how did you start running?
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Hi. I have asthma and I hated running most of my life. I started this past spring and went from running 20seconds and walking 5 minutes to now running 2 minutes and walking 40 seconds. I can manage 5-7 km a night on nights that aren't too hot. It hasn't been an easy road but i work on extending my running time and SLOWLY decreasing my walk time. I use the runtracker app and also a timer app to help me track my ru/walk times and also to prevent pushing myself too hard early on and burning myself out for the rest of my walk. The runtracker app also has training schedules and programs for beginners but i haven't utilized them as of yet because i couldn't commit to 4 work outs per week (i manage 3 currently due to my schedule). Start where you are and aim for better is the best advice i can give you.0
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Hi!
Running has always terrified me. in school track and field and cross country were absolute nightmares for me. i was always the worst runner in the school and it was pure torture. I've never been in good shape in my life. now im at 190lbs and im wondering if i have it in me to become a runner and actually enjoy it. my biggest challenge is breathing. i get REALLY out of breath easily and it takes a long time for me to recover from it (shovelling snow in the winter makes me feel like im litterally dying. its painful and takes about an hour for my breathing to go back to normal). I also have bad anxiety so being so out of breath can be scary because it feels very similar to a panic attack. on top of that im a smoker : /... bad, i know.
Last night i went for a 40 minute brisk 2.2 mile walk, and managed to do a very short run in the middle(about 20 seconds) but it took about 40 minutes for me to get my breathing back to normal afterwards.
any runners out there who started from very out of shape? how did you start and build your stamina(breathing in particular). are there any runners out there who smoke or am i just kidding myself?
In high school, the 1mi run in gym was the day I dreaded most. In the Air Force, the 1.5mi run was the day I dreaded most. I ran that sucker in 14min on a good day. When I started running, I just went out and... ran. I didn't follow a plan. I had a goal of a half marathon, and I made an unfocused, but forward moving, effort to get there. After the half, I lost motivation and quit running for 1.5 years and picked it up again in Jan 2013. I started with 1.5mi outings and had a more focused build up and relied on advice from some wise runner folks from here to achieve my goals.
TL;DR, just get out there and run.0 -
I played soccer up until sophomore year in high school. Then I started smoking. As a result, I quit all forms of running about that time. It was too painful.
Finally, when I was about 19-20 years old, I decided I wanted to get in shape, and maybe get some muscles, like guys that age do.
I started running. I did not quit smoking. But I started to go out every evening to jog.
At first, I barely went around the periphery of my apartment complex. Yes, once around. I did that for about two months, I believe. And, then, gradually, I wanted to go a little bit further and I was able to go a little bit further.
There is the lesson: Do what you can, and go slow. I established a habit that way and I still run 30 years later. If you try to push too hard at first, you will hate it and you will quit, and if you quit you won't have done yourself any good. The progress will come. Just be patient.
Go out and jog 400 yards, or 800 yards. Every night. For a month. Maybe more. You will come to look forward to that short run. Then you are ready to try something a bit longer.
I only quit smoking about 3 years ago. I smoked and ran all that time in between. It is much harder to run if you smoke, but you can do it.0 -
I like to start by falling forward and sticking my leg out to catch myself. Then repeat for as long as you can.0
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I would definitely try c25k. However, if you're extremely out of shape, you might try some other cardio first. I started with 30 minutes on a recumbent bike at the beginning of this year, then switched to 30 minutes on an elliptical. Then I added Zumba several times a week. By the time I started running this month, I was in good shape for it and it's been pretty easy. Comparatively, my sister, who literally started from the couch, is having a more difficult time (but is still doing great!).0
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When I was 14 I got arthritis in my hips and I have had to have them replaced. Twice. Three and a half years ago at age 53 I started running. I was ecstatic that I went a whole half mile in my Reebok cross-trainers. I did not follow any program... I just kept running 4 or 5 days a week. This past April I ran my first ultramarathon trail race (50k)... something I never, ever thought I could do and something my doctors told me I never could or should do.
I now run 40-45 miles a week injury free and am currently training for another 50k in September and my first 50 mile race in October. I attribute it to being consistent (even in freezing crappy weather), eating right and spending the money on good running shoes. I personally cannot run in anything except zero-drop minimalist shoes, but they aren't for everyone.
I am totally addicted to running now...especially the long, painful runs by myself at 4:30 in the morning. It's my therapy and much more. I am no athlete by any stretch of the imagination... I'm just an average middle-aged guy who wants to accomplish some "cool impossibles".
I still feel like a beginner and I have loved reading all these threads about people starting out on their incredible journeys... don't stop posting on how you are doing.... they are all so motivational!0 -
Well when I saw the bear, it just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Of course when I pulled my hamstring, I had 2nd thoughts about that course of action.
