Started 8 wk beginner's schedule today

continued...

Snails, how's your programme going? Well done for having a plan, it makes such a difference. I bet the forest park is lovely at this time of year, are the stags shouting again yet?! It sounds lovely and so nice to have a choice of trails to run on. I think I need a bit more variety. Glad your dizzy spell was down to lack of food and nothing more serious, how are the shins and hip doing?

Still haven't started any knee exercises or used my foam roller, I must get myself organised and make the effort. I've done two more runs since my last post: 2.68k (I was aiming for 5k but needed to stop and go home to use the loo!) which went really well, I managed to run using a mid-foot strike and didn't have a single knee twinge. My pace was also the fastest it's been in months. Then I did another 8.32k, aiming for 10k but I did have a couple of knee twinges, plus a return of the calf pain in my left leg. From my first attempt at running in a different style I know better than to push it as it took over a week before I could walk properly, so I quit while I was ahead. Going to try and get out for a 5k tomorrow morning but it means getting up at 5:30 so I'm not holding my breath…

At the moment I'm not sure if my new running style is solving my knee problem, or it's the fact that I'm not running three times a week at the moment so everything is getting more recovery time. I don't want to push too hard but at the same time I need to build up my distance again otherwise I'll never make it round the half marathon. Ideally I'd like to get to the point where I can run 5 miles, 5 miles and 10 miles at the weekend without any problems. Definitely need a plan to stick to.

And I should probably start by going to bed, I've just seen the time! Happy running people, here's to an injury-free week x

Hi Norfolklass - no, I'm not from Norwich - I'm down here in London.   Best of luck finding a good physio though.

Hope all get sorted and keep up good work - injury free

I went swimming last night - 45-50mins continual swim at my usual slow pace - but at least doing something

Had half day today - but as had hair done not been out - will let you know how I get on rest of the week/weekend

First week completed. I had hoped to be starting week two today but only managed to run once in the week. I did consider skipping the final session of week 1 and jump to running for 2 mins before breaking but 7 lots of those will be quite a challenge I think. I finished today's session by running for 2 mins which I can definitely feel in my hamstrings now. First time running in the rain which was fun.

Still need to sort out a digital watch.

Morning

Snails – Sounds like you are progressing well with your runs.  Loving the sound of your forest park, especially having ducks to feed and all the different trails you can choose.  I’m definitely going to venture out when I can manage a decent run.  At the moment I’m going round the same block and its getting a bit boring but in a funny way its become a bit of a comfort zone as its away from main roads and I don’t feel too self-conscious.  Like you, I love it when the days get longer  - normally - but its going to be a problem for me running wise as I don’t feel confident enough to expose myself in the daylight especially with all the young, fit slim runners about! 

Iain -  Glad you got your mojo back and you had a good run with the club.

Cheetah – Hope you had a lovely week off work and got some good runs in.  Its good to be able to choose what time and how long you go out for when you don’t have the restriction of work getting in the way of leisure!   

MintyB – Have you managed to get out in the morning for a run.  That’s an early time to get up and out but good to get it done early and have the rest of the day to do other things.   

Norfolklass – Glad its not just me that remembers the Krypton Factor!  Hope you managed to have some runs without any pain in your knees.  It must be really frustrating when you just want to get on and train.  Have you had them checked out by the doctor or physio?  What have you been advised to do?

Ma’amy – In my eyes being able to swim for 50 minutes is fantastic.  With your walking and swimming, you must be feeling you are getting fitter.

DFM – welcome and well done on completing your first week.  Its great to know the reps go down as the minutes go up.  I didn’t sweat either when I started the schedule but funnily enough, I have sweated on my last few runs.  I like to think of it as my fat melting away like a snowman – just wishful thinking really!

RoadRunner – Hope all goes well with your physio.  

I attempted the 15m x 2 but with longer walk breaks gradually reducing to 2 mins.  I probably could have pushed myself more as when I finished day one, I didn’t really feel it was much of a challenge compared with the others, probably after doing the 12 x 3 last week.  I’m going to repeat it next week but with the minute break and hope that will make it easier to complete the 30 minute run the week after.  I tried an extra run one night aiming for 20 mins nonstop but when a very chavy looking lad and his vicious looking dog stepped in front of me I just carried on to get away from him so ended up doing 23.5!

