Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
#172 - 19 Tips To Start Running, Get Faster, And Stay Consistent
17 Plays3 days ago
Everything I wish I had known when I started running 3.5 years ago, broken down into actionable tips you can start using today.
If you want to get into running, if you've tried running in the past but fallen off, or you've been running and want to get faster, this podcast is for you.
We'll cover 3 main topics
- Tips you should know when getting started with running
- Tips for making running a habit and staying consistent
- Tips for getting faster and becoming a smarter runner
1-on-1 Coaching: Interest Form Here
Fit(ish) Project Newsletter: Sign Up
IG: Bassbuiltfitness
Facebook: bassbuiltfitness
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Purpose
00:00:03
Speaker
I'm your host, Lathan Bass, where we make fitness and health simple for regular people like you and I. We got the weekly episode for you, as we always do. Before I get into that, just a reminder, continue to leave reviews if you have not and can't do that for me. Continue to help get this out to more people. if you listen to an episode and feel like somebody you know would get some value out of it share it with them. That is the way that podcasts grow the most. And that is the whole goal of this show is just to get information out that is practical, that is useful, that can help people live better, look better, live longer, happier lives. And so i appreciate your part in helping this show grow.
00:00:40
Speaker
It is greatly appreciated.
Running Experience and Growing Interest
00:00:42
Speaker
The topic for this week, I have been running for three and a half years now. And if you follow me on any of my socials, you'll see that I post about running or I post my runs, talk about running tips, advice, different things like that, a good decent amount. And I've started to get more questions about people wanting to get into running. how to get quicker asking me about how I've gotten so good at running or gotten better at running. I should say how I wouldn't consider myself super great at running, but I have definitely made quite a bit of progress over the years.
00:01:15
Speaker
And I think it's appealing to a lot of people. Running is one of those things that's very simple. And I think at some point or another, most people have tried to run at least somewhat maybe tried a 5k gone out trying to run or maybe trying to build the habit of running but it's one of those things that is a struggle for a lot of people to make stick and so I wanted to create a podcast all about the main questions that I get when it comes to running and so I broke this down into three different categories so basically what you should do when getting started all the things that I wish I had known when I started running because there are a lot of things that would have helped me if I would have known these things.
Episode Overview: 19 Running Tips
00:01:50
Speaker
And so how to get started with running, we'll do some tips on that. And then how to actually stay consistent with running so you don't fall off. So once you get into running, how can we do some things, put some things in place that you actually make this stick and make this a habit. And then third, how to actually get faster and get better at running. so Got some tips for each one. I think in total we have 19 tips, but broken down into these three categories. Before we get into that, I just wanted to talk a little bit about why running in general. So as I said, I've been running for about
Personal Running Motivation and Marathon Journey
00:02:20
Speaker
three and a half years. I got into running because
00:02:23
Speaker
I had the idea that maybe I want to run a marathon and I'm always asking people to do uncomfortable things, step out of their own comfort zone, try something hard, do something that is going to challenge them. And for me, I hadn't done that for myself in a while since being outside of athletics and being and a former athlete. Like I had lifted a bunch and, you know, i played basketball and different things like that, but I hadn't actually...
00:02:44
Speaker
challenge myself physically with any type of event or competition or anything like that for quite a while. So I thought, what's a way for me to step out of my comfort zone and do something hard that's going to challenge me that I may not always want to do. And so for me, that was running. I hated running, never enjoyed it as a big guy. Running was the opposite of what I wanted to do, especially long distance running. So Decided to sign up for a marathon, text my buddy, Dan, and was like, hey, you want to run a marathon with me? He said, yes, let's do it. He had never run one either. He had run some halves, but had never done a full. So we signed up for a marathon that night, started training the next day for it. And with zero training, i had never run more than three miles in my entire life. I started training for a marathon, ran that marathon about four and a half months later. And since then, I've been running fairly consistently. So after completing that marathon for the next couple of years, I didn't run nearly as much as I did training for that
Cardio Benefits and Weekly Routine
00:03:38
Speaker
marathon. But I wanted to keep the habit of cardio because I just found a lot of benefit in it. And I just know from a long term.
00:03:44
Speaker
longevity perspective, living a long life, having better fitness. There's just lots of benefits that come with cardio. So my whole goal was just to do cardio three times per week. And most times that was just running. So I would try to run about 30 minutes to 45 minutes, three times a week. Sometimes I would substitute one of those sessions for playing some basketball or doing something else, maybe riding a bike or doing something like that. But for the most part, I was running about three times per week. roughly 30 to 45 minutes per session.
00:04:13
Speaker
I wasn't 100% consistent with that. Like I know there was times, especially when the weather got colder and different things like that, where I wasn't running consistently three times per week. But over those couple of years, I was getting in probably 10 to 15 miles a week most weeks.
00:04:26
Speaker
Then roughly about 10 months ago, maybe towards the end of last year, i decided that I wanted to actually really get into running again, pretty heavy and see how good I could get with running.
00:04:38
Speaker
I just kind of came to a point where I've been lifting for a long time. I play basketball, i do different things. I stay really active, but again, I haven't really like pursued any high level type of goal for a while. I think the last goal that I did before the marathon was like I trained to dunk a basketball and I just like having something to pursue like I like having a training goal something that I can focus my training around and just see progress and build towards something and so I decided I'm just going to see how good I can get at running and so in the last 12 months I've logged 1472 miles checked my Strava to see where I was at with that and That's quite a few miles. The funny part is I have not ran any kind of race since that marathon. So basically for the last three and a half years, I have just been running.
00:05:21
Speaker
And people always ask me like what I'm training for or why I run so much or different things like that. I just genuinely enjoy running now.
