How do I start? Running tips for beginners.

Well y’all this social distancing is taking its toll on a lot of people.  I’m very lucky to be able to work from home, and my dog is living his best life having me here all the time.  I know some of you out there are not in that position and facing tremendous challenges. I feel for you. The healthcare workers out there?  Bless you.  

All that said, I imagine some of you might be taking this time away from the gym and other activities and thinking about taking up running.  It might seem intimidating and you might be wondering where to even begin. Here I’ll share with you some of the lessons I learned when I was starting out and some things to avoid.

Start slow

If you haven’t run before, you really don’t know your pace.  Even if you’ve dabbled in running, you likely don’t know what your average pace is.  A lot of people think that running has to be fast. When I first started, I would tire out and get winded easily because I started too fast.  

Start at a conversational pace.  That means you should be able to carry on a conversation easily while running.  This will look different for everyone and it might feel like you’re barely running at all.  That’s ok! If you’re worried about what people will think about you “running slow”, don’t. Easier said than done, I know but truly…it’s like your mom said “The only people that care aren’t worth caring about”.

Take walk breaks

Not strictly necessary, but I found this to be a real mental game changer.  Your mind adapts to what you set out before you. For instance on long run days I go out ready to run, say 10 miles and I do it.  But if I only planned to do 5? Good luck getting me to run 10. I’m getting ahead of myself though. Consider taking some walk breaks to let your mind adapt.

Try something like this:  run 2 minutes, walk 1 minute or run 3 minutes, walk 1.5 minutes.  The walk breaks will seem short, but you’ll also be able to get through the run segments easier because your mind will know that rest is coming.  For me, I can talk myself into doing just about anything for 3 minutes if I know I get a reward (rest) after.

Run 2-3 days per week

It might be tempting to want to run more often if you’re really excited about it, but believe me burnout is real.  Start simple, 20-30 minute runs a couple of times per week, on non-consecutive days. On the weekends, or when you have more time, start adding a little bit, maybe 40 minutes.  The goal here is to get your body adapted to the activity but also allowing plenty of time to rest. I’ll be talking more about rest next week, but I can’t emphasize enough how important it is.

Cross Train

Don’t forget to keep up the rest of your fitness routine.  Don’t have one? Get one. You don’t have to become a bodybuilder, but what not everyone understands is that running is actually a full body sport.  The core is particularly important, and a weak one can cause issues all over the body. Just make sure that running doesn’t become your only source of exercise. 

Relax

When you’re starting out you’re not likely to fly out of the gate with good running form.  That’s ok. Honestly, you can’t be expected to figure it all out at once, so just relax. When I first started I ran so tense that my shoulders would hurt, I was thinking about it all too much.  Then I learned to just relax my body and take short strides. Sometimes I felt like I was shuffling. Over time though, my body learned what to do, what felt right. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not the Doogie Howser of running, sometimes I still catch myself slumping over like Quasimodo when I get tired.  That’s running.

Breathe

Something I really struggled with early on and still do from time to time – the dreaded side stitch!  I heard and read all kinds of things, drink more, drink less, add salt, put your arm up, put your hand on your side, on and on.  Those are all great ideas and may work for you but they didn’t help me. Then I read something (I wish I could remember where and link it here) that changed my life. 

 *Cue dramatic music here* 

Breathing.  Seems simple, right?  Breathing? Well it can be tricky while you’re learning to have all of your body work together to run.  There’s a thing called “belly breathing” which helps to regulate your breath, rather than just gasping and drawing air from your chest.  It sounds complicated but here’s what got me over the stitches:

Breath from the belly and take shorter breaths, focusing on breathing out every time my right foot (pick a foot) hit the pavement.  I don’t know if it’s mental, physical, or a combination but that focus seems to help get my breath under control. After doing that for a minute or two I’m usually good to go and don’t have to focus on it anymore.

Well that’s enough for now and if you’re still reading, you might just be serious about this so put your shoes on (oh yeah, shoes! We’ll talk about that later) and get started!  I’ll be here if you have questions.