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| Thread: Beginner's guide to jogging/running. | |
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russ
Promising
Supreme Hero
blah, blah, blah
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posted July 05, 2006 09:07 PM |
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Edited by russ at 16:48, 06 Jul 2006.
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Beginner's guide to jogging/running.
Ok, this post was initially intended as a reply to a VW post, but then my reply got rather long, so I decided to make a new thread in The Other Side.
I've never really liked running much when I was a kid, I used to get tired easily and I hated running in P.Ed. classes. About 3 years ago I seriously decided to get in shape, so I started running (in addition to other excercise). Right now I run 7-8 km at about 4.5min/km pace when I train. I haven't tried any 5K or 10K runs yet, but I am almost sure I can fit in my goal of running a 5K in less than 20 mins. Right now I almost never get tired no matter what I do and I feel very energetic most of the time. According to the machine that measures the blood pressure at the drug store, my pulse is 54 bpm (the "normal" range was 65-85), so I was very proud after seeing that 
Anyways, below is a guide for everyone who wants to follow the same path. It contains a lot of very useful info for beginners that I didn't know when I started, but could really use back then.
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Start with about 5 km jog/walk. 5 km sounds too much? Well, you won't get much cardio training if you jog less than that distance. Make sure to walk for at least 5 mins before you jog and for at least 5 mins after you jog. This is VERY important to warm up your muscles before and to cool them down after you jog.
Jog at a very slow pace. If you get tired - keep jogging (everyone gets tired). If you simply can't jog anymore (i.e. your chest area starts to hurt, or you start stumbling) - walk for 1-2 mins, then start running again. If your lower shin area (not muscles) start to seriously hurt - stop running and wait for a week or two until the pain goes away (you may have what's called "shin splits").
DO NOT run on concrete and do not run along the major streets or highways - try to run in a park if you have it nearby, or along the quiet streets (I think the reasons for that are obvious).
Buy a good pair of running shoes that fit. Socks are very important to avoid getting blisters all over your feet. You get blisters from damp feet, and your feet WILL get damp after you run a good distance, especially on a warm day. You may want to consider buying special running socks similar to this, or just wear wool socks underneath the regular socks (wool socks to absorb the sweat and regular socks to prevent the wool socks from getting ripped apart too fast by the shoes).
After you feel comfortable jogging 5km, start increasing the DISTANCE, NOT the speed. Just take my word for it. If you don't belive me - look for this info on the Internet or talk to a serious runner (those are the 2 sources where I got my info from  ).
Once you are comfortable jogging a decent distance (7-10km), start running uphill and jogging downhill (this is where I am at right now). If you want to become a hardcore runner, you can start doing the intervals training, but I would assume that by that time you'll know more than I do about running, so I'll stop here
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Don't pant, with short shallow breaths. Take full deep breaths at a slower rate. You will last a lot longer that way.
That's a very good point by Binabik to keep in mind. You definitely want to do that. However, don't concentrate on your breathing too much, it should come naturally and in sync with your running pace.
For example, I breath once every 4 steps, but don't use it as a strict guideline - everyone is different.
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Iris
Responsible
Supreme Hero
of Typos
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posted July 05, 2006 11:12 PM |
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Quote:
Make sure to walk for at least 5 mins before you jog and for at least 5 mins after you jog. This is VERY important to warm up your muscles before and to cool them down after you jog.
I had a pretty crappy PE teacher who didn't believe in warming up. He just threw us out on the track and told us to run 4 laps (each lap is a quarter mile) everyday.
Another thing with running is that sometimes your sides cramp up (or at least it happens to me a lot). Eat a banana.  Potassium helps with cramps.
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2XtremeToTake
Promising
Supreme Hero
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posted July 05, 2006 11:53 PM |
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Quote:
After you feel comfortable jogging 5km, start increasing the DISTANCE, NOT the speed. Just take my word for it. If you don't belive me - look for this info on the Internet or talk to a serious runner (those are the 2 sources where I got my info from ).
Doesn't increasing speed though raise your endurance?
Oh and how many miles is 5 km?
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I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met.
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Iris
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Supreme Hero
of Typos
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posted July 06, 2006 12:04 AM |
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According to SmarterChild, 5 km = 3.106856 miles.
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russ
Promising
Supreme Hero
blah, blah, blah
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posted July 06, 2006 12:06 AM |
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Doesn't increasing speed though raise your endurance?
Not really. Well, ANY excercise will increase your physical shape. But doing it correctly will obviously yield to much better results. Running 2km fast will not improve your endurance nearly as much as running 7-10km slow. Of course, like I said - once you are comfortable jogging 7-10km, you can start running uphill and even doing the intervals training (i.e. something like 400m at a regular pace, 400m at 20-40% faster pace, 400m regular, etc), but don't even think about the intervals until you can run 7-10km with no problems.
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Oh and how many miles is 5 km?
http://www.teaching-english-in-japan.net/conversion/kilometers
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Binabik
Responsible
Legendary Hero
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posted July 06, 2006 12:18 AM |
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I never got into jogging much, but did a little. From a beginner, to maybe another beginner: breath right. Don't pant, with short shallow breaths. Take full deep breaths at a slower rate. You will last a lot longer that way.
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2XtremeToTake
Promising
Supreme Hero
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posted July 06, 2006 12:19 AM |
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Yikes i can't jog 5 km!!!
Our track is 1/4th a mile, so 4 laps = 1 mile.
I'm exausted after 4 laps, thats only a 3rd of 5 km...
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I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met.
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TitaniumAlloy
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Professional
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posted July 06, 2006 12:04 PM |
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What is this jogging you speak of?
Is it pronounced yogging, with a soft j? Must be some spanish invention.
Maybe portugese?
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John says to live above hell.
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russ
Promising
Supreme Hero
blah, blah, blah
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posted July 06, 2006 04:28 PM |
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@ TA:
Jogging = to run or ride at a steady slow trot. (from answers.com) Basically, jogging is very loose running where you try to use as little energy as possible. Think of it as something in between walking and running. Unlike walking, there are moments when both of your feet are in the air, but unlike running, your steps are much shorter and you don't bend at your knees nearly as much. I hope this helps.
Come to think of it... was your post a very poor attempt at being funny, TA?
@ 2XtremeToTake:
That is exactly why I said you need to start with a 5km jog/WALK. Jog at a VERY SLOW pace, walk for 1-2 mins if you can't jog anymore, then go back to jogging.
@ Binabik - good point, I forgot to add it, I'll do it now.
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