Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

[iMacMart]

Just started using those Bloks. They are spendy, but have to admit the packaging and ease of chewing on the run make them worth it for me.



A bit of a cliché, but I try to imagine the feeling of crossing the line achieving my target combined with the small amount of time left to run (relative to the months of training I've put in).

Bloks are great if your not huffing & puffing and trying to swallow then better with a drink I've found

Yes I do tend to think I can easily do a 6-7 mile run with fresh legs, mine didn't seem to be so sore today/yesterday so maybe all the running is finally paying off

 

[D.P.]

Afternoon all

Did 18 miles yesterday and felt OK had a Lucozade isotonic drink, pack of Bloks, so physically felt OK just mentally was hard work, got a 22 miler the weekend after next before the Brighton Full Marathon April 14th

Any tricks to keep positive when your minds telling you to stop Which I don't of course but its tricky!

Well done for the runs above gents!!!!

My 21miles last week also had a major mental suckage which is not normal for me.
However, it is in general a good thing and helps prepare you for the race day.

I tend to try and keep my mind busy and distracted. Counting can help for a while. I try to avoid looking at the watch but instead break down the rest of the run into short segments such as to the end f the road, that distant tree, when i have to make the left turn, the upcoming hill. This is useful on race day because a marathon is such a long distance it is hard to comprehend it in one go, so considering breaking it down into sections helps.

 

[Ian_Eb]

Segments idea is also one I have used. I am not in that position where time matters too much for me, so I never look at the watch for times. I have it set to buzz every km and then i check the time for that one is in the right ballpark

If there is someone else just ahead, i have been known to focus on trying to keep the same distance from them and so on.

 

[iMacMart]

My 21miles last week also had a major mental suckage which is not normal for me.
However, it is in general a good thing and helps prepare you for the race day.

I tend to try and keep my mind busy and distracted. Counting can help for a while. I try to avoid looking at the watch but instead break down the rest of the run into short segments such as to the end f the road, that distant tree, when i have to make the left turn, the upcoming hill. This is useful on race day because a marathon is such a long distance it is hard to comprehend it in one go, so considering breaking it down into sections helps.

Thats a good way to look at it, I've got into clock watching which prolongs the mental pain so I'm trying not to make that a habit and did fairly well weekend just gone, I have a 22 miler weekend after next so I'll try that short segment approach and see how I feel, I think if I do 22 miles then the crowd will carry me the other 4
It mad how the mind works, on fresh legs I'm find with any mileage up to 15 miles but at 20+ miles even a speed bump is a big hill in my mind

 

[D.P.]

Wait until race day, a slight puff of wind becomes an annoyance, an overpass becomes Everest.

However, you need to try and run by effort/HR and not pace. When you get a slight hill or a head wind you have to slow down and just accept that you loose time. This becomes really important on a hillier course. At Boston I was going about 30-40seconds a mile slower than GMP going up Heart Break Hill, but I was still overtaking almost everyone. Hence the allure of flat marathons

 

[D.P.]

Segments idea is also one I have used. I am not in that position where time matters too much for me, so I never look at the watch for times. I have it set to buzz every km and then i check the time for that one is in the right ballpark

If there is someone else just ahead, i have been known to focus on trying to keep the same distance from them and so on.

In a race there are a few more things. As you say, if there is someone just ahead then you can try and lock on to them, maybe even overtaking slowly. I sometimes try and focus on the distance closing cm by cm. Then you lock on to your next target. Can keep a running tally.
Even better if you find someone who is up for racing, ideally they are a few seconds mile faster than you so you are trying to keep up with them. I had a good experience chasing someone over the last 4 miles of Geneva marathon last year, helped me get a whopping 1 second PR ina heatwave.

Also don't forget the crowd, try and look out at the cheering people. Give them thanks as well.

 

[Ian_Eb]

Thats pretty much what happened on my first 1/2. There were two people just a bit faster than I would normally have gone. Followed them all the way until about 10 miles when one of them slowed loads. I followed the other one and came in at 2:10 Never managed to beat it yet

 

[iMacMart]

In a race there are a few more things. As you say, if there is someone just ahead then you can try and lock on to them, maybe even overtaking slowly. I sometimes try and focus on the distance closing cm by cm. Then you lock on to your next target. Can keep a running tally.
Even better if you find someone who is up for racing, ideally they are a few seconds mile faster than you so you are trying to keep up with them. I had a good experience chasing someone over the last 4 miles of Geneva marathon last year, helped me get a whopping 1 second PR ina heatwave.

Also don't forget the crowd, try and look out at the cheering people. Give them thanks as well.

I am trying to slow down more now to make it more enjoyable, plus at 43 I'm more injury prone than 6 years ago when I ran the London marathon

 

[Martynt74]

I don't like Strava. Whilst i knew i'd been useless recently with my running i didn't realise quite how bad

I'm pretty sure this isn't how you prep for a marathon!

 

[D.P.]

As I mentioned earlier, you need to do a run-walk marathon. I guarantee it is the best chance you have of finishing, and getting the fastest time.

 

[Blackvault]

As I mentioned earlier, you need to do a run-walk marathon. I guarantee it is the best chance you have of finishing and getting the fastest time.

I'm dipping back into this thread so I've maybe missed the run-walk strategy, apologies if you've covered it before. Are you referring to walking through aid stations or actual walking breaks during the race?

 

[Martynt74]

For your Marathon, I agree that a few 10-12 miles would be better than pushing too far. However, I strongly advice to turn these into run-walk practices and use a run-walk strategy in the marathon. So you can aim for 10 miles of running but add walking intervals maybe every 10-12 minutes so your total distance might be more like 14 miles. If you do this in the race you have a good chance of completing strong and faster than you expect. You need to walk right from the beginning, don;t wait until you are forced to walk. Just make sure the walks are power hikes with decent pace, but long enough so HR goes right down and you feel recovered.

