question about starting running

fireytiger

Hi all, i'm new around here but I wanted to get some opinions on this. I'm really wanting to start incorporating running into my exercise routines. The problem that i'm encountering is that all the "beginners guide to running" articles, programs, routines, etc. I find have plans for running 3 to 5 days a week, and insist that that is the minimum you must do in order to improve in running. I'm assuming that they're operating under the pretext that whoever is doing this, is ONLY using running for their cardiovascular exercise. However, I already do taekwondo two to three times a week (usually more like 3), and that workout is usually at least moderate intensity for me. I would like to just start trying to run twice a week, but I'm not sure if that's often enough to really improve my running over time. What are some opinions on this, do you think that 2 days of running plus three days of TKD would work? Thank you!

JenMc14

Look at Couch to 5K and adapt it to running two days a week. So, let's say your running days are Tuesday and Thursday, you'd do Week 1, Day 1 Tuesday, Week 1, Day 2 Thursday, then Week 1, Day 3 the next Tuesday. Obviously, it will take you longer, but you'll get there.

mariai_martinez

Look at Couch to 5K and adapt it to running two days a week. So, let's say your runnin auteurs day and Thursday, you'd do Week 1, Day 1 Tuesday, Week 1, Day 2 Thursday, then Week 1, Day 3 the next Tuesday. Obviously, it will take you longer, but you'll get there.

I totally agree with this poster. Adapt it to your needs and you will get there. This is definitely a great one to start with!

SonicDeathMonkey80

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1217573-so-you-want-to-start-running

greypilgrimess

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1217573-so-you-want-to-start-running

^ This!

And yes, you can run only twice a week and improve. Progress happens fast for beginners. I heard somewhere that you can go 5 days (roughly) without losing your base level, so as long as you keep at twice you'll keep getting better. It will just take a little longer. (Your other workouts will help, but running is a different beast)

chriscolh

I'm starting to get ready for a mud run in 2 months. I do 4 classes a week at the gym. One is a cross fit style class, one is a weight lifting class, one is a spinning class, and one is a "booty camp." (Just did that one this morning. It's lower body focused - by the end of the class we had done 150 deadlifts and squats, combined with interval training, ending in sprints.) I have to take a day off for my own sake, and it only leaves me 2 days a week for just running. I am in to see what the experienced folks have to say about this!
I love what I am doing at the gym, and I'm seeing improvements in my strength and endurance, and I love the feel of my muscles under my fluff. I am making progress in running, although maybe not as much if I would dedicate more time to it. But I feel like my 2 days a week, in addition to my gym classes, are working for me. One thing that is important to me is to push just a little farther on each run. I've surprised myself sometimes at how far I can go if I just push a little more...
Good luck to you!

wilsoje74

You can run as often as you wish.

sweetace2k5

I'm using the C25K, and i stay with the week till i'm comfortable going on to the next week. I'm fixing to get ready to start week 2.

lporter229

You become a stronger runner by running. If you only choose to run 2 days a week then you will progress at a 2-day-per week rate. If you want to run more, then you will progress faster. It's entirely up to you.

triskaidekaphile13

I run three days a week and since finishing C25K my 5K time has gone from 43 minutes to 27 minutes. Strength training and hill training have definitely helped. I've just come back from an injury and didn't run for over a week and it's taken a couple of runs to get my speed back. I love running and find it a great stress reliever.

PrairieRunner2015

I can type a lot about this, but this post pretty much sums it up.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1217573-so-you-want-to-start-running?hl=so+you+want+to+run

tgmichelleee

You can definitely do both!
I did tkd for 8 years and ran for a couple years as well (before my injury and weight gain). In my experience the running really helped with my sparring, and depending on how long and how intense you've done tkd, you'd be surprised how much endurance you already have.
But as to looking at articles and magazines etc, you really don't have to follow one of those tracks.
Just start running and try to run longer the next time and the next time and the next time.
Especially since you're also doing tkd (idk if you're doing competition team or demo team as well) you don't want to over exert yourself and not be able to do well in class.
Only you know your limits and how far you can push yourself, but I say atleast give it a try

Followingsea

I'm doing C25K, I started it in December. It's a 3-day a week program.

