I know some of you have toyed with the idea of starting to run… but how? You see my mentions of these crazy-sounding 15-20 miles and two of your friends just ran a 10k… but you’re feeling stuck at the thought of running down the block!!!
First of all, it is critical for you to realize every single person you see running started running by taking a step or two. It was someplace a heck of a lot slower than what you see and a heck of a lot harder than it looks like now.
Which is all good information to have: we have all been there.
Second point: some runs are good ones and some ones aren’t so good. Don’t go out expecting to feel fantastic each day… that’s not the way the cookie crumbles.
Third point: running requires self-motivation. I can’t make you enjoy running if you hate it, and I can’t make you lace up your shoes and keep putting one foot in front of the other. That stuff comes from YOU.
Last point: learn from others. You will have to figure out what works for you and your diabetes, but overall, there are a ton of knowledgeable runners out there. No need to (ha ha) reinvent the wheel.
In keeping with that last point, I post here an excerpt from Jason Karp, Ph.D.’s newsletter. You can find Dr. Karp at www.runcoachjason.com
For beginners, the most important part of running is to make it consistent. The focus should be on getting out the door every day to run. Once you have developed a running habit and have a solid base, it’s time to add some quality to your running to increase your fitness. Start by adding one quality workout per week. Do that for a while and then you’re ready to train using a planned training program. Rather than follow a generic plan, however, look for one that is skewed to your strengths. If your strength is endurance, focus more on mileage and tempo runs and less on interval training. Run longer intervals, trying to get faster with training, such as 1,000-meter repeats at 5K race pace, increasing speed to 2-mile race pace or decreasing the recovery as your training progresses. If your strength is speed, focus less on mileage and more on interval training. Run shorter intervals, trying to hold the pace for longer with training, such as 800-meter repeats at 2-mile race pace, increasing the distance to 1,000 meters or increasing the number of repeats as your training progresses. Work your strong points and train using the whole continuum of paces, from slow running speeds to very fast speeds to enhance both your aerobic and anaerobic abilities.
