Training Diary - Thursday 17th February 2006 to Tuesday 21st February 2006

** Previous posts are at the bottom of the page **

Thursday 16th February 2006

Today is the all-important trainer buying day. Very exciting. Spending opportunities are always welcome although this is a rare one as it doesn't involve my friends on ebay. I decide to go 'The Sweat Shop' in Teddington on the recommendation of Mark who has done a few marathons in his time. I can fit this in before my 5 a side football. One small problem though - I appear to have done my back in due to too much Jessica (2 1/2) carrying. Get shoes - Asics Gel Kayano XI or something similar for a bargain £85 (down from £110 - they're practically giving them away). My participation in tonight's football is no more as running is even more painful and embarrassing than usual so go home and lie down.

Friday 17th February 2006

Look at training schedules. The beginner's one on the BUPA/Capital website http://www.capital10k.co.uk/trainingschedule.asp seems to have been written for whichever one of Andy/Lou from Little Britain spends most of his life in a wheelchair. Niccy sent me another one http://www.realbuzz.com/shop/index.php?cPath=115. Don't spend a fiver on it, if you email me at john.lowit@gmail.com I'll send it to you. I'm not sure which one to follow so I think I'll probably make my own one up.

Sunday 19th February 2006

Excellent - an excuse for matrices, spreadsheets and all things statistical. In the book that my sister lent me there is something called a VO2 max index which tells you how unfit you are. It is something to measure my improvement/deterioration against and therefore I like it. There are many places on the web where you can find out and calculate this if you're interested. You basically have to measure out a 1.5m course which you have to run WITHOUT FEELING EXHAUSTED and then calculate your score using a combination of weight, sex (m/f not frequency) and time to run the aforementioned 1.5m. On the way home from my cousin's house in Milton Keynes we plot a 1.5 mile course. For those still awake it's house - White Hart Lane level crossing - Ye White Hart - Chip shop.

Here we go. Kids in bed (almost) so time for my first run. Using a combination of magic pants, footy top, shorts, spanking new trainers and sexy double-skinned socks but forgetting my MP3 player - bugger - I head off on my course carrying my phone in stopwatch mode. Note to self - buy proper racing stopwatch - possibly. It's wet and my lovely new shoes get covered in mud almost instantly but I may be missing the point. Decide to record split times, house - Tim Rice's house - Pelican crossing outside chip shop - bus stop outside Henry's (friend of Rosie 4 1/2 year-old daughter) house - bus garage. Although the whole thing took 15 minutes 40 seconds I was very, very happy for the following reasons:
1 - Didn't stop once. Ran pretty bloody slowly most of the time but didn't actually stop once.
2 - Bizarrely got a real buzz from doing it.
Now I know it's only a mile and a half but it's a start. When I got home I calculated that my VO2 max is that of a slug but it's something to be improved upon.

Monday 20th February 2006

No running but I do a 45 minute circuits class at work. Now it's not just my legs that ache but my shoulders as well. Next run tomorrow - looking forward to it. Honestly.