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So, you’ve decided to take up running, what a great decision!
I certainly haven’t regretted the moment I took my first tentative steps in 2007. I didn’t realise back then what a huge impact on my life such a simple sport could have but embrace it like I have and you won’t be disappointed.
And that’s the key; it’s a very simple sport.
Remember that when you start to worry about all the little details and wonder whether you look like a novice.
Find yourself a comfortable pair of trainers, some kit that doesn’t chafe and start putting one foot in front of the other; it’s that easy.
The beauty of running is when you first start you don’t need to over complicate your training to improve.
Concentrate on just getting out there on a regular basis and putting in some effort and it won’t be long before you start seeing improvements. The key to your future running success is an aerobic base and the key to that is consistency.
One of my biggest concerns when I first started running was entering races.
Was I ready?
Would I make a fool of myself?
Does everyone else know something I don’t...
It turns out I was fine once I gave it a go and it brought a whole new dimension and purpose to my running. The beauty of taking the sport up now is you can take your first step towards road racing by going along to your local parkrun. It’s a lot easier and more relaxed than an official road race but it will introduce you to the concept of timed group running and will also connect you to a great community of like minded people.
The final big step for me in my first year of running was joining a club.
I was really apprehensive about it and worried that I just wouldn’t fit in but it turns out that club runners are no different to everyone else and it's great environment to be in when you want to start taking your training to the next level.
All good clubs will be happy to have guests along to their training nights so get yourself along to one and met some new friends, I can guarantee you that you won’t be the fastest but you also won’t be the slowest.
“Fartlek” – Sounds complicated, well actually Fartlek is just Swedish for “Speed Play” and it’s one of the best ways to introduce a bit of speed work to your running.
After a good warm up jog, find an object off in the near distance, be it a tree, rock or lamppost and run to it at a faster pace than you ordinarily would. Once there go back to your warm up pace until you’re recovered and then pick another target and go again. Keep that up for about 20 min in total (including your recovery jogs) before warming down.
You can make it as easy or as hard as you like by varying the ratio of easy and hard running.
If you’ve had a nasty cold or the flu and just got back into training then whatever you do, don’t worry about the pace of your runs. Just slowly get back into training making sure you keep the effort levels (and heart rate) nice and low for at least a week, your body and mind don’t need the additional stress.
