Mum in Training

Me again.

Firstly I would like to start by thanking everyone for their response to my first blog, as much as I was humbled and I truly was, I have to say I did also completely freak out!!! I am most definitely not one for putting myself out there even in my work I am always in the background or behind the camera so to go public and especially talking about my fitness levels scared the bejesus out of me to say the least, I am definitely no So-Sue more of a So-what kind of girl but it’s done now and if anything it will keep me motivated.

So I’ll pick up where I left off. (Click here to read my last blog) We headed out on that dull, damp Sunday morning, we did a bit of stretching and boom we started running!! We kept it at a slow and steady pace and this really worked well so if you are thinking about starting this highly addictive hobby then as the old saying goes ‘slow and steady wins the race’ or in my case makes it to the end without falling over with exhaustion!!! We ran 3.5km at a nice steady pace and made it to the end without stopping, no gasping for air, no trying to hitchhike back to base!! And that was it, I was hooked!

Later that week we squeezed in another 3.5km, again at a nice manageable pace. I heard on the grapevine that there was a 5k fun run coming up on the Friday evening so I thought you know what let’s do it, if I can manage to run even 3.5km of it and if I have walk the rest then so be it.

Friday came really quickly that week and the nerves set in, as it was only a fun run it wasn’t chipped or timed (I don’t think I would have it done it otherwise). We gathered at the start line with our hearts thumping -the great cardio work out that nerves provide- and waited on the start. A sharp shrill blast of the whistle (cue Vangelis’ “Titles” – Olympic theme tune) and a mere 35 minutes later we arrived back at the finish line (still running, still breathing) and guess what, we never stopped once!! I had done it, my first 5k, I was super proud of myself!! Massive back pat for me…

The following week we continued with our 3.5km but I started to feel a bit of a niggle in my ankles. I had been running in a pair of Asics that I had for about 6 years so I went into work, mentioned it to the guys in our fab footwear department and they said because the runners were old the cushioning and support was most probably done so I decided it was time to invest. I got a Foot Balance done on me and discovered that I over-pronate so I needed to wear a shoe with extra support. I decided to go with a pair of Asics gel Zone as they were a structured shoe and they were within my (non existent – is running not free?) budget. I wasn’t sure how I was going to cope with the running so I didn’t want to go all technical or too expensive in case I decided to pack it in after a few weeks (my bad!)

So my little tit bit for this week is if you have recently started running or are thinking about it I would definitely advise getting your foot balance checked to find the right fit or you will start to feel the niggles creeping in and there is nothing worse than an injury when you are starting to increase your miles. Believe me I know, but that’s another blog’s worth!

I’m off now to play with the two munchkins, although sometimes a run up a huge hill in the pouring rain takes less out of me