- To avoid muscle and calf strains, do a warm up and stretch your leg and arms muscles.
- Start with short running intervals. Build up your stamina by walking for 1 minute and running for 1 minute and build 15 minutes cardio exercise in this way.
- Don’t start out too fast, Maintain an easy/steady pace. Listening to some easy paced music can help build your rhythm!
- Your body will need time to recover. Run or run/walk 2-3 times in the first few weeks. Walk for the remainder of the week.
- Where possible, run on different surfaces. Alternate between footpath, grass, beach, gravel surface. This will provide some interest as well as an extra challenge.
- Don’t panic if you get a ‘stitch’ or other aches and pains. This is a completely normal reaction from your body particularly if you haven’t been running in a while! If out running, slow down to a walk if you have to, breathe calmly in a relaxed way and only resume your run when the pain has subsided.
- Take care of your body. Running is a full body workout. Adding in some Strength training will lead to a better running performance.
- After your run, streeeetttttcccchhhh and cool down.
- Lastly and most importantly, enjoy yourself and congratulate yourself for getting back out running.
