Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

So I've recently started running again after not doing so for five years. I started out slowly doing 1 minute running and then 2 minutes walking. I built up to 4 minutes running 1 minute walking for 30 minutes. But now my knees are really sore!

I'm tempted to take a break lose half a stone over the next few weeks and then try again. Thoughts?

I didn't used to get sore knees
 
PaulStat said:
So I've recently started running again after not doing so for five years. I started out slowly doing 1 minute running and then 2 minutes walking. I built up to 4 minutes running 1 minute walking for 30 minutes. But now my knees are really sore!

I'm tempted to take a break lose half a stone over the next few weeks and then try again. Thoughts?

I didn't used to get sore knees
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Do you have new/fitted trainers that are correct for your gait? Additional weight will add to the stress on your joints but if you're using old trainers then that will probably exacerbate things as well. Have you tried running on softer surfaces?

If you're in any doubt though it's worth going to speak to your GP or possibly physiotherapist to get their opinion.
 
Try to make sure you're not heel striking. The difference between heel striking and forefoot/midfoot striking is huge in terms of the energy absorbed by your joints.
 
Trying to get back into running and went for a /cough/ massive 2 mile run on Sunday. My calves are still aching today :/ Given that it was a bit hilly and my cardio is a lot better than my leg's ability to take the punishment I'm hoping it's just something that will improve with more running rather than my gait/shoes being utterly guff. Does that sound about right to seasoned runners?
 
Your technique will improve over time, but there are a few things such as foot strike, posture and cadence that you should be keeping in mind. But yes, it does take a few days/weeks/months to get your body used to running, after which you should be able to go for a reasonably challenging run but feel fine by the end of the day. Stretches and foam rolling help, of course.

Personally i've been feeling like i'm in a bit of a rut lately. I was training a bit more and didn't see or feel much benefit so now i'm training less and obviously not seeing any improvement. Probably just because i moved away from Aberdeen where there was a nice 5km long perfectly flat esplanade that i got used to...
 
Yeah. I try to concentrate on technique and I don't think mine is awful but how painful things are today made me a little concerned. That said, I'm exaggerating a little :p
 
On a slight tangent, a question on strike. I feel like I naturally tend to midsole strike, but whilst I'm still beginning should I take any action to correct anything (i.e. start off with good habits) or just concentrate on getting miles under my belt?

I'm doing 5k runs (with some walking) with no aches/pains or anything afterwards - I just get too tired to do any more at the moment.
 
I'm of the school of thought that for the most part your body will sort out technique on its own as a result of the stresses of distance running. It's not like you have to spend £100 on a gait analysis right off the bat. Anyway, as far as i'm aware there is limited scientific evidence on the differences between midfoot and forefoot striking.
 
Hey guys, not posted for a while so thought I'd pitch in.

Since finishing the Manchester Marathon I took a couple of weeks 'off'. I say off, but it wasn't really, just a lot less mileage than I had previously been doing and a couple of park runs, to keep things ticking.

Been training properly for the Leeds 10k over the last 6 weeks and can feel things starting to come together. I have a question on being able to determine 'race pace'. I was at the track today and did a 2k warm up, steady jog, then 10k @ 'threshold pace' which was 4:15/km, followed by a 2k warm down.

It was a tough session, and we're still over two weeks out from the race so feeling good. I needed to do something like this to give me some confidence going into the race. It felt good and what I'd describe as 'comfortably hard'.

My question is, should this be the pace I start running at on race day? Or should I start faster/slower? I'm thinking with a week's taper and proper nutrition/hydration and the race day buzz I should be able to hold something like 4:10/km-4:15/km average pace for 10k.

Anyone else doing the Leeds 10k? Can't tempt you across the pennines IG? ;)
 
Fuggan said:
Hey guys, not posted for a while so thought I'd pitch in.

Since finishing the Manchester Marathon I took a couple of weeks 'off'. I say off, but it wasn't really, just a lot less mileage than I had previously been doing and a couple of park runs, to keep things ticking.

Been training properly for the Leeds 10k over the last 6 weeks and can feel things starting to come together. I have a question on being able to determine 'race pace'. I was at the track today and did a 2k warm up, steady jog, then 10k @ 'threshold pace' which was 4:15/km, followed by a 2k warm down.

It was a tough session, and we're still over two weeks out from the race so feeling good. I needed to do something like this to give me some confidence going into the race. It felt good and what I'd describe as 'comfortably hard'.

My question is, should this be the pace I start running at on race day? Or should I start faster/slower? I'm thinking with a week's taper and proper nutrition/hydration and the race day buzz I should be able to hold something like 4:10/km-4:15/km average pace for 10k.

