Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

Well was putting my trainers away and noticed this on the sole. Whilst obviously a 40 mile run on rocky ground probably isn't exactly easy on the sole, i wouldn't have expected this to happen so early in the life of the trainer.

Wonder what my chances of a replacement will be!

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Wow, well despite all my talk about motivation being high, i didn't get out at all over the weekend! I accepted that after a few months of long days out in the hills and doing very little around the house with a fairly understanding wife, i was close to the limit and so decided to spend the weekend doing DIY. My shoulders are now aching from mixing cement by hand :(

Still trying to work out the best way to structure my running. I really enjoyed having a set plan and so trying to work out the best method to plan that.

Obviously an excel spreadsheet makes sense. It's easy, i can create pretty graphs etc for it. Although no syncing with Garmin means it's less useful for looking back at speeds/distances covered. It also means i'm limited by only having it on my laptop as i always find Excel on a phone quite useless.

I could also continue to use Xhale, i used it from November to March and it's a decent platform. Easy to upload activities from Garmin and it gives some decent charts and summaries.

I suppose the best option is Training Peaks. Issue being it's fairly costly for the premium version and quite long winded to create a plan. Although i suppose it's just a case of setting aside an hour and cracking on with it! Benefits being it syncs with Garmin to give me the training plan on my watch which is handy.

Finally i came across an app called TrainAsOne. It seems to suggest it's an AI driven training plan similar to the thing that Garmin does by suggesting workouts each day. It looks like it may be quite good but since it's AI based there's an initial period where it's gathering information and so seems quite basic. I might try it out this week and see how it is.
 
Update to the above post. I did the first run with TrainAsOne last night. It was an initial assessment which has

2 mins standing still to get standing HR
5 mins warm up
110 mins easy run
2 mins standing still to get standing HR

The website connects the workout to my watch and so when opening the run activity on my Garmin it presented the above as a preset workout which i liked. Post run, the website then shows all the data from Garmin and gives you ratings depending on how well you adhered to the workout.

Given they offer this as a free service too, i'd say it's worth checking out for anyone that wants something more structured.


Downsides
-Some runs seem very low, it's dropped me back to ~30 miles a week in total and the longest run over the next few weeks is only around 2 hours.
-There seems to be no way to request for long runs to be on a weekend. As such this weekend i have rest days on Sunday and only a short run on Saturday, but long runs Thursday/Friday which are harder to fit in. Same next week too.
-No option that i can see to add in specific things planned. I can add races, but for example i'm meant to be going for a run with a mate this Saturday, i could add this as a race, but then it wants to put lots of rest before which isn't really needed.

I've had a run through of the FAQ which addresses a few of the above points, but the general consensus seems to be that the platform creates the plan and there should be no deviation as it's created as a "best" practice. It does say if you run on different days/do a different session then the AI tool will re-create any future runs.

It's a tricky one in that i think the concept as a whole is very good, and perhaps if you spent a month invested in the platform it could end up as a great training partner. I'm just not sure i want to drop back at this point on the risk it may/may not meet my expectations. I think i'll half follow it and see how it goes, but also do an element of my own thing and see how it adapts. Then if it's not for me, just sack it off at the end of the free plan.




Example below of my calendar for this week. (Another downside is that the pace for last nights run seems to factor in the 4 minutes standing around not moving! I'm not sure how it can known my general pacing based on that!)

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It's a tough one, I'd love a proper routine but sometimes I feel it takes the fun out of it all and in essence I'm just a lot happier getting out and going for a run with speed/distance dependant on mood. I was doing 20 miles a week and it started to feel like if I didn't hit at least that every week then I was failing. I've had a little break, just under 2 weeks to reset my thinking a little and went out on a steady 10k a few hours ago. I'm not sure which direction to go in now but having a break has made me realise I definitely don't want to stop running!

Sorry for the late reply but congrats on your big run @Martynt74, hell of an effort that! I'm glad the DNF has just spurred you on to do it again rather than feeling negative about it which you certainly should not be :)
 
@Bunko To be honest that was my belief too initially, i thought i'd hate the structure, but i think that after my ankle injury and wanting to build up correctly to the Spain run i went with it and since found that i enjoy it. The main benefit was accountability, but i think the more i've ran and enjoyed it the more that i've had motivated and no longer needed the accountability if that makes sense?

The above plan does feel a little "busy" to me, the one i had from the actual coach was just 5 sessions a week, with the majority being nothing more than an easy run for a predetermined time, there was no target paces or anything like that, if i went below/over that then it didn't really matter too much and i just tried to adjust the next run to compensate. I also quite liked adding notes to each run although whether i ever go back to re-read them is another matter :p

I think for me, with wanting to be hitting a specific weekly goal, it's nice to have a rough plan of how i'll hit that. Otherwise i get to Sunday and realise i'm down 20 miles because i've just done lots of short 4-5 mile runs. I also think having strength training booked in means i'm more likely to do it!
 
Evening all, haven't been posting much as well didn't feel like it.
Running is going good, got bit of a spanking on the 12.5 mile trail run, came 34th and took 2.40 odd, it was a quagmire with very steep climbs that I expected.
Should have come top 10 really, but car broke down so booked a train, only to find taxi's are hopeless so had to run several miles to the station, only to find the train was cancelled grrr.

Borrowed a friend's car, with only ten minutes before the start.
Ran well, but after a few miles i was hammered, but the Altra mont blanc shoes were incredible.

