Five step fitness guide

With the dawn of 2018 upon on and many New Year’s Resolutions set in place we speak to NN Running pacemaker, physio and all round good egg Marc Roig to give us his five-step guide for the running novice.

1 – Be consistent and set rewards

“A common New Year goal is to start running, but the most important element to fulfilling this ambition long-term is to be consistent and maintain running for many weeks and months. Motivation can disappear very quickly, so why not give yourself rewards for continuing to run. So, if you reach February buy yourself a new t-shirt. If you are still running by April but yourself a new pair of running shoes etc.”

2 – Improve your mileage gradually

“You will be surprised how quickly you can improve through running. What was impossible last week can suddenly become achievable the next. However, it can take time for your tendons, bones and cartilages to adapt to the change. If you increase the mileage/pace too quickly it can lead to injury. I always take the 10 per cent rule, meaning that from one week to the next try not to increase your training load by more than 10 per cent.”

3 – It is fine to walk

“Yes, there is nothing wrong with walking! For complete running novices, it may be difficult to run for long periods, so rather than pushing it unnecessarily, it pays to be smart and combine running with walking. A good idea for beginners is to download an app to guide you with sessions which may combine two minutes of running with one minute of walking one day and then thee minutes of running followed by one minute of walking the following day.”

4 – Mix up your training

“Jogging is just one form of running, and real improvement comes from mixing up workouts on a variety of surfaces and distances. You might want to add hill repetitions to your programme (10x100m running fast uphill and slow downhill), beach running or hit the forest trails. Running can take you to some amazingly beautiful places you just have to take the time and effort to discover them.”

5 – Run with friends

“Some training days will not be easy, so why not run with a group of friends with similar goals to keep you motivated. Shared fun is always more fun and over time you will quickly discover running is not an individual sport but a healthy and attractive option for coming together with others.”