How to get better at running?

[What's his face]

Here's the thing:
I'm in my sedentary winter mode, like many people here. I want to get into running so I'm in better shape, but I really suck at it. I kick ass at walking - I can walk forever, and I regularly walk for 1/2 an hour up a big hill (the Niagara Escarpment) to get to class several times a day- but when I run on a treadmill I can barely last ten minutes. Any more than two or three or sometimes four laps of the 150 m indoor track at the gym leaves me barely able to stand. Same with running up the stairs. I start off strong, leaping up 2 stairs at time, but by the time I get to the seventh or eighth floor I'm almost dying.

What is the best way to work myself up to being not sucky at running? I realize it's obvious that practise is what is needed but I'm not sure as to the method I need to use. Do I start slowly, walking, working up to fast walking, jogging, then sprinting over several weeks? Or, do I just go all out until I can't possibly go any further and then hope that the time I can last goes up over time?

I don't know dick all about how training works so please help me

 

[Haytil]

Sounds like you're starting off too strong. You want to jog slowly, not much more than walking, if you're trying to run long distances. Simply start with a given distance - say 2 miles - and then jog that every day. After a week, increase the distance by half a mile or a whole mile. Do this every week, and you'll be running 5 miles in a month or so.

At this point, it becomes much easier to increase your speed. You can focus on sprinting for the last quarter mile or generally increasing your pace or increasing your speed up hills or whatnot.

Also, I really recommend running outside, on the sidewalk or in a park, not on tracks or treadmills. Mentally it's a lot harder to run long distances in the same confined area.

 

[RoJoHen]

I would jog until I can't, then just walk for about 2-3 minutes, then jog again, walk again, jog again, walk again...

I'm really not good at running either, but I did this for a little while and got better.

 

[startrekwatcher]

I would jog until I can't, then just walk for about 2-3 minutes, then jog again, walk again, jog again, walk again...

That's my recommendation as well. If you haven't engaged in cardiovascular exercise like jogging or running you in a while or never you are going to have to build up your endurance. Just run as long as you can and eventually you'll be able to run longer. And if you don't smoke that'll definitely help otherwise you'll be trying to overcome being winded even more easily.

I personally don't try to run more than thirty minutes at a time so that I don't condition my body to get into the habit of needing a longer run to burn calories. Instead I try to do short but intense cardiovascular exercise at least four times a week.

 

[Saturn0660]

goto www.coolrunning.com start with the couch-to-5k... thats what i did all summer

 

[WillsBabe]

I bought a great running book when I started running. It gave a range of plans to gt you into running. It started with, literally, running for a minute, then walking for a minute and repeating that 8 times. Then it built up in similar small increments. It was all about the walking and less about the running. I followed it and worked my way up to 10 k without worry. Try to follow a plan.