runz0ring

[ewt]

Ran in Enfield this morning with hairyears - walked up to Lavender Hill Cemetery and then ran through it and some of the park before walking home. Ran for 14 minutes I think. A bit more walking before and after would have been good but I was pressed for time. We stopped just when I was getting to a point where I felt like I could go on running for ages. In reality I wouldn't have been able to because there was a bloody great hill in the way.

Findings:
-hills are evil.
-varied terrain is good, and this outweighs the evilness of hills.
-I chose a too-fast pace to begin with, then slowed down, but seemed to find a somewhat comfortable stride after a while.
-most of the time, even walking, my stride length is quite short, because of back problems (if I take too-big steps I put my lower back out). I might ask around various people who know about this sort of thing and see if there are any specific exercises I can do to give myself longer strides, because the short stride length seems to be one of the reasons my ankles are a little unhappy.
-mornings are not impossible, but I still feel better evenings. I'm going to keep going with a mix of mornings and evenings for now. If nothing else, evenings could get very difficult to schedule.
-running with someone else is good.
-sunglasses might be nice.
-I need to find my l33t special-material sporty shirts that wick sweat away. Hemp and cotton blend is a bit warm and heavy.

Okay, okay, it's still very much jogging, rather than running. But it feels like running, and it eventually will be running.

I am both gobsmacked and delighted that I've managed to do this four times in a week. I hope I can keep up the consistency. And maybe even apply it to other areas of my life.