Mental Clarity and Enjoyment in Running
00:05:27
Speaker
And that's why I do it so much. And there's so many different benefits that you get with running. There's just a lot of reasons that I have grown to like it. And that was not always the case. When I started the marathon training, I did not like running. Like I just did not like it. And it took me about two and a half months into that training to actually start to enjoy marathon training, which I'm going to get into why it's so critical to actually give yourself a sufficient amount of time to build a certain type of habit, especially with running. Because You're probably not going to be good at it for a while. It's probably not going to feel super fun. But I think when you can start to notice all the things that running can give you, all these benefits that I'm going to run through really briefly before we get into the bulk of this episode, it starts to become one of those things that you actually look forward to. So for me, I think one of the biggest benefits that I really started to notice was just the mental clarity that you get with running. It's one of those things where like you can't really do it with distractions. Like you can't be scrolling on your phone or doing other things while you're running because you're running. Like you have to be paying attention. You have to keep your eyes on the road. You have to just concentrate on what you're doing. And so having something like running just provides a little bit of time away from all this input and stimulus that we're constantly getting with our phones, with screens, with TVs, with work, with all these different obligations that we have.
00:06:37
Speaker
You have this time blocked out in your day where you just get to go and run and you can just clear your mind a little bit, think a little bit. let your thoughts go wherever they want to go maybe you have some stressful thing you're trying to think through or some problem you're trying to solve or different things like that and i think running can just provide some of that clarity and just some of that time away from all the other stresses of life and that's probably been the biggest reason that i have really turned to running and really enjoyed running I think the second thing that I mentioned a little bit is just having the pursuit of getting better at something, especially something that's hard is enjoyable for me. And I think for a lot of people, they find value in that. i think it's the reason why so many people like fitness. They like building up their body. They like chasing strength goals. they like chasing getting their first pull up improving their mile time or competing in some race because pursuing things seeing progress is really encouraging it's motivating it's cool to see what our bodies can do and it's cool to challenge ourselves and then meet those challenges and so having the pursuit of getting better at something which i think running does a really good job at providing is another really good reason to get into it i think another thing that is overlooked is just the simplicity of it it's one of those things that you can run pretty much anywhere
00:07:45
Speaker
Most people have the ability to run. Like maybe you're not very good at running yet, but you have the ability to at least run or jog a little bit. There's not really a huge learning curve on it like there is with some other styles of training. Like if you go and you've never lifted weights before, there's a pretty big learning curve in order to actually get really good at training and lifting weights and all the different movements and things like that. Like if you're going to play a sport or you're going to pick up some certain...
00:08:08
Speaker
hobby that like involves physical activity, a lot of times there's some sort of learning curve that you have to come in there and like learn about that sport or that activity. And with running, it's not really like that. Yes, there's some things that you're going to learn along the way. But again, most of us know how to at least jog.
00:08:22
Speaker
So there's not this big, like daunting, I need to learn all these things or go do all these different things in order to be in a place where I can run. It's like, no, you can at least go and out and jog a little bit. So that is really helpful when it comes to getting into running. And then I think with the simplicity of it too, it's just, it doesn't take a ton of time to like go in and get a good run in. Like you can go run hard for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes and get a really good workout in versus like, you don't have to go in the gym and work out for 45 minutes. You don't have to drive to the gym, drive back,
00:08:54
Speaker
do all those different things and so like from a time perspective it's really easy to fit runs in and then lastly like it doesn't take a ton of resources either with some certain things like you have to get a gym membership or get gym equipment or buy certain athletic things that you need for that sport or whatever the case may be and with running it's like you just need a pair of shoes and you just need some space to run it and that's really it so the simplicity of it i really like and when it comes to building habits I know that the more simple and convenient something is, the easier it is to build a
Physical and Social Benefits of Running
00:09:22
Speaker
habit. And so for lots of people who are maybe busy or stressed or don't have a ton of time to commit to other types of physical activity, I think running can be something that's really good for them.
00:09:31
Speaker
You get to be outside. i mean, you can always run on a treadmill or run like on an indoor track, but I think most times people enjoy getting outdoors and being able to just spend some time outside. I think I read a stat somewhere that was saying we spend roughly 90% of all of our time indoors, which is kind of insane to think about because as humans, we didn't evolve that way. We spent most of our time outdoors, but now we spend most of our time indoors. And I've just noticed for myself,
00:09:56
Speaker
That the more time that I can spend outside, get some sunshine, get some fresh air, be out with nature or around trees and plants and different things like that, you just feel better. like You just feel better versus when you're always cooped up and inside. And so running just provides you another opportunity, another reason, another excuse to just get outside. You get to listen to music or podcasts while running, which is one of my absolute favorite things to do. Listen to music or listen to some podcasts, maybe some audio books, different things like that.
