I'll be starting my training tomorrow.
The old adage says 'don't run before you can walk' and I won't be. When I commuted into London for work between the ages of 17 and 30 something I always did a fair bit of walking daily between home/stations/office. These days I drive everywhere and, if I do have to walk somewhere now, I notice the difference. A few months ago I was without my car for a week or so and after a couple of days of walking between the tube station and my office (pretty much bang on a mile each way) my legs were really aching a couple of days afterwards. This is clearly not good and a sign of just how unfit I am right now.
As I said in an earlier post, I've started reading gatso's book* which seems like it's going to be a massive help not only with the physical side of things, but also with getting in the right frame of mind which is probably considerably more than half the battle when it comes to doing the long runs. I can't remember how much has already been written about this book but here's a short excerpt from the introduction which gives a good overview:
"...In the spring semester of 1985 we taught for the first time what the students at the University of Northern Iowa now call "the marathon class". We called it a seminar in Fitness and Mental Health and we had 14 students enrolled, none of whom had ever run more than three miles.....The class met twice a week for 15 weeks....Forrest taught one of the classes each week and lectured on such topics as cardiovascular functioning, proper hydration and nutrition. Dave taught the other class session and talked with the students about believing in themselves and using mental imagery to get through the long tough training days....when the training was done we took them to participate in [a] marathon. They all finished.
"We have taught the course four more times since then [over 200 students]. Our participants have ranged in age from 18 to 55. Well over half of them have been women. Almost none had ever run more than three miles prior to training with us. Every time, all the students have finished the marathon [with one exception]."
The course turned out to be so popular that the students and lecturers came up with the idea of putting it all together in a book. Fundamentally, it is a 16 week training programme aimed at enabling anyone to complete a marathon. There is a presumption that, on commencing the 16 week programme, the reader can run a distance of 3 miles. Not me. Not yet.
Quite handy, then, that the book also includes a 10 week preliminary training programme to help any old sod reach that stage. The idea is you choose where you are and jump in at that level. Given my current state of unfitness and the fact that there is plenty of time ahead, I'm going to start this week, right at the beginning, hopefully enabling my legs and body to gradually get used to exercising again and working harder.
So, the 'training' goal for this week is 3 walks, at moderate pace, of 30 minutes each, the first of which I'll be doing tomorrow evening. Next week it's the same again, with one extra walk thrown in. Week 3 is three 30 minute walks at a fast pace, and week 4 is four 45 minute fast walks. All should be fairly easy going, and a good foundation for week 5 when I dig out the shock absorber and start doing some actual jogging
Actually really looking forward to getting started
*The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer by David A Whitsett, Forrest A Dogener and Tanjala Mabon Kole
Author