Training - running

Running training

Talk to 500 people about why they run and they’ll give you 500 different reasons. But nearly all of them will tell you that completing their race has been worth every bit of training and that they feel great.

The objectives of training to run include:

• making sure you don’t injure yourself, so that you are able to start the race
• helping you reach the fitness you need to finish your race
• give you a good idea of what you can achieve so you join the right distanced race.

Make sure you take your rest days and that you rest on them. You body takes between 12 and 36 hours to recover from exercise and it really needs the time to repair any minor damage and stock up again.

So what’s the magic of running your chosen distance? The great news is that there is no magic – it’s just about taking the time to prepare yourself. You can start by reading the Getting physical – general principles, and then read the following:

• Taking stock, before starting
• Your target
• You and your bike
• Don’t hurt yourself
• Fitting it all in.

Taking stock

Before starting to exercise – or starting a new form of exercise – stop and take a good look at yourself. This is not about beating yourself up, but about starting from a realistic point. So first things first:

Do you have any medical conditions – in particular heart problems, stroke, diabetes, joint problems, asthma, high or low blood pressure? Are you pregnant? Or do you take any medicines (don’t forget any herbs or alternative treatments)? If you do, you should talk to your GP, right now. Talk to her or him about what you’re planning and work out if there are any medical issues you need to think about.

How fit are you?

Come on be honest now. What state are you in? You don’t need to tell anyone else (apart from, perhaps, your doctor) but you need to be honest with yourself so you can get ready for your race safely and enjoyably. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re Kelly Holmes or Paula Radcliffe – take a moment right now to think about the last time you did any exercise and answer these questions:

• When was the last time you did any exercise for 30 minutes or more – without a break?
• In the past month, what is the furthest you’ve run in one go?
• The last time you did any exercise, however gentle, how did you feel?

Successful training is about planning and commitment. So you don’t beat yourself up about missing ‘training sessions’ make sure you’re realistic about the amount of time you can commit, before you make your plan. It’s far better to plan in three sessions and stick to them than promise to do five and then feel guilty about only doing three.

Preparing for a race is a very personal thing – what is it you want to do. Do you want to run a marathon in under three hours or walk it in about five and half?
Or are you looking to walk/run a 10km run?

Everyone will have a different goal and personal mission for their particular race. The key to successful training is to be honest with yourself about what your personal goals. Points to consider include:

• how far do you want to run or walk?
• why are you competing – to finish in a certain time, simply to finish, or are you using the race as a cover for another personal goal (getting fitter or losing weight, for example)?
• from what level of fitness are you starting – are you a regular runner or do you struggle to get up to make a cup of tea?

Whatever your goals, don’t be put off by your current state of fitness. You can achieve your goals as long as you put take time, read on and make a realistic plan for yourself (see our 'Countdown' plans).

Remember, if you ran a 10km race last year but haven’t done any exercise since then, you’ve got to start from the beginning as you’ll have lost that level of fitness (a good reason to stay in shape after you’ve completed a race).

The different types of training

The best way to get ready for a run is to run outside – and to do so in proper running shoes right from the start (don’t ‘make do’ with old plimsols).

A good way to see how you are getting on in your training is to time yourself over a known distance – such as a mile or kilometre. Using a large-scale map, a bike’s distance gauge or a car’s trip distance, measure a flat and easy to note distance, and then use this to time yourself to see how you are improving.

• First five minutes – gentle.
• Next 10 minutes, pick up your speed to your usual pace.
• Next six minutes – alternate between one minute of fast running and a minute of normal running.
• Next nine minutes – run at your usual pace.

Gym work: treadmills and other ‘cardiovascular’ machines in gyms are a good way of getting your overall fitness up (aerobic conditioning), but can never beat running outside up and down hills, over rough ground.

Cross training: simply means doing another type of exercise from the one you’re training for – like swimming, walking, cycling or skiing, for example. This:

• helps build up your overall fitness
• gives your ‘running muscles’ a rest
• can help stave off boredom of doing one exercise again and again
• but remember this is not a substitute for running.

Weights: using weights in a gym is a good way to increase your strength (for that last sprint or uphill slog), and to work on the muscles you don’t use when running. Talk to your gym instructor about a good workout for you.

Don’t hurt yourself – prevent injuries

Running is a high impact sport. You need to look after yourself more than if you were training to walk a trek or cycle as it can put a lot of strain on your body – particularly your knees, feet, spine and chins – so make sure you pay attention to the following to avoid injury:

• Majority of running injury comes from over training – doing too much, too soon, too often, too fast, too hard, with too little rest.
• Run in proper running shoes that are in good condition. Running in fashion trainers, cross trainers or old shoes will mean you damage yourself.
• Warm up before starting to run (five minute brisk walk), cool down afterwards and remember to stretch.
• Change your training, so you have hard days and easy days. In fact, you should be looking to have easy weeks and hard weeks (a good reason for keeping a training diary so you can keep an eye on things).
• Take rest days – at least one day a week of no training to let your body recover.
• Every third week, drop back a little – run a little less and for less long than you did last week. This will give your body the chance to catch its breath.
• Keep a diary and training plan (see our Countdown examples) – it will help to trace any problems or injuries you have.
• Eat and drink well. (See the Eating and drinking right page.)
• Stretch well after exercising. The importance of stretching afterwards cannot be emphasised enough – not only will it help stop you hurting yourself, it will help you run better and more efficiently in your next session.
• Listen to you body – if it hurts, stop. "No pain, no gain" is rubbish. If you feel pain it’s probably because you’ve damaged yourself. Stop and check it out – at the very least slow down to a walk. If you get a pain in the same place more than once, talk to your doctor.

Feeling good – looking good

It may sound a touch odd, but keep an eye on how you look when you run. This is not a fashion agenda, but about your posture. If you’re flagging think about the ‘look’ of your run. It’s surprising but it will give you energy and help you run better – give it a go and see how you feel. Think about your:

• Head – keep it upright (not looking at your feet). Keep your eyes on the ground some 5 to 10m (15 to 30feet) ahead of you.
• Back – keep your back straight and relaxed (not hunched over).
• Arms – make them work for you. Bent at the elbows so your forearms are roughly level with the ground, and pumping forward and back in the direction you’re running (not across your body).
• Knees – unless you’re doing a sprint or running uphill, don’t bring them up too high.
• Stride – don’t over stride, it can put a lot of pressure on your Achilles tendon.
• Footfall – generally land on your heel/back of your foot, roll over it and push off with the ball.

When going uphill, keep your posture straight, but shorten your strides. Running downhill puts a lot of strain on your knees – slow down a bit, let gravity do its work and use it as a bit of a rest.

Training schedule

There are hundreds of different schedules out there to help you put together a plan that suits you. Or you can take a look at one of our Countdowns. Just remember, to exercise for 30 minutes per session and do at least three sessions every week.

Fitting it all in

How the devil do you fit in up to nine hours of running every week? Actually, although it takes some commitment, you may be surprised how easy it is. Here are some ideas:

• Can you run back from the office everyday? Or from the station? (Like Superman, get changed in the loo.)
• How about running in your lunch hour – just make sure you give yourself time to eat afterwards. (This is probably not such a good idea if you don’t have showers at work – your colleagues won’t thank you if you smell all afternoon.)
• Do you really have to watch the Weakest Link? Cut out some TV and go running instead.
• On the weekend – when you do your big run – why not see if you can end up at a pub and get your friends and family to meet you there (make sure they bring warm clothes for you to change into and plenty of water and carbohydrate foods so you can restock your body’s energy supply).

Now read kitting out.