run because I genuinely love it. The freedom of getting out on the road is amazing. I love that its is competitive but also relaxing. Had a hard day at work? Heading out for an easy run can really help to clear you mind and unwind. At the same time, during a race your lungs may be burning, you may feel like you're going to vomit, you're worrying about if your pace and if you need nutrition. So many things! Then the feeling of finishing a race makes it all worth it. It's just an awesome feeling. I love that running has made me set goals and work my buns off to get to them. Running isn't just those things though, running has a TON of health benefits. Sports Fitness Adviser has an amazing list of health benefits from running. I highly recommend checking it out here. Since I discovered my love of running I have made a LOT of mistakes, so I wanted to talk about some tips to begin running. Things I've learned along the way. Hopefully, they'll help you avoid making the same mistakes. While, I'm not a fast runner, I'm a month and one day away from an injury free year and I'm proud of that. *I am not a doctor and this in no way should serve as medical advise. Consult your doctor before beginning a new working preogam* If you're new to running and are having trouble getting yourself to follow through, register for a race. This will give you something to work to. It'll give you a reason to lace up and run when you may otherwise not have gone out. And man, that feeling when the race starts is like no other. Pure adrenaline. Plus, you'll get your first race bib, probably get a t-shirt or medal. Save your bibs! It's so much fun to pull out all of the bibs you've worn and reflect back on all of your hard work. If you are running at night, there are two things that I believe are critical. 1: Reflective clothing and 2: a head lamp. I love shoes that have reflection, but I also wear a reflective jacket. If it's too warm for that, I also have a reflective vest. It's so important to make sure you're visible to cars. The headlamp is important to help you avoid any hazards like potholes or sticks. Before you lace up, make sure you have the right shoes and that they fit properly. I recently found my first pair of sneakers I ran in (see the above image). I decided take a trip down memory lane and lace them back up for a short run. I couldn't believe it, when I put them on they were too small!! I'd say at least 1/2 size too small. What was I thinking?! Just another example of how I did basically everything wrong when I first started! No wonder I always had blisters from them. Start slow. If you go out and try to run 5 miles and you've never fun before, you'll likely be in pain afterwards. So, don't do that! I began by doing walking and running. I'd go out for maybe 30 minutes and do a 5 minute warm up, stretch and then 20 minutes of walking running. Sometimes I'd set a time and do something like 3 minutes running, 1 minute walking. You can also use landmarks. Run to the stoplight ahead and then walk past the next three houses, etc. Keep it fun! This graph shows the number of miles I ran per month since I began running in September 2013. Notice the months with big spikes, then a lull? Those are all injuries. I'd have a moth with big numbers, then end up hurt a few weeks later. I had knee issues, I had shin issues. My body basically hated me (I'm so sorry for hurting you, body! ha) Finally, this year I've learned to slowly work into it. I've also embraced running slower paced training runs. The picture above is the perfect example of running way too fast. For an easy run, I now do about 2 minutes faster than my 5k pace (and monitoring my heart rate). I had just run a 5k eight days earlier at a 10:52 pace. Please, do not do this! My pace for the 6 mile run should have been in at least 12:5x. Maybe even in the low to mid 13 min mile not 10:57, which was almost exactly the 5k pace. Not to mention, I should not have gone from running a 5k (with 1 training run) to running 6 miles in EIGHT days. Speaking of starting slow, run slow too. It sounds counter intuitive, but running slow is really good for you and can help you become a better, faster runner. In the early stages of starting to run, you're building up endurance and your body is getting accustomed to doing a new activity. So, I wouldn't worry too much about speed.
I made the mistake of trying to run faster and longer than I had the week before. My joints hurt and it wasn't fun anymore. I think my biggest piece of advice is to LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. I put that in all caps because it is sooo important!! I could have prevented so many injuries if I would have listened to my body when I started running. If your shin is hurting, stretch and ice it. Maybe even considering resting a few days. It all depends on the level of pain. I knew something was wrong but tried to "push through" and ended up with a stress fracture, which mean no running for at least 6-weeks. So, I had I listened to my body, I could have taken maybe 1-2 weeks off and had my shin splints go away BUT because I didn't listen they got worse, turned into a stress fracture and made my recovery time SO much longer. Finally, make sure you stretch! I battled with my IT band hurting until I found a stretch that I do all the time now. Stretching is super important and will help you stay injury free. I made a whole blog post about my go to stretches here. I'd love to hear from you! If you have any questions about how I started running or any advice I may have (or any what NOT to dos), shoot me an email or comment below xoxo, Chelsea
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