This running thing - what’s it all about?
The first time I started running, at the age of 22, I did what I think a lot of people do, bought a pair of shoes, a bunch of new gear, and went out and just ran, for as long as I could. And it sucked! My calves were like concrete for a week, I could barely put my heels on the floor, everything hurt and the last thing I ever wanted to do was run again. It was the most deflating experience and I know I can’t be the only one!
So I wanted to share the secret that this doesn’t have to be your experience, and you CAN choose to do is smarter!
If you’ve caught the running bug, got FOMO from seeing friends or family run an event and want a piece of that runners high for yourself, but you’re not quite sure how to start, or what you need, or it’s super intimidating.. here’s the low down and a few pointers.
First of all, you do not need all the fancy gear.
A decent pair of runners to look after your feet is really it. All the watches, heart rate monitors, foot pods, hydration vests and head torches can wait. Go and visit a decent running store where they will let you try on multiple pairs and let you take your time picking the right shoe for you. Remember, all brand new shoes will feel nice and squishy and bouncy when you try them on! Take them for a test run (literally) around the store and really focus on how your foot feels in the shoe, rather than whether its pretty colours or its the same one as your friends wear.
Know your WHY
Connect to the reason you want to run, it will be the thing that keeps you going. The old adage that motivation is like a bad boyfriend, its never there when you need it, is true. I reckon the forming of a new habit has 6 stages:
Inspiration. Being inspired to start is fleeting, it gets you out the door that first time.
Motivation. The excitement of starting a new habit lasts a few days, maybe a week or two if you’re lucky.
Your WHY. This keeps you connected to something deep inside you that wants this. It’s what keeps you going until step 4!
Habit. THIS is the step we’re working towards. According to some recent studies (you know, science) it takes around 60 days to make a new habit and 90 days to make a lifestyle change.
Support. This isn’t necessarily the final step, more like an ongoing piece of the puzzle, but it is crucial. Sometimes when we are missing all the steps above, its dark, cold, rainy and we’ve had a crappy day, it’s our support person who encourages (*kicks*) us out the door to go get it done, knowing we’ll be in a better place when its done.
Passion. If you get to this stage, you’re pretty much screwed and can officially call yourself a fanatical runner and most likely someone who has signed up to a race of a ridiculous distance.
Me giving Sarah a massive hug after finishing UTA100 with a silver buckle and Sarah giving me a hug after Six Foot
Goal setting is key
Are you wanting to run for the physical health benefits? To pick up where you left off before kids? For the mental health aspects and find some ‘me time’? To run your first 5k/half marathon/marathon/ultra? It honestly doesn’t matter what the goal is, but set one. Otherwise how can you celebrate your achievement if you don’t know when to celebrate? Goal setting is amazing for confidence building, so start with something small, especially if you’re new to running. This is where having a coach (see below) can be really helpful to help you set some if this part feels a little overwhelming.
One of my strongest beliefs however, is that exercise is NEVER a punishment for the food we eat or what the scales says. Weight loss may, or may not be a by-product, but its not the goal. When it is, personally, I think this can lead to unhealthy associations with exercise and food, or may not be enough of a WHY to get you into the habbit/passion phase.
Get a plan, a coach or join a running group.
This is, of course entirely optional and budget dependent, but there are many, very affordable options out there and even free training plans to get you started.
The idea of a training plan is that is helps you find a safe (injury free) and progressive approach to your running, it helps you build and find consistency.
The down sides of a free/bought training plan are that they aren’t flexible and if you aren’t confident in making changes, it can be overwhelming and de-motivating if you miss a day and don’t know how to pick it back up again.
Coaching, adds the benefit of being self paced, completely customisable and flexible. Your starting point is tailored to your needs/fitness level. Having a coach is a really supportive relationship and most importantly keeps you accountable. You'll also meet a whole bunch of like minded people who will grow to be your 'tribe' and overshare all sorts of chafe/guts/toilet stories.
Running groups are another great option and tick all the boxes above, their only real downside is they can be restrictive time wise - you can either make the group training sessions or you can’t!
Awesome humans, awesome humans, awesome humans.
Mix is up and have fun with your training
This is the part where you get to explore lots of other elements of exercise! Walking, hiking, swimming, speed work, hills, the gym… it all counts! Not only is this important from an interest level, but all these things offer great cross training benefits. Not to mention, it keeps it fun and interesting! Remember all this is supposed to be fun, its the thing that ADDS to our lives, our happiness, its not supposed to be a chore and make us miserable!
