Determining the best weekly mix of running and recovery days.

As we finish 2020, we need to do the right things to prepare to make 2021 a powerful, positive year, despite the pandemic.

2020 has been dreadful, but it doesn't have to beat you up. It's easy to let goals slide when struggling with such a crazy year, but this is just exactly when you need to double down and focus on the things within your control, and your fitness is just that.

In this episode, I provide advice and introduce a challenge that everyone can do to finish the year, strong; it's the 1 + 1 Holiday challenge.

Listen and join the challenge. Participation in the challenge is free. 

A beginner runner's success or failure often hinges on just being able to manage several key aspects of running training. 

In this episode Deb addresses several struggles common to new runners. 

Preparedness is everything. Seeing the big picture and being prepared for these inevitable challenges may make the critical difference between success and failure for anyone at the beginning of their running journey. .

This is it! You’ve been learning about what to do for nine days. Think of this as graduation day, the day you get the last, but most critical, piece of the puzzle. Today, you find out exactly what you should do, and I mean you, personally, should do on Day 1 of your running journey. Today, is your diagnostic run.

In this podcast, I explain what to do to find out how far you should run during each running segment of your walk to run mile, which is the distance you should start with. 

I also explain how to progress from there, the three variables, and the details regarding the decisions you’ll be making in deciding what to change and when. 

I’m excited for you because this is, of all the secrets I’ve imparted, perhaps the most crucial one, because if you try to start your running training with too much running, you’ll likely never succeed.

Walk to Run to 5k Program

The post Become a Runner Class Day 10: Diagnostic Test – BRV 045 appeared first on Mojo for Running.

I’ve been hearing the phrase, ‘turtle power,’ for years, always from slower runners, usually in an upbeat, positive way, an “I’m fine with that” way, but sometimes they utter the words apologetically, and that makes me sad.

Often, these are beginner runners, but not always. It is my hope that after listening to this podcast, no one listening will ever feel bad, in any way, about being a slower runner.

What is slow, anyway? It’s all relative, isn’t it? When an Olympian runs a 6 minute mile, it’s an off day. Most runners will never see the faster side of 9 minutes, and some will always run 12 minute miles, and I sure hope those people don’t apologize for that because there is no reason to be the least bit apologetic. To me, that’s like apologizing because you have brown hair.

If anyone ever makes you feel like your pace is too slow, then that person is just being unkind and isn’t worth worrying about. In fact, they probably feel inferior in some other way. You have as much right to go your own pace and be happy with it as any other runner has a right to go the pace that is comfortable to them.

After all, running is an individual sport. One of the most enjoyable elements of running is that anyone can do it; you don’t need to be a gifted athlete, but I sure hope you do realize that anyone at any pace is an athlete.

Turtle Power is the mantra of slower runners everywhere, and so it should be. I hope it’s empowering. If you’re a slower runner, and since you’re a beginner, you probably are, own it; don’t apologize for it. Turtle runners unite!

Below is the link to my beginner runner program. It includes beginner running schedules for six months.

Walk to Run to 5k Program

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The post Become a Runner Class Day 9: Turtle Power – BRV 044 appeared first on Mojo for Running.

Weight loss – or management – plays a role in the life of virtually every runner. Either they start running to lose weight or they’ve already lost weight, and they want to become a runner to help them maintain that weight loss. Too, some runners run because they’re worried that their weight will gradually creep up if they don’t get lots of exercise to offset the calories of the food they consume.

Even the most fit-looking, slender runners will often say that maintaining a desirable weight is one of the key reasons why they run.

Bottom line, many runners are running to lose weight.

It works. Running can, without a doubt, facilitate these goals, but for some, it doesn’t work. It’s not a given that you’ll lose weight by starting to run. Rather, it’s a great part of a weight loss strategy. Some people become runners and never lose weight, or even gain weight. I’ve seen it enough times that, now, I can explain why that happens and how to avoid it.

I’ve got some guidelines for nutrition as well. I want you to succeed in reaching your weight loss goals, and I’m sure this information will help you do that.

Michael Pollan

The Gut Balance Revolution

Eat the Yolks

Grain Brain by Dr David Perlmutter

Real Food Liz (Liz Wolfe) author of Eat the Yolks

Your Personal Paleo Code by Chris Kresser

The Whole30

Walk to Run to 5k Program

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The post Beginner Runner Class, Day 8: Running for Weight Loss – BRV 043 appeared first on Mojo for Running.

