how do I start running?

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dmags
dmags Posts: 303
in Fitness and Exercise
I hate the idea of running... but I still would like to try. I really have no idea how to get started. Any suggestions on how to start that might help me stick to it?

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  • drucole
    drucole Posts: 26 Member
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    First get comfortable, proper fitting shoes! Then I suggest alternating walking and running. Depending on your running experience start slow (i.e. with a mile if you are on a track, walk the first 1/2 lap, run 1/2 lap, etc. repeat until finished) and build up to you feel that you can run the whole mile. Then move to two miles and do the same thing. Good Luck!
  • squoozyq
    squoozyq Posts: 305
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    This is what I did, and it has worked very well.
    I started by running 5 minutes. The next day I added a minute, and then another the next day etc. Some days I did 5 minutes 3 or 4 days in a row, but now I'm comfortably running 12-15 minutes at a time. I've lost 13lbs in 4 weeks and a few inches too.
    Hope this helps,
    S
  • candessb
    candessb Posts: 52 Member
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    Fartlek training (walk/run intervals) help you establish good form and prevent injury, while allowing you to increase your cardiovascular endurance. I can tell you from experience, once you run your first mile straight through, you'll be addicted! Just stick to it and go slow. I bought myself a new IPod and downloaded a bunch of songs that would keep me going. And just think, the weather will be nice soon and you can get outside and look good running without getting too winded...it'll make you feel like a bad-*kitten*! Lol
  • bm400892
    bm400892 Posts: 1 Member
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    Here is a training schedule I give out to those wanting to start running. Also finding a buddy makes it more fun! Good luck.

    Week 1: Run 2 minutes, walk 4 minutes. Repeat 5 times
    Week 2: Run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes. Repeat 5 times
    Week 3: Run 5 minutes, walk 2.5 minutes. Repeat 4 times
    Week 4: Run 7 minutes, walk 3 minutes. Repeat 3 times
    Week 5: Run 8 minutes, walk 2 minutes. Repeat 3 times
    Week 6: Run 9 minutes, walk 2 minutes. Repeat 2 times then run 8 minutes 1 time
    Week 7: Run 9 minutes, walk 1 minutes. Repeat 3 times
    Week 8: Run 13 minutes, walk 2 minutes. Repeat 2 times
    Week 9: Run 14 minutes, walk 1 minutes. Repeat 2 times
    Week 10: Run 30 minutes. Repeat once and celebrate!
  • jckalm
    jckalm Posts: 3
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    Pick up a book called "ChiRunning: A revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running" by Danny and Katherine Dreyer (ISBN: 978-1-4165-4944-4).

    Copy and paste this Wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChiRunning

    Here is the Barnes and Noble link: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Chi-Running/Danny-Dreyer/e/9781416549444/?itm=1&USRI=chi+running+a+revolutionary+approach+to+effortless

    I found this to be helpful in my running. It definitely isn't the only thing that could work for you, but it helped me.
  • freedMan
    freedMan Posts: 68
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    To run, start by picking up your right foot, bending slightly at the knee, then while leaning forward stretch that foot toward the front of you, making sure to straighten out the leg as you land. Then do the same for the left leg. Repeat this again and again! A tip: Some people find it useful to swing their arms while they run, but I like to hold them in front of me, as if I was holding a bowl of soup with both hands.

    Good luck! If you need other very basic advice, look me up!

    Also, what drucole said :)
  • coronalime
    coronalime Posts: 583 Member
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    goggle "couch to 5K" i think its c25k
    Great beginner program!
  • leavinglasvegas
    leavinglasvegas Posts: 1,495
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    Do you have an mp3 player? Download these mixes. They are set to the c25k schedules. you run when it says and walk when it says. theres a new mix for each week. If you don't like the music you can google c25k and find other mixes that you like....