Now you know darn well you're not supposed to run from critters, as you trigger their 'must chase' instinct.0 -
run/walk. find a fun/beautiful/interesting place to walk. Try one of the apps coach to 5K. maybe I will too.
I think you'll find that the smoking phases out after awhile. That's how I quit smoking with no effort, huffing and puffing my way up a local hill all summer long. Pretty soon I just wasn't smoking any more.
Run with someone who's a foot shorter, so you take smaller steps. My former running buddy came up to my shoulders, but she was like a little machine. We ran 6 miles the first time!! I wouldn't recommend that amount at first, but my point is that by slowing down and taking smaller steps I ran farther than I ever would have dreamed.0 -
When I started I was about 180. I had always hated running, was always the slowest in high school, and had no desire to ever become a "runner." My first trainer was a runner and a triathlete, and he started me running as part of my session. We started with just 1-2 minutes, doing a lap or two around the parking lot. It was torture! I'm not sure how, but he managed to talk me into a 5k. He got me up to running 10 minutes during our sessions, and then gave me a running plan to work up to the 3 miles on my own time. I never did the run/walk thing, but rather that gradually increased my distance until I was doing three miles. I was so horribly embarrassed at how I thought I looked, that I did most of it on the treadmill in my basement. On the day of the race, I was absolutely terrified and would have bailed except for the fact that I know he was there waiting for me. I did that first one in almost 40 minutes. I then decided I needed to do one more, by myself, just to prove to myself that I could. A couple of my soccer teammates joined me for that one. Well they enjoyed it so much, they talked me into doing a third. I swore that would be my last, as I absolutely hated it! I did that third race in in 30 minutes which sounded amazing to me! So I stuck with it. I still didn't like it, but I was starting to like the races, and knowing that I had a race coming kept me motivated to run on my own, and to even start running outside. This was 6 years ago.
Now, I love it! I had an injury and surgery this year, and the months I've spent unable to run are torturous. Running helps clear my head, and I find I'm happier and less stressed on the days that I run. Over the years I worked up from 5k to 10k to sprint triathlon to half marathon to olympic triathlon. There were two milestones when I actually begin to enjoy it. First when I started triathlon training. I hated (and still do) the bike. But I discovered, that I loved running when I got off the bike. I think that I'm soooooo anxious and stressed on the bike, that the running afterwards actually loosens me up. Second, when I had increased my mileage to the point when I was able to run 5 miles comfortably.
It's hard at first. But the more you run, the easier it gets. Slow down. Don't worry about speed at first. Speed will come as you run more and increase your running fitness and endurance. And then you will start to enjoy it. But if you don't, it's not a big deal. Find something you do enjoy.0 -
Hi!
Running has always terrified me. in school track and field and cross country were absolute nightmares for me. i was always the worst runner in the school and it was pure torture. I've never been in good shape in my life. now im at 190lbs and im wondering if i have it in me to become a runner and actually enjoy it. my biggest challenge is breathing. i get REALLY out of breath easily and it takes a long time for me to recover from it (shovelling snow in the winter makes me feel like im litterally dying. its painful and takes about an hour for my breathing to go back to normal). I also have bad anxiety so being so out of breath can be scary because it feels very similar to a panic attack. on top of that im a smoker : /... bad, i know.
Last night i went for a 40 minute brisk 2.2 mile walk, and managed to do a very short run in the middle(about 20 seconds) but it took about 40 minutes for me to get my breathing back to normal afterwards.
any runners out there who started from very out of shape? how did you start and build your stamina(breathing in particular). are there any runners out there who smoke or am i just kidding myself?
I was in the same boat (except the smoking). When I first started seriously exercising my heart rate would shoot up and breathing was incredibly difficult during any kind of moderate to high intensity cardio. I started walking several times a week. Then I mixed in the elliptical, 40 minutes 3 times a week. I didn't attempt to run until I had done this consistently for nearly a year straight (increasing the resistance along the way). I started running because I was bored with the elliptical and I wanted to be outside on cooler days. By the time I started in March, I had a solid cardio background, so the running wasn't nearly as horrible as I remember. I would run very slowly as long as I could, walk when I couldn't. I can run almost an hour straight now, albeit still pretty slowly.
