Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

Anyone got any recommendations for what to wear on my lower legs to keep them warm? I normally run in just short running socks (from Lidl) which I love but I'd like something a little longer to keep the backs of my lower legs warmer.
 
valve90210 said:
Anyone got any recommendations for what to wear on my lower legs to keep them warm? I normally run in just short running socks (from Lidl) which I love but I'd like something a little longer to keep the backs of my lower legs warmer.
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Running tights or long running socks. Karrimor (via Sports Direct) do cheap and perfectly functional versions of both.

I've been quite enjoying the relative peace and quiet for my runs over the past couple of days, as long as I'm wrapped up warmly enough and take it fairly easy the snow isn't really a problem.
 
Missus just got me some running tights / leggings, having toasty legs is amazing!

Just waiting for ice to vanish so I can get out safely and run... 3 days and counting. Might be a sneaky half marathon tomorrow to make up for it :)
 
Running tights, they are incredibly comfortable so I wear them whenever I can. I think the the compression over the whole leg helps with muscle fatugue. One of the joys of winter is an excuse to put the running tights on.

I have some brand named running tights but also some cheaper Chinese stiff from Amazon that works almost as well.


Snow is not a problem for running, black ice is an issue.so when it starts snowing I make sure to get a good run in because if it melts and refreezes then it gets harder as you have to pay a lot more attention.

When it is super cold I put an extra layer on which I can then take off after a couple of miles once warmed up (and if you don't warm up then you can leave it on).

Anyway, I spent yesterday throwing up and today dry heaving. I think that is the straw that broke the camel's back and I won't be chasing a PR at Boston, I will run it for fun and concentrate on my summer Ultras
 
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I have had about 9 days of running due to going away with work for a week on a course, will be running again tomorrow so will see how its affected me. Hopefully not too much
 
Went out last night for a long run (Longest ever for me) Ended up walking somewhere around the 26km point and it was almost impossible to get going again. So many hills and all those excuse sort of things. I just felt that I couldn't keep going and though a walk for a bit would help...

Should I have just stopped still for a bit or do I just keep on going and take it as being all part of the challenge? Ended up with a few more running parts with a total of 32km so i'm not kicking myself too much just at the moment :-)
 
I think stopping still would be the worst thing you could do. Probably best to just keep going even if at a walking pace but still in a jog type form (if that makes sense)
 
Ian_Eb said:
Went out last night for a long run (Longest ever for me) Ended up walking somewhere around the 26km point and it was almost impossible to get going again. So many hills and all those excuse sort of things. I just felt that I couldn't keep going and though a walk for a bit would help...

Should I have just stopped still for a bit or do I just keep on going and take it as being all part of the challenge? Ended up with a few more running parts with a total of 32km so i'm not kicking myself too much just at the moment :)
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Congrats, that is still a great run.

Long runs are mainly a mental challenge, the feeling if exhaustion towards the end is pretty typical and very useful training stimuli both physically and mentally. running a marathon is roughly doing a 20 mile warmup before the hardest 10K f your life. It hurts like anything in those last miles if you are running close to realistic goal time. It is incredibly mentally tough, your whole body is screaming at you to stop. it is really not pleasant to be honest until you see that finish line, and then you will swear you will never do that again- for a few hours anyway. Managing that discomfort is key.

However, if you push too hard in training then you will suffer a very long recovery period and risk injury so there is some kind of balance between blocking the urge to walk and keeping things safe. With experience you learn when enough is enough. And at that point walking breaks are fine. in fact, ideally if you are going to go really far you should start walking breaks a long time before you are forced to do them. This is especially true for a beginner building up to longer distances, training for your first marathon or whatever. It is not cheating to walk a little, even the best pros will walk in a (long/mountainous) ultra race for example. At this stage it is more important to cover the distance and get the time on your feat than worry about specific paces or walking.Taking a walking break wont affect any training adaptions. As you get faster/more advanced then LR for a marathon often takes on a different kind of training goal, with long stretches at marathon pace, or progressively faster paces, or short bursts at 10K speed or whatever. But until you have run a couple then the LR is mostly about getting used to that feeling of fatigue and gauging the difference between sustainable fatigue ("this completely sucks and I wish I was at the finish"), vs the more physical limits.

On a long run pace/effort is pretty critical. For a beginner it is useful to start off even slower than easy pace and build up slowly. Even as an advanced runner I will start my LR relatively modest. If you don't have a high volume base then you will lack the endurance to keep at your regular pace for very long.

As marvt74 says, whatever you do don;t stop. Take walking breaks, keep the wlaking short, purposeful power hike. Take walking breaks early
 
Ian_Eb said:
This is what I was thinking. It didn't help that I had been out for a carvery with friends and only got in at half six. Got kids in bed then went out at 19:20 so I didn't get in until about 23:20!

https://www.strava.com/activities/1437203473
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Only thing I would say is that your first mile is the fastest, 2nd is the 2nd fastest, 3rd the 3rd fastest. That indicates you went out too fast. I try and have my first miles the slowest of the run, the last miles the fastest (wont eb always possible on a LR).
You always have to make adjustments for hills, But I bet if you started mile 1 at 10:30 to 11:00 pace,a nd dropped 10- 15 seconds a mile over the next few miles, and then held it at 10:00 you would likely have less issue at the end. But those hills at the end would be tough anyway.

