Running tips for the absolute, fluffy beginner

It's that time of year - a time for promises of new beginnings, setting goals, and perhaps choosing your "one little word" (my word for 2013 is: Bold).   If you are considering taking up running in 2013, here's a list of tips and encouragement for the absolute, fluffy beginner.

“The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”
― John Bingham, No Need for Speed: A Beginner's Guide to the Joy of Running

1.  You're not too fat to run.  You're not,  so stop telling yourself that.   If you can walk a mile, you can become a runner.  If you have other health problems, it probably is a good idea to talk to your doctor first.

2.  Get good running shoes! This is really important, and you should trust in the experts.  Dick's Sporting Goods is the Walmart for running gear  - do not go there.  Find a runner's store in your area, and go for a proper fitting.   Their staff knows what they are doing and will analyze your gait and how your foot strikes the ground.  They will see if you overpronate, underpronate, or have normal pronation.  I really can't stress this enough - the right shoes will make all the difference, and help keep you pain and injury free.  Don't skimp on the shoes.  Expect to invest $90-$125 in decent running shoes.

3.  Should you start on a treadmill or outside?   This is a personal decision.  I love running outdoors.  It makes me giddy to enjoy nature, feel the wind, rain, sun, snow on my face.  It's a spiritual experience for me. Full disclosure: I'm a bit of a hippie freak who can tear up from the beauty of a sunny day or the sound of birds chirping.  Many people love the treadmill because they can control pace so easily, it's easier on the joints, distance measurements are more accurate, and it's climate controlled.   For me, the treadmill is a necessary evil, and if someone wanted to torture a confession out of me their best bet is to put me on a treadmill for 5 miles and I'd sing like a canary!

Winter is a spectacular time for a good run outdoors!

4. Don't worry what other people think.   I was the worst when I started running.  Whenever I ran by other humans, I'd mess up my breathing because I was self-conscious of how I looked, especially with my ahem "non-runner's body".   What a stupid waste of time!   When other runners see you, they are probably giving you a mental high-five.  When non-runners see you, they are probably thinking that's what they should be doing.  Or they are simply not thinking of you at all.  Do your thing! Don't sweat a stranger's opinion.

5. Couch to 5K (often abbreviated as C25K).  Couch to 5K is a brilliant program that will take you from couch potato to running 30 minutes or 5K (3.1miles) in 9 weeks.    There are SO many choices of C25K programs - you can run an app on your smart phone, or you can simply print out a plan and follow it using a stop watch or measured distances.  Here's a link to a great website that gives you all sorts of C25K option. Couch to 5K - IT WORKS!

6.  Trust in the C25K program.  Tens of thousands of couch potatoes have become runners with the program.   It's well-designed, and you should follow it as written.  It has you running only 3 days per week - that is good!  Please don't do more than that.  You are new to this, and your body needs to recover at a cellular level that you can't even feel.  Cross-training is awesome so if you want to exercise more than 3 days per week, you can definitely add additional days of walking, elliptical training, swimming, biking, lifting, whatever.  Anything that uses your muscles in a slightly different way than running is good as cross-training and will ultimately make you a better runner!   Also,  remember there is no shame in going slooooooow to complete your runs, and no shame in having to repeat days if you aren't successful.  However, if you successfully complete a run - even if it felt like the hardest thing you've ever done - I encourage you to move forward to the next scheduled run and NOT repeat.  Push yourself.  Change happens and endurance increases when you push. 

C25K Graduation Day!  Able to run for 30 minutes without stopping.

7.  Train with a friend, if at all possible.  I completed C25K with my dear friend, Ceci.  She's *amazing* and, honestly, I question if I would have made it through without her.  We were the perfect C25K training team.  I was the one most likely to push that we keep our scheduled runs - no matter if it was cold or raining or we were tired.  Ceci was the one who would set the pace and push during the runs.  She'd always have encouraging words, "We've got this!" "1 more minute, push!"  If you are anything like me, you also don't want to look like a chump in front of your friends.  If Ceci wasn't stopping, then there was no way in hell I was stopping.  And I know she felt the same way.  Finally, there is nothing like celebrating each milestone with another person who really understood how difficult/amazing/exhilarating this whole challenge was.  I'm forever grateful to my sensei, Ceci. ;-)  I'm so glad we became runners together.

You can do this.  You really, really can.   Change the bullshit story you tell yourself.  Embrace the challenge.

"If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run."
--John Bingham