Beginner Running - Questions

[Rawrin']

Hey guys

This is my first post here, so sorry if it's a bit all over the place, haha. I just have a few questions about running, and I was hoping that there where some more experienced runners that could give me some good answers.

First, some basic information - I'm a 15 year old female, just under 116 pounds, 5'10, pretty active, student, ectomorph (tall, thin, little muscle/fat) and live in Australia. Last year I went through a bit of a phase where I wasn't eating properly, so I lost quite a bit of weight that I didn't really need to lose - about 8kg/roughly 20 pounds (probably mostly muscle).

So, before about a month ago, I had NEVER gone out and run before, 'cause I seriously sucked at it. I could only just manage 800m (half a mile?) and even then, I ran SLOOOOW. Anyway, my school had cross country the other day, which is about 1.7 miles. I'd only run the course twice before in school P.E but a part from that had no other training. Somehow I came 4th out of some 40 people and managed to get picked for the two XC teams (The Inter-School XC and the School XC State Championships, from whom they pick the schools to go to Nationals). Now that the holidays have arrived, I'm doing some of my own training to help prepare, and am not sure on a few things. I started training twelve days ago and today is my second rest day, just so you know.

1. How far/how long should I be running for? I started by running roughly the equivalent of my school's XC track (just over 1.7 miles) around this little oval, but that bored me to tears so now I run along a little 600m long beach about just over 5 times for a total of just under 2 miles. The XC that Im running with school will be about 3 miles/5km.

2. Should I run by time or distance? Just wondering, at the moment I run by distance and time how long it takes me.

3. How many days should I run and how many days should I have off? I currently run 6 days a week during the evening and rest on Wednesday (when I have netball training, which doesn't involve too much running). Yesterday I completed my 6th day running in a row, and I didn't run that great cause probably because I was exhausted, but it was also much colder, I was wearing more clothes, it was windier and I had to run around that annoying little grass oval which I HATE.

4. What pace should I be running at to improve? At the moment, when I'm running there is NO hope of me carrying a conversation. The occassional yes/no answer could be possible, but overall I'm breathing quite hard. I inhale/exhale mostly through my mouth too, if that means anything.

5. What types of runs should I be doing? How often? So far I can't say I've done any 'easy runs' and the pace I run at probably classifies as a tempo-running. I was thinking of doing some interval training- 30 seconds easy/30 seconds hard for eight sets (could I do this on my stationary bike, like I use to, or should I run them?).

6. Am I eating enough? My usual diet is:
Breakfast - Cereal (Sanitarium Oat Clusters) with low-fat skim milk.
Snack - One medium/large apple.
Lunch - Chicken salad wrap/sandwhich (wholegrain bread, skinless chicken, a few cherry tomatoes, two small slices of cheese and a bit of lettuce).
Snack - Maybe a medium/large apple, sometimes nothing If I'm busy.
Dinner - Differs each night, but usually lean meat with steamed vegetables.
Snack - Another apple .

I also plan to weight train a few times a week - I'm seeing a personal trainer today

Thankyou very much in advance! Sorry for such a long post.

[2dumb2quit]

Alright, another runner! Let me see if I can help answer your questions...

1) For XC, you should vary your distances. In order to run long distances, you have to train long distance, however this can lead to catabolism (the breakdown of muscle). What's worked best for me is doing a distance run of about 6 miles one day, followed by sprints and weight training the next, maybe with an intermediate fast 1-3 miler thrown in there.

2) I've never ran for time. I like distance.

3) As I said, I do 6 days of running at varied speeds and take one day off. Sometimes you just need more rest though. If you feel like trash towards the end and your performance drops, 2 rest days might be a very good idea. That's when you get stronger after all.

4) Sounds like you've got a good pace going Just always make sure you're pushing yourself. If you're doing intervals, you shouldn't even be able to think about anything beyond counting how much longer you have left.

5) Kinda covered this already.

6) I don't really see much fat in that diet... Most of us here advocate low carb, high fat, high protein diets. Since you run XC, extra carbs won't kill ya. Aiming for low carb, I usually eat 33% carbs, 33% fat, and 33% protein. Also, eat when you're hungry. Really simple, but it's the best advice there is. Don't gorge just because it's chocolate, and don't limit your intake because you're scared of getting fat. Just for an idea, I'm a 150-155 lb. 19-year-old male, and consume approximately 4000 calories per day. Haven't gained a single pound all year (which might actually mean I need to eat more...)

Also, weight training, excellent idea. Like I said earlier, I lift in between distance days. Do squats, deadlifts, and step-ups to make your legs stronger. Do bench press, pullups, rows, overhead press and olympic lifts too, since having a strong body overall tends to be a good idea. Don't waste your time on stuff like bicep curls, unless you're really hurting in that department (my triceps suck, so I should probably isolate them).