    http://www.djsteveboy.com/1day25k.html
  • HOSED49
    HOSED49 Posts: 665 Member
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    Running for me is the most mentally grueling thing I can do. I actually am sadistic enough that in one of our stations we have a stairwell with 18 steps. I prefer to run these steps more than running on a treadmill! So much in fact that I set a new personal record last week running for fourty minutes for a total of 150 up downs(counting one going up, one going down, two going up two going down etc...). But to get back to your question, it depends on if you enjoy running. There are multiple sites out there that have instructional videos on proper form. One of the things I had to overcome was running without a forward lean. I also had to overcome the military shuffle type run whee the left foot is always a solid strike ot the ground. Everything I have learned talks about landing on the ball of your feet and not your heel. One aspect is also the figure four position which is covered under one of the crossfit videos. I would explain it but its easier to watch than explain. Basically I learned to pick my feet up instead of shuffling which reduced the load of impact I was having with the ground. But...although the technique made my running easier, its still a tough mental game to push through to the next mile when mentally I can find many excuses of other things I wish I were doing instead of sticking it out. Some ways to start running that would help build anerobic and areobic capacities a little quicker are tababta protocols. You run ,jog, walk, your pace for a minute, then increase the speed for 20-30 seconds so that your almost ata sprint, then your pace for a minute, then sprint. You do this for about 6-8 times. You allegedly burn more calories in a shorter amount of time and increase both capacities. ANother motivational factor is running at a pace at your target heart rate which burns fat. Anything faster than that would in theory push you into your areobic threshold. WHat are your goals, goals force you to push yourself, wether they be running for time or distance. You just increase it as you can and the running becomes easier. If you have a 5K coming up in your area, there are sites with specific training regimens that tell you how far you should run on set days up to the event. Lots of info out there for ya, hope this helps.
  • dmags
    dmags Posts: 303
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    blaze... I just knew I there would be at least one wisea$% in the bunch....LOL
  • dmags
    dmags Posts: 303
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    Thank you all for your great advice!
  • SugarHi
    SugarHi Posts: 452
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    slap on those sneakers and comfortably fit clothes and have at it!
  • DG82
    DG82 Posts: 105
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    Ok so I must REALLY be outta shape, omg!!! I actually took a short walk after work yesterday since the weather was decent, woot! So, being brave I decided to pick it up and actually ATTEMPT to run... I think maybe after 30 seconds I felt like I was gonna keel over!!! Sheeesh! Ok, granted I have never been one of those athletic people and I would probably say that I loathe running, lol. But, I figured it would be a nice test for myself. It's not like a ran a mile a minute, it was more of a jog if anything... but wow, I was thoroughly trying to catch my breath for the remainder of my 15 minute walk (uggh, honestly I'm kinda embarassed even admitting to this here with me being so young and not even able to run for a few minutes w/out being totally out of breath!). My problem area of my body that I have ALWAY hated are my legs... I can feel there's muscle under there but it's covered up by other blahness, lol (let's just call it that)... ok so I have fairly thick legs, and I'm short so I can't afford to carry as much bulk in my legs (i.e. obviously there is less area where all that stuff can go in my legs w/my stature... I'm 5'3 (and a quarter!) but whatev, I round it up and say I'm 5'4" (I swear I'm shrinking in height already or something?!) Anyway, I would like to try and build more running into my workout w/out having a heart attack, lol. Another issue I've bee dealing w/lately is shortness of breathe, literally just sitting around (I think anxiety about too much going on in my head)... but I'm sure that's not helping my case in terms of trying to start up on this running thing. Any suggestions are more than welcome...

