Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

bam0 · 3 Mar 2013 at 21:48

Anyone else at Silverstone half marathon today? I had unfinished business from a poor effort last year but today went much better than expected, 1:42:22. Was also trying out lighter weight shoes, went from New Balance 940s to Saucony Kinvara 3s, they were great, definintely notice having less weight at the end of your legs and they were just as comfortable.
Now to get back to some speed work and hill reps as I try and get a sub 20 5k and sub 40 10k this year.

King85 · 3 Mar 2013 at 22:22

bam0 said:
Anyone else at Silverstone half marathon today? I had unfinished business from a poor effort last year but today went much better than expected, 1:42:22. Was also trying out lighter weight shoes, went from New Balance 940s to Saucony Kinvara 3s, they were great, definintely notice having less weight at the end of your legs and they were just as comfortable.
Now to get back to some speed work and hill reps as I try and get a sub 20 5k and sub 40 10k this year.

How was it? It's very flat isn't it?

bam0 · 3 Mar 2013 at 22:27

King85 said:
How was it? It's very flat isn't it?

It was much better this year, about 7-8 degrees and cloudy, pretty much perfect weather for me. I ran it at a pretty flat pace until the last 1.5 miles which was into a headwind that slowed me a bit. It is flattish, only about 40ft difference between highest and lowest, but it undulates slowly over the whole course.

I really like it, will probably try and do it again next year. Having done a marathon last October I have no desire to do another, half is a pretty decent distance though.

Kristoph · 4 Mar 2013 at 00:19

Ran my first ever half marathon today, 1hr 45mins. Only ever run 10km's and one 16km run a couple weeks ago to test the legs.

Saundie · 4 Mar 2013 at 11:40

Kristoph said:
Ran my first ever half marathon today, 1hr 45mins. Only ever run 10km's and one 16km run a couple weeks ago to test the legs.

1hr 45min is a great time, I think you can be proud of that! I've got my first half marathon on the 7th of April. I would be happy to do it in under 2 hours, but I think I will probably be closer to 2hr 10min if my recent 10 mile run is anything to go by. Still, better than not being able to run one at all

Jonny69 · 4 Mar 2013 at 12:59

I stretched the mileage up to 16 miles on Saturday. The good news is my knee held up great despite the bad weekend last weekend (due to cycling the week before). I managed my nutrition quite well with 150 calories after one hour, then the same at 1:30 and 2:00. Hazelnut Galaxy is difficult to chew and swallow while running on a cold day though

All going well, it's 18 miles next Saturday, 20 miles the following Saturday and then that's the longest training run I'm doing before Brighton. Got the Kingston Breakfast run on the 24th (16 miles) and after that I'll tail the distances down a bit, on the advice of other marathon runners.

bam0 · 4 Mar 2013 at 13:27

Jonny69 said:
I stretched the mileage up to 16 miles on Saturday. The good news is my knee held up great despite the bad weekend last weekend (due to cycling the week before). I managed my nutrition quite well with 150 calories after one hour, then the same at 1:30 and 2:00. Hazelnut Galaxy is difficult to chew and swallow while running on a cold day though

All going well, it's 18 miles next Saturday, 20 miles the following Saturday and then that's the longest training run I'm doing before Brighton. Got the Kingston Breakfast run on the 24th (16 miles) and after that I'll tail the distances down a bit, on the advice of other marathon runners.

Good luck with your training, I remember doing the same last year preparing for Liverpool, only difference was I extended the 20 mile run to 22 miles. Mentally that made be feel better prepared as having run 20 miles there was a 10km "unknown" still to go, whereas only have 4 miles left I could relate that to a shorter run I do regularly.
In the end it was about 22 miles that my legs felt like every fibre of muscle in them was on fire

Vanquish-Storm · 4 Mar 2013 at 13:30

Any advise of finding motivation to run?

I damaged my ankle, put on a lot of weight and now feel really demoralised when I go to run. I struggle to get to the end of the street tbh

Would setting small targets to start out help? Short distances with long times (not ones that are to easy to do mind you!)

[DOD]Asprilla · 4 Mar 2013 at 14:11

Vanquish-Storm said:
Any advise of finding motivation to run?

I damaged my ankle, put on a lot of weight and now feel really demoralised when I go to run. I struggle to get to the end of the street tbh

Would setting small targets to start out help? Short distances with long times (not ones that are to easy to do mind you!)

I started out walk / jogging.

I would set a distance I could walk and then I would cover it walking and jogging. When I could jog the whole thing I would then start to increase the distance I covered in a week (not necessarily in that run).

LOAM · 4 Mar 2013 at 14:51

Vanquish-Storm said:
Any advise of finding motivation to run?

I damaged my ankle, put on a lot of weight and now feel really demoralised when I go to run. I struggle to get to the end of the street tbh

Would setting small targets to start out help? Short distances with long times (not ones that are to easy to do mind you!)

I started very very small, target of only a 10min run every night (being 140kg though I could actually only do 2mins run / 8min walk). Its important though to do it every day without fail. In my mind it was really hard to justify not giving only 10mins a day to exercise, before long I was able to run 10mins solid and it snowballed from there. 10mins became 13mins, 14 became 18, 20, 30 etc.

platypus · 4 Mar 2013 at 16:04

Vanquish-Storm said:
Any advise of finding motivation to run?

I damaged my ankle, put on a lot of weight and now feel really demoralised when I go to run. I struggle to get to the end of the street tbh

Would setting small targets to start out help? Short distances with long times (not ones that are to easy to do mind you!)

I broke my ankle and tore several ligaments almost two years ago, and 5 months later ran an ultra mountain marathon - it's all about what is important to you: if you want to run enough you'll do it.

