Excited new runner

Stripes - welcome to our cosy forum thread  please join us, Silver and I and Suzie when she cares to pop in welcome you

Is your 10K Buckingham? say yes say yes  thats the one I am doing.  Don't be nervous you will love it, I well and truly have the racing bug and would do one every weekend if I could

Silver - glad you feeling better  and stuff the dog walkers haha

I was just pondering what time to leave  very soon hopefully, so you have a great weekend also and send me good vipes for Sunday   I may well pop on tomorrow as I need to look at the map for sunday, I cant seem to get onto the race organisers website from work

*waves*  cya

Hi Booey,

Thanks a lot. 

Hope your race goes well.

Will report back on mine on Monday.

Stripes - I felt very nervous about my first club run on Tuesday but it wasn’t anything to worry about and I managed to keep up with the average runners in the middle of the group ok.  I have to say everyone I have met on this forum and at the club has been nothing but supportive which has made it very easy to fit in.  Running seems to be a sport which unites people rather than divides them which is why I like it – that and the other reasons that have been mentioned above.

I share your trepidation as I’m quite shy in these situations myself but I’m sure you will be fine once you get there and even better once you start running as there’s not a lot that can go wrong from that point – unless you really do fall in the canal!

If nothing else think to yourself that you have to do it so you can report back here on Monday.  It was the thought of telling Booey that I had chickened out of the club run on Tuesday that made me go through with it!  We’ll be expecting a report before mid-day on Monday!

Will do. You will laugh but I've already got my kit ready and my number pinned to my T-Shirt!

I am out all day tomorrow at football but won't be drinking because of Sunday so will get plenty of stick from my mates no doubt

I had a look at the website of my local running club after reading your thread but I'm not sure I'm quite ready for such a big step yet.

If Sunday goes okay I may give it more thought.

Have you been for a fitting at a local specialist running shop? I am currently wearing £40 chain sports shop trainers which seem fine to me but reading some of the stuff on here has got me worrying that I am making a mistake by carrying on in them.

Well I am all carbed up ready for 2moz  I cant wait I am so excited, Stripes you will love the race believe me and just want to do more and more to beat your times

My bag is packed ready also, but then its always ready to be honest

I went to Sweatshop for my runners as I knew they did gait analysis.  I went to the MK Shop and they were so helpful, I tried a few different ones on and they got me running up and down the shop to watch how I ran.  I came away with a pair of Asics £55 in the sale and I can honestly say they have been perfect since that day, no rubs blisters nothing.  Oh and don't forget to go up a size, this is normal for running as your feel expand.

Silver - hope your day is going good, I will try and give my race report 2moz night if not monday

Thanks both for the advice. Will go get a gait analysis done at the closest specialist shop to me, will have to wait until I've got some spare cash though!

Silver, I looked at the Park Run website after seeing it mentioned on here but there isn't one close to me. The closest one is over half an hour drive away and like you Saturday morning isn't really very good for me. I'm either working or getting ready to go to a football match.

I started out on a treadmill before I dared go outside, they are handy to have for really bad weather and from what I've read they are useful for speedwork(not sure I'll ever get to that stage ) but boy are they dull. I got up to over half an hour on it but not sure I could ever take much more.

Boo, enjoy your race. Thanks for the encouragement. Getting more nervous as it gets closer!

Hi All,

Well I did it! 

Very nervous this morning but had slept okay when I eventually managed to drop off.

Had a banana for breakfast which was maybe a mistake   had to pop into work on short drive to the start which turned out to be a blessing!

Was quite cold so kept my jacket on after parking up and went for a walk to the start area to see how things worked.

Found the start, felt very intimidated by all the serious looking runners so went back to car, got rid of jacket and did some stretches in the car park.

Got back near the start but didn't want to stand still so just kept walking around, with a couple of very short jogs, to try to keep the cold at bay.

 When everyone got called in to the start I positioned myself near the back, I noticed I was one of the only men this far back

We were off before I knew it, think it was a couple of minutes early and kind of took me by surprise but I felt comfortable almost straight away once I realised I wasn't surrounded by Olympic quality athletes and soon settled into a rhythm.

Breathing felt good and as this was my first race I hadn't realised how much help it is having so many people around you.

My plan was to start slowly since my main aim was to finish, and the only vague aim I had timewise was to get under an hour.

Went through the first km in about 5.30 and felt great. Was passing lots of people and started using them as targets and also started to appreciate how you can latch onto someone and be towed along.

Didn't see the 2km marker and managed to forget to check my time at 3km but still felt I was taking it very steady.

Where I live means that all my training runs involve what I think is a fairly steep hill on the way home but this course was as flat as a pancake so when we finished the first lap I was still feeling great and was happy to go through 5km in about 27minutes.

