Woman on the Run
FROM ALLI: First of all, I wanted to tell you how much I love your book. Your advice is great and delivered in such a charming and straight-forward way! I'm convinced that this time will be different for me. I'm taking it slow, not trying to do everything at once. I started running like you did. So far, I've been doing 1 mile, 3 times a week. I was wondering what your running schedule was when you started, or what you would recommend. How long did you run 1 mile, and when do you think I should add more? I don't want to do too much too soon, only to give up in a few weeks, but I want to continue challenging myself. Thank you for all your help!
DEAR ALLI: Thanks so much for your kind words ... "charming" is not a word I have often used to describe myself! (But you know how hard us FFGs are on ourselves!) And I'm so excited that I may have, in some way, brought another runner into the ranks. And you are so right to start slowly. The rule of thumb in exercise is to increase your effort no more than 10% each week. Now, I am horrible at math. But that is something like a half a lap on a quarter-mile track, or .13 (rounded up) of a mile if you're on a treadmill. But to make it easier, I might try bumping up your distance every two weeks by about a quarter mile. You also might want to consider running for time rather than distance. Now, that's not what I did ... but I was making it up as I went along. There are some great running coaches who advocate taking a 20-minute chunk of time, say, to start, and then doing a walk-run thing to cover the distance (run for 2 minutes, walk for 1 minute, etc). Then, your goal is to get to the point where you can run the entire 20 minutes. Here's a 5K training program that explains it much better than me!
Whichever way you go, the caveat is ... be VERY careful to listen to your body as you're challenging yourself. Make sure you have good, quality shoes that are well cushioned, and if you start having trouble, stick at your current mileage (or go back to the walk/run thing) until you feel more comfortable. You GO girl! Please let me know how you are doing!
Lisa D
DEAR ALLI: Thanks so much for your kind words ... "charming" is not a word I have often used to describe myself! (But you know how hard us FFGs are on ourselves!) And I'm so excited that I may have, in some way, brought another runner into the ranks. And you are so right to start slowly. The rule of thumb in exercise is to increase your effort no more than 10% each week. Now, I am horrible at math. But that is something like a half a lap on a quarter-mile track, or .13 (rounded up) of a mile if you're on a treadmill. But to make it easier, I might try bumping up your distance every two weeks by about a quarter mile. You also might want to consider running for time rather than distance. Now, that's not what I did ... but I was making it up as I went along. There are some great running coaches who advocate taking a 20-minute chunk of time, say, to start, and then doing a walk-run thing to cover the distance (run for 2 minutes, walk for 1 minute, etc). Then, your goal is to get to the point where you can run the entire 20 minutes. Here's a 5K training program that explains it much better than me!
Whichever way you go, the caveat is ... be VERY careful to listen to your body as you're challenging yourself. Make sure you have good, quality shoes that are well cushioned, and if you start having trouble, stick at your current mileage (or go back to the walk/run thing) until you feel more comfortable. You GO girl! Please let me know how you are doing!
Lisa D
posted by Lisa Delaney at
8:52 AM
2 Comments:
Great post! I've been running (most runners would probably call it jogging ;) on and off at 220lbs. You definately have to start out slow. There are some free podcasts I've found that make it really easy too. They can even be used with walking different speeds, or elliptical, or anything you can do intervals on:
Podrunner Intervals
Robert Ullrey's Assisted Workout and Training Mixes for your iPod
Akimbo--
Thanks for these podcasts--great idea! Just remember to be safe when you are running with headphones. A great running coach I know, Jenny Hadfield, suggests leaving one of your earbuds out when you are running outdoors ... so you can hear approaching cars and footsteps (just in case!). Keep up the good work!
Lisa D
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