Beginner running advice? Did you find running rough at first and what did you do to make it easier ?

As the above poster said I would repeat the c25k training. I've done this a few times, I usually skip the first week but I re-do the entire training.

Hi.
I am starting to run. Not very good at it.
_ Unlike you I don't look at distance I look at time. How long can I jog for, with out resting.
So last Monday, I jogged for 2min. Then Tuesday, 2.10min, Wed, 2.2 etc... so it adds up to a 1.3 miles.
My point is use a smaller distance keep adding to it, at a slow pace, start at 1k, then 1.1, then 1.2 etc..

I don't think running will ever not suck for me. I completed C25K, but I hated every minute of it. On the opposite side, I also decided to give swimming a try. I felt like I was going to drown (even though I technically know how to swim). I just couldn't get the breathing right. After a few lessons and practice, swimming is actually hugely enjoyable to me. I still have terrible stamina, but at least I enjoy it. I think life's too short to do things you hate if there are other alternatives. I've been keeping up really short runs, just so I can outrun the zombies heaven forbid, but I'm tabling running as a main form of cardio for swimming.

I joined a beginner run club, followed their couch to 5k programme and ran 3/4 times a week.
It probably took at least 6 weeks before I realized I was enjoying some of it. Now I always want to go.

I am slow, I have no expectations. I like to run trails, so will go out exploring and walk when I need to. (Always walk uphill!)

I'd start the C25k again and give it a couple of months to get stronger.
Maybe try cycling if being outside is the attraction and you still hate it.

Happens if your shoes are too heavy, if your route has too many hills for a beginner, if you have an unusual running form: go to a shop and get someone to watch you jog and buy shoes they recommend. Make sure you warm up for long enough as well, start by jogging slower than you need to for the first interval.
To help avoid lingering niggles, have a bath after each run, stretch after each run.

The secret to getting through the rough patch when you start running is to keep at it. I have been running for a really long time (since Carter was president) and have had to come back from injury or other obstacles many times. It is hard every time, but what gets me through it is knowing it's going to get easier. I am always impressed when people start running and push through the crummy phase without the experience and knowledge of how it will eventually be.

Ducks47 wrote: »

Hello,

I just went on my first jog in about a year. I literally could barely do 2.4 km. I used to be doing 3x (thanks C25K) this distance when I was heavier which just shows me being thinner doesn’t necessarily mean you’re fitter, I guess. I used to do 8 km at a slower speed but never got to the point where I enjoyed it. This jog today was very rough. Reminded me to when I couldn’t run even 400 meter at my heaviest. My goal was to go further distance, but I couldn’t keep on. I just want to be physically able to jog some sort of distance without feeling like I’ll keel over. Did anyone here start jogging and how did you come to enjoy it?? How often did you jog? Does it ever become relaxing? My plan is to just keep running 2.4 km 3 times a week until it becomes easier. And strength train 2 times a week. Any tips ?

First off, if it's been a year then you will have 100% lost your running fitness. Your leanness or lack thereof doesn't really have anything to do with physical fitness. I know skinny people who are very unfit...conversely, one of my cycling buddies is overweight but he rides a lot and can ride circles around me. You get and remain fit by engaging in physical fitness.

In regards to running, not everyone is going to come to enjoy it. I tried for a very long time to be a runner and enjoy running and it never came to me...it was never relaxing...never had a runners high, etc. Yes, it became easier with practice, but i never enjoyed it in the least. Conversely, my wife loves to run...always has.

Ironically, when I was trying to be a runner I signed up to do a sprint triathlon with my mom. I had an old clunker of a bike, but that was my favorite part of the tri training. I ultimately was injured a couple weeks out from the race, but from that point on I ditched an exercise I didn't enjoy and started cycling, which I love and have been doing for over 6 years now.

My advice would be to try different things rather than forcing yourself to do something you don't enjoy...you'll never stick with anything you don't enjoy.

I was like you. I couldn't run 100 steps when I started. I was recovering from being obese and having a devistating knee injury where I was not only out of shape but couldn't walk for around a year or bare weight.

I literally started with walking, then 100 steps slow jog at a time (and stationary bike), then Spinning and gradually increasing distance. Though Chronic Runner's knee finally ended my running, by the time I ended, I was doing 8 mile trail races that were pretty technically challenging.

I found I LOVED trail running. Way more than streets or pavement. I still miss that years later. There's two elements to running. The cardio part and the pounding adjustment part. For me, the pounding was easier on trails. I didn't stay inflammed as long or sometimes at all.

If you don't like it, and you've never liked it, what's your reason for doing it? You don't have to run to be fit, or even to lose weight.

I've been running "seriously" for almost 11 years. Despite being at an average weight and fitness level, I could barely run 3K when I started out. When I finally got up to running 5K, it became more of a mental block; I truly believed I wasn't capable of doing more. I eventually broke through the barrier, and I've since completed seven half marathons.

My advice to you - don't be so hard on yourself. You're restarting from square one, and "slow and steady" is truly what will help you progress. It's also good to keep in mind that even a "great" runner can still have a terrible run once in awhile - maybe you overate beforehand, maybe it's too hot outside, maybe you didn't sleep enough the night before. What matters is that you're getting up and doing the darn thing, no matter how slow you start out.

I agree with all of the "slow down" remarks, and also that things seem to get more enjoyable after being able to clear that 20-minute mark. I'm not sure I agree with the "don't do it if you don't like it" mindset, as some things take a certain amount of repetition and fine-tuning and pushing through some initial discomfort to make that discovery. Perhaps after a certain point if it's still not enjoyable though, yeah there are surely some other good forms of cardio.

I started out running when I was probably still too overweight to be trying that and I'm glad I didn't write it off entirely at that stage. I also learned that I don't like competition or running races or anything like that, but I do like tracking my own time and distance and - sometimes, only sometimes - trying to one-up myself.

My own personal zen comes from jogging half a mile downhill to a path at the park down the street and running a bunch of 1/3-mile loops there while listening to some good music or an audiobook.