Running advice, distance or time?

spiriteagle99

Start out with every other day now so that you are only running 3 or 4 days a week. It is during the rest days that your muscles heal and get stronger. You need rest days. Usually aerobic fitness comes faster than the muscles', tendons' and bones' ability to adapt to running more, so you need to be cautious. Many beginner runners end up with shin splints or tendonitis from doing too much too soon.

Loumossmfp78

Thankyou @spiriteagle99 im definately going to have tomorrow as a rest day, think im just being too eager! But it makes sense what your saying if i over do it and get injured then ill be unable to run!

BeeerRunner

louisemoss5978 wrote: »

Thankyou @BEERRUNNER! I didnt think i had it in me run 5k without stoppping.my first attempt too, i was ecstatic and i felt great after it! Didnt realise how much i loved running! I think i need to step it up to 3 days now and aim for the 10k on one of those days! If i did a 3 mile treadmill run today im i crazy attempting a jog outside tomorrow? Or do i need a rest day in between

@louisemoss5978 I would go for days in between runs while starting out. It really is best to increase your mileage slowly. You can elliptical, bike, stairstep, zumba, lift weights, etc... on non running days.

I would totally go for outside running though. I didn't try it at 1st because I thought I'd hurt my knees, but once I started, I LOVED it! It feels so much better to run and go somewhere. Pretty much the only time I run on a treadmill is if I'm traveling and don't have time to figure out where to run outdoors or if the weather is thunderstormy. I run in rain, wind, cold. You just have to dress appropriately. Not much ice or snow where I live. Lol!

You can get just as hurt on a treadmill. My mom was going too fast and was thrown from the TM, and broke her shoulder. I did fall once running outside and scraped my knee. Why on Earth would they build lights into a sidewalk?!? I took 1 day off and was back running again.

Just make sure you land with your feet directly below your hips, not out in front of you. Overstriding will hurt your knees if you keep doing it. It's also good to warm up with dynamic stretching (think of warmups involving movement, leg swings, high knees, etc...) and cool down with static stretching (more traditional stretching of your quads, hamstrings, glutes, etc...)

Give the outdoors a try. Just about everyone I know prefers it once they try.

Loumossmfp78

@BeeerRunner you definately sound like you know what your doing, thanks for the great advice! Oh no your poor mom hope she got back on one after she recovered!
Im attempted my first outdoor run tomorrow morning, im hoping it stays dry for me! I just hope im not disappointed with my distance because ive got a feeling im not gonna do aswell as on a treadmill! Wish me luck !

BeeerRunner

louisemoss5978 wrote: »

@BeeerRunner you definately sound like you know what your doing, thanks for the great advice! Oh no your poor mom hope she got back on one after she recovered!
Im attempted my first outdoor run tomorrow morning, im hoping it stays dry for me! I just hope im not disappointed with my distance because ive got a feeling im not gonna do aswell as on a treadmill! Wish me luck !

Good luck @louisemoss5978 ! I would also use an app like Strava or Mapmyrun so you know your distance and time. I go way faster on the road than I can on a treadmill. Have fun!!

And yes, my mom's doing better and has gotten back to walking on the treadmill since.

mengqiz86

It really doesn't matter whether you go by distance or time, as long as you run further/longer over time (no more than +10% per week). When I started I tended to go by distance because caloric burn is ultimately dependent on distance - so it gives me a more consistent estimate (if you are looking to lose some weight)

Once you build up a good consistent base (6-8 weeks) that's when you can start adding speed/hill intervals, tempo and long runs, to optimize your body's muscular strength, lactate clearance, and microvascular functions for greater improvement. Speed is harder to improve than distance, and more injury-prone. So the base running fitness is very important.

Welcome to the runner family.

Loumossmfp78

Thanks once again @BeeerRunner ! Your like my coach!

Loumossmfp78

Thanks @mengqiz86 i honestly wasnt expecting to like running so much, so many ways too! I did my first outside run today 3 miles in 33 mins, im ok with that time as ive got to start somewhere, so my next run im gonna add 10% on my distance untill i get to 6 mile!