Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

[Indigo]

Furthest I ran before my first was around 18-20 miles I think. Before my second the furthest I ran was just under 23.

Doing London myself this year as my third but don't intend to run anything more than 20-21 miles.

If you end up running the whole distance before you actually do it then you'll possibly burn out and suffer a little with recovery. Better staying around 20ish really and letting the day itself push you the extra 6 miles.

The only distances I'm prepared to run longer than the distance itself for in training are half marathons and below. Wouldn't run further for anything else.

 

[Lostkat]

Ran Ashby 20 today. It's still 9 weeks until my marathon, but the race is a cracker and it's on my back doorstep. I usually train around there on my longer runs, so the hills don't tend to phase me.

I was so anxious this morning as I've had a knee injury for a year now and although it appears to be under control when running, it still gives me some pain when I'm not. I was fully expecting it to give out part way around the course.

The weather was pretty bad (it snowed for 3/4 of the race), but I felt great and ended up with a 2.5min PB, coming in at 2:53:53. Really pleased with that and it gives me hope that maybe... just maybe... there's a sub 4 in there somewhere on the super hilly Windermere course. We shall see

20miles is the longest I've run before a marathon, you don't need to train the full distance, don't forget to taper two weeks before

Same here

 

[Indigo]

Ran Ashby 20 today. It's still 9 weeks until my marathon, but the race is a cracker and it's on my back doorstep. I usually train around there on my longer runs, so the hills don't tend to phase me.

I was so anxious this morning as I've had a knee injury for a year now and although it appears to be under control when running, it still gives me some pain when I'm not. I was fully expecting it to give out part way around the course.

The weather was pretty bad (it snowed for 3/4 of the race), but I felt great and ended up with a 2.5min PB, coming in at 2:53:53. Really pleased with that and it gives me hope that maybe... just maybe... there's a sub 4 in there somewhere on the super hilly Windermere course. We shall see


Same here

Good effort.

I ran Windermere in 2011 for my first marathon in 4.40.??. I am getting much better though and I'm considering doing it again next year and depending on how I get on at London think I'll definately be aiming for Sub 4.00 myself at Windermere at some point. It's a hard course but very scenic, a few good crowds in the little towns you run through and a very nice place to run although the terrain is challenging I think that's part of the fun.

If you do like a challenging course then I'd recommend the Lancaster marathon too. I did this in 2012 and managed it in 4.13.27 but to be honest I'd say some of the hills here were a lot worse than those at Windermere which is one reason I'm hoping to go back and get a much improved time. With it being at least my fourth marathon by the time I attempt it I'd love to see my time cut down a fair bit if I keep going.

That said I ran from Edale to Stockport today but due to some walking and a slow pace towards the end in particular it took my 3 hrs 10 minutes. That said, good training for London and I found that I need to start hill training again rather than sticking to the flats as often as I do.

 

[_Gizka_]

Been back too running after a month or so cycling to get some strength in my knees and just completed my first half marathon in a respectable 1:41 which I am very happy with. Soreen malt loaf being the weapon of choice when doing the run! The blustery conditions didn't help, I must have run at least 8-10k in a headwind which is no fun at all.

Training for a 40 mile walk - the Keswick or Barrow - and hoping to run a fair bit of it. The father is doing too which is good motivation to get training hard!

 

[LOAM]

Grrrr suffered a bit of a set back last week and thought I had ruined the last 2 months worth of rehab. Totally my own fault though, having ITB issues is such a pain as during every day use it doesn't manifest at all, its only when you start to work it that it shows up and even then it not straight away.

I've been under the direction of a really good physio since the start of Feb and he's had me doing reps of split squats, single leg squats and abductor work to strengthen weak glutes and quads. The actual muscle results seem to be pretty good as my quads seem to have doubled in size (I know they haven't) and knee stability is considerably better.

I hoped to increase my distance by 1K a week and had been alternating 5k runs with 19k static spinning bike and it was going ok until I got cocky and decided to do a bike the same night as a run. Not only that but I chose the wrong bike program and continued through what was clearly apparent pain. I am an idiot, its just so frustrating.

Anyway that was 2 weeks and I had to take 5 days off, did nothing but the rehab exercises and started the cardio again 1 week ago. Thankfully the recovery has been much faster this time which I guess is due to the rehab work. Yesterday I did 8K completely without pain and woke up this morning with it feeling absolutely fine.