Here is a recent LR form me:
https://www.strava.com/activities/1421600312

Not a perfect example because miles 3-6 are very flat and fast with a tailwind, miles 7-10 are on twist trails or have some steep hills, and form there on home I had a strong headwind and and some climbing. So effort increased a lot as the miles ticked by even if the paces were more even. Despite that, miles 1-2 were by far the slowest, and the GAP of mile 20 the fastest. On more even terrain I will frequently find the last 5 miles run 1 minutes a mile faster than the first 5.
 
Thanks for that (Both of you) I was thinking at the time that stopping would be a bad move :-) One advantage of the route i was on is that when I did slow, there isn't really a short cut to drop out early. The quickest/shortest way back was the way I was going anyway.

I am hoping to be able to hit 5 hrs or so on the day. I will really just need to control my pace and so on so that i don't go "whee, this is a breeze" at the start. I know the marathon course is downhill at the start and the total elevation gain is on a par with what I did yesterday but spread out into smaller climbs and so on.
 
For a 5hr marathon you should definitely be doing walking breaks form very early on, something in the order of 2 minutes every 15 minutes of running (or 1 minute every 10).
 
Ok. All sounds a little counterintuitive on the face of it but thinking about it, it does make sense as a means of controlling effort and so on. I have another long run on Sunday so I will put some thought in this week about it so I don't forget on the day :-)
 
Ian_Eb said:
Ok. All sounds a little counterintuitive on the face of it but thinking about it, it does make sense as a means of controlling effort and so on. I have another long run on Sunday so I will put some thought in this week about it so I don't forget on the day :)
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some aspects of running are counter intuitive on the surface, but only mask sense when you look deeper at the physiological side of running. For example, training at faster paces generally doesn't make you race faster, while lots of easy running goes a long way to making you run and race faster. In running quantity counts so much more than quality, and in racing relatively even paces are much faster than fast starts with big slow downs.
Short walking breaks allows a surprising amount of recovery; oxygenation of the muscles, removal of lactate, digestion of fluids and gels, relaxation of over-worked muscles, electrolyte balances. And walking is very efficient, lower overall energy costs. And form a mathematical perspective, a 1 to 2 minute walk every 10 to 15 minutes when you are still moving at 16minutes a mile compared to a run pace of 10min/mile is a very small reduction in average velocity. A lot smaller than walking form mile 20 to the finish!


One last thing, if your goal is a 5 hour marathon then that is about 11:30 a mile. Your long run training should be somewhat slower than that. Moreover, on race day you will want to start slower than that and absolutely avoid rushing out at those sub-10 paces. Walking breaks will be critical in getting you to balance energy reserves and set paces correctly so you can finish strong. Save those sub-10 miles until you can run straight to the finish line A Marathon doesn't get interesting until mile 20, that is when you need your energy.
 
Cheers again. I am becoming much more aware that the tricky bit is coming at the end now. After the last few long runs it starts to show and I have to admit to having those thoughts of "how on earth will i finish this"

Never really thought about the speed thing at this point, but I can see that walking for a few minutes isn't really going to add too much impact on that basis.
 
I've started running again as I've got time before work . Get up at 530am on mondays for a longer run then 6am mornings and go in the afternoon . go for a run get back and showered in time for work . I'm making the distance a bit longer on Monday and Friday and short route through the week . It's depressing that some of the Strava segments I set 4 years back on the back of a long run are much quicker than what I'm doing at the moment .
One thing I could do with is a bright jacket , any suggestions ?
Also what do people do for hydration? I have a drink before going and one 40 minutes later when I'm back.
 
No recommendations for jackets, in general you want to avoid any kind of jacket unless absolutely necessary because they never breath well and even some kind of mesh thing wont be super comfortable. I have some flashing light armbands and a reflective shoulder strap.

For hydration, anything under 2 hours I don't bother unless a track session in the heat. Make sure hydrated before starting and drinks throughout the day afterwards. For medium long runs I might take a hand-held. In general i don;t like these but they are the best system when racing a marathon so it is useful to practice. For long runs I use a waste pack, I find there is minimal bounce. Can fit in a few gels, car keys, credit card phone if need be, and 2x10oz bottles. Got a lkarger waist pack for longer trail runs, 20oz bottles and more storage for emergency jacket and more food. For very long trail run I have a running vest with chest bottles.
 
I can't stand running for too long with any sort of jacket on. If I unzip it then it flaps and I just get too hot. I have worn one at the start of things like parkrun where i can throw it on a bench to collect later (i take it that if there are any fetishists into the sweat of 48 year old overweight blokes then they are welcome to it! :p )

I have a small(ish) bottle with a hand strap thing but I find it a pain to carry unless I really need to. Last night I just left it at home and then grabbed it quickly as the end of lap 1 and then the rest at the end of lap 2.
 
I bought a jacket. I just feel more comfortable wearing one. I have a Ronhill jacket; this one http://www.ronhill.com/mens-stride-windspeed-jacket. It helped during windy, cold and rainy days.

Then again I also wear tights as again, I feel more comfortable over shorts.

I hadn't run for almost a month, so now the snow cleared. I got out tonight and did 3.8miles without any stops.
 
I don't post in here as my running is feeble and I have nothing to offer to those asking for guidance but I would like to say a huge thank you to all of you. Makes for great reading and nice to see the successes you're all making in your own battles.
I'm doing my first full marathon in August and it's this thread that keeps me pounding out the miles :)
 
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