Running...Step-by-Step

Anything worth having is worth the hard work. That applies to business, relationships, personal achievements, and to no less degree, your physical health and fitness level. You can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket!

Life is extremely busy ... I know that first hand. There are 168 hours in a week. On average we sleep 56 of them, work 40-50 of them. The remaining 66 are available for a variety of things, like family, friends, projects, entertainment, etc. A mere 4-6 of them should be invested in ourselves, our physical and mental health; well being and frankly, our future. It is a fact that discipline and such an investment in our health and wellness are critical components to cultivating balance in our lives. Taking care of yourself brings immediate and long term benefits. Don't we deserve to have a lifetime of mobility and vitality managed without unnecessary medications and restrictions? Frankly, we are never too young to keep an eye on that prize.

Our heart health is known to be directly related to longevity and an increase in energy levels ALL of us need on a daily basis. Running is a fantastic method to acquire a healthy heart.

Barring any major medical concerns, anyone can do it. The trick is perseverance and really listening to your body. Sometimes we just have to get comfortable with being a little uncomfortable. It means learning to recognize where discomfort (not pain) means progress and where it signals the onset of injury . Yeah ... picking up and running after years of inactivity may bring a little discomfort; that's to be expected. On the other hand, perseverance begets progress, progress begets success, and we know what success begets ... more success. The real benefit is that these cycles feeding into each other spills over into other aspects of life. When you know you muscled through a challenge and succeeded, you can apply all these same dynamics to other facts and come out stronger, better, surer. Who knew a little exercise discipline would make you mentally tougher too!

Being a running junkie, I know I have never finished a run or hard workout and regretted doing it. And yes, sometimes I feel like garbage during it, but nonetheless, I benefit from it; sometimes only to say I didn't want to, but I did it anyway!

So -- get your running shoes on! Beginners -- go for time. Walk for 5 minutes to warm up. Don't think of speed, you're not there yet. Slowly jog and see how far you can go. Maybe only one telephone pole length or fractions of a mile clocked on a treadmill. Walk, recover and see what that next jogging segment nets you. Continue in this manner for 20 minutes. Next week, who knows, maybe two telephone pole lengths or more. Just keep getting out there.

For an experienced runner at any level... spice it up and see some real progress. If your goal is to become faster, there are some easy things to do. Ten minutes into your run, settle on a flat segment and sprint a telephone pole length. (And for us older folks, sprint means just a notch below our all out. No reason to be found on the side of the road with your hamstring lying next to you.) Jog/run again until you feel your heart rate recover to your pre-sprint rate, then do it again. Commit ahead of time to a certain number of these 'sprints'. Going for distance, run at whatever pace left in you, no matter how slow, for 3-5 more minutes. TEACH your body you can, by doing it! Anyone can be a little uncomfortable for a few minutes. One day you'll wrap it up and say, Wow -- that was actually easy. THEN you know its time to set your sights higher.

All in all, it's how you think. I've watched the runners in my classes make tremendous progress. They've learned to be efficient, persevere and most importantly, surprise themselves time and again that with a little push, Oh my gosh, they CAN do it! I think they actually love running now too!

(Ellen Harding is the director of the Adult Running and Youth Speed & Agility Classes She is certified through W.I.T.S. and has personal running bests of 18:54 for 3.1 miles and 3: 18 for the marathon.)