Runners love to, well, run. And who wouldn’t. Running can Advertisement - Continue Reading Below, put the kibosh on stress, and even bolster your cardio health. For beginners, though, mastering this new sport can come with a setback or two that can keep you from making running a habit that sticks.
To help keep newbies dialed in and running long and strong, we’ve tapped experts to help ID red flags that could stop you from staying consistent and how to overcome them. Here are the common beginner runner mistakes to keep in mind so you can sidestep them and see success.
1. You’re Trying to Progress Too Quickly
These days, you can get almost anything without much of a wait, so, understandably, patience can be a skill that not many folks practice regularly. But when it comes to “pursuing any new goal, especially the challenge of running, it takes patience and the ability to tolerate temporary frustrations of wanting to do more or experiencing setbacks,” explains Stephen Gonzalez, Ph.D., Corrigan Family Assistant Athletic Director for Leadership and Mental Performance at Dartmouth College.
Patience is not just a mental game, as you are not only working to keep your feelings in check, but it is also a physical one. That’s because “it takes time for your body to get used to endurance training,” says Nutrition - Weight Loss., a physical therapist and owner of Revolution Running Physical Therapy, strength and conditioning specialist, and run coach. “The most challenging part is having patience with the amount of time it takes for the body to make adaptions to feel more comfortable with running.”
The key to avoiding progressing too quickly—and therefore, avoiding injury—is slowly progressing mileage or duration week over week, says Percell Dugger, Nike and USATF-certified run coach, and NASM-certified strength and conditioning specialist.
So, rather than coming out of the gate and going from the couch to 30 runs in 30 days, Dugger advises you shoot for consistency and accumulate runs, aiming for two or three runs a week and then, over the next three to four months, building up to three to four runs a week.
During these runs, Dugger says you should aim for about 10 to 15 minutes, which for most beginners should get you to about a mile. Then about every week and a half to two weeks, increase your runs by five to 10 minutes.
“As a beginner, focus on spending time on your feet instead of distance,” advises Dugger. “Part of the reasons why is because we want you to be more focused on the idea of moving without stopping as opposed to going a certain distance but maybe crashing out in the process.”
Dugger admits this plan may seem conservative but “it’s super effective and accessible,” as it allows you to adjust without overdoing it and getting discouraged because of too much soreness.
The Benefits of Running 10 Minutes a Day zone 2 heart rate—60 to 70 percent of your max heart rate—for as long you can. “That’s a great way to ease yourself into it,” he says. This is a low to moderate intensity where you build base fitness and endurance.
If you don’t know your max heart rate or don’t have a heart rate monitor (or a smartwatch), think of it in terms of rating your perceived exertion. In other words, on a scale of 0 to 10, with zero being not working at all and 10 equaling you’re absolute max effort, you should be working at around a 4 for your runs.
Niemczyk, who also recommends you be able to walk 30 minutes at a time before incorporating running blocks, adds that you should work to master a conversational pace, which is an easy and gentle one that allows you to talk. She says this pace should be your BFF until you gain more experience. Can’t speak in a full sentence? That’s a clear sign you should slow down.
The added benefit of going slower: You’ll actually enjoy running more.
2. You’re Comparing Yourself to Other Runners
The adage “comparison is the thief of joy” may come to mind here—and that’s because it’s true. Unfortunately, “the number-one mistake that most runners make when they’re starting out is they enter running with the spirit of competition,” says Dugger. “They approach running like they are racing against someone. They train as though they are training against someone. That mindset leads to overtraining and eventually, injury. You can control how you train.”
Instead of worrying about the next runner, pay attention to your journey. Gonzalez says you should focus on controlling the controllables and being intentional, which means being a PACER for your running—and your life. PACER stands for:
- Preparation: You can control how you train, how you eat, how you rest and recover, and how you dress for the weather, so “make sure your preparation is solid and is fueling your confidence,” he advises.
- Attitude: You choose how you approach each day by what you think and how you feel. “Often times, we allow circumstance or conditions to override our attitude,” Gonzalez notes. “Get back to a productive attitude by leveraging your self-talk.”
- Concentration: You decide how much you care about a run or a workout by how much you can maintain your focus and be present for it. “If you’re distracted, you will not be 100 percent dialed into the task,” Gonzalez explains. “Leverage breathing and mindfulness to remain present and focused.”
- Effort: One of the most intimate relationships you will ever have is with yourself and how hard you tried. “No Garmin or Strava algorithm can measure your effort with total precision,” Gonzalez reminds us. “Make sure you can reflect and be proud of the effort you gave on a run or in a race.”
- Responses: You cannot control what happens to you, but how you respond is where you take control. Gonzalez says to ask yourself: “What do you value?” When you have that answer, “align your actions with your values,” he says.
