Platypus' Beginners Guide to Running

Blackvault · 7 Jun 2021 at 13:59

Martynt74 said:
Finally knocked out a 10 mile run on Sunday. I definitely need to cut out booze though. It's making everything hard and is becoming too frequent. Not talking about huge quantities, but something like 1/2 bottle of wine and the odd beer Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday is having a very negative effect.

I've always found I've gone backward with regards to pace management. Not that I'm slower, but my "This feels like a slow easy pace" is actually around 8:30 pace which I'd consider my tempo pace, but because it feels slow it's what I keep running at, that then kills me after a bit and I end up walking because I'm exhausted and my HR is freakishly high, yet when I start again I seem to return to that previous pace, even when trying to consciously be slow.
I think on today's run I'm going to set pace alerts on my watch and just try and stick within a nice slow zone.

I did a 10 miler on Saturday and I felt it was my easiest run ever, well not the part climbing from sea level outside of the village but the rest of it was so much better. I think the cooler temperatures helped although I got soaked for the first 6-7km and ended up with chafed nipples

https://www.strava.com/activities/5415880681/overview

Martynt74 · 7 Jun 2021 at 14:24

Blackvault said:
I did a 10 miler on Saturday and I felt it was my easiest run ever, well not the part climbing from sea level outside of the village but the rest of it was so much better. I think the cooler temperatures helped although I got soaked for the first 6-7km and ended up with chafed nipples

https://www.strava.com/activities/5415880681/overview

I've bought Bodyglide before to ease chafing. Although i tend to forget about it until i'm home and already in agony

I had a good/rubbish run yesterday. Wanted to get back onto some trails, but with a few things to do i didn't get out till half 4. I looked at some route suggestions and settled on a 14 mile one with ~1800ft of ascent. However i was useless at navigation and when i was supposed to have 10 miles left i was already at 5 miles so had added an extra mile. I figured if i followed the same i'd be ending up at 18 miles and getting far too late.
I'd also had a dinner of a huge amount of fried chicken and chips and needed a poo, so at 8 miles i cancelled the route plan and made it back to the car for a little over 10 miles. Also decided that i was better cutting it slightly short and aiming to do 2 more 10 mile runs this week, than suffer a prolonged recovery and reduce upcoming runs.

The heat was a killer and i badly managed my water (i took my hydration vest), i thought i was running low, but getting back to the car i still had ~300ml left and so could've drank a lot more during the run.

At one point i debated trying to switch from the marathon to the half, given how poorly my training has gone, but then i figured screw it. The weather is hopefully going to be nice and if i'm slow and take 7 hours then so be it, it'll just be a good day out.

dwarf · 7 Jun 2021 at 15:29

jsmoke said:
What legal PEDs are there or do you use?

I've been reading up on echinacea which many claim can increase red blood cells and also concentrated beet juice which possibly increases NO2 levels. Has anyone tried any of these or other substances?

Are you serious? You want recommendations on performance enhancing drugs?! Legal or not, there's no benefit to that stuff unless you are chasing the final few percent of performance in top level competitions once you have reached your physical limit. I suggest you watch the Icarus documentary on Netflix if you haven't already. Your best performance enhancement will come most easily and naturally from improving your training, nutrition and recovery.

If you are serious then the only thing I would even contemplate is caffeine. It's got proven performance enhancing qualities but also has various drawbacks such as dehydration and gastrointestinal upset. Anything else claiming to be performance enhancing I see as unproven and potentially unsafe.

div0 · 8 Jun 2021 at 20:09

Pretty epic battle going on in a last man standing ultra. 80 laps (of just over 4.1 miles) complete, over 360 miles and 60+ hours of solid running time, over more than 3 full days!

https://www.timingmonkey.co.uk/results/SBYU21/index.html#0_67057A

div0 · 8 Jun 2021 at 20:16

I should also have said they both broke the world record some hours ago, and one of them will still be recorded as DNF. Absolutely brutal.

dwarf · 9 Jun 2021 at 11:47

Ooof. That sucks to be the guy in second place with a DNF against your name after 63 hours and 333 miles! I would not enjoy being down to the last two in an event like that, basically just going until one of you breaks either mentally or physically.

Martynt74 · 9 Jun 2021 at 13:26

Its incredible isn't it. They were both so far ahead of the 3rd place person too.

Itchytrigg · 13 Jun 2021 at 15:43

Urgh that heat today…didn’t take water as thought I’d be fine. Was doing a progressive long run and pace was good then “bam” at mile 10 heat sapped all my strength and had to back the pace back down again

bingham67 · 13 Jun 2021 at 17:05

Managed 12 miles in the heat today but tapping out towards the end had fair bit of water on board, these days have to walk and run a lot though due to previously mentioned problems but I keep going.

SPG · 13 Jun 2021 at 18:56

It early morning or late night run days, what are you all doing in the heat

I hate this weather as I need to lather up in factor 50 and I am sure that doesn't help regulate my temperature.

