#3 is debatable. I credit about half of my 40 pound loss to running, and the other half to diet. Then again, I was running 25-40 miles per week. Hell, I just got a dog and adding in the 4 miles of walking per day I do with him, and little change in diet, I’ve been noticing an extra half to three quarter pound coming off a week so far.
Oh, another tip - I’m a lot more consistent lately because I’ve got a friend who pulls up to my house at 6:10 in the everloving morning every other day, and if I’m not ready she’s gonna ring the doorbell. I do miss the ease of just heading out the door and running in my own neighborhood, but going with somebody adds a huge level of accountability and makes it harder to just not do it.
ETA: I should add, very importantly: build up to that mileage! When I first got back into running, after maybe 12 years or so of not running regularly, I started with 4-5 miles per day, 5 days a week. About four weeks later, I screwed up my right arch and had to sideline myself for about four weeks. Go easy, and if you experience any sharp pains, lay off a bit and let your body heal, especially if, like me, you’re in your 30s or older. Couch-to-5k, as everyone mentioned, is a great start if you have no previous running experience. It will ease you into that distance and should avoid injury.
It still boils down to saying that there is no difference between $100 and $40 shoes for you. You need something far, far more expensive. For 99% of the people just starting out running, who are going to do 1 to 2 miles max at much slower than a running pace, it won’t make any difference what kind of shoes they have.
For any sport, running included, you can spend lots and lots of money and get better equipment. But it isn’t NECESSARY if you are just starting out.
For people doing 3 to 4 miles at a running pace, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend more expensive shoes if that is what they need to prevent injury. For someone just starting out I don’t think it is necessary. They won’t be sustaining the high impacts of a hard run nor will they be doing it for very long. If they are prone to injury, it won’t be because of the shoes; it will be because they are out of shape or just prone to injury.
For someone who is just starting out and has made the decision to go move more, I suggest they stop worrying about having just the right shoes or just the right shorts or just the right anything. What matters is that they start moving and developing a healthy, sustainable routine. I’ve seen WAY too many people not even start things like running (or cycling, soccer, tennis, golf) because all these experienced athletes (not to mention Reebok and Nike and Under Armor) keep telling them how they aren’t REALLY exercising unless they get the really expensive gear. Cyclists will tell you how much better cycling is with the right cycling shorts or how you couldn’t possibly mountain bike without a bike with disc brakes and full suspension. Soccer cleats run hundreds of dollars if you want the best pair. For tennis you need the right balls for the right court and the racket made with the latest high tech material that is light but strong and has just the right tension. It goes on and on. No wonder we have an obesity problem in this country.
Ah yes, the ‘sporting good desert’ effect…where underprivileged don’t have access to reasonably priced rackets and balls.
I think, to a beginning runner, there may be a nice psychological pricess that goes on by visiting a running store and being fitted by someone who knows what they’re talking about. And not Dick’s Sporting Goods, a real running store.
I would find it disconcerting to just grab a pair of shoes off the rack at Mega-Mart.
cmosdes: I couldn’t agree more.
As mentioned in my previous post, I ran for many years in $10 Wal-Mart running shoes with no problem whatsoever. The Running Elites™ called me an enigma. “Well that might work for you. But I need a $100 shoe! The cheap shoes just won’t work for me!!” I think it’s a bunch of BS; I think they’ve convinced themselves they are “special” and that a cheap shoe won’t work for them. Golfers also suffer from this problem.
A few months ago I decided to buy my first pair of “real” running shoes ($100 New Balance) just to see what the fuss was all about. I don’t see much difference. They’re a little bit lighter than my Wal-Mart shoes, but that’s about it. Complete waste of money if you ask me.
When my current shoes wear out, I am going back to my $10 Wal-Mart shoes. 
Why?
There is plenty of access to reasonably priced sporting equipment. It is just that too many think they need the expensive equipment.
