Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

Fuggan said:
Aw man, that's a real shame, what have you done? Yeah it's a really popular race just because of its flat nature I suppose. Enjoyed it last time I ran it that's for sure.
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Yeah it is pan flat but the time of year helps as well, plenty big players hit that before properly hitting base through winter and xc. So you can gaurantee fast times if the weather holds for it. Gutted I can't make it down, but sort of in a bad way glad as well as I can't be bothered with the travelling haha.

I tore my hamstring, got back 2 weeks and I've been out for 6 weeks now with some ridiculous amount of back, pelvis, hip issues. Worst time I've even been through, seeing a chiro and physio regularly right now which is ruining me. Hopefully first "run" back on the weekend but I've pretty much written off 2014 now.... The joys of this running nonsense! :mad:
 
PermaBanned said:
Interesting. I should try to work out a proper schedule at some point, when i've figured out my full uni timetable. But yes, all my running is at more or less the same pace. Generally between 4 and 5.5'/km. Are hill reps running up and down a hill or running up and walking down or something?

In the mean time, my 10k time is slowly creeping down :)

http://www.strava.com/activities/194936055
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First of all well done on getting the time down some more. :)

And hill reps are simply find a hill, run up it and then walk/jog back down and repeat however many times you wish too.

For now I'd start on something mild, start with say 5 reps maybe with a walk down each time. Then build that up to say 10 reps possibly and jogging down (decreasing recovery time). Then after that I'd find a steeper/longer hill and take it from there.

Or you could find a fairly big hill to begin with but only run to a certain point to begin with and increase in a similar way with reps again and then add distance as you become stronger and more confident.
 
Some food for thought and a top tip for your hill reps guys.... Try to find a hill with a decent steady climb and a sharp gradient increase at the end of it. I call it a scorpion tail. About 130-180m in total length is absolutely spot on.

My way of thinking and doing hills is different from most, the benefits of doing hills for me comes in the ability to maintain pace on hills but push off the top and maintain flat pace with no slow down. This is very difficult as often people will push up a hill and then take a breather (even if only 5-10secs) at the top before settling back on their flat pace. If you can grind out the hill and then push off the top of an incline and maintain where most people rest, you will make awesome progress in your running. This advice is exceptionally good for cross country but just as applicable on the roads.

So the idea is to push hard up the hill as you would, but as you come to your steep incline towards the end of the rep, push on hard and whatever you do, NO stopping at the immediate top of the hill. Absolutely everyone does this and it's utterly stupid in all honesty. Always, always push off at the top of the hill and run 30-50m at a good pace on the flat at least. This transition back into flat speed pace is the most crucial part of the rep, not the grinding up the hill.

Also, another tip with hills is splitting your reps into sets. I hate it. But that's because it hurts. Like if you do 6 reps with jog down recoveries and then after the 6th take a slow walk down full recovery... going into your 7th and 8th your legs will feel awful, but this is great to go through this feeling as it acustoms you to feelings you will get racing. If you find a nice hill like I describe, maybe shoot for 2 sets of 3 reps and work it up to 2 sets of 5 and so on.

Hopefully helps some or triggers way of thinking for you about hills :)
 
I'm learning to climb really quite well, and it's not rep sets that are doing it for me, it's the getting out on long runs in the mountains - obviously not easy for everyone to get too but just spending a few hours running hilly terrain is better than setting. The problem I have for racing is that I can't descend. I don't have the guts for it, and it hurts my ankle, which despite recovering an awful lot of strength in still feels fragile as hell when pounding downwards.
 
platypus said:
I'm learning to climb really quite well, and it's not rep sets that are doing it for me, it's the getting out on long runs in the mountains - obviously not easy for everyone to get too but just spending a few hours running hilly terrain is better than setting. The problem I have for racing is that I can't descend. I don't have the guts for it, and it hurts my ankle, which despite recovering an awful lot of strength in still feels fragile as hell when pounding downwards.
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My Sunday AM runs of 16/17miles used to consist of 1500feet climbing between miles 4/5. That was a grind. We used to run that week in/week out thinking it was great for winter base and xc training but the reality is that it's not a good habit to get into. Long runs are just like any other session and should be mixed up. Grinding up climbs at 9 minute miles constantly was useless so swapped it up with a good mix and would do that route once or twice a month only and keep the rest of the long runs at same distance but either undulating routes or flat routes to keep the leg turnover good. Don't fall into the trap that long runs are all meant to be slow, everyone calling them LSR's, it's silly. It should be mixed up like any other workout.

I'm like you, downhill I am shocking. To the point I am renowned for it! I bailed big time landing on my face one year in our district champs xc race going down a steep hill after completing 95% of a very tough course and because I couldn't finish, it handed another team a medal. The joys of hills, I am not a fan haha.
 
I keep getting a burning sensation after about the half hour mark in my Soleus muscles just below my calves. I think I must be doing something wrong as it occurs in both legs. I do warm up and stretch beforehand but that's not really helping!
 
