Simple tips for Beginners to Running
Shall I let you know a truth? Many moons ago, I wasn’t very confident or keen on running.
My high school in Leeds sat on the edge of the Temple Newsam estate – a Tudor manor house surrounded by acres of gardens and woodlands, and a few hills… I’ll always remember the first PE/games session after the Summer holidays started with a long cross-country run. I wasn’t very confident back in those teenage days and was a bit on the plump side – so naturally I wasn’t very keen on long distance jogging. I remember absolutely hating the first part of my run – getting the stitch that I couldn’t shake off and that awful hill coming around from a golf course towards Temple Newsam house. (It’s probably nowhere near as bad as it sounds – but it was back then!)
I was generally always one of the last to finish, partly because I took many stops to get up the hills. There are two things that always stuck in my mind though: why did I always hate the first ten minutes of the run? And how was it that others were able to jog up the hill without stopping?
For a few years – I ventured out to see if I could conquer my personal ‘mount doom’ of running. It was probably one of my earliest recollections of developing a ‘growth mindset.’
Years later, many things have changed…
If I can, you can do it too!
I appreciate running isn’t for everyone, but this blog is particularly aimed at those of you who secretly might feel a little bit envious of those who can take themselves off for a run, or for anyone who really would love to run, but might have given up on the first attempt. Here are some solutions to five fundamental worries when we’re starting out:
I’m feeling overweight, unfit and I’m worried about the impact on my joints and lungs
Never give up the prospect that you CAN lose some weight in advance. If you’re not sure what the ideal approach is for you, and HOW to lose weight successfully, you know who to contact for a free chat.
But don’t let feeling overweight put you off other fitness goals either.
“Fitness is not about being better than someone else...it’s about being better than you used to be...”
Start as simply as possible – by going for a ten minute walk. On another day, attempt a faster paced ten minute walk – where you’re feeling mildly out of breath. This could be once or twice a week. Once you’ve regularly got yourself to a speed walk, then you could attempt tips 3-4.
If you’re worried about your joints, have imbalances in your skeletal frame and muscles, these can continue to give you regular injuries until they’re corrected. So get your posture checked first and ask for a re-balancing plan.
Correcting and managing your musculoskeletal imbalances along the way will help you in the long term.
I always feel completely breathless and I get a stitch when I run
“Sometimes you need to slow down in order to go fast...”
This is a standard problem for everyone I meet who wants to learn to run, but feel they can’t. Try not to compare yourself to other runners too much. Be patient. Go slower than you think you should. It works every single time.
Measure how you feel. I commonly use the RPE 0-10 scale (rate of perceived exertion) as a guideline.
0 = no effort/rest. 10 = maximum effort.
Ask yourself when practising – ‘Does this feel like a 7/10 on the intensity scale?’ Could I also recite a nursery rhyme out loud while I’m jogging? - a standard test of mine with my regulars! : )
If you’ve started running for the first time then this intensity is probably a bit too quick. A sensible range might be to aim between 2-4, where you’re not feeling breathless yet – but you could carry on for a longer duration. This also gives an optimum level where you can learn to inhale more deeply, reduce the chances of a stitch and build your confidence.
I’m not sure I can jog/run continuously for ten minutes or more
If your body isn’t a temple yet, and it feels more like the Acropolis… try interval training.
Following a warm-up, find a simple flat route and get a timer on your phone or watch. Speed walk for one minute, then try gentle jogging for another minute – and repeat again for 5 sets, or until you feel you’ve done enough.
If one minute is too much for you, then attempt 30 seconds of jogging, with a minute of recovery. On another day you can extend the length a bit more. There are lots of permutations of this – but remember create time so you can practice!
Don’t forget -
AND…
If at first you don’t succeed TRY TRY TRY again
Occasionally, I look back at where I was when I first started running. I wasn’t a natural athlete; I wasn’t amazing at sports or exercise; I couldn’t even do a push-up or pull myself up a rope. Perhaps you feel the same?
Just because people, or our perceptions of what they say, might knock our confidence from time to time, it doesn’t mean we should stop trying. It doesn’t mean you too cannot achieve GREAT THINGS.
Don’t forget, if you’re really struggling on your own in the Surrey Hills, get in touch!