Swimming with my son Finno and our Runventure Palm Beach to Manly swimming in every pool along the way.
Hit the trails!
You knew this one was coming didn’t you?! I would argue that trail running is the one thing that is GUARANTEED to put a smile on my dial. Trail running levels the playing field in terms of fitness, we all hike the hills, so hit the trails with friends and don't worry about who is a fast runner. We all get to stop and admire the view… and most importantly, stop for selfies!!
Strength (sorry)
Ok, don’t freak out… but even a 10 minute YouTube video is enough to add a little bit of extra spice to your week. It doesn’t have to be hours in the gym, but working on building a connection from your mind to those muscles is a key element of developing an awareness of our bodies (as well as the usual get stronger stuff we all know). This has really great bio-mechanical applications as when we know what it feels like to ‘switch on’ a muscle in a controlled isolated environment, we’re more likely to be able to replicate that when we’re running.
If you need an example: I’m not a fabulous up-hill runner… but I was a LOT worse! My issue is I run really quad dominant (I use my quad muscles more than I should) so when I’m running up hill, I don’t drive with my glutes and hamstrings.
So, when I started doing exercises that were much smaller in movement, super simple, and isolating the muscles in my posterior chain (fancy term for the muscles on the back side of your body) I could actually feel them working.
In the case of running, we focus on the hamstrings, glutes and lower back muscles, and when I developed that mind-body connection, it felt much easier and more natural for me to feel them working in a ‘real world’ situation, like running up hills. By simplifying the experience of working muscles, in a more active environment with multiple stimuli where it’s easy to be distracted and loose focus.
My idiot brother when he had bigger arms than me, me hitting the abs and Ash excited she sweats!
REST!!
OMG who else is terrible at this step! It’s really easy when you’re starting out to feel like you have to do something EVERY DAY. It’s easy to want the momentum and get on a running streak that you don’t want to end. This is where the cross training comes in, but also, allow yourself adequate time to rest. It’s how our muscles repair themselves, break down lactic acid and restore energy & hormone levels in the body.
If you’re feeling twitchy, go for a walk!
Keep it Simple.
Ok before we hit the lucky lasts, let’s briefly mention some of the nice to haves, or some of the items you might have heard “proper runners” talk about. The lists is really endless and it important to know these are tools that are great, designed to make your running experience easier, provide you with geeky data or help you run further and longer, but they are absolutely NOT essential to start your running journey.
1. Watches (think, Garmin, Suunto, Coros etc) - yes these are great, yes I run with one, as do all of my running friends, and yes I love geeking our on the information I get from it. However, I started out by checking the clock on the kitchen wall before I left and checking it again when I got home.
Yes, they can make it easier as a coach to keep tabs on runners, or program them time or distance based intervals. But its not the be all and end all. There is such a thing as TOO much information. This week I programmed a runner, the old fashioned way - I made her a PDF of her program to print out and stick on her fridge are she’s going to make notes about how she’s feeling in-between our catch ups!
2. Strava - Facebook for runners! Again, I have Strava, but I know plenty of people who don’t. It can be a great resource for us to track our own progress, map runs, connect with other local runners and find inspiration for runs in your local area. It’s only downside is when we start to place validation in the kudos, or start to build a case against ourselves when our run wasn’t as fast as it was last time or we feel we have to explain why we were ‘slow’.
3. ALL the gear - you can spend hundreds, even thousands of dollars on the shoes, the hydration vests, the socks, waterproofs, technical fabric, electrolytes, fuel, heart rate monitors and god only knows what else. Yes, these items are more necessary once your distance increases, you need mandatory gear for a race or your physical needs aren’t being met by the gear you currently own. It’s so easy to get sucked in to ‘all the things’ - I admit to this freely! But as a new runner, just keep it simple, you’ll enjoy it more. Anyway, I thought running was supposed to be the free sport?!!
Ok, lucky last.
SMILE, or you’re doing it wrong
You are doing this FOR YOU!
You’re not heading out there to be a professional runner, you're not starting this awesome sport to suddenly start winning races (maybe you will, but give it a week or two ;) ) so you might as well enjoy it!
So allow yourself time to reflect on how well you are doing, even if you’re only just starting out, you’ve taken that first step, and for that, I’m really proud of you!
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