Many have asked me how to begin running. This is what I did and what worked for me {my story}.
{background} I'm from a "running family" my dad has always ran. His brothers and father all died of heart attacks at young ages. He decided he would work as hard as he could to not have the same tragic conclusion. My little sis ran competitively in HS and was a stud (going to state all four years). and I...well I ran in middle school. I liked it but I felt my time was better spent...not running. So that was the beginning and ending to my school running career.
{fast forward to 2010} I began running because I had a lot of free time on my hands. I had just graduated with my bachelor's in December and I was waiting to begin my master's degree in the fall. I was only working part-time at a detox center. I also knew that I would probably lose weight if I started running {which like all girls, was constantly on my mind}. I signed up in January for the Garmin half-marathon (13.1 miles) that would take place that following April.
{the first steps are the hardest...}
I started by getting a membership to the Y. I knew that I would not run outside in the winter, there was no point in kidding myself, I just wouldn't. I started out running 2 miles a day for a couple of weeks (that was all that i could do). On Saturday, I ran 2.5 miles. Once I got used to running 2.5 miles I increased my mileage during the week to 3 miles and... then four miles. All the while I would increase my Saturday mileage. I made Saturday my long-run day, and the Saturday run was always longer than the mileage I would run during the week. On Sunday I didn't run, it was my rest day. Eventually, I got up to 6 miles a day and that was my constant. Once I got to 6 miles I stopped increasing my weekly mileage and just focused on increasing my weekend mileage. I worked all the way up to 13.1 miles a couple of weeks before the race. You can find training plans on the internet. My favorite can be found at the bottom of this post. Some of the plans you have to purchase, and others are free. I always used the free ones. You can also download apps on your phone. A favorite app for many starting out is Couch to 5k ( 3.1 miles). Many half-marathon training programs have you only run 9-10 miles before the race. I didn't like that, I wanted to be completely prepared. I ran 13.1 miles a couple of times before the actual race so that I knew I could do it. If you can run 9-10 miles, you can probably run 13.1. What pace should you start out running? I just ran at a pace that was comfortable for me. You don't want to start out too fast because you will not only tire out quickly, but you run the risk of injuring yourself.
That is, in a nutshell, how I started running.
favorite plans:
{background} I'm from a "running family" my dad has always ran. His brothers and father all died of heart attacks at young ages. He decided he would work as hard as he could to not have the same tragic conclusion. My little sis ran competitively in HS and was a stud (going to state all four years). and I...well I ran in middle school. I liked it but I felt my time was better spent...not running. So that was the beginning and ending to my school running career.
{fast forward to 2010} I began running because I had a lot of free time on my hands. I had just graduated with my bachelor's in December and I was waiting to begin my master's degree in the fall. I was only working part-time at a detox center. I also knew that I would probably lose weight if I started running {which like all girls, was constantly on my mind}. I signed up in January for the Garmin half-marathon (13.1 miles) that would take place that following April.
{the first steps are the hardest...}
I started by getting a membership to the Y. I knew that I would not run outside in the winter, there was no point in kidding myself, I just wouldn't. I started out running 2 miles a day for a couple of weeks (that was all that i could do). On Saturday, I ran 2.5 miles. Once I got used to running 2.5 miles I increased my mileage during the week to 3 miles and... then four miles. All the while I would increase my Saturday mileage. I made Saturday my long-run day, and the Saturday run was always longer than the mileage I would run during the week. On Sunday I didn't run, it was my rest day. Eventually, I got up to 6 miles a day and that was my constant. Once I got to 6 miles I stopped increasing my weekly mileage and just focused on increasing my weekend mileage. I worked all the way up to 13.1 miles a couple of weeks before the race. You can find training plans on the internet. My favorite can be found at the bottom of this post. Some of the plans you have to purchase, and others are free. I always used the free ones. You can also download apps on your phone. A favorite app for many starting out is Couch to 5k ( 3.1 miles). Many half-marathon training programs have you only run 9-10 miles before the race. I didn't like that, I wanted to be completely prepared. I ran 13.1 miles a couple of times before the actual race so that I knew I could do it. If you can run 9-10 miles, you can probably run 13.1. What pace should you start out running? I just ran at a pace that was comfortable for me. You don't want to start out too fast because you will not only tire out quickly, but you run the risk of injuring yourself.
That is, in a nutshell, how I started running.
favorite plans:
- Marathon by Jeff Galloway
I bought this book. I really liked it because it gives you timed goals training plans. It explains all things running!
Happy running :)