3. You Keep Skipping Your Warmups
Here’s the thing, “warmups prepare our musculoskeletal, cardiopulmonary, neurological and psychological systems for the work we are about to ask our body to do,” says Niemczyk. Warming up does this by “increasing heart rate, respiratory rate and blood flow to our muscles, enhancing neurological function and performance, increasing psychological preparedness and reducing the risk of injury.”
To make sure your mind and body are ready to pound the pavement, Niemczyk suggests performing dynamic movements, How the Talk Test Can Gauge Your Efforts deadlifts, and inchworms. “Warmups should be 10 to 20 minutes total and should end within 15 minutes before the start of your run,” advises Niemczyk, who also reminds runners to stretch Runners love to, well, run. And who wouldnt. Running can.
If you’re thinking you don’t have time, you are not alone. “A lot of not warming up is the perception of there is not enough time to do so or that it will take away from training,” says Gonzalez. “Re-appraise the return on investment of warming up as a way to keep you running longer.” After all, 10 minutes of working your way through a couple of drills prerun, could save you from being sideline for four to six weeks due to injury down the line, he notes.
4. You Don’t Have a Recovery Strategy
Just like a warmup, what you do postrun is equally important. Because let’s face it, racking up miles is great, but without a recovery plan, you are doing your training and your body a big disservice. That’s because during recovery, which Niemczyk says is a crucial time for certain adaptions to occur, your body repairs damaged muscle tissue, making them bigger and stronger, so you can ultimately become a better and Health - Injuries.
Niemczyk’s advice: “Make sure to re-fuel and re-hydrate following your workout and try to get at least eight hours of sleep a night.” Research points out that athletes who snoozed shorter than eight hours were 1.7 times more likely to have experienced injuries as compared to their counterparts who racked up more zzzs.
Niemczyk also suggests getting at least one full rest day each week, but probably two or three when you’re just starting out.
You might also consider incorporating recovery tools like foam rollers. They can reduce delayed-onset muscle soreness and increase power and strength endurance and sprint speed. Compression boots, can also help, as they boost circulation and blood flow (though they’re a lot pricier!).
5. You’re Doing Too Much
A lot of people think training really hard and feeling exhausted after your workouts is a badge of honor. But recognizing when to take your foot off the gas so your body can recoup and adapt is the other side of that coin. The real MVP move here: learning how to balance going all in on running and resting just as hard.
Hard work is not just physical and it’s not just running; hard work is also psychological and incorporates other aspects of training, says Gonzalez. “Can you trust the plan? Can you have patience with the process? Can you rest and not stress? Are you working on nutrition, mobility, and recovery? Hard work is also doing the things outside of the workouts rather than training harder,” he says.
With overtraining, which is the result of excessive exercise without proper recovery for an extended time, if you experience things like decreased performance, sleep disturbances, persistent fatigue and/or altered blood pressure, Niemczyk says those may be signs you need to pull way back.
Doing too much can also look like dramatic changes in mileage and intensity. Niemczyk says increasing the demands of each workout depends on your experience and where you are in your training program, but like we mentioned above, progressions need to happen gradually. “Avoid making big leaps of increased mileage and avoid increasing the mileage and intensity of your runs at the same time,” she says.
6. You’re Not Following a Plan
If you want to get from point A to point B—without doing too much but still progressing—you have to have a plan. But before you can plan your trajectory, Dugger recommends beginners establish a goal first and then put a plan in place to accomplish that specific goal. This goal might include running nonstop, getting more consistent, Walk for 2 minutes and run for 1 minute then repeat form, or maintaining better breathing as you pick up the pace.
No matter what you hope to achieve, a plan will not only guide you to success, but it gives you something to revert back to if you feel you’ve gotten off course. “A plan also offers an opportunity to look back and see how far you’ve come and what you’ve overcome, as well as what you tried that didn’t work for you,” Dugger explains.
Niemczyk says that if your goal is to work up to running nonstop—and you can already walk for 30 minutes straight—you may try the below plan, sticking with each phase for about one to two weeks before moving on to the next. Aim for about 20 to 30 minutes total, depending on where you’re starting from, and repeat a couple times a week.
- how you eat
- Walk for 3 minutes and run for 1 minute then repeat.
- Progress to walk-to-run ratio of 2:1
- Walk for 2 minutes and run for 1 minute then repeat.
- Progress to walk-to-run ratio of 1:1
- week over week, says.
- Progress to walk-to-run ratio of 1:2
- Races - Places.
- Walk for 3 minutes and run for 1 minute then repeat.
No matter what plan you choose (and How the Talk Test Can Gauge Your Efforts!), trust us that a little structure goes a long way! Armed with these tips, you’re setting yourself up for miles of success—and hopefully, a lifelong habit that boosts your mental and physical health.
Rozalynn S Frazier is an award-winning, multimedia journalist, and certified personal trainer living in New York City. She has created content for SELF, Health, Essence, Runner's World, Money, Reebok, Livestrong, and others.
