10 Steps To Start Running

Everyone can run, but where to start? Here are a few tips from rushtraining to help you take that first stride to success.

1. Choose Your Terrain

   
   Think about whether you want to run indoor on a treadmill and pound the belt with a controlled speed level and fellow ‘tread-millers’ doing the same. This has the added bonus of knowing how far you have gone and setting goals in a consistent environment. Great for beginners!
   Outdoor running can be tougher as you are propelling yourself across the ground rather than gaining some help from the treadmill but the ‘real’ environment prepares you better for events and races further down the line.
   

2. Run With Someone

   
   Either a running club at your gym, a trainer or someone who is interested in running too. This will add a great social element to you runs and you can motivate each other to help you keep up the good work. Running with someone who is slightly quicker or fitter than you will also give you a good target of fitness level to aim for.
   

3. Sort Your Feet Out

   
   Get some advice from a specialist sports shoe or running shop to help look after you feet. A good pair of trainers is an essential tool to start running.
   Running is an exercise that can transfer a lot of stress through your leg joints and the correct pair of trainers will help with the impact management of this. It also may highlight a where you need to add conditioning exercises into a programme to help strengthen your muscles. This will support your tendons and joints and boost your running ability!
   

4. Look the Part

   
   Lycra isn’t for all of us I know but do invest some comfortable running clothes. This has a two fold effect. Physiologically you will give your limbs room to move and be able to improve you stride efficiency and psychologically it is important to feel like a runner. By putting on your running kit you can get into the right mindset before you run, be it a training run or race.
   

5. Plan, Plan, Plan

   
   Plan when you are going to do your runs on a weekly basis and commit to those times. Even if it is just a 15 minute session. It is important you build the habit in the first few weeks of training. By committing to a time slot(s) every week you are much more likely to sustain your improvements and make sure you fit in enough time to recover and eat the right nutrition to sustain your plan.
   

6. Seek Advice From A Trainer

   
   If you find the first few weeks hard and do not know when/how to progress your training or even where to start in some cases? Get in touch with a trainer who will be able to keep you on track and guide you through you running goals. It may just be for a motivational chat or planning session, but it will definitely help you get started and give personal specific answers to any questions you may have.
   

7. Start Slow

   
   Don’t think you need to run as fast as possible on you first few attempts. The most successful runners all started from the same stand point. ‘You’re in it for the long run’ definitely applies here. Ligaments and tendons take longer to adapt to activities such as running because the have a limited blood supply compare to that of muscles. This means that they need more recovery time to adapt to training. Want to stay injury free? Keep your first month of running at a slow consistent pace and you will be glad you did later on!
   

8. Test Yourself

   
   By using distance or time as an indicator set yourself an achievable goal. Keep re-testing every 6-8 weeks or so to see how you are getting on. If you want to run faster it is a good idea to do a ‘Race-Pace Test’ every few weeks to see if you are improving, getting worse or just standing still!
   

9. Aim For An Event Or Goal

   
   Most people who run have an event or goal in mind. Make sure you leave enough time to prepare for your 5km, 10km or marathon as this will have a big impact on you continuing to run post the event.
   Your goal may change in the course of the plan, but that’s ok. It is when you stop setting goals all together that you should be worried.

10. Run To Music

    
    Listening to some favourite music will keep you going throughout your run and it is a great tool to mark your runs by. Using different playlists for different runs is a great motivational tool e.g. Dance music for fast runs and classical music for recovery runs.
    It can be a great motivator by saying to yourself ‘I’ll just run to the end of this song and then I’m done’. Use the length of a song to help measure your distance or speed training when you step it up after the first couple of months!

Happy Running