Intermission

Once I get going, I'll not be blogging anything like this much and I intend this to be the last until my next run which I've vowed will be a full 7 days since over reaching my achilles.

For a moment there, I thought maybe this was not achievable, I really was in a lot of pain, had I not been planning to work from home Tuesday, there is no way I could have made it in to work.
Stairs on Tuesday were a case of hanging on to the rail and going sideways one flat foot at a time. Moving around, I looked like a blinking penguin waddling along on two flat feet.  A regime of rest and elevation with cold compresses and ibuprofen gel, plus the wonders of the naturally self healing human body mean that since about 2 this afternoon, I can actually walk and even lift slightly on my toes allowing me to get up and down stairs in a sensible manner. With more confidence that I have not done lasting damage, my thoughts are turning more positive but when I restart, I'm backing off from Runners World's schedule, at first anyway.

I think the fact that I was fairly fit through hill walking meant breathing and general muscle tone were already good leading me to overstretch parts not pushed in walking. I am used to wearing boots and tramping across hillsides and a lot of that involves flat foot fall. Contrast that to the bouncing off the ball of my foot action of every running stride and the achilles area strain is very different. I guess the nearest equivalent walking is a fast direct uphill push but even that, with the boots supporting the ankle area, doesn't allow the same localised strain.

Lesson 1, I think some pacy walking in the running shoes may be a good idea before much more running to strengthen the lower leg and ankle areas.

See you in a week.

Doh! Injured Already

Well, second run yesterday after work has not resulted in the best of situations.

I was aware that I was still hurting a little from Saturday morning but thought I was ok.
Around the halfway, my right achilles started hurting. Rather than scrapping the remainder of the session, I reduced pace on the run bits, dropping from toes to flat foot and continued. By the time I finished my cool down, I was aware that I had problems with both achilles. Also concerned about my back, I included a back stretching exercise I have been given by an osteopath but something pulled right at the base of my back and by bedtime, I was hobbling with both achilles very painful and the base of my back in spasm and painful.

This morning, the back is almost ok which is a relief but walking is difficult due to both achilles. I can't walk other than shuffling flat footed. Fortunately, I am home based today so I've been working with my  legs up with cold packs under my ankles and ibuprofen gel is being liberally applied. Hopefully, all will be well in a few days but I'm definitely not running for a week now.

I think, though I chose a Beginner training schedule, I pushed the run intervals too much. Typical of me; if I go swimming, I'm incapable of enjoying a leisurely plod, I have to challenge myself speed and distance. On the 1st run, I was on my toes shifting a 10k in 60m pace on the run intervals, which I think was not what the plan expected - a flat footed jog was probably where I should have started.
So, a week's rest already. Not a good start.

Yesterday: 
Note: the two slow pace intervals 4 and 5 are due to being stopped and asked directions!

duration min	pace min/km	distance km
1.0	4.6	0.22
1.5	8.6	0.17
1.0	4.6	0.22
1.5	15.0	0.10
1.0	10.4	0.10
1.5	6.3	0.24
1.0	4.6	0.22
1.5	8.3	0.18
1.0	4.4	0.23
1.5	8.6	0.18
1.0	4.7	0.22
1.5	8.5	0.18
1.0	5.2	0.19
1.5	8.6	0.17
1.0	5.3	0.19
1.5	8.4	0.18
0.2	8.5	0.02
20.2	6.7	3.00

1st Run and Runkeeper Stats

Overcame embarrassment and got out for first run Sunday a.m. 8:30.
I spent too long yesterday messing with Android downloads and training schedules. I settled on a schedule from Runners World and the Runkeeper app.
I'm being good so 5 min warm up including stretches from handy sheet at Race for Life and then out onto the streets which were mercifully empty.
It went well, considering it is the 1st 'beginner' schedule, I did find it pretty tough but I arrived home knowing my lungs had had a good workout but far from staggering. Runkeeper has labelled me 'Healthy', I'm not sure on what basis.

Annoyingly, the Runkeeper website seems to only work in miles even though the mobile app does kilometres so my online records don't match my plans in km.
My phone tells me that in 30min (which include 5+5 warm up and cool down so 20min actual run/walk) I completed 3.18km and say 10:08 min/km but I think that is over the 30 min rather than the 20min.  I need to play with this app a bit to nail the stat's.

Yep - confirmed: If your warm up/cool down periods are entered in Coaching then they are included in the final calculation of overall pace so I probably need to leave them out of the Coaching activity in future which is a shame because the voice prompts are useful even with those. It also continues to add time until you STOP the activity so it was actually worked out on 32:14. I've knocked up a spreadsheet to extract the data as I want from that supplied on the website.

