Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

Whilst preparing for being slow next Sunday i've been checking time results for previous 10k's.

Looks like if i do 1:05 then there'll still be people behind me so at least i won't be alone! :p

Hah, there'll be plenty behind you mate. This is my second ever race but should be under an hour again. You should aim for 59 and stop being hard on yourself! Let me know how the route is on Sunday :)

P.S. I'm the foreigner on the Strava group. Although my surname is French I'm as British as they come, don't know any French people :D
 
The route is really straight forward, it's 2 laps and i think about a year ago i ran from home and then (unknowingly) did 1 of the laps and then home again so worked out around the same distance as it's about 2.5k from my house. It's pretty flat so should be quite fast for you.

I just went back through my garmin log but can't see any sign of it.

Annoyingly i also saw a pile of runs where i was averaging 8:50 miles!
 
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@Dup

If you check my Strava the run I’ve done tonight is the one I was talking about. Ignore the trail bits to/from my house but that loop is the circuit and it’s 2 laps.

You should be able to see the elevation etc. It probably runs from about 1.5 miles to the 5 mile point.

Felt pretty happy with the run. I got shin splints again after the first mile and the route was exactly the same as Monday. I stopped after the mile and did a few stretches. It was too thT for a bit but then loosened up.

From around 3.5 miles to the 5th I felt like I got a great rhythm going and felt good which is good given Its a long time since I did this distance.

Still felt alright stamina wise at the end but it was getting to a fairly steep hill for a mile after to my house and was getting some pain above my left knee (patella?) so decided to call it a day and walk the rest.
 
1 thing I do need to buy is winter gear, I am heading Aldi is normally quite good, any where else I should consider?

I haven't tried Aldi for sports equipment but I understand it can be a bit variable whether they've got what you want - if they do then they're great, if not you'll obviously need to look elsewhere. If you're looking for fairly cheap or discounted kit then in terms of stores you can actually go into Sports Direct and Decathlon usually have a reasonable range of options. If you know what you want and are happy to order online then places like Wiggle and Sports Shoes often have some kit at very decent prices.

Whilst preparing for being slow next Sunday i've been checking time results for previous 10k's.

Looks like if i do 1:05 then there'll still be people behind me so at least i won't be alone! :p

I do quite like looking at times in previous years to get an idea of where I might be in the pack but really it probably shouldn't matter that much, ultimately I'm running for my enjoyment and whatever time anyone else does or doesn't do shouldn't affect that. With that said there's often a really wide spread of times at most events I've ever been to so wherever you finish you're likely to have some company.

Training for me has been a bit disrupted over the past few weeks due to travelling for holidays and work but I'm going to try and get back into a bit more of a routine and build up the distances again as I've just signed up for the Brighton Marathon since they opened up a few thousand more places. I'd definitely have preferred London and it's surprisingly more expensive than that but I do quite like having something to train towards and it is at least another big city marathon. The thing that annoys me most about buying entries/tickets/whatever is seeing the price as £X then once you've got through to the payment page there's a non-optional booking fee - if I've got to pay the booking fee then it's not £X, it's £X+Y. The cost of the booking fee doesn't bother me unless it's extortionate but it's like shopping in the States and suddenly there's all these other taxes added on when you get to the till - just tell me the total cost to me upfront and I'll decide if I'm willing to pay it rather than hiding it until the end.
 
I'm going to do night trail 10k race through some dense woodland/country park on Saturday evening, it's going to be raining so should be an interesting one!

http://whitestarrunning.co.uk/dark-valley/

It sold out all 400 places within 3 hours. White Star Running put on some really good well organised events and the medals are always really good. The last one I did the aid station had a keg of cider you could help yourself too! Apparently, there is beer this time. I'm not going to race it as I've got 3 Hampshire Road race League races coming up on consecutive weekends. A Half, a 10mile and a 5 mile.
 
@Dup

If you check my Strava the run I’ve done tonight is the one I was talking about. Ignore the trail bits to/from my house but that loop is the circuit and it’s 2 laps.

You should be able to see the elevation etc. It probably runs from about 1.5 miles to the 5 mile point.

Felt pretty happy with the run. I got shin splints again after the first mile and the route was exactly the same as Monday. I stopped after the mile and did a few stretches. It was too thT for a bit but then loosened up.

From around 3.5 miles to the 5th I felt like I got a great rhythm going and felt good which is good given Its a long time since I did this distance.

Still felt alright stamina wise at the end but it was getting to a fairly steep hill for a mile after to my house and was getting some pain above my left knee (patella?) so decided to call it a day and walk the rest.

Thanks man, should be less elevation gain than Accrington (which was 400ft+ gain over the first few miles) where this being lapped means it's not all in one go!

Sounds like you're building yourself back up. Shame about the pain but hopefully that'll go away with a few more runs in. Just think about the awesome looking medal we'll get! haha.
 
I have just signed up to the MK Half, December 10th. Hoping for a 1hr40 run or less.

Already doing 6-8 mile runs during the week currently, so should be able to complete well hopefully.

Last one (1st October) I completed in 1hr47
 
Long distance running out of the window for me for a bit for me.. I'm all booked in for PCL stabilisation in January - 6 weeks off work too..

Going to be a tough time not being able to go to the gym or running at all for 4-6 months..
 
Long distance running out of the window for me for a bit for me.. I'm all booked in for PCL stabilisation in January - 6 weeks off work too..

Going to be a tough time not being able to go to the gym or running at all for 4-6 months..

Ooof, that sounds painful. Getting back into fitness is certainly going to be a challenge. You'll have to focus on will power not to eat yourself into a mess in those months! I'm sure you'll have a lot of physio to keep you going though?
 
2:56:16 in tough conditions, happy with that. Very windy and I ran a lot of it alone. Pretty even splits and a fast finish.
 
Made good use of the weather today - 41* mile jolly in the Peaks at a little over 6 hours. 4 pints later and think I should go to bed.

*Upon checking proper this morning, the GPS had a brain fart at some point, was only 39.4 miles. The beer was still earned though :)
 
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Did another 6 miles yesterday. That's 4.8, 5.5 and 6 done this week (Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday). Having done those i feel pretty confident for the 10k as could've definitely kept going yesterday.

It highlighted i could do with a head torch though if i'm going off road as i took this around the first mile mark and it got a lot darker. Whilst there was a path it was very uneven and i stumbled a few times.

uwz9YFG.png


I also feel i need a disclaimer that whilst it may look it in my Strava pic i'm not actually a sex offender!
 
Did another 6 miles yesterday. That's 4.8, 5.5 and 6 done this week (Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday). Having done those i feel pretty confident for the 10k as could've definitely kept going yesterday.

It highlighted i could do with a head torch though if i'm going off road as i took this around the first mile mark and it got a lot darker. Whilst there was a path it was very uneven and i stumbled a few times.

uwz9YFG.png


I also feel i need a disclaimer that whilst it may look it in my Strava pic i'm not actually a sex offender!

I have to go out today, really not feeling it its friggin cold!

Haha like the tash!:p
 
I was going to head out this morning at 5:30 ish but it just felt too cold so I gave it up as a bad job. Checked the thermometer at 7:30 and it was still -2.5 so i'm glad I didn't bother now :-)

Think the time for shorts and t-shirts is gone now!
 
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