I love to boogie

Well here is a update on my running...that's right I have taken up running and will be running a 5K on the 5th June.

I have been out running 6 times now and I really love it, there was a point in my life when I said that I would "never" run because I just couldn't see why I would want to run. But now I like it even though it is tough trying to build up my running.

The first time I went running was the toughest time for me, I ached like mad all over my body in places I didn't think I could ache. It was crazy because I had trouble bending down and picking things up and I ached for 4 days.
I then went out running and I hurt myself on a walking part and I had to walk all the way back to the car in pain and it was getting dark and I was on a road along side a country park that is very dark and I was scared especially with a car keeping coming past me and then parking opposite my dads car as I sat in the car and waited for my dad and his friend to return from their run.

I went running again three days later and was over my injury and enjoyed the run and found I ran more this time than my first time which is an amazing feeling and I even went further which was great and to top that off I beat my dad back to the car by about 20 minutes although he was running twice the amount that I was doing.

The hardest run I have had was when we went up to Darwen Tower. My dad said he would take my up the easiest path and if that's the easiest path I don't want to go up a tougher one because that almost killed me and i was only walking up it. It was so steep and was a loose gravel path so hard to walk up because of the gravel moving under my feet. I had to stop about 4 or 5 times on my way up - the longest was for about a minute after the hardest part of the climb because I was simply out of breath.
I did feel like quiting but I knew it was all down hill and I would love that part of it when I got to the top so I went all the way to the top which was amazing!!
I then waited for my dad who went further but I started to get cold so I stood up and walked a little and as soon as I saw him coming down a hill behind me I started off running, I stopped twice to catch my breath but kept on running along to tough path till I got to the top part of the steepest bit of the loose gravel part. As I stood there waiting for my dad I caught my breath and we ran down together. I had the wrong running shoes on for it was had trouble keeping from falling over and stopping was a pain, I was so scared of falling onto my face and hurting myself that I stopped a couple of times and let my dad run ahead. I was only 20 seconds behind my dad and that was because I had stopped for 20 seconds in total. It was such a great feeling being able to run down that hill, I loved it.
We then went onto the other path back down to the car and this had some bigger blocks of loose stone that made it harder to run down but I ran about 80% of it and was very pleased with the amount that I had run. Then I finished off with the final part back to the car which I ran!!
I enjoyed it so much and would love to do it again at some point during the summer because it was a great run.

I was then ill for almost a week which I wasn't pleased about because I had planned to run twice that week and was unable to do so.

Then Saturday (14th) I ran again. I loved it!! I did my normal route and found i was running more of it than before and also that my recovery time when I was walking was slightly shorter in places which enabled me to run more. I then walked up to the duck pond and caught my breath and then I decided to really go for it and run fast down the hill. I set off really fast and I was loving the feeling of running so fast and some how I managed to go even faster which was an even better feeling. Lucky was with me and he couldn't keep up when normally he runs in front of me or at least at the side of me.
I ached that night but not as much as i did on my first run. I did expect after a week away from running that I would struggle and not manage as much but I did more than normally which was amazing. Normally when I miss my workout DVD for longer than 10 days I struggle when I do it again so I thought it would be the same with running but my dad said my body had time to recover and because I'd only been away from running for a week I didn't lose any of the fitness I had started to build up.

Sunday I got my bike out and went for a ride with my dad through the cycle path in Witton Park onto the the route I run and then along the duck pond along part of another cycle path and then I turned round and came back. I flew down the hill too, I didn't break once and loved the speed that I was going at - it was amazing and such a shame to break at the bottom but I had to wait for my dad who was keeping his eye on Lucky because he came out with us.
We then made our way along the way we came and did a different route back and dropped Lucky back at the car because he was having trouble keeping up. We then did another route along part of the cycle path and ended up doing 5 miles in total.
I loved it and wanted to do more but my dad needed to get home and finish his work so we came home. I realised how much i miss riding my bike because it was one of my favourite things to do when I was younger and I hadn't rode a bike since I was about 16 when I sold my two bikes. My dad bought me a bike off my brother a few years back and I'd never been on it till Sunday and I will never wait that long again because I love riding bikes and during the summer I hope to get out on my bike at least once every 1-2 weeks.

I can't wait to get better at running and to be able to run further and further without having to stop because I am out of breath. From the end of next week when my studying calm down a lot I plan to go out everyday, if I'm not running I will walk for an hour (weather permitting) and if I can't go out because of the bad weather or because I don't have spare time till it's dark I will do one of my workout DVDs for an hour. So with some luck I will run around 4 times a week and build up as fast as possible because I need to be able to run 3 miles by the 5th June and I hope I can do it.

I have already booked myself a place in the Amsterdam Half Marathon on the 21st October and I am looking forward to it. I am actually doing my first half marathon on the 2nd September in preparation for the it and I can't wait to do that so i need to up my training and distance over the summer.