Running is a weird activity; most of us either love it or passionately hate it. I used to be one of the people who hated it but slowly started to learn to enjoy it, and little by little learned to love it! The hardest part about running is always getting started, but once you do and your body gets used to it, you begin to feel that runners high everyone talks about it and wants to keep running every day. Here are some of the tips that helped me fall in love with running!
- Start Slow
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Starting slow is super important and it will ensure that you don’t overwork your body. Running one mile is a huge accomplishment for someone who isn’t used to running so be proud of yourself even if you can’t run as far as you wish to.
- Stretch! Stretch! Stretch!
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Before and after your workout, do not forget to stretch. Stretching will help prevent injuries and soreness. Obviously, your muscles will still be sore after running, but stretching will help reduce that. If you don’t really know what you are doing when it comes to stretching, make sure to look up pictures or videos; YouTube and Pinterest are full of them!
- Make Sure to Recover
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Recovery is extremely important, but don’t use this as an excuse to be lazy. Being sore is almost inevitable when you first start running, make sure to stay active during times when you are sore, this is called active recovery and it will help speed up your muscle’s recovery process. Another way to help your muscles recover is to take a warm bath with Epsom salts; it will help relax your muscles and make you feel calm
- Be Consistent
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Consistency is key if you want to build stamina and happens overtime! Start by running every other day, or every three days, whatever feels comfortable for your body, but do not let your body sit still without running for too long; that way, you won’t be able to build resistance. Another thing that is important is to keep track of how much, when, and for how long you are running to ensure that you are consistent.
- Listen to a Good Playlist
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Making a good motivational playlist and listening to it while you run will help make it more fun and enjoyable. Personally, if I don’t listen to music when I’m running, I have the worst time ever, so over time, I made a couple of playlists that I know get me pumped, and I blast them when I’m out on a run. Spotify and Apple music have premade ones if you don’t feel like making your own!
- Don’t Get Discouraged
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Getting “good” at running takes time and consistency, and like I said before: sometimes you won’t be able to run as much as you want to, but that is okay! Don’t let bad runs discourage you, they happen to everyone, and all you can do is keep running!
Becoming a runner may take time but you will be so glad you started after a couple of weeks! Running will help you be and feel healthier and after a while, you won’t want to stop. So remember to keep running after you start, you can do this!