Advice needed from veteran runners!

Hello hello!

So, I started running about 8 weeks ago after not really running for 5 years.  I played field hockey for 5 years through school, so we'd run about 1.5-2 miles to warm up then practice for 2.5 hours.  It's been so long!! I started walking/running, running for 15 mins, running 1.25 miles (timed just to see) and now I'm up to 1.6 without stopping (18 mins, about 11/12 min mile, I slow down over hills/towards the end).  Impressive for someone who 8 weeks ago couldn't run 5 mins consecutively!  :)

Anyway, my question is this.  How long did it take YOU to get to the point where you could run 2, 5, 7, 10+ miles?!  I see these huge (in my opinion) numbers and get down on myself because I'm JUST now working up to 2 miles.  I know it takes a LOT of work, and a lot of time to get to that distance, but I was just hoping for some tips or advice on how to get there/your experience! 

 

don't get down on yourself, I just picked up running again after a long (read 7+ years) hiatus, and I'm lucky if I can go 90 seconds without having to stop and walk!  Don't get down on yourself, realize that it is going to take time and with more and more training you can get to just about any distance you want to!

You are doing great! I have NEVER been a runner and I have been working out hard since April and can barely do 2 miles (outside) without stopping! You can do it!

I've always been in good shape, so results may differ for you. I took a break from running for a little bit, but then I came back and started at running 2 miles in a row. It took me a little over a month to get to 5 miles. Then in a few weeks I even went as far as 9 miles in a row. It all depends on how much you are pushing yourself.

Good luck!!!

Original Post by runningqueen:

 It all depends on how much you are pushing yourself.

 

Ha ha... well.. I definitely am pushing.  These hills in my area are currently kickin' my butt.  But does it ever get easier?!  Like, does there ever come a day, after training for so long, that 9 miles just *happens* and I won't get home and feel like my legs are going to fall off?! 

I guess obviously I'm just not there yet, and I won't believe it til it happens.  Then again, I felt like I'd never get past 1 mile, and somehow I did! :)

Hi there - first of all, congrats for trying and for sticking to it!

Second, have you tried any of the "learn to run" or "couch to 5K" programs?  They have specific training plans that really help.

So, here's my story.  After a looong time not running (like 15 years!), I decided to try to start again.  Keep in mind that when I started I was also about 60 lbs overweight.  Fall of 2006 I started trying a learn to run program, but I couldn't stick to it and quit after a few weeks.

Around March, 2007 I started again.  The program had me walk a specific number of minutes, run a specific number of minutes, and repeat 7 times.  After a few weeks I got bored of having to pay attention to the time so frequently and decided to just run as long as I could and then walk until I felt like I could run again (and repeat).  In March I couldn't run 1 mile nonstop.  Slowly I got up to a mile, then 2.  In May I did my 1st 5K race (I had to walk a couple times, briefly). 

By the 4th of July I was regularly going 2.5 to 4 mile jogs without walking.  I remember it was the 4th of July because I saw a friend at a 4th of July party who had done a marathon.  I asked her how she did it.  I learned that if you can run 3 miles you can train for a marathon.  So I looked up training plans online and started to train for a half marathon - just to see if I could do it.  I had felt that 4 miles was far.  I had to bump up to 5 miles the next week!  It seemed crazy to increase my distance so fast, but I did it.  And then 6, 7, etc.  The body can do anything if you believe you can do it.

To make a long story short, I completed a half marathon in October (no walking!)  Considering I couldn't even jog a mile in March, that's proof that anyone can do it as long as you have a plan and stick to it.

If you have to take a walking break, don't worry.  Just take it as long as you need, then start jogging again.  I still need to walk part of the six-mile loop I do that has a really huge hill in it.  And when I'm doing 5K races, I ALWAYS see people walking at various points throughout the race (especially if there are hills).  My point is - walking isn't a big deal.  The thing is to get out there for a certain period of time - and then gradually extend it.

wow!!! congrats on the half marathon! what an accomplishment!  I'm still working towards a 5k.  I'm stickin' to it! :D  I just need to not beat myself up about walking ilke you say -- it's not a big deal!

