Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

I think the only thing i'd change is to apply a slight weighting to people who've applied before and missed out. I know Western States in the US apply that to a portion of the allocation and it certainly helps to avoid the issues above. I've failed 4 times now at the Lakeland 50 event and that's not even as big as London Marathon so shows how unlucky i am :p

I do think there should be more penalties for people pulling out late on though. I know some things can't be avoided, but i'm sure many of them could be and it's just a lack of dedication.


Not much running for me this week. Have been in Dublin for a work thing. Landed Sunday and did a bit of a run which was a good way to see the City, however it then became far too alcohol orientated, so the "Get to bed early, wake up and run before the training event starts" intention went out the window and was replaced by "Stay in the bar till 2am and then crawl down in the morning feeling crap".
 
Black Noir said:
Rejected 5th time in a row for me. What made it worse was seeing the TCS email then their site dying from all of the people checking their entry status :(

Bit of a rant but they ought to require you some sort of proof that you're a capable runner or at least have completed some sort of chip timed event over a reasonable distance to qualify. I'm not talking about GFA or qualifying events with specific times but rather "have you ran a half marathon or greater in the last 6 months? submit your result before proceeding". I know a few office workers who've entered because they've seen it on TV and think it's "a bit of fun" (which is commendable) but they end up getting a place in the ballot only to walk the event or pull out the night before. Charity entries and fun runners should definitely be a part of the day, but I feel they should be capped to x% to allow the more serious runners an opportunity to get involved.

As it stands, the only guaranteed ways to run it are via the ballot (some say less than 3% chance of getting an entry) paid entries with events companies that do entry + hotel deals or charity places that require £2000+ fundraising per entrant.

Personally speaking I find the GFA times are pretty outrageous unless you're aproaching elite level. Maybe that's the point but if you're already good enough to be considered elite then you should be part of an athletic club and be guaranteed spaces via that route - 6:45/mile or 4:15/km average (sub 3hrs) is a pace most people couldn't maintain over 5km, never mind a marathon :eek:
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To be honest I agree with this (and have run two halves in the last 6 months, so would be ok with the criteria!). A couple of mates entered the ballot who have never done more than a Parkrun, and I'm not sure they'd have had the dedication to spend the next 6 months getting from that level to a full mara.
 
manic111 said:
To be honest I agree with this (and have run two halves in the last 6 months, so would be ok with the criteria!). A couple of mates entered the ballot who have never done more than a Parkrun, and I'm not sure they'd have had the dedication to spend the next 6 months getting from that level to a full mara.
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A big aspect that people often overlook is that the marathon takes place in April. That means training will inevitably mean long winter runs in the wind and rain.

Most casual runners would struggle prepping for a marathon with plenty of spring and summer days but waking up in -3c weather and going for a 30km training run takes a certain level of dedication that a parkrun can’t really fulfil :p
 
Can't argue that it's cold for training, but wouldn't the summer be just as bad?

I did the charity thing and the worst thing was raising the 2k as we made loads of people redundant, so my sponsor list suddenly dropped!
 
Ian_Eb said:
Can't argue that it's cold for training, but wouldn't the summer be just as bad?

I did the charity thing and the worst thing was raising the 2k as we made loads of people redundant, so my sponsor list suddenly dropped!
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If it took place in summer then you'd have the option to train in spring/early summer instead of winter.

I'm not sure about you, but I'd rather get up 6am on a summer morning for a long run with good light and a decent forecast versus 6am on a February morning with no light, minus temperatures and a terrible forecast.

£2k sponsorship is pretty mental unless you're doing loads of bake sale/charity auction type events. Asking for donations in work is something I've struggled with because I hate asking for money so if someone says they'll "bring it in next week" then I just won't ask them again :p

Got a 10k fancy dress run on Sunday, first time in costume... will be... interesting.
 
I guess so :-) I did/do most of my runs in the evening, as I can't do the getting up early thing :-)
It did mean that you set out ok, and as the run went on it started to ice up and get slippy, rather than starting out that way.

The sponsorship was hard work for exactly those reasons. My work is only around 20 employees and they could all outdo Victor Meldrew at hist worst, without trying :-)

I don't envy you running in fancy dress. Never in a million years for me!
 
Yeah, i'm the same re Charity. I considered a charity place for the Lakeland 50 just to ensure i got in, but always figured i'd stomach the charity fee myself. That was only an extra £100 though.

I don't mind running in the dark/cold and i'd rather have the main event at favourable conditions than risk it being stupid hot/cold. I recall @Ian_Eb had miserably hot conditions for his London marathon though.

I work with a Ukranian consultant who mentioned a half marathon next weekend, i asked about donations and he sent a link with the choice to either donate myself or to run it virtually, so went with that option. My foot still isn't great so will be interesting to see how that goes.
 
Yes, it was >25c for most of the day. Would do it again, but I seem to just be chasing injuries at the moment. All seems ok now, so maybe try a few short ones again first
 
While it's frustrating, it's unfair to weight it against proven ability as you can do 12 week 0 to 26.2 plans. Of course there will be plenty of fantasists along the lines of the "new year, new me" types but I do believe everyone should get a fair chance at getting in.

I did the £100 charity I paid it myself for Lakeland 50 - Theirs is their own charity which does grants for local causes which I can get behind. I don't wanna beg people for money, especially if it's going to get wrapped up in "running/admin" costs vs towards the end product.

They could run the event twice a year and still not cover demand. I'll be doing Manchester for the 4th time in April, never had a problem with that selling out and I bet the atmosphere is just as good as London, it's just not got the whole TV & celeb fanfare going on.

