Goodbye old friends...hello new ones!

I finally bought my first pair of running shoes! Since I started runing back in April, I have been running in a pair of trainers that I bought about 6years ago! They have been fine but over the last month or so I have started to notice aches and pains especially in my right achilles and right knee.I had been told by numerous people including my husband that I needed to go and get my gait analysed. Today was the day!

Apparently the majority of runners over pronate when they run. I am one of those. My right foot is worse than my left. Hence the achilles tenderness. It was really interesting to see myself running on the webcam and to see how my feet overpronate. Anyway, here is a picture of the little fella's I'm ditching.....

and here is a picture of my new running buddies.......

I was so excited about running in them that I had to go out for a run as soon as we got back. I went to the seafront with my running companion Misty and did a gentle 2.6 miles. I now need to up my mileage!! I'm getting stuck at the 3-4 miles and need to move on!!

Shall I or Shan't I?

I haven't been running since my last blog, a week ago as I developed a chesty cough which just won't go away! It's one of those annoying, dry irrtating coughs that you think will turn into a chesty cough at anytime...but it hasn't. I was awake at 5am this morning coughing which woke Paul up and then he had to get up anyway for work. I've been OK all day and I was dying to go out and run but wasn't sure that I should or not. Anyway, 15 mins before 'Jellylegs' was due to start I thought I need to run.

We ran with the beginner group tonight but when they had run their 5 mins and was then walking, we were doing fartlek training. Sprints to the next lampost and back. We did this intermittantly all the way around. It was a killer and I certaintly do not have speed in this situation. I kept it going though. We ran just under 3 miles tonight and I felt good even though I haven't run for a week. As soon as I stopped running, my cough re appeared! Funny that. I think I cleared my lungs and now they are complaining. I haven't stopped coughing since. I'm in for a good night!!

Double whammy!!

Today I was super energetic and swam in the morning and ran in the evening! This is a very rare occasion and I can't see this happenig very often. Paul was around this morning and I had a day off as I am working the weekend. He suggested we go for a swim after dropping the kids at school. At first I thought, what a bad idea. I had showered and put my make up on already and the thought of having to do that again put me right off! Anyway, that thought got the better of me and I got my swim stuff together.

The pool was full of retired people having a leisurely swim. No real lanes in place and it was very frustrating! I managed to squeeze in between to 'side strokers' and kept to that bit of lane trawling up and down. I swam 40 lengths before giving up. Paul gave up slightly before me as he too finds it frustrating trying to constantly over take the slowbies!

My day off was taken up by housework! Again, another rareity for me as I tend to do it when I can grab 10 mins here and there. It was very satisfying being able to do a thorough clean! Sad I know.

Tonight, I joined Jelly legs as Paul was home in time for me to go. It was getting dark already by the time we met at 6.30pm and it was very grey and cloudy. We met at Tankerton Slopes and 4 of us 'improvers' went off for our 3.5 mile run. As per usual the first 10 minutes was a bit of a struggle whilst I got my pace and breathing right. After that, it was great. I really enjoyed it even though I had a stitch for most of the way round! I kept thinking when is this going to go and then I would burp a little and it would ease for a few minutes. However, the stitch did not spoil the run and it wasn't that bad. Right at the end I did a little sprint which felt really good. My last bit of energy!

So now, I need to set some goals. I have done a 5K and will proabably do a few more before the year end. I think I will aim for a 10K next. What do you think? Do you think that is achievable? I do! x

Light up the City 5K

I decided yesterday morning to run a local 5K race in support of our local hospice. Our plans for last night had fallen through and having spoken to a friend who was doing it I thought ...yeah it's time.

It was an evenin g run. We did a 1 mile walk with the children first which was just a little warm up if that. Daisy enjoyed it and wanted to do the 5K. I think not! I have made that mistake before of taking her with me. She is not ready to run that type of distance.

My race bib!

The run was at 7.30pm so was just getting dark. The idea was for everyone to wear glow lights or run with flashing torches during the run. I had a measley glow bracelet on, just taking part was hard enough. Anyway, the route took us through the backstreets of Canterbury and pass all the youn spritelys out for a good time. There were cheers along the way and the odd jeers from blokes! It was actually really nice to hear people cheering you on and saying well done, keep going.

I ran with my friend but it wasn't long before she took off. She is a hardened runner and runs approx 30 miles a week. She has been doing it a lot longer that's my reasoning. I felt like I was being overtook a lot but then I would realise that I kept passing the same people. I didn't stop and to be honest found it hard work!! I find that sometimes I can get into a running pace really quickly and other times I just can't find it. Last night was one of those. However, it must have been because I was running quite fast for me. I found out at the end I had run the 5K (3.3miles) in under 30 mins which is my best I think?