Running is hard. Its something that we used to do all the time as kids but somehow forget as we get older and develop responsibilities and find take out food, beer and Netflix.
Popular distances for running goals are usually ones that have some kind of race or event tied to them, 5km, 10km, ½ marathon, marathon and if you're sick in the head ultra marathon.
I saw a lot of people try the couch to 5km app which i think had some really solid ideas! It look someone from level 0 to 5k by developing their distance and running techniques over time.
The only problem I found with that is it wasn’t specific enough, people were giving up because they weren’t ready for the next step. When really if they had just gone back to the run:walk they felt comfortable with, did that a few times to build their confidence further, they would of smashed the 5km.
Instead people fell off the wagon, decided they hated running and wasn’t for them and went back to old habits. Sound like someone you know?
Here is a little tactic to get better at running without the pressure of running for 30mins solid trying to get a 5km in.
Run 1.
Tabata - Run 20 seconds, Walk 10 seconds.
Perform 8 rounds of this as a warm up
Then
Work:Rest run. Run for as long as you can until you feel out of breath, 30,40,50 seconds (wherever your current fitness level allows) then rest for the same amount of time.
Perform 3 of these.
Walk to recover.
When you get to a level where you are running for 2-3 minutes on your Work:Rest run, move to Run 2.
Run 2.
2 minutes fast walk to warm up, 1 minute jog.
Intervals - 40 seconds run, Walk 20 seconds.
Perform 8 rounds - (As you progress, really try and push the run in the 40s)
Rest 3 minutes
Big Run Tactics - Pick a start point, set a timer for 5 minutes and see how far you can run in that 5 minutes. Choose the same start position and try and beat that each week.
Slow and Steady - Aim for 10 minutes to run non stop, at the beginning choose an easy pace, and look to build this as the weeks go on.
Its beneficial when trying to build your running capability to do 1 long run a week and 1 short run. So as you grow as a runner, increase these distances by all means but don’t be always trying to run as far as you can. Your body won’t be able to cope, keep it varied, warm up, stretch off, drink water and have fun!
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