Beginner Running Program
Running to Lose Weight or Event Training Techniques
By Katy Parsons & Joseph Miller
Copyright 2011 Katy Parsons & Joseph Miller
Smashwords Edition
Plan to Win
It’s a common mistake to forgo a run completely just because you haven’t got the time it normally takes to run your usual route. If this continues for long, your running habit will soon reduce to occasional runs, and all the benefits of regular running, including progression, training effects and running ease, will soon disappear, making the running that you do seem less enjoyable, and increasing the likelihood of your running habit disappearing.
If you are regularly missing your runs, you need to plan how to fit running into your week in a different way. For example, three runs of four miles in the evening could be adjusted as follows to provide the same mileage.
If you have set yourself a running goal, it’s also worth planning to run a little more, as this gives you room to accommodate the odd run which may not happen. For example, if your running goal was to complete 500 minutes of running over the next six weeks. Shorter two mile or 20- minute runs are easier to complete before work, and with a longer bonus run every other weekend, you would complete 540 minutes of running over six weeks with this schedule.
So, if you are struggling to find time for your usual run, try to do one of the following instead:
- Check your normal route on a map to see if there are any short cuts enabling you to shorten your run.
- You can always run to a certain point on your route and back again, fitting your run to the time available.
- If you have less time to run, choose a more difficult route (include hills for example) or run faster - this will increase the intensity of your run and still provide a training effect. Running faster means that you can cut less distance from your normal route as you’ll be completing it in a faster time.
- Go to a local field- playground- track and do some sprints for however long you have available - you can stop the training session whenever you need to without having to worry about getting home within a specific time, and sprint training provides different training effects that you might not be getting from your usual runs.
- Cut your run into two! You may not have your usual hour available (for example), but you may be able to do two shorter runs, for example one before work and a second run after work. Although this is less convent, if you are set on completing a certain distance or clocking up running time, this still enables you to achieve your goal.
- Increase the distance or running time at the weekend or during the following week to compensate if this is viable.
- Think of other time slots during the day that you wouldn’t normally consider - could you get up an hour early to fit in an early morning run, or fit in a run at lunchtime?
Less can be more! It’s important to remember that your run doesn’t have to be a specific distance or duration to be effective - just because you have a one- hour- long running route doesn’t mean that a running slot of 40, 30 or even 20 minutes can’t be useful. In a busy lifestyle you have to make the best use of the time you have, and if this means slotting runs into half- hour slots through the week, then that will form your running program. Shorter runs can be as effective as longer runs if the route and intensity level are adapted accordingly, enabling you to make the most of the time you have available.
Running Habits: 10 Top Tips
1. Having a number of different routes providing differing run times and intensities will help you to plan runs into a busy day.
2. Be ready to take the opportunity for an unplanned run if a time slot appears in your day.
3. Be prepared to do a shorter run if you are late back from work or get up later in the morning - half an hour is better than nothing, and will help to create the habit of getting out there and clocking up running time.
4. Consider your usual weekly routine and write planned runs in your diary - you have an appointment with your trainers!
5. Make arrangements with a running partner or join a running club. The added commitment will help you to stick with it when you’re not just letting yourself down by missing a run.
6. Be prepared. Have spare kits at work, trainers packed in your travel bag, running shoes in the car, and your running kit laid out on the bed.
7. Don’t allow your diet to let you down. Feeling lethargic because you haven’t consumed enough water or carbohydrates will not get you off the starting block. Having enough energy is the first step towards feeling like running and having a great run. Plan your diet out for the week to feed your running habit.
8. Be decisive - just get out there and run! How many times have you stalled for time wondering what the weather was going to do or trying to figure out if you have enough time to run? You’re just looking for excuses, and the excuses usually win. If you find yourself dithering, just get your kit on and go.
9. Be your own psychologist! Negative thoughts thwart exercise plans on a daily basis - if you have some regular offenders, learn to recognize them, and turn a negative into a positive. For example, how many times have you arrived home from work and thought ‘I know I should go out for a run, but I’m so tired. I’ll run tomorrow morning instead’. More often than not, you don’t run in the morning, so learn to re- program your thought processes when this excuse comes into your head, by thinking ‘Yes I’m tired, but I know I’ll feel energized if I run’.
10.Connect your runs to other things - it’s your way of exercising the dog, it’s your relaxation or personal time, or it could even be the way you get to work and back every day, if you have shower facilities!
Create a Training Menu
It suits some runners to do the same run several times weekly for several months or even years. This will maintain the level of fitness that this run requires, but will not provide variety or further training benefits.
There are so many ways in which you can adapt your running regime, and this can be an important factor for several reasons:
- The variety increases interest and motivation levels.
- It creates different training effects.
- It creates different runs for shorter or longer time slots.
- If you have hit a plateau, and seem unable to increase your speed or distance, changing your running program can be the catalyst your mind and body need to progress further.
Adapting the types of running that you do is called cross- training, and the fitness and training benefits are well established in sport and exercise. Cross- training can even be useful during running injuries which prevent you from doing your normal runs.
For example, you may be unable to complete long distance runs due to an overuse injury, but may still be able to do hill runs or sprints. Cross- training can also mean doing different types of exercise in conjunction with running, but more about that later. For now, let’s take a look at the different types of running you can do.
Steady Sessions
Every runner should have one or more ‘steady session’ runs - these runs provide the backbone to your running program, are likely to be on your doorstep, and may have been your first running routes to which you will have added additional circuits if you are a seasoned runner. Try to create a selection of three or four regular runs of different distances to provide variety in your weekly running program. Your steady sessions may be a variety of road runs and off- road runs.