Comment by mattlondon | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mattlondon | Hacker News Reader

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Running is quite meditative when you get in to it (at least for me when outside - indoor running on treadmills is soul destroying though I agree). You don't have to go fast or far, but after 10-15-20 mins I find my mind gets into a fairly calm state, even if my legs and lungs are burning.

We - as a species - are engineered and built to run. I think there is a lot to be said for it.

If anyone is reading this and considering giving it a go, please do. You don't need any specific fancy equipment (just some generic trainers/sneakers will do - running does not damage your knees, quite the opposite in fact). I love travelling for work and packing my running gear and exploring the city I am visiting while running - beats sitting in a hotel room watching netflix on my own.

My biggest advice is that when you first start running outside you will feel like you are going slow even if you are not. If you have a smartphone get an app that will help you track your running pace (Strava is popular but I use runkeeper as I don't like the gamification & social parts of strava) and don't try to go faster than 6 mins/km for the first few runs. When I first started running outside (after doing a lot of gym-based treadmill running and before smartphones were really a thing) I had no frame of reference for how I was moving through the space apart from driving so it felt so terribly terribly slow when in reality I was pushing very hard. There are no prizes here and you are not racing anyone - run at a pace that feels sustainable and let your mind go.

Good luck.

Agreed. One way I found back into running was to acknowledge that I could walk for 5k, then try to slowly jog sections of it: walk for 5 mins jog for 15secs and repeat. Then next time raise both durations or reduce the walk or whatever. Now I can run a 5k no problem and all I did was frog boil myself.

10km/h is very fast for a beginner and likely unsustainable for more than a couple of minutes, I would expect most people to be starting around 5-6km/h if they’re a healthy weight.

I think the best piece of advice is START SLOW. way slower than you think. And run for way shorter than you think. Even if your lungs and muscles are fine, if you haven’t ran for a while then your tendons certainly aren’t. You won’t know until it’s too late and then you’ll be out of the game for weeks or months. If you can run on grass or a softer surface your body will thank you, running on concrete is brutal until you’re used to it.

There’s probably programs than you can follow that introduce you to running, I’d follow one of those.

You expect people to start running at 5-6km/h which is about a fast walking pace? That seems unduly slow?

If you haven’t ran before and are carrying some extra weight then yeah it’s probably a good place to start for your first couple of short runs. Even running slowly puts additional stress on your achilles so it’s a bit of a wake up call to your body. Running slowly for 10 minutes a few times when you’re just getting started isn’t going to hurt anyone and if everything checks out then you can start to up the pace.

> Running slowly for 10 minutes a few times ... isn't going to hurt anybody.

Heh, don't get old or be born with the wrong genes. I have to start at no more than about 2min at a time being middle aged now. Some of us are born weaker and more fragile. Aging only makes this worse.

Strength training can help, though I've accumulated enough stubborn injuries now that I'm just thankful I can do anything.

Yes exactly! Good for you for keeping at it.

I’m horribly out of shape and that’s pretty much what I can manage. The question isn’t how fast _should_ I go, but how fast _can_ I go so that I can come back and do it the next day.

Running is harder work than walking. Try it!

I want to try it but how am I supposed to run at the same speed as I walk?

I mean physically, what am I supposed to do to run at 5-6km/h? Should I exaggerate and slow down my run stance? Like I'm fake running? Is that more demanding than walking and a good intro to running vs just running/jogging?

I wouldn't get too hung up on actual speed or numbers, but try to just keep it slow.

I hear what you are saying. Running gait is more sort of a lean-forward-and-push-off-with-toes type thing than a smooth easy walk. You can do that with short strides and medium-cadence and you won't go very fast.

Perhaps just transition into a run and then make a conscious effort to slow down, or go the other way where you walk faster and faster until your instinct is to change to a running gait and try to keep that pace.

The important thing is to try not run too fast "by accident".

Good luck

This is called "jogging" not "running" and it is perfectly fine to do it a pace less than a medium-brisk walk.

Listen to this advice. I took off the winter and then just jumped back into running in the spring like nothing happened and it has not been fun. Should have started way slower and with much shorter distances. I won't races longer than 8K this year due to niggling injuries.

> Running is quite meditative when you get in to it

Some people are physiologically suited to running, but many aren't.

I've been running 4-6 times weekly for 28 years and still dread every single run. Every step is a slog and I can't wait until it's over. It never gets easier and in fact I'm getting slower with age, which is even more depressing.

I'm glad it's mediative for you, but please bear in mind that you are exceptional in that regard. I think it's better to be pragmatic and say "try running but maybe it won't click for you, don't feel disheartened if so".

Well I said "at least for me" 10 words in, and "give it a go" etc so I am not suggesting this is universal.

Sorry it doesn't work for you. 4 to 6 times a week is a lot though, max I do is 3 times a week, typically 2.

I should probably add that I am not a natural runner's build. I am pretty chunky, about 1.8m and about 100kg so I am not some waif and carrying probably 15kg more than I should be, and a typical run is often running to work instead of taking public transport in London so it is very much a "functional" thing.

I don't "enjoy" it, but I do get a clear mind and a bit of a kick out of it once the run is over.

I guess it also depends on the location. I loved running in Thailand, past the flowers and smiling people. I ran 2-3 times in Germany, past the broken bottles and narco bums crawling in the bushes, and decided to stick to the weightlifting.

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