I did 30 minutes straight last night, chalking up 5.7km. Could have gone for longer too but there is a 30 min time limit and some folk kept looking my way and tutting

I think what you say makes a lot of sense. For me it’s all ensuring that my motivation remains strong and I don’t try and do too much too quickly. We all go through days or phases where going out to run is difficult - particularly in cold weather - but if you’re a newcomer to the sport (or starting again) the last thing you want to do is make it overly hard for yourself or give yourself any extra reasons not to want to run.

At these early stages, you should be full of enthusiasm!

For me, that means a week of 20 minute runs, then 22 minutes, then probably 25, and so on. This builds a nice base, keeps me within my comfort zone (to some extent), and stops me sitting at home feeling like I can’t face a 45-minute run.

Which at this point I probably couldn’t, even though I could actually complete that length of time. I’m not ready to do it consistently, and any attempt to do that would, I’m sure, put me off running completely.

The 28-day cycle needs to be doable. It shouldn’t be too easy, but if it’s too hard you will fail, probably well before the four weeks is over, and then absolutely nothing will have been gained.

Also, as you say, when you run early you feel great the rest of the day. Just knowing it’s done, and getting it done, is a powerful motivational tool for the day ahead.

Thanks for your comment, and kind words,
Sheamus

nice article at the right time. Thats motivation for me. I just started running yesterday and today for a daily thing. And it’s interesting what you say about the running time. I thought about improving it very fast first but now i rethink. I ran 22 minutes today and felt good. To run more is no problem, but if you run daily you shouldn’t overdo it. So 20 minutes seems to be a good time as a daily program here. I was thinking about posting something on my blog about my success (which is in german). And yes i should really do it What else is good is to run in the morning, as you described. One thing which i don’t like on running at late daytime is that you think all the time that you have to run. But in the morning you feel good after it
I added your blog to my RSS-Reader and looking forward to read new articles
Andreas

@ Pete - You should totally get outside mate. I mean, come on, I can’t imagine many places have better scenery and weather for running than Australia! There’s a reason so many Aussies do so well in triathlons! For inspiration, read The Perfect Human.

Congrats on your weight loss too - sounds like you’re on a similar path to the one I started on - 218 pounds down to 177 currently. My goal is 155-165 now. I feel this fitness of body thing will go a long way to my improving my fitness of mind, too.

When I moved to Oz I decided to take advantage of the gym in the new building we’re living in and started running on the treadmill. I wanted to shift some weight (I was about 225lbs when I started) and it’s all factored into the rent, so why not? I’ve run a bit at the gym before but always half hearted, so when I started I was only managing about 12 minutes at 10kph before my nose seemed to close up and i’d start grunting and snorting like a wild boar. I’ve now, four and a half months later, managed to get that up to 5-6km (generally 26-30 minutes) 3-4 times a week. I tend to run 500 metres at 11kph and then 500 metres at 12.5kph for the full distance/time. That’s dipped a bit recently as I had a stinking cold, which left me able to run for only about 10 minutes and went back into grunting/snorting mode. Getting back to it though.

Best of all I weighed in on Sunday at 202lbs, which is certainly heading in the right direction. 180lbs is the target.

I really ought to shift from the gym to outside, but it seems (mentally or actually?) about 300% harder when your out on the street. Maybe that’s the next thing to try and get over.

I think other runners would enjoy this post, as well as your “so you think you are a runner” and “running and reading”. Would you mind if I added them as articles to Runners’ Lounge (www.runnerslounge.com) in the Know How section with a link and credit back to you?

Amy
http://www.runnerslounge.com
blog.runnerslounge.com

The most important thing is the shoes feel right for you and you can run in them at the end of the day. Even the best advice is useless if the shoes feel bad. You can’t have any idea of what kind of shoe you need until you’ve done a fair bit of running, IMO. The best thing to do then is take your old/current shoe to the specialist and get him to evaluate on the back of how you pronate (which will be very visible depending on the shoe leans).

Great advice on starting out slow! Something I’d totally overlooked.

@ Missy - That’s a great idea! However, I’d be worried that, running right alongside the beach as I do (on the promenade), if for some reason the key came flying off it would inevitably go over the barrier and down on to the beach, and I can guarantee I’d never hear it.

I also should have mentioned I need three keys to get into my apartment (main door, inner door, my door). If I lose just *one* I’m toast!

A good tip for you lucky one key people, though. I can see that working really well (my paranoia aside).

Cheers,
Sheamus