The process of entering the race helped my recovery I swear, whether it be a panacea or not. It focused me and really helped that I had to start from scratch - my leg muscles were trashed (I swam to keep some fitness), and had to start really slowly. I was literally walking 5 minutes a day as soon as my foot was out of the cast, then built it up to 10 minutes a day, 15, and so on. Then I started jogging, and finally running. I had a lot of time to think about what I was doing, and focus a lot on strengthening the right muscles and working on technique, and I'd say I'm a better runner for it now.

So target wise? Size is irrelevant; choose something. A 5k or a 32mile ultra - it doesn't matter.

Kristoph · 4 Mar 2013 at 17:41

Saundie said:
1hr 45min is a great time, I think you can be proud of that! I've got my first half marathon on the 7th of April. I would be happy to do it in under 2 hours, but I think I will probably be closer to 2hr 10min if my recent 10 mile run is anything to go by. Still, better than not being able to run one at all

Thanks, I'm happy with it. My 10mile/16km run was 1hr 25mins, so I knew I'd need to pick up the pace a bit if I wanted to do 21km in 1hr 45. Really struggled over the last 1 or 2 miles though, but its easy to keep going with so many other runners around you and supporters lining the streets.

Here's a couple of photos;

Indigo · 5 Mar 2013 at 12:06

It's amazing how much easier it is to push yourself and deal with the pain when you have people watching.

Nice outfit!!!

Vanquish-Storm · 5 Mar 2013 at 13:08

platypus said:
I broke my ankle and tore several ligaments almost two years ago, and 5 months later ran an ultra mountain marathon - it's all about what is important to you: if you want to run enough you'll do it.

The process of entering the race helped my recovery I swear, whether it be a panacea or not. It focused me and really helped that I had to start from scratch - my leg muscles were trashed (I swam to keep some fitness), and had to start really slowly. I was literally walking 5 minutes a day as soon as my foot was out of the cast, then built it up to 10 minutes a day, 15, and so on. Then I started jogging, and finally running. I had a lot of time to think about what I was doing, and focus a lot on strengthening the right muscles and working on technique, and I'd say I'm a better runner for it now.

So target wise? Size is irrelevant; choose something. A 5k or a 32mile ultra - it doesn't matter.

You must heal quicker than me

I think I just have weak ankles.

Total tear in my left about 8 years ago still not 100% and partial tear on the right 2 years ago still not even 80%.

I think I rushed back into training and sport too soon (more so on the first one) got told by the physio that they will never fully heal how true this is I will never know I suppose.

I think a lot of it is mental with me. I really want to do a 10k but then training comes round and I just fall apart.

I will give everyone's advise a go, thanks

platypus · 5 Mar 2013 at 13:16

Yeah I understand about weak ankles. I've no speed since my injuries now, which is why I thought about distance instead. It's much easier going slower, a 10K might be to tempting to try and race.

Vanquish-Storm · 5 Mar 2013 at 15:03

platypus said:
Yeah I understand about weak ankles. I've no speed since my injuries now, which is why I thought about distance instead. It's much easier going slower, a 10K might be to tempting to try and race.

Ah okay yeah I get you!! Sorry my mind is trashed today!

That makes sense do a longer distance but at a slower pace. Thanks

MrMoonX · 6 Mar 2013 at 15:46

Anyone doing reading half next weekend? I'm so excited and feel really pumped, training gone well considering I did the Brighton half 3 weeks ago, aiming for 1:45, I'm totally on a runner high at the mo, put in for a place in Chicago marathon on a whim lol

syke · 6 Mar 2013 at 21:15

Looking to start running to keep fit and have a bit more of a hobby/activity after work. Not sure where to start really though, and don't have any ideal running shoes. I've had a look at the usual Nike (LunarGlide/Swift etc) but just wanted to ask where you guys recommend shop wise to go rather than the usual SportsDirect's etc? I think to start i'll just head out and see how it goes and maybe keep a bit of track with it on the Nike app unless there are better around?

Don't suppose any of you know what earphones are worth looking at? My earphones are not ideal in the slightest for running and think i'd like to run with some sort of music to try at least motivate me a little more!

Any help for the noob will be much appreciated

MrMoonX · 6 Mar 2013 at 21:44

syke said:
Looking to start running to keep fit and have a bit more of a hobby/activity after work. Not sure where to start really though, and don't have any ideal running shoes. I've had a look at the usual Nike (LunarGlide/Swift etc) but just wanted to ask where you guys recommend shop wise to go rather than the usual SportsDirect's etc? I think to start i'll just head out and see how it goes and maybe keep a bit of track with it on the Nike app unless there are better around?

Don't suppose any of you know what earphones are worth looking at? My earphones are not ideal in the slightest for running and think i'd like to run with some sort of music to try at least motivate me a little more!

Any help for the noob will be much appreciated

Go to a proper shop and get gait analysis that will tell you what type of shoes you need, try sweatshop or runners need, even better if you have a local Indy. Try couch to 5km podcast, I started with this and am now a marathon regular

As for headphones I use the sennheiser Adidas in ear ones, last me over a year now and still going, that's 100s of hours running :cool:

Kristoph · 6 Mar 2013 at 23:31

MrMoonX said:
Anyone doing reading half next weekend? I'm so excited and feel really pumped, training gone well considering I did the Brighton half 3 weeks ago, aiming for 1:45, I'm totally on a runner high at the mo, put in for a place in Chicago marathon on a whim lol

Feeling a bit like this right now, looking for my next challenge.

I'd do another half this month if it wasn't £40, but I've just signed up for a 10k next month.

Going to cram in some training and aim for a 42min 10k.

Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

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