So yesterday i ventured out for my first ‘official’ run in training for the London next year. I must preface this with i do run regularly anyway, but my training always involves shorter distances for time or interval training. So this run mainly focussed on my normal 5k route but slowing the pace up and keeping an eye on my form.

Now there is an extra twist to this, and you may think i’m mad, but i’m not only attempting to run the marathon, i’m also attempting to do it in these:

My Vibram Fivefinger shoes. I’ve had a lot of problems with my knees in running before, several years ago i had to pull out of the great south run due to ITB problems and my knees and arches in my feet took a long time to forgive me in the 24hr Treadmill challenge i took part in. So i know that over the course of distance running, i have work to do on my knees. I’ve been wearing these shoes for almost a year now and have slowly built up to running a little over 5k in them and have not had a single problem, they make you change the way you run. So, armed with a lot of mobility workouts for my feet, legs and hips, i’m off!

Yesterday’s run was at a much slower pace than i’m used to, and i only really felt it in my left calf, about half way round my run it started to hurt. Everything else was fine, so i got on to some myofascial release when i got home (more to come in future blog post) and although i can feel it in the same spot today, the tightness is already gone. This week’s training will also consist of some squats, circuit-style training and a longer run over the weekend.

I’m going to attempt to keep updating as much as possible throughout. If you want to know more about anything, feel free to ask!