Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

Great work @D.P. That's really impressive. I hate going down regular hills so dread to think what some of those were like!

My half was a disaster. Ended up doing it in 2:21 when i was aiming for around 2:05. Can pin it to about 6 excuses

1 - Overdoing it the weekend before. I ran around 8 miles at a much faster pace than i normally would. It felt ok at the time but my legs never recovered all week and were really heavy yesterday
2 - Spending all day saturday on my feet doing DIY
3 - Not really drinking any water the day before so was quite dehydrated
4 - The bottle of red win the night before
5 - Wearing a compression top. I had to stop around mile 6 to take it off as i was overheating as it was around 25C
6 - My wifes been ill all week with a bug and i think i might've caught some symptoms

Really disappointing, as whilst i don't normally care about speed and just run for the enjoyment. I didn't even get that.
 
Brilliant work there D.P. Back when I did loads of hill-walking, the downhills were always the tricky part. I can only imagine that running will just make them worse with all the chance of falling and so on.

@Marvt74 my last 2 halves have been around 2:18 and I still would love to get down to < 2hrs but not sure where I would pull it from! I think my list would look the same as yours, so maybe there is chance one this knee stops being a pain and behaves itself.

Started doing some cycling in order to maintain some degree of fitness even if it is the wrong muscles in some places :-)
 
I know i can do it as last Sunday i did 8 miles at an average of 9:30 and felt good all the way around, even though i'd had a couple pints earlier in the day. Had i been able to replicate that it would've put me at 2:04 so even accounting for the extra 5 miles i think my expected aim was for 2:10 with a hopeful target of 2:05

I think my best half in training was around 2:13.

Realistically i think the only way i could get my times down much more is to stop being a fat *******. When i first got into running around 3 years ago i lost quite a bit of weight and was got down to around 8:30 min miles which would put me around 1:50 for a half marathon and i did do around that distance in about 1:52 i think (not a recorded run as didn't have a phone/gps on me. Just based on a short loop where it was 7 laps for a mile and i did 91).

Sadly i'm now about 20kg heavier and no matter how much i run it doesn't seem to leave (probably because i reward myself with food and booze!)


Currently looking for an October half to sign up to for revenge! There's a point to point one which goes from Preston to Lytham which would be a good laugh i think. There's also the Manchester one but at £36 it's a bit expensive!
 
Last edited:
Christ glad i checked dates. I had entered all my card details for the Preston one. Was about to click the button and then thought i'd best check the date. Yep i'm in Spain that day!
 
Marvt74 said:
Sadly i'm now about 20kg heavier
Click to expand...

I think the rule of thumb is 5 sec/mile slower per kg. So that's about 1 min 40s per mile slower or an extra ~ 22 mins for a half through weight gain alone.

It's a personal choice but if running faster is important to you, getting to a normal BMI (<25) should be a priority (you may well be already!). I used to drink loads but as I've aged i have found i enjoy running more than drinking so it's been easy to lose weight and get much faster at running.

I'm 47, weigh about 70 kg and now run a 1hr 21 half.
 
Yeah i think that’s probably quite accurate and would fit with my previous pace/weight and current pace/weight.

I think there’s definitely a mid ground and I think my running helps to maintain a current weight. I just need to focus on getting back down to that level and then once there I should be able to hold it better as I piled it on when I stopped running for around 12 months and had a very sedatary lifestyle.
 
Wow, I knew weight would come into it but never did the maths to see how much of an effect.

Apparently I need to lose 25kg according to doctors etc. That seems to equate to 50 mins on a marathon. Also would significantly help joints I guess.
 
Probably a good idea :-)

Then we can all fly round these courses. Consider that we have been working out whilst carrying weights all this time :D
 
Anyone braving the heat? I haven't been out in some months but wanting to kick start this again. Any tips for running in this heat?
 
It's not too bad early on if you can stomach getting up early. My legs still feel achey so i wussed out this morning but going to force myself out for a few miles tomorrow to try and loosen them off. Looks to be around 15C at 7am

Ian_Eb said:
Probably a good idea :)

Then we can all fly round these courses. Consider that we have been working out whilst carrying weights all this time :D
Click to expand...

This time next year Rodney. We'll be skinny!
 
Well according to My Fitness Pal, this is my weight tracking. Pretty much exactly the same as this time last year!

s4feFCf.png
 
Decided to go running, very hot outside indeed. Only did 3.7 miles at a pace of 13. I ended up having to walk for a good bit as at times it feels like my insides are pushing out against my chest. So think I need to practice breathing techniques again.
 
Spacedeck said:
Anyone braving the heat? I haven't been out in some months but wanting to kick start this again. Any tips for running in this heat?
Click to expand...

I did some hill reps at midday, pretty much the opposite of the BBC's ways to keep cool during a heatwave

It was fine. The whole workout was less than an hour and there were patches of shade. I don't think I'd do a long run in it though unless I really had to....
 
Id be running in the heat aslong as you got suncream on and carry fluids it not an issue done it many times before.

I feel it good for conditioning you never know you might end up in a race with very hot conditions.
 
I've been out for a couple of lunch runs this week and been OK. Stuck to cycling in the evenings though, nice ride out last night to the pub for a pint and some chips!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom