Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

Just got home from my first ever half marathon in Birmingham. It's been raining all day so I was cold and drenched all the way round. Never run in rain before. So many puddles, feet soaking all the way round.

Did it in 2h 7m. Disappointed really as I wanted to do it in under 2. Especially as I ran 12 miles 2 weeks ago during training @ 1h 45m. Today's been one of the slowest runs Iv done in weeks!

What's worse is that I got the times all confused and thought I'd done it in 1h 56-57m. Wasn't till I checked the app on the way home, whilst dying in the cold, that I saw my finish time of 2h 7m !!!!! :(
 
Shame you feel disappointed with your time, but you finished and in horrible conditions so don't feel too bad!

Try to work out why the run didn't go as planned,learn from it and come back and smash the two hour mark!!
 
It's bloody impressive that you've trained for a half in the UK and yet somehow managed to not run in rain! :p

Went for another run yesterday, i'm still getting some discomfort just above my knee when i go downhill. Can only assume it's the increased strain on it even because i try and fight gravity and force myself slower to reduce impact load.

Annoyingly where i thought i was taking a longer route it actually turned into a shortcut so got to the gym sooner than expected. Was meeting the wife there so didn't want to carry on to drag it out longer and keep her waiting.

Did the classic comedy sketch of go to the gym purely to use the sauna/spa facilities!
 
Yucca said:
Just got home from my first ever half marathon in Birmingham. It's been raining all day so I was cold and drenched all the way round. Never run in rain before. So many puddles, feet soaking all the way round.

Did it in 2h 7m. Disappointed really as I wanted to do it in under 2. Especially as I ran 12 miles 2 weeks ago during training @ 1h 45m. Today's been one of the slowest runs Iv done in weeks!

What's worse is that I got the times all confused and thought I'd done it in 1h 56-57m. Wasn't till I checked the app on the way home, whilst dying in the cold, that I saw my finish time of 2h 7m !!!!! :(
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Sorry about that.Everyone has bad days racing.

It is possible that the 12miles in 1h45 2 weeks ago was effectively your race and you hadn't fully recovered in time.
There might also be a pacing issue, do you have your mile splits? Did you slow down much, or were you running consistently and hoped to be able; top pick up speed at the end but just couldn't pick up the pace and was mentally a bit out of it with the rain?
 
Marvt74 said:
It's bloody impressive that you've trained for a half in the UK and yet somehow managed to not run in rain! :p

Went for another run yesterday, i'm still getting some discomfort just above my knee when i go downhill. Can only assume it's the increased strain on it even because i try and fight gravity and force myself slower to reduce impact load.

Annoyingly where i thought i was taking a longer route it actually turned into a shortcut so got to the gym sooner than expected. Was meeting the wife there so didn't want to carry on to drag it out longer and keep her waiting.

Did the classic comedy sketch of go to the gym purely to use the sauna/spa facilities!
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I would have loved to train for anything in the UK without being rained on!

Not sure what to try and aim for next. In the mean time, I will just keep on "doing running" as the kids call it.

Never know, maybe I will get faster one day.
 
I completed the vallee de Joux 76km yesterday in 9h32. Was a trail run much more in line with my background, with much more runnable terrain for the most part. Still had 3300m of climbing, with the biggest 900m/300ft climb right at the end,, as long as a fair amount of technical sections but enough gentler terrain and forest roads where my marathon honed legs could tick off some fast miles.

Unfortunately I tripped and slammed in to the ground super hard at only mile 2. badly bruised and a fair bit of blood. Enough adrenaline that it doesn't hurt too much but was a big shock, later on in the race the effect were felt, my hand swelled up a lot and i got more pain in my left hip flexor.

Also the course marking were horrific. I got lost 3 times, others were lost even more. At one point there was a dozen of us searching all over a mountain top for the course flags. Lost loads of time getting lost, but also stopping at every junction to double check the way. Never seen anything like it, the trail would drop off the side of a nice forest road without any warning. Everyone was extremely annoyed.

Came 10th out of 32 in age group, 14 out 73 starters overall. More important ot me was that I managed to race hard and push myself the whole way, got a time that I am really happy with (was originally estimating nearer 11 hours). This reflected the summer training. As a sign of how hard I pushed myself, I am way more beat up and have much more severe DOMS than after my 90km with 6150m climbing I did last month.
 
Marvt74 said:
Come join me on the Manchester marathon in April. We're about the same pace!

OCUK race of the slow!
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Typically, that lands bang on Kids half term and we may well be away. Maybe potteries half/marathon in July (6th / 7th)

will have a look round.

76km after falling... sod that :-) I would have gone for a beer and called it a day I think.
 
1:23:23 on the GSR today :) my 5K and 10K pace were 25min and 50min respectively but the last 5km in the blazing sun absolutely destroyed me and I had a killer stitch at 14KM that slowed my pace dramatically.

A perfect day for enjoying the beach with the kids afterwards though! :D
 
still a beginner , so appropriate here,

Want to get some sort of running top or maybe a jacket ?

currently wearing my long sleeve H/H Lifa base layer with my short sleeve over the top, kinda want something to go over this if its a little colder, but i am really unsure what to buy, please advise, thanks
 
ShiWarrior said:
still a beginner , so appropriate here,

Want to get some sort of running top or maybe a jacket ?

currently wearing my long sleeve H/H Lifa base layer with my short sleeve over the top, kinda want something to go over this if its a little colder, but i am really unsure what to buy, please advise, thanks
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To be honest, for the autumn months all you really need is a long sleeve base layer once you've warmed up.

