Help! Beginner runner

[ali-emily39]

Hi everyone, 

Im trying to start a healthier eating and fitness regime ( and trying to take up running..but find it hard!). I've just been for a jog/walk this morning and was jogging for 2 minutes/ walking for 5 minutes. I did this for over an hour and coped with that well. Does this sound an ideal way to start? 

Thank you

[shipo]

Hello @ali-emily39, I coach a lot of runners on my company running team as well as a local community running club; what you're doing is smart.  My suggestion is to search on the internet for a "Couch to 5K" program (aka. C25K) which meets your needs; C25K programs are a great way to teach your brain and body how to run as well as allowing it to slowly develop the infrastructure necessary to endure the rigors of running.

With the above said, here is my canned bit of advice for beginners:

• Breathing; if you're running along and can maintain a conversation in short sentences, you're running at a good training pace. If you're breathing so hard you're gasping for air, slow way down, you're going too fast, and finally, if you feel you're in imminent danger of collapsing, stop running NOW!
• With the above point in mind, there really is no such a thing as too slow for a beginning runner.
• Nose over toes; many beginning runners have a tendency to over stride, keeping your nose over your toes will still allow a natural "heal touch" first, but transition the main weight contact to the mid-foot area.
• Run on dirt or grass wherever and whenever possible. In addition to the cushioning benefits of running on grass and dirt, there are other benefits, chief among them are a different series of stresses for every step (as opposed to having step after step after step being of a very similar nature and series of stresses), and improvement of ankle flexibility under load.
• When the C25K program says "run", that means "run barely faster than a fast walk"; many folks interpret the "run" directive to mean, "run as fast as you can".
• Repeat weeks as necessary; it is not at all unusual for someone to work up to say, week 4, and then realize they just aren't there yet. When this happens, no worries, repeat week 3 as necessary until you feel ready for week 4.
• Once you've reached the end of the C25K program and can run non-stop for the full 3.1 miles, start extending your training runs at the same pace (or slower), and keep extending the runs until you can run for roughly 1 hour non-stop. Once to that threshold, you can gradually start speeding things up, however, see my LSD comments below.
• Long Slow Distance (LSD); I am an advocate of strict LSD for beginning runners; nothing, and I do mean NOTHING improves speed over a 5K distance for a beginning runner better than lots of LSD.
• Once a runner can run roughly 6 miles at a 10:00 per mile pace (i.e. 1 hour), the best way to start introducing the body to the rigors of faster speeds is to start dialing up the pace for say the last quarter of a mile; then the last half mile, then mile, then two miles. That said, once you're ready for dialing up the pace for the last two miles, you're long since ready for extending the distance as well; try 8 slow miles some days and 6 miles with a fast finish on others.

[MagsOnTheBeach]

I'm new to running too.  I started with walking, then walking faster until running was a little easier than trying to keep a strong walking pace.  With interval running walking like I did at the beginning, I used the Zombies, Run! app.  I did it with my daughter and it was really fun.  Later I was just running and a friend saw me and said Someday you'll really be running! Um...that was me running.  (lol)  

So I downloaded c25k and figured I would learn to run faster, so when the say run, I run as fast as I can.  I really liked it, it made running more exciting.  Then I was injured around week 4 (work not from running), so once I got the clear to run again, I restarted c25k.  It was harder after having 4 weeks off.  Now I am less aggressive, just looking to find my way back to where I was.  I like the app because I don't worry about distance, when she says, You are halfway done, I just turn around and head back.  I listen to music or a book and the app continues to play so it is pretty fun.  I've worked back to week 4!  So that is pretty cool, I'm just slower.  

I think it's good to set a running schedule and stick with it.  Sometimes I don't feel like doing it but I do it anyway.  In the beginning my body protested, my ankle would feel weird and clicky.  I pushed past it, stretched better and now it is fine.  My hip sometimes hurts so I do the same, more stretches, less sitting, and then it is fine.  In the past, I would have used these as excuses to quit.  Now I tell myself I won't quit until I see a doctor.  Then my brain tells myself that I don't need a doctor, I need stretches.

I've been told that if a week is really hard with the app to just redo the week until it feels doable.  There is no reason to struggle too much.  Good luck, I find running is really good for my brain.  No matter if I run with just the app or the app and music or book, that there is a point where my brain just lets go.  It's an interesting feeling.  

I almost forgot - I never do an hour at a time.  If I do more than 40 minutes I get really, really sore and I just can't do what i need to do the next day.  I can do 30 minutes in the am and 30 in the pm with not additional soreness.  I run 5 days a week and take Saturday and Sunday off.

[Bill_k]

Yes it does. If you keep at it the times running will lengthen and the times walking will shorten as you get fitter.

Don't give up on it. When i started walking i couldn't go more than 3 minutes before stopping and now i can walk for an hour.

[exhile]

I started slow at first as well but have gotten a lot faster and travel longer distances on my treadmill. Here's what I've recorded from March to July. I try to jog every 2nd day to give my legs some rest.

[emili]

Yep. over time you are going to want to increase your time and distance running vs walking. As long as you really want to run. As a runner, not runner, runner- I sometimes have to remind myself why I run- because its for sure not for the love of it. There are so many other great cardio workouts that if you find you hate it- you have options..