A beginner’s guide to running

October 05, 2016 04:16 pm | Updated November 01, 2016 11:06 pm IST

The Wipro Chennai Marathon is back. If you’ve never participated, here’s how you can get started for the city’s marquee running event in December

CHENNAI, 31/01/2016: Participants at the Wipro Chennai Marathon starting from Napier Bridge on Sunday. Photo: R. Ragu

CHENNAI, 31/01/2016: Participants at the Wipro Chennai Marathon starting from Napier Bridge on Sunday. Photo: R. Ragu

India has emerged as a nation filled with runners, with thousands of them taking to the streets every morning. The hot and humid weather hardly seems to deter people in their bright T-shirts and jazzy shoes.

Have you often wondered, on your way to work for an early meeting, perhaps, about what it takes to be one among these? Would you be surprised to hear that it is not a big deal? That literally anyone can become a “runner”? Running can give you a very simple start to a healthy way of life. Irrespective of your current fitness level or age, you can follow the guidelines listed below, to emerge, in a few months time, a healthier and happier you.

Run:Walk method

Start your running journey by taking timed walk breaks. For example, a good rhythm on your first day may be to run for one minute followed by a one-minute walk, repeated 10 to 20 times (for a total of 20 to 40 minutes of exercise). Run gently, making sure you are breathing easily and landing naturally. There is no particular speed at which you must run. It depends on what you are comfortable with, and can keep up for a minute.

A training plan

Ideally, your resolve to run must not be a one-off endeavour. You should plan on getting exercise of one form or the other, four to five times a week. It is best if you run three times a week, with some non-running exercise, such as a cycle ride or a swim, on the other days. For example, you could run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, with a cycle ride/swim on Wednesdays and Fridays, and rest up on Monday to round out the week.

Slow increase in mileage

It is absolutely imperative that you increase your mileage slowly over the course of several weeks. While the run:walk method is helpful for beginners, it is not a magic bullet. Starting next week, go for a 30 or 40-minute run:walk session on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Cap it off with a 5-km session, perhaps at car-free Bessie, where every Sunday, regular runners congregate for their weekend run. In the next week, increase your Sunday run to 6 km, and so on. By the time December rolls around, you should be comfortably hitting 9 to 10 km or so, on your weekend long run.

Rest and recovery

As equally important as running and training is rest. Especially, for a beginner. A good night’s sleep is vital; it allows the body to rejuvenate and will help you perform better when you run. Make sure you treat your rest day seriously.

Knee problems

One common myth is that running can damage your knees. There are no proven studies that show this to be a hard fact. Surely, not exercising, eating unhealthy foods and allowing middle-age bulge to consume you can damage the knees (and many other parts of the body as well) much more. There are runners who are 70+ years old, in Chennai, who will attest to this fact!

All said and done, taking up running will be a big but healthy lifestyle change for you. The guidelines provided here can help you with that first step, but, ultimately, the effort and the rewards are going to be yours. Starting now, you can easily get ready to run at the city’s marquee running event, The Wipro Chennai Marathon (TWCM), on Sunday, December 11, 2016. Get your doctor’s okay, and jump into it.

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