Running for Beginners

Hot

2006-07-02T21:25:00.000+01:00

It's quarter past nine, now, still light, and finally cooler outside than it is in the house. The Computer Lab weather station says it's now about the same temperature as it was when I went for my run this morning. Which was too hot. But I did 5k, fairly comfortably, in just under 35 minutes. There was a slight tendony sort of twinge in my left foot towards the end, but it went away almost immediately when I got home. So that's probably all right, then. Various thunderstorms are rumbling away around the country, but it doesn't look like we'll get one here. Pity - we need one.

June summary

2006-06-30T17:30:00.000+01:00

I've been getting out fairly consistently this month. I've been speeding up significantly in the last week or so; I need to watch that I don't overdo this. But apart from a wobble last weekend I've been feeling pretty good. The challenge for the next month will be the longer runs at the weekend, which will extend from 4.5km to 7km. Also I'll see if I can keep running while we're away on holiday.

Outings: 17
Total distance: 47.6 km (29.6 miles)
Total running time: 5:40
Average pace: 7:08 min/km (11:29 min/hr)

The Cambridge 10k

2006-06-29T14:12:00.000+01:00

Lurking at the back of a wardrobe somewhere in my house is a t-shirt commemmorating the Cambridge 10k of (I think) 2003. Now, I have never run a 10k in my life, and I certainly wasn't anywhere close to doing so three years ago. But I was involved in the Cambridge 10k for several years, and perhaps one day I will be again.

The race used to be organised by the Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust (who do an excellent job of looking after numerous nature reserves around the county), basically as a fund-raising project with the support of the Cambridge & Coleridge Athletic Club. The husband of one of my (then) colleagues was in charge of organising the race, and I offered to help out with some of the data entry. My role was to process the entry forms of everyone who entered on the day - this basically consisted of entering their details into a spreadsheet as quickly as possible, so that by the time the winner crossed the finishing line, we could instantly look them up in the spreadsheet and announce their name. We also had to identify which finishers were in which age group, to find the first three places in each category so the prizes could be awarded. Particularly in the days before widespread on-line race entry, there were a lot of people who entered on the day, and it was sometimes touch and go as to whether I'd get through all the forms in time for the first finishers. One year several of my work colleagues were running, and one of them wryly observed to my manager, seeing me frantically bashing away at the keyboard, "Now you know how fast Phil can really work if he wants to."

In its first years, the race was based at the Cambridge Rugby Club on Grantchester Road. This wasn't really ideal as a base for a major road race, and we usually ended up with the laptop perched on a corner table in the bar. It did, however, have the advantage of a liberal supply of beer to fuel the race-day operation. Later on, we moved to the University athletics ground at Wilberforce Road, a much more professional, though soberer location.

I think 2003 was the last time the race was held; unfortunately the Wildlife Trust decided that they weren't really raising enough from it to make their very considerable investment of time and effort in it worthwhile. I can quite understand this, though it's a pity, and I hope it'll make a come back one day. Though if it does, I'm determined to run in it for a change!

Queasy

2006-06-26T07:44:00.000+01:00

Last Sunday I ran 4.5k, and this Sunday, the end of week 5, I had 5k on the schedule. Fairly achievable, you might have thought, but soon after setting out it became apparent that all was not well. After about two minutes I felt a bit queasy. After five minutes I felt that I was soon going to suffer from Jeanne's trouble, or possibly Beckham's. Or maybe both at once. They say one of the most important things to do as a runner is listen to what your body is telling you, and mine was telling me, quite firmly, "No running today, thank you". I strolled back to the house and sat very still in the garden until things had calmed down.

Out this morning in the drizzle for a very good run, feeling great. I think I'll repeat a week of the schedule and see how things go.

Steep

2006-06-21T19:04:00.000+01:00

Well, on the bright side I remained relatively sober and even got a decent amount of sleep while I was away in Nottingham last night; however I didn't actually do any running this morning, despite being up quite bright and early. The thing is, you see, in that part of the world they have these scary-looking things that are largely unknown here in Cambridgeshire. Hills. Well, we do have the occasional one - Cambridge's castle mound, for example, built by the invading Normans nearly a thousand years ago. Indeed a few years back there was a piece in the paper about some poor local runner who wanted to do some hill training, and, in the absence of any alternatives, was reduced to running up and down the castle mound repeatedly. In the end the local council made him stop, on the grounds that he was causing excessive erosion.

So, anyway, rather than slogging up and down the hills of Nottingham I settled for a brisk sunshiny walk around the very attractive University campus this morning; I'll get back on the road tomorrow. Oh yes.

Progress

2006-06-19T22:24:00.000+01:00

Sunday morning's run was my longest run yet, and pretty comfortable it was too. At 33 minutes for 4.5km I won't be breaking any records just yet, but the aim is gradual but steady improvement without overdoing it and hurting something. I'm still only four weeks in to my running programme. A shorter run this morning, the start of week five, also very comfortable. Heel happy, shoulder fairly happy, calves tolerable.

It's at around this stage of a beginner's running programme, when you start seeing a significant improvement, that there's a great temptation to push things too hard. You right-click your pace graph in Excel, select "Add Trendline", and discover that at your present rate of progress you'll become world running champion within a year, and achieve warp speed soon after that. But, of course, it doesn't quite work like that - your initial rapid improvement gives way to much more gradual progress once the low-hanging fruit is plucked. The key thing is to keep pushing onward, but with realistic expectations of how rapidly you'll improve.

Unusually I'm going to be away from home tomorrow night, at a work conference at Nottingham University, so my Wednesday morning run will be round some part of the campus there. From the map, it looks like there's a loop of about 3k which which probably be about right. We should also have access to the sports centre there, but that might be a little complicated first thing in the morning. Now, if only I can avoid drinking too much beer while watching the England v Sweden match on Tuesday evening...

Aches and pains

2006-06-16T17:14:00.000+01:00

This wouldn't be a proper running blog if I didn't spend some time complaining about my aches and pains. But I think I have some justification - I nearly didn't go out for my run this morning because of a really quite painful stiffness in my right shoulder. I'm almost certain that this was brought on by sleeping in a funny position, which in turn was brought on by some other twinge in my upper left back, which (I'm pretty sure) came about by lifting heavy weights. Two weights in particular. One of them is aged four and a half, and the other one turned seventeen months yesterday, and they both like being lifted up a good deal. Perhaps I should try some yoga (which my mother used to swear by for her back problems) or Pilates or even some more organized weight training. Bench-pressing the children is quite fun. For them, anyway.

As I set out I noticed a slight ache on the inside of my right heel, which felt rather as if I'd banged it into something. I worried about this for a little bit - what does plantar fasciitis feel like? Have I really got a classic running injury only three and a half weeks since I restarted? - before remembering that I actually had banged it into something in my rush to prepare dinner for nine people after the England match yesterday. So let's hope that's all it is.

The other slight concern is that my calf muscles really, really don't like the first mile of my runs. I stretch, and I warm up with a brisk walk first, but they're still not at all happy for the first ten minutes or so. After that they settle down and stop complaining, but I do wonder if I'm asking too much of them too soon, or I should do a bit more warming up, or something. Hmm.

So, all in all it was a bit of a struggle on quite a short run this morning. It wasn't helped by the fact that, in my hurry to set out, I had selected a top which wasn't actually a running top at all, but (I realised soon after leaving the house) had fitted me quite snugly about eight years ago, and was now rather accentuating the bulges. I shall dress more carefully next time.

