Trying to build up running/fitness

[tIMor`]

Hello

After joining the RAF a few weeks ago I noticed they've got a gym that's free to use. At the minute I think it's pretty damn good myself, but they're upgrading it over the next month to include machines with TV's built in (!!). Bit over the top in my book, but should make time on the treadmill go quicker :)

Anyway, I've decided I want to get fitter then I currently am, back when I was 15/16 I was pretty damn good at football, running with the ball and going round people as if they weren't there (don't mean to blow my own trumpet, but it's true). Anyway, over the last 3-4 years I have been extremely lazy and not done any running/regular exercise, now I really wanna give it my best shot in getting back to my original ability on the football field.

I have mainly been using cross trainers etc. to lose weight and it seems to have worked. However, it doesn't really improve my overall fitness that much. I believe running will do a job for me, in getting me fit, healthier and ready for football.

Did my first proper run today on the tradmil at a constant 9km/h to reach 5km which roughly took 34 minutes. I am aiming to keep doing this for the rest of the week and probably next week too (I struggled tbh) and then look to do 6km, 7km, 8km, 9km etc. then move speed up and continue doing this to get to a decent weight/fitness level.

I eat reasonably well, have weatabix every morning for breakfast, tuna salad (DIY, tuna from a tin, then loads of salad+veg chopped and added, no mayo or sauce crap) for lunch, then whatever my mum cooks me for dinner (this varies but it's not like I'm gonna cook myself dinner every night so it's better is stays like this).

Any tips with running? Currently listening to the music they play on the speakers from TV (normally the box, Q or MTV hits :| which is never normally that good). Anyone recommend a decent MP3 player and a decent pair of running shoes?

Any help appreciated, cheers

[Dilbert]

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/ is a very good site for info, some of the content is locked for magazine subscribers only but I think the forums are available to all (i subscribe to the mag) but they do have some very good articles.

Ive read loads of stuff over the last nearly 2 years, quite a bit of which I chuckled at or ignored at the time but know now that the advise was spot on.

Most important things for me.

10% rule - Dont try and increase your weekly mileage/or speed (whichever your trying to increase at the time) by more than 10% each week. (so if u did 10k in week 1 then no more than 11k in week 2 etc) I kinda loosely stuck to this at first and then totally ignored it one week cos I was feeling so good and have spent the last couple of months not running at all whilst I recover from the injurys it gave me. Running puts a lot of stress on your body in different ways and you need to give it time to develop and adjust to these stresses or it will break down.. ignore this rule at your peril.. I know I did.

Shoes - Dont buy em from sport soccer, jd sports etc or another hightstreet type outlet, got to your local running shop and get some proper ones, you will probs end up paying less and deffo get some more suitable shoes ! I kinda stayed away from the running shop to start with cos I didnt fancy spending £90 on a pair of specialist running shoes plus i felt a bit like too much of an amateur which was a mistake cos thats not how it worked at all. In a running shop they should ask you at least the following.
* How much running have you done
* Where are you going to be running, on what surface
* Do you have any injurys
* If you take your existing running shoes they should look at the bottom for wear patterns.
* They will probs ask you to take your shoes and socks off and look at how you stand.
* Many running shops have treadmills these days and they will actually video you or at least look at you running ona treadmill for a short period of time.

All this will help them decide what sort of shoe is best suited to your needs and then they should suggest a range of different ones at different prices and get you to try em on ... colour, style, make etc are all irrelevant .. feel and fir is all that counts.

I remember feeling out of place first time I went to Birmingham Runner, a little specialist running shop, I picked some nice looking nikes out for £60 when I first went in which I thought would be perfect ... I walked out just over an hour later with a pair of Ascis that cost me £35 and were far more suitable after the assistant had pointed me in the right direction.

Go in the afternoon/evening rather than morning when you buy shoes cos your feet are bigger and even then you should have a little bit of room at the front cos your feet swell even further when you run.

Running at the Gym v Running Outside - I didnt really enjoy running when I first started, it was a means to an end rather than something I did for enjoyment ... these days I love it ... cant really explain why its just different to most other forms of exercise and encredibly satisfying when you look back at how much you have improved. When I first started I was doing all my running in the gym, these days I hardly run in the gym at all, I tend to do classes or cross training whilst I am there and do my running outside as its more enjoyable even when the weathers bad. Sometimes I wear my MP3 player other times I dont bother and prefer to take in everything thats around me. Sometimes I run on busy town center streets other times I will do the country lanes or the canals, sometimes the mrs comes with me on her bike other times i run alone or at other times i have been out for runs with friends from work or home. Whenever I travel anywhere these days my running stuff goes with me cos its a great way to see a new place. Gym is still good for the odd session to measure progress on speed and times etc.

MP3 player I have got is this >> http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=13176000259&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=93861
bought it cos its one of the smallest/lightest there was out at the time and 1 gig is more than enough for even the longest run.

I will leave it at that for now cos I dont half waffle on dont I !

Ohhh cept for 2 last things.

Running is a long term thing as your body takes a long time to adapt, it takes years to reach your optimum level and you will be amazed at how your leg muscle definition changes over the next couple of years if you keep up with the running, think I read somewhere that most runners (even those that start fairly late in life like myself) run their personal bests about 6 years after starting running !

And lastly .... enter a race for next year to give you something to aim towards ... start off with something like your local 10k, you will enjoy it I promise you !!!

[tIMor`]

Cheers matey, lots of info. there!

I am mainly running at the gym at the mo. as it's convienient, no doubt I'll go outside in the future. Was looking in Men's Health at the trainers they recommend, £100 but supposed to be the dogs, but will take your advice and check out the local sports/running shop they have on site, they should know what they're talking about :)

They appear to do quite a few regular 10k's so I may look at doing one of those next year sometimes. Did another 5km today and seemed fine, will start next week with 6 (or 5.5 after what you said earlier) I think as I'm just easing myself into it. After that week I'll go up further and further.

Cheers for the help, will post updates with what I buy/decide on and how I progress :)

[Dilbert]

Ascis are really good and I tend to stick to those now cos the design and fits that they do seem to suit my feet nicely, least they always have so far anyway.

Cant really stress enough that there is no such thing as "the best shoe" a £100 shoe may be totally wrong for your feet and a £20 shoe much more suitable.

Heres a little quote from runners world that makes teh point well




There’s no single ‘best shoe’ – everyone has different needs. All sorts of things - your biomechanics, your weight, the surfaces you run on, and obviously, the shape of your feet - mean that one person's ideal shoe can be terrible for another person.

Just gotta say about the 10% rule again cos it really is very important and I have learnt my lesson the hard way even though when I first started running I stuck to it .. or at least closely to it .. so 10% to 20% increase or less week on week was my norm .... then I started getting cocky .. I was running 12-15 miles for my weekly long run and then 1 or 2 more runs of about half that distance as well as some cross training and fitness classes which meant I was usually only having one day off a week and my body was coping ok with it. Then one week I did 15 miles followed by a 13 mile run a few days later and finally a couple of days after that I went out for another 13 miles. I felt great, totally invincible on the first 2 runs and then at half way on the second run I got severe pains in my right knee which have stopped me running properly now for about 6 weeks and caused me to pay for a treatment from the local physio who specialises on knees to get me back on the mend.

I am just about to start buiding my running up again now but will be taking it very steady and deffo sticking to the 10% rule !!!

[tIMor`]

Cheers for the info. matey. Will go up to 5.5km next week instead then :)
Also been rowing for 2500m as quickly as possible which really takes it outta me after the run :)

Just got a subscription to Runners World on your advice, better be good! :)