Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

Longest long run so far, 15.1 miles in just over 2 hrs. Was meant to be a fast finish but at mile 12 my legs were just gone and it was a struggle to keep at easy pace. However I did push about half way round and put in 4 miles at race pace.

I don't think I'll be walking for the next few days :(
 
King85 said:
For anyone that has gels on long runs I just tried the Aldi lemon flavour and it was delicious!
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What is the electrolyte ratio, and die sit have caffine?

I really like the gu gels TBh so don't want to switch up. I find the texture better than most, the flavors quite nice, easily digestible.
 
I find with gels it's best to stick to what you find palatable and don't cause any stomach issues.

Went out for a 10 mile run this morning, first run over 6 miles in almost 2 months (need my mojo back) and felt decent enough until I got to 8 miles and could feel my legs tiring a little. Another next week and then hoping I can get into some kind of routine with it again.

And good luck to anyone who entered the ballot for London too, the magazine should be coming through the post from the 1st October onwards.
 
Did a second 10k on saturday, knocked a min and a half off so down to 52:39.

Not really sure what my next goal is... I suppose just keep doing these and knocking the times down? Annoyingly the evenings are drawing in so I won't be able to run in the park so often, I don't like running on roads :(
 
Hmm this talk of gels has my interest. Do many of you use them on long runs? For those that do, how often would you take them on say a 1/2 distance?
 
Hxc said:
Did a second 10k on saturday, knocked a min and a half off so down to 52:39.

Not really sure what my next goal is... I suppose just keep doing these and knocking the times down? Annoyingly the evenings are drawing in so I won't be able to run in the park so often, I don't like running on roads :(
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If you're happy continuing with the 10K option then I'd stick at that and see where you can get to. Or you might want to consider running a half marathon as a long term goal possibly. Or if you have Saturday mornings free you could give ParkRun a go and see about getting your 5K time down instead.

The evenings are drawing in and as much as the roads arn't as nice as the park it's still nice to get the miles in once you get use to how unscenic the roads can be. I actually quite enjoy my more boring routes sometimes as I tend to get lost in my own headspace instead of looking around as much.
 
Itchytrigg said:
Hmm this talk of gels has my interest. Do many of you use them on long runs? For those that do, how often would you take them on say a 1/2 distance?
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I don't use them myself on long runs until my longs runs are around 14-15 miles+. Usually take two with me and would use them at around 7 miles and 10 roughly to help me with the second half of the run. When the miles get to around 20+ I'll have 3/4 with me but generally just use the 3.

That would be for long training runs though and when racing I usually take 4 for a half marathon (but usually use 3) and 8 with me on a full marathon (but usually use 6/7). I tend to space mine around distance rather than time and have one every 3/4 miles but running at least the first 7 miles without one.
 
IndigoGorilla said:
I don't use them myself on long runs until my longs runs are around 14-15 miles+. Usually take two with me and would use them at around 7 miles and 10 roughly to help me with the second half of the run. When the miles get to around 20+ I'll have 3/4 with me but generally just use the 3.

That would be for long training runs though and when racing I usually take 4 for a half marathon (but usually use 3) and 8 with me on a full marathon (but usually use 6/7). I tend to space mine around distance rather than time and have one every 3/4 miles but running at least the first 7 miles without one.
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Thanks for the tips, only just hitting 15 miles in my long run so will give one a try around half distance to see if it helps in those closing couple of miles.
 
IndigoGorilla said:
If you're happy continuing with the 10K option then I'd stick at that and see where you can get to. Or you might want to consider running a half marathon as a long term goal possibly. Or if you have Saturday mornings free you could give ParkRun a go and see about getting your 5K time down instead.

The evenings are drawing in and as much as the roads arn't as nice as the park it's still nice to get the miles in once you get use to how unscenic the roads can be. I actually quite enjoy my more boring routes sometimes as I tend to get lost in my own headspace instead of looking around as much.
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Went out yesteday and struggled with a 5k at relatively slow pace (25:37 vs pb of 24:28). No idea why, just a bad day. Going out again a bit later when it's cooler, don't think I like the heat!

