"Big rivers start with tiny trickles of water". With that image, Red Runners coach Pedro Rojas sums up his philosophy for people who want to start running.
No impossible goals, no comparisons with elite athletes. Just a first step, and then another.
Rojas has more than 30 years in athletics and trains runners and walkers for events ranging from 5Ks to marathons. He explains that the decision to start comes with three key questions: how am I going to do it, what do I need, and at what level do I want to achieve it.
His first recommendation is to structure your time: decide which days you will train, at what time, and where. That planning is what eventually becomes a routine.
👟4 tips from Pedro Rojas for starting to run
Don't limit yourself. "Exercise has many modifications. The important thing is to do it," he said in an interview with Platea. He also noted that a coach can help you set goals based on your needs.
Focus on time, not distance. "Don't tell yourself 'I'm going to do three miles, four miles.' It's better to do 30 minutes of whatever you can manage, and build from there," he said.
Set short-, medium- and long-term goals. Goals will help you increase activity progressively, rather than trying to do everything at once and feeling overwhelmed when you don't see results.
Start by walking for 10 minutes. Then assess how you feel to determine whether you can increase your time and pace.
Begin by training twice a week. Eventually you can do it three or four times a week, even five if you want to train at a more advanced level.
Exercise around your neighborhood while exploring and getting to know other places.
Try cross-training. If you run three or four times a week, your body will take a greater impact compared to when you started out walking. So you need to pay attention to how you're handling it.
Rojas recommends cross-training, which means alternating the activities you do on your exercise days. "You raise the volume of work. It keeps training from getting so monotonous," he added. You can walk, swim or ride a bike. Another element is strengthening your muscles, so you could go to the gym and lift weights, for example.
Why is muscle strengthening so important?
According to Dr. Jordan Metzl, a sports medicine physician at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, running alone does not build enough muscle strength to prevent injuries over the long term. "The old notion was run, run, run," Metzl told The New York Times. Runners, however, need strong muscles to absorb the stress and impact of hitting the pavement. Building muscle power can also improve speed and endurance.
Lauren Roberts, a physical therapist in Ontario who works primarily with runners, told the Times that the most common running injuries, such as patellofemoral pain syndrome (known as "runner's knee"), Achilles tendon injuries and shin splints, can be prevented by strengthening the surrounding muscles and joints.
Sample weekly routine for starting to run
Red Runners basic plan
Run/Walk: 1h 35min
Bike: 1 hour
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This is a sample basic plan for starting to run. Before beginning, it is important that you master each phase with its respective exercises and that you have already established the habit of walking as a routine, emphasizes Pedro Rojas, Red Runners coach.
How can you make your training a better experience?
If you have a health condition such as high blood pressure, Rojas recommends consulting your primary care physician before starting a training program. He explained that the physiological effects of sports like running could mean you need an adjustment to your medication dosage.
Warm up and stretch before and after your workout. Focus on the muscles you'll use most during your exercise. Walking is a good warm-up.
More patience, fewer frustrations
"Sometimes frustrations come from going too fast at the wrong moment", Rojas said. He explained that running fast is not the same as running well, so you should not feel bad if you think you are going at a slow pace.
He pointed out that slow runs also have physiological benefits and make up 70% of a training plan.
If you are running with someone and feel like you cannot hold a conversation because your heart is "about to jump out of your chest"…
That is a sign you need to reduce the intensity of your workout, the trainer explained. He stressed that running slowly, moving at a fluid pace, watching your posture and being able to talk "are more important things than going fast."
It also helps to keep in mind that most race and marathon participants are not elite athletes, but people who have made running a lifestyle habit. "There are countless ways to run a marathon. If you watch the Chicago Marathon, 50,000 people run it. Of those 50,000, let's say about 50 are more dedicated to running. The other 49,950 are people who work, have kids…," he said.
Rojas noted that, as a trainer, his purpose is to help people set goals according to what they can do and for that, he pointed out, the important thing is to have commitment and discipline, which also means being able to reorganize the week, if necessary, to keep up with training.
But…
"If you need to rest, rest." In other words, avoid letting running become a mental burden. It should be the opposite: a space to step away from routine, release stress or dedicate time to yourself.
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This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
