Advice for Runners

Spring is here and it seems like a bunch of people I know are taking up running to get in shape. I have been running for more than 30 years and know a few things that work for me. I have had to bite my tongue to keep from sounding like a know-it-all when talking to people who are new to running. So my advice is here and you can take it or leave it. Again, this is what works for me. It should work for you too.

Advice #1: Call it running not jogging. Even though my pace is more like jogging these days, I still say I run. Jogging sounds kind of wimpy.

Advice #2: get some gadgets. There are plenty of gadgets and things to spend money on. You don’t NEED any of them but there are a few that help — a lot. I use a heart rate monitor, an iPod, and the Nike+iPod running kit. The heart rate monitor is by far the most useful training device you can buy. It will help you know when you are over or under training. I set my treadmill to keep my heart rate at 145 beats per min and the treadmill adjusts the pace and incline to keep me there. 145 bpm is about 80% capacity for me. Any more than that and I start to breath hard. Less and it is too easy a workout. This let’s me increase my fitness level without much pain.

iPod. I said the heart rate monitor is the most useful device but an iPod may be more important. I listen to music and sometimes audio books when I run. If you get bored running, you will stop doing it.

Headphones are tricky for runners. The bounce out of your ears or cause your ears to sweat if you don’t get them set right. I use an over the head headphone, a Panasonic RP-HS35. If you know of a better set, please leave me a comment. The sound quality of these isn’t very good but they are a good combination of ear bud and over the head. Over the head is important. I put them on from behind so the cord is on my back instead of in front of me where I can catch it by accident. Then I put a sweat band over top of headphones to keep them in place. I never have to worry about them moving or bouncing around with this set up. I also use an arm band to carry an iPod Nano. Wrap the cord around the nano and tuck the excess in the arm band and I have a no fuss setup. It looks like this:

The Nike+iPod kit is my final gadget. I just started using this. It costs only $29 and is worth every penny. It is like a next gen pedometer that monitors and records your pace, time, and distance. It can tell you all of these with the press of a button. And best of all, it records and tracks all of this on the Nike web site. Here is the graph from my run today:

You can see where I run up a steep hill because my pace drops.

Advice #3: Go slow and run for time, not distance. You can see from the graph above that I ran three miles in 36 mins. That is not very fast but I am kind of ok with that. The biggest mistake most people make when they start running is they go too fast. You have to start out slow and pace yourself. You should start with maybe 20 mins of running. Run two or three times a week and increase your time (not distance) by 10% per week. You will be surprised how long you can go after only 8 weeks. Your pace will naturally increase as well. I have used this method over and over to increase my time, distance and speed.

Advice #4: If you are overweight, start by walking. Lose some weigh and build the muscles in your legs. Running is high impact on feet and knees.

Advice #5: Running uphill and downhill. There are slightly different techniques for running on hills. When you run uphill, put yourself in low gear. Take shorter steps and run from your butt. Trust me, it works. When you run downhill, keep your legs a bit straight and stiff. You want to feel like you are bouncing down the hill. You shouldn’t actually bounce but it will feel a little like that. It uses less energy this way.

Well, that’s all I know about running. Want to know about anything else?