Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

Associate
Joined
17 Oct 2002
Posts
1,399
Location
Congleton, Cheshire
Congleton is sometimes that sort of width. It also has much wider sections which makes you kind of adjust your passing to sensible places.

You do have to watch out for old ladies and dogs chatting in the middle of the path though!
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Feb 2004
Posts
21,403
Location
Hondon de las Nieves, Spain
Yeah, i sometimes find it amazing people can get good times on a parkrun. My local one has had to adjust it's start/finish position to cope with the numbers it's had in the last few weeks.

Think they hit around 590 and with it being a 3 lap course it can get quite congested. Luckily it's fairly wide in most places.

Suppose if you want a PB you really need to position yourself at the front as if you're near the back then you're a good few minutes down straight away given it's timed from the "start" and not as you cross the start line.

I very rarely bother with it though these days (i say "these days", i think i've only done 4 in my life!)
 
Associate
Joined
17 Oct 2002
Posts
1,399
Location
Congleton, Cheshire
I normally know if I am doing ok by looking at where the fast guys are. If they are finishing as I pass the finish turn for the second time, then I will be in the 30 min bracket.

I was 205th out of 316 runners (Obviously a smaller event than yours :)) I even managed to get 11th in my age group! (a Full 10 mins behind 1st though!)
 
Soldato
Joined
14 Sep 2007
Posts
3,642
Location
West Yorkshire, England
So today was a good day. I finally broke into the 22:30's and got a time of 22:27. New PB and couldn't be happier. My next aim is 22:15. I came 65th out of 685.

I did get a side stitch with half a lap to go which slowed me down slightly, only enough for two guys to overtake me. I was so close to calling it a day and walking the rest of the way. I tried hard to concentrate on my breathing (3 in, 2 out) and it went away pretty quickly. Them two places I lost was quickly regained.

Another big difference for me today was the location of the 23 Pacer. For once I wasn't playing catchup and found myself ahead of him from the get go. I just didn't want to let him gain on me today if I could help it. Sprint finish saved me another place and a good few seconds!
 
Associate
Joined
5 Nov 2004
Posts
789
Location
Herts
Fantastic result, well done!

I'm well into London training now. Yesterday's long run work out was a tough one: one mile warm up, 8 miles at marathon pace, one mile easy, a further 6 miles marathon pace and then cool down.

Nice relaxing off road recovery run today :cool:
 

SPG

SPG

Soldato
Joined
28 Jul 2010
Posts
10,264
We do not tend to get pacer`s at my local park run, Its getting a sorry state of affairs as when planning long weekends etc, i check if a park run is on :)
 
Associate
Joined
14 Feb 2007
Posts
679
Yeah, i sometimes find it amazing people can get good times on a parkrun. My local one has had to adjust it's start/finish position to cope with the numbers it's had in the last few weeks.

Think they hit around 590 and with it being a 3 lap course it can get quite congested. Luckily it's fairly wide in most places.

Suppose if you want a PB you really need to position yourself at the front as if you're near the back then you're a good few minutes down straight away given it's timed from the "start" and not as you cross the start line.

I very rarely bother with it though these days (i say "these days", i think i've only done 4 in my life!)


Southampton is stupid now. It's been 1300+ people since Christmas. Peaked at 1490. They've now got an extended quad funnel. Its not a multi lap so congestion is normally ok after the first km luckily. If you 25+ mins you have to wait about 10 mins once you finished to get through the funnel and scanning.

Next week I'm going to one in Wales with less than 200 so that'll be nice. Then in a few weeks I'm going to Bushy Park so that'll be even busier.
 
Associate
Joined
31 Jan 2018
Posts
541
Location
Bury St Edmunds
im Lucky that I have 3 to chose from as there all 10 miles of so from the house.

Two you have to pay to park but they are nice the local council charging to much for parking now, but one of them is starting to get too popular and there are points it bunches up and have to walk in places.
The 3rd is nice when it’s dry for pbs as it’s flat and with an average of 40ish runners no pinch points on the course but the last couple of months it’s been a mud bath even with trail shoes so have slowed down and when I finish my feet weigh a ton and legs are caked in mud.
 
