Moderation and sensibility

You don’t have to give up all the badness in your life.  Moderation is one side of the key to good health.  Sensibility is the other side.

Listen to your body

You may choose to just do one jog and the rest walking and increase just that one jog.  Don’t worry how fast or how slow you are going as speed comes with an increase in muscle strength over time.  For the first couple of months, the main focus is to increase the distance or the time you are able to run for.

Cross training, strength and flexibility are beneficial

It is important to start strength and flexibility exercises at the same time if you haven’t already been doing them.  These may assist in avoiding injury and increasing your strength and speed at a faster rate. 

You may find it easier to alternate your sessions between going out for a run/walk and spending time on strength sessions. 

Cross training with another sport or activity is also beneficial in this early phase.

Don’t dwell on missed sessions

If you miss a session, a cycle or even a month or too - don’t stress!  Just start slowly again.  There is no point dwelling on what you’ve missed, but there are plenty of reasons for refocussing on what you want to achieve.

Be happy with what you are achieving not what you aren’t achieving

Don’t expect to perform at the same level too soon.  Improvement happens all in good time.

If you feel any niggling pain, give your body a rest and fix that niggle with appropriate ice/heat therapy, stretching and strengthening before it becomes an injury.

Run how you feel

Make the program suit you.  If you feel you need an easy running day or a rest day, swap the program so you can listen to your body.  You’ll run better times if you don’t overwork yourself. 

On the flipside, if you have loads of energy, don’t be afraid to use it up and see how fast you really can go!

Don’t time every run

Sometimes it’s just nice to go out for a run without a stop watch and enjoy it at a speed which makes you feel good.

Not everyone has to participate in marathons

If you don’t enjoy running for longer than a certain time then run for a shorter period of time.  There are events available to compete in at all types of distances.