Ladies and Gentlemen,

If anyone ran the 10k last Sunday and would like to add it to your logbook, I have mapped the route as best as possible within the link below.

http://www.goodrunguide.co.uk/RouteViewer.asp?RouteType=S&RouteID=128956

This was my first ever 10k run after only starting my training 12 weeks ago.  I regularly read your posts (especially Martin Allen’s blog) and they have given me great inspiration with my quest to become a runner and lose the excess weight that had been gathering from lack of exercising over the years.

I can proudly say I completed the race in 57m 49sec, which I was told is a reasonable time for a 39yr old first timer, as we had to contend with some hills on the route.  I have lost 2st 8lb in the 12 weeks of training, and can now say I’m no longer overweight going by my BMI becoming 23.2, which makes the whole journey even more satisfying 

Now I can start to aim at getting my times down further.  I was looking at joining Park Run as a way of testing myself on regular bases, and was wondering if anyone had any feedback on these runs?

I can safely say I’m hooked on running.

Well done Tony.

parkrun is great, would definitely recommend it. Great way to start the weekend and also keep track of your progress as you improve. The one in Crystal Palace is hilly though! 

Rod,

Thanks for the feed back on Park Run.  I will be using the Greenwich run as my local, which is nice and flat.  Maybe once I have improved I can look to the likes of Crystal Palace as a test for measuring improvement.

Thanks again.

Keith,

Well done with the weight loss. 

I roughly watched my calorie intake.  The general guide is if you eat 1000 calories a day less than you normally would then you will lose 2lb a week.  This is not good when your running, as you can get tired easily.  I stuck to 500 calories a day less, thus losing 1lb a week on top of the weight loss from running, and went from 15st 8lb to 13st.

All sounds easy, but if you live with a partner it can be hard to make two different meals, well it was for me and my wife, as she was juggling this as well as a 2 year old who is very boisterous.  Nether the less, 1lb a week is a very healthy way of losing the weight as you don’t get massive variations of weight loss week on week.

Remember; do not over train as you could get an injury that will leave you sitting around for a few weeks.  I was advised to never run more than two consecutive days before having a rest or change of exercise routine, i.e. cycling/rowing/cross trainer.