Is EVERYONE a runner???

I spent 26 YEARS believing I wasn't meant to be a runner because my best friend was asked to try out for track our first year in Junior High and I wasn't. So from age 12 to 38, I never really tried to run. Thought I couldn't do it. Never realized that running was something you had to learn how to do, something you had to build up to.

About nine months after I started Couch to 5k, I won my first medal.

I'm a former runner. I didn't do it because I enjoyed it, though, rather for the health benefits. Then I realized that, for me, the best exercise was run/walk intervals (HIIT) which had a better affect on my body. Burned more calories, and slimmed me down quicker.

Choose what is best for YOU.

Just about everyone has the evolutionary potential to become a runner (humans are uniquely adapted in our running stamina, our ability to run down prey was crucial to the survival of our species). Whether or not you want to become a runner is entirely up to you, there are are lots of other activities out there that offer similar benefits - go with what you enjoy.

Back when I was a caveman, we only needed one runner in our group. The rest of us just waited for the animal to come running past us. Although there was this one guy that invented something he called a wheel that he claimed would allow all of us to move as fast as our runner. Well the runners union got together......and we never saw him again. Wonder how that wheel thing would have worked?

I guess my bottom line is, if the goal is to be a physically fit individual - does running have to be part of my regime

No.

Credentials? Look at avi. LOL, great work my man. No, cardio (as a whole) is not needed to obtain a quality physique adjusting your resistance training to be less anaerobic is far more superior to cardio and a hell of a lot less boring.

If you still choose to run - which we've now deemed unnecessary, consider HIIT or Tabata as a variation to keep things interesting and save some time. Also, throw back a little coconut oil prior to the run - gives a good energy feeling and promotes fatty aid metabolism.

Cycling for me, and has been for over a year now. It really keeps my weight down, especially with hills and putting some effort into it. I try to cycle at least 4 times a week for an hour or longer, and also do the elliptical at the gym, and plenty of walking.

Okay, so have lost a good amount of weight using a Cross Trainer at the gym and have started feeling like maybe I need to start some "grown up" exercise lol

I have always HATED running but I don't know how accurate that is because quite honestly, I hated all types of exercise PERIOD. It was too hard, it made my body hurt blah blah blah Well of COURSE it did, I mean I was totally sedentary! All exercise made my body hurt!

So now I am wondering if maybe I was right and I am fighting a losing battle? I mean, it can't be right that in order to be fit and healthy you have to be a runner is it? I have an aerobics instructor who is fit as haleeeeeeee and she doesn't run!

I have just always been under the impression that the true, best all around form of exercise is running and that makes me want to achieve it.

I guess my bottom line is, if the goal is to be a physically fit individual - does running have to be part of my regime at least to some degree if I am working out in other ways? ie; the cross trainer, ab work, toning exercises etc...

You would be suprised how fun it can be. ( Expessially Circuit training but you'll need to work up to that) not to mention rewarding. The thing that was my intial pull to running is just how many calories you can burn in a very small amount of time. What hooked me however was 5ks They are fun social events that can be used as goals. They often have great prizes, and depending on where you live are held alll year round. They also give to meaningful charities Just don't think you can just jump right into it though to prevent injury you'll want to start slow ( AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD NOT ON A TREDMILL! those suck and might put you off running for ever) Start with a mile, do that for a few weeks everyther day doing the other things you have been doing. If you want any information on heart rate training, please feel free to ask me I have some great books

I started running and loved it. Alas my knees and hips (both injured before) got worse. I walk (treadmill, DVD) and Zumba. I just started to add strength training.

From what I have found, alternating any type of cardio one day and ST the other, will help. Find what you enjoy and do it. Just because others run does not mean that you need to run too.

I was never a runner, and the treadmill bored the life out of me, even watching TV. I injured my knee (cartilage damage due to a fall), I was NOT running at the time. I could not even walk with crutches due to excruciating pain. I started trying to swim some, and as my physio started to help, along with a TENS unit, I began to walk a few steps more each day. My knee is so bad, my doctor arranged for me to have a handicapped parking permit.

I started with MFP 31 March this year, that is around the time I started to walk a few steps without crutches. I have lost only 40lb, but 88 inches since then by mostly swimming and walking. In late June I saw my first pair of Kangoo Jumps and decided to investigate. I found out that they reduce the impact and compression on joints by over 60%. I bought a pair.



