Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

[hux]

Just wondering, when did your running really kick off.
I've changed to doing 8-9 miles whenever I'm up to it, and I've noticed I'm leaning out, and legs are starting to look great.

If only i can stop all of these aches and pains, but I guess that comes with the territory.

 

[neoboy]

Garmin dream is officially over too, was a misprice.

Think I'll actually attempt a 5k this Friday, worst case scenario is I'll just walk back to the car.

 

[Martynt74]

Just wondering, when did your running really kick off.
I've changed to doing 8-9 miles whenever I'm up to it, and I've noticed I'm leaning out, and legs are starting to look great.

If only i can stop all of these aches and pains, but I guess that comes with the territory.

I'll let you know when it happens

I would say i'm an anomaly when it comes to running. Most people get progressively better/faster/build endurance. However even after ~5 years it's still a struggle, i'll still have days where a 5k is tough or hills that no matter how many times i run up them it never seems to get easier, similarly i've never seemed to drop the weight/get as lean as other people do!

Same with pace. I've always bounced around 9-10 minute miles and found going any faster than 8min/miles to be really difficult. Whereas some people seem to get very progressive performance improvements.

It doesn't really bother me too much though. I love being out, and so don't mind taking walking breaks when i need to and generally just taking things slow. If it takes me 5 hours to run a marathon when other people with similar backgrounds can run it in 3:30 then so be it

 

[neoboy]

Probably because your nutrition at times sounds as "good" as mine

Weight swings probably don't help, then again who am I to talk, I would be happy to get anywhere near your current level.

Also did you say you get a Garmin discount? They sent me a 20% off voucher as apologoy and as it's a bit of a mess over there some people been able to stack discount codes, could give it a bash if it's easy for you to get.

 

[Martynt74]

Yeah i do, it varies depending on the model (20-40%), but the issue generally is that Garmin are always much higher priced than other websites so it's not always worthwhile.

Shoot me a trust with model numbers and i'll let you know prices

 

[hux]

Garmin dream is officially over too, was a misprice.

That's a bugger, mines still stuck in limbo, if mine gets cancelled I'll wait for the epix gen 2.

@Martynt74 Likewise my pace seems to bounce around, it is getting faster though that's more down to weight loss, as my vo2 max is always 48 no matter what I do.

I'm not dropping weight, but I'm leaning out fast, I know it's muscle but I want to get faster, hopefully if I carry on I'll stop building up the legs, and lose more weight.

I've just noticed that I'm running with the top and side of my thighs, and my lower legs seem to be along for the ride.
Trouble is at 5'10" I doubt I'll be getting much faster with my stride and cadence being close to my limit.

 

[neoboy]

That's a bigger, mines still stuck in limbo, of mine gets cancelled I'll wait for the epix gen 2.

Check your spam folder, my cancellation was there but when I check order status still showing as processing and charge came back as pending today in the credit card. Garmin's retail side of things clearly lacking, good thing they still appear to have solid products at least.

 

[hux]

Check your spam folder, my cancellation was there but when I check order status still showing as processing and charge came back as pending today in the credit card. Garmin's retail side of things clearly lacking, good thing they still appear to have solid products at least.

Nothing in spam, didn't think there was as it's a fairly new email address.
I have my first hm lined up in march, so could really do with a better watch by then.
Not to mention I want to record the new year.

I paid with PayPal pay in 3 instalments, so perhaps this helped?

Edit - Got cancelled as well, so did what any normal person would do
I went ahead and ordered from a competitor, a coros vertix 2.

 

[Martynt74]

I’ve heard good things about Coros so you should be good. I only went with Garmin as Vitality don’t recognise Coros/Suunto for their health benefits.

Fairly big day in the hills for me today. Was keeping an eye on the weather as the snow was ruining my plans of a few mountains in the Lakes. Came down to a lower level route in the South Lakes ( 20 miles/4000ft ascent) and a shorter hiller route in the Howgills in the Yorkshire Dales (15 miles and 4500ft).

Ended up in the Howgills as it was a short route that had lots of options to retire early if conditions were bad rather than a big circular loop.

I’ve never been up that high before running and clothing could’ve been better. Especially legs/gloves. The windchill was -20C and 30mph winds which absolutely battered me above 600m.

