Hanging up my running shoes

. . . and getting some cycling shoes.

Well that's it. I tried and I failed. My knees have given up on me and I can barely walk up the stairs without wincing with pain. The old 'thritis has come back and has let me know in no uncertain terms that its still here and is going to stick around for the forseeable future.

I was putting myself through the pain barrier every time I ran so I'm going to take up cycling instead. My buddies go for a bike ride every Sunday morning so I'm going to start joining them. During my lunch hour today i'll be looking at cycling shorts and helmets instead of running pants and outrageously expensive shoes.

So that's the end of this blog. I can't really be bovrilled writing a cycling blog so Adios, Buenos Dias. I'll be on my bike then.

A Post-Work Jog

Having bought myself some cheap black trainers over Christmas, I am getting into the habit of running from my office to the Metrolink Station. Its about three quarters of a mile. I did it for the first time on Monday and again yesterday.

I've been covering about half the distance running and then I've been walking the rest of the way. I'm giving myself two weeks to be able to cover the while distance in one go.

My main problem with all this running is my knees and feet. About three years ago, I was very suddenly struck down by arthritis which affected my joints such as knees and elbows plus my hands and feet. I was off work for three months and for a couple of weeks I couldn't walk at all. For a while I wondered if i'd ever walk again but a course of anti-inflamatory medicine and I was ok. It has only been in the last 8 - 10 months that I finally noticed that I wasn't suffering any ill effects any more. That is until I started running.

After five minutes or so, my feet hurt and later my knees and legs ache like hell. Im not sure what the solution is. I'm loathed to splash out on fancy running shoes just yet. Not that i'm sure it would make a difference anyway. Perhaps I should take up swimming or cycling . . . or watching telly.

Little and Often

I went on my usual run on Friday and did the whole thing without having to stop for a rest. The sense of achievement was quite special, even though its probably less than a mile and I was running for less than ten minutes.

But that doesn't matter does it? If an olympic athelete knocks a couple of seconds from his personal best over 10,000 metres, he feels the same thing. Its all relative and the point is that I can now run much further than I could when I started all this in November. Not only that but when I did the same run the following day, I again completed it without stopping and felt even better in the process.

I'm going to get some cheap black running shoes this week so when I finish work I can run from the office to the Metrolink and then i'll continue running from the bus stop to my house at the other end.

Little by little, bit by bit, Holty's getting much less shit.