Your experience with the “experts” in the running store and mine are very different. Here they are staffed by local college kids majoring in sport nutrition or something like that. They do know all the buzzwords, but that hardly makes them an expert. It isn’t like they are orthopedics who have had years of training. They sell shoes to help pay for college. Do you really think the local running store can afford to pay for “experts” to sell shoes?
Despite my initial comments, I do agree with this. If you’re just doing 1 or 2 miles at a time at a very slow pace, the shoe isn’t really going to make much of a difference, and you’ll be fine with a pair of running shoes from the thrift store (which is what my wife wears, and they do fine.) Once you build up your miles, I really do feel that getting the right shoe makes a difference. But the first step, as you said, is just to get off your ass and start doing it. When I first started running distance in high school, I just had a cheap pair of ProWings (from Payless Shoe source) running shoes, and our first practice was a four-mile run (oh, to be young again where you can go out on a four-mile run having never run distance before and not kill yourself doing it.) After a few weeks of running and realizing this was something I was going to stick with, I upgraded to a $90 (c. 1991) pair of Nike Air Huaraches, and, wow, what a difference it was.
I think we are missing this in all the discourse about gear.
Hey, congrats, Munch!! “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”. You just took that first step! It will be hard the first few times, but don’t give up! Keep posting here and we all will encourage ya!!
I ran for years without any gadgets and special gear. Once I started training for specific events (half marathon or longer) I wanted a GPS watch so I could track my pace, time, and distance. Up until then I either plotted a route on google maps that was the distance I wanted, or I just went out and ran for whatever length of time I wanted. At that point I was just running for general fitness so my pace didn’t really matter so much to me as long as I was getting in at least 30 minutes of cardio a day. I think that’s a good, low-pressure way to start.
If you want to track everything the Nano and Nike+ works pretty well, but not as accurate as something with GPS. You’ll have to buy the receiver and the transmitter/pedometer thing (which you’ll eventually have to replace) and either use Nike shoes with the spot in the sole, or get an aftermarket pouch to put on your non-nike shoes. I tried the pouch at first and it wasn’t really all that accurate. Having the Nike shoes helped a bit, but sometimes my stats were still screwy. On the other hand, the GPS options are very accurate. I think the basic choices now are watches like Garmin or a smartphone with GPS. With the phone you can listen to music on the same device and you have the apps for tracking and that let you brag about your run on facebook or whatever, but those seem to be the only advantages and to me are outweighed by it being a fairly bulky and very expensive thing to run with. The watches, on the other hand, track just as well, are easy to read, are waterproof and not at enticing to muggers, if that’s a concern. You mention that the iPhone can trace your route, but I’m not sure I see the utility of this. I like to have my route mapped before I run so I can start and end at the same place and achieve the distance I want, all while avoiding too many road crossings, places without sidewalks, etc. I guess maybe it’s just cool to see it mapped when you’re done.
For clothing I acquired several “technical” type shirts just by participating in various events and really noticed a difference between those and the cotton t-shirts I’d always worn. Now for anything more than 3 miles I like to have that wicking material. I don’t think I outright bought an actual running shirt until I was training for a marathon. For shoes I started in the $60 Dick’s specials and did just fine with those and only moved into more specialized/expensive shoes when I increased distances and training. So don’t feel like you need to jump right into a bunch of expensive gear just because you think you have to. If you stick with running you’ll probably naturally reach a point when you feel like you really could use that stuff. If you’re a dude you also might want to invest in a pack of small round bandages for the nips.
This thread makes me want to run. Y’all are doing a public service here. My dogs, hyper hyper high-energy dogs, thank you. So now I suppose I’ll just trust my legs to do know what their doing.
For a woman I lack grace. Perhaps it can be a learned quality…
No further advice, just a quick note.
Started my nephew on exercising right at the end of June with a couple of 3 km walks. Then running with 5 km jogs. He is seriously overweight at age 13 and has never really had anything approaching an active lifestyle.
