Hello there! New to all this.

Well hello everyone! I've just started recently started running for the first time since my teens (34!) and so fare I can not get enough of it! It's just utterly incredible how addictive it is and just how much I am LOVING it! Anyway. Last year I watched a good friend of mine do a 1/2 marathon and decided there and then I wanted to do this. I have always said I'm going to do a marathon before I'm 40 but the little voices in my head told me that 2013 is the year of the 1/2 marathon! That way at least if I hate it then I'll find something else to do in time for me to turn 49!! So this Jan I started a 10k runner plan. Got it from an app in the App Store on my iPhone and its been truly brilliant. I'm using it together with mapmyrun and so far it's all going very smoothly. This week I've just started week 5. The route I'm doing so far is a bit further than the programme is and I've been so enthusiastic about it I've been running an extra 1.5km on the end of each session to get back to the car! I've already signed up to a 5km race in April and a 10km in May and am looking forward to these a lot (doing it with a friend who I managed to persuade to join in, but she says she won't do a half marathon...we'll see!!) Now I know I'm not going to be breaking any records, I'm hardly built like an athlete at 12 stone COUGH and 5'9, but every time I go out and despite the gales sleet and snow I also have a huge grin of self achievement. Feel so better for this, I have had 3 kids and my youngest has just started nursery so now I have a bit more time to myself and it makes me feel like I'm really doing something productive! (I do have horses too, but I wanted a new challenge) so fingers crossed its all going to go well for me this year. I must admit I am looking forward to running in more runner friendly weather although I can't complain when I have a 50 mph wind helping to blow me up a hill!!

great stuff & welcome to the forum!

i also am new-ish to running and one event i do find useful is the free saturday 5k parkruns (www.parkrun.org.uk). they used to be my max distance, but now are treated as warm-up runs

they get you used to running with lots of other people, get you used to timed events and also give an extra boost when you just know you can catch the person in front. one other thing i've found useful is that at the parkrun events i attend, there is usually a photographer in attendance. seeing the photos taken of you allows you to assess your running form in a real world setting. e.g. i've seen that i'm overstriding (i run in five fingers), that my hands are too high (in the classic beginner-cover-the-nips position) and that my elbows are too far away from my body.

certainly agree about the addictiveness! i was gutted at having nearly 3 weeks out with a strained achilles (overstriding)

Hello thanks for your reply!

I've heard a lot about the park runs, but unfortunately there are none anywhere near me. They do sound good though! I'm not sure my brain is ready to see images of myself running yet either...so perhaps it's only a good thing!

Hope your Achilles isn't troubling you now.

yeah, it's all good thanks. was visiting friends in solihull on the weekend, so did the brueton park parkrun to test the achilles. no problems, so should be ok now. another lesson learned about running in VFF's, although i'm not convinced i strained it running to begin with

i find the photo feedback is very useful, but my missus says it's vanity

Hey there! im also new here, i just signed up and well, im happy to see all active runners here. How are you all???

Hello Sophie! I'm 34 but this year I'm not going to be 35, I'm actually going to be 33 again because I'm going to age back to 21 again!

*disillusioned*

Hi

i started running 3 weeks ago,, never ran before and always ran like Pheobe from "Friends"

now 3 weeks later im totally addicted to it, and stress if i think im going to miss a session, plus im going away next weekend and already working out where i can run!!

Hi , yeah new to this myself, got the great north run in september so have something to train for.  Looking forward to it.