Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

Running every day will do you more harm than good. Your body needs time to recover and it's in this recovery period that your endurance improves.

I would do 5K Tues, Wed and Thurs with a 10K on Sunday (if possible) so you know what your body feels like and you can adjust your pace if necessary. It depends on whether you just want to finish or actually put in a good time. ATM I wouldn't worry about getting close to winning as there will be some people putting in 35 min 10Ks there.
 
I'd second not running every day, I run 3-4 times week (Tues/Thurs/Sun and sometimes Friday) as rest is as important as the actual running itself unless you are in exceptional shape and even then it only seems to be something that true long distance runners do.

On another note, it's 12 months since I started running (aside from a few treadmill sessions), clocked up some pretty good distance! Going to celebrate by trying a 25km cruisy run tomorrow :)

9kx9w3.jpg
 
Ok then, thanks for the guidance! Tues, Wed, Thurs and Sunday looks like a good plan. On recovery days, would I still be good to play some badminton/weights/rowing? Or do you mean not any exercise?

I know I won't get close to winning, but I do want to try and get a good time. I was thinking about 45/50 is a good time to aim for? Oh, and I will be running it in an Iron Man costume! :p
 
I can't believe how quickly this has come around; I'm running the Croydon half marathon tomorrow, my first ever event. I am starting to get quite nervous about it, doubting that I've done enough training etc. I will just try to focus on getting it done now! :)
 
You'll be fine.

Try not to get carried away and run too fast at the start.
Drink little and often before hand in the morning.
Don't eat anything different for breakfast than you usually do.
Get a good nights sleep, hopefully in bed already. :p
Get there in good time.
Remember the training is in the bag and try not to worry about it being too much or any similar trains of thought.
Enjoy the day, the run, everything.

Good Luck :)
 
Nice one Saundie.... You couldnt run the length of yourself not too long ago and now look :D

I'd love to get back into it.... Working too much tho :(
 
Thanks for the words of encouragement, it's really nice to see. I got around it in roughly the time I predicted. I think I did it in about 02:11. My training was inadequate as I feared, as my calves were almost cramping as I ran up the hills. Still, you don't learn until you try, and I know now that it's essential to incorporate hill training before an event like that!

I don't mean to sound overly negative, however. I mean, if you had told me even a year ago that I'd complete a half marathon, I would have laughed at the idea as lunacy. As Richie said, it wasn't such a long time ago that I couldn't run at all; a few years ago I found running a bath was becoming a struggle :P

The atmosphere provided good motivation, and the marshals were extremely well organised and pleasant. We had excellent weather with no wind. I think I'll look into doing some more events. I can see how people get hooked on it! :)
 
Finishing it in itself is a big achievement so really well done! If you felt like you didn't do as well as you could.. well, then there's a next time!

I bought the Polar FT7 a few days ago, so wore it for the first time today whilst doing a 10k. Finished in 53 minutes with an average HR of 168 and a max of 185 (pushed myself at the end). I could have done better I think because I was running quite slow the between 5-8km, but it's a good base figure.

What's a good way of finding out my max HR? Does the max HR significantly affect calories burned? Because in that session it said I burned 860 calories, but I set my max HR to 191, but I'm guessing it's probably a bit higher.
 
Thinking of starting running, with some light weight training and pull ups (as I haven't properly been active since October).

Thinking of purchasing some proper running shoes instead of skate shoes for my work outs. I know I should get my shoes fitted or seek professional advice, but what do you all think of Brooks Green Silence shoes?

I think I would prefer a minimilistic shoe, on a budget of upto £30 with p+p it is hard to purchase a decent shoe.
 
IRLeetly said:
Thinking of starting running, with some light weight training and pull ups (as I haven't properly been active since October).

Thinking of purchasing some proper running shoes instead of skate shoes for my work outs. I know I should get my shoes fitted or seek professional advice, but what do you all think of Brooks Green Silence shoes?

I think I would prefer a minimilistic shoe, on a budget of upto £30 with p+p it is hard to purchase a decent shoe.
Click to expand...

What size are you?
 
IRLeetly said:
Thinking of starting running, with some light weight training and pull ups (as I haven't properly been active since October).

Thinking of purchasing some proper running shoes instead of skate shoes for my work outs. I know I should get my shoes fitted or seek professional advice, but what do you all think of Brooks Green Silence shoes?

I think I would prefer a minimilistic shoe, on a budget of upto £30 with p+p it is hard to purchase a decent shoe.
Click to expand...

