57: How to Find Your Perfect Run-Walk Interval, a Simple Beginner Test
Beginner Runner
In this episode, Beginner Runner Coach Deb Voiles explains a simple diagnostic test that helps new runners choose a comfortable starting point for running, walking, and repeating each interval. The guiding principle is simple: reduce intensity. A high cadence paired with short steps can make running feel easier, but cadence is only part of the equation. Beginners also need an appropriate running duration, enough walking recovery, and a manageable number of repetitions. The goal is not to prove how long you can suffer. It is to build fitness gradually while enjoying the process and giving...
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56: Solving Beginner Runner Breathing Problems by Making Running Easier
Beginner Runner
In this episode, Coach Deb explains why breathing feels so difficult for new runners and introduces a high cadence technique that greatly reduces effort. She also covers walking preparation, gradual progression from running in place to moving forward, the form and injury-prevention benefits of high cadence, and the resources and next steps recommended for beginning a walk/run program. Beginner runners often struggle to breathe because even short running intervals exceed their current fitness level. No matter how hard they try to run slowly and easily, any running feels intense. The solution is...
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55: From Walking to Running, a Beginner's Journey to Running Success
Beginner Runner
In this episode Deb provides a reassuring overview of the journey to becoming a lifelong runner. She'll describe the three main segments of the journey, providing insight into what to expect, from the challenges of the first months when everything is new and nothing feels quite natural to the point, six or eight months away, when you can no longer imagine a life without running. The focus is on starting gently and allowing the body to adapt. Training at this stge doesn't require a lot of time. Deb explains simple strengh and balance exercises appropriate for beginner runners at the earliest...
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54: Beginner Runner Secret: Walk First. Run a Little. Gradually Do More.
Beginner Runner
What if the best way to become a runner is not to start by running? In this episode of the Beginner Runner Podcast, coach Debbie Voiles shares a simple path for true beginners: walk first, run a little, and then, only when your body is ready, run a little more. The goal is not to suffer through a rigid plan but to build fitness, confidence, and the identity of a lifelong runner, one manageable step at a time. Debbie recalls dreading the annual 600-yard run in high school. Years later, after the birth of her daughter, she tried again with an ultra-gradual approach and eventually became a...
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53: How to Start Running for Extreme Beginners with No Fitness and No Experience
Beginner Runner
Anybody can become a runner, but there is a right way, a process that always works, and a wrong way. Sadly, many runners fail to discover that right process, the method that makes sense for runners at the cusp of running their first quarter mile. I'm here to get you on the right path for what I call 'beginning' beginner runners or extreme beginners. In this episode, you'll discover: Why most beginner programs fail (they assume too much starting fitness) How to find YOUR personal "Square One" starting point Why going slow is actually the fastest path to success My proven walk-run method that...
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52: Advice from Well-Meaning Experienced Runners
Beginner Runner
Runners are the best people, always ready to help beginners, but sometimes they forget to consider what is appropriate for the new runner at that particular time in their running journey. Experienced runners are extremely helpful to beginner runners, but the beginner needs to always stop and think about their situation before being influenced to do anything differently.
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51: Do You Worry That You Can't Run, That You Can't Become a Runner?
Beginner Runner
Virtually anyone can run, can become a runner, but there is a right way to start running, and there are several common, deal-breaking mistakes. A beginner runner needs to know how to begin running. When would-be runners go at it the wrong way, make one or more of the common mistakes, they get discouraged and - incorrectly - believe that it's just not possible for them, for their body and their life, but really, anyone can run.
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50: Listener Question, What If I Struggle With Motivation?
Beginner Runner
The life of a runner requires a daily dose of motivation. While veteran runners may sometimes struggle, beginner runners more frequently find their mojo is missing, and they need running inspiration. Coach Deb provides insight into the running mindset every beginner runner needs in order to maintain the motivation to get out there and put in the miles, day in and day out.
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49: How Many Days to Run When 6 Months Into Running
Beginner Runner
The last episode answered the listener question, "How many days should I run?" That answered the question for someone at the very beginning of their running journey, but the answer is different for a beginner who is six months along. This episode answers the same question for that runner but also explains how to build running mileage even at three miles a week. It explains the strategy of how to safely and efficiently build mileage, how many miles to build up your running mileage base, and how and why to incorporate the once-weekly long run.
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48: Beginner Runner Question: How Often Should I Run?
Beginner Runner
Getting this right will make the beginner runner's journey much easier, much more comfortable, and lead to health instead of injuries. In this episode, Deb explains how often a beginner runner should run while also providing the reasoning behind the plan. Understanding this reasoning is key to long-term running success.
info_outlineWhen beginner runners don’t succeed, it’s usually the result of one of two problems:
- They get injured and conclude their bodies can’t handle it.
- They don’t enjoy running; they dread the workouts.
When you start running the way I’ve set out in this series, there is no doubt but that you’ll feel good during and after the workouts, mentally and physically. That’s a given, but I’m sure you’re wanting to know what you can do to run healthy and prevent running injuries. That is the topic of this episode.
If you’ve gotten to this point, you’ve heard me say, repeatedly, that you must progress at a gradual pace and that you should listen to your body and be okay with doing the same workout for a week or so, until it’s no longer challenging.
Of course, I have many more points to make about the path to avoiding running injuries.
Mojo for Running is the companion podcast to Beginner Runner Village. It's for runners at the next level, but the information will still be helpful for beginners.
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