Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

I would hate the idea of running with other people regular, like you what I enjoy is running solo and especially on trails through the forests. i've kind of got side tracked in to doing really well at marathons and have been doing less and less trail runs but that should be changing once my next race is out the way. Got a 50 mile ultra in August so will be doing a bulk of my runs in the forests and mountain. There is also a practical issue with running with others, unlikely they will have the exact same fitness and be exactly the same recovery/fatigue state as yourself. running easy runs too fast is the number 1 cause of injury, and that way too easy to do if you regularly run with other people. need to be very conscious of your effort and pace. Socializing with other runners is great. Luckily in my neighborhood we have 10 runners and we regularly meet for drinks while the kids play.

Definitely get to a good runnign shop and see what type of runnign shoe you need. too many people just buy some kind of stability shoe which likely makes things worse.

Nothing wrong with parkrun or trying to beat your time, I totally understand such things. Its just not for me.
 
BlastRadius said:
Thanks for the replies, I must admit I have been caught by the parkrun experience / need to compete. In truth what I like doing is running through the local hills and forests, by myself and for myself, I have been using parkrun as a barometer of my general fitness / improvement. Think I may sign up for the Chichester (local) half marathon for experience having upped my conversational distance as mentioned. Will definitely look into Gait analysis as mentioned above, as slightly worried by IT band symptoms and not sure my Salomon Sense Mantra 3 are helping. Running club idea is interesting, always felt like a solo experience, not sure how well I would gel in a club?
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If you'd asked me a few years ago I doubt I'd have been interested in joining a running club, I'd always thought I wasn't really a club type of person and only joined as a way to try and improve my running but it turns out I actually quite like training sessions with clubmates and it makes races more fun knowing people there. The regular track sessions have definitely helped me and being a member of a club entitles you to reduced entry to lots of races and shopping discounts through England Athletics etc - for the amount of value and enjoyment I get out of it the costs of being in a club are negligible for me. However it's not going to be for everyone and whether it would be good for you depends on your personality and what you want to get out of running - for what it's worth many clubs offer a session or two for free so you can try it out before committing to joining.

Shamrock said:
Well, I may not have to worry about the marathon at all if I can't actually get to Brighton!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39339782
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Gotta love Southern. Hope it works out for you.
 
D.P. said:
Any chance to get a mate to give you a ride, Uber, rent a car etc?

Shame to miss a marathon after all your train just due to transport issues.

You must have entered taper now, hoe you holding up?
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I've booked a coach, it'll take 2h to get there but that's fine since I'm going down the day before and at least I don't have to worry about train strikes!

I'm hitting my peak this Sunday and then tapering off for 2 weeks. If all goes to plan it will be my biggest week ever with 54 miles.

Toe injury is feeling tolerable providing I continue to use my old shoes.
 
Now trying to recover from Achilles tendon injury :-( (That doesn't half hurt does it!)

Thought it was better (enough) for Wilmslow but 6km in and it pointed out that it wasn't better yet.

Cycling and Swimming in the meantime maybe.
 
If the toe injury is manageable now then it should be OK once taper is done. In general with taper you cut volume but keep some intensity, even adding a little more goal marathon pace miles here and there but keeping runs shorter and more rest days. If you are injured you can cut volume a lot, especially in the last week you want any signs of fatigue to go. Just beware of taper syndrome - cutting back volume a lot and then thinking about the race can cause some weird psychological issues, including things like phantom pain as your muscles and joints repair.


I'm just rounding up a solid training week.:
Sunday: 11 miles with 6x800mm repeats. Windy as hell and I just didn't fele good or could apce close to target times so cut this short at 6 instead of 10 repeats. Not a big deal.
Monday 16.1 miles at 7:58 pace, cutting the Sunday session short did the trick to give me loads of energy on Monday. This felt effortless. HR very low. However, noticed a slightly ache in right foot and noticed very stiff calf. Didn't bother me but keeping an eye on it.
Tuesday: hard swim and 9miles easy. Decided on a single 9 instead of 7+5 so I would recover better for the next day's hard session, and given my achy right foot. But foam rolling really helped.
Wednesday: 3 mile warm up, 6 miles at lactate Threshold, 5.5 miles easy. Hard workout, paces slightly slow due to very strong wind but hit 6:10-6:35 pace depending on head-tail winds and the hills. Very drained by the end but a decent 14.5 mile run.
Thursday: very hard swim session, 9 miles easy.
Today: Key work out: 4miles easy [8:23-8:43], 5 miles at GMP [6:46,6:39,6:37,6:38,6:43], 2 easy (8:10ish), 5 at GMP [6:38,6:39,6:43,6:36,6:32], 5.1 easyish [7:43-8:00]. Slower GMPs were uphill Totaol 21.1mi 2:37:27, 7:27/mi, 909ft. Pleased with the paces, especially after a hard Lactate run on Wednesday. Ideally I would have more time between but a busy weekend with the family. heart rate at GMP was lower than during my last marathon so although they felt hard that was tired legs talking, especially on the uphills.

