Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

Soldato
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Great work @D.P. That's really impressive. I hate going down regular hills so dread to think what some of those were like!

My half was a disaster. Ended up doing it in 2:21 when i was aiming for around 2:05. Can pin it to about 6 excuses

1 - Overdoing it the weekend before. I ran around 8 miles at a much faster pace than i normally would. It felt ok at the time but my legs never recovered all week and were really heavy yesterday
2 - Spending all day saturday on my feet doing DIY
3 - Not really drinking any water the day before so was quite dehydrated
4 - The bottle of red win the night before
5 - Wearing a compression top. I had to stop around mile 6 to take it off as i was overheating as it was around 25C
6 - My wifes been ill all week with a bug and i think i might've caught some symptoms

Really disappointing, as whilst i don't normally care about speed and just run for the enjoyment. I didn't even get that.
 
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Brilliant work there D.P. Back when I did loads of hill-walking, the downhills were always the tricky part. I can only imagine that running will just make them worse with all the chance of falling and so on.

@Marvt74 my last 2 halves have been around 2:18 and I still would love to get down to < 2hrs but not sure where I would pull it from! I think my list would look the same as yours, so maybe there is chance one this knee stops being a pain and behaves itself.

Started doing some cycling in order to maintain some degree of fitness even if it is the wrong muscles in some places :)
 
Soldato
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I know i can do it as last Sunday i did 8 miles at an average of 9:30 and felt good all the way around, even though i'd had a couple pints earlier in the day. Had i been able to replicate that it would've put me at 2:04 so even accounting for the extra 5 miles i think my expected aim was for 2:10 with a hopeful target of 2:05

I think my best half in training was around 2:13.

Realistically i think the only way i could get my times down much more is to stop being a fat *******. When i first got into running around 3 years ago i lost quite a bit of weight and was got down to around 8:30 min miles which would put me around 1:50 for a half marathon and i did do around that distance in about 1:52 i think (not a recorded run as didn't have a phone/gps on me. Just based on a short loop where it was 7 laps for a mile and i did 91).

Sadly i'm now about 20kg heavier and no matter how much i run it doesn't seem to leave (probably because i reward myself with food and booze!)


Currently looking for an October half to sign up to for revenge! There's a point to point one which goes from Preston to Lytham which would be a good laugh i think. There's also the Manchester one but at £36 it's a bit expensive!
 
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Associate
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Sadly i'm now about 20kg heavier

I think the rule of thumb is 5 sec/mile slower per kg. So that's about 1 min 40s per mile slower or an extra ~ 22 mins for a half through weight gain alone.

It's a personal choice but if running faster is important to you, getting to a normal BMI (<25) should be a priority (you may well be already!). I used to drink loads but as I've aged i have found i enjoy running more than drinking so it's been easy to lose weight and get much faster at running.

I'm 47, weigh about 70 kg and now run a 1hr 21 half.
 
Soldato
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Yeah i think that’s probably quite accurate and would fit with my previous pace/weight and current pace/weight.

I think there’s definitely a mid ground and I think my running helps to maintain a current weight. I just need to focus on getting back down to that level and then once there I should be able to hold it better as I piled it on when I stopped running for around 12 months and had a very sedatary lifestyle.
 
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Wow, I knew weight would come into it but never did the maths to see how much of an effect.

Apparently I need to lose 25kg according to doctors etc. That seems to equate to 50 mins on a marathon. Also would significantly help joints I guess.
 
Soldato
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It's not too bad early on if you can stomach getting up early. My legs still feel achey so i wussed out this morning but going to force myself out for a few miles tomorrow to try and loosen them off. Looks to be around 15C at 7am

Probably a good idea :)

Then we can all fly round these courses. Consider that we have been working out whilst carrying weights all this time :D

This time next year Rodney. We'll be skinny!
 
Soldato
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Decided to go running, very hot outside indeed. Only did 3.7 miles at a pace of 13. I ended up having to walk for a good bit as at times it feels like my insides are pushing out against my chest. So think I need to practice breathing techniques again.
 
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Anyone braving the heat? I haven't been out in some months but wanting to kick start this again. Any tips for running in this heat?

I did some hill reps at midday, pretty much the opposite of the BBC's ways to keep cool during a heatwave

It was fine. The whole workout was less than an hour and there were patches of shade. I don't think I'd do a long run in it though unless I really had to....
 
Soldato
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Id be running in the heat aslong as you got suncream on and carry fluids it not an issue done it many times before.

I feel it good for conditioning you never know you might end up in a race with very hot conditions.
 
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