How to Start Running

Running can change your life. For the people who do it regularly, it's more than just exercise; it's a discipline. Running hardens your body and your mind, making you more resilient, more capable, more energized. It's also a great way to experience time because the habit forces you out of your house day after day, rain or cold. And then there are the health benefits. You'll be leaner, you'll sleep better, you'll tire less easily; your body composition will change, your vascularity will go through the roof. RELATED: Best Running Shoes Trouble is, running is also hard. Your lungs will burn, your muscles will get sore, and chances are good you'll have the occasional injury and not-so-occasional blister. You can have all the commitment and motivation in the world, but when your alarm clock goes off and it's cold and dark outside, it's always going to be easier to hit the snooze button than get out of bed and lace up your running shoes.  Weirdly, though, overcoming that voice inside your head, the one that always wants comfort and never wants a challenge, well, that's also one of the joys of running, and maybe it's the one with the single biggest carryover to the rest of your life. So maybe you've never even attempted to become a runner, or maybe you've made a few earnest efforts here and there and always ended up giving it up. Wherever you are, however experienced you are, this is the best way to adopt the running habit and have it stick.  Establish Your “Why” — The Benefits of Building a Running Habit We've already given you the spiel about how running is hard, but that's just words on a screen. You're going to feel it first-hand when you hit the pavement on a cold morning, before anyone else on your block has even woken up. Given that it's hard, you need to have a pretty strong sense of the benefits, to hold in mind when things get tough. Improve Your Cardiovascular Health Your cardiovascular system is made up of your heart and lungs, as well as the network of blood vessels that connect every organ in your body, and, as you can probably guess, it's pretty important to your overall wellbeing.  The benefits will be noticeable very quickly, too, and include a lower resting heart rate, and higher work capacity, but the greatest benefits are the one that compound over time. A famous longitudinal study out of Stanford University, following 538 people for 21 years, found that runners had a 50% reduction in all-cause mortality. "All-cause," meaning not just heart disease but also cancer and even neurological disorders. Lose Weight It's no secret that running is a great way to shed pounds. The activity itself burns a ton of calories, helping you create the calorie deficit you need to initiate weight loss, but there's also a lot of research out there indicating that, as people develop a running habit, they also make smarter food choices. Why might that be? Probably because a good run requires a certain amount of energy stored up from food, and also because poor diet choices will bloat you and make your run extremely uncomfortable. Elevate Your Mood & Energy Levels It might seem counterintuitive, that regularly expending energy will give you more energy rather than less, but with running that is really the case. If you work a desk job and ever feel listless, sluggish, or tired, even in the middle of the day or after a good night's rest, a morning run can give you the exact jolt you need to turn your day around. And then there the mood rewards. Exercise causes your brain to release an excess of the feel-good neurotransmitter endorphins (that famous "runner's high"), which has been shown to be effective even in treating clinical depression. Another cool fact: endorphin release appears to be moderated by exercise intensity: the harder you push yourself, the greater the endorphin reward. Boost Your Sleep Quality It's no secret that people in the modern world don't sleep well. We're overworked, overstressed and obsessed with our blue-light-emitting smartphones and tablets, and we pay a high price for that in shorter, worse quality shuteye. Well, one way to counteract the negative effects of our sedentary, device-obsessed lifestyle on our sleep is regular exercise. A meta-analysis of multiple studies looking at the relationship between exercise levels and sleep quality found a nearly perfect correlation between exercise intensity and better sleep. In fact, participants who exercised regularly not only managed to sleep more, they also spent more time in the ultra-valuable REM sleep. Have a Plan & Set Realistic Goals Alright, you're motivated — now what? It pays to have a plan, so let's address some practical concerns. Choosing Where to Run Do you live near a track? Are you in a city or a suburb, or out in the country? Is traffic a concern (trust us when we say you won't want to have to stop at red lights every other block)? Running surface matters, a lot, and if you're on the heavier side, you may want to avoid concrete, as the impact on your joints can be very painful over time. Tracks, grass fields or even beaches will be much more comfortable.  Whatever route you choose, it's also very important that you have a good estimate of the distance you're running. One of the things that makes a track ideal is that it's very easy to convert your number of laps into a total distance, but if you have a fitness tracker or smartwatch, you an also use those to calculate distances.  Setting Up a Running Routine How often do you plan on running? Can you commit to running a little every day, or every other day? Depending on your current level of physical fitness, you may not even be "running" very much at all. If you're completely new to the sport, and not in the best shape, lots of running programs will ask you to go for long walks to begin with, or to alternate walking with sprinting. On a track, for example, you can walk the long stretches and run the curved stretches; in a city, you can walk for one block and run for one block.   In general, you're going to have to balance your practical concerns (work, social life, etc) with the demands of running, but most runners will recommend a minimum of "every other day" in terms of running frequency. We're chasing small victories here, so even if your run lasts just 10 or 15 minutes, that's one more step forward toward your goal of becoming a runner.  Progressing in Pace & Distance The internet has many free running programs available to beginners, and there's no shortage of apps out there that offer virtual coaching, but the general idea behind running progress boils down to the three variables you can control: pace, distance, and frequency. You can choose one, two or all three metrics to tinker with, but week after week, month after month, you're going to want to push yourself harder than before.  In practical terms, that can mean running the same distance in less time, or running farther, or running more frequently each week. Again, since we're beginners, we're taking small victories wherever we can find them: you don't need to go from running around your block to running a marathon in a matter of weeks. Your victory here is one of adherence and gradual progression.  Finding a Running Group Running in groups is popular in basically every city in the world, and there are all kinds of social media apps, forums and websites dedicated to bringing runners of all abilities together. Not only is this a great way to meet new people sharing your journey, but it's also a great way to hold yourself accountable, since you won't just be letting yourself down every time you skip a run; you'll also be letting down your running group. Warm Up, Cool Down & Stretch This is the easiest part about the running habit, which also makes it the easiest part to skip. Don't! Running puts a lot of strain on the body, so taking the time to warm up, cool down and stretch out your muscles when the run is over will pay serious dividends, and help prevent injuries from unnecessarily sidelining you. Stretching properly will strengthen your body, making it more resilient in much the same way that running makes your cardiovascular system more resilient, and because increased flexibility comes with its own wide array of benefits, you can look on this as yet another perk of becoming a runner. Reward Yourself for Every Milestone One key component of building a habit is rewarding yourself for progress. Once you've got a basic structure going, set reward milestones (your first month of running every other day, for example, or your first sub-10 minute mile) and pick out the rewards in advance, so you have something to look forward to on each new step of your journey.  Buying running gear is a great reward choice, first because the purchase is a literal investment in your hobby, one you lose out on if you suddenly give it up, and second because looking and feeling good while you run will make it more likely that you stick to the habit.  One final piece of advice: you're going to be tempted to compare yourself to other people, every step of the way, and you'll invariably choose people who are more experienced with running than you. This is a terrible mistake, and one that can only make you feel worse about yourself. The right basis of comparison is only ever you: where were you six weeks ago, six months ago, a year ago? If you can stick to your goals and make the habit stick, you'll be able to look back on your past self and feel immense pride at how far you've come. You Might Also Dig: How to Teach Yourself to Not Hate RunningBest Fitness Trackers and SmartwatchesEverything You Need to Know About Heart Rate Zones