Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

Thanks guys, super pleased with my time and the race, despite some minor pace hiccup early on I don't think I left any time on the course and wouldn't change things too much. My body is pretty beat up though.

A face of determination, and suffering!
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Those are half marathon stragglers in the background, and they started 15 minutes before us!
A friend doing the half said she got worried someone was seriously hurt when she heard all these sirens and saw flashing lights. Turns out it was the Marathon winner who covered twice the distance in 15 minute less time
 
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D.P. said:
3:27:27, absolutely exhausted but extremely happy with time. Pacer was a nightmare so ditched him but perhaps too late. Very hard work from mile 16 with the main hills and very strong head wind.

Cramped badly at finish line, legs shot.
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Fantastic time. Yes, there is little anyone can do to prepare you for the last few miles - if you are putting everything into it, it just plain hurts! Well done.
 
Thanks again everyone. I'm super happy to be able to consider myself a Marathoner, to have achieved an excellent time that i just couldn't imagine achieving even 2 months ago, to have run through all the pain to crush the finish, to have run a fairly optimal race, made the wise decision to ignore the pacer, to have run to my limit, and made all that training worthwhile.

Pace breakdown is here.
http://results.xacte.com/?id=1108&tagcode=2088_2629

For the course it is fairly optimal I think. the start is a little too fast because the pacer was a fool and went out at around 7:40 pace or faster. However, the first 10 miles is definitely the easiest of the course. Miles 10-18 are the hardest with most of the hills and on this day a strong head win form mile 16->18 going up the longest hill, so 10 seconds a mile slower is about right. Miles 18 to finish are mostly flat with a few rolls an a steep downhill finish, so digging deep and running a little fast is fairly optimal here.

First half was 1:43:33, second half 1:43:54 so I'm very happy with the pacing. If it wasn't for the pacer I would be about 30-45 seconds slower on the first half and who know how much faster in the second but not massively, 50-80 seconds maybe.
 
Just went to get some actual advice on shoes, apparently i overpronate a little and walked away with some Asics GT-2000 3s. Very happy with how they feel just immediately, a lot more comfortable than anything else i've run in. Just got to break them in now, fun...
 
Do any of you know where I can buy some knee length (or almost knee length) running shorts?

I've been looking online for a new pair of shorts but everything I've come across seems to be too short (mid-thigh length). I find that most shorts tend to ride-up a lot whilst I'm running unless they come down to my knee, or just above.
 
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DOMS has basically gone, don't think I have much strength in my legs but dieing to go for a run. Unfortunately my foot is still too painful to even walk so i have had 2 short swims 2 short bike rides.
 
js58426 said:
Do any of you know where I can buy some knee length (or almost knee length) running shorts?

I've been looking online for a new pair of shorts but everything I've come across seems to be too short (mid-thigh length). I find that most shorts tend to ride-up a lot whilst I'm running unless they come down to my knee, or just above.
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Take a look at underarmour. I can't spot a link for the exact pair I have as I picked up when in the US a few months back, but when standing they come to about 1/2 inch above my knee.

Sidenote, I really should expand my brand horizons as I'm now a running underarmour advert!
 
js58426 said:
Do any of you know where I can buy some knee length (or almost knee length) running shorts?

I've been looking online for a new pair of shorts but everything I've come across seems to be too short (mid-thigh length). I find that most shorts tend to ride-up a lot whilst I'm running unless they come down to my knee, or just above.
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I'd suggest just popping into your local sports shop and seeing what they've got unless there's a reason you have to shop online - that way you'll get to try them out first as well.

Sports Direct are pretty cheap so I've ended up with quite a bit of Karrimor running gear and while I've got no doubt there's a lot better out there it's also perfectly functional - they do seem to do some longer shorts but I don't know if they'll be exactly what you want. Another reason I quite often go to Sports Direct is because they do lots of other sports as well so I've got some basketball or training shorts that I sometimes use instead, the difference between the "correct" shorts and other sports shorts isn't enough to worry me on shorter runs anyway.

