My friend @richiespoons in NYC asked me for some advice about starting to run. I drafted a pretty lengthy email, and then realised that it may be useful for other people too, so here it is. Just some tips, from my learnings, in no particular order, and not terribly well written… Hope they’re helpful :)
1. Shoes are probrably the most important thing - get from a proper running store, who analyse your step. Mine (Runners Need in Camden, North London) use a running machine in the store and i was pretty surprised by the results and their recommendation, which wasn’t £200 nikes, but £70 Brookes. I’m now on the new Nike Lunar Glides tho, which i’m loving. Make sure to buy new shoes pretty frequently – running on old worn out ones is a quick route to very sore legs, and poor training. Also a major revelation for me recently was that I could put my runners in the washing machine!
2. Build up slowly – don’t overdo it to begin with, you’ll just hurt yourself. if you’ve not trained for a long time, your body will be surprisingly weak. It will build up really quickly, but don’t over do it – you’ll end up in pain, and missing training. I started running again after a 6 month break from march to oct ’11, and couldn’t even run 3km to Kew Bridge and back without stopping. I used this as my starting point, my line in the sand, and built up from there.
3. Time and track yourself – find your starting level – maybe like my Kew Bridge run, just a few km. keep doing this run until you can run it comfortably without stopping, at a consistent speed. time and track your runs.
- I keep a log in Excel – I’m super anal about it, and I have graphs etc showing my pace – i’m v ‘self competitive’ if that makes sense
- I use motion-x iPhone app (free) to time and track each run. it maps my route, times it, and keeps historical logs, aswell as alowing me to share on Twitter/Facebook etc- v cool
- I use Gmaps Pedometer (http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/) to plan routes – I have standard 5, 7.5, 10, 12, 15, 20 km runs around my house, and when I go on hols, I plan routes from where I’m staying. I love running cross country – away from roads and people – so i seek out local footpaths etc. in london I run by the river to get same effect as much as poss. down to Richmond Bridge, up to Hamersmith. My house to Richmond Bridge + back = 12km. v nice run.
4. Share- I find sharing really beneficial. Share your routes, times, and experiences. Twitter and Facebook are especially useful for this. You’ll quickly build up a little ‘community’ of fellow runners, who share, support and mentor each other. It’s great to share your ‘wins’ – I broke the 10km in 1 hour barrier and tweeted/facebooked this, which made me feel pretty good, sharing my win :) Get started with some of the cool people I know, like @rhys_isterix, @akintundedisu, @josephshell, @yorksville and @MeralCrifasi.
5. Surface – try to run on grass as much as possible – this will really help your legs. Battering them on concrete for an hour won’t do them any good at all, esp if they’re not used to it. You’ll find that you get ‘shin splints’ when you’re not fit, and these will be much worse in my experience if you run only on pavements/roads. Try to plan your route, using gmaps pedometer with as much grass, or soft surface as possible. Shin splints (again in my experience) are nothing more than lack of fitness. Stretch thru them, and get out there.
4. Don’t just run – do other forms of exercise too. Running is great, cause its really time efficient – you just pull on your kit, stretch, walk out the door, and your training, within minutes. Other forms of training involve traveling to the gym/pool etc, and are less time efficient. BUT you will find that your body adapts to whats thrown at it, and doing only running, your body will adapt to it pretty quickly, and the benefits you get from it will decrease. Make sure that you also do other things, to maintain the pain… and the gain. I try to mix up running with swimming, cycling, x-trainering, and weights sessions. It works. Also, if you run everyday, esp when starting, you will hammer your legs and feet, and you’ll be forced to take breaks which will piss you off. Much better to limit your runs and mix up days with other training. You’ll come back to the runs fresh, with no leg pain. I usually start the week with a 10km+ run on Mondays, gym Tue, 5km run + weights Wednesdays, gym Thur, 10km run Fri… then REST for the weekend.
5. Rest – is SO important. I pretty much always rest at the weekend. I’ve learnt that my body gets fitter as it rests. Its amazing. I come back after 2 days off bursting with energy, feeling great. Also, the weekend is family time. Enjoy it. I find it so amazingly selfish that dads go out spending half their weekend training. Hey, just my views.
6. Stretch – again SO important. There’s been tons of speculation on blogs about whether stretching has any effect. All I can say is that for me it REALLY DOES. It makes me more fluid during the run, reduces leg pain like shin splints both during and after, and reduces recovery time hugely. Stretch before AND after the run. It only takes a couple of minutes, at ht stretches are pretty obvious – just find a good way of stretching all the muscles and ligaments (?) in your legs – focus on these – then a little on upper body.
7. Recovery fuel – don’t be tempted to eat junk after your run! Make sure that you have lots of fruit and lean protein in the house, otherwise you won’t be able to stop yourself eating junk. Bananas work really well for me. I pack 2 in my gym bag before I leave the house, and always get one in me before and after a run. Chicken is good too. Those little chicken bites u get from the supermarket. I also find protein shakes really good and easy. Load up on protein – great for weight control. And obviously water! Lots of water. Load up before you run, and afterwards.
8. Rain or shine – the best runs are the hardest ones :) I LOVE running in the rain. I did a 10km in the rain, and the dark on new years day and was buzzing for hours afterwards. REAL sense of adventure. The runs are harder and more challenging, but push yourself and you’ll feel so good. A bit of rain never hurt anyone. Get out there. Make sure you have the proper kit – waterproof trainers and waterproof jacket – I use a Nike windshield (?). What ever you do, don’t let the weather dictate your training schedule. This is a quick route to fail.
9. Soundtrack – clearly this is critical. I love running with music. These days I find it hard to make the time to listen to music, and running gives me a little window of opportunity. I pretty much always listen to a new DJ mix, something fresh, new and exciting. I source them from soundcloud (try mine! lol > http://soundcloud.com/midge), and from all the DJ’s I follow. The music really gives me a boost, and I get as excited about listening to a new mix as I do about the run. Here’s a few of my favourites :
- http://soundcloud.com/spencerparker
- http://soundcloud.com/themagician
- http://soundcloud.com/thomasgandey/tracks
- http://soundcloud.com/hijackhouse
Well, that’s it for now. Have quite enjoyed writing this stuff down, so may well edit/add in future. Hope you’ve found it useful :)
Enjoy.
M
Jonathan Midgley said… (11 Oct 11, looking at version 8)