I'm on Week 6. (The week that introduces the 25-minute-solid run). At the beginning I couldn't run a full minute.

I haven't doubled up on any weeks, just two or three sessions. I can't always (ever?) fit 3 days of cardio into my schedule. I'm lucky if I can make it to the gym 3 days in a week.

You'll be fine.

MeanderingMammal

I would like to just start trying to run twice a week, but I'm not sure if that's often enough to really improve my running over time.

If you limit yourself to two days per week you'll make very slow progress. While your fitness isn't an issue your sport specific improvement won't be all that rapid.

Whether its right for you really depends on your objectives. As a general fitness activity it'll work out but if you want to crank up your mileage and/ or speed then you need to increase the sessions, or increase your injury risk.

fireytiger

Thank you everyone for your advice!

You can definitely do both!
I did tkd for 8 years and ran for a couple years as well (before my injury and weight gain). In my experience the running really helped with my sparring, and depending on how long and how intense you've done tkd, you'd be surprised how much endurance you already have.
But as to looking at articles and magazines etc, you really don't have to follow one of those tracks.
Just start running and try to run longer the next time and the next time and the next time.
Especially since you're also doing tkd (idk if you're doing competition team or demo team as well) you don't want to over exert yourself and not be able to do well in class.
Only you know your limits and how far you can push yourself, but I say atleast give it a try

That's awesome! I've only been back for the past couple of months after a 10 year hiatus, and I could definitely see running helping with my sparring (which frankly, I could use all the help I can get with haha, i'm so awful at it). The endurance is part of why I want to pick up running, not only do I feel like my endurance buildup from TKD could help with running, but vice versa, I run out of stamina fast sometimes when i'm sparring. And I would like to be able to have some achievements from running, like completing a 5k eventually down the road.

I would like to just start trying to run twice a week, but I'm not sure if that's often enough to really improve my running over time.

If you limit yourself to two days per week you'll make very slow progress. While your fitness isn't an issue your sport specific improvement won't be all that rapid.

Whether its right for you really depends on your objectives. As a general fitness activity it'll work out but if you want to crank up your mileage and/ or speed then you need to increase the sessions, or increase your injury risk.

I would like to be able to eventually do as much as a 5k without stopping as a goal, but beyond that I'm not even sure. And obviously there's no rush, but I just want to know that if i'm only going twice a week that I could eventually do that, or if it really needs to be at least 3 days a week to make that much of an improvement over time.

GillianMcK

You'll be able to run a 5k without stopping, might just take you longer to get to that stage, it does depend on why you are doing, are you doing it just to add another type of exercise to your week or are you training for a specific 5k event??

Think about flipping it round the other way, if you only done TKD once a week instead of three times a week how long would it have taken you to get to the same level as you are currently??

If you're running purely for 'you' no reason why you can't take it to 2 days, although the C25K programs at the beginning are only 30min each (if you have the fitness push for the jog time and up the intensity) so you could potentially fit it in on a day you do TKD!!

mereditheve

You can definitely do both -- I hike at least once a week, lift about 6 days a week, and run about 4-5 days a week. I find the more exercise I do, the more I want to do.

MeanderingMammal

I would like to be able to eventually do as much as a 5k without stopping as a goal, but beyond that I'm not even sure. And obviously there's no rush, but I just want to know that if i'm only going twice a week that I could eventually do that, or if it really needs to be at least 3 days a week to make that much of an improvement over time.

Most plans will get you to 30 minutes continuous running over, in principle, nine weeks. If you only run twice a week you'll probably add more that 30% to that as your consolidation won't be as strong, so perhaps plan for 15 or 16 weeks. That should get you pretty close to 5Km, so it's then pretty straightforward to increase the distance. If you want to work on your speed at 5Km then you need to start getting more miles under your feet, increasing your base distance to 10km and then starting to include some speedwork sessions. That's your decision point about how much time to put into running as progress there will start to need 4 sessions per week, plus cross-training.

