I don’t intend to do regular, weekly training updates for my marathon prep, but I thought it might be interesting to chart my first steps towards making that 26.2 mile run!

Handily, I had an email which offered me 50% off Runkeeper that arrived just the day before I got my marathon acceptance letter, so I signed back up for a year! I only use Runkeeper for running – it’s the best app I’ve found for tracking runs and keeping records over the months (and years!).

My first run was a 30 second run, 30 second walk session – not too bad, but my pace is awful and my legs feel like lead. I have to say, it didn’t improve over the week, and DOMS has been haunting me ever since!

The second outing was a bit better, but as you can see, the going is pretty treacherous in the woods, what with all the mud and debris on the pathways! Although the flat pavements aren’t going to be as tough as these trail runs, I still think they’re good exercise… and maybe it’ll make pavement runs seem easy in comparison! I had a better pace this time because I was trying to beat my previous session, but it’s still nowhere near my final goal!

This final session of the week was a bit of a disaster as my husband came with me and twisted his ankle about ten minutes in! Luckily he was able to hobble home without help, so I carried on by myself – I wanted to hit two miles but I really didn’t have it in me!

All of these sessions were 30 seconds run, 30 seconds walk – I felt like I could go a bit further on the runs but my walks weren’t long enough for a proper recovery. In short, I’m out of shape!

My next goal is to increase my running segments and get a foam roller for my poor achy legs…