00:10:24
Speaker
It makes you fitter, which in the short term can help you with tons of different things. For me, I've noticed that helps me with my lifting. I've noticed that it helps me with other activities like playing basketball or like going on a long hike. I just have better endurance. have better energy throughout the day and maybe one of the biggest things that i really enjoy is how quickly i can now bounce back from hard or stressful days like if i go and i work out really hard or if i go and i have a hard run or if i just have a tough day of just doing different stuff i feel like i'm able to bounce back quicker because i have that ability from running very frequently that my body now can just bounce back versus like when i first started this it's like i go on a longer run or go put in a run and I'm pretty sore the next day or I'm feeling it the next day. Whereas like now, like I bounce back and I can do these things over and over and over again. And I think that's really helpful and really useful just in your everyday life, especially, you know, if you're having stressful days, if you're going through different things, it's, it's helpful to just feel physically fit and just feel like that vitality and feel like you're able to recover and able to take on the day when you wake up the next day. Long term, we know that cardio is one of the best things that you can do for your health. So, I mean, if you have a good cardio, if you have a healthy heart, if you have healthy lungs, if you have a higher VO2 max, we know that that is associated with living a longer life. So you're literally adding life onto your years by improving something like cardio, which you can do obviously through running. You can build discipline. There's lots of days where you don't want to run. but having that habit of just running and doing something hard daily helps to build up that discipline muscle builds confidence i think this is a really underrated part of running that i didn't really think about when i first got into it but running is one of those things like if you actually train at it pretty consistently you can get good at it fairly quickly you might start out where maybe you can't even run a mile without stopping and pretty quickly you'll be able to run a mile without stopping and then pretty soon after that you'll be able to run three miles without stopping and then you can run five miles without stopping. And then pretty soon, like with consistent training, you could go from barely being able to run a mile to completing a 10 mile run or a half marathon in probably three or four months for most people, which is insane. And then you can work your way up to doing a marathon if you really want to do that. And I think
00:12:33
Speaker
For a lot of people, the idea of running even five miles just seems crazy to them. But with consistent training, it really doesn't take all that long to be able to get to a point where you can do something like that. And I think that type of confidence just makes you realize that you're capable of doing a lot of things, whether that be physically, but also in other areas as well. I think oftentimes we just sell ourselves a little bit too short. We don't give ourselves enough credit that we're actually capable of doing really hard and difficult things. And I think running is just that constant reminder that you're able to do that. i mean, when I first started this, like the idea of running 26 miles to me was just insane. And now I've run 26 miles a couple of different times. I've gone on multiple 20 mile runs. I go out and I run at least 10 miles just about every single weekend. That seems insane to think about a couple of years ago, run going out just on a random day and running 10 miles, like seems very, very so far removed from something that I'd want to do or even be able to do. But now it's just something that I can do. I went on my Estrada the other day and there's, you can filter out different runs and kind of see like where you're at with activities and things like that. And I think up to this point, I've run almost 50, 10 plus mile runs, which is nuts. Like that's just nuts to think about. Like at one point I was 300 pounds. At one point, I had a torn ACL, MCL, PCL meniscus in my knee and had to go through a whole rehab thing to get that fixed. At one point, I just absolutely hated running and could never see myself doing something like that. And now that's just something that's just ah another Saturday or Sunday for me. That's just another day like i can go out and do something like that, which is really cool. Again, it just reminds you that you're capable of doing a lot more. than you think, especially if it's an area that you're actually just willing to put in the reps, get better at, you can do really cool things.
00:14:14
Speaker
A couple more things that I think running provides that I think can be super helpful to just think about to get you excited or get you into running. You burn a few extra calories, which is really nice. It allows you to eat a little bit more food because you're burning a few extra calories, gives you a little bit more flexibility which for me is very helpful you know allowing me to enjoy some of those treats or have some extra food here or there because i'm running so much and getting 20 22 000 25 000 steps in my day because of running is really nice it's a good stress relief i think that's a reason a lot of people run it's a good mood booster again i think that's a reason that a lot of people like to run it's just that mental benefit that they get from running And then the last thing that I would say about running is just the social aspect of it. Like you can run with friends. Running is, again, starting to become a lot more popular. If you've ever been to like a racing event, and a lot of those just have a lot of high energy, a lot of people supporting each other. There's a lot of community and just good things that come from that. If you've ever been to a marathon, it's pretty cool just to see that kind of energy. Now run clubs are becoming very popular. There's just good community around running. And I think that's something that
00:15:19
Speaker
We've been missing a lot with just phones and technology and just different things like that where it's harder to find that. And I think with running, there's lots of communities and lots of groups out there and lots of people who enjoy it where it makes getting some of that community and getting around good people and getting around people who inspire you and people who have like-minded goals and people who want to see you do well and exercise and move your body. Running provides a lot of that. So the social aspect of running is really cool too. So I think two just main takeaway tips that I would give you here with just listing all those things is when you're really trying to build a habit, I think there's two main ways that you can do this. From my experience with myself and then also with helping others, if you can find a really strong why, I think that is really important for just helping to
00:16:04
Speaker
reinforce why you want to do this, especially on those hard days where you don't really feel like running or you don't really feel like lifting weights or you don't really feel like chasing that weight loss or this other goal
Motivation and Sustaining Running Habits
00:16:13
Speaker
that you have. so Having some sort of strong why I think can help quite a bit. For me, that's been that mental clarity and just that overall pursuit of getting better at something is the reason why I've really fallen in love with running and why I like it. And for you, it may be something different. And maybe it's not even running. This goes for any type of goal that you have, but finding that strong why is really important. And then the second thing I would say is just Linking as many positive benefits as you can to the activity that you're trying to make a habit is one of the best ways to make it stick. So I just listed all those things that I like about running. And those are the things that have made running so appealing to me. Because when I first got into this, I did not like running at all.
00:16:51
Speaker
And I hated it for the first two and a half months. And I did not think that I would be at this place three and a half years later, where I actually enjoy it. Like I really do enjoy going out and getting runs in. And it's a big part of my life. It's a big habit that I really enjoy now because of all those different things. If it was just the simple fact of like training for a race, I don't think that I would enjoy it nearly as much. But the fact that I get to be outside, listen to podcasts, the fact that I get to see progress in different areas with improving my mile time and heart rate and different stuff like that, building discipline, building confidence,
00:17:24
Speaker
Just all those different things, running running with friends or being able to run different races, things like that. There's just so many little things that I like about it now that it's made it stick. And so when you're trying to find some sort of habit or build some sort of habit into your life, if you can find those little things that you really enjoy about it and really think about those and associate that with the habit that you're trying to build, it will make this stick because you can force yourself to do things that you don't wanna do and you can build habits in areas like that. But to me, it's like,
00:17:53
Speaker
Why wouldn't you try to find things that you really enjoy and that you really like, especially with something like exercise that you want to do for the rest of your life? You want to find activities that you actually enjoy doing. And if you can find little ways that you enjoy those things and then link whatever that big why is to that activity as well, you're going to be able to make that habit stick for the long term. So just a little insight there because I found that when building exercise habits is something that people want to pursue they just oftentimes struggle with it but i think thinking about those two things can help you quite a bit so getting into this first section
00:18:26
Speaker
Getting started with running.
