WTLQuestion for the runners here:
If you could give yourself some advice when you were just starting out to run, what would it be?
I'd tell myself to slow down (pace and KMs).
Kliplet
Tim Stickland@WTL
Great question:
Quality shoes, cheap clothes.
Conversational pace is a good thing, even if it's talking to yourself.
Enjoy your running.
Great question:
Quality shoes, cheap clothes.
Conversational pace is a good thing, even if it's talking to yourself.
Enjoy your running.
aaron
Aske Kammer
Vicomte Folmer af HelvedeI'd also tell myself to focus on the long run (pun intended) as in the long term goals.
It's a slow process, so building up a good routine that you stick to (e.g. by remembering to keep it fun!) is crucial. And recovery is key when you start working out a bit more. The body needs enough rest to recover and that's really in the deep sleep and 7+ even 8+ hours of sleep every day
Boiled down:
1. Have fun
2. Slow down
3. Sleep is training
@folfdk @askekammer Sleep in quality and quantity is so important.
Frank’s Ting@WTL absolutely. Slow down. And don’t be afraid to walk/run until you’re comfortable
Johan
Lee Perry@WTL
- Mix things up, hill work, speed work, tempo, endurance, and don't try to beat segment/splits each effort.
- Incremental growth is important, don't go straight to ultra!
- Cross training in recovery is a really good way of keeping everything strong and flexible and staying injury free - climbing, bike, pool, s+c
- Stop comparing against other people, and focus on your own journey.
- Mix things up, hill work, speed work, tempo, endurance, and don't try to beat segment/splits each effort.
- Incremental growth is important, don't go straight to ultra!
- Cross training in recovery is a really good way of keeping everything strong and flexible and staying injury free - climbing, bike, pool, s+c
- Stop comparing against other people, and focus on your own journey.
Enrique López-Mañas@WTL consistency above everything else.
Pete Anderson 🚲@WTL Slow down, yeah. The first step is also the hardest until the habit's formed (and there's no shame in needing to stop and then get back on later).
Kaneda 🏃♂️🌱🚴♂️🎮 🏳️🌈@dairpo @WTL
I completely agree—take it slow, carefully increase your distance/kilometers from week to week. And buy an inexpensive GPS watch with HR Monitor, keep an eye on your heart rate and use the zones as a guide.
I started right away with 5 km and had to keep running, but it wasn't long before I got injured.
@Kaneda_runs @WTL I did crosscountry from elementary through high school (never competitively, though I made provincials as part of a team once!), so the "how to start" isn't my forte and I have those early lessons hammered in thoroughly enough to be intuitive. That said I've probably stopped running, and then restarted again, probably at least half a dozen of not a full dozen times in the intervening decades so the "getting back into it" is where I can help 😁
The advice is basically the same! Get out there, go slow, and find the pace where your brain does what it needs to to get you back out again. I usually hit that point around 3km in, then can go as long as I have time for.
Marcel Hetrich@WTL Try out both running alone and with a group of like-minded people. Also do some weight lifting and swimming.
Ada@WTL Your left ankle rolls inwards which will eventually cause a stress fracture. You'll hate it, but you need to lose the zero drop shoes with no support.
tekvsakdan@WTL, I’d tell myself: it’s better to run shorter distances regularly than to run longer distances irregularly.
RowinSpeez@WTL I'd tell myself to just go, and not worry too much about making sure I'm 100% prepped to go. Almost nothing I ever forgot ended up being a big factor, including having enough water for shorter runs.
Triple checking and bathroom trips always made me take an extra 15 minutes to get out the door, and that was time I could have spent warming up or cooling down, or just running.
Aram Loosman@WTL For me it would not be much of advice, just "keep going, you're doing great"
Kigelia1. Strength training is vital
2. Cliche I know but run your slow runs slower and your faster sessions faster. Appreciate it is way more nuanced than that but I think it is important.
Final point would be to enjoy it. Don’t worry about your pace. Don’t spend loads on gear immediately. Just get out and run.
woollypigs@WTL loads of very good advice already. Mine would be don't be afraid of taking rest days. Walking is running.
Which I'm lucky to not be, and probably why I'm still running, two years on, especially when I've always hated the idea of running, before I started.
Dan Carpenter@WTL run with other people, it is much more fun and they are the best encouragement.
Andy
Clare Hooley@WTL don’t tie your shoes very tightly - never occurred to me that you need shoes quite as loose as you do. I knew this from the start but of course my main advice is never be ashamed of walking as much as you need to!
@WTL oh and don’t apply for the London marathon thinking you’re never get in as nobody gets in on the ballot! Sometimes, yes very rarely, but sometimes, you actually do and then you have to train for it 😉 (for 4 years in my case as it was initially supposed to be 2020).
Infinite Breadsticks@WTL Body Glide exists.
Oliver ⚡@[email protected]
Don't buy expensive trendy running shoes, but run naturally, as minimally as possible, with at least zero drop and a wide toe box.
Don't buy expensive trendy running shoes, but run naturally, as minimally as possible, with at least zero drop and a wide toe box.
EllenInEdmonton 
@WTL
I'd tell myself to enjoy every moment that your body lets you do this, remember the wonderful people you can do this with, and appreciate all of the races that you're able to be a part of. Eventually, life (or, in my case, knee arthritis) will likely take away this delightful activity.
I'd tell myself to enjoy every moment that your body lets you do this, remember the wonderful people you can do this with, and appreciate all of the races that you're able to be a part of. Eventually, life (or, in my case, knee arthritis) will likely take away this delightful activity.
Doug Lane 🌈 BLM 🇺🇦@WTL Too much too soon is too painful
Antti
gallaugher@WTL take more slow days. I always pushed too much thinking that was the only way to up distance and reach my goal. I often got injured.
Johan Barelds 🇪🇺@WTL
Focus on enjoying your surroundings and running for healthy instead of running as fast as possible and break PB's
Focus on enjoying your surroundings and running for healthy instead of running as fast as possible and break PB's
randomizedquit before it's too late ! 🙊
@WTL
You start a couchto5k and before you know, you have a closet full of muddy shoes, a laundry full with stinky drying running clothes and you spend your free non running time ranting on internet about your HR
You start a couchto5k and before you know, you have a closet full of muddy shoes, a laundry full with stinky drying running clothes and you spend your free non running time ranting on internet about your HR
@randomized 🤔😳🤣💯
I'm in this picture, and I don't mind it.
@askekammer
Neither do I, except my entourage who have a working sense of smell
@randomized @askekammer 🤣💯 Running does cause *a lot* of laundry.
monstreline@WTL damn...this thread is really making me want to run again after...15 (?) years!
@monstreline Lots of excellent advice in the replies. Great thing about living in our area is there are so many good routes; Rideau River Eastern Pathway, Rideau Canal Eastern Pathway, the routes over the bridges …
David John Crook@WTL Good running shoes with cushioning is my no1 tip.
Don't set off too fast.
My failure in those 2 points = calf injuries.
Last time it was too muddy for my running shoes and I felt the difference with a tight calf.
Don't set off too fast.
My failure in those 2 points = calf injuries.
Last time it was too muddy for my running shoes and I felt the difference with a tight calf.
@DavidjCrook Bodies are weird. I hope it heals quickly for you.
@WTL Thanks.