A Fart What???

Now that everyone is inspired by the New Year to start running, most people wonder where to start....
Do I just go out there and run as hard as I can until I pass out?? ummm no.

There are a few great ways to start the ever simple sport of running. You can build yourself up by doing a program like the C25K (couch to 5K). Where you simply alternate walking and jogging until you build your jogging distance up to 3.1 miles.
I didn't know about the C5K until I was already into running a few miles, so my trick was just whenever I started getting tired, I would try to finish out the song on my ipod until I rested or until the end of a certain block -pick a point to make it to before resting. After a while, you are going farther and farther each time until you need to rest.

After you can easily hammer out 3 miles is when you start wondering what else you can do to improve. If you hang out with runners long enough, you will hear them talk about fartleks and tempo runs. Here is a little break down on what those are:

Fartlek-
warm up -brisk walk 3 min
run-1 mile average pace
rest set- 3 min at slow jog
work set- 30 seconds at fast pace
rest set - 3 min at slow jog
keep repeating 3 min/30 sec intervals until you reach 20-25  min
run -1 mile average pace
cool down-slowly jog for 5 minutes
Tempo Run-
1 mile easy running
2-4 miles harder running (10 seconds slower than 10K pace)
1 mile easy running

Happy Running!                  ~Becky