5) [Running] From 0 to a runner.. the day you'll change

The duel against the shadow

Everyone wants to change.
The most of them do it for real, but often who takes the courage to challenge himself is frightened about its own shadow. The result is that many people run away from theyselves, others get pushed back by their own phantom. Only a few of them are able to challenge and defeat their "old" one.

The action of running as a weapon

Since this is a blog about running, i'll talk about the ones that choose to run in order to challenge their shadow.
In fact, running is a best way to do something new for yourself. However, if you do, you don't have to be frightened and you have to know that the victory will be determined by:
-continuation: once you start, you have to continue to go on.
-determination: you have to be determinated on following your objective.
-time: every little or great improvement requires time. A day, a week or a month: you have to continue on running.

The fight against your shadow

Stop! This isn't a fight with swords and naginatas, it's a challenge you have to do on your mind. You do it by thinking about your own "old" you and using your new determination in order to create a "best" you.
Now, you know that with the proper continuation, determination and time, you can really change yourself and you can do it by your new "weapon": running.

This is the most important part. In order to change yourself, you have to think about your "old" one and what made you that kind of person. You may find that your lack of motivation, or the lack of courage to start this journey were made because you haven't thought about yourself.
You were on a crazy train and you never thought about the chance to jump off it or stop it.

Now you can do it! I will help you with some hints.

Today is the day you change

If you are here, then you are going to change yourself for real. Before you can start you need to know that the great enthusiasm you have is going to decrease and disappear if you don't do something new everytime.

In this little article I want to answer a few frequently asked questions about the very first steps of running.

 “What do you mean with "do something new everytime"?"

You have to be motivated. If you are new to this, the motivation is EVERYTHING! 

You'll keep training if you are motivated enough.

“How can I improve my motivation?"

You have to set up some objectives! Start with little and increase little by little. 

Never overdo things. 

"I’m new to running. How can i set up my objectives?"

This is an hard but good question because people may start with different objectives on their minds.

These are the most common objectives you can have (we'll speak about them all):

A) To stay fit: people with this objective don't really care to improve, to gain speed or endurance, nor to run a race (if they do, they'll do just for fun). They just run in order to lose weight or to stay fit.

PROs: No need of a super-sophisticated program: just run. No bothering about paces or distances: just run. 

CONs: A bigger needed of motivation. In order to achieve their goals, people should work on diet and self-control as well (i.e to limit smoke, drink, junk-food..). This is right for every kind of objective, but especially for those who runs just to stay (or gain) fit.

B) Race a certain distance with a certain pace: They want to improve their performances, but they should consider their current level of form and choose the right race for the moment. Also, they may need a short and a long term goals.

For example: Bob is new to running and wants to race a Marathon (42,195 km), but at the moment he cannot run more than 5 km at once. Then his long term goal should be the Marathon, but he should work on a different short term goal as well (it may be:"improve on 5 km and then reach 10 km").

PROs: Good motivation and need of well-structured programs. CONs: They should understand that every day is different and don't change their humor in base of the result of one or a few workouts (i've seen too many people demoralized or nearly giving up because of one or two workouts went on a different pace, but also a lot of people excited because the workout went better!). So, they need to keep their motivation alive!

C) From other disciplines to running: In these case, they are fit or already have enough motivation to keep training, but there is a problem: too much different disciplines may not work good together. 

For example an high level bodybuilder can have serious problems on endurance running. On the other hand people may already have a good base to start with (like sport players, cross-fit, and so on).
So, their programs can be similar to case A if they have done too much different disciplines, else they can work like case B, based with their objectives.

"What about the program, now?"

After this basic things, people are starving to know their programs. Yet this is quite an impossible question to answer. The first thing to know is that everybody is different and needs a different program.
I think we can sum that all with these little steps (but each step may be an HUGE program..).

Case A) A program that leads from the current level to the ability to run 60 minutes without stop.

Once you complete it, you'll be able to use different methods such as increasing the minutes of running while adding some intervals workouts (like alternate 1 minute fast to 1 minute easy, and repeat for 8/12 times) to make the whole thing funnier. Also, intervals workouts play an important role on weight loss programs as well.

Case B) First you select the objective then, in order to know your actual level, you can do a few workouts of "test". When you have an idea about your actual level, you can structure your program (but the key is to always alternate a few workouts easy to one harder workout). 

In this case every workout will structure the whole program: you can see it as a big puzzle to complete step by step. The more the workouts follow a certain line (like alternate a few easy days to one hard day on a objective's contest), the better the results.

Case C) It may work as case A or case B as listed before.

"How many days per week do i need to go training?"

Before i answer i want to destroy a myth. The myth of MORE is ALWAYS BETTER. People think that the more days you workout, the better the results. There is a thing as important as underestimated: as said before, every program should follow a certain line, but this "certain line" means a good method for you and for your actual level and it should be balanced with intensity and quantity. 

This means that there are people that find a good balance with 4 days/week, while others can reach 7 days/week.

So, if you train above your capability, your body won't be able to recover and your only result will be to over-stress yourself while destroying the balance of the program. For example, it's better to train 3/4 days per week if you find that you cannot allow more. 

Please note that the right number also depends on your level. So the stronger you are, the more workouts you can do each week. 

"To be a runner means that you just run, right?"

That's what a non-runner thinks about real runners. The answer is nor “yes”, but neither “no”. The answer is “to be a runner means to know yourself and to live as a runner”. Read these statements.

-The most of workouts are to just run: sometimes they run slow and sometimes fast.
-In order to do that they need a good strenght: so they do gym and weights workouts too.
-They also need to apply the new strenght and they do it with technique workouts: so, drills movements and control of their actions in the space.
-In order to be able to control their movements, they should have a good flexibility: so they do a lot of stretching.
-They must know what kind of exercises to do: so they study a lot. That's right because every day you can find new methods or hints to better your performance.

In the end, to be a runner means that you're going to study your body and keep it evolving in order to improve yourself.

My "Scheduled Running Program"

You can find more useful hints and things on my Fitocracy's Team Fitness, where i give you a scheduled program based on yourself and your level, online. You'll meet other people too in order to double the fun.

For more informations, please visit: Scheduled Running Program