On another topic this morning was a pretty horrible day for running with the rain/snow and wind plus my local Parkrun is closed but I went to another one so I've now joined the 50 club. It's not a particularly great time but despite that I'm really quite happy with that milestone.
 
Itchytrigg said:
Take a look at underarmour. I can't spot a link for the exact pair I have as I picked up when in the US a few months back, but when standing they come to about 1/2 inch above my knee.
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semi-pro waster said:
I'd suggest just popping into your local sports shop and seeing what they've got unless there's a reason you have to shop online - that way you'll get to try them out first as well.

Sports Direct are pretty cheap
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Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give Sports Direct a look.
 
daveski said:
Smashed my 10k PB on Sunday with a time of 41:07.

Just need to get that under 40 now.
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That is damn fast!

There is a popular 10K held here in march that I might sign up for. The distance doesn't interest me but there aren't many local races of any type so will be convenient and serve as a good training test to set workout paces.
 
GiraffePencils said:
good time, keep it up :D


I went for my run today and got a pain in my foot that got so bad I needed to walk :/
it's on the outside of my foot and goes away completely when I stop moving, outside of my foot in front of the heel.

Anyone had anything like this?
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Could be a number f things, i am suffering form a liekly stress fracture in my left foot and the pain is mostly on the outside. I had a stress fracture a few years ago and couldn't run a few months. During my base building this yea I started to get a hint the same pain so backed off a lot and prevented any injury.

i would take a couple of rest days (cross training on bike, swimming etc) then plan on a test run going very slowly. the second you feel anything in your foot then stop and walk home. This is beast done on a treadmill so you don't have to walk far. Don't have a distance in mind, you might have to stop after 0.5 miles. If all goes well then do some more easy runs slowly building distance back to normal, keep the running slow and try to pay attention to your feet.
 
D.P. said:
Could be a number f things, i am suffering form a liekly stress fracture in my left foot and the pain is mostly on the outside. I had a stress fracture a few years ago and couldn't run a few months. During my base building this yea I started to get a hint the same pain so backed off a lot and prevented any injury.

i would take a couple of rest days (cross training on bike, swimming etc) then plan on a test run going very slowly. the second you feel anything in your foot then stop and walk home. This is beast done on a treadmill so you don't have to walk far. Don't have a distance in mind, you might have to stop after 0.5 miles. If all goes well then do some more easy runs slowly building distance back to normal, keep the running slow and try to pay attention to your feet.
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stress fracture sounds not nice.
I'm assuming it's a good sign that the pain stops almost instantly when I stopped?

I planned to not run till monday, I can get on the treadmill then and i'll see how taking it slow does me.

I've signed up for the Edinburgh marathon next year, would rather I prevent any injury rather than ruin my chances for that
 
GiraffePencils said:
stress fracture sounds not nice.
I'm assuming it's a good sign that the pain stops almost instantly when I stopped?

I planned to not run till monday, I can get on the treadmill then and i'll see how taking it slow does me.

I've signed up for the Edinburgh marathon next year, would rather I prevent any injury rather than ruin my chances for that
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I'm thinking my foot is not so bad luckily. The last 2 days I could walk around a supermarket without pain every step. in fact, it feels absolutely fine when walking a short distance now. So I think it was either very minor or something more like a bruised bone which is self-healing. Not fun things to have because they really mess up training and I don;t think the bone ever re-heals as strong as it was before which is why I was getting pain in the spring from building up my miles.


No pain when not running is certainly better than constant pain but it doesn't preclude the possibility of something more sinister. My foot was fine when sitting down, even the day after my marathon but the second any weight was added it hurt.


I wouldn't worry, almost certainly what you have is completely minor and will disappear with a little rest. its just that small risk that it is soemthign and then if you go out on a big long run or track work you will actually injure yourself and have a big set back. Always better to be conservative with these things IMO. Even sitting on your backside for a week is actually beneficial to your training if you are in general training hard, gives time for the rest of your muscles and joints to heal.
 
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