Beginning Runner Tips

Any foot doctor worth his or her weight will advise you that physical activity is instrumental in contributing to your overall health. Of course, running is a popular exercise for people the world over. This may seem like a simple and straightforward activity—put one foot in front of the other, quicker is better—but it’s not quite that simple.

Without having a plan in place, you could put yourself at risk for injury. Our team at Premier Podiatry Group provides first-class treatment for foot and ankle sports injuries, but we’d rather know you are able to avoid injury.

To help you stay safe and injury-free, we have prepared some beginning running tips. Following these will lower your injury risk and allow you to create a sustainable running program as you work to achieve your goals and lead a healthier lifestyle.

Before You Hit the Pavement

The first tip for a beginner is to establish your goals and milestones for your running program. Take some time to think about what you want to accomplish. Perhaps you want to run a marathon. Maybe you are interested in losing weight and improving your cardiovascular conditioning. No matter your motivation, write down your goals and then poste them somewhere you can see them every day.

In order to create a solid goal—for running or otherwise—follow the SMART method. Makes sure that your running goals are: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. A vague goal that cannot be measured will not allow you to know if you’re actually making progress. You need to know exactly what you want to achieve, be able to see progress, and know that it can be achieved in a realistic, timely manner.

Goals are important, but so are milestones. By creating these markers along your path, you will be able to see progress and know you are getting somewhere. This ties in with the “M” from the SMART method and will provide the metrics you need to proceed.

We hope your plans and milestones do not include running a marathon in your first week! Part of being realistic in your planning is ensuring that you do not attempt to do too much, too soon. Plan on building up your levels of frequency, duration, and intensity gradually. Tackling too much at the start will only increase your risk for injury (like stress fractures, plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinitis, etc.) and burnout.