Will see how I feel tomorrow and i there is time but liekly a short swim, weights and a 4-8 miles run. Sunday 10-15 miles, most liekly easy or maybe hillwork out if I have recovery form today. Bit ofa cutback next week to recvoer, a 10K a week on Saturday which might just turn into a lactate threshold run over 13-5miles (can't be bothered with such a short race). Then 2 weeks of hard training again. Might hit 100miles again but I doubt it, I've cut some easy runs now I have added some more speed work ready to peak.


https://www.facebook.com/groups/163...24708&notif_t=like&notif_id=1490369940153276#
 
toasteh said:
First run for about four weeks (due to a combination of holiday and laziness) yesterday, boy am I feeling it today!
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I always fidn after a break it will take 1-2 weeks before I feel like i am in that running zone again. its weird because after 1 week vacation or so I come back and feel like I must have so much energy and be able to run really well after 'tapering' but the oposite is usually the case.

If just just keep plugging away at it then the feeling comes back. After a week add in some strides or fartleks to get some leg turnover. Lots of ftrecthing and foam rolling as well.
 
10 days until race day and I feel like it's going to be tough!:o

A year ago, April 3 2016, I ran a 1:21:47 at Reading and despite doing far less running (I was training 3 disciplines at once) I somehow remember feeling stronger than I do now.

I'm still tapering so maybe I will feel fresher and stronger a week from now. At this rate I may be hanging on to the 3h pacer's shorts to keep up.:D
 
Best of luck for your marathon Shamrock, tapering can feel a bit odd but fingers crossed you'll be all good on race day and be on target. Glad the transport issue has been sorted as well thankyfully. :)
 
Shamrock said:
10 days until race day and I feel like it's going to be tough!:o

A year ago, April 3 2016, I ran a 1:21:47 at Reading and despite doing far less running (I was training 3 disciplines at once) I somehow remember feeling stronger than I do now.

I'm still tapering so maybe I will feel fresher and stronger a week from now. At this rate I may be hanging on to the 3h pacer's shorts to keep up.:D
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Don't worry about it, totally normal in taper to start to feel stiffer, slower, aches, and get lots of mental doubts. Do some short easy runs but add some strides: increase speed to half MP over 5 second, hold for 20, slow down for 5s, wait a few minutes and repeat 5-8 times. that will help with leg turnover and ease tight legs. also plenty of stretching, massages and foam rolling.

Start preparing mentally, rehearsing your plan. You have to accept that it will hurt, you struggle and things will get very dark - if you are racing close to your limits. You just have to accept the pain and look forward to crossing the finish line. Have some positive mental imagery to hold on to. Pain is just an objective signal, your body telling yo your working extremely hard. That is obvious, so just accept it and ignore what your body is shouting at you. You can be in pain and not suffer.

