New Trainers

Wow good trainers cost a lot.

I bought some new running trainers over the weekend to see if it helps with the pain in my lower legs.The are a really big investment for me as I honestly cant throw that sort of money around lightly and they are now my most expensive pair of shoes.

I also paid extra for custom made inserts which I will come to in a minute.

I went to Sweatshop which is my local running shop. They also sponsor the half marathon that I am hoping to take part in early next year. They establish what the best running shoe is for you by taking you through several different exercises. 

Firstly you stand on a mirrored screen that highlights the areas of your foot that you have the most pressure on. they then take a picture of the back of your legs to see where your achilles is to also help asses you running stance. At this point they then make a custom innersole. You don't have to purchase it but they make it anyway so you can see how it feels in any shoes you try on.

The young girl that helped me showed me several different pairs a listened to me when I advised what I was looking for in my shoe. One of my requests was that it be a wide shoe. 

The first pair I tried on where very comfy. I had the opportunity to try them on a treadmill. My running was also recorded onto the computer so the staff member could show me how they preformed and point out anything that I might need to be careful of when running. 

Even though they where very comfy for a first pair I tried on. I could feel them cut slightly across the top of the toes. Normally for such a small discomfort I wouldn't worry about it, but these are suppose to the one pair of shoes I spend out on for the most comfort so I did mention the slight discomfort to her. She found me a pair which came in a wide fitting along with several other pairs that I could have tried on.

The wide fitting New Balance shoes felt extremely comfortable when I tired them on. I tried them on the treadmill and felt no pinching at all. I tried them without the custom innersoles and I could feel the difference. SO these where the ones I chose.

I didn't see much point in trying any of the others on, but the staff member would have spent as much time as I needed making sure I felt happy with my purchase. 

In the pictures below, the red innersoles are the original New Balance ones and the Pink ones are the custom made ones. I can only describe the custom made innersoles as feeling like you trusty old pair of trainers that you don't want to throw out compared the New Balance ones that obviously have that new trainer feel.

I've tried to take pictures so you can see they are made of different material. Unfortunately there not much difference visually as I have a neutral foot and pronate normally. 

Week 1 of c210k app done

I've completed the first week of training on the app.

Unfortunately I am going to have to do it again. I'm not ready to move on to week 2 yet.

In week 1 you run for 60 seconds and walk for 90 seconds.  You do this 8 times.  In week 2 you run for 90 seconds and walk for 2 minutes. 

I am still struggling to run for 60 seconds 8 times. It's not my breathing its the pain in my legs.  By the 6th time I just want to collapse and sit in the middle of the road in tears. I'm only managing about 40 seconds on the 6th 7th and 8th run. I don't see how I can push that to 90 seconds at the moment. 

Really not wanting to do myself an injury I'm not going to push it.  Hopefully another week of week 1 and I'll be ready to move forward.  At the end of the day this is the first time I've run for 15+ years.

I really need to be proud of myself for accomplishing this first week. 

I felt a bit down on my run this morning but I need to try and push that to one side.

Still going

Went cycling Monday night with H again but for some reason I found it harder this time. 

Yesterday morning I did day 2 of the c210k app. I held my iPhone this time rather than having it in a pouch on my arm.  I found this worked so much better for me.  I was able to look at it when I felt like giving up and see that I only had 15 seconds more of running and keep going. 

I did cheat a little towards the end.  On the last 2 running times I paused it and walked a little longer before starting the run. It wasn't because I was out of breath but because my legs were hurting so much.

I think a lot of the pain is down to the weight I'm carrying and the fact I'm not use to running.  Although I am also wondering if some of it is down to my trainers.  The more I read the more I understand how the trainers you wear can effect you.

Our local running store Sweatshop explains some of this and I think I'm going to have to find some money to buy a decent pair.

It's interesting seeing different people's reactions to me doing this.  On the whole people have been very supportive but there has been some that haven't even to the point of making me doubt myself.  I very much doubt I will be able to run the whole half marathon in 6 months but I hope to be able to run a big chunk of it.

Not sure what I'm doing today.  I have factored Wednesdays as either a second rest day or some sort of cross training depending on how I feel.  I might go out for a walk or something later.  I plan on running again tomorrow.

Couch to 10k iPhone app

I decided to do some research into how is best to try and train.

Most training schedule's follow a similar pattern to the couch to 5k. To be honest Thursday night when I started I probably wasn't too different with my time running to walking.  Only I had nothing telling me to start/stop and I didn't time myself.  It was primarily a session to see where I was.

