Running 1 on 1 - basics

It looks very easy: you put on your running shoes (even that is questionable) or at least whatever kind of sneakers you have, you go out and you start running... and it is fine, if it is once per week or few times in a month but as it happen, a lot of us get “runners’ disease” and then stuff can get little complicated... So if you are falling in love with running, this is the basic stuff you should know about it (talking from my own experience), in order to do it properly and hopefully not get injured.
Don’t worry, I’ve been there (and back) so you don’t have to! :)


1.    Listen to your body! NOT to your mind. Mind has this nasty habit of playing tricks on you: whether it’s telling you that you can’t do it, whether it‘s telling you that you can! However, your body has, maybe, something to say about this matter also, so try to pay attention. Otherwise, you could end up in the bush by the road.

2.    Go get yourself good running shoes. They don’t have to be expensive. The most important thing is that they work for you! Try them on in the store. If you have opportunity try to run in them (the treadmill is just fine and a lot of running stores have one of these for this purpose exactly). When you find shoes that work for you, you will know. They will feel almost like you have nothing on your feet, but at the same time you are not barefoot. It is almost like finding the love of your life - you just know when it is the real thing!!! Same with the shoes. When you put them on and they feel like you have put two “souls of baby panda” on your feet, then you know you’ve got a perfect pair. Try to get them in fluorescent yellow colour. Because it is the best colour in the universe for runners! (check the post: Becoming a Runner) :)

3.    I was obsessed about proper running form, cadence, vertical oscillation, ground contact time, posture, where my feet are landing, and every little thing that was going on when I started to run. Don’t do that! Just relax. Try to run as softly as possible (especially when your foot strikes the ground) and try not to over stride too much (try to land your feet below your hips) and don’t slouch (stand upright). In my experience something that works for me might not work for somebody else. Try to find your “sweet spot” where it feels best for you and you don’t have the pains and the aches after running (no more than it is normal). Chances are you won’t pull this off at once so try different things until you find what works best for YOU! And always keep in mind that most of us are just amateur runners and it is very difficult to have perfect running form or cadence considering the speed we develop or the strength we have.

4.    You WILL want to go fast, both when training and when racing! You will want to go fast all the time! It is the fact. The lure of the speed is inevitable. DO. NOT. DO. THIS. The speed will come when you get the aerobic capacity. And to get the aerobic capacity you have to have dozens of miles in your feet and this is not done by speed training. It is done by gradually increasing your weekly millage and you can do that only by running easy to moderate pace. If you have too many speed session you will burn out and/or over train (happened to me). That being said, my advice is to do one speed workout a week just to feel the high, the sweet taste of running as a pro and the sound of the wind in your ears as you are going fast…VICTORY, that’s what that is… :)

5.    Try to get a heart rate monitor. You can get them cheap these days. Let’s face it, you want always listen to your body (check #1) and heart rate monitors will tell you when you are being an idiot and should pull yourself together and stop rampaging around.

6.    While you run try measuring the time and the effort instead of pace. The pace can be misleading and is dependent on lots of factors. It can lead you to going too fast and not listening to your body and that will lead you to bad stuff from #4.

7.    Be patient! All god things come to those who wait. It will just take a little more than you would like.

8.    Try to socialize with your fellow runners, either in your training group or with other runners on your route. Runners are mostly great bunch of people and you will have inexhaustible topics for conversation (all about running!).

9.    Invest in some gear. It will make you happy and you will feel like you know what you are doing. Side effects: you will likely go like this: ‘People, move it, professional coming through! I have these super ultra-cool new socks! Out of my waaaay!!!’

10.    After you have been training for few months, go and sign up for a race (1k, 1 mile, 2 miles, 3 miles, 5 k… (Don’t do a marathon!)). It is good for your soul. Even if you are not the type for races and no matter how slow you think you are, go and do it. And when you do, you will know what I am talking about. And the speed, sweet wonderful speed. :)


P.S. Just to be clear, let me just say that I have not listened to or applied ANY of these advices when I first started running… sure, I knew some of these things but I thought that the rules don’t apply to me.  I was thinking I can do EVERYTHING from day 1, I was overthinking, I wanted to go as fast as I could (and even faster than my body could handle), I didn’t monitor my heart rate and wanted to run the marathon immediately (didn’t happen so far, since I got smarter on the way :) ) so I got over trained… However, going through all of these situations made me realize what I did wrong and I am happy to share this with you! So my advice is again, take your time or better yet, give your body some time to adapt and it will serve you well. Ironically, in running, you can’t rush things.