Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

Itchytrigg · 2 Oct 2021 at 08:22

Nice result. My experiences with warehouse have been mixed. First was a Rockat mouse which was also "Acceptable" however...I felt the broken button and mountain of dead skin stuck in the grooves to not be quite matching of that description! I did then try a keyboard which was listed as "like new", and that was as described, looked like it was plugged in once then repackaged, so £30 off for just that was good in my books.

Starting to get a little jittery with anticipation now for London tomorrow, everything's packed and double checked so heading off to London soon. Only snag so far was packing up my run day kit I suddenly realised I only have 2 gels left! If the running show today doesn't have any for sale I would be shocked so not in a worry about it. Apparently there are Lucozade gels available at mile 14 and 19 so worst case I can grab one from them.

Oh and doing my lateral flow test this morning is the first time when doing it that I was actually worried it might come back positive. I feel so gutted for anyone that gets a positive test come back now, whilst you can apparently defer if you have a positive result stopping you running it'd still be quite heart breaking to have to drop out at this stage.

Martynt74 · 2 Oct 2021 at 11:39

The likes of Tesco/boots tend to sell gels these days although may not be your preferred brand.

Good luck pal.

Martynt74 · 2 Oct 2021 at 14:09

Our October virtual challenge is out and I’ve accepted defeat at an early stage.

Have to get in enough elevation to climb Everest so ~29000 feet. That’s around 940 a day.

I did some hill repeats walking last night and covered around 750 in just under an hour. Today my ankle feels strained so it’s be stupid to try and do that and more for another 30 days as much as I don’t want to fail so far into the year.

It’d be a great challenge though and one I’m going to try and do maybe December time.

jsmoke · 2 Oct 2021 at 16:28

Was on pace for a 23.30 parkrun today but I died at 4km and had to stop. Nearly puking and very dizzy.

Still hopefully on the road for 20min by the end of the year. Not sure what I need to do now, if long easy runs, strength work or more speed runs are the way.

neoboy · 2 Oct 2021 at 16:38

I'm just trying to keep my Achilles tendon from not getting worse, terribly annoying issue.

Shadowness · 2 Oct 2021 at 17:06

jsmoke said:
Was on pace for a 23.30 parkrun today but I died at 4km and had to stop. Nearly puking and very dizzy.

Still hopefully on the road for 20min by the end of the year. Not sure what I need to do now, if long easy runs, strength work or more speed runs are the way.

I cracked 20 by just running more. Didn't do that much speed work, just quantity.

jsmoke · 2 Oct 2021 at 17:23

neoboy said:
I'm just trying to keep my Achilles tendon from not getting worse, terribly annoying issue.

I had very bad achillies tendinitis about 2 months ago, I could barely run. Like a miracle they've cleared up. I did the eccentric heel drops every day for a month and they slightly helped but after stopping for a couple of days they were as bad as ever.

I did about a week or two of squats and that must have been the main cure then after that lots of painful running and 2 months later absolutely fine.

I also got a sports massage athlough not on achillies bit maybe it had a knock effect.

I can hardly believe it.

neoboy · 2 Oct 2021 at 17:56

jsmoke said:
I had very bad achillies tendinitis about 2 months ago, I could barely run. Like a miracle they've cleared up. I did the eccentric heel drops every day for a month and they slightly helped but after stopping for a couple of days they were as bad as ever.

I did about a week or two of squats and that must have been the main cure then after that lots of painful running and 2 months later absolutely fine.

I also got a sports massage athlough not on achillies bit maybe it had a knock effect.

I can hardly believe it.

Well funny enough, I'll be going back to the gym this month and starting up with 5x5 stronglifts. I do suspect my weight playing a role in this as I'm over a 100kg and hiked quite a bit this summer too so calves probably struggled to keep up and recover so the tendon started to take the brunt of it.

Itchytrigg · 4 Oct 2021 at 09:50

All done with the London marathon. Official time of 3:17:57 although I did do closer to 27 miles just due to the nature of the course.

It was a little slower than I was aiming for with a 3:15 but I know I set out too quick and around mile 18 i knew it and at mile 21 I was slowing before having to take 2-3 walking breaks before the finish.

The emotions after crossing the finish line were crazy, sadly there were 2 people collapsed getting attention with less than 600m to go and I saw another being sick just after the finish line. It’s brutal but so rewarding.

Strava if interested, https://strava.app.link/KjqPU6PL4jb can see on the financial district gps went a bit nuts though and I did not do a 5min mile there!

Martynt74 · 4 Oct 2021 at 10:04

Well done and that's a very respectable time and far faster than anything i'll ever achieve so a great effort. All the training paid off.

It's so easy to set off quickly in those situations. I remember at Manchester my first few miles were around 8min pace when i was aiming for around 10 mins, but you feel so good in that crowd at the start and don't comprehend what's the come. Especially as prior to that my longest run had only been ~15 miles!

dwarf · 4 Oct 2021 at 10:08

So happy with my London Marathon result. I was aiming for 3:20 and my time was 3:19:55

Just over an hour faster than my time in 2019 :cool:

I had no idea I was cutting it so fine as the last 3 miles or so it took all my concentration just to keep going and wasn't looking at my watch at all. I was consistently doing ~23 min 5ks until the last one which was 26:44 so perhaps I went out too fast. I definitely didn't drink enough early on as I was drinking the whole bottle at the last couple of water stations and drank loads after I finished. I'm so happy that I didn't give in and walk at all, it was very tempting but in hindsight that would have ruined my time.

