Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

Starting the year by trying to do 60 miles this month. Not sure I'll ever get back to my 2016 levels of fitness, jogging lots and playing football twice a week but gonna try...
 
I think when you do other activities aswell (like playing football twice a week), it's pretty tricky to do more than that. At 15 miles a week you're at say 3/4 runs a week which is reasonable.

I need to increase to around 35miles a week and i'm struggling to figure when i'll be able to fit it in around playing football and doing other things. I played 3 games of 5 a side last night after a 3mile run and was dead on my feet in the last game! I prefer to run in the mornings but am usually tired so limited to 4-5 mile runs and i'm trying to avoid going out at night as by the time i get home from work, make tea and spend a bit of time with the family it's pretty much bed time. I'm already usually out 2 nights a week doing stuff so don't want to be out more than that.
 
neilw said:
Got a bit of an unexpected ParkRun (5k) PB on Saturday, Ran 19:17 which has taken 15 seconds off. I now have the confidence I can go sub19, with a bit more prep and a warmup.

I was very relaxed in the first two km's. I've been able to pick up the speed significantly in the final kilometer the last few I've done, to well under a 6min mile, before on 5km PB attempts the final km has been a real struggle.
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Seems like you paced better this time. Always a key for any race.
 
Marvt74 said:
I think when you do other activities as well (like playing football twice a week), it's pretty tricky to do more than that. At 15 miles a week you're at say 3/4 runs a week which is reasonable.

I need to increase to around 35miles a week and I'm struggling to figure when I'll be able to fit it in around playing football and doing other things. I played 3 games of 5 a side last night after a 3mile run and was dead on my feet in the last game! I prefer to run in the mornings but am usually tired so limited to 4-5 mile runs and I'm trying to avoid going out at night as by the time I get home from work, make tea and spend a bit of time with the family it's pretty much bedtime. I'm already usually out 2 nights a week doing stuff so don't want to be out more than that.
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Do you run far enough during a football game to include it in your running mileage?
 
I’m a goalkeeper so I just fall over to be honest :p

It is mad how much it tires you actually. Whilst not running around you’re still constantly moving and positioning yourself and then hitting the floor takes it out of your legs.

I’ve done around 16 miles over the last 3 days and could tell what a difference it made. I was so slow getting down to shots.
 
Whilst i don't particularly see the point of having such an arbitrary target (do you not get bored only exercising for 7 minutes?)

What are you doing prior to this attempt? Are you warming up? Just starting cold? Do you have any way of checking speed during the run like GPS? You can then see whether you start fast and then slow, or whether you speed up as you get into it. In which case you'd be better running 1.5miles and having 0.5miles as a warm up at a jogging speed and then try and sprint for the mile.
 
Anyone know how fitness apps calculate calories burned and how accurate they are? As i've mentioned i've been trying to reduce my weight and so using MyfitnessPal to track calories.

This morning i ran for 40 minutes at my usual jogging pace of around 10min/mile and averaged 160bpm. It says i've burned 830 calories which translates to 1250/hr.

I know i'm fairly heavy (110kgs) so that obviously has a bearing, but it still seems pretty high to me.
 
Marvt74 said:
Whilst i don't particularly see the point of having such an arbitrary target (do you not get bored only exercising for 7 minutes?)

What are you doing prior to this attempt? Are you warming up? Just starting cold? Do you have any way of checking speed during the run like GPS? You can then see whether you start fast and then slow, or whether you speed up as you get into it. In which case you'd be better running 1.5miles and having 0.5miles as a warm up at a jogging speed and then try and sprint for the mile.
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Very brief warmup. Run with phone/strava. Really I haven't done much for 20 years, the occasional run, bit of cycling and swimming last summer and a smoker so starting off with one mile is good for me. My lungs are killing me but I feel them being regenerated with each run. I'm going to try two miles tomorrow but really I'm pretty unfit.

