Help me learn to like running........

pelleld

I've never liked running, I think it goes back to when I was a kid and my father used to make me run around our very long block for exercise. Its like I've had a mental block against it ever since. Fast forward to last week, we went to our place up North, where there is no gym. I decided to run, OK Jog, every morning as a way to get some exercise in. I did it, didn't love it, but I did it. Currently I go to the gym 5 days per week, half hour cardio half hour weights. I've decided I'd like to find a way to incorporate running into my regimen. I'm also looking to re-lose 5 pounds I've put on this summer and thinking this might help? So, to all you runners out there, please convince me why I should try this.....

What can I expect to gain health-wise?
At what point do those endorphins kick in? I'm beginning to think they are imaginary
Will I ever grow to actually LIKE to run?
What is a good pace? Last night I ran 1.5 miles in 19 minutes, burned 146 calories....is that good? What should I be aiming for?

Anything else you want to share would be most appreciated! TIA!!

JenMc14

I started and stopped couch to 5k numerous times. I also thought I "had" to run. I hated it, so I realized I should stop, so I did. Fast forward a bit, I was getting fitter, and I decided to start to walk/jog a mile as a warm up before lifting. Then I worked on my time, then it decided why not look at a 5k training plan for a local race, so I did that. A runner friend of mine saw I was running and convinced my to do a 10k with her this summer. So, I signed up for the local 5k as "practice" and continued running. Then I did another. Then the 10k, then more 5ks. I don't "love" running, but I've realized I like races! So, start slow. Don't worry about being fast. Honestly, for me, the first mile always sucks, then it gradually gets better, then my left knee starts to hurt, but the rest of me feels good! Lol. I don't get the "runner's high", and I don't love my training runs. But, I haven't been running lately, and I do miss it a bit. I'm excited and a bit dreading starting back up next week.

All that being said, you don't have to run to lose weight. If you hate it, find something else.

CarsonRuns

What can I expect to gain health-wise?

Stronger heart muscle. Muscle tone in your legs. Improved aerobic conditioning.

At what point do those endorphins kick in? I'm beginning to think they are imaginary

You'll know when they do. Just keep running. They aren't imaginary.

Will I ever grow to actually LIKE to run?

Maybe, maybe not. You'll have a better chance of liking it if you find interesting places to run and you slow down so you can enjoy them without feeling like your heart is going to explode through your chest. Slow and easy is the way to go.

What is a good pace? Last night I ran 1.5 miles in 19 minutes, burned 146 calories....is that good? What should I be aiming for?

A good pace is whatever pace is right for you. Don't worry about it. Just run easy. It will take as long as it takes.

Anything else you want to share would be most appreciated! TIA!!

Slow down. Also, maybe try starting with the Couch to 5K program. Google it, there are many iterations of it.

TurtleRunnerNC

Listen to Carsonruns.

Will_Thrust_For_Candy

Listen to Carsonruns.

x2

Running is probably one of the biggest mental challenges I have ever faced. Your mind will tell you to quit way sooner than your body is ready to. TBH, hitting some running milestones were some of the greatest accomplishments I have achieved since I became serious about fitness! Just go slow and enjoy it. It DOES get better. It just take some practice. C25K is a great place to start

Good luck!

Alidecker

I had no desire to run until I had hip surgery and the doctor told me never to run. I know, no help....I wouldn't reccomend surgery.

Like JenMc, doing races helps me get motivated to do things. I like to swim, but didn't make much effort to go to the pool until I signed up for a triathlon and knew I had to swim. I enjoy the races and the nerves that come with them, even though I compete with myself.

sandikegz

To me, I just love the freedom in running. I used to run in high school and recently started again about six months ago. Now I run a 5k (not officially) at least twice per week. I tend to go at a fairly good pace, somewhere in between 6.7 and 8 mph. I just consistently challenge myself to improve my times. I think switching it up between the treadmill at the gym and running in the neighborhood help as well. Get some good tunes to listen to while running and if outside just take in the scenery around you! Hope this helps. I think it really is something inside of us that make some of us love running!

bluefox9er

Everything Carson said. Running isn't for everyone , and it's important to enjoy the exercises that you do. Running for me became more enjoyable the more I persevered with it..I had attempted and given up on c25k 5 times before finally sticking with it.

More so than any other exercise I have done, Running perhaps makes even more psychological demands of a human being than physical ones...but as long as you run your own run and not get bogged down with 'other people's ability', you will meet those demands.


P.S My most satisfying achievement wasn't finishing a marathon with thousands of people at a finish line...it was completing my first ever mile without stopping at a dreary industrial estate with no crowds or family waiting...just knowing I did it in 15 minutes, little quicker than walking pace.

oisegl

for me it was a big game changer to listen to audiobooks. sounds silly but in fact i always thougt runing / cardio is sooooo boring - now i concentrate more on the audiobook than on what i'm doing while listening (ok you still should focus on the way )

rduhlir

C25K

ashandstuff

Carsonruns had it right!

I despised running before doing C25K. I really like it now, it's a great outlet for energy and also a good workout. :]

Melissa22G

Couch to 5 K is a good start.