Football

2006-06-16T09:20:00.000+01:00

Watching England play football doesn't count as entertainment. It's 90 minutes of intense anxiety.

Faster but larger

2006-06-14T18:10:00.000+01:00

Another quite reasonable run this morning; I definitely seem to settle in to it after about a mile. I'm still taking it nice and easy, but the intervals are up to run 2.5/walk 1 now, and that's fine. Well, the run seems about five times longer than the walk, but still.

On the other hand, I weighed myself a couple of days ago, and in the three-and-a-bit weeks since I restarted running, I have...gained nearly five pounds. I'm now heavier than I have been all year, which was a bit of a surprise. Still, I'm not going to worry about it too much, just yet.

Three weeks in

2006-06-11T17:00:00.000+01:00

It's now three weeks since I restarted running, and this morning's run was my longest so far, all of 3.5km. It was quite hard work - I don't know if this was due to the muggy heat (even at 8am), or the amount of wine I'd drunk at Tim's barbecue the previous evening, or just general tiredness after quite a sweaty night. I was at least cheered on my way by a passerby, who from her general demeanour seemed to be on her way home from a particularly raucous all-night party. She appeared to be wearing wellington boots and fishnet stockings, an odd combination for a summer morning, but I only saw her from the other side of Gilbert Road and I wasn't going to cross over for a closer look, so I might have been mistaken.

Cambridge is in the grip of World Cup fever to a quite remarkable extent. At our house we don't have a television ("Are they poor?", a visiting friend's child apparently asked), and international football matches are about the only event that I arrange to go and watch somewhere else. As I was walking over to my father-in-law's, it seemed that every passing car had an England flag fluttering from it, houses were draped all around, and the streets were full of entire families dressed in England strip, no doubt on their way round to some friend or relative's house to watch the match. Later on, after England's rather unconvincing 1-0 victory over Paraguay, the city centre was full of fans, and the area around the big screen on Parker's Piece looked like a battlefield might after a lengthy struggle between two opposing forces armed only with beer cans. Four weeks to go.

Heat

2006-06-09T17:54:00.000+01:00

The Met Office has just issued its first heatwave warning of the year, and it's certainly looking like a scorcher this weekend. There are good and bad aspects to this. On the upside, there's sitting in the garden with a cold beer watching the children play happily in the paddling pool. I might even get around to erecting our canvas gazebo - which is so enormous that it was visible on Google Earth for a while - so we can eat outdoors without getting frazzled. On the downside, though, there's tossing and turning in sticky sheets all night unable to get to sleep. If global warming continues, home air conditioning might become more common in England, but until then we'll have to rely on keeping the windows open and hoping for a cooling breeze.

At least running first thing means I'm likely to hit the coolest time of day, though it was still a bit on the muggy side this morning. I'm about two and a half weeks in to my current running programme now, and my fitness is improving noticeably. It seems to take me about a mile to warm up, and then I hit my stride and run quite comfortably. I'm still on run 2/walk 1 minute intervals, and I'll keep that creeping up gradually. In a few weeks my longer runs on Sundays will be far enough to head down towards the river, and I'm really looking forward to that.

Gratuitous Running Advice

2006-06-09T17:18:00.000+01:00

Here's a summary of the advice for beginners that I've posted recently. I'll aim to keep this post updated as a reference for the surprisingly steady stream of people who arrive here looking for information about beginning running.

I suppose some sort of disclaimer is appropriate. I'm not claiming to be any sort expert on running; I'm just writing about my own experience as a new runner, and summarizing things I've read elsewhere. If you follow all the advice on this site, and both your legs fall off, don't blame me. Before starting a course of exercise, or indeed anything else, you should take responsibility for your own actions :-)

Gratuitous Running Advice:

There are lots of other resources on the web for the new runner. The Serpentine Running Club in London has a particularly good selection of advice for beginners, and obviously they know vastly more about running than I do. And there are a vast number of running blogs listed at Complete Running, many of them regularly updated. And you can always start your own...

Gratuitous Running Advice, part 3: Get some good shoes

2006-06-07T14:01:00.000+01:00

You don't spend a great deal of money on running gear. Well, you can if you want to; there's all sorts of GPS tracking, heart-rate-monitoring and audio equipment you can load yourself up with if you want to. But all you really need is some comfortable clothing that isn't going to expose you to public ridicule, and some running shoes. And since running is such an inexpensive sport, compared to, say, skiing or skydiving, it's worth spending a bit of money on the shoes.

For the beginning runner, the prospect of buying some running shoes can be a bit intimidating. Here you are, currently capable of running perhaps a hundred metres in one go, and suddenly you've got to worry about baffling concepts like overpronation. It can be tempting simply to go to the first shop you find and select the first reasonably-priced pair of shoes that seem to fit. Resist this temptation. The quality of your running shoes can make a big difference to how comfortable you are, and how likely you are to get injured.

If possible, go to a specialist running shoe shop, rather than a general sports or shoe shop - a specialist shop will usually have knowledgeable staff who are interested in running. If you can get a recommendation from someone, great. Ideally, pick a time when the shop isn't too busy, and make sure you let them know that you're a new runner.

Also, be prepared to spend. Running shoes can seem expensive - mine were £85 (around US$150) - and they need replacing every 400 to 500 miles or so, but that's still a lot of running for your money, and it works out at a pretty small amount per mile. By the time you replace your first pair, you won't be a beginning runner any more.

May summary

2006-06-05T18:06:00.000+01:00

Of course, having decried an obsessive interest in how fast you're running, I'm now going to post some stats. :-)

Not terribly exciting numbers for May (though a good deal more so than for April).

Outings: 5
Total distance: 12.9 km (8.0 miles)
Total running time: 1:37
Average pace: 7:33 min/km (12:09 min/hr)

Gratuitous Running Advice, part 2: Making a Schedule

2006-06-04T16:51:00.000+01:00

If you want to stick to a regular schedule when you're beginning running, it's a lot easier if you make an advance plan of what your schedule is going to be. Here's what I've done since I restarted running a couple of weeks ago.

Firstly, decide how many times a week you want to go running. I'd say twice is probably the minimum if you want to make reasonable progress, and six times is the maximum - you need to have at least one rest day a week, since it's when you're resting that your body improves its fitness. Then plan which days you're actually going to go. I've decided on four times a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, all first thing in the morning.

Secondly, decide roughly what weekly mileage you want to aim at. The key thing here is to start low and increase gradually - your aim is to get fit while avoiding getting injured. There is a great variety of injuries you can get whilst running, and other than road rash and dog bites, they are mostly caused by doing too much too soon. A reasonable distance to start with is as far as you could comfortably walk in half an hour. For my first week I decided on a total of 10km (6 miles), so about 2.5km (1.5 miles) per outing. After that, you can increase the distance by no more than 10% per week. In fact, compound interest being what it is, I decided 7.5% per week would be a bit more sustainable. You also need to decide how to split the distance between the different days - it can be a good idea to have a longer run on one day in the week. Since my time is more limited during the week, I've decided to have a longer run on Sundays.

