Ahhhh….Sunday. Lately D and I have been taking it easy on the weekends, which means that besides me teaching two yoga classes and both of us working out, we haven’t been doing much else. I’m really enjoying my slow, sweet August – September is going to be a different story!
So since RIT (the “Runner in Training”) improved her time last time we went running (which was Friday), we changed from one minute run / one minute 
walk to TWO minutes run / one minute walk. So here’s what we did today:
- walk 4 minutes
- run 2 minutes / walk 1 minute for 21 minutes
- walk 2 minutes
RIT did AWESOME! Here’s what I’m learning from our runs:
- Taking it “easy” when you start running is the way to go. While tempting as it may be to just go out and run as far as you can, it’s far better to pace yourself so that you are injury free and actually liking what you are doing. Finish your first runs feeling like you could have done more.
- We want to see progress. Always. So better to start slow and jog short distances so that you can enjoy seeing yourself progress.
- For some reason our brains tend to freak out when we start running. Probably because the breath becomes labored? It’s essential to breathe calmly. To do this just slow down and focus on deep, extended breathing.
- When you want to stop running and walk, ask yourself “do I really need to do?” Most likely, if you’ve been gradually building up your endurance, your breathing is fine and your body is fine. You can go a little further. When I really think about it, I stop mostly when I’m feeling bored. I can almost always go further than I think I can.
Interestingly, all of these observations are about what happens in the mind!
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I’m inspired by you and Kate and Kelley, and am going to try to start running again this week.
Any tips on what you do when you start to feel bored? That was a big problem for me last time.
Good question Kat! I run a lot on the treadmill. I know everyone hates the treadmill. But when I watch a movie or a show, really I almost forget that I’m running! When I run outside I always either listen to music or a podcast, or I run with a friend. Do you think any of these ideas might work for you?
You’re so wise to be taking it slow. I started running in the spring and ended up with a stress fracture in my foot that is still healing. I didn’t realize that even though my cardiovascular system was adapting quickly the ligaments, bones etc. take longer.
Hey Julia, those are great ideas. I do try to use music when running outdoors, but guess I haven’t come up with that killer “running playlist” yet. I’ll keep working on it…I know the right tunes can really motivate!
I now have access to a treadmill at work too, so I’ll try the TV thing, I think that might really work for me.
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I have another question…for a beginner, how often do you recommend running? And then increasing your distance? I’ve done the couch to 5k in the past, and they tell you to do the same routine roughly 3 times a week before adding distance. I’m pretty healthy and active with my yoga practice and on my bike so I’ve always felt I could probably go more, but have taken a conservative approach with running. I think this is part of what led me to get bored with my progress before, but don’t want to rush it if I am going to risk injury.
I’m a big advocate of taking it slow.
Even if you are pretty healthy and active,
running uses different muscles and places different kinds of strain on your body. And with the endorphins kicking in – you think you can do more but really your body may not be ready for it.
So when I started running I ran just one mile for a couple of weeks.
And I began running that mile by running one minute / walking one minute, and gradually upping that until I was running one mile straight.
I know it might be “boring” but I’d rather be injury free, ya know?
I do best when I run every other day or so – occasionally two days in a row.
Start with one mile as stated above.
Then add a mile but do the run / walk thing.
So it might look like this:
Week One
Mon: 1 min run / 1 min walk for 1 mile
Wed: 1 min run / 1 min walk for 1 mile
Fri: 2 min run / 1 min walk for 1 mile
Sun: 2 min run / 1 min walk for 1 mile
Week Two
Tues: 3 min run / 1 min walk for 1 mile
Thurs: 4 min run / 1 min walk for 1 mile
Sat: 6 min run / 1 min walk for 1 mile
Week Three
Mon: run 1 mile
Wed: run 1 mile, then run 1 min / walk 1 min for an additional mile
Fri: same as Wed