Your aspiration is certainly achievable.

badbradley

One aspect that is often overlooked by runners of all intensity levels is your breathing. It is ultimately the most important aspect of keeping yourself healthy as a runner and making your runs flow rather than just grinding out miles. There is a physician and running guru named Budd Coates who advocates an approach that I personally have found extraordinarily helpful in my personal running universe. He wrote a book 'Running On Air' that has basics as well as advanced information and training suggestions. I do not proclaim to be any kind of expert. I can only say this approach has been very successful for me personally as a marathon runner, triathlete and fun-run warrior dash type race guy. Coates goes into a lot of physiological and other detail in his book about the suggestions below. But here are the very bare bones basics:

Your shoes are very important. Get yourself fitted by a person/business that knows what they are doing. You don't have to break the bank doing this.

Initially, forget about counting miles or timing yourself at 'minutes per mile'. Think in terms of your the effort your body is outputting and the total number of minutes you run. The distances will lengthen as you run longer. Switch up your routes and types of terrain.

Breathe correctly. Breath from your abdomen and not just your chest. To determine if you are an abdomen breather, lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, shoulders square and flat. Place your hands on your belly (abdomen) and take normal, deep breathes. If your belly rises and falls you are an abdomen breather. If it does not so much, when you inhale focus on raising your belly and lowering your belly when you exhale. Inhale and exhale through both your nose and mouth. Be aware of this 'belly rise' when you are running.

Breathing and foot strikes. Your core is at its weakest when your foot strikes the ground and you are exhaling simultaneously. Most runners fall into a pattern of even numbered foot strikes on inhales and exhales. For example, you begin your exhale when your right foot strikes the ground, continue the exhale when your left strikes, then finish your exhale when your right strikes again. Your left foot strikes when you begin your inhale, inhale continues on your right strike and finishes on the left strike again. This is what Coates calls a 3:3 or a 6 - 3 strides in, 3 strides out for an even number 6. Some people naturally fall into a 2:2 (4), especially when they get fatigued. What this means is while running, you are always exhaling (when your core is weakest) when the same foot strikes. This affects your balance, endurance and ultimately can cause strain on your knees or feet that make a person prone to injury. A way to change this is to adjust your breathing to an odd number.

Coates recommends a 4:3 (7) or a 3:2 (5) depending on your effort level. Inhale for 4 strides (in-two-three-four) and exhale for 3 (out-two-three). You will find your foot strikes alternate on exhale and your effort level is easier. Your inhale/exhale ratio can be anything you want (3:2, 4:3, 6:5, 7:6, etc) as long as your inhale is longer than your exhale, and the strike count adds up to an odd number. So 6:4 (10), 4:2 (6), etc won't work.

I know it sounds simple and...well...over simple but for me personally it really, really made a difference in my runs. Once I got used to it that is - it took some time but once I got it it just clicked. I wish I had this knowledge when I started running so my body would have gotten into the habit from the get-go. Over the years I struggled with some knee and foot pain. As I got older, I also felt like my runs were labored and something I really didn't want to do anymore. I almost gave it up entirely. Then I got this book as a gift. I followed the breathing suggestions and it's a whole new ball game. I enjoy my runs again and have not had any recurrence of foot or knee pain.

Personally I have found that I cannot get into this breathing pattern until after my breathing starts to speed up. I don't even try to go 7:6 or anything when I start. I just start my run and once my breathing gets going then I start the count. I usually go 1/4 - 1/2 mile or so at 6:5 and eventually settle into a comfortable 4:3. When running hills I switch to a 3:2 and then back to a 4:3 once my route flattens out. I admit I still do have to do the count consciously in my head, but I switch back and forth from 3:2 to 4:3 without thought anymore. Like upshifting and downshifting in a car - It happens naturally and subconsciously depending on my effort level. If you listen to music this will really throw your count off. Just an FYI.

My apologies for the long post. I see all kinds of good advice to beginning runners on this forum but the breathing aspect is often overlooked. Good luck with your runs.