Tuesday, May 10, 2011

I'm going to try out this whole 'running' thing

My trail. 
I've always been jealous of runners, mostly due to the fact that running causes me to break out in hives, making it difficult for me to run. I finally decided to stop letting jealously eat me alive and downloaded the Couch to 5K app, hoping that being forced to run in gradually increasing intervals would train my body not only to run but to run without hiving out (hive is also a verb in my world). If you haven't heard of Couch to 5K, here's a brief summary.

I completed my first workout this morning, running in early morning, 80 degree heat, into the wind. I like challenges though, so that was a good start for me. The trail by my house is a perfect, flat 1.72 miles long and I look forward to spending lots of time on it. The app was also fabulous- telling me when to stop and start and walk and run, all to music of my choice.

Any advice for a novice runner? Any tweaks for running form that I should use? Any running songs you recommend to pump one up?

3 comments:

  1. Congratulations..welcome to the club! :-) The Couch to 5k is a good program, I have used variations when coaching new runners. My two pieces of advice would be: 1) Follow the program. Resist the urge to go a little farther or longer than you are supposed to. 2) Listen to your body. You need to recover after running, and it takes some of us longer than others, so if you feel extra tired or sore, you may need to add an extra recovery day. And 3)(yeah, I lied)Get good shoes. Don't start out thinking, well I'm not going very far so I can use these old gym shoes. Go to a running store and have them put you in a pair that are right for your foot.

    Have Fun!

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  2. That app is genius! I've been wanting to run for awhile and I'm getting an iPhone soon . . . :)

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  3. Debbie- Thanks for the advice! Running is kind of my last fitness frontier, so don't worry, I have a stockpile of nice shoes, just waiting to be run in. Thanks for the advice and the welcome!

    Sarah- When you have an iPhone, life as you know will change.

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