Schoolboy error for Saturday's LSR, sorry 3 hour run ;) - no plasters to protect against runners nipple. Got home to notice big blood stains on my (white) t-shirt. Doh.
 
PB'd again today. :D

Half Marathon is now 1.31.36 down from 1.38.23.

Pretty happy with how my running has gone this year.

5K was 21.12 now 18.57
10K was 46.07 now 40.43
HM was 1.38.23 now 1.31.36

That said I do feel based on my 5K that my 10K and HM times could be better but have at least one more race left at each distance this year before XC starts.
 
IndigoGorilla said:
PB'd again today. :D

Half Marathon is now 1.31.36 down from 1.38.23.

Pretty happy with how my running has gone this year.

5K was 21.12 now 18.57
10K was 46.07 now 40.43
HM was 1.38.23 now 1.31.36

That said I do feel based on my 5K that my 10K and HM times could be better but have at least one more race left at each distance this year before XC starts.
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Top work man, well done.

From that 5K time you are correct, the drop down to your 10k and HM equivelants is not superb. You certainly should be running under 40mins for 10k. But your PB's shown don't of course show course types, when they were set in relation to training etc so I am very sure it's just a case of when they were run and course versus your ability based off that 5k.

But based on the info you know exactly what you should be shooting for with your training which is the main reason of keeping note of and comparing these PB's over different distances ;) 4-6 mile tempo's should be your best friend this winter ;)
 
IndigoGorilla said:
PB'd again today. :D

Half Marathon is now 1.31.36 down from 1.38.23.

Pretty happy with how my running has gone this year.

5K was 21.12 now 18.57
10K was 46.07 now 40.43
HM was 1.38.23 now 1.31.36

That said I do feel based on my 5K that my 10K and HM times could be better but have at least one more race left at each distance this year before XC starts.
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Fantastic effort, yet again!
 
Cheers all.

xdcx, what lets me down the most is my lack of a long run. Haven't ran anything more than 10 this year other than the two HM's I've done and although I can get away with this for a 5K it's definitely showing when I race the longer distances.

Tempo runs I do already but only for 3-5 miles at the moment so will stick another mile or so on these just to develop a little more and joining the local fell running club over winter and will be taking part in the local XC races if they don't clash with work too much.
 
IndigoGorilla said:
Cheers all.

xdcx, what lets me down the most is my lack of a long run. Haven't ran anything more than 10 this year other than the two HM's I've done and although I can get away with this for a 5K it's definitely showing when I race the longer distances.

Tempo runs I do already but only for 3-5 miles at the moment so will stick another mile or so on these just to develop a little more and joining the local fell running club over winter and will be taking part in the local XC races if they don't clash with work too much.
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OK, I think top priority is to build your long run to 14/15miles consistently, that alone with a nice base over winter you will be suprised at what it does for your 10k/HM time.

If you working towards a early year 10k I wouldn't look to go much over 5 mile tempo's. If you are targetting HM's then build your tempo's up but do this real slowly over the winter so you are doing your 8/9mile tempo's January/Feb towards a very early spring HM. But as you see totally depends what you working towards next year.
 
Completed my first 10k after starting running about 3 weeks ago http://www.strava.com/activities/198326733. Quite happy to keep it all in the 8 min mile range seeing as my fastest on shorter runs has only been a 7:15/mile.

Any tips on stretches? My legs are fine but I find at the start my lower back aches, it goes off but then the last 1/2 mile of this run it came back pretty bad, but stopped as soon as I stopped running.
 
So this year I've done..

The Sport relief mile...a Spartan Race (7.5km and an absolute killer) and a Rainbow Run (5km with people chucking powder paints over you..)

Takes me about 50 minutes to run/plod/walk 5k, but I'm doing it. I'm pushing 20st still though! Need to get out more regularly as so far I've probably averaged like 1 run every 2/3 weeks this year, when really i wanted it to be 2/3 runs every 1 week, ha!

I've also been diagnosed and have really suffered with chronic gout this year which put me out of action for a few months. But I'll get stronger.
 
Just received my place for the SaintéLyon on December the 6th (it'll be cold!). 75km, with 2000m, +/- from Saint Etienne to Lyon, kicking off at midnight. A nice and steady pace should see me in Lyon to catch dawn and a hearty breakfast.
 
I've got 3 effective weeks to train for a half and the furthest I've run so far is 14.6k. I'm a little nervous, it probably won't be pretty but I'll still complete it. I'm focussing on stretches to help with the knee, on the last LR my left knee was hurting after 10k and in agony the remainder of the day, after that...absolutely fine.
 
Platypus have you run on what's really a 'night shift' before? What sort of sleeping pattern are you going to do? Whenever I worked shifts years ago, I hit the 'tired' wall around 3am
 
I've run at night, but not on a night schedule. I'll be limited to what I can do because of working the week before but I plan to run overnight every weekend in November.
 
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