Starting Tips: Gear and Habits
00:18:28
Speaker
Tip number one, get some good shoes. You're about to put in a lot of miles, hopefully, in these shoes. So I would recommend going to a running shoe store and actually having an associate there give you some tips or some recommendations based on your body type, based on your foot, based on you your your goals that you have in the style of running that you're going to be doing, like whether you're going to be doing a lot of road workouts or trail running or different things like that, because When I first got into this, I just went online and I just picked a pair of shoes that I thought looked cool. And I just went with those. And then my second pair of shoes that I got, i actually went to a running shoe store and had them fit me for some actual shoes. And they asked me some questions and they gave me some different shoes to try on. And then most shoe stores will actually have a treadmill there. So you can either run or walk in those. so You can try them out a little bit too.
00:19:14
Speaker
And my second pair that I got felt night and day different compared to my first pair. Like it made my run so much more enjoyable. So if you don't really know what you're looking for, which if you're just getting into running, you probably won't. It makes a lot of sense to go to somebody or go to a store or go to somebody who has a little bit more knowledge than you about this, who can give you some positive recommendations, because it does make a difference if you have some good shoes versus some bad shoes. And The hard part about it is because people's feet and what they like are so much different. You could have somebody who has a pair of shoes that works really well for them and they give you their recommendation. But until you try them on and see what actually feels good to you, you won't actually know what's good. So go to a shoe store, try some different shoes on and then get yourself set up right out the gate. Number two.
00:19:58
Speaker
Go for shorter runs, but do them more frequently. The whole idea here is just to build the habit faster. So rather than going out and trying to run 30 minutes or 45 minutes or run for an hour on your very first run,
00:20:10
Speaker
Break it up into shorter, easier runs. So maybe it's 10 minutes, maybe it's 15 minutes, maybe it's 20 minutes, kind of depending on where your fitness level is at. But do that more frequently throughout the week. So if you can run three or four times a week, 15 minutes at a time or 10 minutes at a time, you're going be able to build that habit a lot faster than if you go and run twice a week for an hour at a time.
00:20:31
Speaker
Obviously, this is going to depend on what you have going on and what you're able to fit into your lifestyle. But I think, again, with running, it's very easy to be able to fit in. Oh, I only need to go running for 15 minutes. Sweet. I can fit that in three or four times per week pretty easily. Like 15 minutes is nothing versus trying to find an hour of time.
00:20:48
Speaker
to fit into your schedule to go run for an hour, that's a little bit more difficult, I think, for more people. And so the whole idea here is to find an amount of runs that you can fit in without biting off more than you can chew because you don't want to go, well, maybe I just should go and run six or seven days a week and do that and build this habit up way quicker. Like if you're first getting into running, I highly recommend that you do not do that. But if you can run three or four times a week, 10 minutes at a time, 15 minutes at a time, maybe 20 minutes at a time, you'll be able to actually establish that habit a little bit quicker james clear has this quote he's the author of atomic habits that he always talks about but you have to establish a habit before you can actually build on it i think so many times in fitness we think that if some is good more is better so we think we're just going to go zero to 100 but rarely does that work you have to be able to be smart be honest with yourself what can i actually do can i do three or four rounds per week if i can then let's do it. If I can't, then go down a little bit, go maybe two runs per week. That's fine. But you have to be able to build that habit up first before you can actually start to add on to that habit.
00:21:54
Speaker
Tip number three, run slower. I think the number one mistake that people make when it comes to running is just trying to run every single run too hard. And I think this can lead to things like injury, like burnout, it can be harder to recover. And I think for a lot of people, it's just not as enjoyable. Maybe for some people who are just they really love that feeling of pain. And they love that feeling of just working really hard, going out and running as hard as you can for 15 minutes, four times a week, that's their thing. And they love that more power to you. But I think for most people doing that over and over and over and over again, just really isn't that enjoyable. So if you can run slower, you can avoid a lot of these things like the burnout, like not being able to recover, like hating your life every time you go out and run. Like one of the things that I tell people all the time, and I've ran with some people who are newer to running and I always tell them, let's go slower than you think you need to go. Like we'll go at your pace, especially if this if this is somebody who hasn't been running for a while, like they don't have that foundation of fitness or that foundation of running.
00:22:52
Speaker
run slower you're going to be able to run further distances you're to be able to control your breathing a little bit you're not going to feel all those aches and pains and different things that you often feel when you first get into running and i know everyone always wants to see like how fast can i run and they want to try to improve it every single time they go out on their run but again you have to build that foundation first and i think when you can build that foundation and when you can start to run slower and it starts to become more enjoyable because you can breathe a little bit better you can actually relax a little bit you can maybe think a little bit running becomes so much easier when you adopt this mindset of getting some miles in getting some time on feet not having to run as hard as humanly possible every time you come out because I tell people this and I know that it probably doesn't sound realistic. But now because I've been able to put a lot of miles in and put a lot of time in when I'm running at these easier paces, like when I'm running slower, that to me feels like brisk walking. So like a lot of my runs, my heart rate is somewhere around like 125, maybe 130 And for a lot of people that would be typically like a brisk walk or maybe like you're hiking or doing something like that where it's not super strenuous. You're at a level where you could do this activity for a really long time, like at least for an hour, no problem. And that's what happens when you run slower, when you can.