make sure you pace yourself properly. An ideal race will have a slight negative split, if the course is even effort (if there are hills at the end then positive split may be unavoidable). Biggest risk is going out too fast because your legs feel great, you are very excited with a lot of hormones pumping through, and visually things are very different with everyone rushing around you it can feel very slow. Its critical to ignore everyone else, ignore how comfortable goal pace feel at the start and to lock on to a safe pace. For a 3:00 marathon when you are not experience I would be looking at the watch a lot and trying to keep 7:0X pace for the first couple of miles and then wind that down to 6:55, then 6:50 pace, then start hitting some high 6:4Xs now and then but don't force them**. You need to be feeling strong at the halfway time, if you are not then you have to realign your goals and slow the pace 10seconds a mile to avoid a walk of shame. At mile 20 things may well be really hurting now, if they aren't then you can already start increasing the pace a little. Otherwise you need to wait a bit. A Marathon is a 20 mile warm up and an extremely hard 10k. Th race is really starting around now, this is when all the training pays off. those long runs to build endurance,, he Vo2max intervals to build efficiency, Lactate threshold and long intervals to build stamina. Try and keep a good form, don't hunch over and stair at the ground. head up, looking forwards, try to consciously exam your form. Mental games form here to the and. I look for people in front and imagine lassoing a rope around them and trying to reel them in slowly. Trying to pass people as a race helps mentally the miles tick by. Congratulate the fellow runners. As you get closer you start to push harder until you are red-lining, it feel impossible but you must keep hammering away. Imagine crossing that line in just a few minutes.


Pacing is absolutely critcial. Going out a few secodns mile too fast for the first 4-6 miles can see you wlaking to the finish line. You can't bank time, you can onyl bank energy. There is an expoentialy icnrease in difficulty as you go faster than goal pace, so its easy to burn through a laod of glycogen early on and then get screwed by mile 20. You wil probably find runnign 6:20 pace at the start feels easy given your speed. That would be a terrible mistake. Consistent pacing is key.


** based on gettign a clsoe sub 3. If you think you are mroe like 2:57 then of course knock 5 secodns a milel off etc. But the point stands, really force those first miels to be on the safe side.
 
Shamrock said:
Good advice DP. Thanks.

I got home from my run commute last night and now I've go the bruised sensation on my shin again indicating splints!:mad:
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Ouch, best bet is to stop all running until race day but do plenty of stretching and some walking. On race day day reevaluate your goals. If there is acute pain rally then you may have to DNF.

After this marathon you probably want to look at your cadence and stride length. Likely your cadence is too low which means your stride is too long and you are landing on your heals. I'm very much a fore-foot lander, after 500miles my shoes have worn right through the sole at the front but the heal is as good as new.
 
Ran a local 10k in 37:10, pleased with the time considering I didn't taper and my legs were quite tired from a LT workout Wednesday. On a flatter course I might have broken 37. Good negative split run paced conservatively the first miles at 6:05and then started dropping, mile 5 was 5:50 and according to my watch I got down to 5:15 for the last 1/4 mile

It's been almost two exactly 2 years since I picked up running and I have come a long way in that time. The last 6 months has really seen some decent progress beyond the initial begginers jump.
 
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Well done D.P. that's a really good time. I also ran a 10km race this week but disappointingly in 40:37 which is the same as I did on a hillier course last year, not exactly thrilled with my time but I have been trying to focus on longer runs, my other excuses could be it was rather windy and I was feeling dehydrated before I even started so I can't tick that goal off yet. However I managed a new UK PB for parkrun today in 19:28 on a flat but quite windy Burgess Park course and had a good training session at the track on Thursday so the week certainly hasn't been all bad for running.

Shamrock: hope you're feeling better soon, it sounds as if resting as much as you can might be your best option.
 
Shamrock said:
^^Thanks. I've currently got some frozen peas strapped to my shin.:D

Did 7mi this morning at marathon goal pace (for a 2h59m marathon). Felt okay.

That's pretty rapid DP, good run! I'm still yet to break 37 over 10K, last race was 37:01.:mad:
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From now until the race there is absolutely nothing you can do running wise to make you faster, so if you have any pain at all then best thing is to do no running. Stretch,massage, foam roll, rest, carb load, hydrate, plan, mentally prepare, walk, and power hike a little. Day before maybe 2-3miles but no real need. Try to get good nights sleep this week,no alcohol,,reduce caffeine (then caffeine splurge on race morning). Try to eliminate work stress,tell colleagues to postpone critical meetings/ stressful work if possible.
 
Shamrock said:
^^Thanks. I've currently got some frozen peas strapped to my shin.:D

Did 7mi this morning at marathon goal pace (for a 2h59m marathon). Felt okay.
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Good luck with it all and hope the niggles pass.

I'm sticking to my guns now and slowing things down now - 34 miles yesterday at 8:16 overall pace. Was lovely to be just out there with no goals in mind, in fact nothing much in my mind! Weather was awful though :(
 
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