I think this whole thing is incentive to aim for a good for age time though, I really need to look up some easy to follow training guides and learn how to train properly. Last two marathons were pretty naff.
 
I like the idea of little city breaks planned around a marathon. It’s a shame I had a work think in Dublin last weekend but it’s the Dublin marathon this Sunday. Would’ve been great to join that.

Feel absolutely sick. Had a VO2 max pyramid type session. However last night I had a couple Negronis and Old Fashioneds. Both cocktails which are basically pure alcohol so woke up with a stomach full of acid.
 
Also my old watch seems fixed. After a hard reset I’ve now not charged it since last Thursday and now sat at 26% still.
The new one went back without opening it and being tempted.

Was chatting to a guy with the Epix which was intriguing as the screen is awesome. Just a little too small compared to my X
 
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An update: I completed the 10k on Sunday (dressed as Beetlejuice :D)... came 14th out of 238 entrants which wasn't so bad. The course was pretty hilly and run over 2x 5km laps, so the entrants doing the 5km race were also in play but it was a good laugh considering the weather.

Three things I've learned:
  1. It was hammering down - the wet sleeve of my costume rubbed against the face of my watch and stopped the workout randomly at 8.25km :mad:
  2. It was windy - the wig was blowing in my face at some points which ended up going in my mouth and partially obstructing my view. Abandoned it at the midpoint.
  3. I need to do more hills in training - I was averaging a 4:30/km pace until hitting the trail / hill section and my pace plummeted. In my defence the incline was brutal.
 
Not a massive fan of hills, but you can't argue that if you dont have any in training then they really are a pain when you come across one!
 
Haha i quite enjoy some hills, i think that's why i like off road running, although i know my limits and so will look to fast hike them rather than run, as such i enjoy the fact it breaks things up and allows some recovery (depending on the hill of course!) I guess on a 10k though you're more inclined to be aiming to run the whole lot.


Well found the issue on my Garmin watch, when i did the hard reset i realised that by default Pulse OX is turned off, this was why the battery life was excellent. I've since turned it back on and the drop off in battery drain is very noticeable
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I don't mind charging every couple days, but it's good i know the real impact of Pulse OX now and can just switch it off in advance of long runs :)
 
Black Noir said:
Annoyingly I went for a long run on the weekend (half mar) and taped up the inside of both feet with zinc oxide tape as my shoes were giving me trouble over 15km.

All was well until the end of the run where I took off my shoes and found that the tape had been put on slightly too tight which had stopped my foot from stretching out. This put pressure on the outside edge of my feet and after the adrenaline stopped I found even walking was painful.

Removed the tape after a soak in the bath and whilst the inside of my feet were fine the upper side had developed some cuts/abrasions from the chaffing tape.

Seeing as they were nothing more than grazes I thought everything would be fine this week and cracked on, covering them with plasters for longer runs…. Until yesterday. Got 7km in to a 10km and the grazes were rubbing on the inside of my shoes to the point it felt like I was running on knives. Bloody grazes!

Abandoned the run thinking I’d walk the final stint to the car only to realise it also hurt like **** to walk. I rarely get blisters but these are grazes… I’d have laughed at you if you’d suggest I’d ever have to stop a run because of a little cut.

I’m so frustrated. Even walking around in the office with some trainers and some decent socks on and I can feel the grazes rubbing on my shoes :(

…worse still, I tend to run every-other day to maintain fitness and take the dog for walks on my off days and I could feel the pain on todays walk. I don’t really want to sacrifice my run tomorrow but I honestly can’t see me surviving a 5k without some level of pain and I can’t really stop as I’ve got a 10k race on 30th Oct arrgggh.
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Trick with the ultra community, is to use rocktape with some kind of resin to make it tack better.
I'll see if I can find it later, as I have a marathon to attend today.
Edit - Benzoin tincture, plus clean the feet with surgical spirit prior.
 
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Black Noir said:
Annoyingly I went for a long run on the weekend (half mar) and taped up the inside of both feet with zinc oxide tape as my shoes were giving me trouble over 15km.

All was well until the end of the run where I took off my shoes and found that the tape had been put on slightly too tight which had stopped my foot from stretching out. This put pressure on the outside edge of my feet and after the adrenaline stopped I found even walking was painful.

Removed the tape after a soak in the bath and whilst the inside of my feet were fine the upper side had developed some cuts/abrasions from the chaffing tape.

Seeing as they were nothing more than grazes I thought everything would be fine this week and cracked on, covering them with plasters for longer runs…. Until yesterday. Got 7km in to a 10km and the grazes were rubbing on the inside of my shoes to the point it felt like I was running on knives. Bloody grazes!

Abandoned the run thinking I’d walk the final stint to the car only to realise it also hurt like **** to walk. I rarely get blisters but these are grazes… I’d have laughed at you if you’d suggest I’d ever have to stop a run because of a little cut.

I’m so frustrated. Even walking around in the office with some trainers and some decent socks on and I can feel the grazes rubbing on my shoes :(

…worse still, I tend to run every-other day to maintain fitness and take the dog for walks on my off days and I could feel the pain on todays walk. I don’t really want to sacrifice my run tomorrow but I honestly can’t see me surviving a 5k without some level of pain and I can’t really stop as I’ve got a 10k race on 30th Oct arrgggh.
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You should try the Compeed plasters to put over the cuts. They fit and act like a second skin then fall off naturally over time.

I've used them when new shoes dig into the back of my heel to cover blisters and the like so will work well with cuts too and perform well for running
 
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