Running for a relative newbie...

colm_gti

Apologies if such a question has been asked before, hopefully you guys can point me in the right direction if it has. I didn't post in the Duathlon/Triathlon forum as I don't intend to compete in these events, I just want advice from those who run....

Quick background, played a lot of rugby for roughly 13 years, gave up about 2 and a half years ago after a shoulder injury and took up cycling, have raced competitively for 2 seasons now, and apart from a 6 week block of weight training last October, all of my exercise has been done on-the-bike, and as a result I have done 0km of running in over 2 years.

I'm now looking at ways to supplement my off-season training this year with some running, to introduce more weight bearing exercises to my off-season regime, without doing damage to my joints that may impede my performance on the bike when I return to intense, on-the-bike training in Jan/Feb 2014.

I've gotten a gait analysis done, and picked up a pair of recommended running shoes based on this, and am ready to hit the road. I was wondering if anybody can recommend a safe way of building up my training volume/intensity without harming my joints? I had a look at the couch to 5k program, but was wondering if, instead of a 9 week plan, it could be halved, given my current level of cardiovascular fitness?

spurscormac

You could start with a Couch to 5k program, maybe an intermediate level one if you already have some fitness.
But you'll have to figure out whats best for you, that could be the intermediate one, or just starting at a later point in the beginner one.

Main things to note:-

Don't race your training - training should be at a pace where you can hold a conversation with someone.

Don't go too far too soon - especially starting from zero mileage, build your time/distances slowly (10% per week) or you'll likely injure yourself. Give the body time to adjust to the increased time on your feet.

Listen to your body - if you feel a niggle, unwell, exhausted from work, then you can skip the run. Sometimes though, you can start out and know within a mile or two whether to stop or not. The key is recognising when its best to stop.

Enjoy it.

RayCun

Run on grass as much as possible, to reduce impact forces