Get On, Clip In, Fall Off

Fitness fads

Having realised some time ago that I'm not as fit as I was in my younger days, I finally got around to doing something about it this weekend. Yes, I bought a pair of running shoes. Oh, yes, and tried going for a run. Given that I can walk until the cows come home but am otherwise fairly unfit, I wasn't expecting much. This low expectation was emphasised by the number of "beginner's guides" out there on the web which suggest things like walking for 5 minutes three times a week for the first month, and I was fully prepared for my legs to fall off in protest as soon as I dared leave the flat wearing my alarmingly new and shiny-looking running shoes and a pair of shorts.

I thought a half-hour see-how-it-goes session would be a good plan - walk when necessary, run when necessary, and try not to drop dead. For good measure I left my glasses behind so as to not have to see passers-by bursting into hysterical laughter. This plan worked quite well in the end, and I soon worked out that the thing to do is only walk when nobody's looking. If anyone happens to appear while you're walking, look at your watch (pretend it's an expensive heart rate monitor and you're checking your recovery rate), do that little double-bounce thing and start running again.

Having arrived home 28 minutes later, I found I'd covered just over 3km. This means that I ran and/or walked a distance which I could have probably walked in that time at a decent pace - but dammit, it's the thought that counts. And I got to feel all self-righteous and exercised afterwards. And my muscles are telling me today that I did something unpleasant to them.

Still - it should get better if the process is repeated every couple of days for a while. Maybe in a year or so I'll be able to run 5km in under half an hour, eh?