Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

Soldato
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@Martynt74 you keep mentioning the move to Spain :cool: Is it happening imminently, and can we all come round for beer and tapas? :D

Mentally it's already happened! Physcially though i think it's going to around March 24 in all reality. Longer than we'd have liked but our daughter is doing an apprenticeship and we said we'd support her through that.

Got a road trip in September to narrow down locations. We already have a decent idea since my parents live over there, but would like to explore a few places ourselves too now that we have a rough idea of how house prices vary up/down the coast.

You'll be most welcome. My wife found my ideal house yesterday. Absolutely loads of land, with a few chalets on site for rentals and a huge swimming pool, inland with close access to dusty trails for running and a massive barn to turn into a workshop/gym. Not sure she'd let me have that though!
 
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Sounds marvellous. We keep seeing things on a place in the sun and thinking "We could just buy that"! I think we would have to wait until our youngest leaves home though, given that she is only 11 I reckon we have 10 years to wait :rolleyes:
 
Soldato
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Sounds marvellous. We keep seeing things on a place in the sun and thinking "We could just buy that"! I think we would have to wait until our youngest leaves home though, given that she is only 11 I reckon we have 10 years to wait :rolleyes:

Yeah, it certainly feels like the dream life. It was always our plan when we retired to do something like this, but given i'm 36 that's a long way away. Us both being remote based now though means we should have no issues just doing our job just living in Spain.

This last week has been the perfect example. Extremes from 38C heat and sun, to 18C and raining, then trying to make plans over the weekend only for the weather to change at the drop of a hat. Versus the nice consistency you get in somewhere like Spain which allows planning to be much easier and less likely to be ruined by the weather.
 
Soldato
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Haha you old git :p Although my wife is 49 so the same applies to her!

First run for me since last Tuesday today. A day spent in a small en-suite cutting out grout and removing tiles/plasterboard with little ventilation is not ideal. My throat feels like someones attacked it with razors! On the plus side it felt quite easy and my HR stayed nice and low for the majority.
 
Soldato
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My legs have been real stiff this week, so decided to use google for any tips for last minute help. Came across an article about keeping volume fairly high and still getting a long run in the weekend before. This is my Strava calendar. A huge 5 day gap of no running and fairly minimal this week too. Although i do need to bike to the office tomorrow as i've had a meeting scheduled last minute and the wife needs the car.
It's a good job i'm not overly serious about performance!

Gc6sQaf.png


I'm hoping after this weekend i can sort my **** out and get back to decent consistency. A horrifically busy time the first 2 weeks of July meant a lot of my lunchtimes/evenings were spent working, and if i was lazy first thing with the "I'll go later" mentally, it inevitably meant that "later" never came.
 
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Not sure if this is 100% the place to post but I think I might be becoming a bit of a runner!

I‘m doing the couch to 5k program and I’m on my last run of week 7 tomorrow so I must be. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been doing a bit more than the prescribed run and find myself running 5k 3 times a week, it’s not fast and it‘s not pretty but I’m doing it.

My question is about some kind of running top or waterproof, is there anything someone could recommend, I’ve managed without one so far but don’t want a spot of rain to ruin my new hobby.

As an aside I’ve just entered my first 5k race/run in September which I’m even looking forward to!
 
Soldato
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Great stuff. Long May your enthusiasm continue :)

It depends on you really. I will still wear a t shirt when it’s raining because I find waterproof stuff to cause me to overheat. Even the really expensive lightweight breathable stuff.
I’d rather be wet and cool than dry and hot.

There’s a lot of people that like wrapping up though and having the extra protection.

Decathlon is a great place to pick up running stuff at a good budget :)
 
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Great stuff. Long May your enthusiasm continue :)

It depends on you really. I will still wear a t shirt when it’s raining because I find waterproof stuff to cause me to overheat. Even the really expensive lightweight breathable stuff.
I’d rather be wet and cool than dry and hot.

There’s a lot of people that like wrapping up though and having the extra protection.

Decathlon is a great place to pick up running stuff at a good budget :)

Ok, I’m getting hot enough as it is, don’t think I need to throw in something that might make me sweat more in to the equation, I’ll stay as I am for now. Cheers.
 
