Geek Fitness

[DomsBeard]

I've bought a Wii U and downloaded Wii Fit U. Going to do a workout each day to see how it goes. Seems a very improved version of Wii Fit, you do need two remotes though to get the full events though.v

[PlexShaw]

I think they use the old Wiimote & Nunchuck combo?

I've not done too much workout stuff in the game itself but absolutely love the Fit Meter Challenges (they take a certain kind of mindset but totally work for me).

[DomsBeard]

Some of the activities require a wiimote in each hand no nunchuck

[PlexShaw]

Good old Nintendo don't make that clear on the box. Typical.

[PapaBlingo]

I am still into running, though I had a really bad case of shin splints last year which meant I missed all of the events I had planned. I have the Longleat half next month though, and am eyeing up a full marathon at some point this year.

[PlexShaw]

Which marathon are you thinking of doing?

I'm doing my first half in 2 weeks time at Eastbourne. Been training for it since early December, steadily building up the Sunday long runs, with various easy and workout runs in the week. Going pretty well thus far, so fingers crossed for the day itself.

[PapaBlingo]

I'm not sure which I'll do to be honest. I would like to do one of the less popular ones, as a crowded event like the London marathon is not something that I would want to do. Good luck on the half. In my experience, you'll run your best time at the event, as you'll get caught up with the moment.

[Flabyo]

I've decided I want to try and start running to raise my level of fitness. For years I've had toe problems which have prevented it, but the surgery I had last year has *finally* healed properly.

I'm no spring chicken, I'm 38 and not in the best of shape at all, so I'm not going to immediately dive into 10k runs or anything like that.

But I'm not sure where to start. As I'm part of the App generation, I like the idea of having something to track what I'm doing and spur me on. And then there's all these various fitness band things and so on.

Anyone got any suggestions or pointers for how to start up again without giving myself a coronary on my first run?

[RobC]

I've decided I want to try and start running to raise my level of fitness. For years I've had toe problems which have prevented it, but the surgery I had last year has *finally* healed properly.

I'm no spring chicken, I'm 38 and not in the best of shape at all, so I'm not going to immediately dive into 10k runs or anything like that.

But I'm not sure where to start. As I'm part of the App generation, I like the idea of having something to track what I'm doing and spur me on. And then there's all these various fitness band things and so on.

Anyone got any suggestions or pointers for how to start up again without giving myself a coronary on my first run?

While I can't recommend a specific app, I'd suggest looking into any app that runs you through the couch-to-5K program. It essentially starts you from quite small distances and adds intermittent bouts of running up until a full 5K. I think it originally was 3 sessions a week over 10 weeks but this was some time ago and I'm sure it will have been done in no end of apps since which let you cater it your own needs.

[PlexShaw]

I'm not sure which I'll do to be honest. I would like to do one of the less popular ones, as a crowded event like the London marathon is not something that I would want to do. Good luck on the half. In my experience, you'll run your best time at the event, as you'll get caught up with the moment.

Yeah, same here. I went with my family to support my brother running the Amsterdam Marathon last October and found the whole thing totally overwhelming - even though I wasn't even participating!

I'm going to sign up for Abingdon instead - I'm familiar with the area having had to go there for work reasons quite a few times in the last decade, they don't allow the use of headphones (which should hopefully put a lot of people off - personally, I loathe running to music) and you have to complete it within 5 hours (so it's designed for runners rather than walkers). Obviously, I'll see how I feel after Sunday but training suggests I should be able to kick it up to a longer distance without finding it too daunting a prospect.

[PlexShaw]

I've decided I want to try and start running to raise my level of fitness. For years I've had toe problems which have prevented it, but the surgery I had last year has *finally* healed properly.

I'm no spring chicken, I'm 38 and not in the best of shape at all, so I'm not going to immediately dive into 10k runs or anything like that.

But I'm not sure where to start. As I'm part of the App generation, I like the idea of having something to track what I'm doing and spur me on. And then there's all these various fitness band things and so on.

Anyone got any suggestions or pointers for how to start up again without giving myself a coronary on my first run?

As RobC says, Couch-to-5K is the way to go - it builds you up slowly and is by far the best method of getting into running longer distances. The training plan itself is 3 days a week (you can pick which ones, being careful to take into account the all important rest days) and looks basically like this: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

As for apps, IIRC you're on iOS and there are plenty of C25K specific apps available but I feel they might be a bit limited, especially if you find you want to take things a bit further afterwards. One option might be to use a running app that has the ability to create interval workouts, so you can effectively program the C25K training plan into it and then follow it that way. A lot of my iPhone using friends use iSmoothRun (http://www.ismoothrun.com/), often in conjunction with their Pebble, which they find pretty effective. It can also share your runs to services like Strava. I've not used it personally as I have a running watch, but they all swear by the app. The question is whether it's worth £4.49 of your cash.

Most importantly, before you do anything, I'd highly recommend you get some proper running shoes from a running store.

[PapaBlingo]

I forgot to update this. I managed the Longleat half in 1 hour 36 minutes. It is a better time than I managed when I was 31, which is pretty cool.