New to RUNNING. Encouragement from RUNNERS???

amandavictoria80

Hello!

I am very new to running. Right now I can only run for a couple of minutes at a time and it's quite hard. Feels great, but so hard.
I am running on a treadmill. I do fast walking with a incline and run intervals of 2-3 minutes a few times. The total time is at least 30-45 minutes.
I believe I am walking at a speed of about 3.5 MPH. And running at 5 MPH or 12 minute miles. I'm still trying to get the hang of the display on the treadmill for speed and distance. Does '5 MPH/12 Minute Miles' sound right? I am not running super fast but a good pace job.

I am kind of looking for some encouragement from runners out there.
Just some runners (or really anyone that knows about running) to say that in the beginning it is hard. And that 5 MPH is a good speed? Or maybe I am just incredibly out of shape. LOL

Also, how many minutes of running do I need in a workout to be able to say it was a "good run workout"?

THANKS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

chuckyp

Yeah, it's hard at first. I'm still not fast by any stretch but it has definitely gotten way easier. If it feels too hard at the speed you're going, slow it down a little bit. As you can run longer and farther you'll also get faster.

Mandys_Getting_Fit

When I first started running, I didn't focus on speed so much (honestly I still don't). My concern was to build endurance so I could stay moving for longer periods of time (lets say 30 minutes of jogging without needing to walk at all). Alternating walking/jogging is a good way to start! Slowly shorten your walking time and increase the time spent jogging. Once I could do a full 30 minutes of jogging, I'd try to push myself to get closer to 45 minutes of jogging (again endurance instead of speed). In my opinion, speed will come later. I don't consider myself a professional though.

Tan43

I have been running for a few years now, both open road and treadmill. I have a 8.5 kilometre road track that I do in around 50 minutes. I run this at a pace thats comfortable as the added elements of different inclinations as well as wind factors encourages your body to work harder naturally.I burn around 500 claories doing this run. I find the treadmill useful for interval runs because you can programme to run at different inclinations and speeds. I programme to walk at 3% incline at 6km per hour then run at 1% at 12km per hour (Sorry from Australia so you will have to convert if from USA) I do this for 10 minutes then change it to walk the same but then jog at 9km per hour at 5% inlcine. This burns around 250 calories.

walcutam

I'm also looking for some encouragement and LOVE running.

When I was 19 I joined the Army and got deployed to Iraq. The only thing that kept my mind off missing my husband and family was running. I would run 10 miles 3 times a week and scored a 348 on a 300 scale on the PT test... When I was discharged after my service, my husband and I became pregnant after months of trying. Our son is a year old now and I'm battling with losing the weight. I've finally gotten back to doing a 5 mile easy jog (3.5 - 4.0mph), or on my extreme workout days doing a full out run for one mile before having to stop and jog. I don't expect I will ever be as fit as I was in the Army, but I still love jogging/running and want to use it and this website to help me lose 35lbs and get ready for a half marathon in March. So, hopefully we all can help each other out with this.

WillieEverlearn

It's never about speed. It's about getting out there. Don't worry about how fast or how far you're going right now--keep concentrating on building your "base" until you can do an hour to an hour and a half without totally gassing yourself. (And that can include run/walk/run intervals.) Then, you can start doing a "long run" one day a week, along with your base runs, as you work toward a race--if that's your goal. Lots of folks love the couch to 5k plan; there are other "beginner" plans also effective.

As your muscle and cardiovascular endurance build, you'll also get faster and go farther. You're doing great!

Enforcer25

We all start somewhere. I used to want to run 1.5 miles in under 15 minutes, then I thought about ruining 5k. I started running outside. I made my goal about distance, not time. I reached my goal and then wanted to get under 30 minutes. I then switched my goal to distance. I now run about 4 miles twice a week. I like using run keeper to track my progress. I used to hate running, now I like it, it just takes time, have small goals, reach them and then move on to the next. A lot of people seem to like the c25k programs ( couch to 5k). Good luck and keep working, you'll get there.