00:24:14
Speaker
slow your effort level down, slow your heart rate down, and actually just be able to enjoy the activity, it starts to become something that you can do and so something that you can actually enjoy for a longer period of time. So run slower would be one of the tips that I would give to lots of people who are trying to get into running.
Progression and Injury Prevention
00:24:32
Speaker
You don't have to run every run as hard as you possibly can because it's just it's just not enjoyable and it's probably not going to lead you to where you want to get.
00:24:40
Speaker
The next one I would say, which goes well with the previous tip is to progress smartly. Again, you don't need to run every single run as hard as you can. You don't need to add tons of mileage super quickly. I think for a lot of people, if you can make the goal of getting out like three times a week, just like I did for multiple years after I stopped training for that marathon. And once I was just trying to like get into running and just try to like build that habit a little bit. three times a week was my goal and if you're just starting out maybe it's 10 minutes three times a week maybe it's 15 minutes and then you can progress after that so you'll be able to progress pretty quickly with running so like maybe the next week you're adding five minutes to each run so if you start with 10 minute runs three times a week maybe the next week or the week after that you're going 15 minute runs three times a week and then Maybe after a couple of weeks, it's 20 minute runs three times a week.
00:25:30
Speaker
And you can just continue to build up that way. You want to try to avoid super huge jumps in mileage. And oftentimes in running, you'll hear the 10% rule thrown around. But I actually think there's a better rule that I heard from Steve Magnus, who's a running coach. And he says,
00:25:46
Speaker
10% is pretty conservative, especially for beginners. Because if you think about it like this, if you're running, let's say five miles a week, like if you're running 15 minutes, and you're doing that three, four times a week, and you're getting up to like four or five miles, 10% of four or five miles is very little. So like if you take 10% of five miles, that's only a half mile, you can progress a little bit more quickly than that. And so the rule that he uses is for every day that you're running, you can add one mile per week. So for example, if you are somebody who is running three times per week, when you go to progress your running, you could add three miles. Or if you're somebody who's running four times per week, you could add four miles in your next week when you're ready to progress. That doesn't mean you go up every single week like that, because that would quickly get into a place where like you couldn't sustain that. But let's say that you've been running pretty consistently two or three weeks, you've been running 15 minutes, three times per week, and you feel good, you're ready to progress that a little bit, you could add three miles to your week. So now you're adding three miles total to that time. So maybe you were running five miles per week. Now, this next month or so this next two weeks, you're going run eight miles per week. I think that is a little bit better way to actually progress your mileage because it makes a little bit more sense because your body is able to handle a little bit more than you think. Again, you don't want to go crazy drastic with it, like go from running twice or three times a week at 15 minutes to go to running 40 minutes a week, three times a week, because that might lead to some issues. But you can progress in a smart manner. And I think that's such a big part of staying injury free and being able to actually build the right way is just to progress in a smart way.
00:27:24
Speaker
Another tip for beginners, sign up for some sort of event, some sort of goal. Again, that's how I got into this, but I think having something on the calendar can be a really big motivator. It puts some skin in the game, so you're not just going out there and just running to run. Like you have something in mind, which can be very helpful when you're starting something new, especially when that motivation maybe starts to wear off a little bit.
00:27:45
Speaker
And it just gives you something to look forward to. I think for me, if I didn't have that marathon on the schedule, I probably would not have stuck with running, to be honest. And i probably wouldn't be doing this podcast now. I wouldn't have logged 1,400 miles in this past 12 months and been able to get all the really cool benefits that I've gotten out of running. So I think having something on your calendar can be super helpful. And then the last thing I would say when getting into running is just to give it an honest, real chance.
00:28:12
Speaker
As I mentioned, it took me a while to actually get comfortable and actually start to enjoy running. So give it a good 60 to 90 days. And I think if you can have something on the calendar two, three months away, that actually will help to keep you engaged and help give you a chance to build on that habit and just build some really good foundation when it comes to getting good at running.
00:28:33
Speaker
Getting into the next section with this. So now you've actually gotten into running. Now, how do we actually stay consistent
Accountability and Workout Variety
00:28:40
Speaker
with running? I think most importantly, tip number one, find some sort of accountability can be super helpful. So whether that be a running buddy, whether that be a run club, whether that be a running coach or some sort of person who can help to hold you accountable, it's just easier to stay accountable when you're doing it with other people. For me, i have buddies that I like to go run with or even when I'm not running with them, I just know that they're running because like we have Strava or social media, different things like that. And they're posting their runs. I'm seeing their runs. And there's been many times where I see one of my friends who I run with. Maybe I didn't feel like running that day or I was only going to do like.
00:29:15
Speaker
a couple miles or something and I see one of my buddies post like an eight mile run or something like that. I'm like, well, let me go get mine in. Or there's been multiple times too, like on my own social media where I've posted like a workout or a run or something like that. And then somebody will send me a message and be like, thanks, like you motivated me to go run today. So just by seeing other people posting their runs, people doing the thing that you want to do, and especially if they're friends or people that you enjoy being around, I think it's helpful to just build up that consistency.
00:29:44
Speaker
Tip number two, change up your scenery. One of the things that I have found that works really well for me to help keep me engaged with running is to just run different routes. There's a lot of times where I'll run similar routes, but if I do that every single day, it just becomes really monotonous for me. And so I like to change up my routes. And sometimes that means going to a track running running some different kind of workouts around that track. Some days that means running a different route around the neighborhood.
