Disclaimer
I am not a certified expert on these matters and this is based on some advice I gave to friends and my own experience. Your mileage may vary so don’t complain to me if you think my tips are way off the mark in either direction.
Scared it’ll hurt? Then don’t hurt yourself
A friend asked me to write this blog post since he thought it was helpful for people who might be interested in getting into running as a regular activity.
There are things that I see beginners do and result on them giving up on running - this is usually the pattern:
- Never ran ever, or haven’t trained for a long time
- Attempting to run 5k really fast
- Injuring body parts or hyperventilating and passing out
The end result is the person saying “OMG that was horrible I can’t run, running is not for me”. This is the wrong way to get into running.
Start off slow and don’t worry about the numbers
If you haven’t run in a while then don’t try to go crazy the first time. I took it slow and gave myself a year to confidently run 5k without passing out. A YEAR. Sure, some people can run 10k without flinching, while having eaten potato chips on a couch for a year prior but that isn’t something that most bodies can do. That is an exception, not the norm. So don’t overdo it.
Start off with a small goal like 2.5-3k and jog. Don’t go too fast. Jog lightly and concentrate on not hyperventilating. If you feel your legs cramp up a bit or your lungs freaking out, slow down and walk for a few minutes. Learn to manage your breathing so that you can quickly get back into jogging/running after taking walking breaks.
In my experience the breathing control was the main problem when I first started running. You want to make sure you keep your breathing steady so you aren’t gasping for air. If you can, take classes in yoga to help with breathing control so you can carry that over to your running activities. Yoga will also help stretch and strengthen your muscles so you cause less damage from your runs. Also, don’t overstretch in yoga. Just take it easy. Nobody wins in the damage department. NOBODY.
Increase your distance over time
Over a couple of weeks of running (assuming you don’t damage anything), you should be able to confidently run 2.5-3k and move onto a higher number. You might even be able to run that initial distance without stopping for walks. If so, great! If not, keep at it until you can. Then you’ll eventually get to 4k. Then 5k. And so on.
Don’t sign up for a half marathon or marathon before you know you are ready
Signing up for a really intense event where you’re running over 20k when you’re not able to even break 10k is a terrible idea. Like the worst idea ever. Don’t do it. Just do bit by bit and stop obsessing about getting fast results and leaderboards. There are many opportunities to sign up for those events. Today may not be the day to do that. And that’s okay.
Strengthen your muscles in between runs
Don’t try to run every day. You need at least a day to heal and it’s best to spend that day doing strengthening excercises like squats, yoga, etc.
Get good shoes
Don’t run in your skater hipster shoes. Run in proper running shoes that fit comfortably and have good support. If you’re not sure, always get someone to help at a store that sells actual running shoes. If you get the wrong fit you will have lots of foot, ankle and knee problems and pretty quickly.
And last but not least
This should be fun, not something you have to do because other people are doing it. If this really isn’t your thing or you really are having problems with running, then there are lots of other activities you can do such as cycling, hiking, walking, yoga, dancing - the world is your oyster.
This also takes effort and motivation. Many times, you will be tempted to just say ‘ah screw it’ and skip running for a day or two then it ends up being for weeks. Put it into your schedule and pretend it’s part of your job. Learn to focus and commit.
Running is a great way to understand how your body is changing and learning - sometimes you will have bad run days where you are slow, sometimes you will have good days where you feel like you could run forever. Just go with it but don’t force it.
Happy running!
Also, shout out to @skalnik