 

thanks! :D

As others have said, stick to it.

here is my experience.  Almost two years after having a baby and about 5 years of not running (was never a "runner," but used to be in quite good aerobic shape and could easily run 6 miles without thinking too much about it) or doing anything relatively "active,"  AND being about 30 lbs or so overweight, I decided to take up running.  I did the couch to 5K program and followed it for the full 9 weeks.  And after 9 weeks (end of Jan '08), I could run for 30 minutes straight, which came out to not quite 3 miles.  After that, I had a really hard time breaking past that 3 mile distance, but I kept pushing and pushing (it was a mental block mostly) and increased from running every other day to running 5 days a week (started at 2-3 miles each day without walking).  Over the course of the next few months, I SLOWLY increased my long run distance to about 6 miles, and my other runs between 3-5 miles.  In May '08 I did my first race (4K), and then from that point on I was hooked and have increased my long run steadily (up to 12 miles now, but could probably go further). 

I am running a half marathon in September and will be more than ready for it, which is pretty good since I couldn't run for more than a couple minutes when i started, and I feel pretty confident that I will complete it without having to walk (and even if I do have to walk, thats fine, its still quite an accomplishment!)

It did take quite a few months before I had one of those runs where it felt effortless, but it will happen.  Regardless, I still have runs where I feel like I want to die (Did and 11 miler a couple weekends ago that just felt wrong from the beginning and I struggled through the WHOLE run, it was absolutely one of the worst runs I have done yet!)  What I have found though is that once your body is conditioned to do it, running is really mostly mental.  Increasing distance is really a matter of running at a slow enough pace to be able to sustain the run for the whole distance combined with only increasing a small amount every week so you don't injure yourself in the process. 

Oh, and I have lost almost 40 lbs in the process of doing all this running (lost the last 10-15 without even really trying!) 

Good luck, and stick with it, you will get there

I'm not a competetive runner, never log distances, but estimate my long runs to be about 10K, judging by the odometer on my car.  I started running after a long absense and slowly got to the 45 minutes without break mark and could not get past it, nor could I seem to pick up any speed (I was jogging, not running).  A trainer at my club suggested taking breaks every ten minutes and walking for a minute or two. That really seemed to do it and I could run for 60 minutes, few problems.  I reduced the intervals between breaks over the next couple of months and was able to also pick up speed and work in longer runs once a week.

Beware though,  that long bouts of cardio alone are not the best choice for maintining muscle mass. 

Beware though,  that long bouts of cardio alone are not the best choice for maintining muscle mass. 

I hear ya on that.  I know that soon enough this will become not enough, but ATM i'm bustin' butt... literally!  ;)  The route I run is littered with hills, and I sometimes sprint intervals to challenge myself.  Currently I have no access to a gym, so I'm using what i can to do as much as possible til i get my school gym back in Sept :)  

 

thanks everyone so much for the support and advice i really appreciate it and will definitely be sticking to it!!! :D

I'm no pro at jogging, as 2 miles still kicks my tush, but you've got to give it time. Upping your distance more than 30% a week is working against yourself, and you should be doing long jogs about once a week.

When I get all huffy about not being one of those runners that can jog 3098309 miles a day, I think about how far I've come. Think about it - you've come so far!

Actually,

To avoid injury, you shouldn't up your weekly mileage more than 10%/week

30% is probably a bit too much

Original Post by manta515:

Actually,

To avoid injury, you shouldn't up your weekly mileage more than 10%/week

30% is probably a bit too much

 Ya, the general rule of thumb is not to increase you weekly milage (or the distance of your long run) by more than 10% a week, some coaches also recommend cutting everything back by 25% every forth week for recovery.

I'm 61 and was never a runner. I barely passed PT in high school for not running a mile in under 8 minutes! The only time since that I ran was when I got shot at! I started the 8 week couch to 5k training program 3 weeks ago and it is working. I've been able to jog/run for 3 minutes and by the end of the program will be able to jog for 30 minutes. Go slow and follow a program like that and you'll be back running in almost no time. There's a motivational thread on cc that you might take a look at: Couch-To-5k Motivational Thread

good luck and keep at it. Make this a lifestyle change and it will serve you well in the long run!

