Midlife Athlete: Get Moving

Editor’s Note: Midlife Athlete will publish on the second Friday of every month

By Jennifer McDonald

In the December issue of CW, I introduced myself and told you a little about how I got into running. For this first web column, I thought I’d tell you more about the training program I used to go from walking to running. When I started thinking about running, I did a lot of reading and I figured out what would work for me.

Luckily, I already had a solid exercise base as a walker and I had recently taken up cycling again, so I started running with a foundation of exercise under my belt. During walks, I’d add in short bursts of running—usually just a block or two. I’d do that a few times during the course of 3-4 miles. It wasn’t long before I started extending my distances—instead of running one block, I’d run two. Once I got used to that distance, I’d run three blocks. Within a couple of months, I was able to run a half mile, walk a short distance, run another half mile, walk again, and so on. (This is a variation of the Couch to 5K program, which a number of my friends have successfully done.) Five months after I started, I ran the Charlottesville Women’s 4-Miler.

If you have any sort of pain when you run, ease up and don’t push too hard. If the pain doesn’t go away after a day or two, don’t push so hard on your next run. If the pain still doesn’t go away after that, talk to your doctor.

I do not run every day because it is just too hard on my body. I am a big fan of cross-training—walking and cycling, for example—which gives my body a chance to rest and recover in between runs. I’m considering trying yoga and Pilates this year, and I know that swimming would be great for my overall fitness. I’ll talk more about cross training in a future column.

There are two terrific running shops right in Charlottesville where you can ask questions and get advice—Ragged Mountain Running Shop and Charlottesville Running Company. I used to feel sheepish about going in, figuring that the shops were only for “real runners” but I have only had positive experiences at both running shops. The folks at both are incredibly supportive of everyone, whether you’re a novice runner or a seasoned one.

I acknowledge that running isn’t for everyone, but don’t rule it out just because you think your size or age precludes it. You’d be surprised by what you can do. As I said in my article last month, when I started running, I weighed more than 200 pounds and certainly didn’t resemble the “typical runner.” In fact, I still don’t. But I am a runner, make no mistake about it, and just last week I did an 8-miler and had a great time.

Next month, I’ll talk a bit about running gear, from the absolute necessities (good sneakers and running bras) to slightly more frivolous stuff (GPS watches).

If you have any questions for me, feel free to leave a comment here or go to my website (below) to find my contact information.

Jennifer McDonald is a freelance writer and running enthusiast. You can find more from Jennifer at her blog Jen On The Edge and Jennifer McDonald writes.