Motivation for a new runner

September 16, 2014 2:07 PM

My son and I have started running, and I'm looking for as much motivation and wisdom as I can get.

I have a lot of friends who are runners, and I can see how much they love it and how much it does for them. After a period of inactivity, my 12-year-old son and I have started (yesterday) getting up early and going for a run together. The plan is to do this all five weekdays, with weekends off. We're using a sort of couch-to-5K thing (run, then walk a bit, then run some more, repeat).

I know it takes a while to go from "oh god this is the worst thing ever" to "I'm addicted to this and love it so much and need to force myself to stop," but I'm squarely the former right now. I know two days is barely getting started, but I'm looking for motivation of all sorts, as well as advice on things you wish you'd known/done differently when you were starting out.

For instance, my shoes suck, and I'm going to the store tonight to get proper running shoes. Also, my ankles are hella sore after only two days, and I'm wondering what they're going to feel like in the morning.

Oddly specific question component: For some reason I can't quite explain, running in the dark feels weird to me. We live in a safe neighborhood with little traffic that time of day and plenty of streetlights, but I've got a creeper vibe that's making me less excited about the run than I should be. Would we be better off switching to evenings? Do you like running in the dark, and if so, why?

Any other advice, encouragement and general motivation would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

posted by jbickers to Health & Fitness (23 answers total)

Too much too fast: that's the #1 thing that cuts short people's attempts at becoming runners.
Start out with lots of walking. Then walk faster. And faster. Then, when walking fast is boring to you, jog for a while, until you can't. Then walk again. Over a much shorter period of time than you imagine, you'll be jogging the whole time. But still, give yourself a few months, especially if you are starting from scratch. Don't feel pressured to stick to the couch-to-5k schedule. Repeat a week if you have to. Also, your son may get better faster than you. What's your plan for that?

Proper shoes is a great idea, seek out softer surfaces if you have access to them.

Once you're actually running and it doesn't suck: RockMyRun is quickly becoming one of my favorite apps, it has lots of great music mixes and if you pay for the pro version it adjusts the BPM to match your cadence!

STRETCH.

If you're feeling lazy, just put on your gym clothes and have a drink of water and see how you feel. If you can get out the door, you're 90% of the way through your run. If you get out the door and fifty feet later you decide you're over it, you can always go back in.

Running in the dark is fantastic because it's *so much cooler* than during the day. I love it, and if you feel safe I wouldn't worry about it. But late evenings, when the sun is about to set, is also a great time to run.

Good luck! Once running becomes part of your life, it's one of those things that you can almost never do without.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 2:15 PM on September 16, 2014 [2 favorites]

Congrats on joining the running crew! I started running later in life, and love it now, but I didn't always love it so. A few suggestions/motivational strategies:

(1) I recommend starting more slowly than you are right now. Five days (sequentially!!) a week is a lot. Start slowly, track your gains.

(2) Yes, get proper shoes.

(3) Running in the dark is not my thing. But if you want to do it, there are ways to make it feel much safer: a reflective vest is a must. Don't listen to music or play it low enough so that you can hear the cars.

I like Runkeeper to keep track of my running (and my improvement). Oftentimes just seeing the small gains is enough to keep me going for my next run.
posted by correcaminos at 2:20 PM on September 16, 2014

Endomondo is great. It motivated both me and my 4-5 year old (at the time). It encouraged him to hike on his own instead of being carried. It encouraged me to see how far/fast we could go.

We reward ourselves for certain mile marks. Maybe a week of completing your goals you could do a reward together? (A couple hours of minecraft, ice cream sundaes)

I think the beginning (depending on how inactive you've been) the beginning will be rough. If it were me I might reward myself with a weekly massage when I made it through the first several weeks.

As for running in the dark, I used to do it but only enjoyed it when it was in the woods with a head lamp. Your area seems to have lots of parks. Getting off road might be a motivator. I really enjoy the daily changes in our state park.
posted by beccaj at 2:20 PM on September 16, 2014

I like running in the morning because it's quiet and there are fewer cars out; I also think it's easier to see the cars that are on the road. That said, I'm lit up like a Christmas tree - headlamp, blinkies on my front and back, safety vest. I look dorky but I'm so, so visible.