Intervals	Split Time	Split Pace	Distance
	minutes	min:sec/km	km
5:00 (warmup)
1:00 (run)	01:00	05:19
1:30 (walk)	01:30	08:58
1:00 (run)	01:00	04:39
1:30 (walk)	01:30	08:16
1:00 (run)	01:00	04:33
1:30 (walk)	01:30	08:14
1:00 (run)	01:00	04:51
1:30 (walk)	01:30	08:44
1:00 (run)	01:00	04:28
1:30 (walk)	01:30	07:38
1:00 (run)	01:00	04:26
1:30 (walk)	01:30	08:04
1:00 (run)	01:00	04:51
1:30 (walk)	01:30	08:10
1:00 (run)	01:00	04:51
1:30 (walk)	01:30	09:20
5:00 (cooldown)
overall (mean)	20:00	06:17	3.18

Starting Point

I last ran in 1976 in a 1.5ml cross country race for leaders in a south Manchester scouting event. In my 40s I had a period where we had a gym at work and for a year or so I regularly used the running machine.
In the last 15 years, I have only run for trains.

Lynne (the lovely wife) and I do quite a bit of hill walking including a few long distance paths over the last few years, The Great Glen Way, the Gritstone Trail and the West Highland Way. I am naturally scrawny being 5’11” and have remained around 10s 4lb for many years so I’ve not much weight to carry and none to shed. On the downside, I have a glass back which I’m worried as to how it will stand up and clicky old knees, largely through protecting my back since I injured it at 19.

After buying my shoes, I wore them in the house all evening and they seemed comfortable.  I put the bins out at the roadside last night and, in darkness, ran in them from the roadside up the side of the house. 20m burst, silly but fun and it felt good.

Shopping continues..

My shoes purchased, I need some socks, shorts and a light breathable wicking tee shirt.  I’d had enough in the shop and another runner had arrived wanting the shop guys attention so I thought I’d leave it at that.

Evening and a laptop on my knee, I visited the site with the delightful name “Wiggle” where I have previously bought cycling accessory gifts for my son and have seen packages arrive for my daughter almost certainly running related.

It’s a case of far too much choice so I did some limiting of price range and reading of reviews and noting popularity. A couple of suitable items showed discontinued but my size/colour preference were the only ones left so I succeeded in buying the three items for £34. This morning wiggle tell me that have been dispatched so I will shortly have no excuse for not getting out and starting.

Shopping

Had to keep the momentum going so after about a week prevaricating, I got myself to a running shop yesterday. On a dull nothing Wednesday afternoon got 45mins of a helpful guy in an empty shop.

I had the underneath of my feet photographed showing the contact on a glass panel which announced I have very high arches which apparently is a good thing. I had images of the back of my ankles taken and vertical lines on a screen apparently followed as near a dammit vertically up my Achilles which is also good. Apparently, all this means that I require a ‘neutral’ shoe.

Whilst I realise I need to pay for quality support, I did voice a desire to stay under £100 on the shoes.  A pair of 44 showed that 45 was what I need, and shortly after, 8 pairs of shoes arrived.

Out of the 8, 2 were immediately not right but the rest all got tried on and had a trip on the running machine.

Let me divert and talk of the running machine. I haven’t been on one for about 15 years but I adapted to the run up and stop almost immediately and loved it. Straight up on my toes and comfortable upright position; felt good.  Shop guy says, “Would you like to try the pace for 60m 10k?” I say, “Let’s do it.”, feels great for 1 minute.....  bit worried about 59 more!

I did several of these 1 minute bursts and kept coming off able to talk casually to shop guy which all bodes well.  Maybe all the hill walking has kept me fitter than I expected?

Anyway, to cut a long story short, it was down to two pairs. I asked the prices which were £74 vs £123 (mm, didn’t I say I aimed to stay under £100 earlier?). The £75 Nike Pegasus 28 came into my possession. 

A note of warning here: The insoles which the shop states at the outset they mould for everyone and I was encouraged to use throughout the fitting would have been £45. Had it not been that they were using a size 44 which was too short as they had no 45s and I could feel the end of them, the discussion where he said, “..if we trim a 46 it would mean you have to have it as we can’t reuse it.”, would not have taken place and I wouldn’t have realised they didn’t come with the shoe purchase. They were excellent and v. comfortable but considering everything had said I needed no correction apparently uneccesary expenditure.

60@60 an Idea

I’m not absolutely sure where this idea came from.  Lynne and I walked the West Highland Way last year which had demanded a lot of training walks which we thoroughly enjoyed yet this year, with no goal to drive us, we’re doing very little walking. A moment of thinking it’d be nice to have a similar goal coincided with an awareness of being 60 next year and my daughter Gillian tapping me up for sponsorship for a London based 10k she is running and the idea formed.

Last summer Lynne and I watched at the roadside in Salford as Gillian ran a 10k in which I also saw a friend Clare from Pure107.8FM and I was aware of a feeling of wishing I was part of it. We taxied Gillian to a 5k Santa Dash at Heaton Park which looked achievable to me, though only to finish, not with a time target. I’ve since been reading the adventures of an old BT colleague Dan, who has started doing Park Run and regales us with tales via Facebook including now beating the guy in jeans who at first was faster than him. We have a local Park Run near us at Bramhall.

So, the idea of 60@60 gelled, a 60 minute target to complete a 10k run after my 60^th birthday in 2013.