When you don't feel like you're going to keel over, it's actually quite pleasant. Don't feel you need to run though, whatever exercise you can get yourself to do is what you should do! If you decide to run, research before you start (posture, speed, pains, etc.). Take it slow and good luck! 0 -
I've had asthma since I was a kid, and always used that as an excuse for why I couldn't run. I've been running for 12 weeks now, and my breathing has improved a lot already. I did C25K, it builds you up slowly and you can repeat weeks or days if you need to. The first week is 60 seconds running, 2 minutes walking. Don't sprint, go slow. I've had runs where I ran slower than I walked.0
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I was a big smoker, really out of shape and hit forty and thought "that's it!". I used a couch to five k programme, which I tweaked whenever I struggled. I stopped smoking, and just revelled in doing something. Every time I couldn't finish I didn't care because I'd lost weight and was exercising. I just knew I'd do it some day. It's taken me nine weeks but I'm now in week five of the programme, as I kept repeating until I was ready. Tomorrow I'm doing a straight 20 minute run. If I don't do it who cares? I'll do it next week. Keep at it, even if you run for one minute a day and stop it's better than nothing. Tomorrow you'll do one minute ten.
I just did my 20 minute run this week! Congratulations! C25K is awesome - I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to go from super unfit to running.
To the smoking thing, I was a smoker up until 3 weeks ago. I bought an e-cigarette I use (0% nicotine) whenever I have a craving, but I've more or less stopped all together.
Good luck on your journey!
Good luck to you too! I managed my twenty minute run this morning, and feel great. Congratulations on you making it too, good luck with the future runs.0 -
I was walking past the cross country team on my way home a few years ago, I asked if i could join them. I couldn't even run a mile but after about a month I could run 3 in less than 30 minutes 0
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I started with C25K (it's a great program), but quit it after about 3 weeks. I have an issue with someone telling me when to run and when to walk, so instead I downloaded the Zombies, Run! app, which is much more fun.
It's exactly the same programme...0 -
:laugh:I started with C25K (it's a great program), but quit it after about 3 weeks. I have an issue with someone telling me when to run and when to walk, so instead I downloaded the Zombies, Run! app, which is much more fun.
It's exactly the same programme...0 -
Slowly.
Really slowly.
At the beginning I tried to go faster and my chest kept seizing up (not asthma just tiny lungs) and the best advice I got for that and for stitches was run more slowly.0 -
i only fell in love with running after my middle school p.e. class introduced us to actual track rather than the usual "half-heartedly jog this mile and try not to die." i loved sprinting and in freshman year i was usually begging our coach to let me just jog around the track for an hour. it just feels natural to me. but i do have the smoking problem, and i just bought my first vape pen yesterday to cut them out. i'd definitely recommend it if you want to quit, it's much less harsh on your lungs and doesn't have nearly as much toxic *kitten*.0
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not quite? i mean it can be, but all the difference is in the gamification, between an automated voice telling you WALK, RUN, WALK, RUN and an interactive story and rewards. i've tried both and i honestly couldn't stick with c25k the way i can to zombies.I started with C25K (it's a great program), but quit it after about 3 weeks. I have an issue with someone telling me when to run and when to walk, so instead I downloaded the Zombies, Run! app, which is much more fun.
It's exactly the same programme...0 -
Are you talking about differences in execution or in the programme itself?
not quite? i mean it can be, but all the difference is in the gamification, between an automated voice telling you WALK, RUN, WALK, RUN and an interactive story and rewards. i've tried both and i honestly couldn't stick with c25k the way i can to zombies.I started with C25K (it's a great program), but quit it after about 3 weeks. I have an issue with someone telling me when to run and when to walk, so instead I downloaded the Zombies, Run! app, which is much more fun.
It's exactly the same programme...
Couch-to-5K is nine weeks, with some spin-offs reducing it to eight weeks. Different apps might present the programme in different wrappings, but the contents are the same if they are called C25K.
A free version, the NHS podcasts, are proper commentary throughout by Laura Something and I used that.
ETA
I wrote this post so that newbies wouldn't be confused.0 -
execution mostly. the original base zombies, run! app lets you go at your own pace and doesn't really have set times to walk/jog/run unless you turn on zombie chases. i usually do it on the treadmill without chases, run during my playlist and walk/jog during the story intervals (about 30-60 seconds of rest for every 5 minutes). i believe they have their own c25k program but i've never tried it, i can only speak from experience with the original app.
Are you talking about differences in execution or in the programme itself?
not quite? i mean it can be, but all the difference is in the gamification, between an automated voice telling you WALK, RUN, WALK, RUN and an interactive story and rewards. i've tried both and i honestly couldn't stick with c25k the way i can to zombies.I started with C25K (it's a great program), but quit it after about 3 weeks. I have an issue with someone telling me when to run and when to walk, so instead I downloaded the Zombies, Run! app, which is much more fun.
It's exactly the same programme...
Couch-to-5K is nine weeks, with some spin-offs reducing it to eight weeks. Different apps might present the programme in different wrappings, but the contents are the same if they are called C25K.
A free version, the NHS podcasts, are proper commentary throughout by Laura Something and I used that.
