Many people will make the mistake of starting out with a programme of jogging and try and run too fast or too far (or both). This leads to injury or illness and many people become disillusioned.
A programme has to be developed with a particular target in mind and take account of factors such as current level of fitness, whether you carry excess weight, what time you have available to run, have you run before, do you partake in any other physical activity?
The programme should incorporate very gentle increments over a period of time. As a general rule never increase your longest run by more than 10% in one go. Always listen to you body – if you don’t feel in control, don’t push it!
A typical basic beginner programme should follow these points:
l Start with six minutes of walking/running, and stick to this for a couple of weeks. You will probably be tempted to leap to many more minutes very quickly. Remember that even if your heart, lungs and muscles can handle the stress, your bones and tendons probably can’t.
l After a couple of weeks add one to two minutes of running/walking – an increment that should feel very easy.
l Keep progressing at this conservative rate for a couple of months.
Think about your posture when running. Some basic points to follow:
l Hands swinging to nipple height
l Hands, arms, neck and shoulders should be relaxed
l Torso upright or leaning very slightly forward
Remember relaxation is the key to efficient exercise. Tension can cause injuries.
As advocated in the last chapter a running friend is a great way to help you to run relaxed.
Running, at talking pace, with a friend enables you to run that little bit further without realising and enjoy it!