Running is one of the best exercises with short-term and long-term benefits in terms of stress relief, health, and fitness. Taking up running is one of the best decisions you can make for yourself.
We have put together some very helpful and effective running tips for beginners that will make this seemingly challenging task quite simple. Just read through and follow the step-by-step instructions. You will soon be the expert runner you aspire to be!
While running short distances is very useful, the benefits of long-distance running are significantly greater. According to fitness experts, if you are planning to run long distances frequently, this will help you enjoy a revamped metabolism, lower blood pressure, low cholesterol, stronger cardiovascular health, and greater self-esteem.
The most important thing you must remember is that it does not happen overnight.
You will build up your long-distance running gradually. As your endurance and fitness level improves, your body will very easily transition into a fitter, healthier version of you, enabling you to cover longer and longer distances with better efficiency and good form.
1. Choose The Right Running Gear
While this may seem obvious, it is one of the most important steps. To be able to run well, you need the right attire according to the different kinds of weather or timings that you will run at.
If you live in a warm climate, choose loose shorts and tops to manage sweat. Tie your hair or wear a headband to prevent your sweat from coming to your eyes.
For a cold climate, you can choose tights with a hoodie or a warmer top to keep you safe from cold weather and to prevent loss of body heat. Woolen covering for your head is quite important too. Wearing the right clothes in either climate will help keep you safe and run better.
2. Wear Durable & Comfortable Sneakers
For running long distances, the right footwear is extremely important.
The last thing you need is for your sneakers to cause trouble. Having comfortable sneakers will help you stay on your feet for the entire distance.
If you have to stop mid-way because of blisters or cramps, it will ruin the momentum and affect your stamina. The wrong shoes can also cause long-term harm to your feet. You also need good quality socks. Wearing an additional pair of good-quality athletic socks will give your feet an additional layer of comfort for your run.
3. Put Together A Well-Designed Training Program
Having a good plan right at the start of your long-distance running will be instrumental in your success.
The reason is that the training must match your fitness level. As you are planning your training program, you must ensure that you have challenging yet achievable goals. Start slow and gradually build up your cardio, strength, and endurance.
This generally means you will have a regular balance of some long runs in a week with sufficient rest. You can complement your cardio with some weight training for better overall fitness levels.
To design a good plan, you can consult a running coach, use online resources, or even ask for a running partner’s advice. The important thing is that the program should push you while setting appropriate limits that keep your body safe from injury or harm.
4. Follow A Healthy Diet Plan
A healthy diet plan is important for everyone; however, it is even more important when you are planning to train for any sports activity. Nutritious snacks and meals help in maintaining overall health and muscle recovery.
Before and after your running, always eat familiar snacks or beverages because new foods can result in an upset stomach. You must be especially careful about your food intake right before participating in a major event, such as a marathon or another running event.
Consuming healthy food consistently will help your body stabilize before and after a long run or a workout.
You can also get a quick energy boost by eating sweets, bananas, or drinking an energy drink right before a run.
5. Warm-Ups are Important
Warm activities are imperative for recreational runners and athletes alike. Long-running is a high-intensity activity, and if you get into it right away, there is a possibility that you may get muscle cramps.
Make sure that you start each run with a warm-up routine. It does not have to be very complex, just five minutes of simple exercises such as knee lifts, marching on the spot, sidestepping, quick walking, or stair climbing.
You can also start with some stretching exercises and a five-minute walk.
6. Cooling Down is Equally Important
While many people do their warm-up routine religiously, they forget the cooling down part. Remember that a cool down is equally important.
Towards the end of your long run, slow down to a jog for the last five or ten minutes so that your body can cool down. What happens during this cooldown period is that your blood pressure and heart rate fall gradually.
The cooldown can also be a stretching routine or even 10 minutes of medium to slow-paced walking. Either of these will help your body cool down and reduce the time you need to normalize quite dramatically.
7. Keep Hydrated
When you’ve been running for a long distance, your body is likely to perspire extensively. While this helps to expel toxins from your body, it also removes a substantial amount of water. You should start hydrating before going for a long run or training.
This means that you drink sufficient amounts of fluids between meals earlier in the day. Additionally, have a drink of water at the start of the run, in the middle, or every 30 minutes during the run if your run is longer than one hour.
If you’re running a long-distance or marathon, you should drink water or a recovery beverage with rich alkaline content.
8. Never Run Right After A Meal
The timing of your meals has to be adapted to your running. While a meal before running will give you a good boost of energy and help make your run successful, running right after a meal can make you ill.