Thirdly, plan your routes in advance. The last thing you want when you're heading out in the morning is to be dithering about where you're going. The extremely useful Gmaps Pedometer is your friend here - you can measure routes round your neighbourhood to the nearest few metres. But you don't need to worry about running the exact distance on the schedule - a reasonable approximation will do.

Finally, don't give up on your schedule if you miss an outing or two for whatever reason. Either carry on regardless of the missed outings, or skip back a week.

Average time

2006-06-02T14:13:00.000+01:00

Quite a few people arrive at this site trying to find out the "average beginner's time" for running a mile or a kilometer, or whatever. Well, I don't really think this is something you want to worry about too much when you're beginning running. Your pace will depend on a lot of different factors - your age, general fitness and weight are three that spring to mind - but in any case you should be concentrating on running at a pace that's appropriate for you, not on trying to outperform some mythical average beginner.

For what it's worth, when I started running last year my pace was initially around a 13 minute mile, and over the first six weeks or so fell quite rapidly to a little over 10 minutes. After that it fell very gradually for the next three months, to a little under 10 minutes. This year, a week and a half after I started running again, I'm currently at about a 12 minute mile pace. For context, I'm 40 years old, a little overweight (my BMI is 26.8), and I do a fair amount of cycling. Now, in absolute terms this isn't very fast at all - a brisk walk will cover a mile in around 17 minutes; a runner finishing a 10k race in 45 minutes is running at around 7 minutes per mile.

But when you first start running, the main thing to concentrate on is improving your running fitness, and the limiting factor is getting your legs and feet strong enough to cope with the stresses and strains. Key points:

Don't run so fast that you can't talk comfortably
Start with run/walk intervals, and gradually increase the running time
Don't increase your mileage by more than 10% a week

Don't get hung up on how fast you're going - it can be interesting to keep a record and see how your pace improves, but that should be a side-effect, not a goal in itself. Your first goal as a beginning runner is to get fit for running.

Monsters

2006-05-31T14:19:00.000+01:00

This post will ramble a bit. But it will get to running in the end.

In Scotland, a popular mountaineering endeavour is to climb all the Munros, peaks over 3000 feet in height. In Colorado, where they have younger, more thrusting mountains, there are the Fourteeners, mountains over 14000 feet. There are 54 of them, and when I was living in Colorado one summer long ago, I met someone who had climbed the lot.

One day he invited me to go and climb Longs Peak with him (14,255 feet). There's no great technical challenge to Longs Peak; it's basically just a very long steep walk with fantastic views. And not quite as much oxygen as you might be used to. Not to mention the over-friendly marmots. You start at around 9,000 feet, but it still takes all day, so getting an early start is essential. There's a book you sign into at the starting point, and we were there well before dawn, but even on a weekday there were fifty people on the mountain ahead of us.

In fact our expedition had been slightly delayed by a transatlantic misunderstanding. I was living in an apartment block in Boulder that summer, and I'd told my friend that the apartment was on the first floor, meaning one floor above ground level, as is the British usage. But in the US, the first floor is the one at ground level, and I was in fact on the second floor. So my friend had spent a while poking around at ground level in the pre-dawn darkness trying to find the right door.

So to avoid causing any misunderstanding to American readers, I should explain that when my wife and I were first married, some years after I climbed Longs Peak, we lived in an apartment which in British English was on the second floor, but in American English was on the third. There was no lift, and the stairs wound upwards, giving you a fine view over neighbouring bits of Cambridge.

Often when we arrived home at this apartment, we noticed a particular phenomenon, which we christened the getting-out-of-the-car-monster. We would get home with a carload of shopping, turn off the engine, and...just sit there for a bit, perhaps talking, perhaps just enjoying the peace and quiet. There was a definite reluctance to actually get out of the car and face the prospect of heaving our bags of shopping all the way up the stairs. We attributed this to the getting-out-of-the-car-monster, which had noticed our arrival, and even now was lurking behind a nearby bush, ready to attack as soon as we foolishly opened the car doors. So we had better just sit there comfortably for a while until he got bored and went away. Eventually, of course, we would muster the energy to get out of the car, grab the shopping, and trudge over to the building entrance and up all those stairs.

A few years after that, we moved to our present house, where we can park just outside the front door, and the getting-out-of-the-car-monster disappeared from our lives.

Runners, however...well, some runners, anyway...well, runners like myself, at least, have a similar challenge to face on early morning runs: the getting-out-of-the-house monster. There he is, lurking just outside, waiting for any unsuspecting runner who ventures out at such a ridiculous hour. Much better to stay indoors. Preferably in bed.

There are various ways of dealing with the getting-out-of-the-house monster. The two I'm currently using are, firstly having a morning routine which involves getting up at the same time whether or not I'm going running, and secondly, sleeping in my running gear. And it's working reasonably well so far. Of course, I have extra motivation to get up early on non-running days, because it's a vital opportunity to deal with certain dull but necessary domestic tasks while the children are still asleep. And on running days, it definitely helps to get in the mood if I wake up already wearing my running gear. Though not the shoes, obviously. My wife would probably object to that.

So if you're planning to go running first thing in the morning, be aware of the getting-out-of-the-house-monster, and develop strategies to deal with him. Because once you actually get out there, and are striding along breathing in lungfuls of the invigorating (and, today, surprisingly chilly) morning air, then the getting-out-of-the-house-monster will vanish away like the phantasm that he is.

Rainy

2006-05-29T10:14:00.000+01:00

Of course being a bank holiday it's now tipping it down. And to reinforce the British public holiday stereotype, I have some shelves to put up.

Sunny

2006-05-29T09:16:00.000+01:00

Running on a sunny spring morning is just fantastically gorgeous. The warmth of the sunshine, the birds singing, the little white puffy clouds floating along - and a minute's break from running every 90 seconds. Hello trees, hello sky. It's great to be alive.

Easy like Sunday morning

2006-05-28T09:40:00.000+01:00

A gentle but very pleasant run/walk this morning, round the slightly longer loop. I felt as if I could have gone on for some time, though a minute running then a minute walking isn't too challenging. Sunday morning is definitely a good time to go out. I'll increase the running interval by half a minute a week until I get to run 4/walk 1, then by a minute a week until I get to 10/1. And I'll gently increase the overall distance, too - no more than 10% a week is a popular rule of thumb.

One thing that slightly concerns me is that my standard route is on surfaces that all slope gently down to the left, which is probably doing something funny to my running form. Perhaps I should cross over to the other side of the road to spend a bit of time running on a surface that slopes the other way, or perhaps I should just run down the flat middle of the road, if there's not too much traffic about. Hmm.

Rain

2006-05-26T13:41:00.000+01:00

I don't open the curtains upstairs when I get up to go running, so as not to disturb my snoozing family, and the bathroom window is frosted, so it wasn't until I came downstairs this morning, already in my running gear, that I noticed that it was raining.

I uttered a word with a distinguished Anglo-Saxon heritage which I won't repeat here.

I peered out the front door. It wasn't tremendously heavy rain, but it was certainly more determined than drizzle. Well, I decided, I could be more determined than drizzle, too. So I headed out. It was surprisingly pleasant, and not at all cold, though I did manage to tread in a cunningly concealed puddle in Gilbert Road. With both feet.

The forecast for Saturday isn't great, either, which is a pity, as I'd planned to spend the afternoon relaxing on Jesus Green at the beer festival with the children playing happily on the bouncy castle. Standing huddled in a muddy marquee watching the rain come down probably won't be their idea of fun.

