New to Jogging

alyssa83202

As of right now, I can't jog very far at all. After 60 seconds I'm sore and out of breath! I'd really like to be able to jog because it seems like such a great workout but I'm a little intimidated and unsure about how to start out. I'd have to start out by mostly walking, but I'd like some advice as to how to start a plan to build up my endurance! thanks!

puggleperson

My best advice is keep doing what your doing. One day at a time. You can't push yourself or you will end up injured or in pain or you may give up. I'm pretty sure thats how all runners start out.. slow and steady.. If you can only run 60 seconds today do the same tomorrow and start pushing yourself when your ready to do two minutes and so on. You will eventually find you can go longer and longer. Don't give up and good luck!

larousse_37

I completely get where you're coming from.. I was so intimidated by it for ages, that I refused to do anything but walk. I started out with intervals with one minute of jogging followed by one minute of walking, and gradually cut my walking down to 30 seconds. I also increased my jogging intervals to 1.5 minutes and then to 2 minutes etc. I still get out of breathe, red faced and get stitches.. if it gets really hard I slow it down a little bit (I usually run on a treadmill, so I might cut it down from level 9 to level 8 or something). I find it actually theraputic to focus so much on maintaining the jog and doing a bit of a countdown until you can walk for 30 seconds again.... you can't focus on anything but your breathing and the time and how much it hurts. After a week or so, you'll find you can run for 10 minutes straight without stopping, and while it hurts, you don't notice how long you've run for because you're focusing so hard on maintaining it. That's how it is for me anyway. Now I can run for 10-15 minutes, and I'll stop in between and walk (fast) for a minute or two. Then I'll run for another 10-15 minutes.

Even when I was a swimmer in highschool and trained twice a day, I still found it painful to run for half an hour.. I just happened to have an awesome mentality (much better than what I have now!!) to push through it to the point where I don't remember training ever being painful. I find it interesting to think that maybe the reason it hurts me so much now is simply that I'm not applying the right mentality to the exercise...

Anywho, I'm waffling. I hope this is of some assistance to you... Happy running!

leanmass24

Couck to 5k Is a good start if you need some structure.... C25K as it is known as on here... It has helped alot of people
Also It helps not to think about running while you are doing it if that makes sense to you. Like divert your attention to the nice scencery or something focus on music you have playing whatever takes your mind off of the pain or shortness of breath. Make sure to control your breathing to. If you are breathing too much you will feel out of breath faster.

richiefixo

so keep walking but walk like you are being chased but can only walk! do this for about an hour everyday...its low intensity and will burn alot of calories....and after 2 weeks try light jogging for 2 minutes ..you will be shocked to see that you can actually last longer than 2 minutes. I used to be just like you intimidated by the idea and by my size but now i am 234 pounds (slightly muscular build but fat nonetheless lol) and i run for 40 - 60 minutes at 8-12mph. i love it and it all started by walking! so keep walking but increase the speed! and make sure u hear or atleast feel ur heart raise .

im sure you can do it

stay beautiful

- richie

CarolHudson11

Try this: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

It's called the Couch to 5K and I'm doing it right now (just started today) - it's a schedule to get you up and running, without hurting yourself or getting you so tired and out of breath that you just give up. I did my first day today, and as scared as I was, it wasn't nearly as bad as I imagined in my head. It does basically what larousse_37 was saying above. Run a minute, walk 90 seconds, run a minute, walk 90 seconds. The next week you run for 90 seconds and walk for 2 minutes. You can adjust it as you see fit - I'm doing each week twice, so it'll take me 18 weeks to get there instead of 9. Good luck! You can do it!

larousse_37

Oh just wanted to add in.. pay attention to your body.. If it's a bad kind of hurt, you should slow down. Don't push yourself further than what your body can handle (which is a LOT, but no infinite). Also, if you start to get shin splints, slow down, they're a pain in the bum. I can't run outside because I get them quite bad.

alyssa83202

Thanks everyone for all of the helpful information. I've looked into Couch to 5k and I think I'm going to give it a try!