Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

[DanTheMan]

@DanTheMan

I’d avoid 5k per day for a month. That’s a big ask of your body. Especially whe. You’re not used to running and whilst it might sound do-able. There’s a good chance you’ll end up failing or doing an injury which will cause you problems and ruin any progress you hope for.

I’d aim for 3 times a week at most. Especially to start with. If you search for posts in here by @D.P. then you’ll see a mass of great info.

Thanks. I did a search and realised I'd posted back in November when I originally started couch to 5k... That clearly never happened.

I think I'll hit most of those 5ks with slow dog walks and only run 3-4 days a week so as to avoid injury / burn out.

 

[AndyCr15]

Does the feeling of wanting to stop and walk ever go away? I wish I had the love of running that some people have.... I'm hoping it's something you learn to love like real ale and marriage?

I really dislike running, but as Neoboy said above, it's such a mental thing. When I run alone, I struggle to do 5k under 32 even 34 mins, but at a Parkrun, with others about, I think I always come in around 28 mins.

Not trying to poach runners but have you considered cycling? I can easily go out for 3 or 4 hours for a ride or 50+ miles and love it as you actually get to travel to some beautiful places, as opposed to running round my neighbourhood.

 

[DanTheMan]

I really dislike running, but as Neoboy said above, it's such a mental thing. When I run alone, I struggle to do 5k under 32 even 34 mins, but at a Parkrun, with others about, I think I always come in around 28 mins.

Not trying to poach runners but have you considered cycling? I can easily go out for 3 or 4 hours for a ride or 50+ miles and love it as you actually get to travel to some beautiful places, as opposed to running round my neighbourhood.

I think once I build a decent level of fitness and life gets back to some normality, I'll definitely look to do more group runs. There's 3 park runs within a couple of miles of here that I can do.

I own a MTB and did a lot more of it before my daughter was born. Getting the bike out and driving to decent trails takes too long now and I can't just disappear for 4-5 hours on a weekend so easily nowadays.

Road cycling is a no from me. I live close to Central Manchester and the level of driving is appalling. Every time I take the hard tail out to go down the canal or round the park, even the short spells of road riding to get there are terrifying!

 

[Ogoshi]

I'm looking for recommendations for gloves which are suitable for sub zero temperatures. My hands were fine for about 40 minutes this morning at -6 and then got very cold quite quickly!

 

[D.P.]

Running is addictive, you just have to run enough initially so your brain develops a dependence snd you get withdrawl symptoms when you go more than a day without na running a fix.

 

[D.P.]

I'm looking for recommendations for gloves which are suitable for sub zero temperatures. My hands were fine for about 40 minutes this morning at -6 and then got very cold quite quickly!

any moderately priced ski glove

 

[Martynt74]

I'm looking for recommendations for gloves which are suitable for sub zero temperatures. My hands were fine for about 40 minutes this morning at -6 and then got very cold quite quickly!

I'd probably just go with any kind of thin glove. I have these and they're fine
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Karrimor-W...ocphy=1007194&hvtargid=pla-452966462769&psc=1

Its generally only the first part of a run where my hands are cold and they warm up quickly, so i never want anything too thick as it makes shoving them in a pocket difficult. In the UK the chances of spending a lot of time running in negative tempatures is low and if you were ok for 40 mins at -6, then just something like the above will give you that little extra protection.

 

[Ian_Eb]

I just got some cheapo Nike ones from the outlet store. I take them off after 5 mins anyway as I am normally desperately trying to shed heat

They are thin enough to shove anywhere and fairly easy to get back on if they are needed.

In other news, managed to get out last night (@Marvt74 outside!) and whilst I was somewhat slower than expected, nothing broke, hurt or anything, so I can start doing it more regularly hopefully

 

[Martynt74]

Great work. I guess all the rain has melted the snow by you too now?

