14 Steps To Start Running And Making It A Habit
If you think about starting running, but you have hesitations, we will help you with this guide. The beginning is always difficult, but with our 14-step program, you will immediately notice how nice and energizing it can be to make running part of your regular routine. So do not wait another day, get dressed and start running.
Welcome To The Starting Line
The first time you go running is really messy for your body and your confort zone. You will have to be mentally strong and create the perfect schedule. From my experience, the first 3 weeks are the worst, mostly because your mind needs a lot of time to adapt to change. Maybe you are not trained at all, you do not have a spectacular fitness, but you can at least prepare the right steps to making running part of your regular routine.
Wake up early. You will be consistent and you will make sure that running becomes a priority.
Buy The Right Shoes
Being the most expensive/important piece of equipment for runners, it is vital to choose the right pair from the first time. Spend your money wisely, buy a pair of shoes for running from a well-known company like airiarunning. Choose a model that suits you perfectly and that is designed specifically for the area where you will use them most often: trail, concrete, track. If you do not know exactly what suits you, seek advice from a professional shop. And remember, even the best model of shoes has a limited lifespan – so get ready to replace them after a few months of intense training.
Buying a new pair of shoes will put you in the mood for running. Actually, buying pieces of sports equipment from time to time really helps, but that is another discussion.
It’s All About The Schedule
Space (location) and time are the two basic elements of an efficient running schedule. They are also the two reasons that help develop excuses for those who do not want to run: “I don’t have enough time for running.” or “I have nowhere to run.”
If we are to dissect these two excuses, we see that the reality is different. Running 20 to 40 minutes a day is not that hard. You can make use of the time you spend watching TV shows. You can cut Facebook from the list.
As for running in the right places: anywhere you can safely go and run. Regions outside the cities (like forests) are preferable to streets and asphalt, but any place is better than sitting on the couch. One suggestion: find the best places to run in your neighborhood. The first thing you should do is to solve the problem of “location” and it is more likely for you to stick with your schedule.
Track Your Pace
This is the easiest part of this how-to article. There is a saying that sounds like this: Practice makes better. The more you run, the faster you will run. So track your pace and wait for one or two months. Watching your progress will help you stay on the track and go on with your schedule. Friends who will hear that you started running soon will ask: „What’s your best 5k?”. Improve your fitness. Get better. Brag about it.
All of these things will help you make running part of your regular routine.
Find Your “Rhythm”
Novice runners do not know exactly what a comfortable pace means. As a result, they are sometimes pushing too hard and end up tired, discouraged or even become injured while running. That is the moment in which they quit.
Fortunately, it is easy to find the pace that suits you best: when you are able to talk to someone while running, you will know that you have found the perfect pace. Keep slow most of the time.
Finding the perfect pace is important because it keeps you on track – no injuries and no suffering in the beginning. We will get back to pushing your limits later.
Warm Up Before Running
Do not confuse some light stretching exercises with a proper warm up. An efficient warm up is all about increasing heart rate and preparing the muscles for exercise. This step is strongly correlated with the previous one. You don’t want to get injured. Your plan is to make running a real habit.
A slow jog is usually an adequate warm up exercise. Famous coaches recommendations: walk faster for 5 minutes, then run at a comfortable pace. When you feel that you have finished warming up, resist the urge to stop suddenly. Instead, go from running to walking and stop gradually. Now comes the best time to stretch – muscles are warm and you will not have any problems.
Do Not Hesitate To Walk
Walking during the run is not a form of cheating, as you might think. Instead, it is typical among all runners – even among professional athletes. It is like an interval training, which divides the work into smaller pieces and thus can be more easily accomplished by the runner. Mix running with walking as follows:
- when you start running for the first time
- when you want to regain your shape after a big break
- after an injury or illness that stopped you from running
- when you want to warm up before you run
- when you want to relax after you have finished running
- when you want to run even faster (this is related to the typical intervals) – walking will improve performance if you do it for 1 to 5 minutes.
Make Sure You Always Run Safely
The greatest danger that lurks on those who run on the streets are cars. Usually roads should be avoided; but for some they are the only option. You have to take every precaution: run on streets with little traffic and always face the direction the cars come from, fully respect all traffic rules and remember what you have learned from your parents in childhood. Every car must look like a lethal object. Because it is the truth.
Guide Yourself By Pain
Even runners are injured, though not so often as skiers and footballers. You can create your own troubles by running too fast or too much. Prevention is the best policy, but sometimes you have to take time to recover. Use your pain as an indicator: if you cannot run, walk. Or swim. Or ride a bike. Do your best without feeling pain. In time, you will return to the original shape.
This thing is essential. It will keep you on track. Quitting your regular running schedule (in case of injury) will affect your “balance”, but swimming or biking instead of going for a run will help you continue with your healthy habits.
Pay Attention To Your Running Style
Your running is like a fingerprint – innate and hard to change. However, in time, you can improve performance. Run with your back straight and do not lean too far forward. Keep looking forward towards the horizon, not toward your feet. Try to maintain a constant effort, not necessarily at the same pace.
Eat And Drink What Your Body Needs
Runners’ nutrition is a topic too large to be explained here entirely. In general, runners should pay attention to a few important things:
- Weight control, because extra pounds slow you down
- Electrolytes (sports drinks), especially during long-distance races,because dehydration can be dangerous
- Eat at least one hour before a run and two hours before a race
- Complex carbs, 2-3 days before a long run
- Proteins after every run
These tips will keep your body balanced and ready for everything. Making running a part of your regular routine requires time, effort, planning, patience and energy.
Do strength exercises
Running is an activity that puts much pressure on legs. Whenever you’re looking for a workout for the whole body, you should also include stretching and strength exercises that put pressure on the leg muscles and ultimately give you the shape you want.
Tough day / easy day
You cannot work hard continuously. You do not want to do this, mainly because you want to keep running, not quit after 3 weeks of exhausting workouts. This is also true for professional athletes, who alternate tough trainings with easier ones. Choose a day of the week in which you run a small distance, but extremely fast, or a very long distance, but slower than usual.
Congratulations! You’re in top!
The beauty of running is that anyone can be a winner. In this sport you do not fight against an opponent, and you only have to beat your own personal record. When you improve your time, increase the distance you run or set a personal record on a certain distance, you win. This is the most important thing.
You can be a winner without beating any record, but constantly practicing this sport. Do you know the story about the tortoise and the hare?
Make running a part of your regular routine.
Those ones who advance slowly surely win in the end.
Airia Running – committed to research and develop the fastest running shoes in the world.