I'd strongly suggest getting fitted, nothing to stop you finding a pair you like and then ordering them online to save some money (just tell the shop you want to try a few more brands). Brooks generally make good shoes (I run in Adrenalines and am trying out PureCadence at the moment) but they make shoes for a wide range of running styles so it's impossible to say whether any particular shoe would be a good choice without getting your running style checked.

Minimalist shoes work for some people but don't be sucked in by the fact they are cool right now, as a beginner you will probably be better with shoes that offer more support as that helps both feet and the rest of your legs. The evidence for whether minimalist shoes are better is still pretty split, most people who like them have already been running for quite a while so the lack of padding/support isn't such an issue. I'm trying the PureCadence and they're not full minimalist but I notice the difference a lot and there is both good and bad compared to my Adrenalines.

Just to give my terms of reference, I run 40-50km/week, up to 25km per run, been running properly for about a year.
 
IRLeetly said:
Thinking of starting running, with some light weight training and pull ups (as I haven't properly been active since October).

Thinking of purchasing some proper running shoes instead of skate shoes for my work outs. I know I should get my shoes fitted or seek professional advice, but what do you all think of Brooks Green Silence shoes?

I think I would prefer a minimilistic shoe, on a budget of upto £30 with p+p it is hard to purchase a decent shoe.
Click to expand...

Id definitely go get running shoes properly fitted, you might not even suit Brooks. I would recommend not going minimalist as a beginner. I run in brooks Pureflow 2 on shorter races but go up to Ghost 5's for half and marathons, I know Brooks work well for me as I spent a long time trying different brands and getting gait analysis. I do find I get better running cadence and speed with minimalist, but over long distances it starts to hurt more.
 
I would also echo getting to a shop to get fitted. Runnersneed looks good, but unfortunately I wasn't near one when I was buying my running shoes so I bought blind, and it was actually a pair of minimalist shoes (Saucony Kinvara 2) and I practically started running last week, but thankfully it fits me fine and I don't seem to have a problem running in them. Having said that, because I haven't run in more supportive shoes, I wouldn't know how much more comfortable it would be.
 
Cheers for the advice folks, I'll find time this week to look up what shops are in Liverpool offering fittings etc then see what I can find that I like.

Also for who asked I'm a UK 8. I was a 9 but last year I got a foot op and lost a shoe size, so all my shoes bar one pair sort of don't fit.
 
IRLeetly said:
Cheers for the advice folks, I'll find time this week to look up what shops are in Liverpool offering fittings etc then see what I can find that I like.

Also for who asked I'm a UK 8. I was a 9 but last year I got a foot op and lost a shoe size, so all my shoes bar one pair sort of don't fit.
Click to expand...

Natterjack and Up & Running are both have stores in Liverpool.

I'd also suggest finding something that isn't going to cripple you for £30 will be difficult.
 
Razor-BladE said:
Finishing it in itself is a big achievement so really well done! If you felt like you didn't do as well as you could.. well, then there's a next time!

I bought the Polar FT7 a few days ago, so wore it for the first time today whilst doing a 10k. Finished in 53 minutes with an average HR of 168 and a max of 185 (pushed myself at the end). I could have done better I think because I was running quite slow the between 5-8km, but it's a good base figure.

What's a good way of finding out my max HR? Does the max HR significantly affect calories burned? Because in that session it said I burned 860 calories, but I set my max HR to 191, but I'm guessing it's probably a bit higher.
Click to expand...

on the FT7 can you set a specific zone which you have to maintain? therefore if you go out that zone, it beeps and flashes? i know you can do it on the FT4, in fact i heard the FT4 is better than more expensive models such as the FT40, etc.

but i am not sure if the FT7 is better than the FT4
 
Psycho Sonny said:
on the FT7 can you set a specific zone which you have to maintain? therefore if you go out that zone, it beeps and flashes? i know you can do it on the FT4, in fact i heard the FT4 is better than more expensive models such as the FT40, etc.

but i am not sure if the FT7 is better than the FT4
Click to expand...

Yeah I can set an upper HR limit. But if I don't know my max HR yet then it'll be a bit inaccurate? With the 185 HR at the end of the 10k, I was pushing myself for about 300-350m. How close do you think I was to max?

FT7 is basically exactly the same as FT4 but can store 99 training files instead of less than 10 that the FT4 can hold, and other couple of minor features. But it was about £5 difference, and the FT7 had better colours so yeah.. haha.
 
Well I've been informed by the wife that we are doing the Robin Hood half marathon this year..... I'm already slightly nervous.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom