Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

D.P. said:
There is no definitive here but I would work on creasing your cadence to about 180, but without worrying to much as it is an approximation and will naturally vary between people a little. while adjusting your cadence totally ignore your pace and run everything very easy until you have fully adjusted. You will be using different muscles and your body will be subjected to different impact forces. That means zone 2 running (which in general should be where most of your running is).

Zone4 is for Lactate threshold runs. There is some debate on the effectiveness of these runs, but either way running here should be limited. Zone 5 could be more useful training and of course should also be limited.
Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks D.P - I'm going again on Wednesday so I'll try a higher cadence at an easy pace.
 
Started running again, not been for a run in around a year and a half. Last time i went running i was playing rugby and playing squash.. now i do nothing.
So went out on a route near my house and really struggled, i could run around 5miles without issues.
I have been doing a 2.7 mile route with a couple of steep hills and struggling a lot, do about 20 minutes running and 10 minutes walking.
Looking http://www.halhigdon.com/training/50933/5K-Novice-Training-Program it starts of lower which I'm going to do.
Started strengthening my calves as i can feel them struggling.

Since new years day i've cut out all the **** food, stuck to healthy meals without going OTT. Feel much healthier already. One gripe i have with running is taking my phone for strava and music. think i might buy one of the cheaper garmins and a really small MP3 player or something similar.
 
always4lora said:
Started running again, not been for a run in around a year and a half. Last time i went running i was playing rugby and playing squash.. now i do nothing.
So went out on a route near my house and really struggled, i could run around 5miles without issues.
I have been doing a 2.7 mile route with a couple of steep hills and struggling a lot, do about 20 minutes running and 10 minutes walking.
Looking http://www.halhigdon.com/training/50933/5K-Novice-Training-Program it starts of lower which I'm going to do.
Started strengthening my calves as i can feel them struggling.

Since new years day i've cut out all the **** food, stuck to healthy meals without going OTT. Feel much healthier already. One gripe i have with running is taking my phone for strava and music. think i might buy one of the cheaper garmins and a really small MP3 player or something similar.
Click to expand...

Check out the Polar M600 sports android watch, its got memory built in and its got GPS and HRM built in.
 
Intervals are hard.:o

I only did 3 intervals but each was tough and I struggled a bit with pacing as there was barely any light in the park so I couldn't see my watch!

A friend has asked me to join him at a track session next week but I'm worried I won't be able to cope. On the other hand, running with others rather than alone may help provide some extra determination.
 
Shamrock said:
Intervals are hard.:o

I only did 3 intervals but each was tough and I struggled a bit with pacing as there was barely any light in the park so I couldn't see my watch!

A friend has asked me to join him at a track session next week but I'm worried I won't be able to cope. On the other hand, running with others rather than alone may help provide some extra determination.
Click to expand...

Intervals are hard, but luckily a little goes a long way so 1 session every 1 or 2 weeks is plenty. Your pace should mean you can onyl just complete the required set. Don't over exert though. When doing 800s I used to go so hard that after 4 I was absolutely toasted. Cutting effort just a fraction meant I would get 7 or 8. That meant I would spend up to twice as long at the key HR zones (which is basically what will drive the adaptions). On longer intervals instead of quantity you want to make sure you are still running strong to the end, not starting to lag because you over exerted earlier. But either-way it is hard work and not very pleasant at the time.

The pacing gets easier with practice.

Running on a track means you can all go at your own pace. For intervals it is critical you run at the right speed.
 
Ian_Eb said:
Started again after nearly three months off after doing something to my Quads. Found i was about 3 mins slower on my standard 10k so not as bad as i expected :-)
Click to expand...

Ease back in slowly, dont try and ramp up too quickly to where you left off. pace and endurance will come back quite quickly so don't force it or stress too much.
 
So I increased my cadence by 5% up to 172spm this morning over 5k.

I was slower (again) than when I tried at 164 but obviously took more steps.

Next week and another 5% will see me at 180 so I'll see how I get on with that.

Then my plan is to stick to 180 and try and (slowly) increase my pace so that I get back to sub 25min for 5k but at a better cadence.
 
Irish_Tom said:
So I increased my cadence by 5% up to 172spm this morning over 5k.

I was slower (again) than when I tried at 164 but obviously took more steps.

Next week and another 5% will see me at 180 so I'll see how I get on with that.

Then my plan is to stick to 180 and try and (slowly) increase my pace so that I get back to sub 25min for 5k but at a better cadence.
Click to expand...

The pace will naturally increase to where it was, it just takes time for muscles to adapt.
 
