P.S. She has an awesome giveaway going for one of her handmade creations- custom burp rags, key chain thingy, baby toy, or sunglasses case. You should enter.
In fact, here are her exact words:
Just finished day one of couch to 10k. I am optimistic that I will not die during this. Madison-I'm still waiting on my dedicated blog post from you entitled "How To Run If You're A Moron and Signed Up For a 10k In 60 Days and By the Way, You Hate Running." K, Thanks."
1. Get some proper shoes and socks. New and shiny things are always motivating. Plus they will keep you from getting sidelined and frustrated from an injury later. Socks aren't as important for injury prevention, but believe me from experience-- blisters are the worst. Your local running store will be awesome. I promise. They will get you fitted for shoes and give you all of the new running advice you could ever want- where to run in your town, popular races, training techniques, ect. Also from experience, buy your shoes bigger than you think you need them. Otherwise your toenails will fall off. And your feet will be ugly during the summer. Actually, as a runner, you can go ahead and assume that your feet will never look as nice as they did before you started running (but proper shoes and socks will definitely help).
2. Listen to yourself. Sure, listening to advice from seasoned runners is awesome, but there are some calls that you need to make yourself.
- "Oh these shoes are really great, they are awesome. You should wear them." They might be awesome shoes, but if you try them on and you immediately hate them, don't feel like you need to wear them for the rest of your life.
- "Oh you are ready to ..." Motivation from other runners is one of the best things about the sport, but if you feel like you are putting yourself at risk for an injury, don't do it. That is what leads to stress fractures, ect.
4. If you run, no matter how fast, you are a runner.
5. Subscribe to Runner's World (or -Lauren- take the old copies from your little sister). It is confusing and overwhelming at first, but it will teach you all the tips, tricks, and terms. (Just kidding, there aren't many tricks in running. Just miles. But it will help you make your miles more meaningful). I picked up Runner's World when I was a beginner. I am pretty sure it was the marathon issue. I was completely overwhelmed, but I learned quite a few things, even in the marathon issue. They cover everything from shoes and gear to training plans and strengthening exercises.
6. Eventually, you will need to buy a technical t-shirt. Running in a "real" running shirt will change your life. Especially if you live in Charleston. I will do a gear post soon. I promise. Especially because I just got some new things that I am dying to share reviews about.
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| This one is on my wishlist... |
7. Get over the fact that you may look like a dork when you are running. Yes, runners may sometimes wear a fuel belt- a glorified fanny pack, or a hydration pack, but nobody is judging you. We all feel the pain. For the record, I had a Nathan fuel belt (for one big bottle) once upon a time. I didn't like it, and I now run with a Gregory Dipsea hydration pack and I love it, but see advice #2.
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| Embrace your inner fuel belt fashion. |
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| Headlamp selfie. There are now 10 of those on my phone. |
8. Find a routine that works for you. Just because everybody else you know runs in the evening doesn't mean that you have to. Find the routine that works best for you and stick with it.
9. (Eventually,) get an app for your phone(free), a GPS watch($$-$$$$$$$$$$$$$), something to track your runs. Initially it is perfectly fine to run by time (and even some very, very, very advanced runners still run by time), but I prefer knowing how far/fast I have run.
10.Have fun. I know this is cliche, but you won't keep doing something that you hate, so enjoy it.
