How do I run?

Jbod1966

I walk between 3 and 4 miles a day. I usually pace around 18 minute miles. I've lost a bunch of weight, but I'm still quite overweight. I'd like to start running just a little bit but I'm not sure how to do that. I still feel too fat to actually run, but there's got to be a way to make that transition. I've checked out C25K, but it seems more for people who are literally sedentary (they want you to go out only 3 days a week), whereas I prefer to be active (at least walking) every day. Any thoughts or suggestions on how to go from walking into running?

L1zardQueen

Couldn't you walk for three minutes and then jog for one? Do this for 30 minutes. Or walk between power poles and then run between them? Or try the Zombie Run app?

CharlieBeansmomTracey

walk and do short sprints or jogs and do that in intervals,then make the intervals longer and longer each time,until you get to where you are running the whole time. thats basically what C25K is.It starts you out easy. you could probably do it more than the 3 days a week but you also dont want to overdo it either at first.

allyphoe

The rest days in C25K are to give your bones, joints, and tendons recovery time. Same reason you increase your mileage slowly. It's fine to walk or do other low-impact activity on the opposite days.

macgurlnet

Why not follow the C25K plan but walk on the off days if you feel up to it? Walking is a really low impact exercise, so you could probably walk on the off days for most, if not all, of the program.

I would suggest getting a pair of running shoes before you start to help prevent injuries.

~Lyssa

JeromeBarry1

Do C25K. It starts from "out of shape and sedentary couch potato" and both gently and surprisingly moves that person to "well conditioned runner". When I was younger, very obese and one time ran, jogged, or perhaps waddled, around a track I developed a condition I called "shin splints", which may or may not be the actual medical condition colloquially called "shin splints", but my shins hurt like hell and I didn't run again for 20 years. You don't want that.

jemhh

Do C25k. Trying to run every day from the beginning is not smart.

jgnatca

I suggest C25K. I followed a similar program when graduating from walking to running. You are ready if you can run for one minute.

You can walk on your off days.

Jbod1966

I'm not sure I could run for a whole minute, though perhaps I can. As long as I can continue to walk on the days C25K says to rest, I wouldn't mind trying it

macgurlnet

Jbod1966 wrote: »

I'm not sure I could run for a whole minute, though perhaps I can. As long as I can continue to walk on the days C25K says to rest, I wouldn't mind trying it

Any training plan that calls for rest generally means rest from that particular activity. It's perfectly fine to do something low impact, like walking, yoga or an easy bike ride (if you bike already) on a rest day.

Rest doesn't necessarily mean sit on your couch all day

~Lyssa

Jbod1966

Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »

Couldn't you walk for three minutes and then jog for one? Do this for 30 minutes. Or walk between power poles and then run between them? Or try the Zombie Run app?

The Zombies Run app looks really cool. I've never heard of it at all before Tiny Dancer recommended it. Have any of you used it? Is it something I could actually handle? Is it adjustable or something so I can do it?

CharlieBeansmomTracey

Jbod1966 wrote: »

Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »

Couldn't you walk for three minutes and then jog for one? Do this for 30 minutes. Or walk between power poles and then run between them? Or try the Zombie Run app?

The Zombies Run app looks really cool. I've never heard of it at all before Tiny Dancer recommended it. Have any of you used it? Is it something I could actually handle? Is it adjustable or something so I can do it?

I tried using it and for some reason it never wanted to work properly.

Lleldiranne

Jbod1966 wrote: »

I'm not sure I could run for a whole minute, though perhaps I can. As long as I can continue to walk on the days C25K says to rest, I wouldn't mind trying it

I had similar concerns before I started running. Then I realized that I was trying to run too fast in the run periods - I was pretty close to my sprinting speed (which, if I say so myself, is pretty good for as short as I am ) I had to switch to a treadmill for training so that I could control the speed. I generally walk around 4 mph (15 minute mile) so I started jogging at 4.5 mph. After I got used to that, I gradually upped my speed. I got up to about a 10 minute mile (or a little better when I switched to road running in prep for a 5k - which I finished in under 30 minutes).