Made for a fairly unpleasant outing as I was constantly pelted with wind and hail at high altitudes, with frozen ice paths and then lower down was absolutely soaking boggy terrain from all the melt water. At one point I slipped and slid around 6 metres down a steep grassy path through a pile of sheep poo

Overall glad I did it. I’m sure it was a good workout for my legs. Downsides being the miserable conditions. I’m hoping to head back in better weather as at one point the clouds cleared and the views were stunning.

What’s mad is I was out for 4.5hrs (told you it was slow!) and yet only saw 2 other people!

Overall it gives me some concern for my Spain run. I was around 18 min/miles which isn’t far from the cut-off for the race. Elevation per mile was around 20% higher than the race so that’s certainly a factor. As was the amount of ice/slippery mud on the runnable sections that I won’t contend with in Spain but at a third of the distance I’d have hoped to be faster. hopefully I get a similar run in better weather where I can assess the situation better and drop down to marathon distance if I think I need to.

 

[hux]

I’ve heard good things about Coros so you should be good. I only went with Garmin as Vitality don’t recognise Coros/Suunto for their health benefits.

Didn't realize that, good job I don't have health insurance.
But get this, Amazon didn't make it aware the watch is coming from Italy, got a nice message from DHL amount for £110 in duty
You can figure out what I said, so I've ordered again from prime I might add and put the delivery on hold with DHL, I'll let all three figure out what to do.
On the upside I'm still getting the watch tomorrow, just means I'll have an even bigger dent in the account.
Off it in a bit, even if it's to run away this minor frustration.
Think I'll use the Adios 6 today, been a while since they've had an outing.

Edit - didn't realize that was you in the hiking thread. I have a half marathon lined up in march, so like you I'm very training focused.
Sounds like you had a rough day, that's why I didn't nip out yesterday, instead I'll have a longer run today.
From the looks of things you'll be fine, given the conditions you had to face yesterday.

 

[Martynt74]

Yeah. I cross post a bit as the more mountainy questions probably fit in better over there.

I agree. I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’ve only been doing some longer endurance stuff for 2 months since my ankle injury so have another 2 to go to build up. Plus the weather should be better around 20C so not unbearably hot and hopefully quite pleasant.

Plus there’s the obvious race day adrenaline!

 

[hux]

Oh course, and don't forget runners trots can always strike, I'm trying to figure things out there
Hopefully switching to a light, carb based strategy the day before will help clear me out, as normally I eat lots of veg, so usually end up having to run into the bushes in the first few miles.

Well I did 18k so not too bad, but even though it's raining, I'm very tempted to throw on the shakedry and pop out, just had some pre run noodles, before some shopping then out for doubles.

I'm really leaning out, but having to be very careful not to pick up any injuries now I'm only a couple months away.
Thrown down some silajit, fantastic alternative as I've hit the caffeine hard today.

Actually today timing was impressive, I didn't really go all out, and yet managed 5m/k even when holding back it was still 5.30.

Decided I'll give the Takumi Sen 8 a try for a hm, if it hurts too much then rc elite 2 will look after me.

 

[neoboy]

Probably another misprice but with that 20% code and portal @Martynt74 gave me, Garmin Instinct Solar coming up at £134 somehow.

Have done a bit of research on it and Forerunner 245 I was initially looking at and Instinct does seem to lack some advanced running features compared to Forerunner but obviously excels at hiking. Suppose from business point of view makes sense for Garmin to limit those as it would really become a baby Fenix 6 for a lot less.

Maybe worth me hanging fire after all to see what kind of a saving I can get on second hand Fenix 6 Pro with new model rumoured very soon. Actually saw one in the flesh at my local CEX, B grade for £300 but looked in great condition and there's someone offloading vouchers on the MM quite often for a further saving.

Also sleep tracking is quite important to me and Fitbit does a great job of it, but been reading that Garmin is pretty rubbish for it in general unless there's been improvements recently?

 

[hux]

Not that I've heard, but coros isn't much better neither, but at least they'll update the thing unlike Garmin.
Far as I'm concerned they can do one.

If anyone fancies a 20% code just give me a shout.

Edit - did a 31k double. Evening run was bleh, did it fine but it was wet, so couldn't wait to get home.
Surprised with this morning, averaged 5k/m but it didn't feel like it, slowed down and still did a 5.30k.

