7 ms·

Anyone can run, you just need to reset your expectations. Backstory. I used to not like running at all. Every time I ran, my mind would count down either time

Anyone can run, you just need to reset your expectations. Backstory. I used to not like running at all. Every time I ran, my mind would count down either time left or distance left. It always felt easy in the beginning but very soon would be unattainable. But now I can run decent distances without getting mentally or physically exhausted. So here are the lessons: 1. The first 1 mile is the hardest. 2. Second mile is hard but not nearly as hard as the first mile. 3. For the first few weeks do not run more than 1- 3 miles (based on your history) even if you can. There is no need to. The habit is more important than what you achieve on any given day. 4. Run slowly, lean forward and really reduce the impact on your knees. I started running one mile in 12 - 14 minutes, that is really slow. 5. Breathing. If you run slowly and let your body do it's thing, then your breathing will become rhythmic and in-sync with how much energy your body needs. 6. After a few weeks magic happens. You can run 8 miles in about one hour, not get bored, not think about it. You mind zones out and focuses on something productive. I learnt more things, but wanted to share this.

emit_time 7y ago
How often did you run starting out? I’ve been doing 1 miles after my strength workouts ~3x a week, and it hasn’t gotten much better. Been doing it for about 2 months.
- Jeremy1026 7y ago
  If you're doing lifts first, you're not giving your body a chance to adapt to the cardio. Maybe switch it up and one day a week run first then lift. Then maybe add a just running day.
- mikekchar 7y ago
  This is years ago, but when I was doing strength workouts, I found that I was burning through my sugar reserves. It takes a while of running before your body moves from burning mostly sugar to burning an even mix of sugar and fat. It does it faster the more cardiovascularly fit you are, but when you first start it can take up to 30 minutes. If you only run 1 mile, you aren't getting there. I recommend swapping the running and lifting for a couple of months until you get that working better. Once you are running 3-5 miles then you'll give yourself enough time to switch to burning fat as fuel and you won't have so much trouble running after lifting (the first mile is always hard, though). Or at least that was my experience. Haven't done it in more than 20 years... (stopped lifting -- kept running ;-) ).
  - periram 7y ago
    Déjà vu. The first few weeks/months, my body would go into panic mode after 3 - 4 miles. After a while it realizes that this is "normal" and happily start burning through the fat. It whole process is (to me seemed) organic (i.e. you cannot fast track it) and you need to let it play out. Also I got best results when I did gym and running separately, say few months each at a time.
- sn9 7y ago
  Do Couch to 5k on 3 of your rest days. When you finish, progress to Bridge to 10k.
- periram 7y ago
  First few days 1 - 2 miles every day for about a week. Then slowly went to 3 - 3.5 miles. Was stuck there for a few weeks. Breaking the 4 mile barrier happened accidentally, when I "forgot" to stop and kept going. My body did not realize. After the 4 mile barrier, it somehow seemed that my body can go on for much longer, as it had reached a steady state in terms of breathing, burning energy, being very efficient in my stride etc.
postpawl 7y ago
“After a few weeks magic happens. You can run 8 miles in about one hour, not get bored, not think about it.” This is exactly how I got a bad case of shin splints. I don’t mess around with upping mileage this quickly anymore.
- aggerdom 7y ago
  On a shin splints related side note. Something not sure intuitive for non runners. If possible take the 1 minute-ish analysis at the shop to find out how your feet roll while running. If they roll to much inside (pronate) your appropriate shoe has more support in that area. If you roll too much outside (supenate), they add it on the outside. If you dont roll too much, shoes for either or these can cause shin splints or stress fractures in the medium to long term (still preferable to inactivity). Most of the time this is the key thing to consider when buying running shoes.
  - DrOctagon 7y ago
    I'd be very skeptical of any analysis that takes one minute at a shoe shop. I'd wager those machines are there to anchor, so to speak, a buying decision. Too much running before the body gets strong enough to handle it, along with hard surfaces are more likely the culprit behind shin splints than poor choice of shoe.
    - o-__-o 7y ago
      You don’t need a machine you need someone to observe your feet as you run. Then based on your roll, buy shoes that support your feet. This is not rocket science, you need new running shoes every year or two. Protect your shins, get proper shoes, if it’s a minute to analyze on a treadmill (“machine”) then take the minute. If you have a friend, have them take a minute..
- periram 7y ago
  Sorry for my mistake. I took me appx. 2 hours for 8 miles and not 1 hours. Please see my correction below.
mlevental 7y ago
lol @ 8 miles per hour for an entire hour after a couple of weeks. I used to run 15 miles a day (7.5 to work 7.5 back) and even then that would've been tough. and I worked up to that over basically 3 years. a
- quickthrower2 7y ago
  I did that in a race (8.7 in 70 mins, hilly) and it took 3 months from sedate but the thing about a race is the regime is geared up for that day so it’s not like I could knock that one out at any point along the way.
- badestrand 7y ago
  Yes, in my experience there are people that are natural runners and there are those who are not. I myself am running for 18 years already, around 2 times per week and even in my best form never reached 8 miles in one hour. A friend of mine picked up running and surpassed me after a few months. People are different, and GP forgot that!
julius_set 7y ago
Errrm., not everyone can run. Some people experience excruciating pain due to herniated discs when running, fortunately there’s biking :)
- DerDangDerDang 7y ago
  Can everyone biking?
- emptysongglass 7y ago
  Yes not everyone can run. I inevitably get shin splints because I have very flat feet. Barefoot running doesn’t help.
lm28469 7y ago
Also: learn to run properly. It's insane how many people simply don't know how to run and slowly injure themselves. https://www.runnersworld.com/beginner/a20811257/proper-running-form-0/ https://www.runnersworld.com/beginner/a20811257/proper-runni...
periram 7y ago
Correction: 1. As many have pointed out. Not everyone can run. 2. I took me 1 hour 50 minutes to run 8 miles and NOT 1 hour . I was eventually clocking a steady 1 hour 40 minutes approximately from 8:30 PM to 10:00 PM PMThat was quite a miscalculation on my part. Sorry about that. I had to go recheck with my app. 3. Yes learn to run properly! From my own personal experience, I needed to really relax my body, especially my hands so that I am not hurting any muscles, especially in the back. When you go very slow, you can catch and fix any posture issues before they cause trouble. Also all the running was outside, along the road and not in the gym. 4. I did not mix strength and cardio. I round robin between running (mostly), gym, sports (high intensity group sports). Usually a few months at a time. The whole point of me sharing this info was to share my perception/experience/thoughts that when I stuck to something without many expectations, my body "knew" what was right for me and started "adapting" itself. I just needed to let it take its time and also not get tempted to give it up.

