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any tips or plans i could follow...used to run in my twenties so its been a while..got some good shoes/kit
Put one foot in front of the other. Push off the one which is behind you (unless of course you want to run backwards). Repeat.
HTH
Don't do too much too soon - it hurts!
strart off slow. dont be tempted to increase the distance/speed too quickly. your legs wont forgive you.
My personal opinion is to not start running on the road. find somewhere with a softer base like grass or sand. Tarmac can be very unforgiving.
Get a pair of shoes with enough support but not too much cusioning it means you are running on stilts.
Run like you are being chased by a dinosaur, throw your arms about and scream 'noooooooooo, someone ate my last rolooooooooo' for the full length of the run, it will burn more calories I promise.
But other than that, what Becky said and start small, build up nice and easy. Or you could do what I did and try a 10k in the heat of summer with rubbing shoes and accompanied by someone for whom 10k is a warm up. Not recommended for a first run but jolly good fun and I survived.
Got an mp3 player?
Get hold of the ' couch to 5k' podcast off iTunes by the nhs.
It's good.
go somewhere nice - don't feel guilty if you need to drive to get there.
walk away from your car for 10 mins, run slowly back, drive home, stretch a bit - but don't go nuts.
see how you feel the next day - hopefully you'll be fine, and you can think about gradually increasing your distance/speed.
don't run up or down steep hills (for now).
try and enjoy it - i find it's really good for clearing my head, it's almost meditative.
Dont bother, not trolling, but its too high impact and will bugger your knees. Ride your bike instead. Oh yeah, its well boring too.
A few thoughts:
1. Get a running shop to check your shoes are the right ones for you. Also consider Superfeet insoles
2. Don't increase your distance from one week to the next by more than 10%
3. Work on your core strength for speed/strength and flexibility to keep injury at bay
4. Stretch at the end of each run
5. You can't out-train a bad diet
6. Enter a few races - it helps motivate you to run regularly
7. You'll learn a huge amount if you join a club. They're not just for fast runners and there's literally hundreds of years accumulated experience in any decent sized club
8. Watch out for injury - and stop when you get injured, it's not worth the long term risk
9. If you want to get fast, speed work and track sessions are a lot more fun than a regular run (harder work tho')
9. It's the most time-efficient and cheap way I've found to get fit
10. It's not anything like as much fun as riding a bike, sadly...
Good advice from brooess
A few things that you can only really find out for yourself.
For me those were
I rarely use an MP3 player. The clear head / listen to the world around you approach suits me much better
I don't run with others any more (used to all the time). I like to run at my own pace. This varies dramatically from run to run. (< 7 min miles to >10 min miles). I just run based on how I feel.
Running is just a suppleement to my biking. Something different that is easy to do whilst on business travel or if short on time.
Try cross-country running: It's far more interesting than the road and easier on the knees.
Cool some good tips...ta
I have never understood the appeal of running with music playing. Whenever I've tried it I just found it distracting.
Anyway, my advice is take your shoes and kit with you wherever you go on holiday / business etc. A half hour run here and there lets you see places in a different light and keeps you fit.
shanta - Member
Dont bother, not trolling, but its too high impact and will bugger your knees.
What evidence is there for this?
Runnersworld is good for training plans.
-Running with/without music are 2 very different things- introspective/outrospective experiences. I prefer no music by the way, and meditating on whatever has been happening etc.
-Start slowly, don't build up your distance or your speed too drastically.
-If you have to take time off due to injury or illness, start slowly or you WILL have to take MORE time off.
I'm about to start a return to running program having 'done a pretty good number' (my physio's words) on a ligament in my ankle. Program is as follows:
Complete each 30 minute session three times a week, each week (eg mon, wed, fri)
Week 1: 6 x 5m Walk i.e. walk for 30 mins
Week 2: 6 x 4m walk + 1m jog
Week 3: 6 x 3m walk + 2m jog
Week 4: 6 x 2m walk + 3m jog
Week 5: 6 x 1m walk + 4m jog
Week 6: 6 x 5m jog
As has been said before, shoes vitally important, stretch properly to aid recovery and alleviate instances of DOMS.