Stiff

2006-05-25T07:28:00.000+01:00

Oooh, a bit stiff this morning. So I'll give it a rest until tomorrow. There's a lot of good stuff about beginning running on the Serpentine Running Club's site, and in particular this programme for beginners which is based on listening to your body - deciding each day's activity on whether you feel tired from the day before. I don't feel exactly tired, but definitely a bit stiff. So I'll leave going out again until tomorrow morning.

A key feature of my new running schedule is that it involves getting up at the same time whether or not I'm going running. If I can stick to it, this means that the choice isn't "Should I stay in this nice warm bed for half an hour or should I drag myself out onto the cold, damp streets of Cambridge?", but rather "Should I go for a nice invigorating run, or should I do the ironing?" We'll see how it goes.

Back on the road

2006-05-24T13:52:00.000+01:00

I've decided to start running again. I made this decision yesterday evening, during a game of tag in the back garden with the children. Although I could still comfortably out-pace the one-year-old, I was having a harder time keeping ahead of the four-year-old. And things were, well, wobbling rather a lot.

So it was up at the crack of 6:45 this morning to return to my old plodding ground, the short loop around the nearby streets. I took it gently, stretching before and after, walking for a bit to warm up, and trundling gently along with run 1/walk 1 intervals. I haven't retained a great deal of residual fitness from last year's running; I was going about as fast I did after my first week of running. But I suppose that's only to be expected.

It's always a good idea to write your goals down, so here are mine:

Short term: Go running at least three times a week throughout June. Actually I'm hoping for four times a week, including one longer run at weekends.

Medium term: Run the short loop (2.36k) without stopping. As before I'll extend the intervals gradually until I get there.

Long term: Run 10k without stopping. And I'm going to do this before I even think about running in a 10k race.

Gratuitous Running Advice, part 1

2006-03-28T18:14:00.000+01:00

1. Do some walking first.

While I'm in an advice-dispensing sort of mood, here's the first part of an occasional series for the new runner. This advice isn't based on any great expertise, just on my own experience of beginning running, and a distillation of assorted websites. Follow it at your own risk!

So, here's the first thing: Get some walking done before you start on the actual running. If you haven't done any running before, then it's going to come as a bit of a surprise to your legs. They're going to say, "You expect us to do WHAT?", and they're going to say it loudly. So you need to get them used to the idea gradually, and walking is an excellent way of doing this.

In the longer term, your running isn't going to be constrained by how good your lungs, heart and muscles are at expending energy. Rather, the limiting factor is going to be how good your joints, bones and tendons are at coping with the strain that running puts on them. Joints and so on strengthen much more gradually than your muscular fitness improves, so it's very important to give them time to catch up. This is the reason that about 93% of running blog postings consist of runners complaining about their latest injury. Starting with walking is a great way to help avoid these sorts of problems.

You should aim to walk for around 20 to 30 minutes a day, five or six days a week, for at least a couple of weeks before you do any running at all. You don't need any special equipment, just some reasonably comfortable shoes - they don't have to be running shoes. Aim for a brisk but comfortable pace. If you can't do both, just go with comfortable.

One problem with walking, it must be admitted, is that it's really pretty dull - when you actually start running, it's going to be a lot more fun. But there are various ways of counteracting this - you could find a friend to walk with, or you could just relax and enjoy the natural world around you: the singing birds, the rustle of the breeze (or, on my walk this lunchtime, gale) in the trees, and so on. And then, of course, there's always the iPod. But just one word of warning - you may feel that you're quite capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time, but walking and fiddling with your Nano is a little more challenging. It's all too easy, as I found out today, for the slippery little fellow to escape from your grasp, dangle tantalisingly for a moment at the end of the headphone cable, before finally parting company with the jack and falling onto the hard, hard ground, irreversibly scratching its formerly beautiful, unsullied casing. Still works, though, at least.

Inappropriate Playthings for Toddlers

2006-03-27T18:23:00.000+01:00

Part of the fun of blogging is that it gives you an opportunity to dispense advice and opinions on anything that takes your fancy. So here is some parenting advice based on my recent experience. I do NOT recommend either of the following items as playthings for toddlers:

1) A bag of lentils

A large bag of dried lentils is an interesting tactile experience for an infant. Their attention will probably be engaged for several minutes as they prod and poke the bag, appreciate its texture and listen to the interesting sounds that it makes. You will probably feel that the bag is securely fastened, and that this is a harmless activity for your child. However, you are wrong.

Several thousand lentils spilling out onto the kitchen floor make a very special sort of noise. It is a noise that tells you that various sorts of unpleasantness are coming your way. Firstly, there is the necessity to remove your toddler from the large pile of lentils that he or she is now gleefully running his or her fingers through. He or she will not be pleased about this. Then you have the tedious task of rounding up all the errant lentils, many of which will have skittered a considerable distance across your kitchen. Even so, you know that some of them will have found places of concealment in which they will lurk, gradually shrivelling, for years.

2) A bunch of keys

Superficially, a bunch of keys can be an attractive plaything for a toddler. They are bright and shiny, come in different shapes and sizes, and make an interesting noise when shaken. Furthermore, since your toddler probably doesn't get to play with keys all that much, they have the bonus of novelty value. When you've just returned home, laden down with heavy bags of shopping, you will often have a bunch of keys in your hand, and it can be tempting to let your toddler play with them for a few minutes, while you unpack everything and sort it out.

Resist this temptation.

A determined toddler can put on a surprising burst of speed, and prove remarkably inventive in finding unusual places to conceal your keys. You may not notice that there is a problem until some time after the jangling noise has stopped. Even an extensive search, involving the unpleasant necessity of rummaging through the garbage, may prove unsuccessful. It is quite possible that your keys will not reappear until about a week after you have given up and had a new set made, at considerable inconvenience and expense.

Coming next: a post about running.

Happy New Year

2006-01-31T13:58:00.000Z

Don't you hate those postings that go "Wow, I haven't updated my blog for a while..."? I suppose this is mainly because they're ususally the final posting on a blog that's died.

Wow, I haven't updated my blog for a while. I suppose this is mainly because I haven't been doing any running. As Christmas approached I was very busy - or, as my father puts it in his comment to my previous posting, lazy. (Though if I were to follow his running career, I'd be scheduled to do no running at all for the next fifteen years or so, so I don't entirely see what he's complaining about. Hi, Dad!) Anyway, since I hadn't put enough preparatory mileage in, I decided not to do the Ely 10k on New Year's Eve, and I've done almost no running this year.

On the bright side, this does give me the opportunity to experience the Running for Beginners process all over again, and write something that might conceivably be of interest to the (remarkably steady) trickle of visitors who come to this site looking for information about beginning running.

So here goes...(again)...

I was sick

2005-11-28T13:59:00.000Z

I was sick, but now I'm well again, and there's running to be done.

After an extended non-running period whilst suffering from a bout of nasty seasonal ailments, I went out for the first time in nearly two weeks this morning. It's reassuring that I haven't forgotten how; I managed my fourth fastest time for the short loop. But the 10k is only five weeks away now, and I've got a lot of catching up to do. On the bright side I was perfectly comfortable running in a temperature of about 4C (39F). Well, perhaps that's a slight exaggeration; at least I didn't notice any bits turning blue and dropping off.

