What’s a good routine to get into? I recommend that beginners shoot for half an hour, four days a week. Mind you, I don’t mean half an hour of running four times a week right off the bat. In the schedule at the end of this section, I’ll show you how to gradually build to being able to run 30 minutes at a time.
What I’m assuming in this chart is that at the start of the first week, you can handle walking at a brisk pace for half an hour at a time, four times a week. If you can’t, then don’t start the running portions of the schedule yet. Keep walking until you have that basic level of fitness that will allow you to walk for half an hour, four times a week.
If you’ve been doing a little running already, it’s OK to jump into the chart at the level you’re at. For example, if you know that you can run a mile, then it’s OK to enter the schedule at the point where I have you running for 10 minutes straight at a stretch. But if you’re going to do that, you have to promise to be honest with yourself. There’s a big difference between knowing that you can run a mile because you did it once a few weeks ago and doing so four times in a week.
If you don’t run regularly, be conservative and enter the schedule at about half the level that you know you can handle in one run. So if you know that you can run a mile but haven’t been doing so a few times a week, start where the schedule has you running for five minutes at a time.
The reason behind this advice is an important principle that applies to all runners, from the most out-of shape beginner to the fastest runners in the world. It’s the progression principle. What it says is that the way to improve your fitness is gradually, in small, consistent steps, rather than in great leaps.
Consistency is the single most important factor in determining whether you’ll improve as a runner.
Becoming a runner is like saving for retirement. The best way is to start small, but be consistent, and then build on your earlier progress. As you accumulate money for retirement or improve your fitness level, you can see the progress that you’re making and will be motivated to keep at it. No one day is a great transformative event, where you suddenly have a lot more money or can suddenly run three times farther than usual. You chip away at it, and what once seemed impossible—setting aside $10,000, or running for 15 minutes without stopping—becomes just another signpost on the way to your next goal. In retirement savings, progress happens because of interest. In running, progress happens because of how your body works. You give it this new task of running just a bit.
Your body is a little shocked and thinks, “Hmm, I haven’t really experienced that before. This crazy person just might ask me to do that again. I had better be ready.” So it prepares itself in order to be just a little more capable of handling what you did to it recently.
What I’m assuming in this chart is that at the start of the first week, you can handle walking at a brisk pace for half an hour at a time, four times a week. If you can’t, then don’t start the running portions of the schedule yet. Keep walking until you have that basic level of fitness that will allow you to walk for half an hour, four times a week.
If you’ve been doing a little running already, it’s OK to jump into the chart at the level you’re at. For example, if you know that you can run a mile, then it’s OK to enter the schedule at the point where I have you running for 10 minutes straight at a stretch. But if you’re going to do that, you have to promise to be honest with yourself. There’s a big difference between knowing that you can run a mile because you did it once a few weeks ago and doing so four times in a week.
If you don’t run regularly, be conservative and enter the schedule at about half the level that you know you can handle in one run. So if you know that you can run a mile but haven’t been doing so a few times a week, start where the schedule has you running for five minutes at a time.
The reason behind this advice is an important principle that applies to all runners, from the most out-of shape beginner to the fastest runners in the world. It’s the progression principle. What it says is that the way to improve your fitness is gradually, in small, consistent steps, rather than in great leaps.
Consistency is the single most important factor in determining whether you’ll improve as a runner.
Becoming a runner is like saving for retirement. The best way is to start small, but be consistent, and then build on your earlier progress. As you accumulate money for retirement or improve your fitness level, you can see the progress that you’re making and will be motivated to keep at it. No one day is a great transformative event, where you suddenly have a lot more money or can suddenly run three times farther than usual. You chip away at it, and what once seemed impossible—setting aside $10,000, or running for 15 minutes without stopping—becomes just another signpost on the way to your next goal. In retirement savings, progress happens because of interest. In running, progress happens because of how your body works. You give it this new task of running just a bit.
Your body is a little shocked and thinks, “Hmm, I haven’t really experienced that before. This crazy person just might ask me to do that again. I had better be ready.” So it prepares itself in order to be just a little more capable of handling what you did to it recently.
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