First time I've used the Adios 6 for a long while, managed 11 miles so I'm thinking Takumi Sen 8 would be amazing for a half marathon, seeing as they're lighter, more cushioned and you have those rods.
I'm slowly turning into a whippet, should be for all the running I've been doing.

Right where's me massage gun.....

 

[Martynt74]

Also sleep tracking is quite important to me and Fitbit does a great job of it, but been reading that Garmin is pretty rubbish for it in general unless there's been improvements recently?

Not sure if it differs on different models, but rubbish in what way? I've not noticed much issue, but then i don't really focus on it too much i'll admit.

I admit Garmin make it quite difficult to compare models just because of the sheer amount of options out there! £300 for a Fenix 6 Pro seems a decent price and based on Ebay, even if you changed your mind you're unlikely to lose anything if you sold it. From memory the 5X Plus was selling around £250 when the Fenix 6 came out and is still around £150 2 years later so they don't seem to depreciate much. I guess due to how capable they are and upgrades being minor. I know a lot of proper fell runners still use a Fenix 3!


Weird run for me last night. I'd woke up with the right ankle in pain and very stiff. Not sure if it was overworked from the icy terrain on Saturday and there were quite a few sketchy moments for both ankles, but they'd felt fine pretty much all of Saturday. My legs also felt fairly achey, especially my hips.

Left it to around 9pm when the wife went to bed and after hours of debating not going out and having extra rest. However once i was out i felt great, there was quite a bit of pace in the session (fast up/down hills and steady on flat) which helped keep things interesting. Bizarely my ankles both were fine throughout the run too, even when pounding them on a fairly steep descent.

Highlight is that i'm now the fastest fat person on a Strava segment when looking at the leaderboard based on weight

 

[neoboy]

I admit Garmin make it quite difficult to compare models just because of the sheer amount of options out there! £300 for a Fenix 6 Pro seems a decent price and based on Ebay, even if you changed your mind you're unlikely to lose anything if you sold it. From memory the 5X Plus was selling around £250 when the Fenix 6 came out and is still around £150 2 years later so they don't seem to depreciate much. I guess due to how capable they are and upgrades being minor. I know a lot of proper fell runners still use a Fenix 3!

Yeah I'm starting to do my own head in with trying to make a decision but not helping I never had a dedicated running/hiking watch like that so not even sure what's regarded as a must have feature(s) and it's pretty difficult with Garmin.

To take Instinct Solar as an example, it actually has a lot of new sensors compared to non solar model that are in Fenix 6 but doesn't do a lot of running stuff like even cheaper Forerunner 245 because it's gimped on software side so not to cannibalise too many sales from higher end watches.

As for sleep, there's that study from few years ago saying Garmin devices are bad at sleeping detection and recent Reddit posts don't seem that flattering either.

 

[Martynt74]

Yeah, so easy to get stuck in your own head with things like this.

I guess the only thing would be to post the missing features from the Instinct and the Forerunner, and i/others can try and help you work out whether they're important or not. Although i probably can't comment on any hiking features and how they might impact that side for you.

 

[LOAM]

So today was a mini milestone. I've ran every weekday since June 2021 and never missed a day. My weekly totals are at least 32km a week and I've made good progress every month with December finishing on 24 runs at 147.5km. Today though I did my first 10km since 2015 and finally feel like I can consider myself a runner again.

Ache a little lol, feels fantastic.

For reference above, I have a forerunner 245 if you have any questions. It's been a revelation to me so much so I bought the wife one, just so good.

 

[Bunko]

Great achievement, well done! I agree about the 245, it's what I have and it's such a brilliant watch. Rather then send it back I gave the 45 I bought when they were on offer to a family member and I wish I'd bought the 245 for them too. I didn't realise just how basic the 45 was that I was a little disappointed in the watch. They've never had a Garmin before though so are really enjoying it at the moment, might just upgrade it for them when their birthday comes round or something

 

[Martynt74]

For their uselessness in some situations i can't fault Garmin for warranty service.

My HR strap failed mid way through Saturdays run and has since failed to connect. I called them Monday, explained what happened and all i've done to try and fix it (disconnect from watch, tighten strap for better connection), and they sent me an email to place an order for the new HRM Pro on their website which has just shipped today.