Doug Freese wrote:
> "Mike C" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > If you're a true beginner, you might start off that first mile with a
> > bit of walking...let the body get into it that way, and when you feel
> > ready (or after perhaps 2-3 minutes of walking), start running. Might
> > not feel quite so hard that way. Just a thought.
>
>
> This isn't rocket science. Start off nice and slow, be this a walk or
> very slow jog. After you feel warmed up slowly pick up the pace but stay
> comfortable. Comfortable is warmed up muscles and the ability to talk to
> someone if they were running with you.
I don't know what you guys are talking about. The start of a run is
always super-easy for me, and I can go way too fast without being aware
of it. I'm always dying near the end of a run. No matter what the
distance is, I can divide my effort so that in the last half mile, the
urge to walk is almost overwhelming, be it 4 miles, 8 miles, 12 or 22.
In the first mile, I can easily clock 30-45 seconds per mile faster
than the intended pace, without being aware of it. I feel light, fast
and springy.
My trick is to avoid going too fast is to limit the oxygen coming in. I
will breathe in, count 15 more steps, then breathe out, count 15 more
steps and so on. The actual count varies on the intended pace and
distance.
But I'm still a youngster, only 35. I'm slicking along with 5W-20 oil,
whereas you old farts have SAE-80 syrup gummed up in the bottoms of
your oil pans that needs 8 miles of warm-up before it reaches those
titanium knee and hip joints.
One thing I find difficult at the beginning that gets easier is the
handling of bad weather. Like heavy January rain coming down. That
requires a kind of equilibrium to establish itself. Mainly, I think,
it's psychological. You stabilize at a certain level of discomfort, and
then when you can take five minutes of it, you can progress to ten.
Then ten becomes twenty, twenty becomes one hour and one hour soon
becomes three.