Five weeks ago I got talked into entering a duathlon in March.
The 25k on the bike I could handle, the two 5k runs either side of it less so. I'm now on week 5 of the NHS couch to 5k training plan. It's good to have that structure to training.
My knees ache all the time. Take it steady.
Roll on March . . .
stop [s]when [/s] before you get injured
Easier said than done, but you often do get a bit of a twinge before an acute injury, overuse injuries tend to build up over time with plenty of warning signs and I once took myself out for a couple of months by tearing a calf muscle when trying to run through a cramp! Best to stop at the first signs of something wrong.
If you want to get fast, speed work and track sessions are a lot more [s]fun [/s] effective than a regular run
Oh and for interest, try orienteering. Of course you can't do that every time you run - though I often do run with a map rather than follow a set route - but it's good motivation for working on your running.
stretch properly to aid recovery and alleviate instances of DOMS.
No evidence it helps with that.
I'm also doing the snowdonia marathon later this year.
Take your time, build up gradually, don't over do it.
mikey74 - Member
Try cross-country running: It's far more interesting than the road and easier on the knees.
Take that a step further, if you're close to anywhere hilly with remote terrain, eg. Peak, Lakes, Brecon, etc, then try fell running. Out in the hills like when you're on the MTB just not covering as much distance. Despite what certain individuals above have said about impact, ignore. You're running on grass, gravel, mud and sometimes rock - a variety of terrain softer than tarmac (except the rock, obviously) - and it's also a good opportunity to recce potential MTB routes.
I'm lucky to have the pick of routes in Dark or White Peak on my (current) doorstep or the Lakes when I visit my folks but just look for any remote, upland area on your local map.
+1 for being a very meditative activity - being out on the fells on my own helps me clear my mind.
To be honest I have never understood this thing about having to listen to music everywhere you go and during everything you do. I am a music lover but I rarely ever use a portable player as I prefer to sample the world around me, rather than isolate myself from it.
The others are right: Running, particularly trail running, does have a meditative element about it and I couldn't think of anything worse than having music playing in my ears.
If you were slogging up and down a main road all the time then I could probably understand it, but get off the roads and on to trails, footpaths, and out into the countryside.
Just as an aside & not to troll I can't see the attraction of running once you're a cyclist. With cycling you can go much faster and further whilst expending the same energy, going fast is fun.
Different muscle emphasis, different mentality and also more intensive than biking so a quicker fitness fix when you're short of time. It's also just another challenge to have a go at. Those are some of my reasons, anyway.
Just started running with the OH, it is less faff than getting bike out, less gear, less mucking about. Plus easier to do in bad weather and at night, just stick to pavements in light up area's - but as someone says, easier on shins if you are on paths/off tarmac.
Going well so far, just started at 2-3 miles 3 times a week. Don't see it replacing cycling, but as a slightly easier to get out option, and it certainly does help with fitness.
Listen to your body, take note of any grumbles, watch out for stitches, but it is a very good addition to fitness, and can easily be done anywhere if you have less than an hour to spare. Consider even a run at lunchtime from work (providing you have facilities)
With cycling you can go much faster and further whilst expending the same energy, going fast is fun.
Labouring up Cut Gate in the Peak and being passed by a couple of fell runners chatting was one of the things that turned me on to hill running 🙂
jekkyl - MemberJust as an aside & not to troll I can't see the attraction of running once you're a cyclist. With cycling you can go much faster and further whilst expending the same energy, going fast is fun.
with a car, you can go much faster and further whilst expending the same/less energy, going fast is fun.
in an attempt to answer in a more meaningful fashion, running and biking are different activities, sometimes i want to go out on my bike, sometimes i want to go out for a run.
part of the attraction of running is that i can go out for an hour and come back physically knackered, but mentally refreshed - i don't think that's possible by bike (for me anyway)
erratic runner here...
takes me a good month to 6 weeks before it starts to get less agony and more fun.
something i've only just discovered (as of monday this week), check out your local running club. i could'nt believe on a freezing feb night how many showed up for the week's social run, and it was far from the uber fit under 30 year old legions i had imagined.
