Couch to 5K

Whilst I consider myself fairly active and reasonably fit, I’ve always identified as ‘not a runner’. Historically this has been down to having ‘bad knees’ that always seem to flair up after running more than a 100 metres, and getting shin splints pretty quickly after that.

In hindsight I think this has mainly been down to a combination of poor running technique (consistently heel-striking) and being a little heavier than I perhaps would have liked for the better part of two decades.

After a year of wearing barefoot / minimal shoes the way I walk has now fundamentally changed. I’ve also lost a reasonable amount of weight since the beginning of the year (mainly to fit into a hired suit at my sisters wedding a couple months ago), so I have decided to give running a go again.

Whilst I am very much bought into the whole barefoot / minimal shoe movement, I’m not taking any chances - I wanted some cushioning from my footwear, so I was back to considering proper running shoes. However I have gotten use to wearing ‘foot-shaped’ shoes, so mainstream running shoes weren’t really an option.

Luckily I found Altra, who specialises in ‘foot-shaped’ and zero-drop running shoes with decent cushioning. Last weekend I managed to find a local stockist and picked up a pair of road running shoes on sale.

Although reasonably fit, I haven’t run for more than 5 minutes in a long time, so I have decided to follow a proper tried-and-tested program to ease myself in properly. Whilst I don’t necessarily spend a lot of time lounging around, the Couch to 5K running plan seemed like the just the ticket. I’ve decided to use the so-far excellent Watch to 5K app for my iPhone and Apple Watch Ultra (I wanted something designed for the watch, so I didn’t have to run with my phone).

As of writing this I have completed the first of nine weeks in the training plan and so far so good. I am pain free and genuinely look forward to the next run (although at this stage I am only running for one minute at a time!). I’ll check back in eight weeks with hopefully a couple of 5K runs under my belt.