If you’ve decided to start running right now, you’re a very wise person. To start in winter means to arrive in summer in great shape and ready to face your first races (if you want) but also just live the spring enjoying the race in the best season to do it. Here is the checklist to use to start running, which will also help you to have the right motivation to do so. Visit the sports website for find other training tips!
- Do the sports doctor’s examination
It is very important, before you start running, to have the doctor’s blessing. The priest’s blessing is not necessary because, while running, there will be no lack of mystical visions. 😉
With a few tens of euros and a few days of waiting you can prepare a visit to a sports medicine centre. They will check your pulmonary and cardiac function under stress. In short, it is a real essential check-up before embarking on a wonderful journey.
- Choose the right table to start running
A table is very useful to have a precise program on when to go out for a run. An unavoidable appointment to put on the agenda. And the best schedule is right here.
No, let’s not be presumptuous: a lot of people have started running thanks to this very easy table. Just read the comments and you’ll find the right motivation. 😉
- Buy a suitable pair of shoes
Can you go skiing without skis? Can you go cycling without a bike? No.
Likewise, you can’t run without a pair of running shoes. It’s not enough to go to the gym with the light, old shoes that you used to use 2 years ago and that now accompany you to Thursday night aperitifs with friends.
The best way to buy the right shoes for you is to go to a running shop (there are some in every city) and choose with the help of an expert who – after analyzing your support – will recommend the most suitable shoes for your run.
It’s much less complicated than it sounds. It takes you half an hour and you know that you will then have an essential and perfect tool at your feet.
- Don’t neglect to train your whole body
It is true that you run with your legs but it is very, very important to train your whole body. Abdominal and back muscles will keep your body in the correct position, shoulders and neck will prevent you from looking out too much and will make it easier for you to run (besides giving you a better look, believe me). Just 7 minutes a day and you’re done. It doesn’t take that long, does it?
- Practice all day long
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying you have to be like Forrest Gump and run all day. But you have to remember to be a runner at all times of the day: drink water correctly, always prefer stairs and don’t make a big deal if you find a parking lot 300 meters from your destination (it’s only a 3-minute walk).
- Don’t exaggerate
It’s normal that, taken by the initial enthusiasm, you feel like going for a run every day and exaggerating. Here, don’t do that.
I’ll give you an example: I like spaghetti carbonara, but if I eat 10 plates of it I feel sick. In the same way running too much can hurt, especially if you’re at the beginning of your long runner career.
- Keep a training diary
Take a small diary, a notebook, a pad, whatever you want and – every time you finish a run – write down how it went, your feelings, time, distance, everything. Rereading it you will find yourself, your story, and it will be very useful because it will also be the diary of your fatigue that will help you so much to find the motivation when you do not want to get up from the couch.
- Give yourself a goal
When you’ve been running for a few weeks and you’re feeling great, it’s inevitable that you’ll think about setting yourself a goal. The first could be a non-competitive race, a 10 km for example. There are some all over Italy, every Sunday. You can choose the most famous and participated or the ones closest to your home (the ones you will learn to know as “Sunday tapasciate”). It doesn’t matter which one you choose, what counts is having a goal, a reference, a point to reach. It will help you a lot, especially mentally.
- Change route and running partner often
Not everyone can always run on the same course: it can get boring. I advise you to vary, discover new roads, and maybe insert some diversions such as – for example – a friend to go running with, a new playlist to listen to or simply change your schedule: everything changes according to the light and you may be surprised by the views you will see.
- Be patient
It applies to all beautiful things and therefore also to running: nothing is easily achieved. You have to be patient and you will see that little by little you will start running longer and faster. Take it as an exercise that can also improve your everyday life.
One last thing
If you want technical advice on how to run
If you want some technical advice on how to run, we have a post that only talks about this but these 10 rules are really essential to start running on the right foot!
Okay, I’m gonna stop with the bad jokes and go running too! 😉
