Question for runners....

CVALGAL

I am JUST now beginning to get outside and walk/jog, but hopefully one day run for long lengths like you all do. My question is this. What do you think about for so long when you run? and also, do you look at your feet, at the path just ahead, or do you focus on a distant goal? I can run for about 40 seconds before I start feeling like I am going to die. I can make it to 60 seconds at a time but it is hard for me to stay focused. (I am doing the c25k right now.) Please tell me how you run for so long....

Kickinkim418

Try using the Couch to 5K program..it's AWESOME!

chuckyp

I look at the path ahead and in the distance. To run longer, run slower. You'll get better. Plus the very first part of any run feels hard until you get warmed up and in your stride.

sjtreely

If I'm not wearing my ipod, here are some things I think about:

1. Think of every teacher you can remember in order ... from K through high school. What did you like best about him her? What did you like least?

2. Think of every family vacation in chronological order you can remember. Where did you go? Did you go to a new restaurant? What was the best memory each particular vacation?

3. Think of your first date with everyone you've ever dated. Where did you go? What did you do?

4. Think of the best night of your life ... be careful, those watching you run will wonder what you're thinking about.

5. Think about all the places you wish to visit. Which countries? Which states? Which cities? What do you want to do at each location?

6. Think about the best gifts you ever given to people. How did they react?

7. Think about the best gifts you ever received for as far back as you can remember.

8. Think about the holiday that is most attended and celebrated by your family. Who is the one who always makes an *kitten* of him/herself? What foods can you count on being there?

9. Think about every field trip you've ever attended? Pumpkin patches to overnight class trips? Who threw-up? Who got kissed? Who got lost? Who did you sit by and eat lunch with?

10. Look at the sights, listen to the sounds, and smell the air that you're breathing while running. Soak up the experience.

CVALGAL

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CVALGAL

Try using the Couch to 5K program..it's AWESOME!

ummmmm....that's what I am doing. But how do I stay focused?

sjtreely

And, to answer some of your other questions ... if I'm running a familiar road, then I look ahead (my preferred method of running). If I'm doing a trail run, I look down so as to not trip - but sometimes I still do. Endurance is earned ... one day at a time. Don't rush. You'll get there.

FrenchMob

My longest run to date was 3 hrs when I was training for my 30k race last spring. On longer runs I'm usually thinking of the days events, or what I have to do later, etc etc. On really long runs (like that 3 hrs), the end is about trying to keep motivation up as the pain is settling in..lol.

I usually look 15-20 ft ahead of me. I'll glance far ahead once in awhile.

BulldogCNM

I am also starting the couch to 5 K. I have done this before and what I did was sign up for a 5 k it helped keep me motivated and get me going. I also made a bunch of running play lists to keep me energized.

melly7894

Sign up for a 5k, it will put purpose to your training!

Otherwise, don't think about it so much! Go outside and just run.....you'll grow to enjoy it once you learn to get over the uncomfortable threshold before you're warmed up. It won't always feel like you're going to die

emilynicole02

I listen to music when I run. Usually upbeat music and/or fast music. I choose this kind of music rather than slower music because then I "run" to the beat so I am always pushing myself to go faster.

I have felt many a time that I am just going to DIE right there on the trail.... so I just slow down my speed, take deeper breaths, but always always always KEEP GOING!!! I feel such an accomplishment when I get to the walking portion of the intervals that I didn't stop running.

It is always better to slow down your pace rather than stop running...this is how you are going to build your endurance and stamina up. Another piece of advice, which I am currently doing, is to repeat the previous week as many times as you need to before moving onto the following week. I am on week 3 for the second week in a row because I cannot quite feel good about my 3 minute continuous run. You just have to keep pushing yourself and don't give up. You CAN do it!! I know you can!

I'm going to tell you now, the weeks do get harder as you progress but just don't get down about your slower days and always remind yourself how awesome you are doing for just getting out there in the first place your one step ahead of those sitting on the couch

If you need any further motivation or support on the c25k feel free to private message me

SamsaraII

I never thought i would run!, but I do, I started doing 30 second laps alternanting with 1 minute of brisk walk, and slowly built....at first i was jogging at what I describe as a granny pace (not intending to offend any granny out there...) on my treadmill it reads 4mph and then started incresing 45 then 1 minute still alternating, this all very gradual, then 2 minutes in a row, 3 minutes etc, at first when I was jogging over five minutes I finished my workout with brisk walk....it took me a year to be comfortable at running a twelve minute mile. I now Job 20 minutes consecutive and this is a minimum once a week. I am slowly increasing on speed and considering increasing my time at this point....but you know altogether I feel great about what I am doing now

sgoldman328

I'm doing Couch to 5K as well!!! I listen to the podcasts, haha I'm such a dork, I've actually really been enjoying the corresponding music.