I also like running in the morning because it's easy to make excuses in the evening, and it livens me up for the day. I am annoyingly chipper because of morning runs. But some people are evening runners. You might need to experiment to find what works best for you and your daily schedule; the best time to run is the time that you will run - and if waking up early makes you not want to run, then it's not working for you.

For a new runner, I'm not sure I'd go 5 days in a row - 2 on, 1 off might work better. Rest days are important (it's taken me a while to acknowledge that.)

I don't think you should expect to ever hit the 'I'm addicted to this' place. Not everyone gets that. There are plenty of other less extreme mindsets that you might want to shoot for. I get the runner's high, but I still grumble when I wake up to run. I still have days where I get up, go out, and decide not to run; the freedom not to run, to never force myself to do it, is valuable to me. After fifteen years, though, running is mostly just the thing that I do, like breathing or eating.
posted by punchtothehead at 2:21 PM on September 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

Also - track your mileage and do replace your shoes regularly; people recommend every 300-500 miles depending on your stride.

Personally, I rotate through three different pairs of shoes depending on what kind of run I'm going on (track, trail, or road.) I think this makes them last longer, too, but it does mean spending an awful lot of money at once.
posted by punchtothehead at 2:23 PM on September 16, 2014

Stick to Couch to 5K's three times a week schedule, at least for the first couple of weeks. I definitely noticed soreness in new and exciting places when I started it, but that went away by the next week or so.

I am taking a break from running due to injury, but I ran in darkness and I really enjoyed it. Everything is so quiet and you can see the stars. Plus you get your exercise done for the rest of the day. I had some reflective equipment, and did not run wearing headphones, so I felt safe; the only people not in cars that I ever saw were other exercisers.
posted by mogget at 2:24 PM on September 16, 2014

It gets easier. That doesn't mean it gets easy but one of the things I love about running is that I see myself improve. When I first ran in high school cross country, I couldn't finish the training run without walking. Eventually I could do the whole run. Towards the end of the season, I could run the second half fast. Not every run is The Best Run Ever but I don't think I've ever regretted a run, even when I've been sore afterwards.

When I started running, someone told me to just keep moving, even if that means running very slowly or walking. I also like to think that any amount of time running is infinitely better than time not running so even if I can only run for 20 minutes, that's still 20 minutes more than a lot of people. Listen to your body. If you need a walk break, take it. I've been running for a while and I take walk breaks. Running is something I do for fun, why kill myself over it?
posted by kat518 at 2:24 PM on September 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

It took me probably three months before I really liked running. Give yourself time. It is not going to be super-fun right off the bat. One thing that really made it a pleasure for me was NOT listening to music, not doing anything else while I was running. Listen to your body. Listen to the sounds of the world around you.

For the first couple of months your internal soundtrack will probably sound like OH MAN JESUS I SHOULD STOP DOING THIS. But then after those few months, those thoughts will fade. Other things on your mind will come up. You'll enter a meditative state.

It is worth it.
posted by Kafkaesque at 2:28 PM on September 16, 2014

If you've ever wanted to get a younger dog, but were worried that it would be too energetic for you, now is the time to get that dog! There is no greater motivator than a dog who wants to run until it collapses. Mind you, this will likely 1) push you too hard at first, and 2) you might end up with a dog who has even more energy, but that's a chance you will be taking. I write that from experience, though our 2-4 year old dog (we adopted her from a shelter, so her age is unknown).

At first, I ran twice a day, because she was so energetic. In the beginning, it sucked, but then I lost weight (I wasn't particularly overweight, but my clothes were getting rather tight, some of them too much so), and after a few months of running an hour a day (30 minutes in the morning, 30 in the evening) I was down a pants size. I had more stamina, more energy, and everything was wonderful!

But then our dog mellowed out, I got lazy, and it got hot, and 5 AM was less appealing than sleeping in a bit. Now, I have lost all that stamina and energy, and our dog (mostly) has, too. Time to get back into it.

Without my four-footed running partner, I'd set goals for myself, both distances and times, and at increments, not just the end target. Slowly decrease the times and/or increase the distances for your goals. Challenge your son with these targets, or push each-other to meet them together, depending if you're both competitive or collaborative. Play around with different routes, both for variation in your routine, and to find a preferred pattern of inclines, declines and such. Inclines are nice as a challenge, but can be defeating if they're too long or at the wrong time in a run. Declines are the same - too early, and you could find yourself setting too fast of a pace too early, but at the right time, they could be invigorating.

