One day this past July, I left my house and decided to see how far I could run without stopping. I ran ten kilometers and then cried my eyes out on my porch while choking down a Gatorade on the phone with my sister, who I called to ask if I should go to the hospital in case my heart was going to fail. Though I don’t recommend going from zero running experience to a 10k (which left me sore and basically bedridden for two days), I was crying so hard because I’ve never felt so proud of myself in my life. Since then, I’ve ran a half marathon, and I’m now working on getting speedier and stronger while still weightlifting in the gym.
As an arts and crafts type of homebody, athletics have never been my strong suit and for most of my life, I thought that any kind of athletic activity was pretty much not something I was qualified for. I worked hard at school and found a sense of accomplishment elsewhere, but all that is different now: running is the hardest and most rewarding thing I have ever done. The feeling of pushing through something physically demanding is different than working hard at school or a desk job because it engages your entire body and mind. Running is a mind game that looks physical. You can ask (or force) your body to truly do anything if you think it’s possible.
I read somewhere once that it’s a tragedy to not witness your own maximum physical capacity. You’re only young once, so how much will you regret not seeing what you could have done? The key here is to understand that not everyone is a track star. Specifically, I am no track star. My times are slow, picking up speed is still beyond difficult, and you can often find me staring at the wall in my room, having a massive mental battle with myself just to leave the house and get in a couple of kilometers. Despite all of this, there’s still nothing like the feeling of knowing you pushed yourself to your absolute limits. Beyond that, there’s really nothing like jogging down the coast of Lake Ontario on a sunny day, and the tightness in your legs afterwards as the proof of the feat you just accomplished. I ended up in bed after my first 10k rather than the hospital, and what’s a little pain compared to knowing that I’m working on becoming the best version of myself?
Contrary to my knowledge of five years ago, the best version of yourself does, indeed, include the physical. It didn’t matter how successful I was at school, because something was always missing and now I know what it is. You can’t go through life ignoring your body because your body contains your mind and soul, and being your best self means that all of the aspects of your identity are working together to achieve a common goal. I am my best self when I’m running. I’ve never been an athlete but I am now, and I’m ten times more confident now that I know I can do things I used to think were impossible. If you too, think running is impossible, here are your first steps to start running:
Before you go
Most people I know have a pair of running shoes, no matter how old or ratty or poor quality. You don’t need super expensive shoes to start running. I didn’t have to buy better ones until I started marathon training and putting in longer distances. If you’re just looking to start, just put on your running shoes and go.
You should always stretch before you go on a run and as you start to build up your skills, you might notice you have some weak areas. I went from zero physical activity, then to the gym, then to running, and I had a lot of those: my hips were tight and I started to develop knee pain. Make sure you focus your stretching on the parts of your body that need it the most, warm up slowly, and get referred to a physiotherapist if problems persist. Human beings are designed to run! You don’t need to let pain scare you, you just need to take care of it.
I recommend downloading the Nike Run Club app and starting a “Couch to 5K” program, which takes you from really easy beginner runs through progressively harder ones. The app tracks your mileage, syncs to your music, and you can test out different kinds of runs to see what suits your vibe the best.
If you’re looking to get settled into a routine, a lot of running programs include the three basic types of runs below.
EAsy Run
This is either part of your running schedule or just your first couple of runs. If you’re a beginner, you might want to just get out there and try a kilometer or two. Once you’ve built up stamina, you should work in at least one easy run throughout your week.
“Easy” runs aren’t easy, but they’re less hard than other runs you’ll try. “Easy” just means that you want to keep your heart rate down and your breathing even, which means you’re going to be pretty slow, especially at the start. For me, easy runs looked like slow jogging that was just barely faster than a speed walk. There’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed of if your easy run is snaillike because the point is to focus on your heart. Having no experience with cardio, easy runs taught me how to train my heart to stabilize and control my breathing, which is an invaluable skill for running, cardio and generally living a healthy life.
Interval Run
Interval runs help you to get faster, and they’re what I’m focusing on now. The Nike Run Club app is super helpful with these because you can choose a guided interval run, and it’ll tell you how long to run for, how fast, and when to slow down. I’m still walking between my intervals!
Long Run
This is by far my favourite run and one that’s really good for sightseeing. They’re self explanatory: a little longer of a run, probably a little slower too. During long runs, you use the breathing skills you’ve learned from your easy runs in order to pace yourself and build endurance and stamina.
Keep in mind that “long” is relative. Some people are training for marathons, while others are building up to be able to run a 5K. Your long run is exactly as long as you want it to be, as long as you’re pushing yourself to go the farthest you can go.
In Between and After
A lot of the work of convincing myself to run happens in between and after runs and I find consuming running content on social media really helpful. Some of my favourite running girlies on Instagram are @emilyjanefairs and @hannahtrenches (who is a super supportive slow runner like me!). If you need something a little more forceful, there’s nothing like David Goggins screaming at you to carry the boats via Instagram reels at 6am to wake yourself up.
Everyone can run, so you can too. There’s absolutely nothing stopping you from seeing what your body is capable of doing. There is nothing quite as rewarding as achieving the impossible. It starts with trusting that the impossible is not really impossible, and that you can do anything that you set your mind to do. Don’t think, just do it!