00:30:10
Speaker
One of my favorite things to do is actually go to like nature trails and run on nature trails because you don't have to worry about anything. You get to be out in nature. You get to run and just relax a little bit. you know You're not worrying about cars or other people or lots of bikes and different things like that. So it's just nice when you can change up the scenery a little bit, you get a little bit of newness, a little freshness as to your running. So if you feel like running is getting little getting a little bit stale, just doing something as simple as changing up your route can be helpful to help keep you consistent. Number three,
00:30:42
Speaker
Good playlist, podcast, or audio books while running is helpful. A good playlist can make all the difference. like if you Especially if you like have a hard run scheduled or maybe like a really long run scheduled, then having a really good playlist that can help keep you hyped up a little bit is helpful for sure. And then if you're going on longer runs, maybe you're somebody who likes podcasts or you like audio books, it's really good way where you compare something that you enjoy listening to or maybe learning something or reading a new book or something like that with your running.
00:31:11
Speaker
I have a online fitness client who would do cardio and they would save their favorite Netflix show to do cardio. So they would hop on the elliptical, they would have their phone or their tablet or whatever, and they would only watch their favorite show when they were doing their cardio. And so this is a little tip that you can use too. So like,
00:31:31
Speaker
If you have a podcast that you really want to listen to, just tell yourself you're not going to listen to that until you go on that run. or If you have an audio book that you're really enjoying, only listen to that audio book and when you go run or some sort of like playlist or whatever. Only listen to that when you go run because it makes you look forward to actually doing that and Then you start to associate those positive benefits with that habit and helps to just build that habit a little bit faster. And then you actually look forward to running a little bit more. This is a concept that I actually learned from a book called how to change and it's called temptation. bundling So when you pair things that you really like or really enjoy, with things that you don't necessarily love or maybe you're just trying to build a habit with you start to associate all those positive benefits with that habit which helps to reinforce that habit and build that habit stronger so find something that you really like a podcast uh audio book a music playlist pair it with something that you're trying to build the habit of in this case running and then you build that habit a little bit stronger and a little bit faster
00:32:27
Speaker
Next tip on this list, change up your training. Running can get very boring and monotonous if you're just constantly running the same runs, running the same routes, running the same paces, different things like that. And so you can start to add different kinds of workouts into your running. And this has been something that I have really enjoyed as I've started to run more. Like there's just so many different styles of running or different styles of workouts that you can do. So you have things like fart licks, which is like maybe you are on a track, you run the straightaways and then you walk or jog around the corners. Or maybe you're running for half mile and then you're jogging for a half mile. You're just changing up like what you're doing and that just adds a little bit of a ride in there. Or you could do something like an interval. So maybe you're trying to hold a sustained pace for a while while you're running, or you could go to a track and do or 800s or mile repeats, which is what I did this morning. Maybe you're running longer distances where you're trying to run a faster 5k or 10k distances. There's progression runs where you're trying to increase your pace for a given distance so maybe every half mile you're trying to knock off 15 seconds and run a little bit faster with each half mile that you go there's just so many different ways that you can add a little bit of variety and i've noticed when i start to do these things it's more engaging and so like you're getting these miles and you're running but you're not actually noticing how much running that you're actually getting so it's just another way where you can change things up add a little bit of variety helps to keep things fresh and enjoyable
00:33:53
Speaker
Next on this list, set a longer goal. So this could be miles in a month. This could be how many miles you're running in six months, maybe in a year. This could be focusing on improving your mile time. Maybe you run want to run under an eight minute or a seven minute or a six minute mile. This could be improving a 5K, a 10K, running a half marathon, a marathon.
00:34:14
Speaker
This could be increasing your pace. Maybe you want to go from like a 10 minute pace to an eight minute pace. This could be trying to run your furthest distance. So going from five miles to eight miles to 10 miles to 15, even all the way up to 20 miles or beyond, you can run further distances. That could be a goal. It's just fun to have something to chase. And so having some sort of goal on the calendar to work towards or something that you're really trying to improve towards, I think can help with just staying consistent. So like for me, one of my goals going into this year was to run at least 1000 miles. And at the time of this recording, I'm actually going to hit that goal this week. So crush that goal because we're in July right now. So we'll see how many miles that we can actually get in this year. But one of my other like long, longer lofty goals is to be able to run a half marathon in under 90 minutes, which is like a 650 ish per mile, which is a big stretch goal for me. And I know that's going to take me plenty of time to actually be able to get to that point to be able to do that. But I think with how much training that I've been doing and how many miles that I've been putting in, I think that I can actually do that if I can stay consistent and just continue to work towards it. But having a big lofty goal like that for me is fun. I don't necessarily know how long that's going to take me, but it is fun for me to work towards that. So I think the big idea here is just to have some sort of longer term goal that you can actually work towards to help keep you consistent.
00:35:35
Speaker
Next on this list, so we got two more with staying consistent is to strength train. Staying healthy is a huge part of being able to run consistently. And so you want to make sure that you are plenty durable and you want to make sure that you can prevent injury and strength training is one of the best ways that you can do it.
00:35:51
Speaker
Around 40% of runners get some type of injury every year, which is quite a bit. Like four out of 10 runners are going to deal with some type of injury that sidelines them a little bit or holds them back a little bit. And I think a big reason for that is lots of runners don't strength train. It's not necessarily something that...
00:36:08
Speaker
people who are drawn to running are like your natural runners people that you think of typically aren't like super muscular or super into strength training that sort of thing and so i think pairing the two is the best option in strength training in my experience has been a huge reason why i don't think i've ever dealt with any sort of injury that has held me out I've rehabbed a knee. I used to have really bad knee pain, different things like that, but I have felt really good with running. And I think a big reason for that is because I have such a good foundation of strength training and it's always a regular part of my routine. It just keeps your bones, joints, ligaments, muscles, all that stuff really strong.
