Welcome to the Runner’s World Complete Book of Beginning Running, a book that I hope will change your life. It certainly has the potential. Running is the simplest and most effective exercise in the world. It can help you lose weight, live longer, gain confidence, improve your vitality, build stronger bones, and much, much more.
But the question isn’t really what running can do for you, to paraphrase John F. Kennedy’s famous remark. Running has already proven its value millions of times with millions of everyday people—people just like you.
The question is whether you’re ready for running. If you are—if your mind is set, and you won’t be sidetracked—then this book can lead you in the right direction. It can establish the foundation, point you down the right path, and help you avoid the most common mistakes. But it all begins with you.
A year or more before you started reading these words, I tried to figure out who you are. I wanted to say, “Hello. Please make yourself at home.” I wanted you to know that I recognize and understand you, even though we’ve probably never met. I figured that if we could develop a personal relationship from the very beginning, you’d be more likely to embrace the message of this book. So who do I think you are?
I think you might be overweight and have finally decided to do something about the excess pounds. Or you might be overstressed and have decided you need some get-away-from-it-all exercise time for yourself. You might be depressed; you might have heard that exercise can help you deal with depression. You might be a parent who has decided to begin exercising with the kids. You might be a onetime athlete, even a former runner, who got out of the habit, and now you want to start over again with a simple, effective running and walking program.
You might be a card-carrying senior citizen who wants to keep fit, active, and energetic as long as you can. Many of you will be women who have seen and heard about other women’s running success stories; now you want to join the party. Some of you will be men who have recently noticed a disturbing bulge around your midsection; you want to take action right now, before things get out of control.
So let’s do that. Let’s get going. Here are the 10 key principles behind every successful running program. You’ll meet them first right now. The rest of this book will then spell them out in fuller detail.
1. Start today. Procrastination gets you nowhere, whereas action creates boldness and more action. It’s also true, for all of us, that today is the first day of the rest of our lives. If we don’t get started today, we might not get started tomorrow . . . or ever.
You no doubt have a million reasons why you can’t get started on a run/walk program today. You’re too tired, too busy, and don’t have the right pair of shoes. But forget about the excuses. Open the front door and get going. Don’t look back, and don’t turn back. You’ll always be thankful that you got started today. (Okay, that excuse about the shoes is a fairly decent one, but not good enough. You can walk 30 minutes today in whatever comfortable pair of shoes you own. Then get the new shoes tomorrow.)
2. Remember the child within. Maybe you think you don’t know how to run, but that’s not true either. You first learned to run when you were a child. No one had to give you any lessons. Learning to run was as simple as learning to say “Mommy” and “Daddy.” You simply mimicked what you saw others doing and found that running came to you easily and naturally.
You still know how to run today, because the child within you remembers. Unless you have a serious health issue of some sort, you can still run today. Of course, you might not be able to go very far, but that’s okay. When you were a child, you ran and rested, catching your breath. Then you ran and rested again. The training programs in this book (parts 9 and 10) follow the exact same system. You’ll soon be running and walking as happily as you were in your childhood.
3. Accept no barriers. Runners come in all shapes, sizes, and ages. It makes no difference whether you are male or female, tall or short, thick or skinny, young or old. Whatever you imagine your limitations to be, they aren’t. Others just like you have become fit, successful runners. Remember: Celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Al Gore, Will Ferrell, and P. Diddy have actually completed marathons. If they can do it, so can you.
Some of you will think that you are too overweight and out of shape to begin running. Okay, so you might be right. But you’re not too far gone to begin walking, and then to transition into the simple, progressive run/walk program presented in part 10. The human body is an incredible machine. Set it in motion, and it will begin getting in shape. Automatically.
4. Keep it simple. Running and walking are the oldest, simplest, and most effective exercises on the planet. Your Paleolithic ancestors were running and walking six million years ago, and before long they were regularly covering up to 10 miles a day. Today, we don’t, which is one of the primary reasons (along with a bad diet) why we have developed so many so-called “lifestyle diseases.”
To reverse these diseases and get healthy again, you have to get moving. It’s that simple. And this book has just one basic goal: to get you to the point where you can run for 30 minutes at a time. The first 30 minutes is the hardest (and the most productive). If you choose to go farther, fine. The next 30 minutes, and everything beyond, will be easier than the first 30. If you choose to go faster, be my guest. I’ll be cheering for you.
