Progress and Fear

I was talking to a friend a couple of days ago, and she asked me if I had been making a note of my progress with running over the past few months... I have been taking notes of my individual runs, but I'd not really thought about progress in more general terms until she had asked the question.. so here it goes...

In my dreams.

I started running/jogging in about March in order to compete in a 10k run for the charity I work for. At that time I was about 17 1/2 stone, overweight, unfit, and lacked quite a bit of energy. I have had tests for problems with my feet (un-diagnosed, but it feels like nerve damage). I am 49, have always been hopeless at running (preferring ball/team sports) and feel I'm the wrong shape for it. I could hardly run a mile, really struggled to do this for the first few times, and was worried about possible damage to my knees and ankles from running. I got out of breath very quickly and really struggled to run up slopes, never mind hills...... come to think of it I struggled to run on flat ground and down hill as well! I went to the gym a bit (although was not good at doing this cosistently) and cycled, but again irregularly. So, I bought a pair of decent running shoes and started off slowly and with short distances.

So, it's September.. progress? Well, I can now run a 5k in 26:18. That's about 5 minutes quicker than when I started. I can do 10k in approximately 59 minutes (this in a training run, not a race), and might be able to do it quicker. I run 3 or 4 times a week when I can, and have run 8 or 9 miles a couple of times and even 12.8 miles once. I think I can tell the difference between jogging, easy running and strong running. I can even run a bit faster at the end of races (I won't call this sprinting). Sometimes I even enjoy the process of running! For me this is progress, although I would be the last person to say that I'm good runner, or even much of a runner at all. But I think, for me that is the other thing I am learning... not to compare myself with others, but to set my own challenges and targets.

Oh yes, now I can run up hills (well what I would call steep slopes) so long as they are short! My feet still cause me problems, but I can live with it. I feel fitter than I have for most of my life, my knees and ankles seem ok, and I have lost 1 1/2 stone. 

Some of my trousers are now much too big for me. I call this progress.

So, the fear? I have entered the Birmingham 1/2 marathon in October (see previous post). It was a moment of madness. I have just run approx 9.5 miles and am concerned. There is a monster climb at 11 miles which will be a killer. I'm not sure if I can do 13 miles when its flat, never mind with hilly bits at the end. I don't know how I will cope, especially as I know how I feel at the moment! But I suppose that is what challenge is about, and like a lot of things I think, well if other people can do it, so can I!