It's high time I learned how to run

I believe I've regressed a bit...with running. One thing I never really knew until spring semester of my senior year of high school is that I am a fast runner. Not blistering, football player competitive, mind you, but fast considering my training...consisting of nothing at all. I was the fast guy on the flag football team, usually charged with running down their fast guy with the ball. Then, graduating from college meant that flag football ended, along with my excuses to run like that. Combine that with the programming lifestyle, and things get forgotten. Thus we have where we are today.

As mentioned previously, my knees would hurt when I ran. Especially when I ran for extended periods (ok, maybe like 5 minutes). Conflict! I want to run; I have fun running fast; I'm terrible at distance running; my knees hurt when I do it. With the help of my personal trainer, Dean, we're ironing out most of the bad parts about my running.

So, to fix the knees hurting, I had to work on my technique. Specifically, I have to avoid what they (the people who invent these terms) call "heel striking" or landing with my heel first. I've mentioned that before, but it was important to reiterate. In addition to the change, I've purchased some shoes to help with it. They are Vibram FiveFinger shoes. These promote the barefoot style of running in a seemingly brutal way: they have no padding. They have rubber on the sole to protect your feet, but they run just like you're running on whatever surface you're on.

With those, the knees are fine but apparently my calves are convinced they should rebel. Oh my goodness, this switch in technique has killed them. Dean recommended stepping down the time running and work my way back up. That worked fine until 25 minutes. With that, one calf stayed sore for over a week. Thankfully, I realized I was being stupid.

I relearned a valuable lesson...warm up before you run! Why, why, why did I forget that? Anyway, now my running consists of 5 minutes of very brisk walking before I run (4 to 5 mph on the treadmill). With that change, that obvious, obvious addition, my calf woes have been virtually eliminated. Plus, I can literally run an extra time per week. Lesson learned.

As for running for longer, it goes back to two things I've learned with my cardio: pacing, and breathing. I really have to focus on slowing down, especially for the few minutes until I'm in my rhythm. Now we're on to breathing, big deep breaths and pushing that air out so I can get enough back in. I try to pace it with my steps. In for two steps, out for two steps. If I get winded, in for one and out for one for about one minute. That gets me back in control so I can keep going.

After all this, I've gone from barely finishing the 3/4 mile lap around the neighborhood, to nearly 3 miles nonstop. If you're out to learn to run like I am, focus on technique first. The increased time and distance will come. Warm up first, run correctly while you're going, then stretch when you're done. You'll be good to go.