Emergency stop

2005-11-04T13:08:00.000Z

I wasn't supposed to be running today, but a combination of heavy rain, lack of sleep and a funny twinge in my right foot (which has since gone away entirely) had kept me from going out on Thursday, so out I went this morning, just for 3k. A fine morning, and quite a reasonable run, until I got about half way round when a pressing problem came to my attention. I'd eaten an excellent dinner the previous evening, and, well, nature had taken its course. Jeanne describes the problem with her customary eloquence. Although today was my 40th outing since I started running, I haven't encountered this particular challenge before. Perhaps my gradually increasing pace is having a more, um, unsettling effect.

Things grew increasingly desperate as I approached Gilbert Road. I stopped running entirely, hoping that if I walked slowly home I might have some chance of making it. For a while it looked like I might be OK, but a little way up Gilbert Road the problem reasserted itself with increasing urgency. I began to think of people I knew who lived nearby, and while there were a couple of possibilities, I couldn't really imagine either of them welcoming an unannounced sweaty apparition on their doorstep at 7am demanding an immediate favour. Then, in what I can only describe as a flash of genius, I remembered the nearby Chesterton Sports Centre, which by happy coincidence opens at 7am. I shuffled uncomfortably along their ludicrously long approach road, finally making it with only moments to spare.

Phew.

I ran the rest of the way home in a subdued frame of mind.

The training schedule lists a 5k run for tomorrow. I shall be taking steps to prevent a recurrence.

October summary

2005-11-01T09:00:00.000Z

12 outings in October, out of my target of 16. Rather a patchy picture earlier on, but picking up a bit towards the end of the month:

I think the 10k schedule should keep me on track. My average pace in October was 6:20/km, against 6:34/km in September. It was pretty constant over the month, though:

That quicker one was the first time I'd run the short loop with only a minute walking.

First 4k

2005-10-30T18:14:00.000Z

So following the schedule I did my longest run so far yesterday, an epic 4k. It was surprisingly hard work, and I thought that I was going rather slower than usual, though it turned out to be pretty much my usual pace. I've switched to a new route for these longer runs, down through Chesterton towards the ~~Pike & Eel~~Penny Ferry and along the river. I absolutely love the river, and it was particularly gorgeous yesterday, with the morning sunshine, the sparkling water, the autumn leaves. Unfortunately it takes about 1.95k to get there, so I turned around and came back almost immediately. Next Saturday it's 5k, though, so I'll get beyond the railway bridge. On the way out I met a group of four fit-looking young runners striding purposefully along in the other direction. One of them wished me a cheery "Good morning!", encouraging me to think that I actually look like something a runner, rather than just a sweaty bloke in a hurry. I expect it's the Asics that make the difference.

One other noticeable feature of the new route is that I was a good deal more comfortable running on a surface that slopes down to the left, rather than one that slopes down to the right. Either my left leg is slightly longer than my right, or fact that my standard route is left-sloping has had some subtle effect on my running form. I'll have to try running it the other way round next time.

10k Schedule

2005-10-27T13:46:00.000+01:00

OK, so after a fair amount of googling I've found a training schedule that I like (though I've cunningly mislaid the link). Distances in kilometres.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
31 Oct	3	3		3		5
7 Nov	4	3		4		6
14 Nov	5	4		5		7
21 Nov	5	4		5		7
28 Nov	6	4		6		8
5 Dec	6	5		6		8
12 Dec	7	5		7		8
19 Dec	7	5		8		9
26 Dec	7	5		3		10

Most 10k schedules include complicated things like intervals and cross-training, but since my main objective here is simply to finish the race, increasing my stamina with lots of plain old running seems like a good bet. I cycle to and from work, so that's kind of cross-training.

Lets hope I can get up early enough to get all the running done...

Goals

2005-10-26T13:29:00.000+01:00

October goals:

~~Run the short loop with only one minute walking~~

Done. And in my fastest time yet, the first time I've run faster than a 10 min/mile pace.
But I won't make my other October goals. I haven't been out often enough to make 16 outings this month, and I haven't been doing one longer run per week, either. I'll need to stick to a more consistent schedule to get the most out of the Ely 10k.

Nine and a half weeks

2005-10-25T13:28:00.000+01:00

A really good run this morning, though it is getting seriously dark in the mornings now. I went out at 6.45am, very nearly a full hour before sunrise. I'll have to get a back-lit watch; I was having to peer hard to make out the time as I passed under the streetlights. And I failed to notice a large puddle lurking on Milton Road. Things should improve for a while at least when the clocks go back next week.

With the Ely 10k nine and a half weeks away I'll need to start doing longer runs. I ran the very-nearly-3k route this morning, in 18:30. That scales up to 63:08 for 10k, though of course it would be a bit slower than that. My race goal is simply to finish, though if I can (i) run all the way and (ii) beat 60 minutes I'll be well pleased. My intervals are run 7/walk 1 now; after I get to 10/1 I'll stop walking entirely. And that'll be quite a milestone.

I know my race number already: 133. They simply allocate them sequentially. There were 561 finishers last year (of whom 471 finished in under an hour). I'm pleased to see that the route passes through the small fenland village of California.

First Race

2005-10-24T10:18:00.000+01:00

In a sudden fit of something or other, I have entered my first ever race, the Ely New Year's Eve 10k. So that's 68 days to get ready. Oooer!

Motivation

2005-10-19T13:57:00.000+01:00

So, the week before last I went running three times. Last week I went running once. And as you can see I didn't update the blog at all. When you haven't been out one day, it's easier to stay in the next day too.

So I have a new rule. At least one kilometer of running for every unit of alcohol. As well as providing motivation, this rule has the advantage of being calorie-neutral - it takes about 80 calories to run 1km, which is around what you get from one unit.

Since adopting this rule, I have been out running every single day. All both of them.

Almost like running

2005-10-05T08:44:00.000+01:00

This week I'm doing 5/1 run/walk intervals, which is an awful lot like, well, running. My standard short loop run takes around 15 minutes (plus stretching/warm-up/cool-down time), so I have only two one-minute walking intervals, and it's very comfortable - it feels like I could quite happily run the whole lot now. But I'm resisting the temptation to push things too quickly. I read somewhere that a lot of running beginners pick up injuries after about three months; your bones and joints take longer to adapt than your muscles.

But I've already come quite a long way. Ten weeks ago I couldn't run for more than about a minute at a time. And I was seven or eight pounds heavier. At this rate I might actually be approaching fitness by the time I'm 40 next February.

September summary; October goals

2005-10-02T19:20:00.000+01:00

September summary
Only 11 outings in September, one fewer than August, but I did run further and faster, covering a total of 27km in just under three hours total running time. My average mile pace for the month was 10:34, compared to 11:10 in August.

October goals

Go running on at least 16 days, i.e. more days running than not. But at
least one rest day per week.
Run the short loop (2.36km) with only one minute walking. I should be able to achieve this by increasing my running intervals by one minute per week.
One longer outing each week, increasing from 3k to 4.5k over the month

2005 goals

Run the short loop without stopping
Run 5 miles

Goals before I'm 40 on 9 February 2006

Run the short loop faster than 9 min/mile
Run 10k

Before sunrise

2005-09-28T09:48:00.000+01:00

The cold seems to be on the way out now, so I was back running again this morning. Two more running firsts today; first time I've gone running before sunrise, and first time I've run 4/1 intervals.