I now can run 5+ miles in 30 minutes, but can't run to the corner without them. The workout is INTENSE, as any other KJ wearer will tell you. They also bring out the inner Tigger. You can't help but be happy wearing them. It is like having mini trampolines on your feet! I am not saying, running is for you, but you could look for a KJ fitness class near you, try it out, they usually rent the boots. I have not tried the fitness class, because there are a lot of moves I can't do, because of my knee, but running is far from boring.

Not really but I'm convinced that if everyone would learn how to run they would never look back!

I've never been a runner... Until 2003. I started with your typical running shoes but my hips, knees were killing me. I gave it up until 2008 when I decided I'm going to train for a 1/2 marathon and that's that! I went to the running store, they looked at the way I walked, blah-blah-blah, told me I'm an over-pronator and recommended a pair of shoes. Which I ended up wearing until after the 1/2. Knowing that my knees are going to suffer I took a glucosamine/msm/chondroitin supplement the entire time I trained for that 1/2. I ran it and for the first time, at mile 10, I experienced the famous "runner's high". It was amazing! But my knees were not happy so I literally gave up running (again!) until last year.

I have read somewhere about barefoot running and minimalistic shoes and decided to give it a go. I got a pair of Brooks PureGrit and went from 1/2 mile to 1 mile and so on. I also hired a personal trainer because I'm stubborn and wanted to learn the proper form. I got frustrated again because I kept getting shin splints, my left ankle was killing me. But, as I said, I'm stubborn. I went to ph. therapy which didn't help... tried a different pair of shoes, didn't work... but continued to read all sorts of books and blogs about form. I came across a ph. therapist specialized in sports injuries and my whole world has changed. :happy: His clinic also does form analysis. I brought my new shoes in(shoes rec-ed by one of the running blogs I follow faithfully, neutral shoes with a 4 mm drop = difference between heel's height and front of the shoes' height) and so he filmed me. I was so curious to see what he would say. I was sitting there hearing how I'm a heel striker (therefore my knee pains and ankle), how I don't swing my arms at all, how my hips are weak (I didn't really take weight training seriously and didn't think it will help my running... wrong!!!), etc. He also told me that the neutral shoes are right for me, which means that the person who told me I'm an overpronator just by looking at the way I walked was full of ****.

Long story, I know.. but I wanted to say that I worked really hard to become the runner I am today. I work/ed on my balance, I do strength training specific to runners (plenty of blogs with great recommendations)... I started doing things that I ignored before because I was thinking I'm just a person who runs for relaxation so I don't need to do all that extra-work.... boy, was I wrong! :noway: The hill runs, the interval runs, the tempo and long runs... they all made me a stronger runner. Which doesn't mean that I'm going to run a marathon every other weekend. It means that now I actually enjoy my runs. No pains, no injuries, I just go out and enjoy the feeling. It takes a lot of work but the payoff is absolutely irreplaceable. :flowerforyou:

I now can run 5+ miles in 30 minutes, but can't run to the corner without them. The workout is INTENSE, as any other KJ wearer will tell you. They also bring out the inner Tigger. You can't help but be happy wearing them. It is like having mini trampolines on your feet! I am not saying, running is for you, but you could look for a KJ fitness class near you, try it out, they usually rent the boots. I have not tried the fitness class, because there are a lot of moves I can't do, because of my knee, but running is far from boring.

:happy:

Ok, you win. Running can be fun! Not sure they'd let me in the London Marathon with them on, though.

I guess my bottom line is, if the goal is to be a physically fit individual - does running have to be part of my regime at least to some degree if I am working out in other ways? ie; the cross trainer, ab work, toning exercises etc...

No. Most people who run and continue to do so do it because they actually like to. Those who do it and don't like it... well, they just like to practice forms of self torture. As for why I do it... if I didn't, I would murder people on a regular basis. It helps me work off negative energy, as well as anxiety. When I've gone long periods of time without running, I'm prone to panic attacks and insomnia, but I'm sure I could get the same energy release through other forms of exercise. This is just the form that I prefer.

So, in short, do whatever your preference is. If you want to try running, try it. If you don't want to, don't. If you do and you like it, keep doing it. If you do and don't like it, then don't do it anymore.