First time running at parkrun for ages and it was very cold but managed to get 20:00 dead so that's not too bad especially after quite a tough training session on Thursday (6x1200m off 90 seconds rest, I was the slowest in the group so probably got about half the rest of the fast guys). It also didn't help that there were lots of dogs running wild today so had to dodge them or I think I could have made it under 20 minutes again.

Hope everyone elses running is going well, I've been enjoying XC season although some of the courses are tough.
 
semi-pro waster said:
First time running at parkrun for ages and it was very cold but managed to get 20:00 dead so that's not too bad especially after quite a tough training session on Thursday (6x1200m off 90 seconds rest, I was the slowest in the group so probably got about half the rest of the fast guys). It also didn't help that there were lots of dogs running wild today so had to dodge them or I think I could have made it under 20 minutes again.

Hope everyone elses running is going well, I've been enjoying XC season although some of the courses are tough.
Click to expand...


nice one - especially after a hard Thursday :) I did a park-run this morning but was a bit-cold for me - I incorporated it into a longer run - 9.5 miles in total - did mid 19s for the park-run.

XC - loving it - disappointed heading towards end of season - I had a race both Saturday and Sunday last week .... weekend off this weekend - but Southern XC Championships next Sunday - Parliament Hill - meant to be super tough course and over 9 miles - I've not done it before
 
Buckster said:
nice one - especially after a hard Thursday :) I did a park-run this morning but was a bit-cold for me - I incorporated it into a longer run - 9.5 miles in total - did mid 19s for the park-run.

XC - loving it - disappointed heading towards end of season - I had a race both Saturday and Sunday last week .... weekend off this weekend - but Southern XC Championships next Sunday - Parliament Hill - meant to be super tough course and over 9 miles - I've not done it before
Click to expand...

Good running yourself, 9.5 miles is a decent run.

If you mean the South of England XC Champs then hopefully that's just a typo and you're turning up on Saturday as it's on the 28th. I'll be there as well although you'll probably finish way in front of me. I've only done Parliament Hill for the London XC Champs which was around 6 miles and that was hard work so half as much again is going to be challenging. It does seem a bit odd that the South of England Champs are held in North London though.
 
thanks - oh yeah - you are quite right ... its Saturday - oops !!!

I've not much idea what to expect - other than I'll be wearing my spikes - and I've not run that far in them before !! - going to hurt with blisters afterwards at a guess based on my normal 5 milers in them !
 
Just a steady 13mi run for me tomorrow to finish off Week 3 of 12. Still taking it fairly easy before the harder weeks ahead.

Good luck if you are running the Parliament Hill XC next weekend. I know several very strong guys taking part who will probably be targeting overall victory or high rankings!:eek:
 
Good to see Buckster and semi-pro-waster enjoying XC. Did 3 XC races last season and although it's incredibly hard it's really good fun and love how competitive it gets too. :)

I'm going through a bit of a rubbish patch with my running over the last two weeks, just can't get motivated at the minute. Need to pull my finger out, it's good to see everyone else running though as it's encouraging.
 
IndigoGorilla said:
Good to see Buckster and semi-pro-waster enjoying XC. Did 3 XC races last season and although it's incredibly hard it's really good fun and love how competitive it gets too. :)

I'm going through a bit of a rubbish patch with my running over the last two weeks, just can't get motivated at the minute. Need to pull my finger out, it's good to see everyone else running though as it's encouraging.
Click to expand...

sorry to hear you are going through a bad patch with your running - it'll come back - my running often goes in good/bad cycles - sometimes it feels easy - training and races, sometimes every training run and race feels way harder than it should

XC - can recommend to anyone (although normally have to be a member of a club) - great fun, great for fitness, and bit more relaxed/friendly than road races

I've only missed a few of the XC races this season so far - I enjoy them so much (well apart from being frozen at the start of most of them ....)
 
Up to an 8k run now. Feels weird that it's the longest I've ever run. Every Sun is a potential PR in terms of distance, time etc.

Still need to book that first 10k race but can't decide on a location.
 
Shamrock said:
I am pretty sick of the cold/winter! It's hard to find the the motivation sometimes when it's freezing cold and miserable outside.

On the plus side, today was actually a really nice winter day. Also, the days are noticeably getting longer again.
Click to expand...

... wool hat and mittens, w/windproof top and it is fine - still shorts weather.


Has anyone got a recommended/goto trail shoe (less than £100) . I had been using :
Adidas Supernova Riot 5 , which has been comfortable but sole relatively worn after ~700 miles, and have used it for combined (mostly)road & trail.
They discontinued it, already, so will not be able to repeat buy (~6 years) with previous ASICS trabucco (killed off, on Yorkshire 3 peak' training weekend)

Ordered both an ASIC Kanadia 8 and NorthFace M LiteWave TR(ail) from Amazon, both of which I sent back immediately - poor build quality/robustness.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom