Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

D.P. said:
If there are no problems then just keep using similar shoes IMO.
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Works for me :)

So I've been running with Strava running on my phone which works well for me and I enjoy (use it for cycling too) but I would like to add a HRM into the mix... What is the easiest way to do this? Get some kind of monitor that will pair with the phone or bin that off and get a proper run watch that works with strava?
 
NoNameNoNumber said:
Works for me :)

So I've been running with Strava running on my phone which works well for me and I enjoy (use it for cycling too) but I would like to add a HRM into the mix... What is the easiest way to do this? Get some kind of monitor that will pair with the phone or bin that off and get a proper run watch that works with strava?
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If your phone has Ant+ support then the best and easiest is something like the Garmin HRM chest strap. You can also get an ANT+ USB recover for the phone to make that work. Otherwise there are some bluetooth HRM, I use a scosche rhythm optical HRM for casual runs. Optical isn't as good as ECG chest straps though, and optical monitor from a wrist watch is mediocre at best.


Strava works very well on a phone. The main advantage a running watch has is you can leave your phone at home. The other thing is the phone becomes impossible to use when it gets all wet and sweaty. They are nice to have if you run a lot but if you have areal strict budget then a phone works fine. If you cycle or swim then a triathlon watch works out well. I use a refurbished Garmin 925XT. Amazing watch for the price.
 
Itchytrigg said:
12 miles today were such a slog in this heat....ran out of water about 8 miles in and the last 4 miles had no shade either. Need to get a better/bigger water belt for when it's like this.
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Welcome to my world!

As much as I hate mornings there is a good reason I try and head out the door close to 6am. Make sure you run slower than normal in the heat, you wont warm up so fast or get so dehydrated. Try to find shady routes, even if that involves lots of loops around a small block etc.

For hydration I try and drink a lot before going out and then just accept.ill get dehydrated. Up to about 10-12miles I won't bring much with me even if it's 30*C, i.woll.just rrhydrate at home in a the following hours. Dehydration itself is not some big scary thing that's made out to be,e.g no one gets serious health problems in a marathon from it ( but the opposite, hyponatremia kills people every year). But it certainly .asked you feel and run like **** and sooner or.latrr you won't be able to run. Just make sure to rehydrate with sports drinks when you get home.
Beyond about 12-14milez I find it far more critical.to try and stay somewhat hydrated. There is a kind of "hitting the wall" effect where you just have to give up if you can't get enough liquods in you

I did a 28mile run with 8000ft of gain yesterday. Wasn't too hot (20-25*C) but 100% humidity, literally running in a jungle. I had to drink around 6 liters in 6 hours, which was probably enough to kill.me if I sat on my sofa but as it was I was absolutely drenched in sweat the whole time. Shoes were squelching in sweat within an hour!


I didn't even bother running this morning. I opened the front door and it felt like opening the oven door. Walked outside and my sunglasses fogged up with condensation. Tomororw is supposed to be even worse (heat index well.pcer 40C) but then there is a big storm should cool things down to merely unbearable, rather than unfathomable.

I do see London and souroundings have it pretty bad if you are an afternoon runner! At least I have the expectation that it absolutely sucks is after 9am June through August
 
Also, don't do something like substitute a 12 Mike run for a fast 4-6miler due to the heat. Running slowly is perfectly safe in the heat, your body will realize what is happening and make changes to both cool you down and stop you going so fast. If you go fast your body doesn't have to to adapt, your body temperature can soar dangerously high and you might not be able to down before surcoming to serious health issues.

Back at the start of May someone died at a local 10K race due to overheating. No one had serious health problems running marathons in the region (just lots of unhappy runners staggering to the finish).

When it's hot you have to do speed work on a treadmill mill, or if you do things like intervals at sunrise take extra long recovery periods including walking to make sure body temperature lowers sufficiently between each interval.
 
Yup was an afternoon run as had family things needed doing in the morning. Feeling mostly human again now but I was suffering last night. At least it's cooling off again now. Going away this coming weekend to the beach so looking forward to a change of scenory, with us camping I'm thinking I'll be up very early so can sneak out before breakfast for a coastal run.
 
I try and head out around 6am otherwise its just not possible in the summer. Not only is it cooler but you get a lot more shade and if the sun is out it is weaker being low in the sky.


I'm still recovering form my 28 miles on Saturday, descending 8000ft absolutely sucks for the quads!. However, strangely although walking down the stairs is an ordeal I can do an easy paced run without issues, just walking the downhills, managed 14.5miles this morning.stairs is lik
 
I'd have to go about 5:30am if I wanted a decent session as my wife leaves for work around 7 so Mon-Thur I have to organise the kids breakfast and school runs, might try it one day and see how it works out but I'm not an early morning person (except when visiting the US, I actual love jet lag 4am wake ups to hit the hotel gym!)
 
