‘How can you run so far? I wish I could run as far as you two but I just can’t’
We hear this so often and everytime our answer is ‘we never used to be able to run either but everyone can run, so if we can do it you can as well’. The first race we ever did was a 5K colour run, Rach was on placement year and trained really hard for it. Annie on the other hand was still at University and thought the typical 5km isn’t that far I don’t need to train but boy was I wrong. It was that run though that made Annie want to train properly and actually get into running (after the embarrassment of having to walk some of the way).
5km is honestly the hardest milestone to get to and we tell everyone this time and time again. Start short and just extend your run bit by bit each time and before you know it you will be able to run 5km, it will take time depending on how frequently you run so don’t get disheartened when you first start running and have to walk after 5 minutes.
We have set out some top tips below that we would have found helpful when we first started running
Listen to music- make sure you have a good playlist when you running, something that is going to inspire you to keep going. When you first start running you might want to create a playlist that has a variety of different styles of songs so you can see what you do like or what you don’t like when running. We like to have a mixture between old classics (got to love a bit of spice girls), chart music & a couple of dance songs thrown in the mix.
Download a good podcast-we have recently started to get into podcasts when we run. We find it passes time really quickly as you are concentrating more about what the person is saying on the podcast rather than thinking ‘how much further have I got to go’ after each stride. We have been listening to lots of blogging podcasts and our favourites at the moment is ‘What She Said’ by Lucy She…. And ‘Made Online’ by… this way it means we actually gain knowledge about blogging whilst we are doing something that is good for us- win win.
Invest in some good running trainers-you won’t know how important these are until you actually have them.
Download a running app- make sure you download a running app to your phone so you know how far you have run and what pace you are running at. Not that the pace is important but you will find the more you run the faster you become so it can be interesting to look back at. We are using the Fitbit app as we both have Fitbits but prior to that we always used the Nike running app which we found really good and the distance was always accurate.
Map your route- we always like to have an idea of where we are running so we have something to aim for when we are running. We sometimes use the app map my run as you are able to choose the route you want to go and also know the distance before you leave the house. We would love it if you could give an app your address, let it know the distance you want to run and then allow the app to choose the route for you. If this app already exists then please do let us know because it would be so cool and your run would be different every time which also brings us on nicely to the next point.
Mix up your runs-When we first started out running and wanting to hit 5KM we used to run/part walk the same route every time as we wanted to see how much further we could run this time compared to our previous run. Running the same route over and over again can become borings so if you are feeling unmotivated to go out on a run try a new route because a change of scenery may be exactly what you need.
Running 5km is such a brilliant goal to have for any new runners, find a race you want to run and enter it that way you will have something to work towards (or run towards lol).
Good luck you can do it!