00:36:44
Speaker
And when you think about running too, it's it's helpful with helping you not only just with injury prevention, but also with becoming a better runner. So when you're stronger, it improves your running economy, which a simple way to think about that is like let's say you go in the weight room and you're working on your bench press when you first come into the weight room like maybe you can bench 135 and that's hard for you but then eventually you stay in there you put in the work you get stronger than at some point maybe you hit 225 on your bench when you go back to lift that 135 it is much easier to lift 135 when your bench press max is now 225 So think of running economy the same way, like as you get stronger, as you build up your legs, as your legs gain more muscular strength and gain some power and add some muscle switch to your frame. Now running just starts to get easier. So you're in the same body and running might've felt a little harder at first, but the stronger that you get, the easier and the smoother that that running is going to feel.
00:37:37
Speaker
The other part of this with strength training is that just being more powerful helps with your running as well. So when you think about strength, strength is how much force you can produce. And then power is how fast you can produce that force. So strength is just your absolute force that you can provide. So if you think about strength, like we don't care how long it takes you to lift 500 pounds off the ground to deadlift it. and When we think about power, if we want to be really powerful, we want to lift that 500 pounds off the ground as quickly as we can. We care about moving quickly. So
00:38:09
Speaker
Power is also helpful when it comes to running because if you can get off the ground quickly, if you're more powerful, if you're more springy, you're typically going to be a little bit faster. So building strength, building power is both helpful to help you improve running, but also from an injury prevention perspective. So strength training at least a couple of times a week can be super helpful just with staying consistent with running. And the last thing on this list is to track your metrics. With running, there's so many different things that you can track and This is one of my favorite things because kind of geek out and nerd about like data and numbers and different things like that. And again, I just love seeing progress in different ways. And so I think it can be super motivating when you track progress. So this could be the amount of miles or just time that you're spending running each week or each month or each year. This could be your paces for your runs. This could be your heart rate. This could even be just like comparing your old runs to your more recent runs and just seeing some of that progress. There's tons of different ways that you can track progress. And now most people are wearing some sort of like fitness watch or wearable or even using something like Strava on your phone can provide you with tons of different metrics to actually show you that you're making progress, which again, seeing that progress is very motivating and can just help to keep you consistent because when you see that progress, you want to continue to make more progress and see where you can get and so it's kind of this little reinforcing wheel
00:39:30
Speaker
Third and final group of this podcast, getting faster.
Optimizing Performance with the 80-20 Rule
00:39:34
Speaker
Tip number one, follow the 80-20 rule. So this kind of goes back to running slower, but you want 80% of your miles to be pretty easy. And then you want 20% of your miles or your runs to be hard. So if you're running three times a week, this isn't going to be like an exact ratio. So it might change a little bit. And especially as you start to increase your mileage, then this rule starts to become more important. But if you're more like maybe 70-30 or even like 60-40 when your mileage is pretty low and you're not running a whole bunch, you're still going be okay. But if you're running three times a week, like if you do something where you have like one easy run, maybe one more moderate run and then one hard run, that's pretty solid to follow. Or if you're running 20 miles in a week, let's say you want to have four or five of those miles to be pretty hard, pretty challenging miles where you're really pushing the effort. And then the other 15 are going to be pretty easy. So you just want to make sure that you have this good ratio here because then you're able to make the most progress. If you're trying to run
00:40:25
Speaker
Every single run as hard as you can, you're not going to brookke progress very well and may lead to like injury or burnout or different things like that. and If you're running every single run super slow, you're also probably not going to make great progress either. So you want to have like a mix of the two and 80-20 is a good ratio to keep in mind.
00:40:40
Speaker
Step number two is to figure out your formula. So with that eighty twenty in mind, you still may have to move some things around just a little bit to figure out what actually works best for you. Because when we think about this from a real life perspective, which again, we always want to make these things practical, maybe your life circumstances only allow you to train twice per week or three times per week. So then that formula is going to look a little bit different for you. Or maybe you're like me and you want to also continue focusing on strength training. And that's still something that you want to prioritize because you want to build muscle and build strength. And so I work out four times per week. I strength train four times per week. So running for me might look a little bit different. I know that if I start to add in too many hard miles, I just can't recover from all of it. And so for me, I found like a really good formula
00:41:27
Speaker
I'm doing one hard workout per week where I'm just pushing the tempo, pushing the intensity, pushing the effort. I'm doing one longer run per week, which for me right now is anything 10 miles and above is considered a longer run for me. I typically do that on a Saturday or a Sunday. And then the rest of my running that I'm doing, whether that's two or three runs, that week, those are just gonna be easy miles, like really slow, easy miles. I can breathe conversational pace. And I have found for me, that's been a pretty good formula where I can be consistent. I feel like I'm still progressing and it's not taking too much out of me. So you have to play around with this a little bit. I think having some sort of like general framework is pretty helpful. So that 80-20 rule can be helpful, but then ultimately figuring out what's the best formula for you.
