I've done it. I've completed my first 'run'.
Let it be known throughout history that on this day, Tuesday 9th august 2011, I willingly went on a run. (Ignore the time and date stamp of the blog, I'm playing catch up here)
Amazingly it went far better than I thought it might. In a pair of old trainers, swimming shorts and WBA top I managed to sustain 30 minutes of voluntary exercise. Unbelievable.
Ok, so I'm aware that this is only the first stage of the process and on paper its by far the easiest stage of the program, but I did it. That in itself is a victory worth celebrating.
It was agreed that for the run, John and I would use the path that starts at the back of Penrhyn castle and leads to Bethesda. A relatively flat path with only a few inclines, it's ideal for running/walking. Its actually quite a lovely route that despite living in Bangor for 7 years, I have never used before.
As prescribed, a brisk 5 minute warm up walk was followed by 20 minutes of intermittent jogging and walking after which a 5 minute walk home, provided us with our warm down period.
For an overweight asthmatic my breathing wasn't too bad. My legs began to tire towards the end but all in all I'm ok. Perhaps I'm in better shape than I thought I was?
However, I have learnt a few things tonight. If I'm actually going to do this -
I need new trainers.
I need shorts that cause less friction between my thighs. (My house mate recommends I use Vaseline but I'm not convinced.)
I need to listen to music. I found that when I concentrated on the running, I began to wish the minutes away. Yet when my mind wondered, the minutes passed by quite quickly. Therefore music is needed to keep me distracted.
Unfortunately, because of other commitments, John and I are having to squeeze the first three runs into three nights, leaving no room for recovery. The Cough to 5k Plan advises against this, but we're determined to complete the three runs and as long as my body doesn't seize up over night, I should be ok.
EDIT - Update. My legs hurt. A lot. I can barely get up off the sofa let alone walk up the stairs to bed. I'm walking around like a constipated crab. Tomorrow's run might have to be postponed. To answer my earlier question, I am certainly not in better shape than I originally thought I was.
