Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Jt Clough of Big Island Dog.
Running has always been my staple exercise. Why?
Because it’s easy. Though at first it may sound like something that isn’t for you, take a few moments to find out why running just 10 minutes a day could change your life from sedentary to active, from carrying a few more pounds than is healthy for you to feeling better every day.
Don’t take that statement wrong, I’m not saying that running is easy for everyone, especially if you haven’t done it before. What I am saying is if you are in need of exercise as a habit in your life, running is easiest to adopt.
Why Run?
- You probably don’t need anything you don’t already have to do it.
- You can do it from your front door.
- You can find 10 or 15 minutes in a day to fit in a run.
- You will get more oxygen to your body and your brain maintaining a more youthful you both mentally and physically.
- You can do it alone.
- You can develop a relationship with a running partner.
- Your running partner could be your dog.
- There are no monthly gym fees involved.
What Not To Do
I did not say run fast. I did not say go out and buy special running shorts, a heart rate monitor, $125 pair of shoes, and hire a coach to find out how to run, how far to run, or write a running plan you should follow to the T.
What To Do
- Depending on the weather put on a pair of shorts or sweats, a t-shirt or sweatshirt, a pair of socks, and any pair of shoes that don’t hurt your feet. Many times the broken in favorites are the best.
- Go out your front door.
- Walk for a couple of minutes. Then run. 16 steps. Or 100 steps. The length of your block. Around the block. However far you can run for right now, in this very moment today. Walking in the middle or the end is good too. Don’t be harsh on yourself. Keep moving forward for 10 minutes.
- Just do it. (to coin a Nike phrase)!
What You Do Every Day Counts
If you took just 10 minutes a day to run or walk, you’d have accumulated over an hour a week or 4 hours in a month. Those are very do-able steps to a more healthy, youthful you and you’ll find after a few weeks that is seems easy.
You will find that you start doing it longer. You’ll find you start liking how you feel even more. One day when filling out a profile questionnaire online or for an application, you’ll write in a very natural way: Runner.
Simply run 10 minutes a day. Amaze yourself.
As a 9 time Ironman finisher, and author and creator of 5K Training Guide | Running with Dogs, Jt Clough writes in Hawaii at Big Island Dog and encourages you to make that change you want so badly today!
I agree!!! I am not a “runner” but it’s probably one of my favorite ways to exercise. The only gear you really need are good shoes, a t-shirt, socks and shorts. It’s awesome!
I enjoy cycling more than running, but I get frustrated with the amount of time it takes for me to get my gear on and my bike ready to go. Sometimes, I could have finished a 20-30 minute jogging/walking workout by the time I am ready to head out on my bike. Also frustrating with cycling is equipment failure – I have yet to have this happen during a run 🙂
The same goes for taking the time to drive to the gym. To me, that seems like such a waste to spend time driving across town to go work out.
Running/jogging/walking = simple!
Hi Valerie,
Yes indeed. All of these things you have listed, I have lived as well. I always come back to running!
It can be done in the shortest amount of time, from the location nearest you (your home), and it seems to offer the biggest return for the time invested!
It’s been rewarding to hear people say that when they started the thought of running was awful. After realizing that I was just asking them to do it for 10 minutes it got easier. Before they knew it 30 minutes and more and it was enjoyable.
Just run. It’s awesome.
Aloha Wags!
After having been told that I shouldn’t run due to hip trouble, I decided to give barefoot running a go this year. I’m not sure if my doctor was unnecessarily pessimistic or if barefoot is just kinder to the body, but I’m really enjoying it. I even signed up for a race in December. There’s a real sense of freedom when you get a good flow going running, and I love that.
Hello Jonathan,
So wonderful to hear and just so you know you are now part of a growing list of those who have had barefoot running prove the Western doctor’s rx for running due to pain, which is stop, wrong.
I had an achilles injury that plagued me badly for about 8 years. I tried every modality there was. Nothing really worked. Orthodics and big cushy shoes were the worst. I could barely walk after trying that out.