There is no evidence it does any damage to your knees or any other joints AFAIK. it is also not boring IMO and I have ran almost daily for the last 30 years and love it (not a Ron Hill streak as periods of downtime and injury but you get the picture)
Racing is great and there is little evidence stretching does any good.
going fast is fun
Going fast on two legs is more fun IMO
What is this "social run" of which you speak?
Do you have a ParkRun near you?
Nice, friendly, informal, accepting environment with a timed run. All abilities. Away from roads. No commitment. What's not to like?
What's not to like?
Find your local athletics club instead, at least you know the "subs" you pay will be going to support coaching and the development of the sport
Anyone who runs unless it's being employed as a method of survival (i.e. escaping kidnap, large carnivores, kids, wife, etc.,) should be summarily executed. They're all miserable bar-stewards.
surfer - MemberWhat's not to like?
Find your local athletics club instead, at least you know the "subs" you pay will be going to support coaching and the development of the sport
I'm not sure the 2 are mutually exclusive.
ParkRun has made running more enjoyable for me and helped me improve which in turn means I'm more likely to get involved with a local running club.
As a novice I wouldn't have turned up to a club, so it has been a useful stepping stone.
Every year I say I'm going to start running and I never quite manage it. The last few times I've tried C25K, but I find it too structured and the times/distance don't fit well with the loop I run around.
I started for this year on Sunday. I did two laps of the path round the river near us and use a walk-run like C25k, but didn't do it to set times or distances. It turned out to be [url= http://app.strava.com/activities/39637878 ]4km and took me 24 minutes[/url].
I was going to go out again yesterday but my legs still hurt, so I'll go this evening instead.
Got an mp3 player?
Get hold of the ' couch to 5k' podcast off iTunes by the nhs.
It's good.
Second that. We're doing it currently (Me and otherhalf).
It's well thought out, not too difficult for a beginner to get started with and stick to and gives you a feeling of achievement working through the weeks. Plus its totally free.
I'm not sure the 2 are mutually exclusive.
I'm not really against them as the more people out running the better and I'm sure your right that some will gain the confidence to join a club.
The issue I have is that they play by different rules and the nature of the events they put on means they bypass some of the costly "red tape" that athletic clubs have to abide by. This means that competitive events (Parkruns are competitive but they get around this!) put on by clubs are being squeezed out and this is to the detriment of the sport.
Athletics clubs also support junior events, coaching and a whole host of other things that cost money and require a great deal of commitment by those involved. I would just like to see a level playing field not to take the fun out of the Parkrun events but to ensure we continue to offer events and support for young runners coming into the sport.
The issue I have is that they play by different rules and the nature of the events they put on means they bypass some of the costly "red tape" that athletic clubs have to abide by.
Interesting. Having been quite closely involved with the running of several MTB events I have been quite surprised at how relatively easy it appears to be for ParkRun events to be held.
Apologies to the OP for having taken this a bit OT 🙂
how relatively easy it appears to be for ParkRun events to be held.
Thats my point. They are not classified as "races" despite them being timed and a mass start!
They are not classified as "races" despite them being timed and a mass start!
Isn't that the same as many bike events?
Possibly Mike but thats for cycling clubs to challenge.
To the OP don't bother with fancy shoes or stretching. There is no evidence either do any good despite the anecdotal evidence you might get on here.
Just start gently and increase slowly.
If you are a regular cyclist you will probably have an aerobic engine that will carry you much further and faster than your legs will cope with as they will not be used to the impact so even more reason to watch how much you do to start with.
To the OP don't bother with ... stretching
To the OP: I'd ignore that if I were you.
Anyone who runs unless it's being employed as a method of survival (i.e. escaping kidnap, large carnivores, kids, wife, etc.,) should be summarily executed. They're all miserable bar-stewards.
A wise man once said that in the wild you don't actually need to outrun the predator, just be ahead of your companions.
So as a regular runner and therefore probably faster than you on my feet... see ya 🙂