Hi everyone, just wanted to say hi and introduce myself.
I am completely new to running. I'm a 31 year old who will soon become a father for the second time so I decided I should probably start taking better care of myself and so I've decided to get into running. I am dreading how hard it will be and am afraid of injury but I really am excited to get started. I've got a plan worked out and will be doing my first run/walk tomorrow morning, planning on around 5am [yikes]. Any advice would be great such as, what's a good warm up routine? What basic gear do I need to get started? and what apps do you recommend for tracking stats?
Looking forward to hearing from everyone
Silkie
Comments
Equipment wise - good quality comfy trainers are a must. Don't spend too much yet. Once you are running a bit more, go get a gait analysis done and pick trainers suitable for you. Clothes, there's nothing worse than being out in the wrong clothes, especially in winter. Cotton t-shirts are a no no as the sweat soaks in, no need to spend much money, Sports Direct or equivalent are plenty good enough. Long sleeves, thin running gloves will all make it more comfortable. That being said, you don't actually need any of this stuff at the beginning.
There's loads of free apps to track stuff, try Strava to start with, lots on here use it. If you don't get on with it, try another. Again, you don't need an app, but they're free and if they motivate you then why not.
I got some cheap running clothes and running shoes from sports direct but just wanted to check in case I was missing something important.
I think you're right about not needing an app too. It's probably more important for me to focus on building up my fitness and ability before I start worrying about times and stats.
No real point spending too much at this stage until you've been completely bitten by the running bug But once you have the gait analysis is very good advice. I'd say a decent watch is a good idea too, especially if you're interested in tracking your improvement.
Warm ups should be dynamic. Stretching with cold muscles isn't advised, basically just try and get the muscles moving and the heart rate up. Start with arm turns to get the shoulders and chest loose, running on the spot slowly, building up to high knee lifts and then do 5 second static sprints. That should get you nicely warm and the heart pumping.
And if you're very keen Parkrun is an excellent event to get involved in.
Thanks for the warm up advice too. I gave it a try and it definitely made a positive difference to my performance.
I'll check out Parkrun too, it looks really good but I think I need to get my fitness levels up before I give it a try