Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running
- Thread starter platypus
- Start date
- The thing is with running, maximizing performance in general means maximizing the amount of time you are running, especially if you are running a low volume then by far the most effective means to get faster will be to run more. When that isn't possible there is no short cut , especially if you are a beginner. Running faster on very low volumes simply wont afford any useful adaptations in your scenario. You need to fo focus on time on your feet, endurance, stamina and getting across the finish line. This is especially true for a trail race, the terrain will dictate a lot of the pacing. On a hilly trail race expect to do a fair bit of power hiking on hills etc. This is quite different to running a flat road 5km where absolute pace becomes more important. Actually, the only real shortcut to running faster is loosing weight, but that itslef has no shortcut...
- While I totally get this with my family I have the luxury of a flexible work schedule which makes me a little soft when it comes to running in the dark. However, for most runners this just has to become the norm in winter. But really, it is not that bad once you get used to it. a Good head lamp and a handhled or waist light and after a couple of weeks you tend to find it feels like running in the day time. Obvious you need to be a bit careful of car, or if running on the trails the risks of tripping increase. Everyone has their own priorites and I repeat I am pretty damn soft given my work flexibility, but I am part of a pretty dedicated running and sports group on facebook, almost all with a family and professional career (lawyers, doctors) and most of them get up at 4am to get in 2 hours training before taking kids to school and off to work etc. This is a lifestyle change, e.g., to bed at 9pm lights out.
- Definitely, as you start out you wont want to run more than 3-4 days a week, but every month you could add 1 more day running. I would also be careful on the type of crosstraining; a circuit class is likely to add stress to joints and continue to tire leg muscles which you want to be recuperating. Swimming is really a great cross-training exercise as it is easy on the body, use a lot more core and upper body while your legs get a gentle workout that promotes recovery.
- This makes sense, I woudn't push your sunday run longer. I would plan on your long run building to 2 hours aout 3 weeks out from your race. Pace totally unimportant, just cover 2 hours with some walk breaks as need be. And dont lengthen your LR every week continuously. You need cut back weeks where you train less and don;t push your body so hard.
EDIT; ran out of time, will talk about HIIT later
Google HRM training, loads and loads of stuff on the subject, It works but like pretty much anything worth doing it takes time, your looking at 2-3 months before you some slight benefit from it. It takes some moral fibre to stick with it i am afraid. First step is to work out your max HR then do the zones. Zone 2 is your running friend it might seem slow but for endurance and distance its the only way to improve and continue to do the volume you need to improve.
After all its all about the recovery
After all its all about the recovery
It is liekly your max HR is a few beats hgiher than 188. It is very hatrd to reach max HR. Bst time is when you have trained, tapered and closing on on the last 500m of a 5-10km race and you are pushing yourself until your vision start to fade and you feel like you are going to die and you are counting the seconds until hitting the finish line. Otherwise intervals, look at max HR at the end of your hardest interval., then add a few
170 is likley your lactate threshold if 188 is MaxHR. 170 will feel massively easier and should be sustainable fro 50-60 minutes max. This is like 10-15km race effort.
This isn't where you want top be doing much training. You probably will want to be nearer 145-155 depending on resting HR
One thing with training in Zone 2 is it does feel a little weird and slow initially. But not only do you get used to it, if you are trainingin high volumes it will start to feel more like a moderate effort, especially as you start getting to the end of runs.
I think maybe my zones are wrong.
I ran 12km this morning in 60 mins my HR was between 160-165 most of the time and my watch Garmin connect is saying I was in zone 4 for 66%of the time and zone 3 for 25% it didn’t feel like it was particularly difficult and 12km is not far off twice the distance I have ran in the last 15 years.
I need to read more into this don’t I?
This Training plan the Garmin has given me seems quite good though.
I’ve set it to do the Half marathon in May in 1.44 which seems achievable.