I know for a fact though I will wreck things again before this is done because I am my own worst enemy, having lost so much weight and got fit I give myself a seriously hard time if i'm not doing some exercise and in addition its one of my few stress releases. I was only up to 12K runs before Jan but was aiming to do a couple of half's this year, not sure that's possible now.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

I started running about a year ago, only did weights before, zero cardio, I now do zero weights apart from leg press and running.

I did have a knee issue (football injury) and I had hyper extended my knee, due to my joints being extremely flexible, the orthopedic surgeon said i was extremely lucky and the flexibility most likely stopped any ligament damage from happening.

Physio said I had muscle wastage on the inner leg just above said knee, and I had to basically do body-weight squats in proper form, so I do weighted leg press instead, I did some reading yesterday and it said leg extensions are better for working that part muscle in particular. Is that true?

Basically I have a loose patella in that knee and after the initial injury my knee could easily dislocate when playing football.

It has been fine however ever since i started doing leg presses on a regular basis. It has reduced the pain a lot and the patella I feel is much more in place.

The physio said I was flat footed and I bought aasics online for £130 which were built specifically for my pronation to help with my running. Are there any decent running shops in glasgow which can do a proper gait analysis? I also used to go see a chiropractor for my back when weightlifting, he said that my right leg is about half an inch longer than my left leg, could be due to pelvis or something, anyway, there is no cure for that, I had never even noticed it until he pointed it out, now it is very apparent when running. I think I may be striking the floor with 2 different styles due to this, would this mean I would need to buy 2 set's of running shoes and use one of them on my right and the other on my left and then bin the "un-used" shoes? This would be terribly expensive if so, I thought £130 was bad, but that would double if so.

I used to get a sore knee if i ran 2-3 days consecutively and would need to take a day off, but say if I went to a party and dancing was involved, I had knee pain for 2 weeks and could barely walk up and down stairs due to the major amounts of pain.

I used to run 8.5-9 km in an hour but i have recently switched to running faster and shorter, but every day.

So I run 3.5-4 km in 20 minutes now, basically 2.4 km in under 12 minutes then ease off into a walk to recovery then jog again. since the distance is much shorter I thought it would be okay to run every day, instead of every other day, but now I am getting a soreness in both knees (i have been running for 3 weeks solid now with only 1 rest day per week). The soreness is completely different to my "injury" pain, i'm assuming this is due to not enough rest, but I run very small distance now, so I thought it would be okay. e.g. rather than running 8-9K in one go every 2 days, I run 4K in one go every day. So it works out the same roughly, should i be resting more even with this small distance, or is the slight knee pain not an issue?

Another question is I am after a heart rate monitor, I only run indoors on a treadmill, so I do not need a lot of the GPS or track/lap functions.

I run for approximately 10-20 minutes at a decent pace. Then I will walk at a fast pace until recovered. Then run again at a faster pace for at least 1 minute. Then repeat the walking and running for 10-20 mins.

So an average workout lasts 30 minutes and looks like this:

Part 1: Run for 15 mins @ 12+ km/h
Part 2: Walk @ 6 km/h until recovered
Part 3: Run for 1-2 mins @ 15 km/h
Part 4 : Repeat parts 2 and 3

I will then use the sauna for at least 15 minutes directly after running. It would be great if it could withstand the extreme heat and extreme sweat of a sauna, but if this isn't possible I understand.

Basically I would like a Heart Rate monitor which monitors my heart rate throughout the whole workout. It also let's me know when I have recovered so I can start running again whereas now I have to just guess when I have recovered by how I am feeling. I would also like to upload this information so I can keep track of how I am doing. I could then use this information to tweak my workouts so I run faster or longer or both as my fitness improves.

So I do not need any timing functions as such, but if it would produce a graph of Heart Rate vs Time, that would be great so as my fitness improves my heart rate should decrease therefore I would increase the workout to compensate.

My ultimate goal is to be able to run 1.5 miles in under 10 minutes, I train indoors on a treadmill due to the knee injury I have and the ground outside being too harsh for me, so I will never be running outdoors.

Any help on the above is appreciated, especially on the heart monitor front, which Polar model fit's the criteria well, obviously do not want to spend too much, but if I have to will. budget of say £30-£150 max. I see that a particular tax dodging site are usually a lot cheaper than most.

I also would like a watch version rather than the strap to chest version.

 

[Indigo]

Rest is very important and something I feel that a lot of people misjudge. I wouldn't be running 6 days a week even if it's on shorter runs. Your body recovers when you are resting and that's when it will rebuild itself so that it is stronger.

If you insist on running often (which is no bad thing at all done correctly) then how about 2 days on / 1 day off / 3 days on 1 day off? This will give you the opportunity to rest whilst at the same time still exercising enough to see improvement, with more rest you may just get better. Another benefit is the fact that you'll have more free time too, that can either be family time, me time, time to plan a better diet, plan possible races to keep motivation high or even taking up other forms of training to supplement the running. I wouldn't be putting all your eggs in one basket and running 6 days a week. I'm training for my third marathon at the moment and I've only ever ran 5 times in one week once. Generally it's 3-4 runs a week and I'm constantly improving and seeing increased strength and stamina as it all comes together. I could maybe squeeze another run in but not being at an elite level I don't feel the need as I'm happy with how things are going.

For what it's worth I could run 1.5 miles in under 10 minutes quite comfortably so don't see the need to be running 6 times a week at all for such an aim. If I wasn't training for a marathon again I imagine I'd be a little bit faster too.

 

[LOAM]

Something to consider with regards treadmill only (I'm guilty of this over winter because of exercise induced asthma and cold air ruins me). Your motion on a treadmill is more vertically orientated and can actually put more force through your knee than running on soft ground. Running on uneven ground will also promote the use of other stabilsing muscle groups which will all help in the long run.

If it were me (and we are about to start outside again), I would try to get an outdoor run a week in and see how you get in.

With regards gait analysis look up either a sweatshop or up and running in your area. Also look at park run they do a local Sat run in a park that is local.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

@ Indigo

I am running with an injury, I have also been bodybuilding for the past 10+ years, I am a noob when it comes to running, my body could easily squat 200kg for instance when I was weightlifting, which is not something even an above average bodybuilder can do. Genetically I do not think I am a natural runner so to speak.

So for you sub 10 mins could be easy, but for me it isn't, I reckon it will take me 4-6 months minimum. For instance no matter how much or how long you trained squatting 200kg could be physically impossible.

Also how long have you been running for? How much do you weigh and what is your height? etc.

I have been running for just under a year and weigh 90kg @ 6 foot, with a lot of muscle mass, especially on my legs.

The first time I tried running 1.5 miles my time was 18 minutes, today it was bang on 12 minutes. So I have managed to cut 6 minutes so far, hoping for another 2.

I also hope to cut down to 85kg over the next couple of months, to get my bodyfat really down.

Anybody know of a decent heart rate monitor? Ideally this will help me gauge how I am doing and whether I can push harder or not next time I am in the gym, it will also help me gauge when I have recovered from my initial run, so I can do some sprint work before finishing up.

 

[Buckster]

good going

re heart rate monitor - go the whole hog and get a running watch and HR strap combo - buying a running gps watch really incentivised me on my runs to go further and quicker - I bought the Garmin 305 about 2 years ago for 99 or so. One of my most used gadgets - brilliant device

I too like weight lifting (not proper bodybuilding like you though) - my gym instructor who I occasionally talk to said to me as my running got more serious - that really I needed to choose between continuing to lift heavier and heavier- or running I'm trying to lift a bit lighter now and drop weight further. Problem is the lighter the better for running - and even though I had little body fat I have quite a lot of upper body muscle - above and beyond a certain level of upper body muscle, the rest is just weight to carry around on your run. I'm thinking even 1-2kg is quite a lot of difference on your knees on a 20 mile run for instance ...

I've now dropped gym from 5 sessions a week to 2-3, and added 3 45 min swims a week - plus my normal 3 club running sessions - weight does seem to be dropping off slowly

 

[Indigo]

@ Indigo

So for you sub 10 mins could be easy, but for me it isn't, I reckon it will take me 4-6 months minimum. For instance no matter how much or how long you trained squatting 200kg could be physically impossible.

Also how long have you been running for? How much do you weigh and what is your height? etc.

I have been running for just under a year and weigh 90kg @ 6 foot, with a lot of muscle mass, especially on my legs.

Just to clarify I only mentioned my time as a way of reinforcing my point about rest. Didn't mean to undermine you in anyway.