00:42:09
Speaker
Number three is fuel better. Carbs. If you're starting to run more, having just regular carbs in your diet is going to be helpful. And if you're a person who has been a lower carb type of person, like you just don't eat a lot of carbs, or maybe you're intentionally trying not to eat carbs, you will notice when you're starting to add in more running or just endurance training, just cardio in general, that having more carbs in your diet will be helpful especially as you start to do more of it so if you're not running a ton a week like if you're only running 10 15 miles something like that you don't need to like carb load or just get tons and tons of carbs but just having some carbs at most of your meals like potatoes like rice like oats like pasta like fruits like vegetables like whole grains having one of those things in most of your meals is probably going to be sufficient and then if you want to get maybe a little boost get some pre-run carbs so 20 to 60 minutes before your workout if you can have like a piece of fruit or just have something that has some carbs in it you could get a little bit of help that way or if you're going for very long runs if you're doing anything over like 75 minutes and actually adding some carbs in during your run can be helpful so the rule thumb that you'll hear thrown around a lot is like 60 to 90 grams of carbs per hour so you could use like some gels or some goose or some sports drinks, I like to just go with candy. I'll just take a handful of candy and just throw that in at long run. And I don't always do this.
00:43:27
Speaker
You don't have to get super neurotic or like think about this going to make or break your run. But if you're running a lot and you're starting to notice, like maybe you don't have as much energy as you would like, then starting to just prioritize more carbs during your regular meals. And then also maybe before and during your runs can be something that can help.
00:43:46
Speaker
Staying hydrated, big importance here. Being dehydrated, especially if it's hot, can tank your runs pretty quickly. And I've learned this the hard way in really hot temperatures. Like if I don't have enough water, i start to notice it immediately. Like your pace will start to slow down.
00:44:04
Speaker
How hard the run feels will start to increase pretty quickly. Your muscles may start to feel a little heavier, like your legs start to feel heavier. And it's just not super fun when you're dehydrated. So just Staying hydrated throughout the day. If you're running when it's really hot, maybe be having some electrolytes before your run can be helpful or afterwards to just help replenish some of that salt that you're losing. if you're going on really long runs, then maybe taking some fluids with you can be helpful as well. Again, you don't have to overthink this, but I think it's just... worth mentioning because if you're not staying hydrated it will start to affect your runs like for me i just try to make sure that i'm drinking plenty of water throughout the day and then if i go on a run that's longer than probably 75 minutes then i'll take some fluids with me other than that i don't stress it too much i try to take some electrolytes before if it's really hot and then after if it's really hot but other than that just be smart about it and just stay on top of it
00:44:53
Speaker
Two more left in this getting faster section. Hills and heat training can improve your running. Hills will make you faster, so throw those in the mix, whether that be every other week or just every once in a while, just doing either like some hill sprints or just adding in some hill training can help to make you a better runner. Just think of it as a different form of stress for your body. So running up hills, obviously a little bit harder than running on flat ground. So then when you go back to run on flat ground,
00:45:20
Speaker
it just feels easier like your heart is learning to pump a little bit more efficiently your legs are building some strength and endurance and so running some hills throwing some some of those in the mix can be helpful and then same thing with heat heat is just an extra stressor on the body and you'll notice that when the temperatures start to get cool again that you will actually feel like running is a little bit easier now obviously you want to make sure you're being safe if you're running in heat and different things like that because we just had a really really hot couple of weeks here in iowa and i have noticed that since it's cooled off this week my runs have felt so much easier. My paces have improved quite a bit because I was still running when it was really hot and I was going outside. Some of those days it was getting up to 100 degrees or 105 degrees with heat and humidity and your body is just struggling to stay cool and it feels hard and the effort level is really high. But then now that it's gotten cooler again, all those runs feel so much easier now. So adding in some heat training or some hills can help to improve and make you a better better runner and a fast runner.
00:46:19
Speaker
Then the last tip for this podcast, run with faster people. So a lot of the people that I run with, they're faster than me. I'm trying to catch up, but they're they're faster than me. And so just running with people who are a little bit quicker than you can help to just push you a little bit, just help to give you a little bit of that nudge. Because if you're always running on your own, it's really easy to just sandbag it. And especially when you're trying to get some of those harder efforts in, it can be helpful just to run with some faster people to help keep you motivated and just to help push you a little bit. And so With all that, I know that was a lot. I think that was 19 different tips. If I had to boil this down to three different things, these are the three that I would pick out. Now, obviously, if you have other things that stuck out to you, then by all means, use those things because you're not supposed to put all 19 of these into play right away. But if there's one or two that jumped out to you, then use those.
00:47:06
Speaker
But again, with that being so much information, these three, probably the most important that I would say, Focus, number one, on building the habit before you worry about all the other stuff. Just focus on shorter runs, just building the habit of running, getting out there, getting some miles in three times a week, four times a week, and then just build on that over time. Progress really smartly so that you won't get hurt or injured or burned out and just focus on building a good foundation, building that habit.
00:47:30
Speaker
Then you can start to add in all the other stuff. Number two would just be to run slower. Remember to think about that 80-20 rule. Not every run needs to be as hard as humanly possible. Not every has to leave you gasping. Not every run has to leave that blood feeling in your throat where you run so hard that it feels like blood's about to come out of your throat. So it should be enjoyable sometimes. Like just run slower. You're still going to get better as long as you're getting miles in. And then number three, I would say is just find ways to make it enjoyable, whether that is like tracking progress, whether that is running with other people, whether that is running some new routes, whether that is signing up for a race or having some sort of goal or trying to work out. Just find ways to make this enjoyable so that you can actually help to make this a long term thing and something that you actually enjoy.
00:48:18
Speaker
And with that being said, i know this was more of a little niche episode, like specific to running. And if you are thinking about getting into running or you have been running, hopefully this was helpful to you. And if you know somebody else who's been thinking about getting into running or they are runner, send this to them. This could probably help them out a little bit because...
00:48:34
Speaker
I've logged a couple thousand miles over the last few years since getting into running. And there's some things that I wish I would have done a little bit differently or maybe known a little bit sooner and some things that I've seen just working really well with my own training. And so I thought I would get on here and share this with other people. So share it if you feel compelled to do so. Otherwise, i appreciate you listening and we will see you next week.