Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

[The Darkness]

Tried a threshold test today. Warm-up, 30 minute flat out,hit lap button 10 minutes into the 30 and use average heart rate and pace from remaining 20 minutes as threshold limit. Very tough session.

 

[Admiral Huddy]

Tried a threshold test today. Warm-up, 30 minute flat out,hit lap button 10 minutes into the 30 and use average heart rate and pace from remaining 20 minutes as threshold limit. Very tough session.

So is that 20 mins with your HR at a certain intensity? 80% say?

 

[The Darkness]

So is that 20 mins with your HR at a certain intensity? 80% say?

Its a bit like the other way round. You run at a pace you can maintain for 30 minutes (and ideally no more!) and you use your HR and pace from the final 20 minutes to define LT-HR & LT-P(ace) and then training zones. So you don't look at your watch during the test, you just try to run as fast as you can for 30 minutes.

The training zones using this method came out close, but not exactly the same, to the zones you get when you work them out using out max HR, resting HR etc.

Hard workout too!

 

[D.P.]

It tends to be better to work the training zones out from races though, like a good 10km race. When running alone within a training block without proper taper it is hard to really push ypurseéf to your limits.

 

[JustBen]

Going to do my first half marathon in the great Manchester run. I can run 6 mile ok and 3 mile at an alright pace.
I had a look online for a training plan for building up to 13miles. I've got ages before the run so wondering what I should be doing in preparation.

 

[semi-pro waster]

The Great Manchester Run is in May next year so you've got a fair chunk of time to build up to it which is good. Most pre-prepared plans seem to be in the 12-17 weeks region which would leave you with about the same period again to building up the mileage gradually.

How many times a week do you run already? Do you have a particular aim/time in mind for your first half marathon? Have you signed up to any tune-up races - you don't have to of course but they can give you an idea of your current level of fitness and what sort of pacing you might need to be looking at? Do you have a pair of good trainers that are comfortable/fitted? And do you have a pair that you will use for the run - if so make sure you've used them a few times for longish runs, what feels fine for a short run might not be so good when the miles get higher and you want to be comfortable with the trainers.

As general advice I'd be looking at building up the mileage gradually, there's a notional 10% max that has been floating about but it's a very crude metric because everyone is different - it's probably not too bad to bear in mind as a relative beginner though. As a start then miles/time on your feet will be important rather than trying to run to a specific pace and indeed running at a slow/comfortable pace is going to be both beneficial and less likely to cause injury than always trying to set a new PB. Remember rest days are important because that's when your body repairs. To that end also try to incorporate some stretching/foam rolling at the end of your runs, it'll help with recovery. Try to eat reasonably well and on longer runs you might want to start practicing fuelling e.g. drinking water and/or taking on energy gels/food because come race day you don't want to be trying them for the first time. Have you practiced with the kit you'll be wearing? You might discover that it's great up to a point then at mile 10 causes chafing and you'll either want to replace the kit or find a strategy to deal with it. Some people find joining a running club helpful but others just don't like the idea - maybe give it some consideration as it can help encourage you to keep training consistently if that's something you struggle with. Just a few of my not entirely coherent thoughts as they occur.

 

[Blackvault]

Great advice...

Some good advice Semi-pro. I'd also thought aiming for a half marathon next year but unlike always4lora, I'm aiming towards September next year, either the Great North Run or Belfast Half Marathon. The Belfast Half was only yesterday so I'd have a full 52 weeks to prepare for mine, but as someone who has only been running a year, and only started to run to 10km, is it un-advisable to aim for a half marathon at this relatively early stage?

I've managed to get out and run 10km only twice, and while the time was a pedestrian 1hour 8min, it was manageable, and I didn't feel I was going to die.. which is always a bonus. My aim would be to try and go longer than rather trying to get faster, is that a sensible approach, as my main goal for doing a half marathon is to finish it. No time targets, No PBs, no pressure.

