Legs legs legs

I’ve recently got back into running, training with a neighbour, who is in the running club that I was in (apparently I’m a lapsed member, as I never actually resigned from the club).
So in the last couple of weeks we’ve gone from couch (I’ve not been running due to holidays and tendonitis, and he’s also been injured) to 6 miles, averaging 10 mins/mile.
So we’re pretty happy with that.

Last night however, after running my, legs were not happy.  I’d been to one of my regular yoga classes at lunchtime, and the legs were just taking a pounding yesterday.  That’s when I realised that all my physical activities are/have been leg based.  Yoga, running, karate, rock climbing, snowboarding, skateboarding, ice skating, inline skating (and the few days surfing I managed to tick of my bucket list) are all predominately leg based (with the possible exception of yoga, although there’s a hell of a lot of leg work involved).

1st 10k in years

On Sunday, I ran my first 10k race in about 3 years.
There was way to little preparation, as I’ve only been running again for about the last month, but have been running up to 9k.
The thinking was, 9k feeling good afterwards, so another on top is do-able, as long as I remember I’ve been away from running for a few years, so don’t aim for a time, just aim to get round.

So that was the plan. I was thinking, based on the running I’d been doing, that 60 mins was a reasonable time to get round in, so I was surprised and very happy with my finish time of 55:15.

The course was a wee bit hilly, and I was feeling it in my legs for the last 1k, but I made it round and in a time 5 minutes under what I was aiming for, so to say I’m pleased is an understatement.

I think I’ve got the bug again.

Run Forrest, run….

I’ve been dipping my toes back into running over the last couple of weeks. I’ve always missed being in the running club (I fell out of the habit after an injury, and just got lazy), and it’s more annoying now that they’ve re-located to the sports centre at the end of my road, so twice a week I see them run past my window.
SO, with that in mind I’ve been doing some gentle running to ease back into it. I’m up to just under 10k now, so I’ve entered a race on the 11th. It’s named after the guy who was my first coach when I joined the club, so it seemed appropriate.
I’m under no illusions about fast times, I’m just looking to enjoy the run, get over the finish line, and collecting my finishers t shirt (and hopefully catching up with Jimmy, my old coach)

Back running

Sport wise, my first love is running. I went from couch to 5k to 10k to running club, to 1/2 marathons to marathon (only only 1, but I ticked it off and went back to 1/2’s).
I had a regular running buddy in work, but last year she left, and gradually I dropped away from running. At the weekend I realised I really missed it, and on Monday, put my running shoes on and went for a wee 4k run. It hurt. My breathing was rubbish and my legs were killing me. When I finished I was done in and felt great that I’d actually taken that first painful step.

Yesterday I did the same route and it was a lot easier. I knew now how unfit I was and allowed for that in my pace. As a result my breathing was ok, and when I finished, I felt better than I had on Monday.

It’s going to be a slow road back to anywhere near where I was at, but I’ve done that first run and that’s the hardest thing to do.

Ouchie no more

Before Christmas, I had a brand new experience. A corn on my foot. On the toe next to the pinkie toe on my left foot. I tried corn plasters, and after a fair bit of pain and hobbling about, after about a week, it fell off.
Well, a couple of weeks ago it came back with a vengeance, so this time, after some cajoling from friends, instead of resorting to corn plasters and limping, I made an appointment with a podiatrist, and this morning, she sat me down, took a scalpel to my foot, et voila, no corn, and no pain.
It actually feels odd not to have that burning stabbing in my toe. It’s also a relief.

That’s my foot all good to go now, so I can now start to ease myself back into running again, which I’ve really missed. I can also turn up at the yoga class and not worry that people are grossed out by my mutant toe 🙂

Ooft!

So, at the weekend I shelled out for new running shoes. I’ve not run in ages, and I really miss it.
So today at lunchtime I bit the bullet and took the new trainers for a wee test drive. Just under 4k, nothing serious as (a) new trainers, and (b) not run in ages.
The verdict? I like the shoes, so we’re good to go. Also, I wasn’t in too bad shape considering the lay-off, so probably tomorrow lunchtime, I’ll head out again for a longer run, with a colleague from work who I used to run with regularly.

Right now though, I’m enjoying that post run buzz. The only other think that makes me feel this good is yoga,

I am a numpty

This morning I went into my locker in the gym, and noticed my running shoes weren’t there. I’ve a habit of not picking stuff up, so realised I’d left them in the changing room on Friday after I’d been for a run.
I checked if they’d been handed in, but no joy.
In the changing room, the cleaner was washing the floor, and I asked him if he’d remembered seeing a pair of trainers lying there last week. He said he’d seen a pair of blue New Balance trainers on the Friday morning, lying next to a bench, with no clothes or bags near them, and took me to the front desk and asked the girl there to get them for me. Again she checked and said they weren’t there.
When I asked him if he’d handed them in he said no!
Next question was “How did you expect them to be handed in? Someone has stolen them!”

Yeah it’s my fault and I now need to buy new running shoes, but seriously, he saw them lying on their own and DIDN’T put them in lost property!

I didn’t go running (no shoes), so a wee impromtpu yoga session took place instead.

That went better than expected

Anyone who’s read this blog for a while will probably be aware that I used to run regularly – I was a member of Bellahouston Road Runners, and regularly entered 10k’s, half-marathons, and did 1 marathon – before somehow falling out of the habit.  I’ve tried to keep going by myself, but find it hard to motivate or push myself, so just kept doing the same route in the same time, and wasn’t improving at all but just ticking over.
Today s work colleague wanted to get back into running after a long lay-off, so at lunchtime, we headed out for a loop of about 5k.
There was a bit of walk/run/walk/run involved, but you know, it didn’t matter.  We were out, and we were running, and it’s better to start getting back into it like this, than to try and burst a gut, and get disillusioned all over again.

Hopefully this is going to continue, but I’m happy at the moment to take it slow and see how it goes.

Running re-boot

Yesterday I bought a new pair of running shoes to get myself motivated and back out pounding the streets.  First time I’ve bought non-Asics running shoes, I picked up a pair of New Balance 680’s, and gave them a wee try out this morning.

This being the first time I’ve run this year, it wasn’t going to be anything like a long run.  My breathing was going to be an issue, so I went for alk2/run3/walk 2…. for 20 minutes.
The result is that the shoes are great to run in, but my fitness has dropped dramatically.  So I’ve a fair bit of work to put in.  Going to follow a couch to 5k type of training schedule to get me back on track, then switch to 10k, and once that’s sorted, I’ll introduce hill ressions and interval sessions.

The other thing is the trip to Vietnam isn’t that far off.  I’ve managed to get a couple of trips I want to do sorted out, and I’m waiting on word back from a third.
The trips are – the tunnels the Vietcong used during the war, a cooking class where you cycle to the local market to get the ingredients before cooking, and a free bike tour of Ho Chi Min city run by students.  That’s the one I still have to get feedback for.

 

First run in months

Made it out this morning for my first run in a couple of months.  Just my usual wee 5K route round Pollok estate.

Took it nice and easy, setting no target time wise, and surprisingly was only a couple of minutes slower than usual.

I’ve entered a 10k at the end of August to give me something to aim for, so time to stop making excuses and get out running.