question abut running

I have a serious question about running. I have been walking on my treadmill for almost a year. I am almost a year out with my rny. I have lost 140 pounds and now I think I might be ready to start running. I find myself walking fast on the treadmill and running for short bursts. I just need advice on how to transition to running longer segments my goal would be to run for a mile straight by the end of summer or early fall. I sometimes feel that my body is ready but am a little fearful due to bad knees in the past. My ortho has said I can do whatever I am comfortable with. Does any one have a program or suggestions on how to get to this goal. I wallk about 4 miles in about 50 mins now.                               Thanks Apryl

Hey Apryl!!

I just started running myself. I done some 5k and 10k!! I'm in training to do a 1/2 marathon. When I started my goal was to run a mile then run a mile faster. Now my goal is to finish 13 miles in under 3:30!!

My advice is to buy a book called Galloways's Book on Running 2nd Edition. It will tell you everything you need to know about running.

Best wishes on your journey!!

Since you have had injuries in the past, the main thing you need to focus on is correct running mechanics. You should tighten your "core" (abs, lower back, hips) like you are getting ready to be punched in the stomach, but able to breathe. Correct running is just as much dependent on your abs as it is your legs. I suggest working your core with exercises like push-ups, situps, 6 inch scissors, bicycles, figure 8s, etc. Whenever you land, you should land on the fat part of your foot, the ball. This area is built for absorbing the impact of running on hard surfaces. It may feel awkward, but start walking on them and then gradually start to run. As for getting to your goal, I think the way you are going about it is perfect. Walking fast and running for short bursts to build your endurance is ideal for both losing body fat and also for conditioning your body to be able to run longer. My advice is to run for longer bursts more often, like every 90 seconds then slow down and walk for about 30 seconds. You can try doing this 3 or 4 times to see how your knees take it. See how your body reacts to this and how you feel afterwards. The best guidance is from your own body...no matter what I or anyone else says about this, listen to what your body tells you and increase the frequency of running and doing it longer. Have fun!

I agree with Kevin.  Get Galloway's book and it will help.  You will basically start with a ratio of walking to running and over the course of a few weeks the ratio will move to more running than walking.  Before you know it, you will have your mile. Ex: Week 1 - walk for a minute and run for 30 seconds alternating. Week 2 - walk for 45 seconds and run for 45 seconds alternating. Week 3 - walk for 30 seconds and run for a minute and continue like that until you have run your mile. Good luck Scott

Thank you for that info nowI I have picture in my head what I have to do. Last night on our school's track I was able to run 3/4 of a lap thn walk and alternate I think I ran quite a bit. The track is 1/4 mile long.

Congratulations!  You are walking at a good pace right now.

Check out the Couch to 5k running plan.  It's great.   I started running about 18 months ago, and now I feel depressed if I don't run at least two 5k events a month.  I have done a couple of 10ks and the Philadelphia 10 mile-run this year.   I am signed up run a half-marathon at Disney World in January.  

If you start participating in 5k's you can walk run wal****il you progress to a solid run for the whole 5k.  The main thing I've found to keeping my body focused is never do the same back-to-back exercise.  If you run on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, then do weight lifting and cycling on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  I've been told that you can even take an occassional day off, but I can't imagine why you would.

 Have fun.   Look for slow and steady progress.

Rob

Thank you for the kind words and good info. I just have one more  question how many miles is a 5k run? My son has stated he wanted to participate in a few I think it would be good for both of us. I also agree with  you about switching workouts around. We try to bike and swim also. My hubby and I just joined a gym to start lifting.

5K is about 3.2 miles. Here is I worked out my running.  I have an iPod and I ran on a treadmill so no traffic concerns.  I would load in 20 minutes worth of songs.  Run a song, walk a song, run a song walk a song.  Every week I changed songs and added a few minutes in my workout.  Then I would try to run through two songs, etc. After I got good at running regularly then on Tuesdays and Thursdays I would do interval training where I would run as fast as I could for one or two minutes, then rest for one or two minutes and repeat this over and over for the duration of the workout.  That helped me build up speed and stamina and also was a fun break up for the workout. Right now I am running occasionally to maintain stamina but I have switched to TaeBo DVDs as my main workout.  Next month I'll be doing running in the a.m. and a DVD in the p.m. Mon-Fri along with 2 days of strength training.  I just make different plans out each month a month in advance and then go with it and see what happens.  It's fun to me now :). Good luck!!