You don't have to do C25K, but any kind of program that helps you progressively increase the amount of time you spend running will be helpful.

Of course, if you find that you prefer walking after all, that's fine too. There's nothing singular about running as an ideal exercise, so if you don't enjoy it there's no point in doing it.

MeanderingMammal

Jbod1966 wrote: »

I'm not sure I could run for a whole minute, though perhaps I can. As long as I can continue to walk on the days C25K says to rest, I wouldn't mind trying it

Schrodinger's training plan?

If you can walk briskly for 30 minutes you can run for the eight minutes of day one.

On non-running days the point is non-running. I used to swim or cycle, but equally bodyweight training can be quite a good option.

Ann262

I agree with the advice Lyssa gave. I totally had the same experience as mathjulz! When I first started, I had a 2 mile walk route and I decided to add running by running from telephone pole to telephone pole, then walk to the next telephone pole. With each run interval, I thought "gads! How does anyone run a whole mile!". Well, I was running like I was being chased by a bear. One day, I decided to try backing off on the pace an jog and I found I could run much longer. LOL!

Stupiidbility

Jbod1966 wrote: »

Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »

Couldn't you walk for three minutes and then jog for one? Do this for 30 minutes. Or walk between power poles and then run between them? Or try the Zombie Run app?

The Zombies Run app looks really cool. I've never heard of it at all before Tiny Dancer recommended it. Have any of you used it? Is it something I could actually handle? Is it adjustable or something so I can do it?

I'm a huge fan of the zombies run app. It has different training programmes that you can customize to fit your preference. The best thing about this app is that the stories will make you so emotionally invested that it'll keep you motivated. I had a knee injury and could barely jog a minute before, and with the zombie run app, I've completed a few 5k and 10k runs. I highly recommend it.

Machka9

I started running on the treadmill. After several weeks of walking faster and faster, one day, when the commercial came on in the middle of the TV show I was watching, I decided to try to run for the duration of the commercial break. I think I made it about halfway. So I returned to walking and tried again on the next commercial break.

I just kept at it until one day I was running right through the commercial break and on into the next one ... and the one after that!

jaymijones

I went ahead and did the C25K program. Before that I was already pretty active. I have an elliptical that I was using 3 times a week, plus lots and lots of walking. Running has always been hard for me and in the past I have given it up within a week or two. I think I may have been pushing myself to far too fast. This time I started running around my block, walking one street, then running the next one, twice a week at first. When I got to the point where I could run two streets strait, I switched to C25K. The first two weeks were too easy, I almost skipped them. But I was terrified of injuring myself so I stuck it out. I just finished week 4 and I still think it's too easy, but at this point I think it's because following the program has accomplished what it was supposed to, from my current perspective week five looks pretty easy too, then again right now week six looks like the place happiness goes to die. But that's what I thought week 4 looked like when I was just starting.

In between running days I go back to my elliptical or my bike. I would like to get to the point where I can run daily. I'd like to replace my elliptical with a treadmill, so this winter when the wind is blowing and the snow is falling I can keep up with my daily 30 minutes of cardio, without giving up running.

I recommend doing C25K, and suggest you go back to walking on the rest days. In a few months when you have finished the program you can start to add more run days.

TavistockToad

Jbod1966 wrote: »

I walk between 3 and 4 miles a day. I usually pace around 18 minute miles. I've lost a bunch of weight, but I'm still quite overweight. I'd like to start running just a little bit but I'm not sure how to do that. I still feel too fat to actually run, but there's got to be a way to make that transition. I've checked out C25K, but it seems more for people who are literally sedentary (they want you to go out only 3 days a week), whereas I prefer to be active (at least walking) every day. Any thoughts or suggestions on how to go from walking into running?

Do c25k 3 x a week and walk the other days?

kavahni

First: get fitted for some good, new shoes. Go to a small, local running store, not a big box like Dick's. just be prepared to spend the money. It will save your joints in the end. Your feet and your shoes are the foundation that you are working with so make sure they are taken care of very well.

