That hurt a bit

Last night was session 2 of the training; again 1min jogging, 1min walking. This time it hurt a bit more than before and was more of a struggle. However it's nothing too daunting just yet, unlike what comes next week. The pace is about to step up with longer jogging sessions. I'm hoping that the motivation will come easier because this week I've had to force myself out of the door. It doesn't help that I've been getting the later train home from work so maybe that's something I've got to sort out.

The exercise or perhaps the camomile, honey and vanilla tea has had a great side effect of making me sleep so much better at night. Of course it could be that I'm only getting 6 hours but at least it's a sound 6 hours. For a long time now it's been an interrupted sleep even though I've felt knackered.

A suggestion that we should be noting what we're listening to while training and so here goes: last night I was exercising while watching Friends on E4. Amazingly it was an episode I've never seen!

Not so unfit?

Day One of the training schedule and I was feeling like the relucant athlete tonight. Felt knackered on the way home from work and almost had to bully myself into starting the training.

The main issue was that a nameless colleague (to protect the unfit) had started the program on Saturday and found it really difficult. Anyway headed to the local gym which I joined back in September but hadn't been to yet.

The first day involves 20 mins of alternating between walking for a minute and jogging for a minute. Amazingly it wasn't that bad but did have the desired effect of working up a sweat and pumping the endorfins round the body. Managed to travel 2.6km in the 20 mins so I think we're on course for 10K in around 100 minutes. We'll get that down over the next few weeks but at least it's a good start. I'm considering doing the first part of the program in the gym and then heading out on the road.

Anyway, day one gone, many more to come but at least it was a good start.

Getting the start right

Right, if I'm going to do this I'm going to have to be serious about it. After speaking to my sister, Allison, at the weekend, I've decided that I'm going to have to get the correct footwear and the correct plan.

Stopped in at Borders books in Glasgow last night on the way to the train and found a book called Bone Idol to Body Idol. It's a 100 day plan to improve fitness, both physical and mental. There's lots of cool stuff in there about dealing with stress, lack of sleep, lack of fitness, etc which are all things I need to tackle just now.

Darren's been in touch to confirm that we're definitely going to do this so there's no going back now. There's talk of doing before and after shots for the website and I'm thinking of a Demi Moore pregnant on Vanity Fair cover type of shot for the before. I've got hopes of flattening the stomach. Might happen?

The Nike website has a set of training plans which take you to running 5K in 6 weeks and 10K by week 11. The 5K plan starts off as a 4 day/week commitment with week 1 involving 20mins of walk for 1min followed by jog of 1 min. It's achievable and that's the most important thing. There's nothing about the plan that looks daunting just now. I'm planning on starting on Monday.

Had some time to kill tonight before the train so popped into John Lewis in Glasgow and visited the sports dept. The guy was really helpful, explaining the whole running shoe technology and pointing me in the direction of the correct fit. Ended up with the Asis GT 2110 with extra gel padding and a thermo plastic frame that holds the foot in the correct position.

So there we go, we've got the plan, the shoe and the book. Unlike Mr Stenhouse, we're not going for the flash clothing, but it's early days, it may still come.

Nike Running Europe - THE RUN STARTS HERE

Nike Running Europe - THE RUN STARTS HERE

Great site for training schedules.