Changing Things Up

Over the past few months I have slowly been building up my running again.  I’ve talked about running and how it has played a role in my life over the years before.  About 18 months ago I was starting to feel like my feet were sprouting their wings again and then, blammo, they got flattened by a pretty bad case of tendonitis.

I learnt my lesson that time around.  My body is actually getting older, I have also had a couple of particularly nasty foot sprains in the last 5 years and too much too soon is bad.  Very Bad.  I also learnt how important it is for me to work on my strength as well as my fitness because if my body is strong it's better protected against injury.

With the 2012 Melbourne Marathon as my ultimate goal I am pretty pleased with my progress so far.  I’m starting to change things up a bit, pushing further on some runs and faster on others.  Tonight I put together my longest run for a very long time.

I’ve been trying out different running apps on my phone with mixed success.  I’ve also been working on my strength and fitness in the gym.  I’ve been managing to squeeze in 30 minute sessions in my lunch hour. Once upon a time I wouldn’t have considered it worthwhile because it was only 30 minutes but I can actually feel the difference it’s making because I’m making it count.

I’ve been working with Supertrainer Stef, you’ll have heard about him if you read Lauren’s blog.  I feel stronger.  I actually want to do push ups for the first time in my life.  I can almost do them on my toes but my back isn’t quite letting me yet.  After having 4 babies my lower back is definitely my biggest point of weakness but it’s getting stronger as I improve my core strength.

I’ve seen even more people taking up the C25K this year and discovering running for the first time.  Do you have a running or fitness goal, short or long, you have set yourself this year?