Itchytrigg · 13 Jun 2021 at 20:56

I mistakenly thought 9:30 wasn’t too late! Also in factor 50. My runs in the late winter and early spring tanned me way more than Id realised due to the cold so need to stop it going any further.

Martynt74 · 15 Jun 2021 at 08:44

The two loops are very different in terrain. Loop one is mainly forest tracks/fire roads whereas loop 2 will cross muddy fields, roads and technical rocky sections

Comment from the race notes for the Grizedale marathon. That second lap will be fun. Hopefully it stays dry and so the fields aren't just mud bogs.

Blackvault · 15 Jun 2021 at 09:05

I did my second half marathon at the weekend and time it was more of a training run and not any particular virtual race. My aim for this run was to try a few gels and take on fluids during it, as after my first half, was spent and hit the wall. I tried with 3 SIS gels and 600ml of water and felt reasonable by the end, with only the muggy weather and the undulation of the route making me tired. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to beat my PB even though I didn't stop, and was 20seconds slower!

https://www.strava.com/activities/5456888727

Ian_Eb · 15 Jun 2021 at 09:21

Looks like you managed to keep a fairly consistent pace throughout. Braver than me to take on something like that in the weather we had on Sat!

Blackvault · 15 Jun 2021 at 09:56

Ian_Eb said:
Looks like you managed to keep a fairly consistent pace throughout. Braver than me to take on something like that in the weather we had on Sat!

Yeah, I did try and keep the same pace, although towards the end I opened up the taps and heart rate in an attempt to try and get a PB and missed out! I'd say Northern Ireland was probably a little bit cooler than Cheshire, but yes it was warm!

BlastRadius · 17 Jun 2021 at 14:40

Time to try something a little different for me. I've signed up for my first 50 miler - The SDW50 to be exact in April 2022, I may as well as my home is 0.5km from the South Downs Way and trail events seem to be going ahead within Covid guidlines. As it's something new to me I must confess I know very little about it. Are there any websites / forums that anyone could suggest for me.

I'm currently busking along on about 50 - 70 Miles per week, most of which is on my Strava on the ocuk club. I'm slowly viewing my running time in hours rather than miles and am increasing from 8 ish to 13-15 a week over then next few months. I had been planning on a 2.50 marathon attempt and have been running a half marathon TT at around 80-82 minutes.

Running gear I have sorted except maybe some dry weather trail shoes, I've found old road shoes to suffice in all but sloppy mud. I have a Salomon S/lab sense ultra 8 pack and everything else up to utmb kit.

Nutrition I seem to have nailed up to 4 hours running thus far, using Tailwind with occasional dry fruit and jelly babies without GI discomfort. I'm about to try longer ( as long as it goes ahead) as I'm course checking the Salomon Golden trail series Serpent trail 50k in a few weeks.

All help and advice greatly appreciated.

Martynt74 · 17 Jun 2021 at 15:21

I'd guess with that mileage you're already well on track to be ready for that kind of thing, especially with the times you're hitting. I guess the main question would be how much experience do you have running on trails as i find the uneven ground can kill my legs, especially muddy fields where you might be sinking in with each step.

What's the longest training run you'd managed so far?

BlastRadius · 17 Jun 2021 at 15:45

Martynt74 said:
I'd guess with that mileage you're already well on track to be ready for that kind of thing, especially with the times you're hitting. I guess the main question would be how much experience do you have running on trails as i find the uneven ground can kill my legs, especially muddy fields where you might be sinking in with each step.

What's the longest training run you'd managed so far?

Good point - I'm actually just recovering from an ankle ligament injury after finding a hole on a perfect flat football pitch!! But normally i'm running 50/50 tarmac and trail getting about 1000m of elevation a week and long run of 4 hours ish is about 35-40km depending on terrain.

I guess I need more elevation, more trail running and for longer - This is the bit i'm clueless about.

Martynt74 · 17 Jun 2021 at 15:50

To be honest i'd say that's pretty decent going. Presumably you'd be covering the 50 miler in around 7-8hours if not a little quicker based on your other times.

I've asked a similar question to @D.P. earlier in the thread when i've entered similar distance races (sadly they've all been cancelled so not actually done one yet!) so it'd be worth searching back for some of his posts as his explanations were excellent. For reference though, when i was aiming to run them i wasn't doing the kind of volume that you're currently doing.

BlastRadius · 17 Jun 2021 at 16:06

Martynt74 said:
To be honest i'd say that's pretty decent going. Presumably you'd be covering the 50 miler in around 7-8hours if not a little quicker based on your other times.

I've asked a similar question to @D.P. earlier in the thread when i've entered similar distance races (sadly they've all been cancelled so not actually done one yet!) so it'd be worth searching back for some of his posts as his explanations were excellent. For reference though, when i was aiming to run them i wasn't doing the kind of volume that you're currently doing.

Will do - thanks. Yeah it was a few of his runs on Strava that made me want to change back, I was always far happier off road. The road racing and running had some great moments but I get more joy out of a slow run in the middle of nowhere.