Week 3 Run 1 - gym

This week's programme is:
5 min warm up
90 sec run
90 sec walk
3 min run
3 min walk
(repeat x 2)

So there's only 9 mins of running this week, compared to (I think) 10.5 mins last week. However one runs for longer - stamina!

It seemed OK, although I was quite glad when the 3 min runs were over.

And on leaving the gym I did actually break into a spontaneous jog, at least as far as the corner, anyway. And in the wrong type of shoes.

Today was the first day I have used my new New Balance running shoes. No major aches or pains, which is good, and no foot-cramp. Result. Worth £75-ish then...

Week 2 run 3 - gym

This seemed OK. I'm not sure how much more I could have run, but I did feel a bit bouncy for some of it, not just shuffling along with my toes scraping along the floor. My shoes were definitely a weak point - cramp in sole of right foot for a fair stretch of time. Last time I had sore shins. Trip to Run and Become on Saturday becoming more tempting...

Next run will be at the weekend and will be Week 3 Run 1!

Week 2 Run 2 - Gym again

This time was the first run I'd done on top of a normal day's work and cycle commuting. It was tougher than the other ones, surprise surprise!

At the end of the run my legs were a bit jelly-ish. I was very glad that the gym had cancelled BodyBalance because of some maintenance problem in Studio 2.

I think I won't try to combine both in the future.

Maybe
Mon - run 1 / ringing
Tues - Body Balance
Wed - RTO
Thurs - run 2
Fri - crash out
Sat - run 3

Although Mondays could be tough too.

Vigour

I felt quite energetic today. Maybe this was a result of a week of not-quite-work or maybe it's because of all the running, either way, woo!

Week 2 Run 1 - gym

I should really have had a day's break between runs, but I didn't (needed to do a gym session today anyway) and I won't get the chance tomorrow.

So I had a go at Week 2 (5 mins warm up, 90s run, 2min walk, repeat for 20 mins, 5 mins warm down).

Being on a treadmill, I could see actual speeds (and of course there were no hills). Walking pace was 5.2kph (although this felt a little slow at times) and running pace started at 6.7 but I upped it to 7kph by the end. I think there were 7 runs.

7 x 90 = 630s = 10.5 mins.
6 x 120 = 720s = 12 mins
And I'm pretty sure that it was about 22mins of the fast bit.
So that's up from 8 mins of running from the last 3 runs.

My shins didn't hurt today, probably because the treadmill is a softer surface. I do get crampy feelings on the outside of my feet though. 

Week 1 run 3 - Lochend railway

Back home, so after a 2-day gap because of yesterday mostly being spent in a training room and then on a train, I went out for a jog today around the old railway line route, down to the new bridge at the far end of the Links and back.

Hard work, but I managed every jog as described. My shins were sore and I'm not sure what to do about that. Better stretching pre-jog? Better shoes? According to the NHS, perhaps I shouldn't run for a couple of weeks and also get fitted for proper shoes. This could be expensive...

The weather was sunny, and fairly warm, considering that it's October. I wore my long sleeved blue merino, my bamboo buff and my red cycling top, but that was too warm so I wrapped it round my waist after about the second jog.

Week 1 run 2 - Brighouse

Mainly to escape the clutches of the hotel, and to celebrate the fact that it was sunny, not raining, I decided to take today's run outside. I knew from watching the machine the other day that week 1 run works out about 2 miles, so I plotted a route around the hotel that would be about right. The first but (walking, thank God) was up a really steep hill, but I got to the top before the first run segment. Phew. From there it was nearly all flat, downhill (have to jog carefully) or some very slight undulations. Which felt tough in the latter stages of the run. I think I might be better suited to the treadmill. I noticed that one could vary pace more sensitively though in the real world, for example I could jog at a very slow pace when crossing the road. If you're on a treadmill you may have to just pick a pace and stick with it which can actually be harder work.

At the end of the run I was walking across the grassy field at the back of the hotel and went through a soggy bit so my lovely gym trainers are now rather muddy. Oh well I suppose that's life. Perhaps I'll have to buy new trainers!

Week 1

After a not very successful first attempt, when I couldn't find the podcast and improvised (I don't think I did enough iterations), I had my first proper go at the week 1 run tonight in the hotel gym in Brighouse. It seemed ok! I didn't feel at any point that I couldn't do any more or that it was too hard. I felt as though it was a good work out though. Twice more (could be Wednesday and maybe Friday morning, need a day gap between each). Then have a go at week 2 run on Sunday I guess back at LVSC...

Tomorrow I think I'll go on the bike to "cycle to work" and maybe go in the pool in the evening.

In the beginning...

In August I participated in the Scottish Gas 5k "road race" - where I determinedly Did Not Run, but walked (briskly) and finished in about 50 minutes.

I stubbornly refused to even break into a jog for a few strides to get over the finish line, or at the beginning. This was a WALK and I would complete it at that pace. It did feel a bit sad getting to the furthest point, on the promenade, when there were 10k runners who had been all the way to Cramond and were back at that point before I had even walked there. Perhaps... somewhere down inside me, I felt a little nudge to say "perhaps you could run it next year".

Then I decided (later in August) to aim to lose 40lbs by my 40th birthday (July 2013). Another challenge, but about 0.8lbs a week, "how hard can that be?" The answer (about 2 months on), is quite hard. I think I've lost about 5lbs so far, but not convinced that my starting weight was actually representative (dodgy scales...) so in fact I may have only lost a couple overall. And now I'm about to head away for a week in a hotel for work and will no doubt be able to pile that back on without even trying.

The final straw is that Jenny this morning posted on Facebook that she has lost 38lbs since March, and is 6 weeks ahead of target (her 40th birthday too...) so I guess that the gauntlet has been thrown down. She recommended the NHS Couch to 5k programme. So perhaps I had better give it a go.

My worries are: knee stresses (already get sore quite easily with walking / cycling) and Achilles Tendinopathy (already a problem) and Plantar Fasciitis (has been a problem before). Maybe I will try to get there on gym machines, to begin with anyway, and see if there is a reason to invest in nice running shoes in a bit.