Intro to Running 101

Becoming a runner can seem like one of the hardest things to do. Realistically, running normally isn't that exciting and it's not easy to get yourself off the couch and out for a run, especially if your not used to running. Fortunately, there are a lot of things you can do to make your transformation into a runner a lot easier.

When you first start running it is very important to not over work yourself. Yes running is hard and you should be pretty tired after a run, but you should not be crawling inside and collapsing on a couch. It's hard to get up the next day and run again if the day before was miserable. The length of your first run will depend on your fitness level. If your really out of shape I would recommend a run a minute/walk a minute workout. If your fit, but not used to running I would recommend running just a couple of miles for your first run. Either way the only way you will be able to tell how much you should run for your first run is by going out and seeing how much your body can handle. You should try to run until you feel tired and want to stop, but still think you could survive another 5-10 minutes of running if you had to.

After you find out how much you are capable of running on your first run, you can start planning what you are going to run for the rest of the week. I believe it is important to take it easy the first week. During your first week of running take 2-3 rest days (no running, cross training or extremely light running). You should also try to very the amount you run each day. Plan to have 2 days where you run more than you did the first day and fill left over days with less mileage. Planning a day by day running schedule for the week can be very difficult and will probably need to be adjusted a lot, but it will help you set goals and motivate you to get up and run.

It is a lot easier to become a runner when you have someone to do it with. Have a friend that also wants to start running? Nothing makes running more fun than having an awesome friend to run with. They will help keep you motivated (even if they aren't trying to motivate you!), you will push each other during the runs, and you will hopefully find your runs more entertaining when you have someone to run with. Running with a friend can be kind of hard though, especially as your workouts intensities increase. More than likely your bodies will not respond to the workouts in the same way and even if you start out at the same fitness level after a couple weeks you probably won't be on the same level. This doesn't mean you should stop running with them, but one of you might have to stop a workout early or add more miles onto the end of the workout. Running partners are angels set from the heavens, just make sure you are willing to add or subtract from your workouts if your partner and you aren't on the same level.

Not everyone is blessed with an angel to run with, so if you aren't it is important to still make your runs interesting. Try running interesting paths on trails you haven't been to, instead of around your neighborhood. Listening to music also helps make running's more fun, but be careful to not run the pace of your favorite slow love song ;) pick up beat music. Running doesn't have to be boring, pick a fun atmosphere for running.

I have been running since 8th grade (although I didn't take it seriously until 10th grade). After cross country and track I have off about a week and half from running. When I start up running again I always start off easy, running much less than I did during season. I go from being able to run 12+ miles at a sub. 8 minute pace to running a mile or two at over a nine minute pace my first week back from running. Although this is abnormal for a regular runner, (I have what I call a "fat week" and gain a lot of weight so I'm more out of shape after one week than most people are) this exaggerates my point that you need to start off your first week of running with easier workouts that you are fully capable of achieving. I also love to take advantage of the fact that I am on the same fitness level as a lot of my friends I don't normally run with. Although they don't all keep up with me through my weeks of training, it is nice to run with people I don't normally run with.

Becoming a runner isn't easy and will take some time, but it's not impossible. Starting out easy, running with someone else, and making your runs a little more exciting will help give you the push you need to get out there and start training.

First Post

I recently had to take an English Placement exam for college next year where I learned (or rather was reinforced of my previous thoughts) that I am an awful writer. I am not saying my writing is boring, but my grammatical errors make it painful to read. After reading my results from the exam I decided I need to do something about my lack of writing skills and decided to start a blog.

Throughout this blog I plan to talk about my experiences with running, research and things I have learned about running, and also random things that I just feel like writing about. I hope I can improve my writing skills while "doing something useful in my life besides watching Netflix," which is what my dad told me this morning.

A little about me (besides the fact that I am an awful writer):

I am currently 18 years old and will be a freshman in college next year. I am on a running scholarship and have been obsessed with running since my sophomore year in high school. Because of the lack of hours I am getting at work and the surplus of vacations and hours of work my friends are getting, this summer has been insanely boring. Most of my days consist of running in the morning, then spending the rest of the day eating and watching Netflix. To make my summer seem less useless I decided to take up reading biology (my major next year) related books and now I am going to start blogging.

I don't expect many people to read this blog and in a way I'm kind of hoping not many people do. I am writing this blog for one main purpose: improve my writing skills. One thing I learned from running is that practice is essential to becoming good at something, so I am practicing my writing through this blog.