Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

Flukester said:
day 5 with no running, 1st time in 6 months..... got what I think is a groin strain of sorts. Feels rubbish not being out on the road
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Sorry!

Sounds like hip-flexors. I got problems with these last year whenever I did intervals. Since then I added more strength training, doing clams, donkey kicks, lateral leg raises, pistol squats etc. I also use intervals extremely sparingly, maybe 4-5 sessions for each marathon cycle, and just the ocasional session between. Always with extra rest & recovery before and after.
 
D.P. said:
Forget what above people are running, and ignore any artificial goals like you must run X miles a week. You can only train based around your own fitness and what our body can manage without getting injured. It took a couple of years before I could handle consistent high volume, and to manage this I have to be very careful in training, recovery and add things like strength training.


By runnign 6-7 days a week each of my runs can be shorter and more manageable with faster recovery. That is not soemthign you can do immediately but adding extra days of runnign will see big improvements in a a safe manner. I also make sure my easy runs really are easy, and that I use quality runs parsimoniously. Hard workouts on the track etc are great, but extremely l dangerous. Pacing is important, I ran at 8:20 a mile today, pretty typical for an average run on the roads. I do most of my runnign around 90seconds slower than my marathon pace, 2min:30 slower than 10k pace. I see a lot of people doing their training runs faster than me but their race times are much slower. Train slow, race fast.
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Thanks man, I have actually been training whilst not knowing my pace as I've only just today received a GPS watch. I've simply been running on feel alone and just managing my breathing. Most of the time I'm pretty consistent. I just focus on the distance I want to do (being realistic) and then see how I go. If I feel I can give it some more next time out I'll go do the same route and push that little bit more. I totally understand the train slow sentiment however :)


Not sure what the all the fuss is about it being cold. Not proper cold yet. I'm still running in loose fitting shorts and t-shirt in the evening, however my hands suffer so I wear gloves. Apparently I'm not wired up right. I'm just a northerner who grew up with no central heating :D
 
Went out last night for the first time in what felt like forever. Will let you off with the cold as it wasn't too bad once I was moving :-)

Slightly slower than before but this was meant to be an easy run so that works for me.
 
Not sure how long to leave it before running again. Pain has gone over the last day or so and walking up and down stairs doesn't give me any pain. Going to look at what possible exercises I can do to strengthen that area of my foot.

Might see how it goes and go for a short jog early next week. Really missed not being able to go out.
 
Been just over a week now for me not doing anything and my ankle still feels wrong. I get pain in i put pressure on a particular point (About an inch under the inside ankle bone).

Have been soaking in ice water the last few days and the swelling has definately gone. Luckily football is cancelled tonight too.

Works Xmas do tomorrow night though so will try and not get too carried away!

Must say i've definately missed not being out.
 
Marvt74 said:
Been just over a week now for me not doing anything and my ankle still feels wrong. I get pain in i put pressure on a particular point (About an inch under the inside ankle bone).

Have been soaking in ice water the last few days and the swelling has definately gone. Luckily football is cancelled tonight too.

Works Xmas do tomorrow night though so will try and not get too carried away!

Must say i've definately missed not being out.
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I was lucky this morning, twice I rolled my ankles on tree root hidden under leaves. The 1st time really hurt, but doesn't look like any damage done. Will see in the morning!
 
Managed to get out today, first time in about 3 weeks due to some crazy work commitments. 5 miles and wasn't toooooo bad but my HR was way higher than I'd have liked and I forgot how much 1c air can burn in the chest.

Hopefully get back on it now and see if I can get back to match fitness for Reading 1/2 in March.
 
I did 8 on Sunday, longest run so far. Signed up to the Burnley half marathon in March so have that to aim for.

Doing a 7 mile race this Sunday up and down a good hill so should be interesting. Feeling yesterday's 8 miler today and busy Weds & Thurs so gonna do a gentle run on Friday and then see how Sunday goes.

Then my next and last race of the year is the Ribble Valley 10k on the 31st.

In just a few months I've gone from 2.5 miles and needing to walk to by the end of the year doing 5 race events. As someone who not long ago wouldn't have been seen dead running let alone in public I'm pretty chuffed with myself. Especially as I'm doing respectable times for a complete newbie.

