Starting from Scratch

Today, I start running.

Obviously, I’ve run in the past. At some point. But this will be the first time since school that I’ve run for the sake of running, rather than running for a bus, or running as part of some other exercise.

The closest I’ve come in recent years would be the jogging warm-up at my old karate club. And since I quit karate, a few years ago now, I don’t think I’ve run at all, for any reason.

Which might explain why I’m so lardy and unfit right now. I’m definitely the heaviest I’ve been in some years, and fairly unfit, too. I’ve not done regular exercise, apart from walking to work, in months.

And I feel pretty terrible, and I think my health is suffering because of my lack of exercise, and I feel like I have to do something to lose some weight, and I don’t want to starve myself on a diet. I kept the weight off fairly well when I was exercising regularly.

So, when my friend Ben asked me to knock up a website for his new iPhone application, Get Running, it felt a bit like a message from the universe. “Get running,” the universe was saying to me. “Get off your arse.”

And here I am. Ben’s given me a copy of his iPhone app, which is based on the “Couch to 5K” plan. It gradually builds you up from a nice gentle start, alternating running and walking, right up to running for a whole half hour, or about 5K.

Which was another hint I got from the universe recently. I told my upstairs neighbour, Sian, that I was thinking of doing this, and she (as  a much fitter person, and an occasional runner) pointed out that the run around Bristol’s harbourside, which is right on my doorstep, is pretty much 5K.

So, I guess I’ve got a target, a way of measuring my success, and a way to get there.

And, to help with my motivation, and to track my progress with some words, I figured I’d start blogging about it, too.

I’ve postponed my start a bit — mostly because it was absolutely chucking it down with rain on Sunday. I’m not sure I feel ready now, but you have to start at some point, and if I waited until I felt ready, I’d probably still be waiting in 2017. And it looks like a nice sunny day, at the moment.

So, today, I start running. Or at least some gentle jogging, interspersed with some walking to recover.

I hope.

If you see another entry on this blog, you’ll know for sure 🙂