*DISCLAIMER* I don't compete with anyone but myself, and don't really time myself. I can do a half marathon in about 2 hours, and earlier this year I got stuck on a treadmill and did a couple consecutive 6:00 miles. The XC guys at school, who run 7 miles in 35 minutes, are way outta my league. But for about a year of training, I'm pretty content.

Well if your goal is endurance you must increase the run by 10% every time you run.

I would run distance and time

Run every other day for recovery

The pace will be determined by your goals, time or distance, i would aim to beat previous times and distance

As for diet, weigh yourself every week and if your getting lighter your burning the little muscle you have off, so i would up the cals by 250 per day and see if weight stabalises, but expect increase of weight in muscle weight not fat ( if you keep a clean diet )

Good luck and hope this sheds a bit of light on yr goals

2D2Q is correct on diet

[sooner_ed]

Gentlemen,
That was some pretty good advice for Rawrin, but I do take issue with a couple of things said.

2dumb2quit, you said:
What's worked best for me is doing a distance run of about 6 miles one day, followed by sprints and weight training the next, maybe with an intermediate fast 1-3 miler thrown in there.

I do understand you are saying that is what works best for you but I don't think that is sound advice for her.

Rawrin said:
So, before about a month ago, I had NEVER gone out and run before

Because of this, she is not ready for sprints, intervals, or distance.

My advice would be a two mile run six days a week for several weeks until her body gets used to running.

Rawrin, I would just listen to my body as far as time and distance are concerned. The more often you run two miles, your body will start adapting to that. Some days will feel better than others. Push your speed a little as you feel comfortable with it.

There is no magic formula to tell a person how far, how fast, and how often to run. Your body dictates that for you.

bodyshop, you're a wealth of knowledge but I must disagree with what you said:
Well if your goal is endurance you must increase the run by 10% every time you run.

This is not completely accurate.

The 10% increase should be a weekly increase, not a daily increase or an every time you run increase.

Because Rawrin's main goal is cross country, I would not advise running every other day. There is not enough training in that for a beginner.

Personally, I would advise running 5-6 days a week. I would take one day each week as a complete rest day. Rest your body and mind.

I would get a little more in detail, but I must get to work.

Anyway, that is just my two cents.

[ajarvis]

1. How far/how long should I be running for? I started by running roughly the equivalent of my school's XC track (just over 1.7 miles) around this little oval, but that bored me to tears so now I run along a little 600m long beach about just over 5 times for a total of just under 2 miles. The XC that Im running with school will be about 3 miles/5km. I would continue with the just under 2 miles for now. I would increase your distance every week with one long slow run by about 10 percent could be more depending on how you feel. Do one "long" run a week (which right now would be your just under 2 mile runs) with at least 2 shorter ones during the week. one being an interval speed run.

2. Should I run by time or distance? Just wondering, at the moment I run by distance and time how long it takes me. Completely personal IMO I run by distance mainly - and especially if I'm training to do a specific run of a specific distance

3. How many days should I run and how many days should I have off? I currently run 6 days a week during the evening and rest on Wednesday (when I have netball training, which doesn't involve too much running). Yesterday I completed my 6th day running in a row, and I didn't run that great cause probably because I was exhausted, but it was also much colder, I was wearing more clothes, it was windier and I had to run around that annoying little grass oval which I HATE. I use to run 6 days a week no problem and I loved it, but I don't believe it's necessary I'd say 4 times a week would be good with some cross training in there - lifting weights or swimming etc. something besides running.

4. What pace should I be running at to improve? At the moment, when I'm running there is NO hope of me carrying a conversation. The occassional yes/no answer could be possible, but overall I'm breathing quite hard. I inhale/exhale mostly through my mouth too, if that means anything. During your long runs you are supposed to go at a pace that you can talk at - this will improve your endurance and will also allow you to do longer runs. During the short speed, or interval runs you should be running hard.

5. What types of runs should I be doing? How often? So far I can't say I've done any 'easy runs' and the pace I run at probably classifies as a tempo-running. I was thinking of doing some interval training- 30 seconds easy/30 seconds hard for eight sets (could I do this on my stationary bike, like I use to, or should I run them?). refer to my answer 1, but interval training is great for improving speed, and stamina. I would run them not bike them because you're training for a 5k run.

6. Am I eating enough? My usual diet is:
Breakfast - Cereal (Sanitarium Oat Clusters) with low-fat skim milk.
Snack - One medium/large apple.
Lunch - Chicken salad wrap/sandwhich (wholegrain bread, skinless chicken, a few cherry tomatoes, two small slices of cheese and a bit of lettuce).
Snack - Maybe a medium/large apple, sometimes nothing If I'm busy.
Dinner - Differs each night, but usually lean meat with steamed vegetables.
Snack - Another apple .

you're probably fine, but thats pretty personal and I'm not a good one to advise on nutrition lol