My Running Story.....So far!

I started my running adventure on Oct 2nd 2013 at the age of 41. Weighing in at around 14 stone, I had kept fairly active but nothing strenuous, plenty of walking, but no running, basically not too fit.

The inspiration to start running was my wife, she completed the Sheff 10K the month before, she had been pestering me to start running, I gave all the usual excuses, my knees, my ankles, my legs, no time, cant run…. Eventually I caved in, bought some running shoes and planned my first run.

So Oct 2nd 2013, I left my front door, ran 2 miles very very slowly and made it back home. I was so out of breath and in pain I thought never again, but then the ‘runners high’ kicked in, got my breath back and told absolutely everyone about it (yeah boring I know). The run itself I cannot remember too much about, but I really did think I would have to go back to recover my lungs, liver and maybe a kidney which I thought I’d left behind on the tarmac.

Over the next few weeks I did the same route, slowed it down though to a more comfortable pace and then increased the distance steadily until I was hitting the heady heights of 6 and 7 K !

So my confidence started to grow, I still knew little about running, the mental target was 10K, managed that in March 2014 with a friend, absolutely elated. That was it, I need to sign up for a 10K race

With confidence came a degree of giddiness.. yep I ended up injured, only a couple of weeks after the 10K I went on a slow paced 18.5K, too far too soon, I thought I was Forest – ITBS on my right knee.

I couldn’t run if I tried, 2 weeks of rest, and a short programme of strength and conditioning sorted me out – lesson learned. By the way will come back to S&C work later..

So I backtracked on the distance and was enjoying my running again. Signed up for a the Filey 10K race in Sep 2014, my first event, was on my holiday there so thought why not.

OK only around 120 competitors, I was nervous, lots wearing their affiliated running club vests, I felt so out of place. I was shaking like a leaf before the start, a combination of nerves and the cold North Sea wind. Off we went, I started like a bat out of hell trying to keep up with everyone, plus the first 1K was down a steep hill, then straight on to the beach for 4K, then 4K back with a horrendous wind in my face. The final sting in the tail was that the last 1K was up a steep ravine, around a park and then back to the finish line. I’d done it, felt relieved, confident, proud and elated.

Finished 56th out of 112 with a time of 52m59s

Next 10K race was Sheffield in Sep 2014, totally different kettle of fish this one, thousands of runners, lots of support, finish time of 50m18s.

As with most runners the natural step up is a HM, so Retford in March 2015 was my choice. Training was going really well, I was confident and felt comfortable in the race environment. I ran my socks off, finish time of 1hr 37M 15s. I’d set myself a personal target of sub 2 hours so as you can imagine I was very pleased – but it came at a price…. My legs weren’t really strong enough to keep that pace for the distances. I was hurt again, not ITBS more hamstrings and soft tissue damage.

I went and sought professional advice from experienced runners at a shop in Sheffield ( had a deep tissue massage, got a new S&C programme and all the advice a novice runner could need – oh and some new shoes)

From experience now,  Strength & Conditioning work is vital as part of a training programme, apart from keeping injuries at bay, it improves your form and makes running even more enjoyable.

Well a couple of months later I was a different runner, I ran Sheff HM in April, which to be fair is a very hilly tough route (around a 6 mile continuous hill into the Peak district !) and managed that in 1Hr 38m 38s again I was very pleased.

So at present I’m almost 6 weeks away from my first marathon, Chester Oct 4th, am I looking forward to it? Too right, I’m really excited about this one, personal target, sub 4hrs but would love something around 3hr45m!

I do have designs on an ultra , maybe 50K but let’s see how the marathon goes first - nothing wrong with setting your sights a bit higher !

 

 

That’s my story so far, less than 2 years at the sport and almost 3 stone lighter I’m a fairly confident runner, not the fastest by any means, but at 43 I’m not a snail.

By the way, I’ve totally surpassed my wife with the running, she did her first HM back in April but she definitely said that is her limit.

 

Cheers

 

Chris (@Chrissanders90)