Sore feet and new socks

I am sooo excited about my running today. I'm always a bit suspicious about training plans - I look ahead to the preposterous number of miles I'll supposedly be able to run by week 8 or 10 or 12 of the programme and I just can't see how the weeks in between are supposed to get me there. Never mind that the one time I followed a generic training plan to completion (a Runner's World half marathon plan - I did all the training but not the race, ridiculously) it clearly worked.

Same thing this time - I'm following the Bupa beginner's 10 mile training programme, and I absolutely could not see how I was supposed to be able to run 10 miles by the end of it. Or even 5 miles by halfway through it. I just don't think I have any faith in the fact that the more you run, the better you get at it.

Big surprise, though - I'm actually getting better. I went out for a 40 minute run today, aiming to cover about 3.5 miles, and it turned into a exhilarating 4.4 miles in about 46 minutes. Once I got into my stride, I just didn't want to stop, and could definitely have run further if I hadn't had plans I needed to get home for.

I did manage to take half the skin of my left foot by wearing ridiculous socks, though. I've only got three pairs of proper running socks, and I almost never seem to have both halves of one pair washed at the same time (don't ask. I don't understand that either) which leads to me wearing random combinations of running and non-running socks:

The Nike one on the left, good as it is (with it's matching pair) for tennis, did not want to go for a run today, and made its point by injuring my heel maliciously. I mentioned this to my lovely mum this afternoon, and she promptly marched me down to Sweaty Betty and bought me two pairs of Blister Resist socks. Not only are they padded and double-layered, they're also purple. I love them very much :)

In other news, I am really, really tempted to take part in Caitlin's Ironman March. The challenge is to cover the full ironman triathlon distance (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run) over the month of March. The running bit will be easy, as I should cover that distance and more with my 10 mile training, but I'm not a great swimmer and biker at the best of times. Obviously, getting better at them is the main motivation for taking part in the challenge, but I think I might struggle to complete it alongside my running training, especially since I'll be on night shifts for a full week in the middle of the month, which means seven days of probably no exercise whatsoever.

 (source)

However, I guess the whole point of a challenge is that it should be, well, challenging, so I'm going to give it a go. Even if I don't cover the full distance, I'll definitely be fitter by the end of the month than the beginning, which is reason enough to go for it!