Dawn is a lovely time of day. A fantastic clear crisp blue sky, with a tiny bright moon hanging overhead, and the first rays of the sun shining on the rooftops. Bleedin' chilly, though. Allegedly 7°C, though I'm surprised it was as much as that. Gloves. I need gloves.

Despite the longer intervals, I was no quicker than last week, but it felt very comfortable - indeed I feel like I could run the whole way round without stopping now (for the 2.36 km loop, at least). But I'll keep on increasing the intervals gradually.

Cold

2005-09-26T13:37:00.000+01:00

After a wildly enthusiastic four consecutive morning runs last week, it was time for a lie-in this morning. I've had a bit of a cold for the last couple of days; nothing as severe as the lying-in-bed-feeling-sorry-for-myself kind, but enough to be snuffling, feeling a bit lethargic, and taking the occasional paracetamol. Well, Tesco flu strength caplets, in fact, which also feature some yummy phenylephrine hydrochloride decongestant. Oh, and caffeine. Ho ho.

Perhaps I'll go running tomorrow morning, and suddenly feel enthused with a rush of endorphins. Or perhaps it'll aggravate my cold into full-blown bubonic plague. Or perhaps I'll stay in bed.

Anyway, all this idle speculation is merely a ploy to do something other than sort out my tax return, which I brought in today so that I could work on it at lunchtime. In fact I nearly provoked a security incident by leaving my bag unattended in a corridor. "Sorry I couldn't complete my tax return, but the documents were destroyed in a controlled explosion".

Three in a row

2005-09-22T09:47:00.000+01:00

Out this morning for the third day in a row, another running first. The last wisps of dawn were just fading from the sky as I went out; it won't be that long until I'm out before sunrise. On a good day I start my run at 6:45; in the depths of winter, sunrise in Cambridge is at 8:10. I expect it'll be a bit chilly, too.

Feeling very good today, much better than the previous few runs. I'm still on the shorter loop, with 3/1 run/walk intervals, but in a few runs time I'll go back to the longer loop.

Short loop again

2005-09-21T08:57:00.000+01:00

Out again this morning, another short loop. Feeling much better now, though still taking it gently.

However, I am suffering from a significant amount of Gadget Lust. I definitely want a Forerunner. And I probably want an iPod Nano, though I'm not quite so sure about this one. And I've been thinking about a new bike, too. Decisions, decisions...

Ouch

2005-09-20T09:07:00.000+01:00

Well, I won't be writing any smug posts about quitting caffeine any time soon. On Saturday I had the most crushing headache I can remember having for a very long time, and had to retire to bed and whimper. Slightly mysteriously it didn't go away when I gave in and had some coffee, either. Anyway, for now it's back to two cups a day, and I'll try tapering off more gradually.

Out again this morning for a very gentle couple of k. Shins behaving themselves at the moment (if that's not tempting fate).

Last cuppa

2005-09-16T09:20:00.000+01:00

The final cup of coffee of my decaffeination plan sits steaming on my desk. If all goes well then around this time next week I'll be writing a smug post entitled How I Quit Caffeine In 14 Days With No Headaches.

Dragged myself out for a run this morning, though wasn't really in the mood. Went back to the slightly shorter route, and slightly easier intervals. It was OK, but far from fantastic. I just need to get out a bit more regularly. Here's a graph of my outings so far, showing the mile pace of each one. As you can see they're slightly less frequent in the fortnight than previously, and my rapidly accelerating pace from the first few weeks has pretty much levelled off. So that's the low-hanging fruit eaten, then.

While I've made some progress towards my goal of running 10k without stopping, I haven't shed a great deal of weight so far, so I suspect I'm going to have to take further measures. Historically I've only found two effective ways of losing weight: (i) visit a third world country for at least a month; (ii) stop drinking alcohol. One of these isn't really an option. So, off to Zambia, then.

Beaten up

2005-09-13T07:09:00.000+01:00

I was feeling surprisingly beaten up yesterday after the morning's run. Right hamstring, right shin, right big toe and left lower back were all expressing some sort of disapproval, and I felt more than usually tired in the afternoon. Nothing was actually hurting, but I was aware of it. Rest day today, then we'll see how things are tomorrow. Perhaps I'm running in a lopsided way.

Caffeine fade continues on track; no ill effects so far.

Back on the road

2005-09-12T09:03:00.000+01:00

Back on the road (well, mostly the pavement) this morning, after four days Not Running - largely due to a number of, um, social events making it harder to get out of bed in the mornings. And first thing in the morning really is the only time of day that I can realistically get any running done; the rest of the day is busy with work or family, or I've just eaten.

At least I was a bit faster this time; each of my previous two outings had been slower than its predecessor. Increasing the intervals to 3.5/1 run/walk probably helped a bit.

In other health news, I'm definitely going to give up caffeine this week. Oh yes. But I'm not doing it the hard way - indeed, there's a cup of filter coffee gently steaming on my desk as I type. Instead, I'm going for the taper approach - half a cup less per day, until it's down to zero. I started last week on five cups a day; today it'll be two and a half (I don't count weekends, when I always drink less anyway); on Friday I'll have my last half cup. And then we'll see if it's any easier getting out of bed.

Visitors

2005-09-07T13:54:00.000+01:00

Since installing a site meter on this page, it's been interesting to see where my visitors have been coming from. So far it's a fairly even divide between search engine results and referrals from the Running Blog Family Directory. And I see I've even got an RSS subscriber at Bloglines (Hi Matt!). I seem to be much more popular with non-Google search engines; I'm already up to tenth spot for "running for beginners" on Yahoo, but I'm nowhere on Google (no doubt reflecting their superior algorithm). However, thanks to a typo in the RBF directory I'm already at number one for "running for begginers". Such is fame.

I see that one visitor was searching for "recommend running shoes overweight". Thanks, buddy. Well, as I've said, I'm very happy with my GT-2100s, and if I can lose another 7kg then I'm sure I'll be happy to recommend them for non-overweight use too.

Longer route

2005-09-06T08:05:00.000+01:00

So, 2.93km in 19:30 this morning; crossed Milton Road without even coming close to being run over; felt very comfortable. I took it fairly gently, hoping not to upset my shin - no complaints so far, but apparently it usually takes a while. I upped the intervals to run 3 walk 1, with no problems at all - indeed once or twice I forgot to stop running after three minutes. I'm fairly confident now that I could run 5k without falling over, though I'd probably still be walking a bit of it. Onward...

Shin whinge

2005-09-05T13:25:00.000+01:00

Hmm. My right shin isn't exactly hurting, but it's making its presence felt a little more than the left one. "Hi. I'm your shin. Remember me? I'm not exactly wild about this running business that I'm suddenly supposed to cope with three or four times a week."

It was fine when I went out on Saturday, but was nagging quietly for most of Sunday. As I say, it's not hurting exactly, just sort of muttering at my nervous system in a slightly threatening way. At the moment it's fine - though I didn't go running this morning, mostly because of the thunderstorm. Another factor was that I'm feeling a little sleep-deprived at the moment; our next door neighbour has been away for a few days, and her 17-year-old son has been making the most of the partying opportunity.

