NOTE: I’m not a coach and I don’t have any degree on sports science. This is not a scientific article of any kind, just me sharing some tips and suggestions for people that want to start running or do it more regularly.
Three months ago, an ex-colleague and friend asked me for some tips and guidance for start running again. This hasn’t been the first person, and I’m happy (and flattered) to say that several friends have come to me and told me that my “spam” on Facebook with my sports activities have inspired them to start exercising or doing it more frequently.
I’m not an expert and I’m very far away from being an outstanding athlete, but I do have a big passion for running, I am extremely curious and I do a lot of research to understand and know more about things that interest me, which combined with all the miles I’ve run, the races I’ve done, the injuries I went through, gives me some knowledge that I think might be useful and worth sharing.
Based on my experience, the 3 tips below are helpful for you to prevent injuries and take the most benefit out of your running:
- Buy proper running shoes
Not having proper running shoes can cause you some serious injuries. You should go to a specialized sports/running store, and find which kind of strike you do so that you avoid injuries. Some people pronate (they roll their feet inwards and touch their knees), others supinate (they roll their feet outwards and arch their legs) and others they are neutral. There are also some “special” people (like me) that have one foot that pronates and other that supinates, and these are complicated. Also, people have different feet arches: some have low arch (or flat feet), others medium arch and others high arch. Depending on your feet type, different type of shoes are adequate for you. A specialized sports store will be able to do a brief gait analysis and recommend you the adequate shoes type. Do your own research about this, but I find that this article explains it quite well.
Personally, I’m using Newton shoes which promote forefoot running (check this video if you want to know more), and these have worked great for me, and since then I haven’t had any injuries.
- Buy a Heartrate monitor, preferably with GPS
This is the best device/gadget you can buy for your training. I consider that controlling your heartrate is extremely important, not only to prevent any health issue, but also to take the most benefit out of your training.
First of all, you should consult your doctor so that he can assess if you can do exercise. Then, you should find what is your maximum heart rate, and try to keep yours between 70-80% of the maximum, as this is the most beneficial for improving your fitness level on an initial stage, and also for fat burning. There’s probably entire books about this, but for a starting point, this is enough.
But definitely, I suggest you buy a GPS enabled device. This allow you to map your runs, track speed, distance, elevation. It is a wonderful gadget that might give you extra motivation (it sure did to me) and allows you to monitor your progress. I personally use a Garmin Forerunner 910XT, but just for running I would recommend the 210 or 610 (depending on your budget/features you would like to get). Other alternatives are the Polar models.
- Get your Core strength and Flexibility right
Most of injuries I had were due to poor flexibility and core strength. The way we walk, the way we run are very much dependant on our strength on our core muscles, because at the end of the day the legs are supported and controlled by the core muscles. If we don’t have the right strength and flexibility, then our motion range might not be ideal and we might end up doing “incorrect” movements, that might cause some injuries.
I’m now having one yoga class and one personal trainer session a week just to work on my core strength and general flexibility. This, allied with the right shoes, might prevent you from having the most common injuries (ITB, Plantar Fasciitis, Shin Splints, and a few more). So my recommendation is that you do some kind of exercise that strengthens your core muscles and improves your flexibility. Either it is Yoga or Pilates, Personal Trainer, bootcamps, one session a week will do wonders for you, not only for the running but for everything.
These three are the ones I consider that anyone running should do, as they can help prevent injuries and improve your results. Other than this, there many other tips that I could give, and some of the ones that come to my mind are:
- If you haven’t done anything for a long time (more than 6 months?!), start with 30 mins every other day, and try to do a longer run during the week (maybe Saturday or Sunday morning for 1h?!) 3-4 runs a week should be a great way to keep you fit and loose weight.
- Sign up for a race, maybe a 5k or 10k. Having a target helps a lot and boost your motivation.
- Find some other people that run where you live and try to run with them once a week. Maybe a running club?! since I joined a local triathlon team, my motivation and consistency on the trainings increased dramatically, and it is normally a very pleasant social activity. Strongly recommend if you have the chance.
- Sign up on a running website like www.dailymile.com (site I use to track my runs and post on facebook). You don’t need to post on facebook,, but you can add friends and find other people that are running close to you. It is an added motivation, finding like minded people, getting a lot of tips, etc. It did add a lot of value for me and I recommend.
And that’s it for now. Let me know if you have any comments, corrections or suggestions about this post, and I’ll be glad to review it..