2 years ago I got a pair of vibram 5 fingers to give running “barefoot” a try. A salesperson who had many facts on the research behind it convinced me I should give it a shot. So I did. I’m sooooo glad I tried that one. It worked and I’ve been pain free since. It took a bit to get used to and for my body to settle into how it’s supposed to be but I’m running again and I feel lighter, much more playful and like I just want to break out into a happy dance because of it.
I plan to write a guide on “Barefoot and Paws”. Please let me know if you’d like to contribute to the story! I’ve got loads of information on why running barefoot is better for your body.
Happy running and thank you for your comment.
Aloha Wags!
Couldn’t agree more (she types with slightly achy thigh muscles from completing the Great Birmingham 2011 Half marathon Run in the UK on Sunday!). I’m 37 and probably in the best shape of my life thanks to running. I don’t mean I’m wrinkle free or have a 6 pack but I feel better and more energetic than I ever did in years gone by! If only I’d discovered running in my 20’s – oh isn’t youth wasted on the young? My top tip is to get a group of running buddies, this has worked fantastically! By the way I’ll be heading on over to the blog for some tips – I have a 10 mile race in 7 weeks and am looking to improve my pace…
Excellent on the Half Marathon Jo.
No need to look back, think of all the great running years you have ahead of you that will allow you to feel great for a very long time!
Running buddies are fabulous. For me, my dogs are awesome as well because I don’t have to get them to change their schedule when I just decide to go. They are always available!
Send me a note on the contact form and I’ll be happy to give you tips on pace.
Aloha Wags!
Jt
Thanks JT – Have been over to your blog! Boy if ever there was a reason to take up running then the shape you are in is it! 🙂
Just as an aside I recently wrote a guest post for another blog that was running a fitness challenge on how to keep motivated to run, as very often once the initial euphoria and excitement of taking up a new hobby/sport wanes it can be difficult to make it a life long habit – Motivation To Minimize Yo Butt With Minimal Exercise
Hi Jt,
I agree a running habit is easy to adopt. I began when my four girls were very young. I waited until Hubs was home for the evening. Didn’t even need a babysitter. Other times I’d sneak out in the early morning before anyone knew I was gone, I was back.
On tough days the longest distance is between my feet and the front door. Once outside I rarely turn around. However now that I don’t live in the MI weather I don’t have tough days;)
Love it Tess. Same same (again!)
I ALWAYS feel better when I go, even on those days when I really don’t feel like going.
Movement, oxygen; it’s refreshing. Clears my mind. And it’s a much better habit than grazing in front of the refrigerator or opening up Facebook!
Keep runnin’ Girl.
Aloha Wags!
Hi JT,
Reading your quick post just gave me the permission I was seeking to “just” do a quick run tomorrow. I can’t fit in my goal of a 45 minute run, but it sure would be better to get out there for some amount of time instead of skipping it altogether. Plus, if it’s really cold, I can come inside sooner! 🙂
Allison,
I am so glad. I understand exactly what you are saying. In my younger years I had this thing in my head that if I did not go for at least 45 minutes it was not worth doing.
Come to find out how wrong I was.
It’s amazing what 10 minutes can do for you, even if you CAN go an hour or two! One of the motto’s I’ve picked up in the last few years that has served me well is:
What You Do Every Day Counts
That means 10 minutes or an hour. It still counts.
Stay warm and keep on runnin’
Aloha Wags!
Tess, that’s where I am at right now! Happy to see inspirational tales of others’ success in the same situation.
Thanks for the inspiration!
And Jo, hats off on the half marathon!!
Cheers Brooke!
I love this idea. I’m not a runner. I’m not even a walker. But I think I could do 10 minutes. Of walking. I think I’d die. seriously. die. if I tried to run more than those 16 steps you mentioned. But it would be an excellent place to start.
Jennifer,
You won’t die. Trust me.
