Associate
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The weather has been amazing. Go out early when it's still cool, go off road for the green/blue sky contrast and quiet. Perfect start to a day.
Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running
- Thread starter platypus
- Start date
I have been out on my bike early a few times this last week and it has been so quiet. Going to try a few runs this week I think. As you say, it is nice and cool and the sun is just starting to come out. Not looked for any non road routes round here yet though
Soldato
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Had my best ever run last night.
Usually run 7-8km with a few fast paced walks, however I managed 7.1km last night with no breaks at all. 50 minutes total running
Couldn’t believe it - I’ve never been able to run for 50 minutes straight in my life.
Usually run 7-8km with a few fast paced walks, however I managed 7.1km last night with no breaks at all. 50 minutes total running
Couldn’t believe it - I’ve never been able to run for 50 minutes straight in my life.
Good work!
are there any virtual run sites where you run a set distance, prove it via strava etc and they’d send you a medal? I’ve missed not having something to train towards and thought I could use a virtual run?
thanks all
edit: just found this site https://racethedistance.com/
Think thats the one i was thinking of. Seems to be advertised a lot on Facebook.
I'm intending to do a ~22 mile loop tomorrow. It's a circular route around Preston called the Guild Wheel. Was gonna do it last weekend but the sun made me sack it off and go Paddleboarding instead.
I'm posting in here, so it forces me to do it as you'll all be able to see on Strava
Rubbish isn’t it.
I’ve also got a brand new paddleboard that came just in time for the weather to change!
Also just ordered some new trainers. New Balance Fresh Foam 1080. I’ve noticed a few aches after runs which is usually the sign of needing new trainers. Never had New balance before.
I’ve also got a brand new paddleboard that came just in time for the weather to change!
Also just ordered some new trainers. New Balance Fresh Foam 1080. I’ve noticed a few aches after runs which is usually the sign of needing new trainers. Never had New balance before.
What route are you doing ? Is it guided or are you just using a map!? I love to walk and like hiking but always scared of getting lost so I end up doing Snowdon, Wrekin etc again and again!Haven't ran in a week
Doing a 12 mile hike in Lake District tomorrow though with decent amount of elevation and resume regular running schedule next week, shins feel lovely now smwith no pain
You can download routes on Komoot or ViewRanger and follow them on your phone. They’re a great way to explore new routes.
Got my run in this morning. It went fairly well and shows my fitness as had I done the extra distance I’d have beaten my PR for a marathon.
Did have a few issues
1 I had a base layer on under my waterproof. I always feel restricted in that situation and so stopped to take it off. Felt much better after that.
2 I took a wrong turn around the 10th mile and had to ask another runner. He showed me the way but ran at about 8 min miles so pushed me a little.
3 Around mile 11 I had a SIS Energy Bake. First time trying them but want to experiment with food. At mile 13 I got stomach cramps which was unpleasant.
After that it was relatively smooth sailing. My main issue was I probably ran a little too fast around the low nines. This tired me out and resulted in me stopping and walking a bit. I probably need to learn to pace better. For anyone on Strava you can see this on my pacing. I spent around 50% at Zone 3 pace and around 20% in Zone 1. Ideally I should probably have spent the majority of my time in Zone 2.
Funnily enough, Wrekin is only one I've ever done in the Midlands and been to Wales once to climb Snowdon but weather was awful so didn't get to do it.
I just do these trips myself, generally have a good sense of direction and glance at Google Maps before hand for best places to park and it will normally show some foot paths too. Never bothered with a paper map or such but can be helpful for some.
Everything is mostly self explanatory once there and lot of places have clear paths and even little sign posting here and there.
Today was meant to be a relatively relaxed Catbells > Dale Head > Robinson > Little Town > Catbells circular of 11 to 12 miles, however, my friend had a small foot injury so had to just turn back the way we came in and clocked in only 8.4 miles.
Only issue for me today was that apart from doing 5k runs I've been very sedentary since beginning of March and also haven't used my boots in a while so my feet are a quite battered.
From cardiovascular point of view felt pretty amazing and better than last year so running has paid off! Off to do Scafell Pike next week along with Great End and few other small peaks/fells.
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Congrats, great effort. I love that feeling when you get back from a run where you've set a new best. Good luck with whatever your next goals are.
Soldato
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Thank you, my next big goal is a full 10k, but I'd like to get quicker at 5 in the meantime
It's interesting, I get lots of these feelings when I cycle as there are so many segments. I will favourite some and I get them with live updates as I cycle, and as you say, it's a great feeling when you get a new personal record. There have never seemed to be as many segments when I run. Do you guys make extra efforts for segments you know?
I don't really bother with segments, especially since i've been trying to be a little more focussed with my runs, so if i'm on a long easy run the last thing i need is to be attacking segments.
Probably a question for @D.P. but how do you recover from your long runs? Mine on Saturday ended up being around 21 miles, previously my longest easy run had been around 12 miles and i felt fine the next day and could've easily gone out again. This time seems to have just tipped me over though and i've woken up today with my calves still feeling stiff. I've stretched/foam rolled them and moved around the last 2 days which seems to have had little effect.