I've already entered the ballot for next year

Itchytrigg said:
All done with the London marathon. Official time of 3:17:57 although I did do closer to 27 miles just due to the nature of the course.

It was a little slower than I was aiming for with a 3:15 but I know I set out too quick and around mile 18 i knew it and at mile 21 I was slowing before having to take 2-3 walking breaks before the finish.

The emotions after crossing the finish line were crazy, sadly there were 2 people collapsed getting attention with less than 600m to go and I saw another being sick just after the finish line. It’s brutal but so rewarding.

Strava if interested, https://strava.app.link/KjqPU6PL4jb can see on the financial district gps went a bit nuts though and I did not do a 5min mile there!

Congratulations! Looks like you were 5 mins up the road from me. I saw those collapsed people as well. So sad to be so close but once you get outside assistance they will not let you finish the race. My legs gave way just after I went over the line myself but some poor chap was there to catch me :cry:

Dup · 4 Oct 2021 at 10:13

That's a great time, is that a PB for you? It's amazing the calibre of people doing a marathon, those happy to finish in 6 hours and those people who do it in 3 hours who are 20 years older and seemingly 5 stone heavier than you. Very much have to race yourself or mentally it can really drag.

What did your typical training look like to run at that pace?

My marathon best is 3:56, but I've only done 2. Got Manchester next weekend and was hoping to do a 3:30 but an 8 min mile seems a challenge over 5 miles let alone 26. I do feel I should be faster but then I've trained most of the year for an ultra so I guess speed was never going to come into it. I've never been fast anyway.

My running has tailed off since Lakeland and having a baby, gonna try dig deep next weekend and hope I get close to 3:30. Signed up again for April so at least it's not too long until I can go back and have another go. My focus over winter will be more speed seeing as long runs aren't happening at the moment. I'd love a good for age time though, but sub 3 is a big ask

Also got in to the 2022 Lakeland 50, I was going to volunteer for marshalling but they never put out any info for that (you get a free place the following year if you do) so I just stuck my name in the ballot expecting nothing but I got another place. Gonna aim for a much quicker time there too! As close to 12 hours as possible.

Martynt74 · 4 Oct 2021 at 10:16

Dup said:
Also got in to the 2022 Lakeland 50, I was going to volunteer for marshalling but they never put out any info for that (you get a free place the following year if you do) so I just stuck my name in the ballot expecting nothing but I got another place. Gonna aim for a much quicker time there too! As close to 12 hours as possible.

Damn you

I know quite a few people who've got in now and seemingly i'm the only one that hasn't! I was tempted by the guaranteed Charity entry but it's a lot of money to stump up front just to run.

Dup · 4 Oct 2021 at 10:35

Martynt74 said:
Damn you

I know quite a few people who've got in now and seemingly i'm the only one that hasn't! I was tempted by the guaranteed Charity entry but it's a lot of money to stump up front just to run.

Gutted. It's become really really busy from all accounts. That's how I got in for the first time admittedly, expensive run but I'm daft enough to enter again so clearly it's worth it

Martynt74 · 4 Oct 2021 at 10:37

I've settled on this for my first 50 i think. It's next March and registrations open in January so i'm hoping it's easy enough to get into. A bargain at €48 too. Only 10 mins from where my parents live so i can get picked up easily and then go and die in their pool!

https://www.mychip.es/en/evento/perimetral-a-benissa-21

Also want to do the Rossendale way at some point, although i think that'll be a solo affair, providing i can find a few places along the way to get food/drink.

dwarf · 4 Oct 2021 at 10:40

Dup said:
That's a great time, is that a PB for you? It's amazing the calibre of people doing a marathon, those happy to finish in 6 hours and those people who do it in 3 hours who are 20 years older and seemingly 5 stone heavier than you. Very much have to race yourself or mentally it can really drag.

What did your typical training look like to run at that pace?

My marathon best is 3:56, but I've only done 2. Got Manchester next weekend and was hoping to do a 3:30 but an 8 min mile seems a challenge over 5 miles let alone 26. I do feel I should be faster but then I've trained most of the year for an ultra so I guess speed was never going to come into it. I've never been fast anyway.

It was only my second marathon so yeah, a new PB by an hour. I did a half marathon in 1:29 last year so I knew I had that kind of time in me, it's just the marathon is a whole other kettle of fish. It's absolutely brutal.

I used a training plan from Ben Parkes that was really good. It was 15 weeks long; first week was 34 miles and the biggest week was 64 miles. About 5-6 runs a week and I think there was about 6 runs over 20 miles. I liked the longer runs in this plan as it mixed in a variety of paces as well which I think really helped not just with fitness but also boredom. It mixes in blocks of marathon pace with easy pace or a fast finish when your legs are tired. I managed to stick to the plan quite well and only had a very minor injury during my taper. He does plans from 5k up to ultras and they are pretty cheap at £6 so definitely recommend them.

