My first run... and the right shoes

My walk to pick up my son turned in a fast walk and then into a run, especially when I started bringing his bike along, his cycling pace soon outstripping my walking pace. When I did start again the surprising thing was how much wobbled, not how much I wobbled, but how much of me wobbled ! I hadn't expected that, it seemed that gravity was playing with me, as if there was different bits of gravity all around me. My perfectly good Adidas runners had been replaced with reinforced concrete blocks, this made the wobbles even more pronounced. I felt like I was running less like the gazelle I remembered from my young and more like Herman Monster.



It became apparent to me that I should buy some proper running shoes. A quick trawl on the net later and I found out that there's a local running shop nearby, this is perhaps the best decision I've ever made. Normally I'd look for the best bargain to be had on the net, however fitting of running shoes, while not a precise science is best done, at least for the first set of shoes, face to face. While they may work out slightly more expensive, it will help you know more about your feet. You'll hear phrases like, over pronated and the like, which tell you how much arch support you should have. Once you've done it face to face you can then buy your next pair on the net, as you'll know what type of feet you've got. There are loads of different makes of shoes too, I didn't know any of them. I had expected to see Nike and Adidas brands all over the place when I went into the shop, but instead strange names like Brooks, Asics and Mizuno, I'd never heard of them before. I bought a pair of Mizuno, as they seemed to fit better, cost was around £85.  I had to run up and down outside the shop, with my jeans pulled up to my knees so the shop guy could see how my feet landed and if my ankle turned (a sign of pronation), very dignified. Apparently I am over pronated, especially on my left foot.

I couldn't wait to get home and try them out, and later that day embarked on the same run that I'd stated to do. Up to my son's nursery and back. About 4K in total. My feet felt like they where in fluffy pilows, and while I certainly didn't warm up enough and encountered shin splits (more that this later) it was a million times better than my previous attempts.

and with the right shoes, there was now no stopping me, and I didn't wobble as much as before.

Walking....

They say you should walk before you should run. However, one does come before the other. Once I had decided I wanted to address some of the issues I've already outlined in my previous blog, it was July. It coincided with a prearranged trip to Disneyland Paris. For those of you who have been to a Disneyland, either the US or the European version, you can't escape from the fact that there's a lot of walking, and limited time for drinking. Drinking alcohol I mean, in fact I challenge you to find somewhere that sells just a beer, with no chips. 

I spent loads of time with my two boys and my wife while walking around Euro Disney, I really enjoyed it. Iloved the walking, and I loved their company. So when we got back to the UK I did my best to continue it. I'm very lucky to work for a progressive company in regards to flexible working, I decided to spend Friday afternoons with my eldest son and make up the working hours during the week. My wife and I, like many have to balance our working commitments with our children's needs and childcare. To quote Yoda, 'Difficult it is'.

I used to pick up my 4 year old son (we've got two boys)  from nursery by car each day on the way back from work, I decided I wouldn't do that anymore. With some changes with my working pattern, by moving some work items to the evening, I was able to walk to nursery instead. I would park at home and walk the 2 miles to my son's nursery, and then walk back with him. It's a long walk for him.

By the time I got to September I was walking all over the place. I would walk to the local shops instead of driving, I would walk to the nursery each day. My 4 year progressed to his bike and I walked fast or ran a little to keep up him, it was then that I thought about running again.

and I guess that's when my return to running really began...

22 years later

So why after so long did I take up running again ? About 8 years ago I gave up smoking, I had been quite a happy smoker for 14 years. I say happy, in that I didn't really have a yearning to give up and in fact quite liked it. There's a myth that smokers don't give up cause they can't, it's not difficult to give up, I gave up every night. The main reason they keep smoking is because they like it. Hard to believe, filthy habit and all that. I had many reason's to give up, and in no particular order they were... the expense, my clothes stank of cigarettes, as did my hair, the house, the car, trying for a baby, my wife didn't smoke and none of my friends smoked. I still liked it though

I gave up in the end because I wanted to have control back, having control of what you do and when to do it is a good feeling, when you smoke some of that is taken away, the opposite to what smokers probably believe. I hated having to have a cigarette, hated having to pop outside, hated having friends looking for ash trays and saying 'we think we have one in the attic somewhere' and 'would you mind smoking outside it's a bit windy but we expect the hurricane to pass soon'. The amount of times I've wanted to do something else and yet my body craved a cigarette and demanded I do something about it, I hated that. So I gave up, and stayed giving up.

The reason I mention the smoking, is because I started running again for the same reason, I wanted control back. I had a medical in May this year, the outcome of which was high blood pressure, over weight and damage to my liver. Well I can't blame the medical for all that, must have happened before the medical I guess. Nothing really surprising in the findings, probably most 40 somethings drink to much, have higher than normal blood pressure and are not as slim as they once were. However if you keep doing things the same way then don't be surprised if nothing changes. It occurred to me that if I continued to live the same way I had done that things were not going to change and in 10 years time it may be too late to reverse any of the more permanent side effects that were inevitable, after all I have a mid life crisis to plan for and how would I fit into my Elvis, pre-Vegas years, jump suit. 

So I started walking... yes, walking.

.

Over 22 years ago...

Back in my teens I used to run a lot, mostly because I didn't own a car. I grew up in Dublin in the 1970s, enough said. My short running career lasted from about 12 years old to my second or third packet of cigarettes and the discovery of girls, circa 1986.

During this short period of fitness in my otherwise healthy but unfit life, I qualified for the Dublin Community Games, a big deal amongst the running people, and certainly a big thing for me. I was a sprinter, probably one of the shortest sprinters in world history (I'm not actually that short, but compared to Usain Bolt I'm a little runt). The 100 meters was my main distance, I also dabbled in the 200 as well. After a number of successive games it became apparent to me that I was never going to make it as a world class sprinter, there's only so many times you can come second. I turned my attention to longer distances. This was more my style, and suited my build, although I was as thin as a rake (think Iggy Pop in a pair of HiTech Shadows).

My first 10K was the famous, at least it was in Dublin, Radio Nova 10K, I ran this one two years in a row. It was the time when radio stations in Dublin where somewhere between being illegal and not so illegal.They seemed to be allowed to sponsor sporting events while being raided the next day by the Guards. For a 16 year the pirate radio stations of Dublin in the early to mid 80s were a godsend. The Nova 10K was followed by similar events, such as the Liberties fun run (which I ran with my mam) however it was only a matter of time before the interest in girls and cigarette was going to take it's toll.

My times for the 10K were around 50mins, nothing earth shattering but not that bad. I guess I got a little complacent and I thought I was much fitter than I was when I decided to run the Radio Dublin half marathon in 1986. I remember it well, at one point I got lost, ended up eating black berries from a bush at the side of the road (the refreshment tables had been cleared away), in act if I remember correctly, and years of therapy have done their best to make me forget, I think I might have come last. This was the low point of my running career to date. I decided that enough was enough and caved into the peer pressure that surrounds a 16 year old like Indian's around General Custer. Apart from one very brief 5K in Dublin in 1987, that was the end of my running until now, and why now ? Well that's for another blog.