How do I start running?
Alternate running and walking, three times a week, and add minutes rather than speed until you can run 30 minutes without stopping.
A workable first month: three sessions a week of 20 to 30 minutes total, running one minute and walking two, then slowly shifting the balance towards running. Keep the running slow enough to talk in full sentences. If you cannot, you are running your easy runs too hard, which is the most common beginner mistake.
Progress by time, not pace. Add a few minutes a week, not more than about 30% in two weeks, and keep one or two full days off between runs while your tendons catch up with your lungs. Those adapt slower than your fitness improves, which is why week four feels great and week six is when something starts to niggle.
The running plan builder on myLPL lays this out week by week, counted back from a date you pick.
Run the numbers
Sources
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- Nielsen, R.O. et al. (2014). Excessive progression in weekly running distance and risk of running-related injuries: an association which varies according to type of injury. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 44(10). 874 novice runners: adding more than 30% to weekly distance across two weeks went with more injuries.
- Buist, I. et al. (2008). No effect of a graded training program on the number of running-related injuries in novice runners: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Sports Med 36(1). 532 novices: a gentler build-up did not lower injury rates, so there is no magic schedule, only sensible jumps.
- Seiler, S. (2010). What is best practice for training intensity and duration distribution in endurance athletes? Int J Sports Physiol Perform 5(3). Why almost all of it should feel easy: trained endurance athletes keep roughly 80% of sessions below the first threshold.