Dup · 4 Oct 2021 at 14:37

Martynt74 said:
I've settled on this for my first 50 i think. It's next March and registrations open in January so i'm hoping it's easy enough to get into. A bargain at €48 too. Only 10 mins from where my parents live so i can get picked up easily and then go and die in their pool!

https://www.mychip.es/en/evento/perimetral-a-benissa-21

Also want to do the Rossendale way at some point, although i think that'll be a solo affair, providing i can find a few places along the way to get food/drink.

Is that 12k ft in elevation?! Nice. I wonder how the heat of Spain compares to the UK when running. A Turkish guy on the Lakeland 50 said the humidity and heat we had was unbearable so hopefully it's a nice one for you.

Surely you can carry enough food for the full Rossendale way, it's just topping up the water.

dwarf said:
It was only my second marathon so yeah, a new PB by an hour. I did a half marathon in 1:29 last year so I knew I had that kind of time in me, it's just the marathon is a whole other kettle of fish. It's absolutely brutal.

I used a training plan from Ben Parkes that was really good. It was 15 weeks long; first week was 34 miles and the biggest week was 64 miles. About 5-6 runs a week and I think there was about 6 runs over 20 miles. I liked the longer runs in this plan as it mixed in a variety of paces as well which I think really helped not just with fitness but also boredom. It mixes in blocks of marathon pace with easy pace or a fast finish when your legs are tired. I managed to stick to the plan quite well and only had a very minor injury during my taper. He does plans from 5k up to ultras and they are pretty cheap at £6 so definitely recommend them.

Nice one, thanks, I like how there's some pace guidance. I might try one in the new year ahead of April. That's a geat achievement to drop your time by so much too, I'd be well chuffed.

Martynt74 · 4 Oct 2021 at 14:41

Dup said:
Is that 12k ft in elevation?! Nice. I wonder how the heat of Spain compares to the UK when running. A Turkish guy on the Lakeland 50 said the humidity and heat we had was unbearable so hopefully it's a nice one for you.

Surely you can carry enough food for the full Rossendale way, it's just topping up the water.

Yeah, it's a very hilly course, although the Lakeland 50 is ~10k so not too much in it i suppose.

I'm hoping that in early March the weather will be perfect. ~20C but unlikely to have any rain, plus with the hills involved it'll hopefully be breezy enough to not be unbearable.

Yeah i'd hope so re: food, it's around 45 miles and ~6000ft though so i'd estimate around 9-10 hours, guess it depends on the weather as it could easily become very muddy/boggy depending on when i attempt it.

Itchytrigg · 4 Oct 2021 at 15:42

dwarf said:
So happy with my London Marathon result. I was aiming for 3:20 and my time was 3:19:55 Just over an hour faster than my time in 2019

I had no idea I was cutting it so fine as the last 3 miles or so it took all my concentration just to keep going and wasn't looking at my watch at all. I was consistently doing ~23 min 5ks until the last one which was 26:44 so perhaps I went out too fast. I definitely didn't drink enough early on as I was drinking the whole bottle at the last couple of water stations and drank loads after I finished. I'm so happy that I didn't give in and walk at all, it was very tempting but in hindsight that would have ruined my time.

I've already entered the ballot for next year

Congratulations! Looks like you were 5 mins up the road from me. I saw those collapsed people as well. So sad to be so close but once you get outside assistance they will not let you finish the race. My legs gave way just after I went over the line myself but some poor chap was there to catch me

Congratulations to you too! Glad it went to plan for you, was this your first marathon or had you done one before (Edit: Just re-read your other posts and saw it was your 2nd)? This was my first so I'll be taking it all on board if (probably when) I do another, was certainly letting quicker runners influence my pace but at the same time it felt great and was able to hold it without issue till about mile 18.

I think I was similar to you and should have drank more earlier, and also started my gels sooner too as I waited till mile 6 for my first then one per 5 miles, had one of the Lucozade gels they gave out...was not a fan at all! Very think and overly sweet compared to the High5's I use. Originally I intended for it to be miles 5, 10, 14, 18, 22 but adjusted when I realised I didn't have enough, then on the fly tried to adjust having picked up their gels...then just abandoned them when it tasted so rank and I'd already passed the point of them being useful.

My wife and I played "spot the runner" the rest of the day and today too based on how they walked rather than clothing! We stopped by the New Balance store this morning for the free engraving after breakfast, didn't bother as the queue was outrageously long! Read later on FB posts it was 1 guy doing them and some people queued for 4 hours.....from what I saw of photos it was just a standard engraving you could get done anywhere for probably a £10.

LOAM · 4 Oct 2021 at 20:50

jsmoke said:
Was on pace for a 23.30 parkrun today but I died at 4km and had to stop. Nearly puking and very dizzy.

Still hopefully on the road for 20min by the end of the year. Not sure what I need to do now, if long easy runs, strength work or more speed runs are the way.

Interval training and hills, it's hard work but honestly the parkrun gains from it are great.