Hope everyone has a good week.

Hello from sunny Norwich! It's been glorious here today, hope everyone else has had some lovely sunshine too.

Ma'amy, well done on the swimming! I used to swim once a week but found it really hard, I probably didn't persevere long enough for it to get easier but it's a great way to exercise without stressing your joints. Hope you had a good rest of the week/weekend.

dfm, congratulations on finishing week 1! I would definitely stick to the schedule, the runs will increase in time soon enough And well done for running in the rain, I really struggle with that. Hope you find a watch soon.

EllieL, I know what you mean about the same route being a comfort zone. I still don't really enjoy running in the streets and only do it when it's early and there aren't many people around. I always do my long runs round the local broad with walkers, runners and dog walkers. Well done on the 23.5 min run, even if it was unintended!

Surprise surprise I didn't make it out for a run at 5:30 the other morning, so didn't run again until Friday, but I think actually a few days between runs seems to be helping my knee. I'm sticking with the new running style and it seems to be working. YAY!!! I did 6k on Friday morning with a couple of knee twinges plus the usual left calf tightness and aching. The good news is that the knee twinges were in a different place, on the inside of my knee rather than the outside, which is where I've been having knee pain all year, so I was quite pleased!

Then I headed out again this morning, aiming for 10k. It was hard work for the first 5k but I got a second wind at about 7.5k and thought I'd just keep going and see how far I could get. Still with the left calf feeling tight but it didn't get any worse, but best of all I didn't get a SINGLE knee twinge until 14k!!! I'm SO pleased!!! And keeping everything crossed that my knee troubles are over. The only other ache I've got is in my right foot instep/arch, but that doesn't feel like anything serious, just a general ache from doing so much mileage using a midfoot strike. Apparently a good foot exercise is to write the alphabet with your toes - think I'll be doing that under the desk at work tomorrow

Cheetah, Minty, Snails, Secret Agent, flightyrachel, Sian, and anyone else on the thread - hope your running is going well. Looking forward to hearing all about it - HINT xxx

Quick post tonight, missus is nagging me!

Club run tonight, 5.1 miles 45.31 minutes
Gonna be stiff tomorrow, my knee is a bit achy now.

*taking hint*

Fear not, I'm still running! On the Friday of my week off, I decided to shift my long run a bit as I had more time, and managed to set a new distance record - 13.33 miles! (in 02:23:50) My previous longest run was 11.28 miles, and I had a toilet break in the middle of that one! I clocked the Garmin at 13.1 miles, so now have a half marathon time of 02:21:20 to beat!

On my long run night I tell myself it doesn't matter so long as it's at least 10k - so on the Monday after I did exactly that as I was still recovering (although I managed 5 miles on the sunday too on slightly wobblier legs than normal) then back to a "normal" long run distance yesterday of 9.75 miles. My other runs are just boring - I've still been having niggles so have slowed down quite a bit, apart from at the running club when I speed up a bit.

Hi dfm welcome to the thread - I LOVE running in the rain, just wait til it's really hot and you get a lovely shower near the end of a run... it's heavenly! Congrats on finishing week 1, hope week 2 goes as well!

Ellie - well done on 23 minutes, I find  chavs quite useful for training, a couple have offered to race me before (I beat the one on foot, but didn't have a chance with the one on a bike!). I find the heckly ones quite amusing, especially when I have my headphones on and don't have a clue what they're shouting at me! I'm still roughly following the same route as when I started - I've just gradually widened bits of it and added in bits I can do laps of. The bits I've widened always take me back onto the main bit in case I ever need to make it shorter. Don't worry - you'll have been running for a bit longer as the nights get lighter - and if you're anything like me then eventually you won't care who's looking!

Roadrunner - hope your knee hasn't dropped off yet and your physio sorts you out!

Ma'amy - well done on the swim, have you managed a run/walk this week? Hope it went well if you have.

