Running for fitness - how far should my first run be?

Question

I am 5ft 7, and 10st 9 pounds (149 pounds), and although I haven't run for ages I am fit enough to walk 5 miles at a smart pace.

What would be a good distance to aim for for my first run?

Answer 1

Try running a mile. See how that feels. Keep running about a mile a day for about a week, take a day or two off, then try a mile and a half. Go at a nice easy pace. after a week of that, take another day off. Then if you are comfortable enough with that, start going on 2 mile runs. If not, go another week of a mile and a half. Every other week, try throwing in a swimming day. Do laps for about 10 minutes and call it a day. I would max out at around 3 mile runs. Once you get to that, run 3 miles for 4 days a week. And swim laps for 10-15 minutes for 1 day a week in a pool if you can.

Answer 2

i would say just try and run for 10 minutes straight at any pace just try and keep running

Answer 3

Don't, just keep walking, and use hills at first, hear what your body is saying at all times

Answer 4

First, run or walk all of your mileage on grass or a trail if possible.  This will prevent many injuries and make your running more enjoyable and pain-free.  Secondly, decide on a weekly schedule and increase that schedule by 15% every week or every other week.

A beginner's example(8 days):

1.25mi - 1.5mi - 2mi - 0mi - 1.25mi - 1.5mi - 2mi - 0mi  Repeat

This may be too much or not enough.  Just try it out and see how you feel.  Your body can tell you everything.  Good luck!

Answer 5

as far as you can, maybe try 1-1 1/2  miles to begin with then up it as you get better. If you haven't run for ages you'll probably need to stop and start with a mixture of walking and running.

Answer 6

How about sticking with the 5 mile distance and timing yourself?

Each time you go out you should aim to beat it (even if the first few runs are mixed running & walking).

The 5 mile distance will set you up nicely if you want to push onto half and full marathons in the future.

If not, 5 miles is easily going to be the furthest you are going to need to run at any point in your life!

Answer 7

Once the walking becomes somewhat easy,  slowly incorporate 1-2 minutes of running into your walking, then walk for about 2-3 minutes, then repeat.  Within two or three weeks you should be able to up your min. of running at one time and less walking.....eventually you'll be able to run most if not all the way!!  May want to back down to about 3 Mi. when just running until your body gets use to it.  Good Luck!

Answer 8

running for fitness or running because your AWOL(lol),who cares,the average walking pace to cover 4.5 miles is an hour so if your within that time limit for your 5 miles then you doing OK,as for running,if you have not run for some time then you need to be realistic in your aims,i would suggest you find somewhere that you can say is a mile be it half a mile out and half a mile back or a straight mile and run this to get a yardstick as to your running capabilities,if you can manage a mile in comfort then do this for a week with the aim to cut your time each time and then progress from there,you don't say how old you are so be comfortable in your stride as your not looking to achieve a 4 minute mile,you should be able to run a mile in under 7 Min's,achieve that and you can then set your own pace.

Answer 9

i wouldnt go for a distance, i would go for a time, in school we start off with a VERY SLOW 20 minute run, almost like a fast walk but with the movement of jogging

Answer 10

When I started running my first one was about 3.5 - 4 miles. I was fairly fit and like you could walk and walk at a good pace.

Since I hadnt run before the next day my muscles were complaining, but a couple more runs along the same route and I got used to it.

I would suggest about 4 mile run and aim to do this in about half an hour. Run and walk to recover if you need a rest then start running again when you feel you can.

I wouldnt go out for a run much less than half an hour really - by the time you change before, have a glass of water, shower and change after and another drink you will spend more time changing than you did running!!

Good luck with the run and let us know how it goes - if you need any more info, then pop back and ask and we'll see what we can do