New Here & new to running

Well IrishGal,

Like someone once told me, "you picked a great sport." I hope that you
continue on with the running after you've lost your stones. How many pounds to a stone anyway? It's a measurement that I am not familure with, us Americans from the USA you know. That is great though, and after yu reach your goal, keep running! Pick some shorter term goals to help you reach your weight loss goal, like run a 5K and then another . .
It all starts with those 5K runs, and you can do it! I ran a marathon last May, my first one, and I've only been running for about 2 or 3 years.
It gets better, and then it gets tough and then better again. Another thing you might want to try, if you have not already is Aerobic Step (AS). It is a great cross training supplement to your running, and it will strengthen your legs, and help you to increase your VO2 which helps pass oxygen input to working muscles. AS will also help to improve your lung capicity,
and improve your endurance on distance runs. The combination helps to keep the FUN in your routines, and helps to reduce injury. another thing if you have not already done so, is to research running shoes to make sure you have the ones that are the most appropreiate for your foot arch.
This will also help to prevent common leg injuries that runners can get due to what is called pronation (over, under, or normal) . I found out the hard way. I wish you well . . . COOL 8)

Chartree

Wow! 2 stone since March. Good work.
That's 28 lbs right?

That is indeed 28lbs well done irishgal :D

14lbs to a stone so that's right 28lbs, kind of scary when you lift a lb of butter/margarine. to think i was carrying that extra weight and i still have more to lose. i now weigh 12st 12lbs which is 180lbs and my ideal weight should be between 8st 4lb - 10st 5lb. At moment i am aiming for 12stone.

Had a really good week last week, went to a local racecourse where other athletes train and i found out able for more than i thought i was and did another evening at our local college's athletic track which opened earlier this race, that was cool to run on, i did over an hour there but it was great to have other people around even though i wasn't able to keep up with them just to have some company made the difference and last night i jogged my usual mile in 11mins 9 secs with 30sec of walking normally i would walk 5mins then jog 8mins to the 1 mile mark and normally do it in 12min 30sec so i am a happy camper today!

Thanks for the support

Well you are welcome for the support, but it's been awhile sine I've written last. it's always good to run with others. It becomes a social event for me then. I often just slow down for people who don't run as fast so that we can talk. It's good excerise to talk while running. You see when it starts to get harder to talk you begin to exceed the aerobic limit and the exercise becomes anerobic. Those race tracks are great! I am not sure what the surface is made of but it is a lot easier on the feet. I think it's rubber. Perhaps it's made of old shredded car tires? It has give to it. A good thing to do is to run 2 laps in like a clockwise motion, and then turn and run 2 laps counter clockwise. The surface has a little pitch to it, and by doing this it will prevent leg pain. I ran a slow run today at lunch time with a work colleague. It was just as well anyway. I was a bit sore from the weekend anyway.

I use those tracks for speed work. I am trying to get faster. Kind of like you running and walking. I run moderately, and then run faster, and sometimes all out! I am pretty small though. I go 5' 3.75" and weigh about 9.5 stones. My goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon in 2006.
The next marathon I will run is in May 2005. For now I am just pretraining by reading up on techniques in the Running magizines like, Runner's World, and Running Times, and listening to veteran runners. Implementing the ideas, experimenting with the techniques, and enjoying the beautiful scenery of Autumn. . . I enjoy it out there on the road with or without company. Well Irishgirl, hang in there, and enjoy let me know how you are making out.

Chartree

Good luck Irishgal. Running is a tough sport because you are againist your worst enemy in some cases, YOURSELF, but I think you are determined enough to reach your goals and I've got your back on it!!!

Good luck,