. I found joining a running club opened up lots more races for me and because there's a certain amount of feeling like you're in a team it can make it more enjoyable plus there are definite benefits to regular training. At 35+ you'll be in the veterans category so for many races you'll get an overall ranking against everyone and then also a position calculated against people in your age bracket.
 
Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
32,615
Having to collect the race pack in person has meant I need to go down on the Saturday. I'm suspect of Southern Rail's service so I can't risk getting the train Sunday morning and have opted for staying overnight in an Airbnb, therefore I need at least a small rucksack of stuff.

It's pretty poor I think considering even half marathons like Reading have decent bag drop facilities!


that is normal in the US, and typically no race day pick up allowed as well. $30 to get your pack shipped to you.
 
Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
32,615
Newbie alert.

So I started running this year to improve my fitness for XC Mountain Biking, and I have been seduced by it. I love the feeling of being alone, it clears my mind and stymies my rage against the world.

Looking for advice on websites, forums, kit ( especially road shoes) etc so that I can move forward. I'm 41 so not expecting to get anywhere quickly but i'm a tryer! Got my 5k time down from 28 mins to 21.50 (Parkrun) and would like to go sub 20, 10k is currently 47-ish mins but I have only gone that distance for long runs at conversational pace. Should I be looking at 10k races at this pace or wait until i'm faster? Not sure I fancy a half yet, but don't have the desire to go for a full marathon at all, maybe a seniors triathlon?

Race whatever you want to race really. Don't be put off by longer distances, they can be much more fun IMO and depending on your goals can be easier to succeed in and age is much less of a factor. For example, most winners of marathons are in their 40s and it is common for people in to their 60s to do well. I've never raced a 5K and have absolutely zero desire to do so, just far too short and intense and I just don't give 2 hoots about cutting a few seconds here or there. I have a 10K coming up that I intended to use as a time trial to elp set a pace for my Marathon but TBH, i don't really care enough to turn up at this stage. I hate those short distances and high intensities.
I've had a lot of fun runnign marathons but even so i am intending to move on to ultras. There is a very different colture and game plan involved. In an ultra you are not typically racing other people but sharing an experience. You don;t care about the time but finishing. . Common to see people helping each other along the way, compared to short distance road races where there all kinds of elbows and pushing involved.

Just a different perspective, longer distances work well for older and slower runners who want to have fun and not beat the clock by 3 seconds.
 
Associate
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10 Oct 2006
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639
Location
Chichester
Thanks for the replies, I must admit I have been caught by the parkrun experience / need to compete. In truth what I like doing is running through the local hills and forests, by myself and for myself, I have been using parkrun as a barometer of my general fitness / improvement. Think I may sign up for the Chichester (local) half marathon for experience having upped my conversational distance as mentioned. Will definitely look into Gait analysis as mentioned above, as slightly worried by IT band symptoms and not sure my Salomon Sense Mantra 3 are helping. Running club idea is interesting, always felt like a solo experience, not sure how well I would gel in a club?
 
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