I liked both mornings and evenings, though running in the morning was usually quieter, and there were less distractions for our dog. Evenings, for me, cut into family time, but that's when I'll be running from here on out, because I like to sleep in a bit. I have a head lamp, though I think I'll find an over-the-top strap to keep it from slipping down my head so much. I mostly stick to sidewalks with minimal road crossings, but I should probably get more reflective striping and maybe something blinking all the same. Early morning or evening and people are more likely to be tired and/or distracted, and visibility is decreased.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:57 PM on September 16, 2014

My 5 cents (most of which has been covered by others):

1) Get good shoes and replace your pair at the very first sign that they're wearing out. (For me, the sign is that I get a slight ache at the bottom of my right foot after running for 1/2 hour. That's usually after about 300 miles or so, but I'm very tall and consequently pretty heavy.)
2) If at all possible, don't run on the streets. Find a trail. It's much easier on your body and much more relaxing mentally as well.
3) Don't overdo it. (I agree with others above, running every day is way too much!) The risk of injury is much too great, you have to give your body time to recover. It's also impossible to keep up that pace long term and you're setting yourself up to failure. What works for me is setting a long term goal (in the order of years). Maybe start with "I want to run 60 miles in 10 weeks."
posted by tecg at 3:08 PM on September 16, 2014

If you're any sort of reader, you might try getting a copy of Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. After 32 years of no interest in running, casually reading that because I liked his other stuff is what got me started on C25K. It's a slowly paced and beautifully written book, and his motivations for running really resonated with me. Plus seeing that it can be a lifelong passion is inspiring.
posted by stellaluna at 3:14 PM on September 16, 2014 [5 favorites]

I love running but the only time I've been able to do it first thing in the morning was when I was not addicted to caffeine. I don't know if that's a factor for you, but the combination of no food + no coffee makes it vastly harder for me in the morning than if I do it in the afternoon. Just an idea.
posted by something something at 3:22 PM on September 16, 2014

Sorry but this needs to be emphasized:
FIVE DAYS A WEEK IS WAY TOO MANY TO START!!!!

You'll get injured (shin splints, plantar fasciitis, sore knees, sore ankles, sore tendons in feet, sore hips, the list goes on) and you'll get discouraged. Three days a week would be PLENTY.

Get very good shoes. Follow couch-to-5k and anticipate it taking longer than you'd like. Maybe say you'll want to double the time it'll take to ramp up and see how that goes.

The goal should be sustainability, not instant-guru-runners!
posted by barnone at 3:31 PM on September 16, 2014 [7 favorites]

Sign up for a 5k in 8 weeks or so. Races are a good goal and help motivate me.
posted by j810c at 3:58 PM on September 16, 2014

I know it takes a while to go from "oh god this is the worst thing ever" to "I'm addicted to this and love it so much and need to force myself to stop,"

Actually it doesn't work that way. Eventually it becomes both things at the same time.
posted by srboisvert at 4:08 PM on September 16, 2014 [18 favorites]

Try not to get too fixated on mileage in the beginning -- focus more on time than distance. Hearing my runner friends talk about regularly running 40-50 miles a week was always a little demoralizing to me; after running for about a year and half now it's a great week when I get over 20 miles. The bigger point here is I think not to to compare yourself to others. The most wonderful thing about running is how personal it is -- the only person you're competing with is your yesterday's or last month's or last year's self.

Also! Use your new habit as an opportunity to find some really pretty places to run in your area. My favorite thing about taking up running is how many gorgeous lake, forest, and green trails I've been able to experience. It really puts a smile on your face when the muscles are grumpy.
posted by krakus at 4:45 PM on September 16, 2014

If you are a total newbie, I would not recommend trying to do 5 days a week. Start with 3 days a week, or every other day. Too much too fast, and you'll end up with an injury. Once you feel good doing 3 days a week, then you can increase to 4 or 5. The ankle pain is probably the result of not having shoes with good stability. As others have said above, good shoes are really important.