Obviously it is all individual, but in the last 90 days I've been doing 13.6km weekly average, but in the past few weeks I've paired it back to concentrate on a hike up Snowdon and to reduce the risk of injury that would effect that hike. When you talk about increasing the mileage, is that 10% a week, or over a 3-4 week block? What would the average weekly total be for someone wanting to do a half marathon? I'm going to assume its well over 21.1km a week?

If you don't think its a good idea for me to jump into a half marathon this coming year, where should my focus me? Improve my 5km time (27:14), work at my 10km efforts?

 

[ci_newman]

Some good advice Semi-pro. I'd also thought aiming for a half marathon next year but unlike always4lora, I'm aiming towards September next year, either the Great North Run or Belfast Half Marathon. The Belfast Half was only yesterday so I'd have a full 52 weeks to prepare for mine, but as someone who has only been running a year, and only started to run to 10km, is it un-advisable to aim for a half marathon at this relatively early stage?

I've managed to get out and run 10km only twice, and while the time was a pedestrian 1hour 8min, it was manageable, and I didn't feel I was going to die.. which is always a bonus. My aim would be to try and go longer than rather trying to get faster, is that a sensible approach, as my main goal for doing a half marathon is to finish it. No time targets, No PBs, no pressure.

Obviously it is all individual, but in the last 90 days I've been doing 13.6km weekly average, but in the past few weeks I've paired it back to concentrate on a hike up Snowdon and to reduce the risk of injury that would effect that hike. When you talk about increasing the mileage, is that 10% a week, or over a 3-4 week block? What would the average weekly total be for someone wanting to do a half marathon? I'm going to assume its well over 21.1km a week?

If you don't think its a good idea for me to jump into a half marathon this coming year, where should my focus me? Improve my 5km time (27:14), work at my 10km efforts?

I'm no expert, but with a year to train then a half marathon is definitely within your grasps (especially if you aren't too focused on a specific completion time). A half marathon is just over double your current 10km pace, that should be easily achievable in 52 weeks with a focused mind and training plan.

What helped me was to plan some other races during the year to keep you focused and on target, e.g. a 10Km race in the spring then a 10mile / 16km race in the Summer.

I will let other people with more knowledge than me recommend a training plan though But generally speaking, you just need to work on increasing your distance every 3-4 weeks and hitting the pavement as much as possible (with easy runs, not max HR!)

 

[Blackvault]

I'm no expert, but with a year to train then a half marathon is definitely within your grasps (especially if you aren't too focused on a specific completion time).

Yeah, I know I'll not beat Sir Mo's time!

 

[Daaaavvveee]

Going to do my first half marathon in the great Manchester run. I can run 6 mile ok and 3 mile at an alright pace.
I had a look online for a training plan for building up to 13miles. I've got ages before the run so wondering what I should be doing in preparation.

I am doing the full marathon then, its my first ever one, hoping it won't be too bad haha

 

[neilw]

I did a half marathon yesterday, signed up at the last minute as my fishing trip was canceled.

I took it easy and finished in 1:41. The best thing was, I felt no more fatigued than if I had been on a 10 min walk to the shops.

So good to know all the long runs and Marathon training has paid off. I'm Concentrating on my speed work now up to the Great South Run, and maybe a Parkrun PB

 

[Blackvault]

I did a half marathon yesterday, signed up at the last minute as my fishing trip was canceled.

I took it easy and finished in 1:41. The best thing was, I felt no more fatigued than if I had been on a 10 min walk to the shops.

So good to know all the long runs and Marathon training has paid off. I'm Concentrating on my speed work now up to the Great South Run, and maybe a Parkrun PB

Nice one mate! What event was it?

That's a really good time!

 

[ci_newman]

I did a half marathon yesterday, signed up at the last minute as my fishing trip was canceled.

I took it easy and finished in 1:41. The best thing was, I felt no more fatigued than if I had been on a 10 min walk to the shops.

So good to know all the long runs and Marathon training has paid off. I'm Concentrating on my speed work now up to the Great South Run, and maybe a Parkrun PB

Nice work on the half! That's an impressive time for "taking it easy"!

I'm doing the GSR too again this year, I'm quite looking forward to it!

 

[neilw]

Nice work on the half! That's an impressive time for "taking it easy"!

I'm doing the GSR too again this year, I'm quite looking forward to it!

Cheers. Yup Looking forward too it as well, I enjoy the support there, I'm hoping to run somewhere between 1:08 and 1:10

Nice one mate! What event was it?

That's a really good time!

Thanks. It was the Solent Half, on the edge of the New Forest, only 20mins drive for me. Quite a small event (400 entries) organised by a local running club.

 

[D.P.]

Some good advice Semi-pro. I'd also thought aiming for a half marathon next year but unlike always4lora, I'm aiming towards September next year, either the Great North Run or Belfast Half Marathon. The Belfast Half was only yesterday so I'd have a full 52 weeks to prepare for mine, but as someone who has only been running a year, and only started to run to 10km, is it un-advisable to aim for a half marathon at this relatively early stage?

I've managed to get out and run 10km only twice, and while the time was a pedestrian 1hour 8min, it was manageable, and I didn't feel I was going to die.. which is always a bonus. My aim would be to try and go longer than rather trying to get faster, is that a sensible approach, as my main goal for doing a half marathon is to finish it. No time targets, No PBs, no pressure.

Obviously it is all individual, but in the last 90 days I've been doing 13.6km weekly average, but in the past few weeks I've paired it back to concentrate on a hike up Snowdon and to reduce the risk of injury that would effect that hike. When you talk about increasing the mileage, is that 10% a week, or over a 3-4 week block? What would the average weekly total be for someone wanting to do a half marathon? I'm going to assume its well over 21.1km a week?

If you don't think its a good idea for me to jump into a half marathon this coming year, where should my focus me? Improve my 5km time (27:14), work at my 10km efforts?

I did a marathon after 6 months of starting to run. The distance really isn't an issue.


The 10% number is banded about but the better coaches suggestion something along the following: add 1 mile for every run you do in a week, but you don;t have to add a mile to each run, e.g. could add 2 miles to one of them and nothing to another. Once added hold that volume for 2 weeks, have a cut-back easier week to recover, then the next week do the same thing adding 1 mile for each run you do. So if you run 5 times a week you can add 5 miles every 4 weeks.


The typical volume for a half marathon will vary widely with experience and expectations. To finish OK, somewhere back of mid-pack then 50-65km a week during the week 4 weeks is a reasonable target. you will get big improvements moving up to 150km a week or so, but this will take some time for your body to adapt to. The absolute minimum training volume will depend on factors such as the cut-off time for the race, if you want to run the whole lot or use walking breaks etc.
It is also useful for a hlaf marathon to get your longest long runs farther than the half marathon distance, get some runs at 25-28km and you will have a much easier time going in to the race. This is something that is ncie about shorter races, you can run further than the race distance in training so when it gets to race day you are well experienced. With longer races this doesn't work because recovery time is too long.


Training wise, I would totally ignore any idea of trying to get faster at a short distance.Thinking along those lines tends to get you injured. You want to be thinking about build a strong aerobic base. Basically slowly build as much volume as you can until about 12 weeks before race day. Simply running more easy miles without any workouts will do wonders to your 5km&10km times without you worrying about them at all. I went from a 44min 10km to 37km without a single workout focused on shorter distance training, purely high volume easy miles. Once you get to about 12 weeks to race day you can start adding in some intervals, tempo runs and goal paces long runs.

Given the time line you are talking about you can aim to do something like get your long runs up to 15 miles 12 weeks before race day. Then in the next 12 weeks you can worry less about the long run distance or your running volume even. Add some workouts but take more rest days.

 

[D.P.]

I did a half marathon yesterday, signed up at the last minute as my fishing trip was canceled.

I took it easy and finished in 1:41. The best thing was, I felt no more fatigued than if I had been on a 10 min walk to the shops.

So good to know all the long runs and Marathon training has paid off. I'm Concentrating on my speed work now up to the Great South Run, and maybe a Parkrun PB

that is the thing, you put in the miles and get some nice LR then half-marathons and 10km races end up feeling pretty easy unless you are trying to kill yourself. This extends to marathons with time, e.g. I ran Boston in 2:48 and barely felt any more tired than a hard LR for me, because I was about 5minutes slower than my physical potetnial that day (50kmh headwind and driving rain made me forget a PR after 10km).

 

[JustBen]

The Great Manchester Run is in May next year so you've got a fair chunk of time to build up to it which is good. Most pre-prepared plans seem to be in the 12-17 weeks region which would leave you with about the same period again to building up the mileage gradually. I was thinking off doing the b marathon program which is 16 weeks and doing each week twice

How many times a week do you run already? 2 - 3 times a week, i'm going to borrow my prents treadmill so i can do some when the kids are in bed so hopefully can bring this number up a bit. Do you have a particular aim/time in mind for your first half marathon? For the first time I just want to complete it really without having to top.Have you signed up to any tune-up races - you don't have to of course but they can give you an idea of your current level of fitness and what sort of pacing you might need to be looking at? Only timed running I have done is the park run. There is a few 5/10k and half marathon races locally in December Do you have a pair of good trainers that are comfortable/fitted? Yup wentu p to pete bland sports and got some fitted. And do you have a pair that you will use for the run - if so make sure you've used them a few times for longish runs, what feels fine for a short run might not be so good when the miles get higher and you want to be comfortable with the trainers.

As general advice I'd be looking at building up the mileage gradually, there's a notional 10% max that has been floating about but it's a very crude metric because everyone is different - it's probably not too bad to bear in mind as a relative beginner though. As a start then miles/time on your feet will be important rather than trying to run to a specific pace and indeed running at a slow/comfortable pace is going to be both beneficial and less likely to cause injury than always trying to set a new PB. Remember rest days are important because that's when your body repairs. To that end also try to incorporate some stretching/foam rolling at the end of your runs, it'll help with recovery. Try to eat reasonably well and on longer runs you might want to start practicing fuelling e.g. drinking water and/or taking on energy gels/food because come race day you don't want to be trying them for the first time. I've not done this yet but something to try Have you practiced with the kit you'll be wearing? I'm un-prepared here! I just run in my united football shirt and shorts and some running socks You might discover that it's great up to a point then at mile 10 causes chafing and you'll either want to replace the kit or find a strategy to deal with it. Some people find joining a running club helpful but others just don't like the idea - maybe give it some consideration as it can help encourage you to keep training consistently if that's something you struggle with. Just a few of my not entirely coherent thoughts as they occur.

I take my lad to a running club which is good. most of my running will need to be early hours (4-5AM) or later on past (7-8pm)

 

[semi-pro waster]

Obviously it is all individual, but in the last 90 days I've been doing 13.6km weekly average, but in the past few weeks I've paired it back to concentrate on a hike up Snowdon and to reduce the risk of injury that would effect that hike. When you talk about increasing the mileage, is that 10% a week, or over a 3-4 week block? What would the average weekly total be for someone wanting to do a half marathon? I'm going to assume its well over 21.1km a week?

If you don't think its a good idea for me to jump into a half marathon this coming year, where should my focus me? Improve my 5km time (27:14), work at my 10km efforts?

A year is lots of time to build up to a half marathon, increasing the distance gradually is perfectly possible over that length of time. In terms of mileage if you can work your way slowly up to say 12 miles per week as your long run and 2-3 other runs during the week then you should be able to comfortably tackle a half marathon as the energy/excitement/adrenaline of race day would see you home. Since you've got time I'd probably suggest adding a mile a week and seeing how that feels for you, every few weeks you might want to have a bit of an easier week then start building up again.

I really wouldn't worry about your times for a given distance too much at the moment, the overall time spent running is likely to be more beneficial and speed can/will follow in due course. There's plenty of plans around for when you get a bit closer to the race and want to fine tune your training.