When we reached the canal section the second time I was confident that unless I did something really silly I woud finish so I started to pick up my pace and latched onto the back of one guy who was overtaking lots of people.

All went swimmingly well, so much so that I went past my pacemaker and maybe started to push too much as I started to struggle a bit inside the last km.

Was relieved to see the finish line come into view but it spurred me on and managed to produce a little bit of a sprint finish(by my standards I must add )

Finished in about 51 minutes I think. Was so tired I forgot to hit the stop on my watch!

Got water, energy drink, banana and a nice Paperweight as a momento.

Walked around to try to warm down and then went along the finishing straight to cheer people crossing the line.

All in all it was a great experience, I am still buzzing as I write this and Booey you were right, I can't wait to do another one!

Thanks a lot. Still buzzing now and looking for races to enter. Hope you can find one that suits. 

Yeah the weather is gonna be a test. Must admit that I have yet to run in really bad weather. I was really lucky this morning because once I was warmed up it was perfect, no wind at all.

Great to hear about your son. If he ends up turning pro you can pack up work and run when and where you want

I had a curry for tea as a treat but resisted the Samosas and Bhajis!

Stripes - well done I knew you would love it  and a great time and race report

My race was good too although very hilly (sorry undulating ) arrived in Buckingham around 9ish as needed to register, not many people around at this point   registration was in the Whale Pub so we sat in there for a while to use toilets and hubby could get a coffee and also keep warm as it was still chilly.  Race started more or less on time at 10am, discarded jacket to my race bag that hubby looks after (very handy having someone with you not racing  ) I had a long sleeve wicking top on which was great, didn't get to hot or cold.  I started fairly near the back (apprently there was only around 200 runners) off slowly out of the village, right turn up a slight incline to get you out of built up area then the very straight and hilly road that takes you all the way upto Stowe School.  It was a narrow path along here for prob half the way and leafy either side so difficult to do much and the hills just constant up and down, saw the 4K marker (hate this one as you know more than half still to go) then you did a loop round the school and lakes on a trail path, this was so beautiful round here I loved it.  Tarmac road then takes you back away from school, 2 more good hills here where I struggled.  You then meet back up with the original course the long long road back to the finish, more hills.  Once I saw 8K I felt alot happier and pushed on, when I got to 9K I knew it was all downhill back into Buckingham and defo upped my pace to the finish line (dare I say sprint  hehe) I looked at my Garmin for the first time and I had managed it in 1.03, 3mins better than my first 10K

Hubby was telling me after that nearly everyone coming over the line was saying that was tough and very hilly.  So my not achieving a sub 60 didn't bother me, maybe next time ah

Have I missed anything lol  oh goody bag, well not in a bag but handed out - bottle water and a cereal bar then collected medal and certificate.  Hubby was not impressed with freebies 'pah thats the worse one yet' haha

Silver - if you look on my banner line where my name is you will see my bookmarks, click on there and you should see what races I am considering, they are all 10K's

You will enjoy the races don't be nervous, its much easier than joining a running club.  Also you don't need a running buddy as everyone's pace is different and you just meet people as you go along maybe chat depending on how you feel, its like a running club with loads more people.  There will always be the elite field at the front but then there are always walkers at the back so no pressure at all.

If it helps you could always do a couple of 5K's to get use to races, thats what I did.  To be honest I think over time I still will enter 5K's as its always good to see if you have improved with your time etc

I plan on a couple of days rest now maybe  I might have a steady treadmill run later.  I can do what I like when I like the next 4 days  hubby is in Weymouth Windsurfing its the annual Weymouth Speed Week, fingers crossed for him

Stripes - I had a bowl of potato wedges last night  might have something to do with a 1lb heavier this week on the scales haha silly me

Oh and am out for a curry tomorrow night with mother

Like your new pic Stripes

If you follow a training schedule for your HM you will need to run on consecutive days (not after a race of course) I have just started following the Hal Higdon Novice 2 Half Marathon Training Schedule, its realistic and something I can do upto the Silverstone Half next March.  I can add extra weeks if needed and also allow for Xmas, although Xmas is no problem for me and to be honest I see myself running more over that week and looking forward to it  the joys of no children ah

pah you are relatively young  I am 44 on 29th

Silver - forgot to say, well done to your lad on the winning goal you must have been very proud  well deserved new boots

It must be something about using your phone to post that causes double posting

My HM is also 18weeks away but you can just add weeks to the training schedule

4 weeks after your first Half should be ok? what race is it, another half?

I have just struggled to eat my tuna roll, I have done something to my jaw and have no idea what  it hurts when I open my mouth.  All I can think is when I got home from the race I was chilling out watching  the Grand Prix and fell asleep for about ten laps lol and was resting my head on the chair arm, a while after that my jaw started hurting  how strange

Silver your very quite today are you out architecting??