When it gets much colder, I tend to wear a gilet over the top and some hat / gloves that I can put in the pockets when I get too hot.

My ethos (rightly or wrongly) is to keep my core body warm and my arms / legs will take care of themself while I'm actually running
 
Last winter I wore an ancient Ron Hill base layer thing under my t-shirt. In almost every case, I had to shove the sleeves up at some point through the run as i was too hot.

I found that it was primarily
  • Starting Off - I struggled with motivation if it was too cold and it helped take that edge off at the start
  • Mid - Late run when the cold air had blow up my t-shirt and my stomach was frozen. it was just kept that bit warmer
 
ci_newman said:
1:23:23 on the GSR today :) my 5K and 10K pace were 25min and 50min respectively but the last 5km in the blazing sun absolutely destroyed me and I had a killer stitch at 14KM that slowed my pace dramatically.

A perfect day for enjoying the beach with the kids afterwards though! :D
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Well done, exactly the same happened to me. I did 1:10:57, first 8km was fine on course for 1:07-1:08 then fell apart in the second half. Didn't enjoy it once I saw my pace dropping away. Hit 5km in just under 21min, then 42:30 at 10km. Didn't feel overly hot, but didn't sleep well and had a minor cold so putting it down to that.

I did the Hayling 10 last November with no breakfast and a massive hand over in 1:11 something.
 
Has anyone used 'Lumo run' or similar? I quite like the idea of having something that keeps a check on my running form as I go, particularly towards the end of runs, as it's something that I am fairly certain starts okay, but quickly goes shonky...
 
Bloodrayne said:
Has anyone used 'Lumo run' or similar? I quite like the idea of having something that keeps a check on my running form as I go, particularly towards the end of runs, as it's something that I am fairly certain starts okay, but quickly goes shonky...
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I like the concept but I doubt it really works that well. From researching, it doesn't seem to give real time cadence feedback which is about the only actionable information. Vertical oscillation, ground contact time etc. are interesting but there is no real science behind incorporating these metrics into training, let along anything that can be done in real time. E.g, if ground contact time increases, what are you going to do about it (or what will the phone app recommend)? A lot of the times there is much you can do. When primary muscles fatigue then various metrics will natural change.
All of these metrics are more interesting when looking at long time scales to see how your body is adapting to long term training.

IMO, something that give real-time cadence and trying to keep around 180SPM will help. Otherwise I just do mental check lists when fatigue becomes an issue in a marathon or end of a 20 miler. Get a nice body lean, but don;t slouch, should above knees on landing, try and stay loose, shake out the arms a little, body centered and not leaning.

The other thing is to make sure you have good upper body core strength. If you run enough then you develop this naturally, if you are starting out then additional swim lessons and pistol squats etc go a long way.
 
Marvt74 said:
No, but i have considered the Stryd thing in the past which seems really good. Seems to have jumped in price though.
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I have thought about it but it suffers some of the same issues in that there is no well grounded methodology to run train based on power (unlike cycling). The other issue is the runnign pwoer meters can onyl estimate power, but they don't take into account wind, shoes, and the adjustments for hills are poor.

Moreover, in running efficiency is incredibly important, so generating X power for an hour is one thing, but if you can generate less power but be more efficient in your running then you can end up running faster for longer. In cycling it is very different, generating 300w will make the cycle move a determined speed for a given aerodynamic. That is why aerodynamic gear and position is important, but if you normalize that then a pro cycle or amateur will move at the same speed. The same is true for VO2MAX, 2 people with the same basic CV fitness and thus VO2max can run at very different paces due to efficiency difference. In this sense running is more like swimming, your basic CV fitness matters, and ability to produce power, but in swimming the exact technique is critical
 
D.P. said:
I like the concept but I doubt it really works that well. From researching, it doesn't seem to give real time cadence feedback which is about the only actionable information. Vertical oscillation, ground contact time etc. are interesting but there is no real science behind incorporating these metrics into training, let along anything that can be done in real time. E.g, if ground contact time increases, what are you going to do about it (or what will the phone app recommend)? A lot of the times there is much you can do. When primary muscles fatigue then various metrics will natural change.
All of these metrics are more interesting when looking at long time scales to see how your body is adapting to long term training.

IMO, something that give real-time cadence and trying to keep around 180SPM will help. Otherwise I just do mental check lists when fatigue becomes an issue in a marathon or end of a 20 miler. Get a nice body lean, but don;t slouch, should above knees on landing, try and stay loose, shake out the arms a little, body centered and not leaning.

The other thing is to make sure you have good upper body core strength. If you run enough then you develop this naturally, if you are starting out then additional swim lessons and pistol squats etc go a long way.
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Thanks - part of the appeal was the fact that it's said to do posture (which I struggle with when tired); I had thought that this would have been something useful to have real-time feedback on as I ran - if that's how the lumo works.

I think that tech for running is great, but I am currently struggling with motivation/time, so was also partly thinking of this as a way to get back into things.
 
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