I have been running for around 3 years, weight 84kg @ 5ft11.

Not too far off your bodyweight to be honest which is why then I definitely know you can get the time down to where you want it to be.

It's a bit rubbish having to pick between two sports you enjoy. Like yourself I've enjoyed weightlifting (admittedly nothing serious but 3 times a week doing StrongLifts) but it just doesn't let me recover for running as I'd want it too (well Squatting three times a week anyway) so I'm concentrating on running and I'm going to look at changing my weights routine to supplement it rather than it being something else.

Another thing, once you've nailed the 1.5 mile time I think it could be worth trying out a 5k race, maybe building up to 10k. It's amazing how much quicker you'll run when competing against others and just how much you can push it.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Cheers for the advice, I have never really been into "running" tbh, I just started it last year to help shift pounds, I found my swimming to be terrible (not swam in like 16 years) and tbh I was getting nowhere with it. Started doing rowing, cross trainer and running instead, I personally found them all boring apart from the running.

I gave up bodybuilding for a year, to hit 85kg bodyweight target, then start lifting again, but to incorporate cardio into my programme which I have never really done before, basically I want a ripped look, I have always had "curves" as do many bodybuilders but now I am going for a different look. I no longer want "just size" but to be fit, healthy as well as muscular. I have lost a lot of weight over the past year, it is now getting harder and harder to do so.

Did some stretching last night, seems to have helped a lot with the knee pain. So I am off to the gym again today.

I would love to try a 5K hopefully in the summer, but I have stopped doing long distances since maybe 2-3 weeks ago, when i switched my training purely to focus on speed and 1.5 miles. 5K is basically 3 miles. 10K is probably the max I would do in a race if I ever was to enter one, a half marathon or marathon is surely going to kill my muscle mass, I have already lost a lot of strength and size in the past year. It's just not for me, especially with the wear and tear on my injured knee.

Today I will be running @ 12.2 km/h for as long as I can (hopefully 15+ mins), then walk to recovery @ 6km/h then sprint work @ 15km/h for 1-2 mins, then walk to recovery, then repeat. The initial run is done at zero incline whereas the walking and sprinting are done at 1% incline. I have found this works best for me. I have improved my time dramatically with this method. It was 13 minutes 1 month ago, today it should be roughly 11.50.

I reckon a 5K is easily do-able now for me, I mean even without stopping, I would just run at a slower pace roughly 10.5 kmh/h, but I personally feel I am not fast enough yet, I want to get faster before I attempt any race. I also want to improve my recovery time, so if I do drop my pace in a race, I can quickly pick it back up again. All of this is going to take time, work and dedication.

Say in the future when I go back to lifting, do you think it would be possible to do 1 of the below without over training:

Routine 1:

Monday Morning - Run for 30 minutes
Monday Evening - Weightlifting for 45 minutes

Tuesday - Rest

Wednesday Morning - Run for 30 minutes
Wednesday Evening - Weightlifting for 45 minutes

Thursday - Rest

Friday Morning - Run for 30 minutes
Friday Evening - Weightlifting for 45 minutes

Saturday and Sunday - Rest


Routine 2:

Monday - Run for 30 minutes
Tuesday - Weightlifting for 45 minutes
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Run for 30 minutes
Friday - Weightlifting for 45 minutes
Saturday and Sunday - Rest


Just now I am pretty much running at least 5 times per week, which is temporary just because I have found myself improving a great deal of late when I switched to this new routine of shorter distance but higher pace. I have found it a lot tougher on the knee's due to less rest, but the pain is slight. I also have a lot of spare time now also, before I could have been working 10-12 hours day, but now it is more like 4-6 hours, so training more because of this shift.


So time is not really an issue for me, I only use the treadmill and sauna at the gym, I am usually in and out within 1 hour now, but have 15 minute travel time back and forth (30 mins altogether), before it could easily be 2+ hours with the longer distances. I have a full home gym for weightlifting, therefore a 45 minute session would mean 45 minutes in and out, then 5-10 minutes for a shower. That is the best benefit of a home gym, no travel times, no having to wait for equipment, etc. I want to buy a treadmill for the house but a decent one is going to cost me the same as all my weightlifting equipment combined (£4-6K), so possibly next year, but then servicing and maintenance costs added in, I will most likely stick to the gym, plus I get to use the sauna. Whereas with weights there is no servicing or maintenance costs as such and they are built to last several life times. So a home treadmill need's a lot of thought before purchasing.