ETA
I wrote this post so that newbies wouldn't be confused.0 -
I started running by running. Agonizing, painful, horrible 1-2 miles at a time with no idea what I was doing, what shoes to wear, etc. I was in high school and was summer "training" so I could do cross country in the fall, because I didn't want to squeeze gym into my schedule at 6 am, and because I thought XC would be easier than gym (cue insane laughter). I didn't care much for cross country, but I loved running long, slow-ish distances, so I eventually started running half-marathons my senior year of high school and haven't looked back since.
I'd recommend starting with a run/walk plan to begin to build up your body to the rigors of running. You'll be surprised at how your body adapts to it 0 -
When I was 14 I got arthritis in my hips and I have had to have them replaced. Twice. Three and a half years ago at age 53 I started running. I was ecstatic that I went a whole half mile in my Reebok cross-trainers. I did not follow any program... I just kept running 4 or 5 days a week. This past April I ran my first ultramarathon trail race (50k)... something I never, ever thought I could do and something my doctors told me I never could or should do.
I now run 40-45 miles a week injury free and am currently training for another 50k in September and my first 50 mile race in October. I attribute it to being consistent (even in freezing crappy weather), eating right and spending the money on good running shoes. I personally cannot run in anything except zero-drop minimalist shoes, but they aren't for everyone.
I am totally addicted to running now...especially the long, painful runs by myself at 4:30 in the morning. It's my therapy and much more. I am no athlete by any stretch of the imagination... I'm just an average middle-aged guy who wants to accomplish some "cool impossibles".
I still feel like a beginner and I have loved reading all these threads about people starting out on their incredible journeys... don't stop posting on how you are doing.... they are all so motivational!
You are freaking AWESOME!0 -
I'm just clarifying, again for the newbies
execution mostly. the original base zombies, run! app lets you go at your own pace and doesn't really have set times to walk/jog/run unless you turn on zombie chases. i usually do it on the treadmill without chases, run during my playlist and walk/jog during the story intervals (about 30-60 seconds of rest for every 5 minutes). i believe they have their own c25k program but i've never tried it, i can only speak from experience with the original app.
Are you talking about differences in execution or in the programme itself?
not quite? i mean it can be, but all the difference is in the gamification, between an automated voice telling you WALK, RUN, WALK, RUN and an interactive story and rewards. i've tried both and i honestly couldn't stick with c25k the way i can to zombies.I started with C25K (it's a great program), but quit it after about 3 weeks. I have an issue with someone telling me when to run and when to walk, so instead I downloaded the Zombies, Run! app, which is much more fun.
It's exactly the same programme...
Couch-to-5K is nine weeks, with some spin-offs reducing it to eight weeks. Different apps might present the programme in different wrappings, but the contents are the same if they are called C25K.
A free version, the NHS podcasts, are proper commentary throughout by Laura Something and I used that.
ETA
I wrote this post so that newbies wouldn't be confused.
The couch-to-5K programme originates here:
http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/index.shtml
Here you can find two versions of the plan, a time- and a distance-based version:
http://www.c25k.com
People usually choose the time-based one, because distance is very hard to estimate unless one runs on a 400-metre track.
Whatever apps have been developed do or do not follow the original plan by Cool Running. The NHS podcasts, which I have used, follow the plan completely. Hope this helps!0 -
I started running 6 years ago. My best friend and I always had a tradition where we went out to breakfast on Thanksgiving, which is pretty dumb. She started running our town's turkey trot 5K and then would meet me for breakfast after, so I figured we should probably just do the turkey trot instead of breakfast! I did the couch to 5K that year but wasn't consistent with it and walked a good portion of the race. Running never really stuck, but I would train for and run a 5K every now and then and then I would always do the turkey trot with her. About 2 years ago I started exercising regularly and it tended to make running a lot easier, so I've kept up with it. I ran my first 10K in May of this year and I'm training for my first half marathon. I NEVER thought I would be able to call myself a runner, but consistency really is key!0
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I ran my first 10K in May of this year and I'm training for my first half marathon. I NEVER thought I would be able to call myself a runner, but consistency really is key!
Sometimes that is a mindset that is hard to shake...my brother has been running ultras for a while and just did his second 100 mile race. Because of all that, I was reluctant to think of myself as a runner until I did my first 50k...lol... when in reality 13.1 is a righteous distance!0 -
not quite? i mean it can be, but all the difference is in the gamification, between an automated voice telling you WALK, RUN, WALK, RUN and an interactive story and rewards. i've tried both and i honestly couldn't stick with c25k the way i can to zombies.I started with C25K (it's a great program), but quit it after about 3 weeks. I have an issue with someone telling me when to run and when to walk, so instead I downloaded the Zombies, Run! app, which is much more fun.
It's exactly the same programme...
The training is the same. If it takes noise like a story and badge collecting to do it then that's fine, although I'd query the usefulness long term.0
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