How to learn to love running?

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  • coquette87
    coquette87 Posts: 114
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    I hated running for the longest time. In middle school, we had to start every gym period by running for six minutes. I would, without fail, get an incredibly painful stitch in my side after about 1 minute and have to walk, and the teacher never believed me when I said it felt like I was being stabbed in the side. So, yeah, that put me off running for a long time.

    Last year, I decided to start C25k with an online friend. With something to pace me and a goal in mind, I started to really enjoy running outside. I got away from it for awhile, but I'm back to building up my stamina and speed so I can hit the pavement once all this stupid ice and snow melts! I'm itching to go!

    So for me, it was a matter of finding the right program. I like that it's free (just the cost of decent shoes) and gets me outside in the fresh air. And when you start building up longer and longer distances, the feeling of accomplishment is just amazing.
  • Tad330
    Tad330 Posts: 3
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    After about a month of "Couch-to-5K" training, I ran my first 5K with my wife, at a really big local event with 5,000 runners. We got medals, lots of swag at the post-run recovery area, people cheering from the sidewalks, etc... The big "eventness" of it really got me through that first 5K, and when we amazed ourselves by running the whole thing, it just kind of snowballed. Today, a year later, I've run a half marathon, am ready for my 2nd, and will run my first full marathon in October. Two things that really helped me "catch the bug" were good shoes and running plans that gradually increased the milage. First I did a Hal Higdon "First 10K" plan, running 4x/wk. Then, I graduated to a FIRST Running Institute (google it) plan, with runs 3x/week.
    Good Luck

    One more thing: the guy who wrote that the first 2 miles suck, is right on the money. Sometimes, for me, it's just the first mile, but it always gets better, once my 43-yr old, 200 lb carcass gets lubed up and into the groove. I do get a helluva endorphin rush for most of the run!
  • tataliciousd89
    tataliciousd89 Posts: 465
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    I almost like running. I hate doing it, but love the high i get after. I'm starting to enjoy actually doing it a little more too, but I'm definitely not a "natural" runner, I have to force it all the way. As I've found with just about any physical activity... just do it and eventually you won't hate it anymore. You may even enjoy it, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for that craziness to happen.
  • froeschli
    froeschli Posts: 1,292 Member
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    I just finished week 3 of c25k. I'm actually starting to like running. I hated it a lot in school, when we were basically just told to run, this far, in under that much time. I never learned to breathe properly, or to pace myself - now I'm finally staring to 'get' it.
    There's a nice trail & boardwalk near where I live, I find it makes a big difference to a treadmill, or sidewalk...
    I'm a bit clumsy, so where people tell you they like to do their thinking whilst running, I am focussing on where I put my feet - that's kind of meditative though :smile: so yeah, it's not all bad...

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