I have a similar problem with sorting out the kids. i alternate mornings with the wife so when i dont have to handle the kids i get out earlier for a long session or a workout. The other days I do something easy and short, or even soemthign like a swim and treadmill run.
Other people I know wait until 9-10pm to out. It is still hot then but without the sun it doesn't feel as bad. Trouble is I'm way too tired by then so I suck it up and try and head out early.

The summer is really the worst time to run. Frost, snow, rain are all a joy to run in compared to the heat.
 
Rain is highly variable, light to moderate rain when its hot is great, much more preferable to the heat. light rain or mdoerate rain showers when its cool is also fine. The complete deluges I sometimes get here are annoying but kind of fun if you are only out in it for a short time, but the runnign shoes take days to dry.

Cold rain when going for a long run sucks and there is really no way top cope. Any kind if waterproof jacket is not breathable, and the only things breathable enough you will get wet anyway.
 
5:30 rise for 6x1mi repeats. Was much nicer at 18c, very happy to have done them at 7min pace and felt I could have managed a couple more reps if I'd of had time. 9miles before 7 is weird, and even after 3 slices of toast I'm still kinda hungry!
 
It's been a bit tiresome running in the heat recently as I had the Richmond 10km on Sunday which was probably quite a nice course for running fast except it must have been 25 degrees by 9am when the race started. I also did the Dino Dash yesterday which is a local fun relay with 3 team members each running a 3km lap, yesterday was the hottest day of the year so far I think and it felt like it was still about 30 degrees when the race started.

Slightly cooler this evening for training which was nice though.
 
I've started to get back in to my running. Getting out for a 10k 500m ascent run 2-3 times a week on a work lunchtime, then a 8.5 mile run home at least once a week. Not really got any excuse living where I do, surrounded by amazing trails.
Just ordered a new Pair of Inov8 X-Talons as well. I love my current pair, but they are beat up like hell!

Edit, 10,000th post. Woop!
 
I got out for another run on Saturday. Did a bit over 6k, of which my best 5k was done in 29:27. Quite pleased with that considering it's literally my 5th run ever and given how much I sucked at running back at school and how much of a horror it was for me.

I guess I'll keep going and try extending distance over time. Would like to get up to 10k so I can do an Olympic triathlon at some point.
 
Finally, Finally, run a sub20 5km. I didn't set out to try and run a fast time, Just found myself comfortably running the first 2 km's in under 4mins each. Then got to 3 and was still under 4m/km so knew it was on and went for it. Finished in 19:28 so a massive 34 second PB. The course was flat with very few turns, and light wind (Southampton Airport Runway) It was a very early run we started at 6am.

I've been trying to go sub20 for about a year now so really chuffed.

I went home and rested for a few hours then went out and did another local 10k race, which was a comfortable 45mins.

The week before last a got a nice mile PB on the track as part of a team relay race at 5:41 so after feeling like I've not been progressing for an age things are starting to improve
 
Vonhelmet said:
I got out for another run on Saturday. Did a bit over 6k, of which my best 5k was done in 29:27. Quite pleased with that considering it's literally my 5th run ever and given how much I sucked at running back at school and how much of a horror it was for me.

I guess I'll keep going and try extending distance over time. Would like to get up to 10k so I can do an Olympic triathlon at some point.
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Have 1 run a week where you try and extend the distance, but only do that say for 3 weeks and then the 4th week you cut that down a little. So say next week you do 7km, the week after 8lkm, but then do a 5 or 6 the week after and then a 7km, then 8, then 9, then back down to say 6km.

Its good to mix up run distances so you have 1 longer run a week, but other runs are shorter or variable distance. These you can also slowly extend in a similar pattern. The shortest once should keep nice and slow and easy, these are your recovery runs so you want to feel fresh afterwards, not a hard workout. For the remaining medium length runs you can slowly add some slightly harder stuff., for example make one of them go up a hillier route than usual, or the last km go fast. Just important to note that the slow easy running is the most beneficial and the safest, the harder stuff is like icing on a cake and at your stage is mainly to spice things up so it doesn't get too repetitive. In time these slightly harder runs could build into something more substantial like hill repeats.
 
neilw said:
Finally, Finally, run a sub20 5km. I didn't set out to try and run a fast time, Just found myself comfortably running the first 2 km's in under 4mins each. Then got to 3 and was still under 4m/km so knew it was on and went for it. Finished in 19:28 so a massive 34 second PB. The course was flat with very few turns, and light wind (Southampton Airport Runway) It was a very early run we started at 6am.

I've been trying to go sub20 for about a year now so really chuffed.

I went home and rested for a few hours then went out and did another local 10k race, which was a comfortable 45mins.

The week before last a got a nice mile PB on the track as part of a team relay race at 5:41 so after feeling like I've not been progressing for an age things are starting to improve
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Well done, training is falling in to place with those PRs.All good times.
 
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