I take my lad to a running club which is good. most of my running will need to be early hours (4-5AM) or later on past (7-8pm)

Sounds like you've got it sorted, parkrun is quite a good way to test your speed if you wanted to work out rough pacings for your half marathon. In terms of clothing you might find that as the distances get further that the football kit becomes less comfortable and more specialised running kit might be better adapted but see how you get on.

 

[ci_newman]

Sounds like you've got it sorted, parkrun is quite a good way to test your speed if you wanted to work out rough pacings for your half marathon. In terms of clothing you might find that as the distances get further that the football kit becomes less comfortable and more specialised running kit might be better adapted but see how you get on.

I'll second this comment on clothing. Below 10K, I could run in pretty much anything (although always had proper running shoes) but above those distances, I need proper lightweight running clothes otherwise I get serious chaffing on my thighs and my nipples

 

[Blackvault]

I did a marathon after 6 months of starting to run. The distance really isn't an issue.


The 10% number is banded about but the better coaches suggestion something along the following: add 1 mile for every run you do in a week, but you don;t have to add a mile to each run, e.g. could add 2 miles to one of them and nothing to another. Once added hold that volume for 2 weeks, have a cut-back easier week to recover, then the next week do the same thing adding 1 mile for each run you do. So if you run 5 times a week you can add 5 miles every 4 weeks.


The typical volume for a half marathon will vary widely with experience and expectations. To finish OK, somewhere back of mid-pack then 50-65km a week during the week 4 weeks is a reasonable target. you will get big improvements moving up to 150km a week or so, but this will take some time for your body to adapt to. The absolute minimum training volume will depend on factors such as the cut-off time for the race, if you want to run the whole lot or use walking breaks etc.
It is also useful for a half marathon to get your longest long runs farther than the half marathon distance, get some runs at 25-28km and you will have a much easier time going in to the race. This is something that is nice about shorter races, you can run further than the race distance in training so when it gets to race day you are well experienced. With longer races this doesn't work because recovery time is too long.


Training wise, I would totally ignore any idea of trying to get faster at a short distance.Thinking along those lines tends to get you injured. You want to be thinking about build a strong aerobic base. Basically slowly build as much volume as you can until about 12 weeks before race day. Simply running more easy miles without any workouts will do wonders to your 5km&10km times without you worrying about them at all. I went from a 44min 10km to 37km without a single workout focused on shorter distance training, purely high volume easy miles. Once you get to about 12 weeks to race day you can start adding in some intervals, tempo runs and goal paces long runs.

Given the time line you are talking about you can aim to do something like get your long runs up to 15 miles 12 weeks before race day. Then in the next 12 weeks you can worry less about the long run distance or your running volume even. Add some workouts but take more rest days.

A year is lots of time to build up to a half marathon, increasing the distance gradually is perfectly possible over that length of time. In terms of mileage if you can work your way slowly up to say 12 miles per week as your long run and 2-3 other runs during the week then you should be able to comfortably tackle a half marathon as the energy/excitement/adrenaline of race day would see you home. Since you've got time I'd probably suggest adding a mile a week and seeing how that feels for you, every few weeks you might want to have a bit of an easier week then start building up again.

I really wouldn't worry about your times for a given distance too much at the moment, the overall time spent running is likely to be more beneficial and speed can/will follow in due course. There's plenty of plans around for when you get a bit closer to the race and want to fine tune your training.

Thanks for the advise guys. To expand on DP's questions regarding my target, it would be to finish the event not walking. That's it! So long as I can complete it, even if I'm dead last I'll be happy. So long as I feel I've put my everything into it that is good enough for me at this stage, and lets be honest it will be a personal best! Maybe closer to the time as my fitness has improved I might reassess my goals and aim for a time, but not at this moment.

In regards to the volume D.P, I think even 50km a week might be a stretch, given how injury prone I am, but I'll try and stick to that advice and see how I get.

Are either of you two on Strava? It might be handy to follow my progress, weekly volume and shout at me if I'm ramping it up too quick!