The KT Tape team has been at every major marathon this past year taping up thousands of runners. All of these amazing athletes stared somewhere. Jeff Galloway with Active.com wrote an easy 10-step guide to get started running if you haven’t before.  Jeff describes that beginning runners don’t need to agonize over those first few runs. He discusses the build-up process and walk-to-run ratio to complement the training schedule and what your body is telling you. No need to be in total pain and no puking!

Below are some of his tips on how to get started and stay motivated. Have fun!

1. Begin training by walking, building up to a gentle jog for 30 minutes. This can be done every day or every other day.

2. Then begin inserting segments of running of 5-10 seconds, every 1-2 minutes every other day. If you exercise every day,  walk on the day between runs, otherwise use it as a rest day. If you are feeling good after a few sessions of this, increase running segments by five seconds each week.

Then when you’re able to comfortably run for 30 seconds and walk for 60 seconds, gradually decrease the walking amount.

3. It is important to be consistent with your run-walk.

4. If you experience pain, inflammation or loss of function in the feet or legs, stop the run immediately. With the right (conservative) amount of walking, you can reduce injury risk down to zero.

5. To prepare for a 5K (3.1 miles), increase the distance of one of your run-walks each week by 5-10 minutes per week. Keep the ratio of running to walking (run 10 seconds/walk 50 seconds). When you have covered four miles on your long one, you are ready for a 5K.

6. To prepare for a 10K, increase the distance of the long run every other week by 10 minutes. On the shorter long run weekend, you can cover half of the distance of your current long run. When you have covered seven miles on the long run, you are ready for a 10K.

7. Don’t drink or eat very much before a run. Eating 100-200 calories of simple carbohydrate after a strenuous run will speed up the reloading of muscle fuel for your next run.

8. Run and walk slowly enough that you can carry on a conversation–even at the end. If you’re huffing and puffing, you went too fast.

9. Slow down and walk more when it’s hot. If you have increased the short runs to 30 sec run/30 sec walk, on a hot day you should run 15 sec/walk 30 seconds. The best time to run/walk on hot days is before the sun gets above the horizon.

10. Find ways to enjoy every run. I hear from dozens of former couch potatoes each week who tell me that running has improved the way they feel and live for the better: body, mind and spirit.

Filed under: Uncategorized | February 23, 2010
Tags :Active.com , basics to training , beginning running , Jeff Galloway , running , training , walking