But I agree, thinking of my day, work I have to do for the week, staying organized.

If I'm running outside and a hottie passes me the corresponding thought is, "30 more pounds and he'll be checking ME out!!!!"

Good luck, lady!

FlashBang

lots of good advice here. Really, its your head, let it think. Music is great but so often ipods are not allowed in a race so I train with out it. When it gets painful I think about the finish, that last k or mile.

BobbyDaniel

It gets better! I started C25K last year around this time and thought I was going to die during those 60 second runs, this past Saturday I ran an 11 miler for the first time ever...so it does get better!
As for keeping your mind occupied, I do different things. Sometimes I listen to music, but not too often any more since I've started running more on the road. I think about my kids and how proud they are of their Dad, and that keeps me moving. And as a pastor I also use that time for prayer and sermon prep, and will usually recite Bible verses.
Sometimes I'll make games out of the run, like seeing how many steps it takes for me to get from point A to point B, try to guess how long a segment will take, etc. The big thing though is imagining how great I will feel when I hit my goal!
Keep it up!

runningathena

Staying focused is hard.... I sign up for races so I always have something to look forward to!

JeSuisPrest

I use my ipod and usually am listening to a book in the Outlander series!!

maserati185

I felt like I was going to die within a short time too at first. As chucky said, go slower to go longer. You will get stronger. Endurance will inevitibly build. If I know my route and don't anticipate dangers (cars, etc.), I'll stare at the path before me. Depends on the run. I think about EVERYthing on a run. The sky is the limit. Sometimes I listen to new music I'm interested in or the radio or silence/nature.

momtozmc

Ran my first 5K on Sunday! Do it!! Make that your goal! Find a fun one to do!!!!

I have a playlist on my ipod for working out... faster upbeat music!!!!

If i'm on a trail, I look down... on the streets, I'm looking up for the *kitten* who can't see me in my bright pink top, so I'm not road kill!

Just get out and do it!!! It feels great!!!!!

Pebble321

I listen to audiobooks or podcasts to keep me entertained.
And I look at the path a little way ahead - mostly to keep me safe so I don't trip over anything!

Keep up the good work and I hope you get to enjoy running as much as I do - and trust me 9 months ago I would NEVER have said that I could run or that I thought I would ever enjoy it. I couldn't even run all of the 1 min intervals on the first day - after 6 I was ready to die and walked the rest of the session. But, here I am running for 1.5 hours or more and enjoying it!

I also agree with the advice to find a race to focus on - make it far enough away that you feel confident that you will get there, and GO FOR IT!

Crystel22

I have to say congrats on even thinking about being a runner. Some people have it in their minds that there is no way they will ever be a runner. I used to be one of those people. I started on this website in the beginning of this year. Never in my life had ever been a runner. We have a treadmill and I would do like a 20 minute walk run program on there and do that every day for a few weeks. Then I started to just jog a mile at like a 4.5mph. Each time I would just increase it by .5mph. Eventually I got up to 5.5 and 6mph. This was when it was cold outside. When it started to warm up, I wanted to get outside and try it. I thought I could definitely do it since I do it on the treadmill. When I started out I thought my lungs were going to collapse. As I found out, you have to gradually do it outside, just like on the treadmill. When you are outside the fresh air fills your lungs and it's not quite used to it yet. When you do it a couple of times it won't hurt so bad, but even now in the beginning, it does still hurt a little, but usually passes after a minute.

I can now say that I just finished a half-maraton last weekend and I did jog the whole thing, I did stop once for a potty break. It may not have been the best time, but I did jog the whole thing and only was 5 minutes slower than my goal. Had I not had to stop to potty, maybe I mght have reached that goal. I never thought I could jog 13 miles before, but I proved myself wrong. I'm not quite the runner some of these people are, but I do well for myself.

Keep your head up and don't give up. I agree with everyone who said to sign up for a 5k. I did that in the beginnng of the year and didn't think I could run the whole thing and to my surprise, I did. It feels so great to do something you never thought you could. Grab some music and just go. Don't think of anything at first. Look at the scenery around you, but also check the ground to be safe. Then think of things you need to do, sometimes that makes you want to finish quicker, knowing you have things to do.

Feel free to add me as a friend if you would like.

fteale

Sometimes I run with my iPod, and either listen to the radio (news channel - radio 4, for those in the UK), or to music, or to my nike 10k training program, which has constant input form a trainer as you run.

Sometimes I just want to think, and just run through stuff that I have done or said, or things that have happened in my head as I run. After my friend died earlier this year I spent a lot of time running just remembering him, thinking of things I would like to have had a chance to say to him, and generally coming to terms with his death. I find running gives me space to think I just don't get in the rest of my life.