I have done longer runs in the past but 12 is probably the longest for a few months. Although in March i did 16 miles with about 3000ft of ascent which i'd have thought would've been more punishing than this but felt fine after that.
All i can think of is that a had wine/rum on Saturday night which has impacted recovery.
Is this just a case of having made too big a jump in distance (12 last week to 21 this week) and just something my body needs to get used to or is it just inevitable after a >3hr session?
Probably a question for @D.P. but how do you recover from your long runs? Mine on Saturday ended up being around 21 miles, previously my longest easy run had been around 12 miles and i felt fine the next day and could've easily gone out again. This time seems to have just tipped me over though and i've woken up today with my calves still feeling stiff. I've stretched/foam rolled them and moved around the last 2 days which seems to have had little effect.
I have done longer runs in the past but 12 is probably the longest for a few months. Although in March i did 16 miles with about 3000ft of ascent which i'd have thought would've been more punishing than this but felt fine after that.
All i can think of is that a had wine/rum on Saturday night which has impacted recovery.
Is this just a case of having made too big a jump in distance (12 last week to 21 this week) and just something my body needs to get used to or is it just inevitable after a >3hr session?
A couple of time a year maybe. The problem is, fast times of strava segments simply doesn't work well for run training as it does for cycling. In fact, it can be quite risky to get carried away trying to beat strava segment times, at best it is rarely very productive.
Essentially, running fast always has a much high risk since there are far higher impact forces and torque on joints. Therefore, running fats has to be used sparingly in a controlled environment or under a race. Moreover, running fast in training largely doesn't help you run faster in a race. Every run should really have a purpose, either to improve aerobic performance (80-90% of runs, easy pace), or some dedicated speed work like hill repeats or intervals with appropriate warm with the duration and intensity of the interval varying based on training goals (e.g. shorter intervals for turnover and power, longer intervals for cardio gains).
Racing a Strava segment once in a while can serve as a useful gauge of training progress but to really feel the benefits of run training you have to taper which you don't want to do too often or you wont be training. If you have been training well then you will find yourself actually running quite slow unless you take some additional rest.
Someone more useful is just looking at your easy pace efforts on strava segments. Over time you should find your easy effort gets slightly faster and your heart rate goes down a little. That isn't as fun as actually racing but is a much better predictor of future race potential.
Cycling is quite different because hard efforts have zero risk and are very beneficial to training. I think for running it is good to set different goals, such as distance of longest run, or running 90mins-2hrs without feeling particularly tired at the end. At a beginner level, hills can be safe challenges - if there is a steep hill you normally have to walk up at the end see if you can run the whole lot etc.
I think the jump form 12 to 21 is probably the issue. Also, 16mi with 3000ft gain is tough, but a very different pace. 21 miles on flat roads takes longer to recover than 21 miles on hilly trails.
Otherwise I try and eat and drink a lot as soon after the run as possible to kick start recovery. No need for protein shakes or sports drinks, just real food and water. Being active walking or swimming can help. You might even find 3-4 miles the next day at a very very slow pace helps to loosen the muscles.
Oh yeah, at the end of May I was just finishing a run when I badly sprained my ankle on a technical descent. Stumbled, heard a terrible crack as I fell to the ground. Ended up in hospital to get an x-ray, luckily no fracture. Couldn't bare weight for a few days but is now much better and I can at least do short walks.
Timing coudln't be worse with lock down easing and the first race likely to go ahead in September. Still hoping I can get back to training in a few weeks. Somewhat counter intuitive but I may change my 170km race to be the 360km 6 day race... The logic is that since I did the 170km last year so now I would want to improve on my time which will require more dedicated running, especially bombing it down steep descents (3000ft in 3 miles), which is the last thing I can do with a sprained ankle. For the 360km, it is basically a matter of walking 20 hours a day
Timing coudln't be worse with lock down easing and the first race likely to go ahead in September. Still hoping I can get back to training in a few weeks. Somewhat counter intuitive but I may change my 170km race to be the 360km 6 day race... The logic is that since I did the 170km last year so now I would want to improve on my time which will require more dedicated running, especially bombing it down steep descents (3000ft in 3 miles), which is the last thing I can do with a sprained ankle. For the 360km, it is basically a matter of walking 20 hours a day
Yes, thought that might be it. Was probably a little stupid in hindsight. Also can see from my post above i wasn't overly happy with a few things during the run.
I also had my trail trainers on (Saucony Peregrine 10) as its a mixture of bridleways/wood track/road, but it turned out to be around 75% tarmac/pavement and so i'll have had much less cushioning which probably won't have helped.
I think i'll keep moving around today and then at lunch/after work i'll go out for an easy 3-4 miles.
I also had my trail trainers on (Saucony Peregrine 10) as its a mixture of bridleways/wood track/road, but it turned out to be around 75% tarmac/pavement and so i'll have had much less cushioning which probably won't have helped.
I think i'll keep moving around today and then at lunch/after work i'll go out for an easy 3-4 miles.