You want to be doing most of your runs in zone 2.
that said, the HR from watches is often not very accurate so that might be the error. You can check your pules with thumb. Another good check is you should be able to hold a proper conversation without interruptions to breath. Not quite normal speech but your breathing shouldn't be a big impediment to talking to a friend. Someone told me that you should be able to call your boss from your phone and they should maybe think something is odd but not at all think you are exercising/running. It is fine if you work harder going up a hill or want to push the pace to get to a pedestrian light on green or whatever, in fact t can be good to put in a faster burst now and then, especially at the end of runs. But setting that base pace that is actually easy is important.
that said, the HR from watches is often not very accurate so that might be the error. You can check your pules with thumb. Another good check is you should be able to hold a proper conversation without interruptions to breath. Not quite normal speech but your breathing shouldn't be a big impediment to talking to a friend. Someone told me that you should be able to call your boss from your phone and they should maybe think something is odd but not at all think you are exercising/running. It is fine if you work harder going up a hill or want to push the pace to get to a pedestrian light on green or whatever, in fact t can be good to put in a faster burst now and then, especially at the end of runs. But setting that base pace that is actually easy is important.
Got a longer run in today. Couldn’t have picked a worse day to get off on trails.
Had planned a route online but then we took the dogs for a short walk yesterday and so I decided to do the same route but go further to see where it led.
The rain had flooded most of the trails and I was shin deep in more than one area. It was slow and hard going but whilst not fast I imagine it’ll have done my legs a lot of good.
Other that absolutely stacking it around 2 miles from the end. My trainers just couldn’t get grip in the deep mud and my left leg slid in the mud and took out my right left that sent me crashing into the ground.
Times like this I could definitely see the benefit hog having multiple pairs or trainers for different terrains as something like the Inov8 Mudclaw would’ve been ideal.
Had planned a route online but then we took the dogs for a short walk yesterday and so I decided to do the same route but go further to see where it led.
The rain had flooded most of the trails and I was shin deep in more than one area. It was slow and hard going but whilst not fast I imagine it’ll have done my legs a lot of good.
Other that absolutely stacking it around 2 miles from the end. My trainers just couldn’t get grip in the deep mud and my left leg slid in the mud and took out my right left that sent me crashing into the ground.
Times like this I could definitely see the benefit hog having multiple pairs or trainers for different terrains as something like the Inov8 Mudclaw would’ve been ideal.
Associate
- Joined
- 5 Nov 2004
- Posts
- 789
- Location
- Herts
I'd buy a strap. For me even the latest optical monitors on watches don't work for intervals. They are fine for resting heart rate but I don't trust them during sport.
Optical meters can lock on to your cadence. To be sure, get a strap for workouts.
I always forget about this thread! As you can see by my 10k round trip commutes it's not going very well.
My son brought home every disease he could from Nursery early December so for the first time in my adult life I was wiped out fully by the lurgy. Not known anything like it, but I decided to stop running and drive my commute for the rest of the month just to get back to some form of normality.
Back on it now
. Lakeland 50 is 25th July so plenty of time to train, I have also booked Manchester Marathon as warm-up so should encourage the training. Plan to start doing some runs over Pen-Y-Ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside then probably run the three peaks as a training, but that's only a marathon distance at best. I'll not train the whole 50 of course, but need to cover a good percentage of the distance once or twice to make sure it's attainable at least mentally. Not worried though. I just crack on, I think some people more-or-less walk it within the cut off. My colleague has done the 100 and 50 a few times and reckons training about half distance is fine really, especially as I'll be training on harder terrain.
Associate
- Joined
- 5 Nov 2004
- Posts
- 789
- Location
- Herts
Just check what your watch has. Most are ant+, some bluetooth. Any strap compatible with your watch will be fine. I use the Garmin run strap. You get loads of extra data that you can't do anything with....
Deleted member 68110
Deleted member 68110
I had a Wahoo Tickr X which was quite decent - compatible with everything, it felt like. And had the ability to measure a run without the watch or a phone, if required.
That broke, so then I got a Garmin, which was gone but died after a year. Garmin sent a replacement free of charge.
These things seem to be pretty much consumables... But they seem much more accurate.
