HOW TO: start running consistently without injuring yourself...

1. Start from where you are and not where you think you should be.

By far the hardest step. Be brutally honest here. The vast majority of injuries we see in runners are from training errors: going too far, too fast, and too frequently than what your body is prepared for. Injuries occur as the body doesn't have adequate time to adapt to the changes you are inflicting upon it.

2. Plan it out, and make it a priority.

Once it's a habit, exercise feels easier and doesn't take nearly as much willpower when you don't feel like it. One of the most human errors we make is quitting too soon because things hurt, are hard, or we don't prioritize them. Make a plan to start small (2x a week at first) and then set a time in your calendar for it. Then make a plan for progressing. If there is no plan for the next step, then the habit will slowly fade away. (example: plan on running twice a week for 3 weeks and then bump it up to 3x a week for 3 weeks).

3. Use a program.

There are so many "couch to 5k" programs that are actually fairly good & appropriate for initiating running. The benefit here is that you don't have to think and you can just go out and do the plan for the day. The catch is often these programs have you running 5-6 days per week, which may be more than you're ready for, so again, go back to #1 and know thyself.

If you want a very simplistic yet doable method that doesn't involve a formal program try this:

5 min warm-up walk
2 min run, 3 min walk
Cycle 3x (15 min total)

Repeat for 3 runs. If this is easy and things are going well, add a minute to your next run (e.g. 3 min run, 2 min walk) and repeat again x 3 runs. Then add yet another minute (4' run, 1' walk) x 3. Progress to 5' run, 1' off, then 6', 7' and so on. Keep going until you hit 10 minutes...at which point you should be ready to run continuously. 

As always, it is not uncommon to have old (or new) injuries or muscle strains present themselves when we start a new-ish habit.

If that happens, call us!

That is what we are here for.