 

[LOAM]

We bought our lifefitness T3 treadmill about 5 years ago for £1700, its taken a hammering (I was 140kg) and its bullet proof. It's only needed servicing once and had a new deck and belt at the same time at a cost of £250. So long as you lubricate the belt periodically they are fine.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

We bought our lifefitness T3 treadmill about 5 years ago for £1700, its taken a hammering (I was 140kg) and its bullet proof. It's only needed servicing once and had a new deck and belt at the same time at a cost of £250. So long as you lubricate the belt periodically they are fine.

Great to hear about an affordable treadmill, my friends bought one recently for £800 but when I looked it up, the top speed was only 12 km/h, which for me and most runners i believe is just simply not enough.

I had looked at a few decent ones but they were all £4K minimum, but I was looking as a specific manufacturer who i know are reputable.

Will look into this further, could very well be the sort of thing I get but the new T3 model is £2K for the cheapest version (different consoles have different prices). Retailer I am looking at will price match and offer a 3 year guarantee. I know that the rest is covered by the manufacturer for 5-10 years. So basically wear and tear and servicing is the only thing i need to worry about.

Who did you get to service it? A local company? Or the manufacturer?

Thanks for your help and good to know these can take a battering.

 

[MrMoonX]

I personally wouldnt run on a treadmill, it isnt anything like running on the road and creates hotspots from the repetitive nature as what you are running on stays the same. I know a lot of people get more injured just using a treadmill than going outside. Plus I had a mate who trained for a half marathon just on a treadmill, when it came to race day, he absolutely detonated and just couldnt cope.

Ive progressed from 5k - Marathon never touching a treadmill, and I was a total fatty two years ago

My advice is if you want to love running, get outside If you are doing 5k find your local parkrun, its free!!

 

[LOAM]

Who did you get to service it? A local company? Or the manufacturer?

Thanks for your help and good to know these can take a battering.

We organised the service through lifefitness, it was originally bought from John Lewis.

 

[King85]

I can't help but think a few thousand on a treadmill would cover a good 4 or 5 years of gym membership giving you access to other thinks like bikes, a pool and a weights room as well but I can understand the convenience of having it at home.

 

[Indigo]

Been out for a 9.5 mile run to get rid a hangover. Worked a little bit but knackered now!!!

 

[Buckster]

Brentwood Half this morning - wow it was cold - but course was fine underfoot

managed 1'37'10 which knocked about 40 seconds off my PB - so was pleased

trying to get warm now

 

[Psycho Sonny]

I can't help but think a few thousand on a treadmill would cover a good 4 or 5 years of gym membership giving you access to other thinks like bikes, a pool and a weights room as well but I can understand the convenience of having it at home.

I never use the bikes, I also never use the pool.

I already have a full weight setup (includes 2 benches with attachments, power rack, full set of dumbells up to 45kg, full set of olympic plates roughly 400kg worth and a host of bars and other stuff such as kettlebells, etc), as well as a boxing setup (reaction ball, speed bag, hanging punch bag and freestanding kickboxing bag, etc). Look at the official home gym building thread for more info.

The only thing i would miss is the sauna but you can buy them for around £5K for a 6 people, wood burning so you don't need to worry about energy costs.

http://www.hottubsbarn.co.uk/saunas/traditional-saunas.asp

I also have 4 members of my family which use the equipment but only 3 of us who use it regularly.

I also have a gym membership, it works out roughly £125 a month just for me to go to the gym (£80+ in fuel, plus £43 monthly fee). This is purely so I can use the treadmills and sauna, nothing else.

So just for me it costs just under £1.5K a year to go to the gym.

I guess the main issue is that my gym is a 15-20 minute car journey away, which can become 30-45 mins during rush hour with it being located in the city centre and me staying out in the sticks. There are closer gyms but council run and they just aren't as good.

So it depends on your own situation, but if 3-4 of us were all paying gym membership you can quickly see that £1.5K a year turning into £4K+ very quickly, especially since we couldn't all sync our schedules to car share, etc.

I always buy decent stuff, so I know it will last. My weight equipment should last several lifetimes, so it can be used by future generations, etc also. Sure the initial costs are high but in the long run the benefits are too.