emit_time 7y ago

How often did you run starting out? I’ve been doing 1 miles after my strength workouts ~3x a week, and it hasn’t gotten much better. Been doing it for about 2 months.

Jeremy1026 7y ago
If you're doing lifts first, you're not giving your body a chance to adapt to the cardio. Maybe switch it up and one day a week run first then lift. Then maybe add a just running day.
mikekchar 7y ago
This is years ago, but when I was doing strength workouts, I found that I was burning through my sugar reserves. It takes a while of running before your body moves from burning mostly sugar to burning an even mix of sugar and fat. It does it faster the more cardiovascularly fit you are, but when you first start it can take up to 30 minutes. If you only run 1 mile, you aren't getting there. I recommend swapping the running and lifting for a couple of months until you get that working better. Once you are running 3-5 miles then you'll give yourself enough time to switch to burning fat as fuel and you won't have so much trouble running after lifting (the first mile is always hard, though). Or at least that was my experience. Haven't done it in more than 20 years... (stopped lifting -- kept running ;-) ).
- periram 7y ago
  Déjà vu. The first few weeks/months, my body would go into panic mode after 3 - 4 miles. After a while it realizes that this is "normal" and happily start burning through the fat. It whole process is (to me seemed) organic (i.e. you cannot fast track it) and you need to let it play out. Also I got best results when I did gym and running separately, say few months each at a time.
sn9 7y ago
Do Couch to 5k on 3 of your rest days. When you finish, progress to Bridge to 10k.
periram 7y ago
First few days 1 - 2 miles every day for about a week. Then slowly went to 3 - 3.5 miles. Was stuck there for a few weeks. Breaking the 4 mile barrier happened accidentally, when I "forgot" to stop and kept going. My body did not realize. After the 4 mile barrier, it somehow seemed that my body can go on for much longer, as it had reached a steady state in terms of breathing, burning energy, being very efficient in my stride etc.