When beginner runners don’t succeed, it’s usually the result of one of two problems:

1. They get injured and conclude their bodies can’t handle it.
2. They don’t enjoy running; they dread the workouts.

When you do it the way I’ve set out in this series, there is no doubt but that you’ll feel good during and after the workouts, mentally and physically. That’s a given, but I’m sure you’re wanting to know what you can do to run healthy and prevent running injuries. That is the topic of this episode.

If you’ve gotten to this point, you’ve heard me say, repeatedly, that you must progress at a gradual pace and that you should listen to your body and be okay with doing the same workout for a week or so, until it’s no longer challenging.

Of course, I have many more points to make about the path to avoiding running injuries.

Walk to Run to 5k Program

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The post Become a Runner Class Day 7: Injury Prevention – BRV 042 appeared first on Mojo for Running.

Many beginner runners don’t warm-up because they think the only reason to warm-up is to prepare to run fast; they know they don’t run fast, so they skip the warm-up. That is a big mistake, but I absolutely understand how a beginner runner might arrive at the conclusion that, for them, a warm-up is unnecessary. You must realize that it’s all relative. For you, walking is the appropriate warm-up.

The fact is that warming up is even more critical for the beginner runner than it is for an advanced runner. I’ll explain that and how to do an appropriate beginner runner warm-up in this podcast.

Then, we’ll talk about walking paces. By that I mean paces for the three different occasions when a beginner runner walks as part of a weekly schedule. Those three are the speed for walking when walking is the whole workout on your easier, non walk/run days, walking as part of a warm-up before the walk run interval, and last, the pace for walking between running intervals. This question came up several times in my online coaching group; so, I know it’s one that occurs to most people executing a walk to run program.

Walk to Run to 5k Program

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The post Become a Runner Day 6: Warming Up and Walking Paces – BRV 041 appeared first on Mojo for Running.

The single most common beginner runner complaint I hear is that they can’t breathe. Often new runners say they struggle to breathe because they feel like they’re breathing through a straw; they say they just can’t get enough air, and that’s a miserable sensation, right?

If you’ve ever been in that situation, you will find answers in this episode. That may be the number 1 problem that you know you must overcome to be a success, to be able to build endurance and, one day, run for miles, in comfort. It just makes sense, that if you can’t breathe, you can’t run very far, and you can’t be comfortable for even a few minutes. So, this is a problem we must fix and do it the right away.

For a more extensive discussion of this topic, please check out this earlier podcast episode: 

BRV 008: How to Breathe When You Run

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The post Become a Runner Class, Day 5: Breathing – BRV 40 appeared first on Mojo for Running.

It’s not unusual for coaches of beginner runners to disregard form in lieu of total emphasis on building endurance. I believe the opposite is the far better, more effective route,

Why learn to run with bad form? Why? It makes no sense. The easiest time to focus on form is when you’re only running a few steps at a time. Plus, the better the form, the less the likelihood of injury – and the better the running form, the more comfortable the runner will be, and the more coordinated the new runner will feel, and that is hugely important.

In this podcast I take you from head to toe, quickly going over all the elements of running form.

If you’d like a deeper, quite thorough look into running form, I’ve got that for you, too. I’ve actually done four episodes:

BRV 009: Running Form Explained, Part 1

BRV 010: Running Form, Part 2

BRV 011: Running Form, Part 3, Foot Strike

BRV 012: Running Form, Part 4, Runner-Watching

Check out the Walk to Run to 5k Program here.

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The post Become a Runner Class, Day 4: Running Form – BRV 039 appeared first on Mojo for Running.

You need a plan.

You wouldn’t set out on a road trip without a map because the chances of arriving at your destination, assuming you hadn’t been there before, would be zero. There are far too many possibilities and far too many possible directions.

Well getting started running is somewhat like that. While most people think it’s as easy as running as far as you can, then stopping to walk, then repeating, as I’ve already explained, this method will almost never get you to your desired destination. In fact, more often than not, it ends in a dead end to what might have been a prolific and immensely satisfying running career.

Enter the map – or in this case – the plan. By plan, I actually mean a day by day running schedule. This changes everything, and the happy part is that you don’t need to hire a coach to get a schedule that’s tailored to exactly your goals and your body. I’ll explain, in this episode, how to layout a beginner running schedule customized to your body.

Listen in to learn the running principles that are the backbone of every running schedule.

Walk to Run to 5k Program

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The post Become a Runner Class, Day 3: Running Schedules – BRV 038 appeared first on Mojo for Running.