Things I have learned

First of all, I want to acknowledge my awesome friend, Running Cat, who I blatantly stole this blog format from. I owe her a little more than that though... if it wasn't for her suggestion to join up to run the Mother's Day Classic, I may never have gotten back into running again. I didn't train particularly conscientiously for the event, but I have a terrible guilty conscience and couldn't be a no-show, so that kick started my efforts (I was determined not to walk any of that 4km course even though I'd only dedicated two weeks of training to it!).

Oh, and she also found out about the Run Melbourne free training sessions on every Tuesday night at Fed Square. Wow, I do have a lot to thank her for. Thanks, Ms Running Cat!

There are lots of new things I've learned about running this time around:

1.  I need to have something to aim for!
I used the Couch to 5k plan last year to work my way up to running non-stop for 30 minutes last year and kept it up for about 4 months.  But what then?  Training for an event makes every run seem worthwhile.  Running for fitness or body tone just gets plain boring quickly.

2.  Running with a group makes it really challenging and fun
It was probably lack of confidence that made me think I'd never be fast enough to run with a running club. The Run Melbourne training sessions have been amazing... a 12 week build up with a beginners group as well as different distances and paces.  It makes it almost easy to keep improving. Well, it feels easy after the run is over each week.

3.  Running with a partner is great
Again, perhaps a bit of a confidence thing, but I was certain that most everybody on the planet runs faster than me, and with the variation in running paces I'd never find somebody that I could comfortably run with. I was wrong! Running with a friend pushes you harder than you'd push yourself and gives you a reason to show up to complete a planned training session. And the Run Melbourne training sessions showed me that plenty of people run at a similar pace to me.

4.  Shoes are super important
I ran with some old shoes the first time around and had a fair few niggles in my ankles and the bottom of my legs. I got fitted by a podiatrist at Active Feet and haven't looked back.  Not a single foot or leg / knee issue since *crossing fingers*.

5.  I need a training plan / routine to stick to
Or else I wouldn't make my minimum training sessions each week.

6.  I shouldn't be scared to challenge myself
I read somewhere that newbies to running often make one of two mistakes, one - worrying about pushing themselves too hard, and therefore don't and don't improve, or two - push themselves too hard too quickly and quit. I fell into the first group the first time round, but now feel like I challenge myself on a regular basis and therefore continue to improve.

Hmm, 6 is an annoying number of things but I suppose I'll just have to deal with it.