@Blackvault

This was his post. Basically in response to me being a lazy ****


DP - How long would you walk for or just monitor HR and restart running when it drops to a certain level? Usually i average around 160 at a normal jog.

 

[Blackvault]

@Blackvault

This was his post. Basically in response to me being a lazy ****


DP - How long would you walk for or just monitor HR and restart running when it drops to a certain level? Usually i average around 160 at a normal jog.

Cheers, Dan! Not that I'm looking for marathon advice yet, as I've only got my first 10km race coming up next Sunday.

 

[Martynt74]

Also @Dup Hows your marathon training going?

EDIT - Just seen your strava, looks like you've been getting some decent miles in with going to/from work.

 

[D.P.]

I'm dipping back into this thread so I've maybe missed the run-walk strategy, apologies if you've covered it before. Are you referring to walking through aid stations or actual walking breaks during the race?

I was replying to Marvt74 since this training has been very light. It is a good strategy for slower runners with little experience of a marathon.

there are a few variants but basically you walk 9well, power hike quickly) for 1 to 2 minutes every 10 to 15 minutes or so You can also do something like walk 1-2 minutes every mile. You do this right form the very start. This increases the chance of a strong finish dramatically with relatively little impact on your finish time , assuming you aim to finish in over 4.5 hours or so. Even for faster runners it is not bad and if you think you are under trained then it is worth trying.

The important part if to include the walk breaks right form the beginning. If anything you can cut out the walk breaks form the end, but it is imperative that these start early on before you actually feel tired.

You can google Gallow walking or gallowalking to get more info. There is a lot of bad press, and equally bad myths surrounding the technique. If you run even splits I would ignore it, if you for example run a 2Hr first half and then a 2.5 second half then Gallowalking will probably net you a 4:15 finish for example. but if both half of you Marathon typically are withina few minutes then you know how to pace and gallowalking will liekly slow you down. And obviously the closer your walk pace is to run pace the less impact the walking times have. You should be able power hike at 14-15/minutes a mile, which is not much slower than 5hr marathon (11:26 pace)

 

[Martynt74]

Brilliant as always there. Thank you.

I generally find during my training runs that my pacing is pretty steady and doesn't generally matter whether i do 3 miles or 13 miles it's always much the same but i think i'll look to implement this on race day.

Maybe look to start adding the walking breaks around 5miles in until around 15-18 miles in and then see if i think i still need them later on. Would that be ok or should i really be throwing them in from mile 1?

 

[D.P.]

Brilliant as always there. Thank you.

I generally find during my training runs that my pacing is pretty steady and doesn't generally matter whether i do 3 miles or 13 miles it's always much the same but i think i'll look to implement this on race day.

Maybe look to start adding the walking breaks around 5miles in until around 15-18 miles in and then see if i think i still need them later on. Would that be ok or should i really be throwing them in from mile 1?

But training is very different to race day. Your training runs should be about 2 minutes slower per mile than you hope to do on race day, and you got to sustain that for 26 miles.


I would do the walking breaks form mile 1 or 2 at the latest, hold them until about mile 20. Things get exponentially more difficult after mile 18 and you don't want to push too soon.

 

[Dup]

Also @Dup Hows your marathon training going?

EDIT - Just seen your strava, looks like you've been getting some decent miles in with going to/from work.

Only time I can run is to work and back due to family/baby life so 5am starts to get a half distance or more in work out well and gets me to work. I run there anyway as shortest route is less than 3 miles.

Just gotta push yourself out there. You know you can do half distance, get yourself doing a slow half this week sometime and see where you're at with it. I did 20 miles a couple weeks ago before work with average of 9.30 so that's me on course for a 4 hour marathon hopefully. Doing another half this week then going to take the next 2 weeks easier. Really looking forward to it, first marathon and my second a month later!

If you turn up rested and fuelled you'll at least complete it I'm very sure. D.Ps advice is pretty solid if you're really not confident, finishing is what's important. T always the next one to get a better time and there will always be slower or people who drop out as there even less prepared than you. You're only racing yourself, my colleague did the Brathay 10 in 10 and did 3hr 30 for each one... Would like to do that myself but will need a good couple years to get to that level!

 

[Kris_90]

Hi All

Could I have some advice? I'm signing up for a 10k in September. I've started running again after a foot injury stopped me running for about 6 months. Previously I was running about 7-8km on my long runs and my 5k time was about 28 mins.

Has anyone recently trained for a 10k and used a specific template? This morning I ran 4.2km in 30 mins at an easy pace. I know by running three times a week I'll easily be able to run 10k by September but would 5-6 months be enough time to improve my estimated 10k speed too?

Cheers

 

[D.P.]

Hi All

Could I have some advice? I'm signing up for a 10k in September. I've started running again after a foot injury stopped me running for about 6 months. Previously I was running about 7-8km on my long runs and my 5k time was about 28 mins.

Has anyone recently trained for a 10k and used a specific template? This morning I ran 4.2km in 30 mins at an easy pace. I know by running three times a week I'll easily be able to run 10k by September but would 5-6 months be enough time to improve my estimated 10k speed too?

Cheers

Depends on a few factors but in general yes.
How long did you train to get your 5k time? Has your weight changed?


In any case I would ignore goal times and just try and keep consistently training. By far the biggest impact will be your total run volume and body weight. Don't do any real workouts like intervals until about 2 months out and then slowly introduce fartleks, cruise intervals and hill repeats. Just nice easy runs and slowly increasing volume.