Norfolklass - glad the new running style seems to be working, good going on the 14k! I've decided to stick with my dodgy knees and keep running the way I already am doing - I tried landing more towards the forefoot and my hamstrings really didn't like it! I may try again when my legs work properly though. I haven't seen the man in the minimalist toe-shoes again, wonder if he'll be there tomorrow?

Iain's knee - BEHAVE! Hope you're not too stiff today.

Snails, flightyrachel and Sian - and anyone else - hope your running is going well and I second norfolklass's HINT up there hehe!

Hi everyone,

I've been running too, yesterday i did my final run of 8min/walk 1min x4. Tomorrow i do run 9min/walk 1min x4. Lately i've been going out later at night round the town area, and its surprising how many runners are out and about. Its lovely and cool too, and it doesn't take me long before i'm boiling.

dfm - i agree with Cheetah, there is absolutely nothing like running on a hot day and then it rains on you - bliss.....if you had ever read back on this thread, you'll see how most of us struggled with the heat last year.

Cheetah - woo hoo, the 2nd threader to do a half marathon distance - well done. Now what about the driving?

Ellie - well done on keeping running for 23.5mins - its amazing what you can do when you're under pressure from chavs and scary dogs  I remember the Krypton factor too - i loved it.

Norfolklass - glad to hear your knee pain has settled - it was great you did 14K before you got any twinges. How's the foam rollering going? Any ache i have now i just foam roller it (thankfull i haven't had a headache though, cos i'm not sure how good the FR would be for that ).

007 - very impressed you did 5 miles in 45 mins - that'd be a sprint for me and i wouldn't last half a mile, so well done. Hope you weren't too achy in the knees afterwards.

Ma'amy - i'm no swimmer - whilst i can swim, i couldn't keep going for anything like 45-50mins, so well done. Like you i wouldn't go for a run/walk if i'd just got my hair done

Roadrunner - have you had your physio appt yet?

Minty, Sian, Flighty Rachel and anyone else - i third the hints of Norfolklass......

Happy running everyone xx

Physio starts on 30th.

Good Morning

Just a quick one from me today.  I attempted my second week of run 15 x 2 but with a minute walking this time but after about 10 minutes in, I talked myself into ditching the minute walk and just go for the full 30 minutes non stop and I did it   I didn't think it was worth stopping for one minute and I felt fine the whole way - well apart from the hilly bit right at the end.  I changed my route as well and I think that helped.  Mileage wise wasn't too good though - only about 2.6 miles but I did it and that's the main thing for now.  It was probably one of my best 'runs' in terms of feeling good which is odd as I had taken a 3 day rest break and thought I would be really sluggish but I think the long break actually did me good.  Just to prove it wasn't a fluke, I had to repeat it a couple of days later and this time it was harder work and mileage even less .  Not sure what my next plan is now - really sad the schedule has ended but obviously pleased I've gone from 1 minute run to 30 mins in 9 weeks. 

My right knee is a bit niggly and I hope I'm not joining the ignored knee brigade on here!

Hope everyone else is having good runs in this lovely warm sunshine.

I have just completed week 2 and I am now armed with a 6 quid casio watch I tried a new route on Thursday and got a little lost. It was only because I was running with my phone I was able to look at a map and get my bearings.

Main areas of concern at the moment are:

Pace - Am I running too slowly/is my stride long enough?
Breathing - My breathing seems quite shallow at the moment, is there a technique to this?
Route - Really need to sort out a good route. I identified one but never do the second half as it is mainly next to a main road.

Glad I made myself go this morning, almost didn't.

'Ignored knee brigade' should obviously read 'injured'!!!

Really crap week,

ran on wednesday but couldn't get my pacing right so ended up stopping and starting throughout a 3.6 mile route.
Started feeling a bit tight in my chest and sore throat on friday, so ditched my planned parkrun on saturday.
Gradually got worse since and am now blowing snot bubbles the size of the hindenberg, with a hacking cough to match. Got sent home from work this afternoon, club run this evening was binned, and I really dont think my 10 hour shift tomorrow is going to happen!

Trowse 10k in less than 2 weeks, what great timing!

