Running 101.

If there was a university or college course dedicated to running, these would be your notes. “Running 101.” Learn these ntoes, and you can make it through your beginning-running efforts with an “A+” grade.

1. Welcome to the starting line. This might be your first attempt at running, or a return visit, or an attempt to progress on what you already do. The less running you’ve done lately, the more you can expect to improve your distances and speeds in the next 10 weeks. On the other hand, the less you’ve run lately, the more likely you are to hurt yourself by doing too much running, too soon. That’s why it’s so important to set two related goals as you start or resume your running program: maximize improvements and minimize injuries. You win by improving. You lose by getting injured.

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2. Buy the right shoes. They are the major equipment expense for runners, so it’s vital to get it right. Spend cleverly by buying well-made shoes from a major brand. Search out a model that fits you properly, and is designed for the surface you’ll run on most often-roads, tracks, or trails. If you’re not sure which shoe will work best for you, shop online at a running-specialty store. After you buy your shoes, remember that even the best have a limited lifespan. Plan to replace them after about 350 to 500 miles of wear.

3. Make a plan. The two basic ingredients of a running routine are time and space. And the two main reasons given by those who don’t run? “I don’t have time for it,” and “I don’t have anywhere to run.” Let’s look closely at those excuses. You can run well and get in great shape with as little as a 30-minute session every other day. Think of it as the time you won’t waste by watching your favorite TV show. As for finding places to run: Anywhere that’s safe for walking is also fine for running. Off-road routes (parks, trails, tracks) are better than high-traffic streets, and soft surfaces (grass, dirt) are better than paved ones, but any choice is better than staying home.

4. Take the mile trial. Friends and family who hear that you’ve begun running will soon ask, “What’s your best mile time?” so you should get a head start and get used to it. It won’t be long before you’ll be calculating your pace-per-mile on longer runs, but you should begin with a simple 1-mile test run (four laps on a standard track) to determine your starting point. Think of this as a low-key test, not a race. Run at a pace a little beyond easy but less than a struggle, and count on improving your mile time in later tests as your fitness improves.

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5. Get F.I.T! Kenneth Cooper, M.D., a forefather in the fitness field, long ago came up with a simple formula for improving as a runner: Run 2 to 3 miles, 3 to 5 days a week at an easy pace. It’s simpler to remember as the F-I-T formula: frequency (at least every other day); intensity (easy pace); and time (about 30 minutes). Even with walking breaks, you can cover 2 miles in 30 minutes, and you might be running 3 miles in that time. It’s important to run these efforts at an easy, comfortable pace. Think of yourself as the Turle, not the Fox. Make progress slowly.

6. Find your pace. Here’s the problem. The problem is that most beginning runners don’t know what a comfortable pace feels like, so they push too hard. Result: They get overly fatigued and discouraged, or even injured. Here are some more guidelines. A comfortable pace is 1 to 2 minutes per mile slower than your mile trial time. Or you can use a heart-rate monitor and run at 65 to 75 percent of your maximum heart rate. Or: Listen to your breathing. If you aren’t shuffling or fighting for air, and you can talk while you’re running, your pace is just right.

7. Remember to warm up and cool down. I personally don’t stretch, ever. But, stretching exercises generally don’t make you sweat or raise your heart rate, which is what you really want from a warmup. A good warmup begins with walking or running very slowly to ease your body into the session.

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8. Don’t hesitate to walk. Stopping to walk during a run is not a form of cheating, but a collective practice among experienced runners. It is a form of interval training that breaks a big piece of work into smaller pieces, making it more achievable. Mix running and walking in these ways: when you’re starting to run for the first time; to regain fitness after a long layoff, injury, or illness; to warm up before a run, and to cool down afterward; to make your fast running faster, which is the classic use of interval training; to make long runs longer; and to make easy runs easier. You’ll find that walk breaks work best when you walk for at least 1 minute but no longer than 5 minutes.

9. Run carefully at all times. The biggest threat you’ll face as a runner on the road, by far, is the car. Traffic zips past you at just about a few steps away. A moment’s attention lapse from either you or the driver can bring disaster, and you’ll be the one to suffer, not the well-protected driver.

The paramount way to lower this risk is to avoid running on roads. But for many of us, this is a near-impossibility. Or it’s an approach that adds time and difficulty to our routine (if we have to drive to a park, for instance). So most of us just learn to be enormously cautious when we run on the roads. We try to find low-traffic roads with wide shoulders; we run on the left side of the road, facing traffic; we obey traffic signs and signals; and we follow every road rule our parents taught us by the time we were 7. Every runner should run as if every car is a lethal weapon. Because it is.

10. Use pain as your guide. Runners get hurt. Of course, we infrequently hurt ourselves as seriously as linebackers, but injuries do happen. Most are musculoskeletal, meaning that we recover rapidly when we take days off or other appropriate action (like ice treatment). And most are self-inflicted. We carry them on by running too far, too fast, too soon, or too often. Prevention is often as simple as a change of routine. Use pain as your director. If you can’t run steadily without pain, mix walking and running. If you can’t run-walk, simply walk. If you can’t walk, bicycle. If you can’t bike, swim. As you recover, climb back up this fitness ladder.

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11. Pay attention to your form. Running form is as individual as a fingerprint and is too inborn to change very much. But, with practice, you can make minor modifications to become a more efficient runner. Run “tall” and upright, not with a pronounced forward lean. Look toward the horizon, not at your feet. Run faster by increasing your stride turnover, not by overreaching with each stride. On uphills, shorten your stride, and drive more with the arms. Try to uphold even effort, not pace. When running downhill, let gravity work for you by leaning slightly forward.

12. Eat and drink the right foods. Sports nutrition is too large of a topic to cover thoroughly here. But, in general, the rules for good nutrition and fluid consumption are the same for runners as everyone else. Three areas of special interest to runners: (1) control your weight, as extra pounds will slow you down; (2) eat lightly an hour before training and 2 hours before racing; (3) drink 8 to 16 ounces of water or sports drink an hour before running, as dehydration can be dangerous.

13. Add a little stretching and strengthening. Running is a specialized activity, working mainly the legs. If you’re seeking more complete, total-body fitness, you need to supplement your running workouts with other exercises. These should target to strengthen the muscles that running disregards, and stretch those that running tightens, which means strengthening the upper body and stretching the legs. Add a few minutes of strengthening and stretching after your running workouts, because that’s when these exercises tend to do the most good.

14. Follow the hard-day/easy-day training system. Most runs need to be easy. This is true whether you’re a beginning runner or an elite athlete. As a new runner, make sure you limit yourself to one big day a week. Run longer and slower than normal, or shorter and faster than normal, or go to the starting line in a race where you’ll try to keep your best suitable pace for the entire race distance.

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15. Congratulations: You’re a champion. One of the great beauties of running is that it gives everyone a chance to win. Winning isn’t programmed; you still have to work for success and risk failure. But in running, unlike in other sports, there’s no need to beat an opponent or an arbitrary standard (such as “par” in golf). Runners measure themselves against their own standards. When you improve a time, or increase a distance, or set a personal record in a race, you win–no matter what anyone else has done on the same day.

You can win even bigger simply by keeping at it for the long haul, for years and decades. You don’t have to run very far or fast to outrun people who have dropped out. Remember, slow and steady always wins the race.

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