When my partner and I first started running together about 6 years ago, we went whole hog on a big warm-up and stretching session before every run, and honestly, I felt like that tired me out and diminished my desire to run. The value of stretching is actually highly debated, and there have been studies showing increased injury after stretching, which seems counter-intuitive, but was the perfect excuse to give myself permission to not do any warm up. I find that my motivation decreases for every minute I hang around inside, pre-run. My best results come from putting my shoes on and immediately getting out the door. Don't give yourself time to think about it.

As for morning or evening, I actually prefer later in the day, as my metabolism tends to be higher later in the day. Running first thing in the morning is a misery for me, so I do think there is something to finding the right time of day for your body. Back when I was in college I ran at night, as in after dinner, in the dark, and I loved the meditative quality of running in the dark. But I was in a relatively safe neighborhood, and was a strong runner back then, so I never felt spooked. You might feel better running in the dark once you get better at it.

I find it helps to set little mini-goals for myself, but I don't obsess about performance. The important thing is just getting out and doing it, and not feeling bad if you have a poor run. You will likely notice significant improvement each week as you start out, and then after a while you will plateau. I've never been super-competitive (with myself or anyone else), so I just feel good getting out there and doing what I can.
posted by amusebuche at 4:57 PM on September 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

I would recommend Monday, Wednesday, Friday. When I was a beginning runner (and sometimes even now, when I'm not feeling it) the only thing that got me motivated to run was the knowledge that if I did, I wouldn't have to go the next day.
posted by gaspode at 5:12 PM on September 16, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks for the great input so far, everyone. Message received on five days being too much. I think we're going to do M-W-F, and get up at the same time on the other two days for consistency's sake and do body-weight exercises instead. Or just have a more leisurely breakfast than we're used to.

The Murakami book is a great recommendation, he's one of my favorite authors so that's absolutely perfect. Other reading suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
posted by jbickers at 5:56 PM on September 16, 2014

I hate running in the dark as well - it's depressing and I definitely feel unsafe too (I'm female and just would not run in the dark on my own, but maybe that's just me/the area I live in).

I would try to run at the weekends if you can! Going for a Sunday morning run is great! Especially if you can find a wood or trail or something - my husband and I have just swapped our regular twice round the park for a run through the woods, and it is great! So much more interesting (kind of an orienteering aspect, plus lots of nature) and it's also much harder work (tree roots, uneven paths, etc). We will stay in the park for our weekday evening runs because it's much closer to home, but you should definitely try it out, it was a revelation to us.

And yes 5 days a week is WAY too much. Also if the weather gets bad you can always move one of your runs indoors onto the treadmill. I know lots of runners hate treadmills, and it's true they really aren't the same as running outdoors, but for me if it is dark and raining I will not motivate myself to go for a run outside but I have no trouble motivating myself to go to the warm bright gym with MTV and nice hot showers and a cafe. It's also far easier to do speedwork on a treadmill if you are a beginner, and that's boring anyway. YMMV, but it's better to run in the gym than to not run at all.
posted by tinkletown at 1:41 AM on September 17, 2014

Yay on starting running!

I wholeheartedly recommend reading Born to Run. It will make you feel like a super-hero-in-waiting.

C25K is a very good program for getting started. However, if you really want to know what's going on with your body and train as efficiently as possible, I recommend purchasing a heart rate monitor and running within your target heart rate. I find it helps take mental toughness out of play a little. Rather than having to fight with yourself over how well you're doing, you just look at your monitor and go "whoa, I'm way over my target heartrate, time for a break" or, "hey, you've rested long enough, time to pick up the pace."

Here's a good summary on THR from American Heart Association.
posted by slipthought at 11:48 AM on September 18, 2014

My running go-to has always been Doctor Mama's advice. Basically, go as slowly as you possibly can in order to run for 30 mins, and have a day off in between running sessions. You should be embarrassed to see anybody you know because you are running so slowly. I followed her advice combined with the C25K app and managed to run three 5Ks last year! She has many running posts, all linked in her sidebar, and I've found them very helpful.
posted by meggan at 12:59 PM on September 18, 2014

Very late reply but I have to recommend the app that got me from a once-in-a-blue-moon runner to running a half marathon in less than a year: Ease into 10k. I know there are tons of apps out there, but what I like about this app is that it is a super simple interval training system, has a nice simple logging setup, and plots your route and saves it. It's hugely motivating to see how much you ran on a map. Hope it helps! Also, definitely invest in good shoes!
posted by nemutdero at 10:34 PM on September 22, 2014