I started looking at all the c25k apps on iTunes.  (My normal phone is a Samsung Galaxy tab II, far too big to take out running with me. So I dug out my old iPhone 4) While looking I happened upon the couch to 10k app I figured as I'm actually training for a half marathon this might be a better training app. From what I can see,  it starts off on a similar routine to the c25k.

Today I started day 1 week 1. I took H out with me as I really want to show her that this is a good thing to do.  (She hates running) I wish my mum had done something like this with me. I might not be in the position I'm in now if I had learnt to enjoy keeping fit and making healthy choices.  I really hope I can show H how beneficial this can be.

Honestly it was hard. It was my ankles and lower legs that took the brunt of it. I found the time in between was enough to get my breath back but not enough to stop the pains in my legs. At the forth run I was glad to hear the voice on the app tell me I was half way. It really helped keep me going.  Seconds earlier I was thinking of extending the walking and missing the next run minute.  But I didn't I kept going not wanting to cheat myself on the first day.

H on the other hand hardly ran at all. Not sure why. She's fit and healthy.  Not carrying any weight. So she should have found this exercise easy. She hates running though.  I think I heard every excuse under the sun when it came to running.  "My foot itches" "my legs itchy" "I'm hot". I wasn't running that fast so it wasn't like she couldn't keep up just by walking fast.  It was nice having the company but I'm not sure if I'll take her again.  I do feel a little upset that she couldn't get into it though.

The app was great.  It told me when to start and stop. It also told me when to warm down and for how long.  I'm not sure I will be able to progress as fast as it suggests but I will try my best.  Worse case I redo a week a bit longer.

I just wish I could get past the pain at the moment. 

Day 2

H and I went on a bike ride in the rain yesterday after she finished school we did about 3.5 miles. 

We didn't go overly fast as her bike couldn't keep up.  It took us about 30 mins including warming down and waiting to cross very busy roads.

I've said to hubby I want to drag H along regularly so she learns to enjoy keeping fit and it becomes her natural lifestyle.

I am really aching today. It's my rest day.  I will try running again tomorrow.

H kindly took some pictures of me in leggings and a vest top so I can compare before and after.  I will hopefully see some changes as the weeks go by.

Midlife Crisis

I think I'm having a midlife crisis since I turned 30.

I'm 5'4" and approximately three and a half stone over weight.

Before I fell pregnant with S I attended weight watchers for about 6 months and lost just over a stone.  I felt so much more body confident and I truly believe it was because of the weight loss that I finally fell. I suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome so had been trying since H was about a year old.

I reckon I probably weight the same as I did before weight watchers.  But dress size I've only gone back up one from the two I lost.

The most exercise I get is walking to the nearest village and back a couple of times a week at tops. Which is about 2 miles away. Very occasionally I cycle.  And as you can see from my previous blog post here I also very occasionally use the trailer with the bike.  But man that thing is heavy to pull.

So with all this in mind I decided I will run a half marathon at the beginning of March 2014.

Yes you read that right.  Like I said at the beginning. I don't think I'm of sound mind. I hate running always have.  I remember hating running when I was 7 and I did my first school sports day. I was always last.

H's school PTA did the half marathon last year to raise funds for the PTA and their charity PACT. I was truly inspired by the mum's and dad's that took part. Some of the mum's were in a similar situation to what I am in now. I think they are amazing people to have completed it and a true inspiration.

Last week the letter came home from school asking if anyone would like to join them this year.  I jokingly said to hubby shall I do it.  At which he laughed and said "you!" Then went on to say he doubts he would even be able to do it.  This coming from the man who regularly cycles 14 miles a day. 

I then got thinking about the mum's that did it last year.  If I try to keep up the training all through the winter then maybe I could do it.

I spoke to a few of them and some how I agreed to do it.  Honestly I'm still in shock that I've said yes. I don't think it was me talking.

Last night I started my training.  A friend of mine who has been running for about 5 years offered to help get me started. She was very encouraging but I did feel I was slowing her down.

I went round a 2 mile circuit, walking and running.  I amazed myself at just how much running I did do.  It wasn't easy and I didn't expect it to be.  But I just need to keep telling myself that it will only get better from there. 

I also didn't follow any time limits on how much walking/running I did.  I just listened to my body.  Pushed it a bit further then walked until I felt I could run again.

I think I'll keep a bit of a diary here of my progress. So apologies in advance if I bore you.