A Total Beginners Guide To First Steps Part 1

A total beginner’s guide to first steps : 30 days to 30 minutes running.

PART 1 of a 2 part series

Have you been inspired by seeing others run, watched super human achievements in the London marathon, read about amazing stories of people overcoming adversity through running, witnessed unbelievable accounts of weight loss and changes in body shape? Have you thought about starting running but not dared to consider it further than picking up a magazine and tentatively flicking through the pages whilst thinking, ‘it’s different for others though, right?’ ‘It’s easier for them, right?’ ‘I can’t run, right?’ WRONG!

Getting going.
The most daunting thing about starting anything new is that feeling you get that you are out of your depth, in unfamiliar territory, out of your comfort zone. You’ve seen people out enjoying a run, you conjure up thoughts that everyone else is super professional and you’ll look silly and everyone will be laughing at you. Well, simply, that is not the case, when starting out everyone is as nervous and anxious as everyone else. To be a successful runner definitely doesn’t necessarily mean going out and running faster than anyone else, it means running at your own pace, controlled, with confidence, balance, rhythm, posture and style, on a variety of terrains, for a sustained and varied amount of time.

Let’s get started.
Perhaps the most common concern for first time runners is how fast to run. We’ve all seen children run. When asked to run to a particular point they’ll hare off at the only speed they know; flat out, and tire, puffing, before the end. This is because the way in which the body supplies the energy needed to run fast doesn’t last very long. As a general rule the faster you run the shorter time you are able to run for. A common problem with new runners is thinking that they have to leave their front door and sprint as fast as they can. By the time they reach the end of the road they are groveling on the floor, out of breath, muscles feeling like lead, and thinking, ‘it’s no good, I can’t do this running’. They give up and drag themselves home, exhausted. But, here’s the magical thing about running. The more you do the easier it gets! Really. The best running pace is one where you can chat very comfortably with a friend. Initially even this may sound a daunting prospect as your early attempts may leave you breathless and red-faced. Panic not. That’s completely normal. Natural running ability is different for everyone and a pace that you find easy someone else might find hard or vice versa. Early runs should be a mixture of walking, paced walking and ‘walk-run’ to build your confidence and your fitness and improve your health.

What is paced walking, ‘walk-run’ and easy running?

Power / paced walking:
Paced or power walking is walking at a fast pace to get fitter. It’s not heading out for a casual stroll, equally it’s not race walking – it’s walking at a brisk pace. Get into a smooth rhythm as you walk. Keep your head up and your eyes looking forward. Your stride should be slightly longer than your normal walking stride. Your posture should be upright, relaxed not tense. Swing your arms, bent at a 90 degree angle so that your hand comes to approximately shoulder height in front of you. Swing the other arm, again at a 90 degree angle, backwards until your thumb reaches your hip pocket and so that the elbow is in unison with the
hand in front of you.

Walk: run:
This is simply a combination of paced walking interspersed with light jogging. The amount of time you spend walking and jogging can and should vary. As you get fitter you’ll spend more time jogging and less time walking. Landmarks such as lampposts, street corners, road junctions and trees make excellent targets to jog to or walk between.
Easy runs:
These are very slow runs or jogs. They feel really comfortable and are the natural progression from your jog-walk introduction. As a beginner many of your first runs as you build and progress into a running program will be made up of easy runs, but as you improve easy runs will become, well, ‘easy’, and you’ll want to (and need to if you wish to go faster) include other types of running in your workouts.

tafbutton blue16 A Total Beginners Guide To First Steps Part 1