mezzanine

I'm a new runner. And my runner, I mean more like slow jogger. Anyway, I'm training for my first 5K. I'm a little discouraged because I'm so slow, but I'm trying not to focus on that.

Anyone have any advice?

Plan9

I run sometimes. I used to get paid to run kinda far carrying heavy backpacks.

When I started running I couldn't do a quarter mile without huffing and puffing and dying.

Couple years back I did a ten miler well under 80 minutes. Probably my best time ever.

My perpetual To Do since 2007 has been to train up for and run a marathon but life has made it difficult.

That and I'm lazy.

...

Don't focus on speed, focus on endurance. Just set distance goals and get there.

You'll build up to it as long as you consistently train. Stick to it. Every other day was best for me.

Once you get reasonable distances down, such as 4 miles, you can do sprints.

Run a mile, sprint for 30 seconds, run a mile, sprint for 30 seconds, etc.

Sprints really improved my game because they get the muscle outta monotony.

mezzanine

That's a good idea; I never thought about adding in some sprints. About the farthest I can go without stopping to walk now is 3/4 mile, and that's with no sprints or anything. Is it difficult to keep running after doing those sprints without stopping to walk? I can imagine myself getting worn out.

Plan9

Yeah, it is more difficult to keep running after doing sprints so you simply slow down to a clumsy jog with short pedal steps until you get your wind back. But don't stop running. And always take long, deep breaths. Keep in mind that I'm just some generic dumbass, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

I'll wait for The_Jazz, our champion bipedal douche/athlete, to chime in since he's done stuff like "wind sprints in an active volcano."

mezzanine

I appreciate hearing from your experience. This is helpful.

G5_Todd

ya 60, 120s....work good....sprint for 60 seconds or from like 1 telephone pole to another then jog slowly like 9min pace....for 120 seconds or 2 telephone poles....

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Shadowex3

I just followed this on a treadmill and went from literally turning blue/purple when I ran to actually making it for 30min at roughly 6mph.

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Roark

Just keep running man, endurance is built by doing longer and slower runs or good interval runs. Either way it's a great cardio & a good way to get in shape!

If you're a treadmill type. Try a 20 minute workout saying your speed a 5 (or basically whatever your comfortable pace is), then every min go up .5 on the speed to 7, then go down to 5.5 and repeat so you're up to 7.5, down to 6 and up to a 8, then down to 6.5 and up to 8.5. So that last minute you're just screaming, then do a nice cool down and pop open a bottle of beer

If you're like me and really don't like treadmills one of those cheap ass dinky clip on metronomes work great for intervals and to help you feel your pace until you get used to it.

Good luck on your 5K and don't get discouraged when some old man or woman passes your ass.. I'm not trying to poke fun with that either there are some hard core types in all age brackets so you'll definitely see all types!

The_Jazz

Place is simply a function of who else shows up. Don't sweat it. If a quarter of the nation of Kenya showed up at any given race, guaranteed that all the top places would be taken by guys with funny biblical names. Place is only something you should even think about if you've got money on the outcome with another runner.

I'm going to go against the grain here a bit and tell you that it's probably too early to worry about speed in any form. Right now, just concentrate on doing at least 3.1 miles/5k without stopping. That's your goal, not a time or place. Just finishing it without walking. Conventional wisdom says that you really need to be able to do more like 3.5 miles because of race-day excitement, etc., but I don't buy into that.

Something that might help is to get yourself a street map of the local area. Plot out some courses with specific distances, starting with 1 mile and working up to, say, 5 miles (goals, baby, goals), with the start/finish point being wherever you usually run from (home, work, gym, whatever). If possible, try to make a few of them go by some interesting things. By that, I mean things to look at.

Speed can, in a lot of ways, take care of itself, especially if you know your own motivations. Personally (and this should come as absolutely no surprise to 9er), I'm a bit of a hotdog, so I unconciously speed up when I see attractive women. Apparently I can be a giant pain to run with when in there's a crowd that might turn into an audience in my twisted little mind. Perhaps the same will be true for you.

If not, the phone pole idea is tried and true. There's all sort of fun (at least for me) things you can do to build speed, but really the best possible way to train to run a faster 5k (not that you're worried about that right now - you're worried about finishing) is simply to do your training runs faster. It's a lot easier to run 7 minute miles in a race if you're used to running 7:30 miles in training every day.

One last piece of advice, and this is from personal experience: being in kick-ass 5k shape absolutely does not imply in any way, shape or form that you're capable of running a marathon with no additional training.

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Pearl Trade

I was hoping this thread was about sprinting. 'Cause I know a little about that.

Get them knees up, boy!

My advice is to listen to The Jazz. And keep running, and keep running, and keep running some more. Bananas help if you have problems with cramping and lactic acid trouble.

