Running?

[ladyofastolat]

I'm slightly flirting with the idea of trying running. I've barely run a step since the misery of school cross-country lessons, plodding pathetically through Pittville Park and weaving through drunken racegoers attendees (who obviously couldn't have been there for every cross-country lesson, and perhaps weren't there for any of them, yet have a prominent role in my mental image of the classic cross-country lesson, even so.)

I did a lot of walking in the first few months of this year, and I mostly enjoyed it. I enjoyed the sense of achievement, anyway, and even now I like being able to dance 4 Morris dances in a row and end them feeling as if I've done little more than a stroll in the park, while everyone around me is collapsing in exhaustion. However, walking takes a lot of time - hence the "mostly", above; it was a huge time commitment, and that was sometimes oppressive. Unfortunately, anything less than about 15 miles feels rather useless now - very pleasant when in company, but not a Real Walk - but walks of 20 miles plus take time. What with dancing commitments and various other things, I've only got that sort of time between November and March. Additionally, I'm really not good in hot weather, so prefer not to do long walks in the summer.

Which leaves running. I came across a mention of the "Couch to 5K" programme somewhere on LJ, and looked it up. It promises to take someone from total couch potato to being able to run 5 kilometres over the course of 9 weeks, and all the user reviews report huge success. It only involves half an hour of exercise 3 days a week, and it looks as if it might allow me to maintain my current level of walking fitness without having to give up half my weekends to long walks. It starts very manageably - 5 minutes of walking to 1 minute of running - and I could do it nice and early in the morning, before the weather gets warm - and before neighbours are up to watch my ungaingly flailing.

So now I'm dilemmaing about shoes. I have a tendency to walk on the insides of my feet. As a result, a few years ago merely walking half of Walk the Wight left me so broken with joint pain that I couldn't dance for months. Getting good walking boots with solid ankle support fixed that, and nowadays I won't embark on any walk of more than a mile or two without wearing them. Therefore I don't want to try any running without proper shoes... but I don't want to splash out on shoes if this whole thing turns out to be a silly passing whim that I don't stick with for more than a few days.

Dither dither dither...

Comments

[bunn.livejournal.com]

You don't feel that you could wear the running shoes for non-running purposes at all?

Given your horrific experiences with your feet, I definitely agree with the cautious part of your brain that says 'lets not do this with inappropriate shoes'. You do seem to have quite sensitive feet/joints.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I need to find out. If good running shoes would double as nice, comfortable everyday shoes for mooching around on holiday, then they would seem like a good investment, but if they're something I could only use for running, then it seems rash to buy them at this point. My life has been littered with short term whims that get abandoned quickly, and this could very well be one of them. Maybe I should stick with walking...

[kargicq.livejournal.com]

My running shoes are comfy, and I find myself using them for bumming around the house in (and then thinking I shouldn't as they were too expensive for that!) -N

[tovaglia.livejournal.com]

If you have longstanding ankle problems then you may also have related foot, knee and leg problems too, so there is a danger you may not ever find any shoes that you can run 5k in without serious ouchiness. Even a slight over-pronator like me needs shoes that cost in the region of £90. The good news, however, is that you can probably figure out whether this is the case before you actually buy the shoes. This is important because in my experience running only starts being fun once you can get past the first ten minutes of proper running. If you get stuck on the walk/run stage you won't keep at it.

Go to a proper running-shoe shop with treadmill and video gait analysis. A decent running shop will never pressurise you into buying on the day and you should be able to run on their treadmill for as long as you like if they're not too busy. If you're still not sure, or the shoes don't feel 100% comfy after fifteen minutes of treadmill running, consult a sports physio (ask your local running club who their own runners recommend). Again this may set you back £££ but is usually well worth it. They may feel it's too soon to start running right away before doing some stretching/strengthening on feet, ankles and legs.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

I've located a local running shop that does that video gait analysis thing. Trouble is, I've not done any running at ALL since school. Running for even one minute would probably be beyond me at the moment. It looks like I'll need to get better at running before I can find out what shoes fit me, but to get better at running I need to run, and I don't want to do that at all without good shoes. Aagh!

If I did splash out on good running shoes, would they be shoes that I could also wear for other things, like exploring castles, or standing up all day running the Summerfest bar? I'm so much of a novice that I don't even know what good running shoes look like. If I could use them for other things, then I don't mind paying out for good shoes before starting, even if there's a risk that I'll give up after a week. If they're good for running only, then I wouldn't want to buy them at this stage... which means that I wouldn't even TRY running, since I don't want to risk giving it a go with inadequate footwear.

[tovaglia.livejournal.com]

OK, try <1 min run - 1 min fast walk alternating for 15 mins or as long as you can manage... that should give you a good indication.

Yes you could defo use them for other things as long as you don't buy shoes with spikes etc and you get them in colours you like. Might not get huge amounts of ankle support, though.

[kargicq.livejournal.com]

Yes, I thought that was optimistic from Tovaglia "if they don't feel comfy after fifteen minutes of treadmill running". I could manage about 2 minutes of treadmill running when I started, and I thought I was reasonably fit! :-D -N.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

... and given my own pronation, ankle problem, knee problems &c, this looks like very sound advice if I ever do try the "couch to 5k" for myself. Thank you!

[gauroth.livejournal.com]

Talk to your Doctor! I speak as one who buggered up her left ankle and knee by jogging in cheap trainers. Proper shoes are vital!! (Also, a proper bra is worth investigating.) My doc told me that walking is far, far better than jogging because it's much gentler than jogging and thus is less damaging. Be careful!

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

We got lectured at dancing last week about too many of us not wearing proper sports bras - (apparently a friend of one of our members was watching us, and ended up totally distracted by "all that bouncing," as she called it) - so that's been on the to do list anyway. But, yeah, maybe I should just stick with walking, despite the time it takes. I don't want to damage myself.

[kargicq.livejournal.com]

Don't be too put off by these warnings though. You might really enjoy it. I took up running for exactly your reasons (most efficient way to get some exercise in) and now do enjoy it a lot. My knees did get a bit sore to begin with, but evidently in a "ligaments need to get used to new form of exercise" way rather than a "cartilage being worn away" way, as they got used to it. (My heels ditto actually.)

If you do want efficient low-impact exercise, then I guess swimming, cross-trainer, rowing machine are all options - knowing you, you'd just need to have one of the latter integrated into some form of computer game, and you'd be driven to reach level 27 and end up incredibly fit...

N

[bookwormsarah.livejournal.com]

I downloaded the NHS Couch to 5K podcast, and have only done one run so far...it seems to be a good programme though.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, it was on your LJ that I saw it mentioned in the first place, I remember now, when you asked people to challenge you to do things. I'd no idea what it was, so looked it up, and thought it looked pretty good. Good luck with it!

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

I had almost succeeded in forgetting about "couch to 5k", and now you come along and remind me! Gah! If I can't forget about it again, I might have to take it up myself ...