To tell you the truth is was what inspired me to write the 5K Training Guide | Running with Dogs. I had many clients who needed help with their dogs and the easiest way to teach dogs, especially those with issues is movement. So I started them out walking with the dog.
I have had many who said exactly what you just said. And I have had those same people write me notes about how they are up to an hour 4, 5 and 6 times a week now and love it. They would have never gotten there without weeks of 10 minutes.
Walk the whole 10 minutes or run 4 steps of it. You can do it and you will amaze yourself!
Jennifer,
You should definitely try 10 minutes of walking – you may be surprised what a positive impact it makes for you!
Way to go!
Valerie
Hey!
Just to say I loved this post. For some years I didn’t make no exercise at all. So some months ago I decide to start doing it again. I wanted all the things you mention (there are all quite true!) plus “doing whenever I want” and “outside sport” at the beggining need to be honedt I just hated! but after awhile you start to see all the positive aspects.
Daniel
P.S: Got to include your blog on a short post yesterday, so keep posting like this!
http://minimalifestyle.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/23-blogs-that-every-minimalism-should-read/
Thanks for affirming how it really can work. Just a little at time over time can build something that seemed impossible or even worse, something you just don’t like, into something you look forward to.
The positive aspects do take effect. I always say, don’t give it just a little while, give it 6 weeks at 10 minutes a day, or every other day. Do it anyway, no matter what and you’ll be amazed at how something you dislike turns into something you love. Even better, you’ll feel great too. Inside and out.
Jt, I appreciate this post because it reminds me of what my former college roommate shared with me about her running experience. In college she thought she’d never run (and thought I was a bit crazy for wanting to!), but years later, shes started small and started running down the block each day. Going for runs consistently completely changed her mind on the subject. Now, she looks forward to running and has finished a few 5ks too!
It is amazing the influence we have on people even years later. You showed her running. Now she does it and enjoys the cool benefits of it. She many never have had she only had the vision of “not so fun” in her head. You dispelled that one for her!
Aloha Wags!
Running doesn’t do well for my ankles, but I do love walking & how I feel when I make time to do it routinely. Of course during the cold months, I feel like just hibernating. I’m definitely going to try this so I don’t get the winter blahs.
Kelly,
Though running is one of my favorites, I have also scene personally the benefits of walking. It is in fact easier on your body when you have things like ankle problems and such. Walking can get you more fit than running in some cases. It’s a matter of consistency.
Cold can be a deterrent but you can use it as a way to get out and get some very fresh oxygen and you can combine days where you just walk around an indoor mall or even on a treadmill. Always a way to walk. And when there is a will there is a way!
Aloha Wags!
Why go with “a pair of socks and any pair of shoes that don’t hurt your feet”? Better is to go with neither socks, nor shoes, if your environment will at all allow it. The Five-Fingers shoes can be wonderful but don’t feel you need to exercise your consumerist indulgences when bare feet are that much more wonderfuller.
Dk,
I have to agree with you as a person who has in fact done this. I started running with Five Fingers a couple of years ago and it took care of an achilles injury. Since moving to Hawaii I go barefoot most the time and it’s wonderful.
Just getting started with shoes, with Five Fingers or with no shoes at all is a good thing. Enjoy and simply run.
Thanks for your post. It enourages me to start doing running tommorrow. I did promise to myself to run but failed because of low commitment and lack of motivation. Will do again tomorrow and keep the motivation to have it became a habit.
Vinh,
One of the things that I have also started practicing is doing what I say I’m going to do. Especially those things I say to myself. It has given me a much higher opinion of myself and I’ve gotten many of the things that used to sit on my “list” done that had been repetitively there for a long time.
Even if it’s only 5 minutes, go do it. Just start. Once you do that you are well on you way. You don’t have to start off running a marathon. You don’t even have to ever run a marathon. Same with the rest of your projects or to do’s. Just start and you’ll find yourself making great progress over time.
Aloha wags!