Start slowly. Alternate walking and running at first if need be. A track is a good place to do this. Run the straight aways and walk the curves until you can run a whole lap. Then progress from there. Just be sure to stay in the outside lanes and to go counter clockwise around.
Run on soft surface. No sidewalks – concrete is of the devil. Run on asphalt, grass, dirt, a track. Anything but concrete.
If you are going to run inside on a treadmill be careful when transitioning outside to harder surfaces, this can lead to injuries.
When running on the street run with and against the traffic. The curve/slope of the road will kill your knees if you always run facing the traffic.
If you start to build up your mileage and like running, get a good pair of shoes. Go to a local running shoe store and have them watch you run and recommend a shoe. If you like that shoe you can buy replacement shoes online.
Put 300-500 miles on a pair of shoes and then replace them.
Fancy shorts and shirts, while nice to have, are not required. Regular shorts and your old Frankie Says Relax t-shirt will work just fine.
In the winter you don’t need as many clothes as you think do. You should be cold at the start of the run.
Signup for a race. 5k would be a good distance to start. Having a goal to work towards will help you get out there when you don’t feel like it.
Run with a friend, a dog and iPod...anything that helps you pass the time.
Give it time. It usually takes a few months before running short distances is comfortable and running becomes fun.
There are plenty of resources online for beginner runners. Checkout runnersworld.com and runningtimes.com for starters.
From Couch to 5k running plan.
9 comments:
"When running on the street run with and against the traffic. The curve/slope of the road will kill your knees if you always run facing the traffic."
Hey, Rob, I'm not clear on what this means. I thought I should run against traffic for safety, but here it seems you suggest both.
I'm up to 4 miles now. I'm looking at a 10k in June, with Katie and a few of my other mom friends. This is a great post! Thanks!
Yeah I like to go both ways...so to speak. You should run against traffic for safety BUT the slope of the road will do a number on you over time. So I run with the traffic a lot too, when safety allows.
Great job getting up to 4 miles. What race are y’all doing?
I love answering running questions (and once in awhile I even know what I am talking about) so fire away
I think if I had a "do-over" it would be listening to the advice:
Go to a running store to get your sneakers. Adn go to a place that gets your stride checked.
The guy told me you can run in anything until you hit 6 miles consistently. And it was when I was running 6 miles regularly that I started to have problems. I have had alot of theories on why I got a stress fracture, but other than too much treadmill running and not enough road running, I am convinced that the stress fracture was caused by having the wrong sneakers.
Ok, another question then. This is probably a woman question. . . but what is the difference between asphalt and concrete? I usually run on the sidewalk, which you said was a no-no. Would running on the road be better? Is road asphalt?
Katie wants me to do the Zoomba race in Annapolis. I'm working on getting the Wingnut to do it with me, which he is perfectly capable of even though he hasn't been running much lately--he's too into Tony Horton right now :/
katie i would bet its a combo of treadmill to harder surfaces and wrong shoes
Maurisa - concrete is the white stuff aka sidewalks. asphalt is the black stuff aka roads. thats what i run on or i run on the grass along the sidewalks.
nothing wrong with tony horton. i just got a video from them on fixing a sore back
btw isn't Zooma a chick race? is wingnut gonna race in drag?
Men can run it . . . I read that somewhere on their website
If it is, even if dudes can run in it, he won't. He's funny like that. Thanks for the heads up on that. He'd never forgive me for signing him up for a "chick race"!
I miss running in Annapolis and Baltimore, suburban NJ just isn't the same as far as scenery goes. Every year we do the Army Ten Miler and this year we're doing the Marine Corps Marathon as well.
Cool blog, BTW.
Post a Comment