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genuinegirly

I like running. I don't worry so much about pace. Increasing distance and having a good time are all that matters to me. I often have far more fun running 5 miles at 13min/mile than that same distance at 9min/mile. Some days I want to push myself, others I just want to relax and take in the beauty of the season. It started as an excuse to get out of the house, blow off steam, and spend some time on my own. It has grown into my favorite pass-time. Dang, I wish I could go right now.

amonkie

I am a relatively new runner, in that I'm about a week and a half into a running program with my first goal to complete a 5k in a month, and then a 8k, 10k, and half marathon over the next several months.

I currently run about a 15 min mile, but i've been told by runners I know to check out ChiRunning and Cross training. Some good tips I've already gotten are to check my form, my pushoffs, and my breathing.

Someone told me to practice breathing on runs with my mouth closed, and only through my nose. I found this really helpful to find a comfortable pace and making sure I am actually breathing.

I started with 3 mins walking, 1 min running a week and a half ago. At the end of the week, I had gradually started to move my time up so now I'm walking 2.5 mins, then running for 1.5, next up, walking 2.25 mins, running for 1.75, etc.

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Jove

Find running shoes that fit and are comfortable because you will be using them a lot.

ZombieSquirrel

I can't run just to run. I just hate it. It's boring. I feel like I need a basketball, soccer ball or rugby ball to justify it.

I have tried seeking out the runner's high, but haven't found it. If I run and there's no tackling at the end...I just don't get it. I don't think people running in a race would let me chase them and then tackle them at the finish line. (would be funny though.)

That wasn't really advice. Sorry. I just wanted to complain about running and how I don't get it.

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dlish

i wouldnt advise wind sprint or interval running for beginners either.

your intention is to finish.

you could try the run/walk method if you dont think you can do 5km. choose your own intervals.

Say you start as run 500m/walk 100m.

then build it up to run 1km/walk 100m

then run a mile/walk 100

then run 2 miles/walk 50

you'll find that you're body will find it easier and easier to run everytime you want out. you should start running 2-3 times a week as long easy jobs, and work up the tempo over a period of 6-8 weeks at least.

running on a treadmill is my pet hate. apart from the fact that i once fell on one, grazed my leg/shoulder/face and was the butt of all jokes in the gym, i find them monotonous. get out into the streets and run along wheres theres anything interesting.

if your aim is to get the distance under your belt, and you are finding that you are getting lazy then you need to motivate yourself in other ways. sometimes when i found myself knowing that i needed to get a 10km run under my belt but felt that if i ran in the neighbourhood ill do a nice easy 6km and head home, i would get my wife to drop me off 10km from home and told her not to pick me up if i called. that way i ran all the way home!

you could try joining a running club. theres always new people of the same calibre with the same intentions as you. they're always welcoming and you'll find like minded people there.

the most important thing is that you ENJOY your running. if you're broken the next day its not going to be motivation for you to run again for another week or until you've forgotten the pain. Start easy, and run within your limits.

as for books, you could try Jeff Galloway. he has plenty of books out there about distance running. Im currently reading ChiRunning by Danny Dreyer who's got some interesting theories on distance running.

enjoy! and let us know how your progress goes.

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MiSo

best advice is to buy the correct shoes. prevention of injuries will save you a lot of heart ache. i had shin splints that would not go away for about a year. YES, it took that long to fully heal. being in the military prevented me from taking time off from being active so i just had to tough it out. if you do happen to get shin splints, ICY HOT patches are your friend. it'll keep the inflamation down and make running bearable.

some important things to consider when starting out is to not do to much to soon. you've got to build up your time/distance slowly. you might injure yourself.
60-120's is a good exercise or you can do 20-60's.(sprint 20 seconds/walk for 60 seconds) sprinting will help out when you're running. personally.. i'm a horrible sprinter and i'd rather just jog at a comfortable pace but the results speak for themselves. i tried some sprinting exercises for two weeks and it's help to lower my run time.

my brother just started running. he's overweight and hasn't ran in a long time. the advice i always give him is to just run and don't stop. it doesn't matter how slow you run, just don't quit. run a 12 minute mile pace if you have to.. just keep your body moving. it's more important to build your endurance when you start off. don't worry about distance, just practice running w/o stopping and the distance will come.


i saw someone mention to breathe through your nose. yeah, that doesn't work for me. your body needs air. breath through your nose, mouth, and ears if you can. LoL
give your body what it needs. i usually inhale/exhale in a 2 step rhythm. breath in for two steps, breath out in two steps. every once in a while i might take a big 3 step breath. just run and find what works for you.

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dlish

inflammation need cold packs not hot ones.

hot packs dilate the blood vessels inviting more blood to the inflamed area. cold ones wick the blood away from the injured area and you get less swelling.

as far as running injuries go, its the reason i gave up running when i was a budding teenager. i had horrible shin splints. and i still do. im still learning to manage it, but im findiing that reducing the intensity but increasing the distance will generally help.

the important thing with shin splints is keeping loose muscles. especially calf muscles. sprinting that will get you onto the toes which cause you to use your calves and shins to overwork can cause shin splints.

i dare say do away with the sprinting. there's no use with it. not right now. you just want to get to the finish line in a 5k. work at running at a continious pace where your heart rate is at 70-80% capacity will get you further than any sprints at this stage.

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