Runningmonkeys

So if you have read and accomplished week one from the previous post (Beginners running - Week one of a three week program), then your body will be nicely warmed up.  You will have experienced the satisfaction of doing something for yourself which is both good for you and fun.  You will have begun a habit that could form the basis of a new life as a runner.  And this life as a runner just may help you along the way to a rich and fulfilling journey of discovery about yourself.  Hold the excitement, though, because for some people, after the first week is over and the celebrations have ceased, it can begin to feel like the honeymoon is over.  This week we will be aiming to keep you moving forward and motivated as you cement in place the habits you have begun.

This week introduces some new things and develops some others from last week.  By the end of the week, you will be doing a bit of actual running, and your body may start to feel it, in various muscles.  Just to warn you in advance, there is a hump to overcome somewhere.  Walking is easy and comfortable.  Running is easy and comfortable, once you are established.  In between the two is a transition period.  You could well feel some discomfort and breathlessness as you run.  This is normal, and as long as it isn’t painful or over stressful, you will survive and come out shortly after as a runner.  I read once (I am not sure where) that it takes people on average, more than 10 attempts to become a runner.  They start out full of motivation and intention, but are rapidly defeated and quit.  Months later, they dust off their almost new running shoes and give it another try, but suffer the same defeats.  This goes on time after time until something finally twigs, they make it over the hump and run for the rest of their lives.  One of the main benefits of a short pre-training program like this is that it reduces the likelihood of this sort of defeat.  If you continue to commit yourself to this and see out the three weeks, then you will be a runner, and ready to start a proper period of base training.  So here we go.

Week 2

Day 1) Get your shoes on and head out the door in the same direction as Day 5 last week.  Today you will be travelling in that same direction for the same time of 12 minutes.  You will be focusing on the elements of your external environment, the sights and sounds and smells you encounter as you go.  The primary difference is that your 12 minute journey out will carry you slightly farther this time because you are going to run for part of the way.  This is the first step in a gradual transition from walking to running. 

Head out the door and walk gently and slowly for one minute.  By this time the blood will be moving around your muscles, your heart will have sped up slightly to enable this and everything will be warming up nicely.  For the next minute, walk slightly faster, and you may feel your heart speed a little more to enable your blood to flow around faster to your working muscles.  After this second minute, ramp it up another notch until you are walking at a speed that you would call fast (but not race-walking) and keep this going for a full minute.  Now this first three minutes may be the most important time in the early days of your running.  It is essential that you gradually and gently get into running mode, both to reduce the likeliness of injury and to promote maximum gain from your efforts. 

By the end of the three minutes, you should be nicely warmed up and ready for your first bit of running.  For the next minute you are going to be running, or perhaps we should be calling it jogging.  Try and jog in a relaxed and as easy way a s possible.  Keep it very slow, in fact not much faster than your walking pace.  As you jog today, continue to focus on your environment and everything outside of yourself.  When a minute is up, go back to fast walking for a minute then medium walking for another minute.  Relax and catch your breath as you walk, then ready…off we go again.  Pick your walk up to fast pace for one minute then move to a jog for the next minute, and then keep the pattern going.  The jogging cycle will look like this:

medium walk + fast walk + jog + fast walk + medium walk + fast walk + jog…….

To complete your 24 minutes, you will start with a slow walk ,  go through 5 jogging cycles and finish with two consecutive minutes of slow walking. 

The workout will look like this if slow walk =s, medium walk= m, fast walk = f and jog = j

s+m+ f+ j+ f+ m+ f+ j+ f+ m+ f+ j+ f+ m+ f+ j+ f+ m+ f+ j+ f+ m+ s+ s

At the end you may feel tired, you may be buzzing, you may be panting or you may be panting for more.  No matter how you feel, if you have done exactly what is specified, then you have made a massive leap towards becoming a runner.  Go have a shower and a gloat.

Day 2) You will be following the exact same principles as yesterday.  One slow walk, 5 jogging cycles and then 2 minutes of slow walking.  The only difference is that today you will be focusing internally and will be taking careful note of how your body feels at every point of the session.  Don’t let it get you down, but notice how your muscles feel, how fast your breathing becomes, do you break a sweat, or do you have any aches or pains?  This internal feedback is all very important and your success as a runner can be significantly increased by listening to your body as you run.  After 24 minutes you will be home and warmed down with 2 minutes of slow walking.  Now that you have finished you have earned the right to feel like a champion.

Day 3)  The actual work out will be exactly the same as this week’s day 1 except after wards we will be adding another essential running element.  As soon as you get home (you will have just warmed down for 2 minutes of slow walking) your muscles will be relaxing and the whole process of adaption will begin.  To help this process along as well as minimize the chances of injury and muscle shortening, today we will begin a program of post-effort stretching.  I won’t go into the exact muscle stretches you should be doing but if you follow this link you will find a run down on some basic stretches for runners.  Do them as soon as you have warmed down and from now on, do them after every time you warm down.  They are good for your body and your mind, and they are definitely worth the little time that they take.  A little time each run to stretch, may save you from an injury which may take a lot of time to recover from.

Day 4)  Will be exactly the same as day 2 except that you will also include your new stretching routine afterwards.

Day 5) Today you are going to drop out some of the fast walking minutes.  From now the jogging cycle will look like this :

Medium walk + fast walk + Jog + medium walk + fast walk + jog….

This time you will be fitting in 7 minutes of jogging and the total session will look like this

s+ m+ f+ j+ m+ f+ j+ m+ f+ j+ m+ f+ j+ m+ f+ j+ m+ f+ j+ m+ f+ j+ s+ s

 Complete this workout and focus on your external environment as you go.  If you are able to keep track of your watch as well as watching your environment the time will go very quickly and before you know it, you will be finished and home.  Do your stretch session as soon as you get home and you’re laughing, you are well on the way to becoming a runner.

Day 6)  It should be no surprise for me to tell you that today will be almost exactly the same as yesterday.  This time I want you to focus on whatever is happening inside your body.  Don’t let it distract you from keeping a track of your timing, but let the changes you feel as you move excite you.  As your breathing speeds up and your heart beats faster, tell yourself this is a good thing.  As your muscles send out mild protests, thank them for the feedback and tell them that this is why you are running.  Your whole body will be unused to the sensations that you begin to feel, but that doesn’t mean that what you feel is bad.  These feelings are signs that you are training your body. If you stick to the programme your body will adapt.  Every runner experiences some mild and sometimes uncomfortable sensations when they first start out, but our bodies adapt and we leave those particular feelings behind.  What ever you do, don’t give up at this stage.  Make sure you finish at least these first three weeks and you will drastically improve your chances of becoming a life long runner.  Remember if you quit now, you will have to start from scratch again later, if you ever want to become a runner.  Do yourself a favour and persist.

Day 7)  Rest day.  You have earned a good rest.  Make sure you spend a significant amount time today smiling and feeling good about yourself because what you have achieved this week is a massive acomplishment and you are now well down the road to becoming a runner for life.  You are now ready for Beginners running - Week three of a three week program.