Original Post by manta515:

Actually,

To avoid injury, you shouldn't up your weekly mileage more than 10%/week

30% is probably a bit too much

30% is what I've been told, but I'll go with you on this one. It's whichever.

Everyone here so far has provided good advice. Building up mileage takes time, especially at first, since it takes time for your body to respond to the stresses brought about by running. Not only does your cardiovascular system need time to adjust, but your muscles, bones, and ligaments have to deal with the stresses as well. And believe it or not, our musculo/skeletal systems take longer to adjust to the stresses from running. So it's definitely a case of where "slow and steady wins the race."

In addition to slow and steady progress, my one piece of advice is that when starting out, your focus should be on time, rather than on distance or speed. The beauty of this philosophy (if you want to call it that) is that with increases in time will lead to increases in distance. After all, if you keep your pace constant (for example, a 12 minute mile), increasing your time from 30 minutes to 40 minutes leads to an increase in distance from 2.5 miles to 3.33 miles. I wouldn't even focusing on increasing speed; a lot of that will happen naturally as you become more comfortable with running.

So definitely go with a Couch to 5K type of program, and deny any temptation to rush through it. And if you feel like you need to repeat a workout or a week, go right ahead. Although I didn't follow this program when I first started to run, I think that this is the way to go. Once you can successfully run 5K, subsequent increases come a lot more easily. Once I got to running 3-4 miles at a time, I found getting to 5, 6, or 7 miles much less daunting.

But remember, it takes time. Remember that the next time you read about or talk to a runners that can finish "3098309" miles a day. Unless they are a freak of nature, they started out just like you did, wondering if they were ever going to be able to run more than one mile at a time.

So so true!  I did start out with couch-to-5k, and now am just slowly increasing my time/distance based on the routes I choose to run. 

Thanks everyone so much for your advice and encouragement. 

Just last night I did 1.6, and as I was doing a cool down my neighbor stops me and we get to talking and he's like "1.6?!  I was doing 3 miles a day at your age!!!" 

It took everything in me not to deck him, or better yet kick him with my newly toned legs.  buah.  ;)

 

slow and steady!!! :)

Slow and steady does it, you're quite right.  I'm glad to see that you have a goal - that 5K you mentioned.  Without a goal, it's practically impossible to get yourself running longer distances.

Please make sure you have good running shoes.  They're somewhat costly (~$75-$125 usually), but in terms of injury prevention, it's worth it.  Go to a running store and ask what they recommend.  They should ask you to jog for them so they can get you the best shoes for your gait.

I have a schedule for my runs set out ahead of time, with a goal road race at the end.  The schedule makes you say, "I have to run ___ miles today" and then do your best to jog/walk it.  Repeat in a couple days and then repeat again.  It'll get easier each time.

Oh, one more thing, I tend to get bored on long runs.  Listening to music, running with a friend, and listening to audiobooks are the ways I've gotten around that.  It's easier to run when your mind is focused on something else.

I JUST bought shoes after about 3 weeks of killing myself. I bought them, and felt SOOO guilty as they were $100, but the more  peruse the forums, and read what people say, that's what good shoes usually cost.  THANK GOD, they make my runs soooo much more bearable!  :D

I have been running for a few years.  I remember that it took me a lot longer to get to 3 miles than anything else.  Once I started running 5 miles consistently, I decided to train for a half marathon and my long runs were stuck at about nine miles for quite some time.  I completed the half marathon in exactly two hours, about a year after I started running.

When I started, I was pretty bad at running.  If I raced, I was pretty much towards the bottom of my age group.  I'm still not a great runner today, but nowadays I usually finish in the top 33% of my age group for whatever distance I race.  I'm just writing this for you so you can see that I have no particular talent for running, other than the ability to stick with it.

Just run a little farther than the day before...anyway, that's what I did.