Anyway, on Saturday as expected I completed my 2.36km in under 15 minutes, so it's time to extend the route a little. After a bit of fiddling about with Gmaps pedometer I've added a segment that goes down Chesterton Hall Crescent and back up Herbert Street, for a total of 2.93km. This does involve crossing Milton Road twice, but I'm hoping this won't be too challenging in the early morning. I'll need to be doing nearly a 5 minute kilometer pace before the route will need extending again, which I expect will be a while, particularly if my shin doesn't settle down. Time will tell.

August summary

2005-09-01T17:36:00.000+01:00

The end of my first full month of running. I went out on twelve occasions, and covered a grand total of 21.5km in just under two and a half hours total running time - that doesn't include warm-up/cool-down. I know some people do longer runs than that several times a week, but on the other hand I have improved my mile pace by more than two and a half minutes this month, which I'm sure is more than most runners can say.

Round again

2005-08-31T07:44:00.000+01:00

It's going to be hot today, but was still pleasantly cool at 6:40. Last night we had a picnic on Castle Hill and watched the rather lovely sunset; this morning the sun was up before I was, and busy burning away the early morning mist as I went out. But it won't be all that long until I'll be getting up in the dark.

Another slightly faster run this morning, and with a time of 15:02 it probably won't be long until I'm faster than 15 minutes and need to extend the route a bit. Ultimately I'd like to get as far as the river on my standard morning route, and perhaps have one longer run each week along the towpath.

It was noticeable this morning that the local spider population, obviously bored of their usual diet of flies, moths and the occasional wasp, had decided to spice it up a bit by trying to capture an early-morning runner or two. There were strands of web strung across the path all over the place. However, this is one area in running where being a bit overweight is an advantage, and I managed to battle through without being trapped. I'm sure the little eight-legged monsters were sitting in the trees thinking how much good eating there was on me.

Warm running

2005-08-29T10:19:00.000+01:00

And this morning's running first was: the warmest temperature I've run in yet, around 20C. It was noticeably harder work than running in 10C, though upping the intervals to 2.5 run/1 walk certainly contributed. The walking minutes seemed to last about ten seconds each.

Despite being a bank holiday, it's looking like being a fantastic day today.

Two days running

2005-08-27T08:28:00.000+01:00

This morning was the first time I've been out running on two consecutive days. It was also the first time that I haven't run faster than my previous outing. Coincidence? Probably not. I did see some other runners this morning who were in even less good shape than me. That's another first!

It's probably a good thing not to try to speed up on every outing. I really need to work on stamina first, and increase the run/walk ratio of my intervals. All the beginners guides stress the importance of building up slowly and gradually.

There's a lot of good advice out there for beginners:

1) Get some good running shoes from a good running shoe shop. I went to Sweatshop, where they certainly appear to know what they're talking about; they got me to run barefoot over a magic device that detects how your feet move, then I tried out the shoes on a treadmill (perspiring profusely!). I came away with a pair of Asics GT-2100s, and I'm very happy with them - they're probably half a size bigger than I would have chosen on my own, but this is definitely a good thing; they're very comfortable. They weren't particularly cheap, but you don't need to spend money on much else. The Forerunner can wait for a few months.

2) Walk for three or four weeks first. Dull, but important for building strength and avoiding injury when you start running.

3) Stretch before each run. Warm up with a few minutes walking. Cool down afterwards with a few more minutes walking. Stretch again at the end.

4) Don't try to build up too quickly. Start with running/walking intervals and build up gradually. Run at "talking pace" - not so fast that you couldn't hold a conversation. I'm not very good at doing this, and have a tendency to go too fast.

5) Make sure you take rest days - three or four days running a week is plenty to begin with.

6) If you're going out first thing in the morning - which is a great time to run - put all your kit out the night before. My brain usually wakes up about two minutes into the run, and I'm on autopilot while I'm getting up. The other day I found myself putting my walking boots on by mistake. The more you can do to simplify the process of getting out of the house, the better. I've even heard it suggested that you should sleep in your running gear!

7) If it hurts, stop until it doesn't.

8) Stick with it for a few weeks. I found it quite hard to begin with, but it gets easier fairly quickly and becomes very enjoyable. I wasn't hooked after a week of running - hence the hiatus while we were away on holiday - but I think I'm pretty much hooked now.

Cool running

2005-08-26T07:28:00.000+01:00

In contrast to recent days, I had no trouble at all getting up at 6.30 this morning to go running, despite having been up until midnight clearing up after a most enjoyable dinner party. I'm sometimes a little, um, tired on Friday mornings following the Thursday dinner party, but I think my zealous running enthusiasm moderated my wine intake. Expect I'll feel it later, though.

A definite chill in the air this morning, though still quite comfortable running weather. But I'm going to need something a little warmer as winter approaches; gloves, in particular, when it gets really cold. Is it possible to buy running gear that doesn't have company logos all over it? Most of my kit comes from a closing-down sale at that sports shop in Lion Yard (which seems to specialise in closing-down sales), and it's adorned with a variety of corporate insignia. This morning I had Nike shorts, an Umbro top, and somebody else's socks. As well as not being a very harmonious assemblage, I'd prefer to be wearing kit that wasn't advertising sportswear companies. I can't imagine the sportswear companies are particularly desperate for the endorsement of an overweight 39-year-old software developer, either.

Another very pleasant run, and continuing to get easier. The running intervals didn't seem so long, and the walking ones were quite long enough. I think I'll be ready for 2.5/1 intervals next week.

2.36km in 15:34; run 2 walk 1

2005-08-24T09:00:00.000+01:00

It's great, being a beginner at running. Once you've done the walking, bought the shoes, and taken that first running stride - which rather reminded me of jumping into a cold swimming pool - then it just gets better and better. Every run is a personal record of some sort; this morning I knocked 35 seconds off my mile pace, without particularly trying to. I can feel myself getting stronger from run to run, as my metabolism responds to this strange new activity, and the feeling after each run is just fantastic. Last night I was like a little kid on Christmas eve - I kept waking up and looking at the clock to see if it was time to go running yet.

There's something new on each outing. Today was the first time I've run a loop, rather than out-and-back, and also the first route that hasn't been completely flat. I was surprised how much difference a bit of uphill made (this is Cambridge, it was pretty gentle really), and also how much more uphill than downhill there seemed to be.

Of course, it's very early days - tomorrow it'll be a month since my first run, and (since I didn't do any running on holiday) I've had a grand total of just eleven outings so far. There's a long, long way to go to my first objectives, which are to lose 15 pounds and to get fit enough to run 10k without stopping. All the beginner guides stress the importance of building up slowly and taking plenty of rest days. Occasionally I'll catch a glimpse of myself reflected in a window, and it's not a pretty sight. But I am starting to believe that I really can turn into a runner.

Blimey.

1.95 km in 13:30; run 2 walk 1

2005-08-22T08:20:00.000+01:00

...which is an 11:11 mile pace, it says here, though admittedly only for just over a mile. And I've upped the intervals to two minutes running (which seemed a very long time) followed by one minute walking (which went by very quickly). It felt like quite hard work, but I also felt I could have gone on for a while. A little bit further tomorrow, to see if we can settle on a route that takes somewhere between 15 and 20 minutes.

First Saturday run

2005-08-20T10:42:00.000+01:00

Hmm, I must be getting keener on this running lark if it gets me out of the house by 8am on a weekend morning. Same route & intervals again, ever so slightly further this time, to outside number 5. But it's a bungalow with quite a long frontage, so this is at least a noticeable advance on number 7. Oh yes.