The reason I have a target is I am trying to qualify for the European sprint triathlon champs in 2020, the qualifiers are in July. So I need sub 20 in the 5k comfortably, now to do that I need to be comfortable with a 6 min mile. So that's my starting point.
 
If thats your goal. I genuinely think you'd see much better gains by getting comfortable doing a 5k at a slower pace and then building up speed rather than trying to get the speed first. Go out and slowly jog for the whole 5k. Even if it takes you 30 minutes. If you can do a mile in 7 minutes, slowing down to 9/10 minutes and doing 3 miles will build your lungs much better. Then work on reducing the time.

Also and without sounding like i'm criticising you. Is this something you actually want to do? You seem to create a new thread every few weeks starting to get into a new thing/achieve a new goal. Do you ever stick with any of them?
 
Marvt74 said:
I’m a goalkeeper so I just fall over, to be honest :p
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That explains it then :)

Went out for a 5km run last night and hit my second best 5km time ever at 28:32! I didn't even plan for it to be super fast (for me) as I usually aim to cover 5km in about 32-32mins during a weekday run.

The splits were great too:
6:20
6:20
5:46
5:51
5:42
5:11

Shame my heart rate was so high, but it felt like I was gliding along the road. I was like a swan in reverse, graceful on the lower half and flapping away above the waist. Glad I didn't pass many people as they'd have thought a steam train was passing by with the amount of huffing and puffing I was doing :D
 
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Marvt74 said:
If thats your goal. I genuinely think you'd see much better gains by getting comfortable doing a 5k at a slower pace and then building up speed rather than trying to get the speed first. Go out and slowly jog for the whole 5k. Even if it takes you 30 minutes. If you can do a mile in 7 minutes, slowing down to 9/10 minutes and doing 3 miles will build your lungs much better. Then work on reducing the time.

Also and without sounding like i'm criticising you. Is this something you actually want to do? You seem to create a new thread every few weeks starting to get into a new thing/achieve a new goal. Do you ever stick with any of them?
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Good advice.

As far sticking in, again good point, I do tend to start off well but wither away, hopefully this time I will stick in now that I've got an actual goal.
 
Blackvault said:
That explains it then :)

Went out for a 5km run last night and hit my second best 5km time ever at 28:32! I didn't even plan for it to be super fast (for me) as I usually aim to cover 5km in about 32-32mins during a weekday run.

The splits were great too:
6:20
6:20
5:46
5:51
5:42
5:11

Shame my heart rate was so high, but it felt like I was gliding along the road. I was like a swan in reverse, graceful on the lower half and flapping away above the waist. Glad I didn't pass many people as they'd have thought a steam train was passing by with the amount of huffing and puffing I was doing :D
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I know that feeling! 27:50 was my best time and I have no idea how I managed it and just recall feeling like i was just plodding along as normal but with the heart rate of a hummingbird!
 
On the subject of pacing. I did 3 miles on Monday with the splits

10:07
10:07
10:10

Funny how you can get in a rhythm like that to get so close!
 
I also should say I was hoping to do a couple of races on the track this year, maybe a 1500m, just for old times sake. Mid life crisis?
 
How do you eat/drink before training or a race. Hydration is so important as you know. What do you eat/drink before training, are you looking at eating 2 hours before and just topping up on fluid. How about race day?
 
Ian_Eb said:
I know that feeling! 27:50 was my best time and I have no idea how I managed it and just recall feeling like I was just plodding along as normal but with the heart rate of a hummingbird!
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Impressive time mate. :)

Marvt74 said:
On the subject of pacing. I did 3 miles on Monday with the splits

10:07
10:07
10:10

Funny how you can get in a rhythm like that to get so close!
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Impressive splits. Shame the last one was 3 seconds too slow :p
 
I blame it on the fact i slowed down because i'd got to where i play footy, then realised i was on 2.9miles and carried on :p
 
Anyone here trained towards any kind of ultra running/marathon? I'm thinking long term with the plan being a half marathon this year, full marathon the year after that and then a 50k the following year.
 
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