Hi folks,
Just a quick introduction, I've been here a couple of weeks but not said hi as yet. I'm from Swindon (UK), I'm in my late 30's and have been running less than a year.
My weight has flctuated a lot over the years, i've been as heavy as 295lbs back in 1998, and as light as 180lbs in 2001 when I was working on my feet all day and mountain biking around 20 miles a day.
I've been working in an office (and not done much cycling) for the last few years, so the weight had crept back up to around 290lbs again. I started the C25K running program last year as for some reason I just decided I wanted to run. I think I tried starting C25K 3 times, and each time had to stop due to knee and hip injuries. I assumed I was just too heavy and "not built for running" until I stumbled across some articles on biomechanically efficient running styles, POSE, barefoot running etc on the internet. Being an engineer these concepts made a lot of sense to me.
So in October 2011 I junked my expensive over-pronation correction shoes and bought a pair of cheaper 'neutral' Nike shoes, and started C25K again, but this time I tried to only run correctly from day 1 - this actually wasn't as hard as I'd expected since I'd never had a bad running style to un-learn. I took care to never get sloppy, and within a couple of months could do local Parkrun 5K races. I've never once had any knee or hip pain in the last 6 months, which I can still hardly believe!
I increased the distance little by little, and was able to run a half marathon in March 2012 (2:59), which though not fast, was a pretty huge improvement over not being able to run for more than 30 seconds when I started 6 months ago.
Around the same time as doing the half marathon, I read 'Born to Run' and 'Barefoot Running Step By Step', and started trying to rotate some minimal shoe/barefoot runs into my program.
I have tried a completely barefoot run (2.9KM) but there's a lot of glass and debris on the roads/pavements around where I live, so I'm mostly doing my 'barefoot' runs in a pair of VFF classics (which I love). I've recently bought some Luna's as well, though the weather has been awful here lately so I've only done one run in those so far. I'm up to about 4.5KM in the VFFs now, and am gradually increasing the frequency of my runs in them.
I probably won't be doing the IBRD run in Brighton as I'm busy that weekend, but am 100% committed to barefoot running ongoing.
Oh, my weight is down to about 270lbs at the moment, I'm aiming to get get it down to 160lbs/170lbs eventually. It's not dropping as fast as I'd hoped - though my endurance is improving markedly, and my resting HR has dropped a lot (along with my blood pressure) which is a good sign my aerobic fitness is improving. I'm trying to improve my diet along the way, I've switched to being vegetarian for 5 or 6 days a week and really enjoy it. If I eat a good diet then I'm hoping my weight will take care of its self as the running increases.
Cheers,
Iwan/Vampire
Just a quick introduction, I've been here a couple of weeks but not said hi as yet. I'm from Swindon (UK), I'm in my late 30's and have been running less than a year.
My weight has flctuated a lot over the years, i've been as heavy as 295lbs back in 1998, and as light as 180lbs in 2001 when I was working on my feet all day and mountain biking around 20 miles a day.
I've been working in an office (and not done much cycling) for the last few years, so the weight had crept back up to around 290lbs again. I started the C25K running program last year as for some reason I just decided I wanted to run. I think I tried starting C25K 3 times, and each time had to stop due to knee and hip injuries. I assumed I was just too heavy and "not built for running" until I stumbled across some articles on biomechanically efficient running styles, POSE, barefoot running etc on the internet. Being an engineer these concepts made a lot of sense to me.
So in October 2011 I junked my expensive over-pronation correction shoes and bought a pair of cheaper 'neutral' Nike shoes, and started C25K again, but this time I tried to only run correctly from day 1 - this actually wasn't as hard as I'd expected since I'd never had a bad running style to un-learn. I took care to never get sloppy, and within a couple of months could do local Parkrun 5K races. I've never once had any knee or hip pain in the last 6 months, which I can still hardly believe!
I increased the distance little by little, and was able to run a half marathon in March 2012 (2:59), which though not fast, was a pretty huge improvement over not being able to run for more than 30 seconds when I started 6 months ago.
Around the same time as doing the half marathon, I read 'Born to Run' and 'Barefoot Running Step By Step', and started trying to rotate some minimal shoe/barefoot runs into my program.
I have tried a completely barefoot run (2.9KM) but there's a lot of glass and debris on the roads/pavements around where I live, so I'm mostly doing my 'barefoot' runs in a pair of VFF classics (which I love). I've recently bought some Luna's as well, though the weather has been awful here lately so I've only done one run in those so far. I'm up to about 4.5KM in the VFFs now, and am gradually increasing the frequency of my runs in them.
I probably won't be doing the IBRD run in Brighton as I'm busy that weekend, but am 100% committed to barefoot running ongoing.
Oh, my weight is down to about 270lbs at the moment, I'm aiming to get get it down to 160lbs/170lbs eventually. It's not dropping as fast as I'd hoped - though my endurance is improving markedly, and my resting HR has dropped a lot (along with my blood pressure) which is a good sign my aerobic fitness is improving. I'm trying to improve my diet along the way, I've switched to being vegetarian for 5 or 6 days a week and really enjoy it. If I eat a good diet then I'm hoping my weight will take care of its self as the running increases.
Cheers,
Iwan/Vampire
