Hello, Show Me Ashley followers!

My name is Hilary and I blog over at Getting Through Life: One Day {And One Mile} At A Time. I’m so excited to be doing my very first guest post on Ashley’s site for Show Me Sunday. What a great way to start the week with motivation, encouragement, and community!

I began running again (I had run some in 2009 but didn’t stick with it) in August 2013. I was 293lbs at the time. I had been walking about 3 times a week for a month and decided that I wanted to get back into running. I was unsure, at first, how well I’d be able to run at my weight, but knew it was possible if I listened to my body and gave it my all. I decided to do the C25K training with some friends. I learned a lot during the 9 weeks that we trained, both about running and about myself, which I’d like to now share with you. (For my C25K Tips and Tricks post in its entirety, you can go here.)

Here are a few tips that I hope can help you start and complete the C25K.

Before Beginning:

• If you have not been active for long, start by walking 30-60 minutes at least 3 times a week for about a month.
• Buy a proper pair of running shoes. (Find a running store in your area and have an employee fit you for a good pair of shoes)
• Read some articles about proper running technique. I love Runner’s World articles, like “The Starting Line” and “Get Started.”
• (Optional) Find a friend to join you! Even if you only run together occasionally; having someone to keep you accountable is great motivation to finish.

Beginning:

• Start with a slower pace than you think you need to go. It’s more important to complete the entire workout than it is to run each interval at a fast pace.
• Focus on form as you run rather than speed to ensure you stay injury free.
• By week 5, the app will start giving you the option of time or distance; if you have a way to measure distance, like a gps watch or another phone app like RunKeeper, it can be very helpful.
• When the app says, ‘3/4 of a mile (or 8 minutes)’ it doesn’t mean that you have to run 3/4 of a mile IN 8 minutes. You are free to go faster or slower as your body allows.
• If you don’t feel ready to move on to the next week; DON’T. Repeat as many as needed.
• Stretch after each run.

As you begin running, or even those of you who already run, it’s important to focus on your form. I recently attended a Good Form Running clinic and have slowly been incorporating the tips that I learned into my running.

Changing your running form will not happen overnight, no matter how long you’ve been running.  But if you work through the different steps, you’re likely to be able to run relatively (things do happen!) injury free and HAPPY for a long time!  Have patience, and practice the correct way.

In Good Form Running there are 4 Simple Steps to follow:

 The ONE step that most people would agree helps the others fall into place, is Cadence, so I’m going to focus on that for today. If you’d like a more in-depth description of implementing the other 3 steps into your running, visit my original Good Form Running post here.

Your cadence is the amount of times your feet touch the ground in a one minute time frame. The longer your foot is on the ground, the more impact your body receives from each step. Most amateur runners have a cadence between 140 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). This means in one minute of running, your feet hit the ground 140-150 times. A Good Form Runner aims for a cadence near 180bpm. By increasing the amount of steps you take, you reduce the amount of impact your body is experiencing.

Quickening your cadence will allow you to run more on the middle of your foot (mid-foot, as Good Form Runners call it) and helps shorten your stride. Short, quick strides are important because most runners over stride without even knowing, and over striding causes extra impact to your shins, knees, and hips. If you experience pain in those areas, changing your stride (by increasing your cadence) can help eliminate them.

As a plus size runner, anything I can do to lower the amount of impact my shins, knees, and hips are experiencing is so important! I want to be able to run for a long, long time.

After I attended the clinic, I assessed my cadence and found I was typically running around 145-150bpm. That is too slow and is allowing my feet to stay on the ground for too long. I’m slowly increasing my number by using a metronome. I’ll occasionally turn it on throughout my runs for a 5 minute segment and focus on keeping my feet on the beat. I am closer to a 160bpm now and will continue to focus on this until I get comfortable, and it feels natural, to hit the 180 mark.

With each run I do, I feel stronger. Not always in the sense that I built muscle or had the best run of my life, but because I did it. I went out there, happy or sad, mad or overjoyed; my legs went through the motions they’re becoming accustomed to do, my lungs took in air and filled my body with oxygen, and my brain pushed away each ‘I can’t do this’ or ‘this is too hard.’ that came its way. My body did all those things.

And your body can too.

 Man, I am chomping at the bit to head over to the gym to run and check my form out! It is something I have never thought about. Ever.Learn from my mistake- if you DO feel an injury do not ignore it! I ignored a small pain in my ankle and now I am one step from a walking boot. Take it slow and talk to your medical professionals before starting any activity!- Ashley

 

You can find Hilary on twitter, instagram, and her blog – Please go check her out. Her workouts and meal planning will inspire you every day!