It’s often quite daunting once you’ve made the decision to start running to get fit and lose some weight. There are so many running programs and advice out there you’re not quite sure which way to turn or whose advice to follow. Many running programs seem pretty full on and exhausting to follow. Don’t be surprised to find programs that have your running six days a week with cross training in between. And you thought getting fit was going to be easy. But don’t despair. You have made the right decision, it’s important to follow the right program depending on what your goal is.
There are two camps when it comes to running – Racers and Runners.
Racers are people who are concerned about things like time, speed, pace, personal bests and trying harder.
Runners are people who are concerned about things like experience, fun, enjoyment, exhilaration and trying easier.

A runner who runs easy is someone who runs because it is a lifestyle choice. A runner runs because they enjoy it, they enjoy feeling fit, they enjoy being outdoors, they love the endorphin rush running gives them, they love the exhilaration, they enjoy the camaraderie, and the bottom line is they just love it. A runner who runs easy unlike a racer is not concerned with how fast they went, or whom they beat or what their pace was – the thrill and exhilaration is simply running. It’s about running easy.

So, what is the Running Easy philosophy?
The most fundamental principle of the Running Easy approach is-
Throw away your watch
Hold on, before you toss that expensive watch away! You can have a watch, however the important thing is to not worry about time. When you run easy you are not concerned about how fast you run, what your pace is etc. This is the most fundamental principle of a runner, as compared to a racer. You have to forget about time. The only time you are interested in is a Fun Time.
And the magical thing is when you run at a pace that is easy and manageable for you, this is the perfect pace for achieving optimal health, weight loss, and fitness and for feeling good. So running easy is an all round winning formula!

If you’re keen on not being run down – always (whenever possible) run facing the traffic.

If you run when it is dark or poor visibility wear light clothing, wear a reflective strip and possibly wear a flashing light.

Be careful of cars approaching from behind (when you are running on the same side as the traffic). When you’re tired you tend to use your hearing rather than having to turn around. This means listening to music makes you less aware. However, if you hear a car approaching from behind, and move further off the road, be careful once it has passed of moving back to your former position, without looking, as often there is another car directly behind the first who is not expecting you to move suddenly back towards the road.

Being squashed should not be part of your training plan – rather be careful, especially when you get tired.

http://www.runningeasy.com

There are 2 main parts to fitness – well actually there are 5 parts – Cardiorespiratory, Muscular strength, Muscular endurance, Physical flexibility, Body composition – but we want to keep this simple and useful. You’re not going to be jogging along the road thinking about the crossover point between your cardiorespiratory gain and body composition. More likely you’re puffing and wheezing and got sore muscles. So, we’re going to simplify it down to two elements;

- Cardio Fitness – that’s the huffing part.
- Structural Fitness – that’s the aching parts.

Cardio fitness is to do with the fitness of your heart and lungs – essentially it is how efficient they are. After all we basically need air to live and do everything. If the big pump (heart) and air reservoir (lungs) are optimized then your cardiovascular fitness is operating well and running (or any exercise) will feel easy.

Structural Fitness is the condition of your muscles, joints and all the other parts of your body that are doing all the moving when the Cardio engine is pumping.

It is a lack of Cardio fitness that makes most non-runners feel that it must be impossible to run anything more than a couple of kilometers, let alone a marathon. “Hang! I’m huffing and panting just when I get up from the dinner table, and sweating like a Turkish wrestler after walking up the road, there is just no way I could run a marathon!” The hardest part of your training is developing the cardio fitness. But the good news is that this fitness is quickly acquired and by Week 2 or 3 of our marathon program (assuming you started with the required 5km core fitness) the cardio fitness issues will be minimal.

The first phase sees you experiencing high levels of effort relating to developing cardio fitness. The second phase sees the cardio effort dropping off significantly while the strain on the structural component increases. Then finally the third phase, where the training reaches the peak weeks just prior to the taper, the strain on the structural fitness component increases the most. This is when there are lots of sore muscles, joints and others parts of your body you never knew you had.

So as you can see by the time you develop your marathon fitness your cardio fitness feels easier and easier, and with rest your structural fitness also starts to feel easier.

Yours in running easy….
Craig & Nicky
www.runningeasy.com