Associate
Joined
19 Feb 2013
Posts
100
Location
Essex
I've done a couple of runs longer than my usual over the past few weeks and for the 2-3 days afterwards I'm completely exhausted.
Are there some particular foods or drinks that can be had afterwards to try and relieve this a bit?!
 
Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
32,618
I've done a couple of runs longer than my usual over the past few weeks and for the 2-3 days afterwards I'm completely exhausted.
Are there some particular foods or drinks that can be had afterwards to try and relieve this a bit?!

eat some carbs and a little protein soon afterwards. A piece of fruit ,handful of nuts and a glass of milk/milky coffee,. or a smoothie . Drink plenty of water.

otherwise just a gold night sleep.
 

SPG

SPG

Soldato
Joined
28 Jul 2010
Posts
10,264
I've done a couple of runs longer than my usual over the past few weeks and for the 2-3 days afterwards I'm completely exhausted.
Are there some particular foods or drinks that can be had afterwards to try and relieve this a bit?!

https://www.ors.uk.com/

You can make your own very easily though, plenty of them on the web. Its more important than food to replenish which can be done at any time after exercise.
 

SPG

SPG

Soldato
Joined
28 Jul 2010
Posts
10,264
just convenience really, i use the wiggle ones as they are a bit cheaper and just use half a tablet during exercise, i am proper sweat monster and it seems to help me a lot especially with indoor training.
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Feb 2004
Posts
21,403
Location
Hondon de las Nieves, Spain
Amazon can be so annoying with prices. I managed to pick these up for £8 the other day and now they're back at £16. I should've bought a lot more!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07CZ5M78T/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I was away last week for 5 days in Amsterdam/Utrecht. My ankle seems to have been really displeased with being up and walking all day every day. It's not really painful just a weird niggle. Can't decide whether to keep running on it gently or resting completely since i have a 21 mile run in the Lake District next weekend.

Also i keep getting in my head about wanting the new Garmin Fenix 6, i definitely don't need it, and there's a lot of things it can't do that my Apple Watch does do, but i'd love the mapping function, especially with wanting to get off road a lot more in the summer months.
 
Associate
Joined
17 Oct 2002
Posts
1,399
Location
Congleton, Cheshire
Also i keep getting in my head about wanting the new Garmin Fenix 6, i definitely don't need it, and there's a lot of things it can't do that my Apple Watch does do, but i'd love the mapping function, especially with wanting to get off road a lot more in the summer months.

I went through that back in November. In the end, I decided to leave it, as the current one does everything I need it to and I would only be buying it to have a new toy! Bought a camera instead :)
 
Associate
Joined
7 Nov 2011
Posts
1,411
So W4D2 complete after failing earlier in the week. I've calculated that I ran the first half in around 8.5-9 min miles which I think is way to quick. This causes pain in my legs (not splints... Had those before). Am I right in thinking I should be a lot slower than this somewhere around 11-12 min miles?
 
Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
32,618
So W4D2 complete after failing earlier in the week. I've calculated that I ran the first half in around 8.5-9 min miles which I think is way to quick. This causes pain in my legs (not splints... Had those before). Am I right in thinking I should be a lot slower than this somewhere around 11-12 min miles?
If you think you are running too fast you almost certainly are.

You pace will be based on your fitness, so you should run based on heart rate. A good rule of thumb is you should be able to have a conversation when running
 
Associate
Joined
7 Nov 2011
Posts
1,411
If you think you are running too fast you almost certainly are.

You pace will be based on your fitness, so you should run based on heart rate. A good rule of thumb is you should be able to have a conversation when running

Thank you - I feel fine at those quicker paces from a cardiovascular point of view. That's not to say I could maintain that pace for 5km. However, my body just isn't up to it. I'm going to try really slow tomorrow and see if that improves things.
 
Back
Top Bottom