A suitable gap between a meal and running is a minimum of 3 hours, which will give your body sufficient time to digest the food.
Not giving your stomach enough time to empty itself can cause discomfort. Possible problems include abdominal cramps, bloating, or even vomiting.
9. Pace Your Running
A common mistake that many aspiring long-distance runners make is that they do not pace themselves. This simply means that as a beginner runner, you need to understand the natural limits of your body.
If you push very hard right at the start, you may be unable to complete running the entire distance that you have planned. This may not matter too much if you are running by yourself.
However, if you are running in a marathon or a race, not completing the entire distance will leave you demotivated.
To help you understand your pace and keep track of it, you can use a pace calculator. It will help you understand your splits and averages. With some practice, you will develop a knack for managing your pacing for shorter and longer distances.
10. Using A Timer
A timer is one of the most useful tools for a runner.
While you are still starting your running, timing yourself will help you mark your progress through the coming days, weeks, and months. Using the timer will enable you to measure your threshold for a specific distance.
A timer is, of course, very useful if you are preparing for a long-distance running competition. After timing your present performance, you pace your longer runs. You can also use the timer to develop future running workouts.
Many smartphones come with inbuilt fitness apps and timers that record workout details with time and distance. For a more high-performance timer or fitness app, you can explore the innumerable resources available online.
11. Gradually Increase Your Mileage
While it is important to start slow and pace your progress, it is equally important to have incremental growth. A simple strategy for increasing your mileage gradually is to add 5-10% to your weekly mileage.
Although this increase appears to be quite nominal, if you do the math, you will see that your mileage will have increased significantly in a few months. Additionally, this approach will help to decrease the possibility of injury.
You do have to keep track of your distance so that you can make the right incremental changes. If you increase your running miles too quickly, you increase the likelihood of injuring yourself.
12. Preventing Injuries
There are several simple precautions that you can take to avoid getting injured while running long distances. Some of the simplest ones are doing a warm-up and cooldown before and after a run.
Another important strategy to prevent injury is to be attentive towards your body while you run. With time and practice, you will become an expert at understanding various body pains and managing them.
If you experience pain consistently while running, it is advisable to take a few days’ rest. Once you are pain-free, you can resume your running workout. However, if the pain persists, you should get medical help.
No matter how committed you are to your running routine or an important running event, stop right away if you experience any pain. Running through this pain may cause serious injury, which can take you off of running for a longer period.
Remember that a minor setback is better than a major one.
13. Plan Interesting Runs
Even if you absolutely love the act of running long distances, following the same route continuously can turn into a boring, monotonous activity. To keep yourself inspired and motivated, you should explore different routes.
The purpose is not to take your attention away from running. You do not have to change the venue completely. Small changes such as running on a different track in the same park on alternate days or covering a different part of the same neighborhood can help break the monotony.
Thus, with a little effort, you will soon discover and explore several different routes and enjoy different parts of your locality.
If your fitness level allows you to do so, try running trails. You will enjoy this very much if you are a nature enthusiast. However, trail running is quite different from track running because of the terrain. You may have to get used to crossing rivers or jumping over stumps and rocks.
While those are easier to adapt to, running uphill and downhill can be challenging for even expert runners. As you gain experience in the running, altitude training can be a good addition to your running regimen.
If you live close to the coastline, running alongside the beach or coastline may be one of your most refreshing experiences. Keep changing your running routes to remain motivated and refreshed.
This will keep your runs interesting and improve your running experience.
14. Switch Between Hard Training Days & Rest
Smart training methods can help you achieve your fitness goals sooner and more effectively. While it is important to have days where you push yourself beyond your comfort levels, it is also important to have rest days.
By adopting this approach, you allow your body’s muscles to recover well for the best gains. Don’t think of the rest day as you being lazy because it is a critical part of your workout.
After even one rest day, you will find yourself re-energized and motivated to complete your running routine with greater enthusiasm.
15. Prepare to Run for A Long Distance Race
Irrespective of your fitness level, when you start preparing for a long-distance running event, always do it gradually.
The entire spectrum of training comprises keeping hydrated, eating well, and keeping to a planned training schedule with incremental mileage.
This approach will ensure that your body prepares itself thoroughly for the challenging task of running in a marathon. If you are starting your running routine to ultimately participate in a marathon, you can plan accordingly. Do make sure that you have enough time to prepare so that you do not have to push yourself and can improve your fitness and stamina gradually.