My mate who i met up with on Saturday has suggested meeting up for a few more runs. We're discussing a 30ish miler since my Pendle Ultra is cancelled. I need to really work on pacing/not talking as much if i'm going to manage that with him. I'm looking forward to having someone to run with though, especially someone better than me as it does make you push yourself which should bring about some gains.

I used to run with a largish club (15ish people) pre-lockdown. I enjoyed the social side, but with the travel there and back, then a bit of hanging around before and after and waiting for slower runners mid run, it was around a 4 hour outing for a 10 mile run. A nice change, but as my distances have increased i'd rather spend 4 hours actually running and it's taking the mick a bit if i'm out twice over the weekend for that kind of time. My wife would feel like a running widow!

 

[Ian_Eb]

Blimey, I would be taking some earache if I was disappearing like that. I will have to work her up to me going for longer ones

An hour (+/- Some) is easy as it gives her time when I am not around being annoying

 

[Shadowness]

Really tempted by another pair of Vaoprfly Next%.

£240 down to £180 on the Nike store/app at the moment. Hmmmm

 

[Martynt74]

Blimey, I would be taking some earache if I was disappearing like that. I will have to work her up to me going for longer ones

An hour (+/- Some) is easy as it gives her time when I am not around being annoying

Then become even more annoying and she'll soon be urging you to be out for 3-4 hours

 

[Martynt74]

Really tempted by another pair of Vaoprfly Next%.

£240 down to £180 on the Nike store/app at the moment. Hmmmm

I suppose the issue is that once you've had something like that, it's difficult to go back to a "regular" trainer as you've instantly losing a decent chunk of pace and it would mess up all your comparisons?

Not tempted by the Hoka Carbons or anything similar like that?

 

[Shadowness]

I suppose the issue is that once you've had something like that, it's difficult to go back to a "regular" trainer as you've instantly losing a decent chunk of pace and it would mess up all your comparisons?

Not tempted by the Hoka Carbons or anything similar like that?

I don't have an issue going back and forth between them. I've been saving the Vaporflys for my 'time trial' runs, or attempts at PBs. As I didn't want to wear them out too quickly.

That being said, I did wear them for my ultra at the weekend and they were amazingly comfortable over that distance, so it's not just about raw speed.

Possibly tempted my other 'carbon' trainers, but as I get on well with the NEXT%s, I know what to expect I guess.

 

[neoboy]

8c today, actually felt too hot with gloves and neck gaiter on

 

[dwarf]

Really tempted by another pair of Vaoprfly Next%.

£240 down to £180 on the Nike store/app at the moment. Hmmmm

That sounds like a very good deal to me. A lot of people still consider them to be the best "super shoe" you can buy. If you think you got value out of your first pair I'd say it's a no brainer.

I've got some Altra shoes on the way. It'll be interesting to see how I get on with these zero drop shoes as all previous running shoes have all had about 10mm drop/stack height. I'm continually suffering from sore hamstrings so I'm going to try these shoes on my easy runs to stretch them out and hopefully improve my form.

Has anyone else tried zero drop running shoes?

 

[SPG]

Going to try a pair of on clouds this time around, bit of a change from my brooks.

Tempted for a carbon pair but it still seems like cheating to me

 

[Martynt74]

I have a pair of the On Cloudflyer. They’re my holiday pair as I think they look alright as a normal pair of trainers compared to a lot of running ones so they look ok with jeans when walking around city centers etc.

I like them but they’re not great if you go slightly off road as stones get stuck in the tread so they don’t work well for me at home as I go over a lot of country lanes with lots of stones. If you’re purely roads they’re good though.

 

[The Darkness]

I'm one week into my running every day during the latest lockdown challenge. So far so good. Hope it doesn't go into March...

 

[Martynt74]

I'm one week into my running every day during the latest lockdown challenge. So far so good. Hope it doesn't go into March...

That'd be brutal if it did, although It's pretty incredible what the body is capable of adapting to.

How are you planning on coping after long runs? Just doing a really easy recovery 5k?