Don't think you're going to immediately be able to do a 5k like I did

Take it slow, start walking then pick up the pace to a jog, then from a jog pick up the pace again to a steady run.

My goals when beginning were to run telephone pole to telephone pole (or mail box to mail box) and just kept adding to it.

Everytime I would try to add one more mail box, or one more pole.

That will help getting over your mental block too- to have small goals like that in mind.

Good luck :flowerforyou:

likitisplit

1) Slow down. As a matter of fact, run as slowly as you physically can for awhile.
2) The first 10-15 minutes suck. They suck for newbies and they suck for Olympic Marathoners. You need to run (slowly) for about 30 minutes before there is a hope of identifying running as feeling good.
3) You gain cardio fitness. In real terms, this means that your life becomes easier. You can spend all day at an amusement park without being completely drained. You can chase your two year old for as long as she wants without "Mommy needs to rest for a minute." Your friends will ask you to slow down on walks because you will unconsciously just be faster. You will take fewer breaks while gardening. You will easily walk up one, two or three flights of stairs.

If you try a Couch to 5k program, check out the message board:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/47-couch-to-5k-running-program-c25k-

It's one of the most supportive places on MFP.

fyoufat

I don't run/jog as much as I would like and I am still super slow but I learned to love it when I:

Got nike fitness on my ipod which would track how fast and far I would go, then I could see how I progressed!

Didn't try to start out sprinting, I took it slow in general and eventually your body will just have the urge to push itself.

GET GOOD MUSIC and listen to it. If I didn't have music I probably wouldn't run

Make sure you eat healthy because that will really help you run and vice versa.

janatarnhem

I have just started the c25k...it is hard,as I'm not built to be a runner!
Big boobed with poor joints!
However, I'm just about to start week 3..... with trepidation!
But I'm losing weight just by doing it!
And I've been at a plateau for weeks!
Yep...just by three thirty minute sessions a week!
3lbs loss this week...
I feel less tired and after each session, I actually feel like I've had a good workout!

rduhlir

What can I expect to gain health-wise?

Stronger heart muscle. Muscle tone in your legs. Improved aerobic conditioning.

Not to mention stronger bones, larger blood volume, increased endurance in every day life

At what point do those endorphins kick in? I'm beginning to think they are imaginary

You'll know when they do. Just keep running. They aren't imaginary.

Runner's high....better than eatting an entire bag of chocolate. Believe me!

Will I ever grow to actually LIKE to run?

Maybe, maybe not. You'll have a better chance of liking it if you find interesting places to run and you slow down so you can enjoy them without feeling like your heart is going to explode through your chest. Slow and easy is the way to go.

Depends. You have to get to a point that you actually can say you like it. Took me 29 years to get into running. Now I love it. I used to hate it...that was until I was able to do it.

What is a good pace? Last night I ran 1.5 miles in 19 minutes, burned 146 calories....is that good? What should I be aiming for?

A good pace is whatever pace is right for you. Don't worry about it. Just run easy. It will take as long as it takes.

One of the big rules in running, don't judge yourself against others until you are ready (i.e. actually competing in races). Until then just focus on yourself. If your run is slower than you walk then so be it. The only way to improve pace is to run.

Anything else you want to share would be most appreciated! TIA!!

Slow down. Also, maybe try starting with the Couch to 5K program. Google it, there are many iterations of it.

[/quote]
Slow down, get good shoes, find a running group (i.e. at your running store), remember it takes the average person a month or longer to create a habit and honestly, running doesn't become fun until it is habit....at least that is when it happened for me.

running_shoe

This may not be what you want to hear, but .... I tried to like running for a period of five years. I got so I could do 2-3 km nonstop, and 5km with two 1-minute walk periods. Running always made me feel absolutely exhausted. I did not like the way it made me feel. I could never get comfortable running, and, though I tried to like it, I hated it.

I have decided I would rather hike uphill all day long with a weighted backpack than run for 30 minutes. So, I have stopped running, and I weight myself for hill walks, instead. And I don't mean leisurely hill walks, either. I hustle.

There are alternatives to running, with equal benefits to fitness and bonus calorie burns.

Just a thought.

SezxyStef

I personally have a love hate relationship with running.

I love it when I am done and feel amazing...hate it while I am doing it. (esp outside...ick), when I was running I could do a 6 minute mile on a treadmill easy...after working my way up.

I made the choice not to run even after getting to a great point.

You don't have to learn to like it....you can choose not to do it.

The part with not liking it now is how can you ensure it will become a regular thing?

That is what of the reasons I made my choice...because I knew it wouldn't become "regular" and I couldn't stick with it.

Not to discourage you...but to give you another side....

Myhaloslipped

I learned to enjoy running by running one minute walking one minute running one minute walking one minute....and so on and so forth for thirty minutes until I worked up to a decent pace and time. Now I love it! Once I got my first runner's high, it was on.

LuLuChick78

Find a cardio activity you actually enjoy.

NoAdditives

I have always hated running, so I don't do it. I find other ways of getting in some cardio. I mountain bike, do exercise videos, and walk my very hilly road.