I look at the path just ahead of my feet, so I can see tree roots etc coming up, or right ahead if I am on a road. I don't look at my feet, that would put me in the wrong position to run.

I focus on each km as it comes and try to go faster than the last one. Or not too much slower. Sometimes if it is hot and/or very hilly (I did a lot of mountain running in Italy this summer), I just concentrate on keeping going. That's all I can do. Just keep on putting one foot in front of the other and get to the next village and fill up my water bottle!

SueGremlin

I have a playlist on my iPod just for running. It's fast, upbeat music that I like. Some of the songs are totally silly and are guilty pleasures. Like WHAM! and stuff like that. Nobody has to know but you.
I change up the playlists once in a while.

Faeriegirl74

I find it is best for me to run with someone else as a distraction. I too started at Couch to 5k program and would get easily distracted or stop half way... once I joined my local running club (they even have groups for beginners), I realized I wasn't alone. Now I have run 3 half marathons in the past year... I may be in the slowest group, but that's ok. We run 1 min/walk 2 min intervals... having a distraction of someone to talk to makes the miles go by so much faster. On days that the running group doesn't meet - I either go outside and use my iPod (while running the C10k app), or I run in front of the tv on the treadmill.

crux

On longer runs I put my mind completely in daydream land, the time flys by, I run mostly on trails so i have no traffic or people to dodge.

TinaDay1114

Someone more experienced than I am said that the first 2 miles are ALWAYS the hardest -- even long distance runners are wishing they'd never started for those first 2 miles! And after that, they start enjoying themselves. So hang in there. MUSIC always helps me, and slow and steady, walking if you have to.

I used to die trying to jog for 2 minutes, too.

aschultz9

The running part will get easier as you build endurance. I love running because I can be alone and think lol. I think about everything, my grocery list, my schedule for the week, upcoming races I have planned or would like to plan for. Running is just as much a mental feat as a physical one, especially long distances. You do have to train your mind to endure as well.

CVALGAL

Thank you all so much for your input. I am considering everything you've said. I see that running is an endurance in the physical body as well as the mind.


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jjs22

I was a runner in high school (30 years ago), and I'm just barely sorta getting around to thinking about starting again. I always hated running, except for the isolated "good moments." I swore to myself that I would never run again, and I've stuck by it all these years. It's very strange, but I get the impression that a whole lot of runners hate running !

Anyway, this time around I'm approaching it from a bizarre approach that I think of as "C25K, only backwards". The deal is that I started working my way out of couch potato-hood by walking. Just a little. Not enough to matter, or so I thought. But soon enough I could feel the improvement : firmer muscles, lower heart rate, and my body just felt good. And the great thing I like about walking is there's never a moment of thinking "I wish I didn't have to do this !" Whenever I think about walking, I immediately have a sense of enthusiasm, without the gargantuan struggles ("I REALLY don't wanna do this !") that I always had with running.

So the problem with walking is that I've gradually upped my pace, and at the fastest pace that I can walk (maybe 4 mph), I've gotten to where my heartrate is now pretty tame. Elevated some, and yes I'm burning calories, but my once-feeble aerobic capacity is now merely sub-par. I want to up the ante, but only a little.

So what I do is go for a walk, and once I'm all warmed up I'll break into a run. But only when it feels good and I really *want* to. I run until I can feel my heart beating faster and I return to a walk the instant anything feels at all unpleasant. During the intervals while I'm running, I think a lot about my form (my running form, not my body form !). And when I return to a walking, I spend a little time going through my body seeing how everything feels. Good form is super-important to avoid injuries and also to run efficiently. The problem is that nobody wants to think about form when they are on the verge of death, so a whole lot of runners have really terrible form.

Anyway, the "backwards" part of my approach is that I'm introducing the running intervals only to "improve" my walking experience. I'm _already_ doing a 5k every week with the local (pub-sponsored !) running club, it's just that until very recently I have been walking the entire way.

So I know that all this is very, very unlike the approach most people take to exercise. But I think a lot of us MFP people are not cut from the same cloth as the hard-core, "No Pain, No Gain" athletes. My personal approach is "No Pain, Period !" I'm sure I'm progressing at a slower rate than most others, but the most important part for me is that I *am* progressing, and I'm enjoying every bit of it.

Felixelus

Well I consider myself a runner and I always look about 2 metres infront of me. Especially if you're going up a long hill, you don't want to focus too much on the distance :P I find that it's kinda natural since that distance keeps my neck neutral while I'm leaning slightly forward to run (helping with forward motion and all that).

As for what I think about...I guess it's very personal to the runner! But what I do is think about my future alot. Visualise future successes in running (beating my personal bests) and other areas of my life (passing my MSc course...passing my driving test etc etc). I find it keeps me going. However you do need to find what works for you!

Good luck and keep it up!