Your goal must be to have sufficient strength and stamina to run a minimum of 20 miles comfortably by the time you get to the marathon. Once you can manage 20 miles, you are quite likely to run the marathon till the end without giving up or getting injured.
However, your training goals may be different if your objective is to win the marathon.
In this case, you will have to train harder so that you can make the best time. In case your goal is to simply complete the marathon miles, you need to work on your stamina more than your speed.
The important thing is that all of this is possible whether you are a senior citizen or a young adult. To run a marathon in the distant future, you must go through these running tips for beginners, start now with smaller training targets and build up your training and running gradually.
16. Rest & Recover After A Marathon
A marathon is one of the toughest workouts for any runner and takes a huge toll on your body. Because of this, it is extremely important to get sufficient rest before returning to your regular and rigorous running routine.
After being in a long-distance running event, the general rule is to let your body rest and recover for one day per mile that you ran. This means that after running in a ten-mile marathon, you must rest for 10 days.
Similarly, if your marathon was 25 miles, your body needs the same number of days to rest and recover fully before getting into a strenuous running workout again.
17. Altitude Training
Altitude training does not come when you are a beginner runner. This is more applicable to competitive running. However, as you cover the goals and running tips for beginners, it is important to see the big picture and your long-term objectives.
While doing high altitude training, which may be at 7000+ feet above sea level, the air you breathe will be thinner in comparison to what you breathe in a regular run. By running at a higher altitude, you will be able to develop a higher endurance threshold, thus enhancing your overall performance and fitness levels.
By doing this training, you will be able to perform and compete better at lower altitudes. This is because your endurance will have a competitive edge over your competitors.
18. Run With Breaks
Running a very long distance can be a daunting task. At times, you may feel discouraged or dread the thought of starting your running because of the degree of difficulty it presents.
A very effective way of coping with this is to divide the long-distance into smaller segments. This can help you to keep going longer overall.
If your complete run is 10 km, try breaking it down into three segments of 3.5 km each. Once one segment is done, take a small break and hydrate. You can then start on the next segment, and it won’t seem as daunting. Once you have completed the second one, the third will be easier to push through.
19. Join A Group or Club
Runners often find it safer and easier to run with a group, especially for longer runs.
As a beginner runner, you will find it motivational and even helpful to learn from experienced runners. You will also enjoy the company of like-minded people who enjoy fitness and running and have a socially uplifting experience.
You will find many expert long-distance runners who prefer running with a group frequently because they benefit from the experience.
20. Your Running Posture
Running long distances is a challenging task and causes body stress. To reduce the overall stress on your body, you must be aware of your running posture.
Your head must be upright to enable you to see clearly where you are going. Keep your back straight and breathe deeply. Additionally, keep your runners footfall straight.
By doing all these posture checks, you can ensure that your correct posture will result in optimal performance.
Beginner Running Program Ideas
Here is a sample training program for beginners. You can use this outline to create your customized running workout.
- Week 1 – Walk for 6 minutes, run for 1 minute, and repeat 3 times. Do 3 sessions a week.
- Week 2 – Walk for 5 minutes, run for 2 minutes, and repeat 2 times. Do 4 sessions a week.
- Week 3 – Walk for 3 minutes, run for 4 minutes, and repeat 4 times. Do 3 sessions a week.
- Week 4 – Walk for 2 minutes, run for 8 minutes, and repeat 3 times. Do 3 sessions a week.
- Week 5 – Walk for 2 minutes, run for 8 minutes, and repeat 3 times. Do 3 sessions a week.
- Week 6 – Walk for 2 minutes, run for 9 minutes, and repeat 3 times. Do 3 sessions a week.
- Week 7 – Walk for 1 minute, run for 11 minutes, and repeat 3 times. Do 3 sessions a week.
- Week 8 – Walk for 5 minutes, run for 20 minutes, and then walk again for 5 minutes. Gradually increase your running time to 30 minutes this week. Run 3 times in the week.
After completing this 8-week training, set your weekly goal to run 30 minutes thrice in the week. Your fitness and stamina will continue to increase gradually. And you will soon be ready for your first big 5K run!
In Conclusion
By following these running tips for beginners, you can take up long-distance running and improve your overall fitness levels.
As an exercise and workout routine, running is simply the best. It is accessible and affordable for everyone. The only things you need are the right gear and self-motivation.
It is very important to start slow and build up your strength and endurance gradually. By following the tips and suggestions we just discussed, you will be able to improve your fitness level incrementally and at a pace that suits you.
You do not need a personal trainer or any special equipment. Instead, join the race at the pace that works for you!