postpawl 7y ago

“After a few weeks magic happens. You can run 8 miles in about one hour, not get bored, not think about it.” This is exactly how I got a bad case of shin splints. I don’t mess around with upping mileage this quickly anymore.

aggerdom 7y ago
On a shin splints related side note. Something not sure intuitive for non runners. If possible take the 1 minute-ish analysis at the shop to find out how your feet roll while running. If they roll to much inside (pronate) your appropriate shoe has more support in that area. If you roll too much outside (supenate), they add it on the outside. If you dont roll too much, shoes for either or these can cause shin splints or stress fractures in the medium to long term (still preferable to inactivity). Most of the time this is the key thing to consider when buying running shoes.
- DrOctagon 7y ago
  I'd be very skeptical of any analysis that takes one minute at a shoe shop. I'd wager those machines are there to anchor, so to speak, a buying decision. Too much running before the body gets strong enough to handle it, along with hard surfaces are more likely the culprit behind shin splints than poor choice of shoe.
  - o-__-o 7y ago
    You don’t need a machine you need someone to observe your feet as you run. Then based on your roll, buy shoes that support your feet. This is not rocket science, you need new running shoes every year or two. Protect your shins, get proper shoes, if it’s a minute to analyze on a treadmill (“machine”) then take the minute. If you have a friend, have them take a minute..
periram 7y ago
Sorry for my mistake. I took me appx. 2 hours for 8 miles and not 1 hours. Please see my correction below.

mlevental 7y ago

lol @ 8 miles per hour for an entire hour after a couple of weeks. I used to run 15 miles a day (7.5 to work 7.5 back) and even then that would've been tough. and I worked up to that over basically 3 years. a

quickthrower2 7y ago
I did that in a race (8.7 in 70 mins, hilly) and it took 3 months from sedate but the thing about a race is the regime is geared up for that day so it’s not like I could knock that one out at any point along the way.
badestrand 7y ago
Yes, in my experience there are people that are natural runners and there are those who are not. I myself am running for 18 years already, around 2 times per week and even in my best form never reached 8 miles in one hour. A friend of mine picked up running and surpassed me after a few months. People are different, and GP forgot that!

julius_set 7y ago

Errrm., not everyone can run. Some people experience excruciating pain due to herniated discs when running, fortunately there’s biking :)

DerDangDerDang 7y ago
Can everyone biking?
emptysongglass 7y ago
Yes not everyone can run. I inevitably get shin splints because I have very flat feet. Barefoot running doesn’t help.

lm28469 7y ago

Also: learn to run properly. It's insane how many people simply don't know how to run and slowly injure themselves. https://www.runnersworld.com/beginner/a20811257/proper-running-form-0/ https://www.runnersworld.com/beginner/a20811257/proper-runni...

periram 7y ago

Correction: 1. As many have pointed out. Not everyone can run. 2. I took me 1 hour 50 minutes to run 8 miles and NOT 1 hour . I was eventually clocking a steady 1 hour 40 minutes approximately from 8:30 PM to 10:00 PM PMThat was quite a miscalculation on my part. Sorry about that. I had to go recheck with my app. 3. Yes learn to run properly! From my own personal experience, I needed to really relax my body, especially my hands so that I am not hurting any muscles, especially in the back. When you go very slow, you can catch and fix any posture issues before they cause trouble. Also all the running was outside, along the road and not in the gym. 4. I did not mix strength and cardio. I round robin between running (mostly), gym, sports (high intensity group sports). Usually a few months at a time. The whole point of me sharing this info was to share my perception/experience/thoughts that when I stuck to something without many expectations, my body "knew" what was right for me and started "adapting" itself. I just needed to let it take its time and also not get tempted to give it up.