Looks like the Nike Vaporflys are set to be banned, cant say im surprised the shoe I set my best half marathon time in so far (I seen big advantage over other shoes I have)
Did an 8 mile today was aiming for 12 but the headwinds was unreal in the strong wind today so cut it off and jogged back for the rest.
Did an 8 mile today was aiming for 12 but the headwinds was unreal in the strong wind today so cut it off and jogged back for the rest.
Seems a bit odd, improvements in design will always bring improvements. It's a tricky one where you draw the line.
I'm on course to hit 100 miles for the month which is a big achievement for me. Think my past best is around 75.
Also lost around 5kg in 2 weeks which i'm pretty happy with. Hoping to keep that up and should see me under 100kg by the end of the month. Just have to hope 4 nights in Amsterdam don't set that back too much!
I'm on course to hit 100 miles for the month which is a big achievement for me. Think my past best is around 75.
Also lost around 5kg in 2 weeks which i'm pretty happy with. Hoping to keep that up and should see me under 100kg by the end of the month. Just have to hope 4 nights in Amsterdam don't set that back too much!
Well done Mart, I know you had some niggles last year so glad you're making progress. Getting some weight off must feel positive when you're out?
Good effort, my weight loss seems to have plateaued now. ok i have lost the extra 1.5kg from xmas but i cant seem to get below 78kg. I stick to 1800-2000 Cals a day and currently on about 8-10 hrs a week base building. I cant really eat less than that as end up seeing stars when i stand up (tried 1500cals a day for a week bad idea) Ideally i would like to lose another 10kg, how that is meant to happen i have no idea atm
Still 105kg to 78Kg in 18 months is not so bad and its been 80kg for a good 6 months in that as well.
Last edited:
Cheers guys
Haven't noticed much difference yet. Although i'm probably only a little lower than i was pre Christmas. Hopefully once i start getting under 100kg it'll be more noticeable. The goal is around 90kg, less than that and i think i'll look weird given i'm around 6"3 and have always been fairly big. Not sure being skinny would suit me!
Last time i made a conscious effort i got down to around 95kg which was a decent look for me, but i also spent a lot of time in the gym with weights which i'm no longer doing.
Managed to get a cross trainer setup last night. Was a massive effort as it came fully assembled and weight around 110kg but we needed it upstairs. Spent quite a while taking bits off where i could and then 2 of us struggling like mad to get it up the stairs. Moving 100kg upstairs in such a bulky awkward shape was really tough as there are only a few points where you can grip without breaking the hinges, and we only had around 2 inches of wiggle room due to the narrow staircase. Stupid old house!
Hoping to incorporate around 2 sessions a week on that just to work different muscles in my legs and then it should also help strengthen my core and upper body. Something which i don't target with anything else.
It's in the room about our bedroom, but it doesn't seem to cause much noise fortunately so i should be ok using it when my wifes in bed and i can just stick something on tv for 30 mins.
Haven't noticed much difference yet. Although i'm probably only a little lower than i was pre Christmas. Hopefully once i start getting under 100kg it'll be more noticeable. The goal is around 90kg, less than that and i think i'll look weird given i'm around 6"3 and have always been fairly big. Not sure being skinny would suit me!
Last time i made a conscious effort i got down to around 95kg which was a decent look for me, but i also spent a lot of time in the gym with weights which i'm no longer doing.
Managed to get a cross trainer setup last night. Was a massive effort as it came fully assembled and weight around 110kg but we needed it upstairs. Spent quite a while taking bits off where i could and then 2 of us struggling like mad to get it up the stairs. Moving 100kg upstairs in such a bulky awkward shape was really tough as there are only a few points where you can grip without breaking the hinges, and we only had around 2 inches of wiggle room due to the narrow staircase. Stupid old house!
Hoping to incorporate around 2 sessions a week on that just to work different muscles in my legs and then it should also help strengthen my core and upper body. Something which i don't target with anything else.
It's in the room about our bedroom, but it doesn't seem to cause much noise fortunately so i should be ok using it when my wifes in bed and i can just stick something on tv for 30 mins.