Want to start running after Rich and Ollie directed me towards it as escapism rather than cardio. Would do me good to lose some festive/misery flab.

I've outlined a route for doing in the morning at about 6.30am. It's 2 miles, which I thought would be a good start point for someone long past running to catch the ice cream van. I reckon that it would take about 20 minutes first go and would come down quite quickly within a week. There are hills up and own the route and it's easily extended.

I always have a meal at around 4am at work, usually a chicken salad with no carbs but would add either pasta or potatoes in here and then after the run, a blend of MPC/WPC and then straight to bed or is that bad?

Things to consider are:
Additional nutrition - any form of fast carbs required pre/post/during, take water?
Progression - basically how?
Weight Training - is it ok to do a full body after waking from a run?

Thanks in advance

I would advice not to try and get faster every time and to make sure you have rest/recovery days.

So eg take the first 3,4,5,whatever days fairly easy - You may find you can't run every day to start with and need some days off in between initally - once you' can get round fairly comfortably and have no Doms next day consider upping the pace - I'd suggest alternate days eg day 1 up the pace, day 2 easy/recovery day, day 3 up the pace again etc.

If you start thinking 2 miles ain't enough, consider going round twice once in a while - again do an easy day after the first time you go round twice to recover before trying that again - and gradullay up the frequency

Once you've got that sussed, you can think about 3 or more time round

That's how I started running many many years ago - I couldn't even get round the block (just over a mile) initially, but with some perseverance and making sure I had recovery/easy/shorter days in between the gardually increasing longer runs I built up quite quickly.

Good Luck

Definitely try to build up gradually. Try to get out at least 3-4 times a week and try to run for a little longer each time. Don't worry about pace too much to start with, start out at 20 minutes, just go for a couple of minutes longer every time you go out. within 3 weeks or so you'll be running for 40 minutes on that basis, and that's when you'll really start to feel the benefits.

What I found was that I'd get a second wind after 50 minutes or so, and would feel elated/high for the next 20-30 or so. Great feeling.

ollie wrote:What I found was that I'd get a second wind after 50 minutes or so, and would feel elated/high for the next 20-30 or so. Great feeling.

Is that right? I've felt the second wind high, but i've never ran for more than 40 minutes.

ollie wrote:Definitely try to build up gradually. Try to get out at least 3-4 times a week and try to run for a little longer each time. Don't worry about pace too much to start with, start out at 20 minutes, just go for a couple of minutes longer every time you go out. within 3 weeks or so you'll be running for 40 minutes on that basis, and that's when you'll really start to feel the benefits.

What I found was that I'd get a second wind after 50 minutes or so, and would feel elated/high for the next 20-30 or so. Great feeling.

Agreed and know that feeling

Also I find the first 3/4 minutes are the worst - It takes that for my system to catch up with the demands I'm placing on it by running - Once you get through that barrier it's ok.

Karlos wrote:

ollie wrote:What I found was that I'd get a second wind after 50 minutes or so, and would feel elated/high for the next 20-30 or so. Great feeling.

Is that right? I've felt the second wind high, but i've never ran for more than 40 minutes.

Definitely, yeah. I'd usually get one at about 50 mins then if out for longer, another at 90 mins or so.

Thanks guys. Was chatting to my brother this morning, he used to be quite a good runner but is now 18 and can barely walk or speak:)

4 days/week will be good. So start out at the 2 miles, get it down to a decent time, but don't push every day, cruise every other. Then when it's simple, up the ditsance to 2 laps or make the route that much bigger.

Are you supposed to run in the rain? might seem a daft question, but was just wandering if it's more harm than good. I guess a shower is ok but buckets?

I loved running in the rain. Can't beat a long run in a storm - hilarious fun!

ollie wrote:I loved running in the rain. Can't beat a long run in a storm - hilarious fun!

Same, used to do it down at the beach, tis awesome!

Running in the rain is a personal thing - Light showers are quite nice - Torrential rain is just plain unpleasant - But when training for a race it's something you just have to do - The worst thing is your shoes get soaked and heavy and really uncomfortable if it's really tipping it.

My advice - especially this time of year - Is make sure you're warm - woolly hat & gloves - running 'tights' are better than trackies as they don't get weighed down in the wet - plus thermal top eg Helly hansen type of thing - I preferred being warm and wet than dry and cold - TBH when wearing waterproofs you get wet anyway - once you start sweating you end up wet however breathable they're supposed to be - The best bit about waterproofs is they stop the wind biting.

All good advice.

I would also re-stress the building it up gradually. I didn't and (although partly due to poor biomechanics) I ended up with severe shin splints.

Do make sure you have decent shoes as well, you don't have to spend out loads but make sure they aren't really tatty and that they fit you well.

All good advice from those above!

I also like fully challenging myself every three/four weeks, where you run at a decent-fast pace for as long as you can, and push trough the pain barrier... that's when the elevation of the second wind really hits you and you realise you can run a lot further than you thought... I'd give it a few months before doing this tho just getting used to how your body responds! Makes you feel pretty damn good and keeps you motivated!

I'm pretty sure Ollie said before that he used to be a long distance runner/x-country runner Karlos, which is probably why it takes him a fair bit longer to get the second wind...

Now is a briliant time to start the running too Upright, winter will keep your body cooler and allow you to go a lil bit longer, and your body will have adjusted over the next few moths to the slightly warmer temperatures so it's not a massive shock.