Now, I was a runner as a kid, and I spent a lot of years working for the US forest service, so by the time I was 51, everything from my hips down pretty much hurt or was in someway not at its best. I started working with the trainer who did walkers and runners. Running was not on my agenda, but walking well was. She encouraged me to slowly pick up my speed as a walker. You can do that too. Take shorter quicker steps, rather than long ones. Short steps are faster, and they are easier on your joints.

We were working out at the track. After about four months, it felt like I really could do a little running. So I started running about 100 feet on one of the corners, and then waiting until the opposite corner to do the same thing. So I was running about 200 feet every quarter mile. Yes feet! Not yards. Pretty soon I was running about 100 feet on each of the four corners of the track. Then, I was running halfway around the track. Eventually,I got all the way around the track! I use the term running very loosely. Some people can walk faster than I run. But I run.

It's been almost 6 years since I started that walking program. I've gotten my mile time down as low as 10:04 (dammit! Just missed getting under 10:00), but, it has also gone back up as high as a 20 minute mile. It has all depended on how much I was working out, and whether I was injured or sick.

The keys are to have a good foundation, and to take it very, very slowly. Just run a little bit. Then walk fast. Then run a little bit. Then walk fast again. At this point there is no need for you to push your body beyond what it can take.

Blessings! You go girl!

melonmoo91

I also want to start running but didnt know where to start! I think im going to try couch to 5k!! I already walk a few miles everyday!

Jbod1966

I just did my first run/walk. Total distance was 4.2 miles. For the first 2 miles I alternated between walking and jogging, very short distances. I learned two things. 1) I can run more than I thought without dying 2) When I run, my shorts fall down

mandabeth34

When running, only go as fast as you can while still maintaining breath control. That was the trick for me when I learned how to run 7 years ago, overweight and over 30, doing C25K. If you feel yourself starting to lose control of your breathing- Slow Down. Just shuffle along to maintain a "run." You can learn how to catch your breath by going slower, or going downhill.
Once you get the hang of breath control, adding miles is easy, just take it slow.

mhwitt74

Jbod1966 wrote: »

I'm not sure I could run for a whole minute, though perhaps I can. As long as I can continue to walk on the days C25K says to rest, I wouldn't mind trying it

I started out walking 3 miles and it took me 56 minutes. That was 3 months ago and I now do 3 miles in 40 minutes. I gradually increased the pace and now I do intervals. I walk at 4 mph for 2 minutes and then jog at 5.8 for 1 minute or so. This is after warming up of course. You can do it, it just takes time. If you can only jog for 30 seconds then jog for 30 seconds. Eventually it gets easier and you can do more. If following a program helps then by all means do so. I found that just setting small goals for myself and then achieving them really helped. I don't use a program just set small attainable goals.

yoherbs421

Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »

Couldn't you walk for three minutes and then jog for one? Do this for 30 minutes. Or walk between power poles and then run between them? Or try the Zombie Run app?

Haha my coach told us to do that, i liked it.

Yea OP like most have said walk some, jog some. Its a great way to introduce your bones and joints and heart to the impact of running.

Misssynth

Jbod1966 wrote: »

I just did my first run/walk. Total distance was 4.2 miles. For the first 2 miles I alternated between walking and jogging, very short distances. I learned two things. 1) I can run more than I thought without dying 2) When I run, my shorts fall down

Getting your kit right can be the hardest part!!

stanmann571

Misssynth wrote: »

Jbod1966 wrote: »

I just did my first run/walk. Total distance was 4.2 miles. For the first 2 miles I alternated between walking and jogging, very short distances. I learned two things. 1) I can run more than I thought without dying 2) When I run, my shorts fall down

Getting your kit right can be the hardest part!!

Ain't it the truth. Good shorts, good non-chafing undergear.

pondee629

Jbod1966 wrote: »

I'm not sure I could run for a whole minute, though perhaps I can. As long as I can continue to walk on the days C25K says to rest, I wouldn't mind trying it

If you can't run for a minute, you are running too fast. You running pace should allow you to sing "Happy Birthday". If you can't, slow down. I don't see any difficulty in continuing to walk at your 18 minute mile pace on C25K off days. you may want to check out a body weight, or a lifting program, for your running off days. A little cross training is often a good thing.