I think a half might be my long term goal, just the whole running on roads which is the issue as it kills my shins compared with grass. Not sure whether to sign up for the gym so I can slog out some miles on the tredmill in the winter, the lack of scenery isn't an issue for me in the slightest.
 
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Itchytrigg said:
Hmm this talk of gels has my interest. Do many of you use them on long runs? For those that do, how often would you take them on say a 1/2 distance?
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I use them, they aren't miracles but it is nice to have something to look forward to.
The standard advice is to take one every 45 minutes, which is somewhere around 5 to 6 mils for me depending on the run.


I did a HM last month and took one at mile 4.5 and another mile 9, with 1 taken 5 minutes before the race. That is shorter than I would normally do but I wanted them reasonable spaced and have one fully effective for the last 2 miles. They take up to 15 minute to fully take effect, so that is about 2 miles.


When training I don't bother with them uo to 12 miles, on a 15 mile run I will usually take 1 mile 7 but if I think I need more of a boost I will do mile 5 and mile 10.
 
had a very painful 15.5m run yesterday, no doubt cumulative fatigue from 20 miles on Friday. I had Saturday as a rest day and did 10 miles Sunday with only minor leg pain. Monday woke up and legs were in poor condition, the first mile already hurt. The next couple things felt better as I warmed up but by mile 6 I was tired already (i'm normally good until around mile 9 or 10), from mile 10 it was an enormous mental push and i was wondering about short cuts or finishing the run early but persevered.

Was finished I started my typically 1 miles cool off walk but my legs instantly froze and refused to move, first time I really hot an actual wall and could basically not walk.

Woke up a little better today and did a very slow 6 miles on a treadmill and then some weights., that seemd to ease the muscles up.

Hopefully I can get in a quality interval day tomorrow. Last Week's interval day was epic. I did 1 more 0.5mile lap and still smashed my average time by over 10 seconds a lap. I thought I was running slow the rest of the training (total 12.8 miles) but it turned out really fast despite trying to keep my heart rate below 165. Turns out I was running a 7:45 mile pace for most of a half marathon with 7 miles over hilly and rough terrain, completely smashing my half marathon race pace form last month (8.0 min/mile).
 
Thanks DP, I've used them before on the bike every 30 mins and found they help push out the point where you bonk, don't stop you're legs burning but give that little bit you need to keep turning. For some reason I just hadn't considered using them for running.

So far in long runs I find 1hr20-30 is around the point my legs are starting to want to quit so I'll test out at about an hour in to see if it helps.

Hope you're legs ease up, I found today's easy run a little bit of a push keeping up pace but I felt so bad on Sunday after my long run of 15 miles, felt like my sinuses were blocked, I didn't eat very well the rest or the day or yesterday which I'm sure didnt help recovery.

I'll be out in the US next week so will be mostly confined to the treadmill, I'm hoping my hotel is better than last time which was next to the pool and about 30c making for a very unpleasant experience considering I'm not a big ran of treadmills to start with.
 
Felt my achilles tonight at the track, decided to cut my session short. Compression socks, ibuprofen and bed. Hope I wake up feeling looser than it does now! :(
 
Still having trouble with what i'm calling a shin splint on my left leg, need to take some time off for it to hopefully sort itself out. Shame because the half marathon i was preparing for is at the start of November :(
 
Yesterdays intervals were nasty, it was like running in a suana - 25*C and 100% humidity as tropical mosture was pumped in from the gulf of mexico. Within 10 minutes I was drenched in sweat and gasping for air.

Everything was very slow and hurt. Ended up with blisters on my feet due to how wet my socks got from sweat.

12.5 miles in 1Hr 40.



Different story today, much cooler but moderate rain. Funny that despite the rain I finished so much direr. A regular fun but the coolness helped push me a little faster than I should have, 8.7 miles in 1hr 10.


Hopefulyl I didn't over do it as I have 20 miles to do tomorrow!
 
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