Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

neoboy said:
On a bright side, with me being lazy, my Achilles tendon niggle appears to have completely healed!
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Excellent. Now you just have to get out and take advantage of that!


I got out for 16 miles last night. Felt much better than i was expecting. Usually if i do a longer run like that i'll stop and walk a few times but i never felt i needed to. Only annoyance was plotting a route with Strava and it thinking there was a "path" from some woodland to a field, without knowing that there was a big ditch full of barbed wire between them, so then i had to venture through the woodland full of no access signs (think it was a shooting range), with very little paths and lots of overgrown bushes cutting/stinging my legs and then try and guess how to get back on track. That resulted in 2 miles of 15mins and 18mins which killed my average pace a little and wasn't even particularly enjoyable, especially in road shoes!


The plus side is that it got me to 101 miles for the month which is the first time this year i've hit that which feels like a great achievement.
 
Ummm, yeah I'm waiting for their 5k to open :p

EDIT: Actually looks like Staveley opened up for 5k, is there any info on elevation gains involed in these so I can gauge if I can even push it to 10k?

EDIT EDIT: Need to do the basics before I post, found a PDF guide with elevations etc
 
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Well, I haven't done it for a while but know I have it in me to do a flat 10k so think 12 months should cover training for one with 300m elevation :D
 
Have joined a Trail Running group for Spain to keep an eye on any events around my parents place and saw this pop up which is only around 10 miles from their house which is ideal. Only slight concern are some of the photos of the "route"

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Those aren't some hills i want to be climbing up or rock sides to be balancing on midway through a long run!

https://www.perimetral-benissa.es/carreras/

The Benissa Perimetral is considered one of the most “demanding races in the Valencian Community”. It is a mountain race of 73km covering a broad area of the southern Marina Alta with 3995m of positive elevation.
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Well done martynt on getting your mile in on time

Did a yasso session today, knees fine so either I worried more than needed or the ice/compression did their job (or both!)

Feeling more and more confident now ahead of London. One proper long run session left on a week Sunday where I’ll probably do another 24 maybe 25 miler then will taper down ahead of the race with some shorter but fast finish long runs.
 
Cheers. Sounds like you're well prepared for London too. I've decided that i'm going to do a 50 miler on my own. Struggling to find any decent events locally at a good time and really would like to do one before the end of the year. Going to just jump on a train somewhere and then run back!

Am really hoping to keep consistency going now. Will be interesting to see how i get on in Spain. My wife has pretty much told me that expecting to be out every day doing something (combination of paddleboarding, cycling and running) isn't going to happen!

Presumably a quick 30-40 minute run isn't an issue though, it's more if i head out for longer. I created a Strava 14 mile route last night which takes in a lot of the trails in the above race. Works out at 3000ft of climb which is pretty hefty for a reasonably short distance but should be really fun. Just hoping my road trainers are up to it!

My main issues will be around when to get out.

Mornings are tough because i'll have likely spent a lot of the previous night sat drinking red wine.
Midday is tough because it'll be 30C
Late Afternoon/Evenings are tough because i'll have started drinking again

Such is life :p
 
It sounds like there's a sweet spot of late morning haha. As long as it's not too humid, 30c can be fine. I find its the humidity that kills me as your sweat just does nothing and you overheat so quickly.

I can't see myself getting into much beyond marathon distance, but that said I bet if you looked back 5+ years in this thread I probably said I would never be at marathon distance.
 
Itchytrigg said:
It sounds like there's a sweet spot of late morning haha. As long as it's not too humid, 30c can be fine. I find its the humidity that kills me as your sweat just does nothing and you overheat so quickly.

I can't see myself getting into much beyond marathon distance, but that said I bet if you looked back 5+ years in this thread I probably said I would never be at marathon distance.
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I found going off road changed my opinion for longer distances.
I did the Manchester marathon and never wanted to do it again. I’m sure I posted similar thoughts in here, but getting out on trail runs is so much better even though it takes a fair bit longer for the same distance.
 
You did indeed say something along those lines. I can kind of see the appeal of the long runs, but as in all of these things, it is finding the time to do them that is the problem. May be easier when both kids are in high school (I can hope)
 
I mostly run off road as I live close to a lot of bridleways and country, quite like exploring the ridgeway and it’s easy to do a 20mile run by just heading out for 10 one way, then just turn around and head home.

I’ve got 2 in early years school (1 will be 2ndary next year). Im lucky with working from home I just head out at lunch normally for however long I need and adjust start/end times of work to accommodate.

Before that at the office I’d still do it at lunch (again lucky there was shower facilities at the office) just not go for as long time or get up for a 6am run if light enough. Ran to/from work a few times too as it was about 11miles away by foot.
 
I could bimble out at lunch if I wanted as well :)

Just slow parkruns at the moment, teenagers have no ability to grit through pain, thats all i am saying.
 
First run in Spain today. Legs felt so heavy to start with. Not sure if it’s just a few days off running or dehydration.

A cracking route. Got up to the top of a local rock with some rocky trails on the way up. Worked out around 5.5 miles and 900ft of climb. Mainly a nice steady descent to the beach and then a brutal climb up to the turret at the top.
 
Just took these bad boys for a spin. Really fast! Down to 25mins for 5k , and really just bounding along, if it wasn't for tightness in my chest I think I could go 20mins. These shoes are the best I've used, maybe it's cheating?

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Argh.

Got up early this morning for the long run I’d planned. Forgot how late sunrise is in Spain and had no head torch so set off using my phone.

Got just under 2 miles in and was on a road as a car came towards me with a full beam on. I was absolutely blinded and ended up going over the edge of the road. Over here it’s quite a drop from tarmac to gravel and it’s swelled up like a balloon.

Then had to limp back to the car with blood all down my leg which was very unpleasant and then drive home in a car with a very heavy clutch (left ankle being the injured one).

Hard to know whether it’s broken or just sprained and not sure I want to waste a day of holiday in a hospital being x ray’d!
 
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