The training programs in parts 9 and 10 gradually build you up to 30 minutes of running, 4 times a week. (I like 4 days a week because it puts you over the 50 percent mark in a 7-day week.) Just start them, and stick with them. You’ll soon feel better than you ever imagined possible.
5. Be a tortoise. Don’t be a hare. More runners fail in their beginning training programs by trying to go too fast than for any other reason. Avoid the speed trap. Relax. Take it easy. There’s no hurry.
Anytime you run, no matter how slowly, you are doing an exercise that physiologists term “vigorous.” In other words, you’re working hard enough to push your heart into the “aerobic training zone” that produces dozens of health and psychological benefits. That’s all you need to do. Be happy. And be satisfied with your pace.
6. Never, never, never quit. British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill made those words famous during the German bombing of London during World War II, and they work in running and many other areas of daily life. Running is tough. You will get tired. You will develop aches and pains. You probably won’t experience the vaunted but mostly mystical “runner’s high.”
But none of these are sufficient reasons to quit your training program. In fact, virtually no reason is sufficient. You’ll miss days, you’ll catch a cold, you’ll have a long plane flight, your father will be hospitalized, and so on. Life is full of events we can’t control, and these events will temporarily derail you from your best-laid plans. But don’t quit. Get back on track as soon as you can. The lost time won’t hurt you. Only quitting can do that.
7. Eat right. Getting on a training program is half the battle. The other half is making sure you follow—and stick to—a healthful diet. One without the other is really no good. The two simply belong together. Fortunately, many studies have shown that people who are successful with exercise programs are also successful at improving their diets.
There’s no secret diet for runners. You need basically the same foods as everyone else, beginning with copious amounts of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-calorie beverages. Runners don’t need extra protein—almost all Americans get more than enough as it is—and most try to include modest amounts of monounsaturated fats, like olive oil and canola oil. You can even succeed on a moderate low-carb diet, as long as you are getting enough carbs to fuel your workouts.
8. Find a training partner or several. Nothing will help you succeed more than a training partner—a friend, family member, co-worker, or neighbor who agrees to meet you regularly for workouts together. You don’t have to run together every day. Once or twice a week is fine. But having a regular exercise partner gives you someone to meet at the local street corner, someone to count on for motivation, and someone to talk with on the run (about everything from your sore knees to your recent promotion). You need to be good enough partners to slow down and run the same pace, and to constantly remind each other exactly why you’re out on the roads breathing and sweating so hard.
9. Maintain a balance in your life. It’s great to begin a running program and to create a whole new you. But it’s equally important to continue supporting the old you, including family, work, and community responsibilities. Running can become a consuming passion once you get into it. And that’s good, particularly if it helps you achieve your goals. But you want to keep glancing over your shoulders to make sure you’re taking care of the rest of your life, too.
The vast majority of regular runners have what is sometimes called a positive addiction. That means that they start to feel cranky when they miss a run, just as alcoholics get cranky when they can’t get a drink. But it’s a good cranky, because running produces so many positive health benefits (while alcoholism obviously does not). However, a few runners develop a genuine “negative addiction”—they keep running while the rest of their life falls apart. You don’t want to fall into this group. And I’m sure you won’t.
10. Run for your life. Running and fitness should be lifelong pursuits. It’s easy to be fit and healthy when you’re in your twenties. It begins to take more effort when you’re in your forties. And it can get downright challenging when you move into your sixties and beyond.
Here’s the way I look at it. I’m getting older and slower every day (I happen to be in my mid-fifties). I can either continue fighting the good fight and staying in the best shape possible for me, which will somewhat diminish my aging and slowing. Or I can give up and get older and slower at an ever-faster rate.
I choose the former for many reasons. Primary among them: Running doesn’t just keep me from aging physiologically. It also helps me feel better and gives me more energy every single day of my life. You can’t ask for much more than that.
But you also can’t have it unless you make a commitment to regular exercise for the rest of your days. The payoff is worth the investment, I can assure you. And I hope you’ll decide to invest in your personal health and fitness for life.