Newbie Running

forestman

After 15 years or so of doing sweet F.A. I have been forcing myself to get back doing a bit of excercise. Mainly to loose a bit of weight and to get my fitness back. I have been fooling myself for years now that I am fit and sure I'm still capable of running as well as I did when I was in my teens! As I am 34 now and at least 2 stone heavier that I was in my teens it was obvious that I was in denial!

So about 3 weeks or a month ago I started out with a bit of running....what a shock to the system! I thought my chest would explode, I was wheezy, hacking up phlegm and nearly passing out after a bit of exersion! I am now up to around 5Km in a time of around 25 minutes. I have tried to get 5km in every evening 5 times a week, and although the times have not been improving, I have certainly felt a hell of a lot healthier. I have also dropped a few pounds as well so I can certainly feel (and see) the benefit of it. I was hoping to compete in a few 5k races to give me something to aim towards but unfortunatly there doesnt seem to be too many coming up - probably a small bit late in the season. There is however a 10k coming up on the 19th of August so I am going to give that a try. I tried out a 10k run last night to test my ability, and ran it in 58.11. That time included my stretching and also walking about 1k of the course. I was delighted to even have the stamina to run constantly for the 9k, and although I'll break no records for the time, I felt great! I thought it would be my chest that would stop me running that sort of distance but It was the legs that gave the most resistance. This is obvious I guess as they haven't had the chance to build up to that distance yet. My aim now is to build up to 7-8k before the race and just see how it goes on the day. I have no idea yet how to run a 10k (pacing etc.) but I guess that will come in time. Anyway I guess I'll try to keep this updated and see how it goes!

captain P

Sounds like you're doing great so far, best of luck with the log!

forestman

Thanks Captain p. I'll need more luck keeping up the running to be honest....especially on the cold wet days but sure take each day as it comes!