    ~Donna :-)
  • ericac
    ericac Posts: 2,679
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    Ok so I must REALLY be outta shape, omg!!! I actually took a short walk after work yesterday since the weather was decent, woot! So, being brave I decided to pick it up and actually ATTEMPT to run... I think maybe after 30 seconds I felt like I was gonna keel over!!! Sheeesh! Ok, granted I have never been one of those athletic people and I would probably say that I loathe running, lol. But, I figured it would be a nice test for myself. It's not like a ran a mile a minute, it was more of a jog if anything... but wow, I was thoroughly trying to catch my breath for the remainder of my 15 minute walk (uggh, honestly I'm kinda embarassed even admitting to this here with me being so young and not even able to run for a few minutes w/out being totally out of breath!). My problem area of my body that I have ALWAY hated are my legs... I can feel there's muscle under there but it's covered up by other blahness, lol (let's just call it that)... ok so I have fairly thick legs, and I'm short so I can't afford to carry as much bulk in my legs (i.e. obviously there is less area where all that stuff can go in my legs w/my stature... I'm 5'3 (and a quarter!) but whatev, I round it up and say I'm 5'4" (I swear I'm shrinking in height already or something?!) Anyway, I would like to try and build more running into my workout w/out having a heart attack, lol. Another issue I've bee dealing w/lately is shortness of breathe, literally just sitting around (I think anxiety about too much going on in my head)... but I'm sure that's not helping my case in terms of trying to start up on this running thing. Any suggestions are more than welcome...

    ~Donna :-)

    Running does wonders for my legs and mid section....one thing I cannot do is run without music to drawn out my breathing. If I can hear myself breath it is so much harder for me....sounds stupid but it's true.....try to get a nice pace and make it through maybe one song then go from there!.....I can't wait to be able to run outside next week!!
  • HOSED49
    HOSED49 Posts: 665 Member
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    Definitely get some tunes. I like to put on songs I can mouth along with , kinda like doing cadences in the military. Plus if you get something with a good beat you will find youself running along with the beat. As I said earlier I ran staris for fourty minutes. Tunes start with black eyed peas, throw in some old school Rob Base, as the time goes on something a little angrier , some Linkin Park, Metallica, Rage against the machine, drop in some inspirational musi, etc... One thing we used to do in MMA training was cut songs down to 30 seconds, then a minute long song, back to 30 seconds etc... I also added the boxing bell between songs to let me know my harder run (30 seconds) was coming up, bell rings again, slow down and run regular pace...you can cut your songs like that and put em in your ipod !
  • ericac
    ericac Posts: 2,679
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    Definitely get some tunes. I like to put on songs I can mouth along with , kinda like doing cadences in the military. Plus if you get something with a good beat you will find youself running along with the beat. As I said earlier I ran staris for fourty minutes. Tunes start with black eyed peas, throw in some old school Rob Base, as the time goes on something a little angrier , some Linkin Park, Metallica, Rage against the machine, drop in some inspirational musi, etc... One thing we used to do in MMA training was cut songs down to 30 seconds, then a minute long song, back to 30 seconds etc... I also added the boxing bell between songs to let me know my harder run (30 seconds) was coming up, bell rings again, slow down and run regular pace...you can cut your songs like that and put em in your ipod !

    Love me some Black Eyed Peas!!
  • DG82
    DG82 Posts: 105
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    [/quote]

    Running does wonders for my legs and mid section....one thing I cannot do is run without music to drawn out my breathing. If I can hear myself breath it is so much harder for me....sounds stupid but it's true.....try to get a nice pace and make it through maybe one song then go from there!.....I can't wait to be able to run outside next week!!
    [/quote]


    Yea I def. have to bring my ipod alone and I'm the same lol I don't wanna hear myself panting!! Ok I def. need to try and get hip to the skip of running. Lol if I could get legs like your's I'd be a happy girl!!! :-)
  • ericac
    ericac Posts: 2,679
    Options

    Running does wonders for my legs and mid section....one thing I cannot do is run without music to drawn out my breathing. If I can hear myself breath it is so much harder for me....sounds stupid but it's true.....try to get a nice pace and make it through maybe one song then go from there!.....I can't wait to be able to run outside next week!!
    [/quote]


    Yea I def. have to bring my ipod alone and I'm the same lol I don't wanna hear myself panting!! Ok I def. need to try and get hip to the skip of running. Lol if I could get legs like your's I'd be a happy girl!!! :-)
    [/quote]

    Thank ya chic....you already know what I want of yours!....lol:laugh: :wink:

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