Will need to invest in some nice kit now I'm commited to it. I also want to give fell running a try next year.
 
I got some new shoes yesterday. I went for Brooks Ghost 10's in a limited edition colour (White, Dark Blue and a hint of gold) Ultraboost where really expensive. I got a voucher for £60 worth of other stuff from the shop, so got some compression socks and a PowerBreath thing, Thought I'd give them a go as they are free, and I didn't need anything else.

The shoes are really comfy and a slightly bigger fit than my old Asics. They are only 25g lighter according to my scale, but you really notice it. They performed well doing a bit of speed work last night, they felt a bit different when I first put them on but after a few miles I wasn't thinking about them. So hopefully these will be my new general purpose shoe for the next year. My wife's got a pair on order as well.

I ran a 5mile race at the weekend, I was hoping to go under 33mins, but set off too fast and lost it after hitting 5km in 20mins. Finished in 33:20 which is still a small PB for this distance. I have a local XC leauge race in the New Forest this weekend, but will just chill at that as I'm putting in lots of miles this week to make sure I get to 1000 for the year. I hope to get 50km in this week, which I think will be my most miles in a week.
 
What headphones do people use for races? I have the Milton Keynes Half on Sunday, but they seem to be enforcing a no headphones rule, but I saw on Facebook you can wear "Bone Conducting" headphones.......Never looked at these before, any good makes/"things" that i should look for in buying a pair?
 
Dup said:
I did 8 on Sunday, longest run so far. Signed up to the Burnley half marathon in March so have that to aim for.

Doing a 7 mile race this Sunday up and down a good hill so should be interesting. Feeling yesterday's 8 miler today and busy Weds & Thurs so gonna do a gentle run on Friday and then see how Sunday goes.

Then my next and last race of the year is the Ribble Valley 10k on the 31st.

In just a few months I've gone from 2.5 miles and needing to walk to by the end of the year doing 5 race events. As someone who not long ago wouldn't have been seen dead running let alone in public I'm pretty chuffed with myself. Especially as I'm doing respectable times for a complete newbie.

Will need to invest in some nice kit now I'm committed to it. I also want to give fell running a try next year.
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Great progress. Good thing about running is there isn't that much kit, at least compared to cycling/skiing/climbing etc. Good shoes (look out of discounts on last years models), a run watch and comfortable clothing. Most run clothing can be pretty cheap polyester tech shirts.

Trail/fell running is a good change to road running. Much more tiring per a mile of course, but you use many more muscles which build leg strength, get less impact stress.One somewhat off thing is mentally you have to be much more focused. With road runnign you can just zombie out of it and let the miles tick by, n trails you have to be constantly alert watching the ground and adapting the gait. It is less relaxing initially despite being out in nature, but over time this becomes more like a reflex and the fct that your mind is occupied can make it even more stress reducing.
I am pretty much set on moving on to ultramarathons. I have lost interest in cutting a minute here or there from my road marathon time, and shorter races don;t interest me much at all. Instead of chasing the clock I want to chase my physical limits of endurance.
 
Daaaavvveee said:
What headphones do people use for races? I have the Milton Keynes Half on Sunday, but they seem to be enforcing a no headphones rule, but I saw on Facebook you can wear "Bone Conducting" headphones.......Never looked at these before, any good makes/"things" that i should look for in buying a pair?
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All races here ban headphones. The bone conducting headphones vibrate parts of your skull while not covering your ears so you get to hear the ambient noises, like an approaching car.
 
A quick rant - running on unlit A road dual use pavement/cycle route , motorists frequently show no courtesy to dim lights as they approach/pass, and the yelled 'comments' as they pass probably fall on deaf ears.
I always have some kind of reflective clothing, but am wondering if I should add a light/(high beam)headtorch.
 
jpaul said:
A quick rant - running on unlit A road dual use pavement/cycle route , motorists frequently show no courtesy to dim lights as they approach/pass, and the yelled 'comments' as they pass probably fall on deaf ears.
I always have some kind of reflective clothing, but am wondering if I should add a light/(high beam)headtorch.
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I sometimes use a Kalenji run light 250 when I'm running at night and it seems to be pretty good, I don't know how it compares to a good headtorch but it's sufficient for me and it has red LEDS at the back as well.
 
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