Post
by RecoiL » Mon Sep 10, 2012 6:15 pm
Well, been running pretty much all summer now... I've been more or less following the guide, yet never posted in this thread, nor even followed it at all. I guess I should also make my mark here, if nothing else to provide some feedback on the plausability of this guide.
A few hours ago, Monday afternoon, I started my final week of the 30 minute program. All summer I've been running with cheap chinese running shoes, no music, no running partner, on an abandoned dirt track for bikes and the like, after 8pm to avoid the scorching heat that's been hitting south Europe this summer. I missed two weeks, one because of a vicious virus attack, and one because of traveling and hiking. I should point out I had never ran before this, and although I wasn't in a terrible condition, I had next to zero endurance.
After I started week one, I gave is my all yet it hardly seemed enough. I quickly picked up momentum and decided to add some additional minutes to each run to make it easier for me in the longer runs to come, I soon was a week ahead of schedule. After I got the virus around midsummer, it really drained me and I was set back even more than that week of extra progress I had, then up untill now I've slowly regained it, and and at this point I'm working towards making a given number of laps in the 30 minutes I already easily run.
Kind of sucks that the track is partially overgrown with bushes and tall grass, so I don't really know what's the total length of a lap, but at this point I seem to be running faster and longer than most people I see on the track, so I'll take that as a good sign.
Also noteworthy is that prior to my virus experiance I didn't use the lift (I live on the 15th floor), that also meant 15 flights of stairs after every run. That didn't go well and my knees and calves started really killing me, so I stopped doing that, and I started streaching more both before and after jogs. Legs slowly but surely stopped hurting.
It was not untill the last weeks that I noticed that the running was giving me some real hell if I didn't mind what I was eating, so I started eating light, staying more hydrated and eating bananas a couple of hours before a run. Should have done that stuff sooner.
Also, my shoes cost 15lv, so around $20 at a local market, and these things seem to be indestructable, very comfortable too. I've used them for hiking a bit as well.
I'd like to say something about motivation, but I honestly didn't have much of it at the start. More like determination. I just decided that I was going to do this, and that was that. What I can say though, is that I enjoy running the way I do. At twilight and at night, in a nearly forestlike environment, all other joggers already gone before I get there. I don't bring music or seek partners because I enjoy my own thoughts and observations of what's around me, it's one of the few times I get to be alone. Sadly soon I might need to switch to morning runs, and then a running partner may be needed...
I sure do love writing walls of text like this... though it's 1am and I definetly forgot something. ohwell.
Gluehuffers, all of you.
