Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

sid said:
Does anyone here have pain in the their feet while running? I mean around the heel arch area? I am wearing appropriate shoes but this starts at the 2k mark for me.

Do people pay as much attention to their socks compared to the shoes? i.e. any particular ones I should be looking to get.

I'm up to the 10k mark now but hesistant to really push as I do get pain the foot arch and ankle.

sid
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Don't know you experience level so apologies if you find this question patronising (it's not meant to be) but, are your trainers too tight?

I've had ache in the arch of my sole in the past because I've had my trainers slightly too tight, either at the toe or top of tongue, try slackening them off a touch half way around your run.

This often happens when I change to new trainers each year.

I also had ache in my arch when my trainers were worn out, obviously, I could feel every detail of the path etc, felt like pins and needles. Horrible.
 
I forgot how good you feel as a result of running, I don't feel so out of breath or sweaty in my everyday life.

I'm still pretty slow but I did just over 3.5km @ 6:00/km last night which is my target pace as I want to do the 10k in an hour, it actually felt really good and my legs don't ache the day after now. Just need to eke out the distance bit by bit now :)
 
Running is great, especially with the right shoes in good scenery! :)

I run 7-10k 3 to 4 times a week and it gives me so much energy, unfortunately the downside is I eat like a horse and crap like a bear! :D

I've really improved my pace with the right footwear, I can do 7k in under 30 minutes now.
 
Col_M said:
I forgot how good you feel as a result of running, I don't feel so out of breath or sweaty in my everyday life.
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A quote from "Born to Run":

Born To Run said:
There’s something so universal about that sensation, the way running unites our two most primal impulses: fear and pleasure. We run when we’re scared, we run when we’re ecstatic, we run away from our problems and run around for a good time.
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If you haven't read this book, do so :).
 
Finally back to something approximating running after finally getting used to my orthotics (it's been nine months of hell trying to get this sorted) and I'm kind of shocked by my appalling fitness. I'd done my best to keep some level of fitness with weights etc. but to no avail.

I'm easing my poor left foot back into it with a 5min warm up, 1min run 1min walk (for a total of ten mins), 5min cool down routine and I was absolutely dying after my final 1 minute run. This is really gutting as before the injury I was comfortably bashing out 3 miles at a time in around 35mins.

I know it'll take time to get back into it, but it's kind of demoralising to be back to the level of coach potato. I reckon do this for a couple of weeks to make sure my foot is alright, then gradually up the length of running time/shorten the walking pauses.
 
IceBus, just remember not to overdo it and you'll be fine. When I get new orthotics I find it very hard to ease myself into them and have injured myself a few times by getting frustrated with them. not cool!

Nice 15k in lovely scenery today. Although it's harder, I find running on sunny days lovely :P
 
Trying my best with the patience, but it's not easy. I just want to get out and pound the pavement...

Had a bit of heel pain this morning on my right foot (which has never had any problems before) after running on Thursday, so I hope that's not going to turn into anything. I'm not going to run again until it goes away. Massaged it a bit and that's helped a little. I'll have to try and concentrate harder on midfoot landing on my next run. On the plus side, the metatarsal pain on my left foot hasn't returned since my orthotics.
 
IceBus said:
Finally back to something approximating running after finally getting used to my orthotics (it's been nine months of hell trying to get this sorted) and I'm kind of shocked by my appalling fitness. I'd done my best to keep some level of fitness with weights etc. but to no avail.

I know it'll take time to get back into it, but it's kind of demoralising to be back to the level of coach potato. I reckon do this for a couple of weeks to make sure my foot is alright, then gradually up the length of running time/shorten the walking pauses.
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You're actually in a good position. Ditch the orthotics, go barefoot, learn to enjoy running again :).

I've been considering whether or not to remove some of my advice in the OP, namely that about running shoes. I've been doing a lot of research and reading recently, and I've had a change of heart so to speak. I've been barefoot running for 3 months now, and boy does it feel good.

Tell you what. I'll write up a little post about barefoot running and stick it in the reserved post #2, what do people think to that?
 
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I would be very interested in the research you have done and your experiances on the matter after being dubious about the effectivness of my orthotics.

Do you actually run completely barefooted :confused:
 
No I run in Evo Neo's, which are a barefoot shoe (if that makes sense!) with a 4mm thick puncture resistant sole, as I live in a city. I do however run completely barefooted once a week on a local Green (the grass such a liberating feeling), and I would love to run some trails barefooted, but doubt my feet will ever be hard enough.

It will take me a while but I'll put something together :).
 
Well I hope this helps kick start at least a bit of interest in the subject. I'll update it as my experiences mature and move on, and I'll try to include more information as time progresses, I just thought I'd stick something up in the mean time.
 
Did the JPM CC in Battersea on Wednesday followed by the British 10K London today.

Happy with both races but today was definitely the better race. 53.29 and according to my GPS I'd done 10.12 and went through 10k in 52.56. First 5k went through in 25.36 so pretty clear I was flagging a bit towards the end!

JPM CC was 5.3k in 27.44 which equates to 5.15/k as opposed to 5.17/k for this morning's run. Was happy with it at the time but almost slightly disappointing compared to today. Should really have got under 27m but went off far too quickly at the start.

Would love to get my 5k down below 25 and get close to 50 for the 10k. I think that is manageable by the end of the summer. My training has been quite patchy so if i can get running three or four times a week regularly, improve my diet and boot the smokes I will hopefully be in good shape.

In terms of speed work, was thinking one run a week and alternate with shirt faster intervals one week and longer intervals at a more sustainable pace the next. Any thoughts?
 
Bleek said:
Don't know you experience level so apologies if you find this question patronising (it's not meant to be) but, are your trainers too tight?

I've had ache in the arch of my sole in the past because I've had my trainers slightly too tight, either at the toe or top of tongue, try slackening them off a touch half way around your run.

This often happens when I change to new trainers each year.

I also had ache in my arch when my trainers were worn out, obviously, I could feel every detail of the path etc, felt like pins and needles. Horrible.
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I think you may have been right. I got some trainers last month (Latest gel nimbus 13s) and have noticed an improvement. I think this is mainly to do with the fact it has shorter laces which I don't tightening too much.

Pretty pleased overall. I think I just need to up my mileage now tbh.

sid
 
5min walk 5min run 5min walk again today. Not too much pain yet, and I'm planning to run through it if it's sore by Tuesday. Also started reading Born to Run.
 
Yeah I felt fine, the heat seemed to make a difference though I ran in the evening after it got dark but it was still in the 20s, my legs and lungs weren't tired but I felt like there was some external force stealing my energy.
 
Ran fine yesterday again, still 5 off, 5 on, 5 off. Pushed my pace a bit in the middle session (can you tell I'm impatient yet) and put in a decent half-mile pace. Feet aren't hurting too much (maybe a touch of plantar fasciitis) but I'm trying to be as conservative as possible until I'm sure. One more run like that then I'm going to do 6, 7, 8 next week.

One thing I'm really concentrating on is my form and I'm taking far smaller strides as well as concentrating on a midfoot strike. It's weird, despite taking smaller 'bites' my times aren't bad at all. It'll be interesting to see how that goes when I start running further again.
 
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