Well a wee while back OldFloss asked us graduates to share how we started, and how we've progressed to help those just starting out. If you're put off by long posts best move on now...
I bought a pair of running shoes between Christmas and New Year 2017. I only really wanted a pair of really comfy shoes that actually, really fit me. I was so fed up with being different sizes in different shops.
I went along to Up and Running in Horsham and in spite of thinking it might be a bit snooty... they were lovely. Mike measured my feet, looked at my stance and my walking posture. I knew I was an overpronator from a chiropodist visit years before so was not surprised when it was confirmed.
I considered myself a size 4.5 and was put into a lovely pair of Brooks in a 5.5 and was told to go 'try' them... well I was confused. Try them? What, go outside in pristine stock shoes? Yes, he told me... its the only way.
Well I didn't really know where to go or how to run (like I knew what I was doing) but I suddenly wanted to. Those shoes felt so bouncy and light. I ran a few blocks and went back. I mentioned that they slipped on the heel a bit. We can fix that he says and changes the lace to 'heel lock' method. Now I was really floored... I had been tying my shoes for 4 decades... how did I not know this trick?
Off I went again, the same route. They felt amazing. Back at the shop, no question I was having them. I was given some leaflets on starting out running and I bought a little bottle too.
I did a few runs on my own, just 10 or 15 mins each but when I went for my regular sports massage my therapist told me off as I had several tight areas and some pain around my knees, she directed me to the C25K app and told me to follow it to the letter. (She knows what I'm like! 🤣)
So I started. We had started cycling in the April prior quite a lot so I was fairly fit. The early weeks were, I have to say, relatively easy. What was hard was doing what I was told. I did cheat a little, I would start running as soon as Sarah said get ready to run but overall I did do as asked and as the runs became longer it got harder and my sense of achievement became greater as I ticked each one off.
R5W3 was a game changer for me; I'd seen the 20 mins coming up and like so many, doubted myself. When I could see I really was going to do it I really didn't know whether to cry or laugh. I think I did both but I ended on a huge grin and couldn't stop grinning for hours. I wanted to tell everyone. I wanted to shout from the rooftops, I wanted a full page ad; I'd just run for a whole 20 minutes... non stop!
I now knew I really, really could do this. That the only thing standing in my way was my own mind. I'd been diagnosed as clinically depressed in 2009, but I've suffered really from the age of 9, it just took that long to put a name to it, and for my body to throw up enough symptoms that I actually did something about it.
I'd read, and been told previously that exercise is good for depression. I didn't really believe it until now but the benefits were obvious.
I really didn't have a long term plan but now I was determined to finish it. W9R3 was an anti-climax. I printed out my certificate and it's still on my fridge now.
Unfortunately my joy in completing was short-lived, about a week later I caught my little toe on the edge of the bed and snapped it like a pencil. 6 weeks off I was told. I really couldn't believe it.
I got through it with chair based cardio, floor workouts and a bit of cycling in wk4. Wk4 or 5 I started running on the spot gently. (Harder than it sounds) During this time I had 2 deaths to deal with and needed the release of running all the more. I got back out in week 5 gently. The toe was fine.
I hit 10k (6.2 miles) in the middle of June and kept pressing on. 9 miles by end of July... most memorable in that for various reasons I didn't do any warm down, a mistake that I paid for. I was in agony all evening, part way through dinner I had to stand up...I couldn't tell which was more uncomfortable, sitting or standing. It was a well learned lesson. I've never done that again. 🤣🤣
September I hit 11 miles but pushed too hard and could barely walk for several days and had to ease back into things very gently.
Sometime around July I had started having anxiety/panic attacks. I knew how to cope with my forms of depression. This was all new and awful, really, terrifyingly awful. I can feel my chest tighten even as I recall being frozen in Tesco not being able to move, trying to process what the hell was happening to me.
It was of course all linked to the stress relating to my mothers' death and sorting all the stuff one has to. Knowing didn't mean it stopped. Knowing didn't help at all.
I saw my GP in September and agreed to start some low dose meds. He also stressed the importance of frequent runs over distance for my mental health which was sternly backed up by my sports therapist who gave me strict instructions to not run for more than an hour in any one session.
I stuck with that through Sept, Oct, Nov and into Dec 4/5/6 mile runs 3 or 4 times a week.
I hit 515 miles by the end of the year and presented myself with a certificate I'd made to celebrate.
I got back up to 8 milers in Jan but being very careful to listen to and work with my body. My GP and I realised back in Sept there was an unconscious level of self punishment involved in my running which I didn't want to continue.
Feb 9s and hit my 1st HM (13.1 distance on an easy flattish route.
I carried on with the same sort of distances in March, April I hit 14 miles and discovered the trail shoes I'd bought were too small and lost a toenail (it is coming back slowly👍🏻). I learned from that lesson to ignore shoe sizes and only go by cms. I'd ordered 5.5 as my Brooks were perfect but the brand I chose was .5cm smaller in sizing. (Since wearing more roomy shoes I've had to buy bigger street and work shoes too, my feet simply won't tolerate smaller shoes now).
May I reached 16 miles, June 19 and yesterday I did 21.4. The majority of my long runs are trail runs and not flat at all.
I still suffer with anxiety a fair bit. I came off the meds in the new year and am mostly ok but sometimes I'll just get super wound up, doubt all my abilities and worry about stupid things. Sometimes I force myself myself out the door like it's the last thing I want to do but I always come back happy and so glad I went.
I don't enter events. Each run is an event in itself. I don't need extra pressure or nerves. I don't really want other people to run with. Sometimes I cry. Sometimes I laugh out loud, or sing, or shout, or do aeroplanes in fields or skip, jump, leap, literally act like a child, the child I still am inside.
But I'm so glad I found running and HU. So many people here have inspired me and helped me along the way.
Where next? I'm going to hang out around 20 miles for a bit, ideally one 20 miler a fortnight with 10s, 15s along the way, then see. A 20 miler is 5.5 hours out of the house and an afternoon well spent but I do have other commitments too. I'm on target to hit 1200 miles this year.
I can do 5k in under 28 mins 10k under 55 mins but I really enjoy forgetting about the pace and going for endurance. There will always be people faster than me. I found myself comparing on Strava and telling myself I should be able to go faster without any consideration for how long I'd been at it in comparison to these others so I really try hard not to compare or compete.
I run in all weathers although I'm not fond of setting off in rain. I've been out with my waterproof socks on and a rain hat in trails that were pretty much just one massive puddle or a small river. I've run in heat that I previously wouldn't have walked in.
C25K taught me that the word 'can't' really is rubbish. We are only confined by our own minds. Take control of that and you really can do anything you want 👍🏻😁
Anyone who says they "can't" run is only lying to themselves. We can all run. How fast and how far differs greatly. The only real question is should we run? If we are injured or unwell, no, we probably shouldn't. I could have run on my broken toe, people do, but I didn't because I wanted my body to heal to come back stronger than ever.
Don't let your doubts hold you back. If you're medically fit to run, just go for it, and enjoy it, even if you have to fake it for a while until you find your own enjoyment in it 👍🏻😁😉
Pondering Graduation(s)
Almost there!
Tom-tee-tom-tee-tom
Well, that was horrible!
Week 7 run 2 where to go from here?