You all sound like you are doing good -

 Secret Agent hope you get rid of cold and get your run in 2 weeks done

Cheetah to be  congrats you are doing fab - keep it up

I have not been out for a while - life seems to get in the way.  Went to the baths again last week - another 45min up and down - slow/steady and continuious.

Tonight I went out for a walk - 28 mins for 2.5km - not the best or longest - but at least did something - was lovely in the evening - heat had gone out of the sun

Will try to get out again - but earlies at work so up before 6 - and got couple nights already planned out - but intend to get something done - time for concerted effort on getting fitness sorted

Take care all - keep up the good work

Evening - after a really bad run yesterday evening (5.5 miles, struggled pretty much all the way but only stopped once when I nearly fell over to get my balance back!) - I ran 10.18 miles tonight and loved eery second! It's weird how my running mojo comes and goes!

I've been playing around with the schedule a bit the last couple of weeks as i've gone out for drinks/meals the last couple of Fridays - and have been running Sun, Mon, Wed and Thu - it's actually been OK like that and I get two rest days in a row at the weekend!

Wednesday at the running club was also good - I managed to get my second best pace ever (10.16m/m) without really feeling like I was pushing myself too much like when I went faster the other week, then on Thursday my legs were fine again and I did 7 miles at 10:02m/m - so apart from yesterday - a good week! (and I'm allowed a slow crap run on a Sunday anyway!)

Snails - I love running later on, I didn't leave til about 7pm tonight and there was a lovely breeze by then - still wram enough for a t-shirt though. As for the driving - I'm getting a car soon so I can practice more! I NEARLY passed a mock test earlier (yes I know that means I failed - but it was on something really daft - I stopped at a green light  cos it was an unfamiliar junction and it scared me the rest was OK though!)

Your running seems to be going great - hope the 9 minute runs are going well!

Roadrunner - good luck with the physio!

Ellie - I am arranging the cats into Mexican wave formation to celebrate you doing 30 minutes! I think when I got to that point I just kept doing 30 mins for a bit, then started adding a mile to one or two of my runs every week to build up my distance a bit. Snails has a good "bridge to 10k" plan that's a bit like the beginners schedule too. Hope the knee is no longer niggly! 

dfm - congrats on week 2, and on the watch! My breathing was terrible at first, I think I even posted a thread about it -  I don't even remember when it improved, it DID happen at some point though without me even thinking about it or trying anything!

007 - sorry to hear you have man-flu Mr Cheetah has just had it too, it was touch and go for a while....

Ma'amy - keep up the swimming and walking, or I'll have to come and chase you! 

Everyone else - GO FOR A RUN!!!!!!!!

Night all - off to rest my legs now! xxx

Cheetah - no trouble chasing me - if I try running get no-where fast - working on walking to improve stamina at the minute - need to get a watch to keep check on times

Been out again tonight - 6ish while sun still up but lost heat. Lovely night - 5.5km walk in 58min

Out for meals tom and Thur (Italian then Indian) - so will not be out till at least Fri/weekend.  Keep up the good work all - will be checking how you get on

Just got back from doctors appointment.
I have a respitory infection, now on antibiotics and told no running until the infection is completely gone which may be several weeks.

Trowse 10k is off.

Not a happy camper right now!

Hi everyone,

Quick post tonight - well done on the running everyone.

Cheetah, don't worry at all about the mock test! Its all practice, and you'll be fine on the day. At least you've been through that junction now, rather than on the test day itself.

007 - sorry to hear about the Trowse 10K - but you know what, if you run with the infection, you'll not run well, which i know would really disappoint you, and also it would take longer for your body to recover from the infection. There are lots of other races out there. Hope you feel better soon (and please take note and congratulate me that i have resisted the temptation to mention man-flu - oops)

Did my run 10min/walk 1min x4 - in the dark cos it was lovely and cool. It felt good too.

Happy running everyone

Now I have man-flu too (I've been coughing up gunk all week and have completely lost my lower vocal register - my voice is a squeaky croak!)

I feel a bit better today so I cancelled my doctor's appointment - I have also cancelled my run tonight just to make sure I'm recovered enough to get back into it next week! 

I ran every day  from Sunday - Wednesday anyway so I'm letting myself have a break.   Next run scheduled for Sunday.