In the first in a new series of blogs where members of the Informed Choice team talk about what they are doing at the moment, managing director Martin Bamford describes how he is learning to run.
I’m not a big fan of running. Perhaps I’m not genetically predisposed to be a runner; walking, cycling or rowing have always been my preferred methods of getting around and getting exercise.
In the past few weeks, I’ve decided I want to learn to run. Specifically, I want to complete a 10k race in the summer. If that goes well, I might attempt a half-marathon later in the year.
This is probably all the result of a personal fitness drive I’ve been on since the start of the year. What started as a harmless New Year’s Resolution turned into losing over 30lbs in four months, switching to an exclusively Primal diet and getting a little bit obsessed with my 5k times on the rowing machine.
Inspired by seeing so many brave people completing the London Marathon recently prompted me to go for a run (my first in over a decade), as did noticing lots of my friends bragging on their Facebook walls that they have been running, again!
So I went for my first run last Monday.
As expected, it was pretty painful and I walked the route about as much as I ran (or jogged). The recent spell of wet weather that counts as a ‘drought’ in Surrey meant the woodland trail I picked near my house was very wet and very muddy.
Using the Runkeeper App on my iPhone, I recorded a time of 25 minutes and 30 seconds to cover the 3.2k trail. It made my legs and lungs hurt, and I was aching pretty badly the next day. But it felt good to go for a run and I foolishly went online that evening to enter the Cranleigh 10k Race in July.
After a recommended rest day, I was out running again a couple of nights later; the same course but a slight improvement in my time at 24 minutes and 46 seconds. Much less walking and a bit more running this time, although some torrential rain in the hours before my run meant the trail had turned into a stream!
I had a few more rest days and picked a different course on Sunday evening which I knew would be less muddy. And this time I ran the entire distance – 3.37k in 20 minutes and 30 seconds. Whilst this was only my third run, I was quickly getting into a good stride and managing to pace myself so I could complete the route without having to walk.
Last night I repeated the same route and went a little bit further, a total of 4k in 25 minutes and 18 seconds.
My training schedule ahead of the 10k in July involves running three times each week, gradually increasing the weekly distance so my body has the chance to adapt to the strains and reducing the risks of injury.
Had I known that running would be this addictive and rewarding, I would have taken it up a long time ago!
Do any of our blog readers enjoy running? What advice would you give to a new runner who is training for a 10K?
Photo credit: Flickr/jpo.ct
