Running Tip 1

Dear Friends,

Greetings!

Though I am a software professional, since the advent of this decade I have turned myself into a amateur long distance runner. The hobby which started in September 2009 for losing a layer of fat around my hips and belly slowly turned into a passion which propelled me into participating road running events. I started with 5KM in 2011, then promoted myself to 10KM next year, taking a level up to Half Marathon in 2013 and ultimately reached a level of completing my first marathon in 2015. It is a very interesting and satisfying journey for me. I keep watching Facebook posts of my friends also who like me have turned into an amateur or hobby runner. It is a very good trend as running enhances the stamina, increases the fitness levels and promotes healthy lifestyle for the person who has opted for it.

With the vision of increasing awareness and promoting the trend of running I have planned to publish few running tips for the beginners through this blogger. I am looking to publish one tip per post. The tip published will be very simple and easy understandable. The tips are based on my personal experiences. Alternately you can get lot of running tips on internet. It is completely left to your choice whether to follow the tip (published here) or not. Without further delay let me get into business :)

Tip 1 - Keep your objective very clear.

I am assuming you would like to start running from coming Monday on wards. You might have got inspired by seeing the Facebook post of your close friend where he is flaunting the finisher medal he has won in a 10KM road race. Or you might have got inspired by hearing about your colleague losing 5 kg in 3 months because of running. Whatever the inspiration source may be, one thing I advise you is to ask yourself why would you like to start running. What is it that you want to achieve through running? By asking that question to yourself on why you want to run, you will help yourself in getting a clear running objective. It may be anything among the following

1. You feel very weak and prone to frequent illnesses. You would like to gain strength and enhance your stamina. 
2. You feel you are overweight and your waist line is getting broader. You would like to reduce the weight and waist line both. 
3. You are a sportsman and since you don't have a company to play other games, you have opted for running. 
4. You want to be a long distance runner and would like to participate in the road running competitions. 
5. You would like to run for fun once in a while as a pastime. 

The objective may change in future as happened in my case but a clear objective at the beginning or in fact at any point of time will help the runner to have a clear mind and make a plan accordingly for his/her course of action for the next few months. When I began in 2009 my objective was clear - to reduce the extra 3-4 kgs and 1-2 inches of waistline. I started by running 1.2 KM on first day, gradually increased to around 4-5 KM per day in the next 2-3 months. Regular practice for six months helped me in achieving the objective. My tailor who used to stitch my trousers with plates because of my hip size, started suggesting narrower, pencil cut kind of pants without plates. But in 2012, my objective got changed to run 10KM that too in a competition without stopping. My planning and preparations got changed accordingly. In 2013, I raised the bar to half marathon, and in 2015 my main focus was on completing a full marathon. In 2016 I put myself a target of 1100 KM to make it an average of 3 KM per day. Accordingly I started noting my practice running distances in my dairy to keep track of my progress. This year I have even more KMs as my target and I have planned my practice sessions accordingly. You can see the objective kept on changing and accordingly the planning and preparation also. Hence I suggest you to arrive at a clear objective before getting on to the track.

I believe the tip was useful. Give me time till I come with the next tip. Also keep your objective ready :)

Thank you,

Regards,
Chetan