I think I'll try 2/1 minute run/walk intervals next week, and vary the routine a little bit - at the moment I'm running faster for the first half to see how far I get, then pootling back very gently - not that my outbound pace is very much more than a pootle. So instead I'll do the warm-up walk to the top of Leys Avenue, then run to some fixed point and back again, then cool-down walk back home. I'll have a play with the Gmaps pedometer to pick some suitable point, but I'll aim for between 15 and 20 minutes in addition to warm-up/cool-down. Hopefully it won't be that long before I can manage a Milton Rd/Gilbert Rd/Carlton Way loop in this time.

Rain

2005-08-19T07:54:00.000+01:00

I'm not going running in that.

Actually it's nearly stopped now.

Getting out of bed

2005-08-18T08:11:00.000+01:00

Same schedule this morning, but got just a little bit further before turning round at 9 minutes - this time to outside number 7 Hurst Park Avenue. At this rate I'll be reaching Milton Road next week.

Had a good deal of trouble getting out of bed this morning, though, despite Radio 3 playing some fairly vigorous "waking-up music". I suspect the 5am child incident didn't help. Once up, though, gorgeous misty morning clearing to blue skies, etc, etc. And running does make you feel good. Especially when you stop.

On the way home I met the lovely little old lady who delivers our morning paper, and who's been doing so like clockwork for a good while now. But she told me that she may be stopping, because they want to pay her by bank deposit rather than cash in hand, and she's worried about tax. I'm sure she's not going to be paying any, but it clearly worries her. I hope this doesn't mean that we'll be going back to a random selection of teenagers who have trouble getting out of bed in the mornings. I don't wish to disparage teenagers in general - I'm sure there are some who are reliable and conscientious. But we've never had one delivering our paper.

Commute

2005-08-16T13:16:00.000+01:00

A bit of a stroll this morning to go and retrieve my bike from the bike shop, which has relocated from Arbury Court to Green End Road. Gorgeous morning sunshine, the bike bloke opening his shop on time, and a gentle ride over the Green Dragon bridge, across Stourbridge and Coldhams Commons, and down past the airport. If you have to commute, it doesn't get much better than this. Think I might go back the long way along the river this evening.

Mind you, I think it's curtains for the other bike. After struggling with it for an hour at the weekend, I realised that the back axle seems to have suffered some terminal internal structural failure. Given that, the slightly bent front wheel, and the fact that I never liked it very much anyway (it was always a bit ridiculous owning a mountain bike in East Anglia), it's time to consider a replacement.

Good old 5W, [1.5R, 1W] x 4, 3W again

2005-08-15T08:16:00.000+01:00

Well, managed a grand total of no running whatsoever while we were away on holiday, even though the house had a mini-gym in the basement complete with treadmill. But funnily enough after staying up into the early hours with my fellow-holidaymakers, I couldn't quite motivate myself to go running at 6.30am. And during the rest of the day we were, well, busy with children, or eating, or drinking.

It doesn't seem to have set me back too much, though - despite last week's excesses, I've lost 1.5kg in the past fortnight, and this morning's run was certainly no harder than the previous one. I even got very slightly further, to outside no 17. Onwards...

5W, [1.5R, 1W] x 4, 3W again

2005-08-05T07:47:00.000+01:00

Fearlessly out in the rain this morning. Well, quite heavy drizzle, anyway. Got as far as outside 25 Hurst Park Ave - which reflects the addition of the five minute warm-up walk, rather than any enormous increase in speed.

Right, packing.

5W, [1.5R, 1W] x 4, 3W

2005-08-03T07:39:00.000+01:00

...i.e. five minute warm-up walk, four lots of run one and a half minutes, walk one minute, then three minutes cool-down walk. It's feeling marginally easier now; I might upgrade to one-and-three-quarter minutes next week. Oooh, the excitement.

I'm still pretty glad I'm doing this first thing in the morning when there are few people about to witness my shuffling, wobbly progress. No doubt when I'm striding along with the wind in my heels in a few months time, I'll be happy to go running any time. But that seems a long way off at the moment. And it is a great way to wake yourself up.

Took a new and exciting route this morning, as I was going over to pick up the car. We are a Mostly Carless household, sharing the use of my father-in-law's car on the rare occasions when we need motorised transport. Normally I cycle to work, five miles each way, though mysteriously this hasn't prevented me being overweight and not particularly fit (hence the running). But at least it means that I have some residual level of fitness - a few weeks back I was overcome with a mad urge to walk the five miles to work, which was actually very pleasant, early on a summer's morning. It took about an hour and a half, each way, and I didn't feel at all bad the next day, apart from a little stiffness in my shins.

However, the bike became sadly unwell on the way home last night, and I haven't had time to fix it. I had a go, but something funny seems to have happened to the back wheel; eldest daughter's running commentary wasn't helping a great deal either. So it's the car to work this morning, and instead of my usual back-street run, I decided to run over to father-in-law's flat to pick it up. I thought this might leave me with a bit of extra walking to do at the other end, but in the event I ended up with distance to spare, and did a loop round the little park on Carlyle Road, much to the bemusement of a homeless gentleman slumped on a bench, and his extremely large dog.

A rest day tomorrow, then we're off on holiday on Friday. But I'll try to keep running.

Morning run

2005-08-01T07:48:00.000+01:00

Added five minutes warm-up walking this morning, as well as remembering to do some stretching. Then ten minutes of run 1.5, walk 1. Had two days off at the weekend as both my left ankle and right hamstring were feeling a bit funny, but both were fine this morning.

Third run

2005-07-29T09:37:00.000+01:00

Another ten minute outing. Not drizzling, for a change. Remembered to do stretching before setting off. Thought I'd try two minutes running and one minute walking, but it soon became apparent that I wasn't quite ready for this, so reverted to 1.5/1. However, got as far as outside 31 Highfield Avenue, so that's some sort of progress.

Second run

2005-07-27T09:36:00.000+01:00

Another ten minute outing at 6.40, again in the drizzle, this time running for a minute and a half, walking for a minute. Same route, got as far as outside number 23 Highfield Avenue. Probably ran a little more slowly this time, and felt more comfortable. Not so much of an endorphin rush this time, but still felt pretty good.

Labouring in the fields

2005-07-26T09:36:00.000+01:00

Although a rest day for running, I spent much of the day clearing scrub and banging in fenceposts at a nature reserve near Soham, as part of i2's Make A Difference programme

First run

2005-07-25T07:00:00.000+01:00

Ten minutes jogging. Well, actually about half that - a minute jogging, a minute walking. I was probably trying to run a little bit too fast, though that was still pretty slowly. And my legs were protesting a little bit, but nothing particularly painful. I went down Redfern Close, round the back of Arbury Court, and part-way down Highfield Avenue. By the end I was sweating profusely, but I felt absolutely fantastic for the rest of the morning - the endorphins kicking in, no doubt. The shoes were very comfortable.

Beforehand

2005-07-04T09:34:00.000+01:00

During the three weeks from Monday 4 July, I did twenty minutes walking every other day, as recommended here. However I got a bit bored of this, and decided to follow this programme instead. The first stage is to go jogging for ten minutes every other day. So on Monday 25 July I got up at 6.30am and went running in the drizzle at 6.40.