Anyway got my 37 mile ultra next month eek, bought an innov8 ultra pro 2 in 1 vest and some Altra Olympus 4's, might stick with the mont blanc as they're heavy.

Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/sTQfxt7MDob
 
Bet that was a stunning run right on the coast though. Not ideal pre-race prep though so great effort on getting through it at all!

I think i'm going to give up on the AI based running app. It's a little too micromanaged, with this mornings workout beeping on my watch that i was constantly running too fast as it wanted me to be doing 11 min miles for the warm up. That's too much annoyance for my liking so i'd rather go it alone even if i lose out on 5% improvements just to enjoy my running.

Happy i got out though, set my alarm for 6:30, woke up at 6:20, turned off the alarm. Then lay in bed for 5 minutes before getting up. After giving up on the structured workout i just plodded along for 8 miles. Interesting to see when i got back that i pretty much got faster with every mile. It was a weird run where i felt fairly low on energy but my HR remained at a fairly low steady level. I just assumed it was going to be a slow run, so was surprised to see the last few miles pick up on pace.
 
Yeah it was, but it could have been better as it was very undulating.
Yeah race prep was a farce, but it's part of a series so had to do it. 37 miles next so no messing there, got my car back so all is good.
Got my black diamond pro carbon poles, and innov8 pro 2 in 1 vest, so gonna throw in most of the kit I'll need and pop out for an early one tomorrow.
Going to try some bars and gels that use palatinose when they arrive, it's a sustained release sugar meant to be very good.

I can't run by app, it'll drive me spare. I do love to run but not when I feel forced to, I'll quite happily force myself thank you.
I run for the love of it and the challenge, I'd ditch the app and just do what feels right to you.
I'm actually doing alright on the hills, just needed to learn how to pace it
 
I just use the free version of training peaks everything gets directed to it. The paid for version is not really worth it for my standard. But the training plans you buy from training peaks I have found to be very good.

I still think Marv's house is built with trainers though :)
 
Despite my previous post mentioning my fall and MS issues I battle on probs done about 50-60 runs since then actually and had no issues maybe I got unlucky that day.

Its slow and a lot of walking and running (due to the drop foot) not what I used to be but I still battle through 14 miles done today such a beautiful day love this weather.

Edit: Forgot to say to everyone here achieve your running dreams whatever that maybe Im not saying disaster around the corner for everyone Im very unlucky.
 
Awesome to hear you’re still able to get out.

I got out Saturday and had a great time, although almost lost my phone.
It was really hot and still so I took my backpack off to remove a base layer t shirt. My phone was in one of the front pockets on the rucksack and must’ve fallen out.

We got to a nearby trig point and I went to take a photo and realised. Luckily only a 5 minute backtrack so was lucky that my mate suggested a photo. Could’ve been much worse.

Also first run back with the hydration bladder. I’ve been favouring the multiple soft flask approach, however I managed to leave all 3 in Spain and not replaced them yet :(
 
Don't get the Aoninjie ones or whatever they've called, you have to suck real hard to get any decent amount from them.
I now have innov8 and they're much better, just need the tubes to be longer.

Training is going very well, did 8 miles Sunday morning, only to nip out later and hit 24k on what looked like the surface of Mars mixed with sand dunes.
Went flying three times, and despite feeling tender I still went out and did 12 miles today.
Run felt really good apart from the aches, trying a new sustained carb source, turns out I love the stuff, could have kept on going downside is it's pricey stuff.
 
I actually like the Decathlon ones. They have a twist lock on the nozzle to stop leakages. I have 2 of those and a salomon one, although that's too long and doesn't fit in my pocket very well. I'm tempted to pick up 2 more Decathlon ones, but their shipping price is hefty.

Luckily my parents had friends staying last week and they've brought them home so i just need to go pick them up sometime.

What's the new carb source? I had bought a few sachets of Tailwind, but not used it yet.
 
It's called ucan, finisher and endurance are the two gels I have. They're super sweet and strong, if you can get past that you're golden.
The sugar iirc is palatinose, rather than come and go in 30 minutes or so, this goes for at least 2 hours.
I feel amazing on the stuff, my body is trying to be t2d, but taking this on a run I feel like I can just keep on going.
I'm have to gradually use up what I have left, tailwind Is good, but for me this stuff just blows it away
I order it from some site called naturitas.
 
Awesome will check that out. Something longer lasting sounds great. I've generally been trying to take proper food with me on longer runs. Things like jam sandwiches etc. I figure the more i get my stomach used to all stuff like that the better i'm geared up.

I got out last night for some faster running. A mate wants to do a local Parkrun soon and i'd like to see what i'm capable of with it. Did 3 x 1/2 mile at just a little faster than 5k pace with 1/2 mile recovery inbetween and then finished with 2x faster paced runs at a minute each just to round the run up to 30 minutes overall.

Need to get some more hills done this weekend. Might see how the weather is and whether i head to the fells again or just find a hill on a road and spend 2 hours going up and down that!
 
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Earth[Tera].bin said:
Need to strenghten my shins to stop the shins splints so made a Tib-bar based on this video , cost £19 delivered as opposed to thse going for £90+ . Added the foam from the handles of an old Ski machine. Job done :)

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Click to expand...

Just picking back up on this as i've been following the KOT guy a bit more recently.

Where did you pick up the pipe? Everywhere local seems to only stock plastic piping and online is all crazy priced postage.
 
Yeah, just need to find somewhere local, although to be fair that website seems to be better for postage costs than i've seen elsewhere.
 
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