For a start, it was a struggle to cover 2 km jogging and then he would need to walk at a grandmother pace.
last night he covered 3 km jogging non stop (at an admittedly slow pace) and then walked. What hit me hugely was how much faster he was walking now - it was very noticable to me (we are talking around 1.5km / hr faster)
This is basically another note for “just get out and do it”. At the beginning, gear, route and all the rest doesn’t matter at all. What matters is just making a start, then getting the rest of the stuff as you go along.
For every runner out there you will find a different motivator that got them going. I’ve personally known 5 people over the last 2 years that went from couch to half marathon and each of them said the same thing: “I can’t believe I did a half marathon.” You can do this.
The absolute best advice that was given in this thread was to start slowly. Listen to your body and don’t injure yourself. Find your motivation and go do it.
For all 5 of those people I mentioned I absolutely was thrilled to hear them talk about their running and progress. I wholly encourage you, Munch and everyone else here who is taking up running to keep posting how you are doing. Please. Even if you have a bad* week, talk about it. Talking about it will keep you motivated and excited about running. Good luck.
*A bad week is relative. Even if you don’t do as many miles as you would have liked or as fast as you would have liked, just getting out and doing SOMETHING is still a good week.
bengangmo Good for you for taking it upon yourself to get your nephew moving. Too many people would just say he needs to get more exercise without taking an active role in making that happen. In just 3 weeks it sounds like he has come a long way. Excellent job.
A question for all you people who are lauding the Couch to 5k program: Would this program be of any benefit to someone who can already run a 5k with ease?
It’s better than sitting on your ass, yeah. But if you’re in shape and run that distance regularly, I would recommend figuring out a different workout. I’m an on-and-off again experienced runner. Couch-to-5k is way too easy for me, so I don’t do it. If you’re comfortable with 5k, I would do something like the following, if you want to run five days a week: start with 4 miles 5 days a week. Then go 4 miles M W F and 5 miles T Th. Then, then next week, do 5 days of 5 miles. Then 5 miles M W F, and 6 miles T Th. Then 6 miles five day a week. Then that’s when I level off. I keep it at 6 miles, but I add a Saturday run that’s a “long run,” starting with an 8 mile run, moving up to a 15 mile run one mile one week at a time. In the meantime, I also vary the weekly runs, so I do intervals, fartleks, etc and that sort of stuff, but I wait until I have about two months of training before I start going crazy.
Cool Running has a pretty good schedule for all levels. I used Runner’s World in the past, but it seems their training schedules are no longer free.
ETA: I should add, when I say “if you’re comfortable with 5k,” I mean that the distance is easy peasy for you, no struggle whatsoever. If it’s somewhat a challenge, drop down at least a mile of what I suggested. DO NOT OVERTRAIN!
Well, I run 4 miles each way once a week (to and from work), and other than that I’m doing the Insanity workout program and high intensity interval training at my gym, so no, I’m not sitting on my ass. I’m not interested in doing it right now since I’m smack dab in the middle of Insanity, but I was wondering whether it was something I ought to be looking into when this program is done. It sounds like the answer is no. Thanks for the info!
Yeah, if you do four miles once a week, I would start with 3 mile runs myself and work myself up.
Wait, so you do 8 miles, once a week (4 miles each way) then? I’d still take it easy, and do 3 miles five days, then 3x3, 4x2; going up. It’s not going to take long to work up to significant mileage, and it’s always better to go slowly.
Couch to 5K is designed to get very beginning or lapsed runners from zero running to being able to complete 5K. On my very first day I was unable to run the total number of intervals. I had to walk some during the last 2. Now I can run 4 miles without stopping. The only benefit I can see to doing the program after you are able to run that distance is to get faster.
Do you want to be able to run for longer distances or do you want to train to be faster at your current distance level?
The problem is, if you can run that distance, you’re going to get friggin BORED doing it. Couch-to-5K is a wonderful program. Seriously, it’s great. But if you have any experience running, I think you’re going to get frustrated with the skill level, and there are better ways of restarting distance running without injuring yourself, while still challenging yourself.