Soldato
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Sensible. If you do want something then I’d suggest a windproof jacket instead. Would offer a little more water protection but with less heat retention.

I have a Rab Vital which wasn’t too expensive. Ultimately though if it’s raining you’ll get wet. A t shirt is plenty, especially if just doing a 5k so you’re not at risk of getting cold and wet up a mountain which is where I find proper waterproof stuff is needed.
 
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Yup, likewise - not a fan of waterproofs, I end up as wet inside them from sweat as I would without one.

For me, a decent base layer is the way to go. I find Under Armour's coldgear too hot unless it's below 0 out, and obviously their heatgear doesn't keep you warm at all, but a standard compression top usually does the job for me.
 
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Thanks guys.

My 5k I’m entered in to has now turned in to a 10k so I’m now working towards the longer distance!!!

The current plan is to gradually up my distance each week to get ready. The run is Sep 10th, I’m presuming that’s enough time? It feels like it is. I did 2 5k runs last week on Monday and Wednesday and increased my Friday(yesterday) run to 6k, I’ll do the same next week but stretch Friday’s run out to 7k and so on until I get to 10k.

Any other advice or thing to do/ not do?
 

hux

hux

Soldato
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Yeah you'll be fine, if you plan on upping your mileage just go easy into it.
Focus on finishing rather than any arbitrary position.
As for waterproofs something light and thin, you can get a shakedry which will allow you to breathe, but you're looking at the better part of £230.
I'd doubt you'd need much if any waterproofing.
You could I suppose spray your gear in fabsil, just to make it a bit repellent.
But September won't get cold, so even if you did get wet you'd still be warm.
 
Soldato
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Yeah. 2 months should be plenty. Just keep taking it easy.


I finished my first 50 yesterday. The whole day basically went terribly. I really needed a poo before the race but there was only 1 cubicle available (it was a school so surely should’ve had loads of toilets!)

Then I blew up at around 14 miles. Even on training runs I’m absolutely fine and happy running beyond that. I think the main issue was it was fairly flat and I’m not as used to continuous running for such distances. I’m used to talking breaks and walking hills etc.

Around mile 10 we also had a lot of tunnels and my watch messed up. Kept telling me I’d done 6 min miles which was definitely wrong. I asked some other runners and it seemed I was showing 1 mile more than everyone else so that messed up my average pace reading.

At 15 miles my feet were killing and I had the start of horrific chafing between my legs. Again both something I’ve never suffered with even on proper long runs in wet conditions.

I then spent around 20 miles walking and feeling annoyed before I got to a gravel cycleway and forced myself into a run 0.1 and walk 0.1 pattern. Genuinely felt like all I was capable of. It was weird weather of around 22C but really humid and I was struggling to breathe. I even took my HR strap off to ease tightness in my chest.

Hit the 40 mile checkpoint and that seemed to ruin that routine and I pretty much walked the last 10 miles with a girl who was carrying on for the 100. Her boyfriend met us around 47 miles in and encouraged us back to the start with temptations of “let’s just run this field” etc.

Finished in just under 12 hours which was kind of my pre race target. I think had I felt better I could’ve easily done sub 10hours though just due to the course.

As I’ve mentioned this last week. Beyond the Howgills marathon and the Ultra in the lakes last month, my actual regular training has been poor for 3 months now. Hoping this proves I need to pick up again.
 
Soldato
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@Dup You recovered now from the weekend? My tibialis is still tight but other than that i'm doing ok, soles of my feet are a bit sore still. Was 50 miles of gravel paths/roads so not much cushioning. From memory you said similar about the Lakeland 50 last year so hopefully you were a bit more used to it this year.



Also i really hate paying for the Strava subscription. I'd much rather they allow for monthly payment but without such a price hike to do so. Less that £4 a month paying monthly (code RICHROLL), but £6.99 to pay monthly.
 
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So, is that code one I can add to my monthly acct? Or so i have to restart it all?

Knee is sorted now :) Looks like I now have an issue in my calf, due to the issue in the knee!

I can't win at the moment :(
 
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