Anyone else doing the Leeds 10k? Can't tempt you across the pennines IG? ;)
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I'd love to but it clashes with the We Love Manchester 10K this year unfortunately. :(

Back to the question though I have no idea as I could do with working on my race pacing as well to be honest instead of going out all guns blazing and then hoping I hold on to my pace and don't slow down to much!!

Ran my first 5K race of the summer season this evening in 19.27, a little off last years PB but as mentioned above my pacing was crap and I started fading and my head went after around 3K. Three more races in this series though, next in two weeks so back to the drawing board for me.

Have a time in mind for Leeds?
 
Completed my first 10k yesterday, after losing a large amount of weight in the last 18/24 months!

52 minutes, which was slightly slower than I would have wanted, but still, it seems like a good start! Less than 50 is my aim for this year
 
Well after several years of putting off the "I really need to do something about this weight I am piling on" I started back at the gym back in late April and even with a two week holiday in June I am amazed at my personal improvement. Now I am only treadmill running as I am finding that is easier for me to pace myself. I may venture outdoors when I am more comfortable. So my adventure has been great so far with going from barely being able to run for 30 seconds straight without thinking my lungs were going to come out of my throat but after a couple of weeks and not really seeing much improvement I was running a bit longer but not for much. I decided I need to look at what I was doing wrong first. Well I was trying to run at a pace that was far too fast so my heart rate went through the roof instantly so pulling this down to a more manageable rate meant I instantly saw big improvements. So as I listen to music while I ran I decided to run "track" to "track" this way I could focus on my running rather than looking at the time on the machine plus gave me a target to aim for to see if I could run one more track.

So with this new plan in place I slowly saw improvements and not trying to over do the running both in distance and in number of sessions. I decided to keep the sessions down to 2 a week and spread out, generally running on a Monday and Thursday. I wanted to keep the distance the same so no matter how long it took me I would always complete 5km (this was important to me to focus on the time it took me to complete this) . Trying to run as often as I could with periods of walking in between. So first few sessions were more walking than running and took around 40 minutes to complete. But as I went through the weeks the initial run I did was lasting longer and longer and went from one track to two tracks to three tracks until now I am able to do my initial run for 2km straight before I need to drop back to walking pace again. So it may not be the quickest improvement but it's improvement non the less. Now I'm aiming to get up to 3km by the end of the month and then try for 5km by the end of August.

Having got some new running shoes seems to have made the biggest improvement Nike zoom Pegasus 32's I had the 27's so they were probably past their prime. I tried a couple of different shoes at a specialist running store but wanted to stick with the nike's as they felt most comfortable. Seems I have a neutral running style so these feel perfect to me.

Now I have managed to get my 5km run/walk time down to about 32-35 minutes range I am aiming for that sub 30 minutes. Once I have that down I guess I either look to get my average pace up or increase distance. I think when I get an average 5:30-6 minute/km then I will probably look to up the distance. So I think realistically I should be able to complete 10km running without any walking by the end of the year. If I can do that then the next thing is to do that in under an hour I will be really pleased.

The big plus is the weight loss. Now I have changed my diet a little e.g. tried to cut out sugary drinks and reduce the amount of comfort food that I would eat. To date I have already lost close to 10kg since starting and feel I still have another 20kg to lose. I'm currently 102-104kg (I'm just under 6ft) depending on time of day/day of week I weight myself.

So thought I would share my experiences with those fellow beginners who are just finding an excuse to not start up running and although I won't be breaking any records I am so happy with my progress to date and hopefully this is something I will stick too as am really enjoying it. I just needed to give myself that push to start and I am so glad I did.

If any more experienced runners have some tips to help some starting out that would be great. Hopefully I am doing things the "right" way. At least it seems good for me at the minute.
 
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No advice really as you seem to be taking a good steady approach that works for you and enjoying it at the same time as well which is important as well for motivation.

I hope the progress continues. Best of luck. :)
 
IndigoGorilla said:
No advice really as you seem to be taking a good steady approach that works for you and enjoying it at the same time as well which is important as well for motivation.

I hope the progress continues. Best of luck. :)
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Thanks.

I tried years ago to get into running (I think I may even have an early post in here somewhere about me starting out) but hurt myself doing it so gave up.

I enjoyed the running but again I think I was doing it wrong like I did this time initially so being a bit older and hopefully wiser, I decided to take things easy and slow myself down so that I didn't hurt myself again and get frustrated with it and give up after a couple of weeks.

I managed to do my first back to back sessions today and although my legs are aching now I felt fine doing my first 2km initial run again so maybe it is a little soon to do back to back runs and probably should add a third run on a Wednesday and change my usual Thursday run to Friday. so I have at least one rest day between sessions.

Can't wait till I finally crack that 5k monkey that I can see in the distance. It's not quite as far as it was back in April. :p
 
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