I'm reasonably fit but haven't run for nearly 50 years and haven't done any aerobic exercise since I stopped going to a gym over six years ago. With much encouragement from my daughter, a running enthusiast, I began the programme three weeks ago after noticing that a lot of my friends who are just a wee bit older than me are getting all sorts of aches and pains and mobility problems. I had heard that if you were going to start running it was a good idea to have begun before the age of 65. So here I am.
The first week wasn't as hard as I anticipated. The second began well but R3 was more of a struggle. Some of it was on a slight incline, which didn't help. I was finding my shins and the muscles above my knees ached badly and didn't recover properly after one day's rest. And I had refused to buy proper running shoes until I was sure I wanted to continue.
This morning, after two day's rest and wearing rather expensive shoes following gait analysis, I started Week 3 and can honestly say that this was the best and most enjoyable run yet! How much was down to the shoes, how much to improved fitness, what impact does two days rest have, who knows? I'm going to do the next run after just one day's rest and see how I feel.