The Beginner Runner Village Method Sets You Up for Success

Confidence may be the single most critical requirement for succeeding at becoming a runner. You must believe you can succeed.

Are you ready to start your journey to become a runner? My proven, simple method will get you across that finish line. No, I’m not referring to a race, although it will get you there, too, if that’s your goal. No, I’m referring to becoming a lifelong runner, that person who gets up, thinks about the day ahead and sees her run as one of the best parts of that day, something to look forward to doing.

This is the first of eight daily posts, each covering a key step. By day eight, you’ll know exactly how to start—and most importantly, you’ll have the confidence you may not feel today.

Deb Voiles, Coach at Beginner Runner Village

I’m Deb Voiles, coach at the Beginner Runner Village, and I’m here to guide you through the beginner phase—the part that stops most people. I fully get where you are. While I’ve been running 48 years - you read that right - ever since I struggled to lose the baby weight after Wendy was born - but I was not a runner in college, was never an elite runner or anything close. I hated running when we had to do it in school, dreaded it, in fact.

But when I was motivated to lose that baby weight, I figured out how to do it, and quickly fell in love with running, and it has led to all these years of running and coaching.

What most people don’t realize is that the hardest part is finding the courage to begin.

As John Bingham said, “The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” My job is to give you the tools, structure, and support to start with confidence and succeed.

How can I help you with that part?

I believe it’s by explaining my method. When you hear it and understand it, I think you will say to yourself, “I can do it; this lady understands me, where I am and what I need.”

So, what follows is a description of how and where you should start – where in the continuum, I mean – and how you should progress.

Once people hear this, they tend to feel much more confident that they can succeed.

These elements are keys to success that I don’t hear many coaches express or instruct; I think this is largely because most coaches are as assuming a higher level of starting fitness.

Most Beginners Push Too Hard

It starts here: Many new runners - most new runners - push too hard, get injured or feel miserable and quit. I’ll show you how to avoid all that.

The key is simple: start at the right intensity for you, progress slowly, and set realistic goals.

I want to emphasize that. Have you ever thought about how critical it is to start at the right place, the right amount of running alternated with the right amount of walking and for the appropriate time?

Think about it. If a kindergartner wanted to read The Great Gatsby or To Kill a Mockingbird, that would not be possible because a kindergartner is just learning to recognize letters and maybe read the first words and cannot possibly move on to books or even paragraphs until they can read sentences. Right? Everybody knows that.

And so it is with running. The difference between walk/running your first quarter mile and being able to string together several miles is the difference between kindergarten skills and high school, but most beginner runner programs do not take this into account.

They assume too much going in; this results in immense frustration and a high failure rate.

Instead of the runner feeling exhilaration and confidence, the runner experiences the feeling of failure.

Two Critical but Common Beginner Mistakes

Most runners use a schedule that starts them with too much running and moves them along too quickly.

They also operate under the philosophy that everyone is equal in fitness, health, and goals, and therefore, should all start with the same amount of running and progress at the same rate.

Excuse me, but that’s just nuts.

To succeed, you need to start with the duration of running and walking segments that is appropriate for your current personal fitness level.

Another typical problem is that the schedules progress too quickly. Success is dependent on you progressing at the appropriate pace for you, not just what your body is capable of doing, but also what your mental state enjoys. That’s right; you must enjoy the process to succeed, but most programs expect you to move on to a different, more demanding schedule each week, and it doesn’t occur to the runner using the schedule that they can repeat that week.

My instruction is to only move up when you want to, when you’re comfortable with what you’ve been doing and want to take on more.

Another point, although this happens much less often, is that some people ‘are’ already fit and will be frustrated because Week 1 feels easy.

Think about it; there’s a world of difference between these three:

One, a woman in her 30’s who’s been in good condition in the past, grew up playing soccer, but hasn’t done any exercise in the 2 years since her baby was born and a woman in her 40’s who’s never exercised, regularly, three, man in his 50’s who has been sedentary for ten years and realizes he better get fit if he wants to continue his quality of life, and four, the woman in her 60’s who has never done any running but finally has the time and is excited to give it a try.

That’s just four examples, but the reality is that the physical condition, health, ability, and goals of beginner runners are infinite; so, let’s not pigeonhole anyone into a Start with Week 1 and Move to the Next Week Each Week Program.

Start at the Right Level for You and Progress at the Right Pace for You

With my system you, one, start at the right place in the walk/run continuum for you based on my diagnostic test, and two, you never move on to the next week until the last week feels totally comfortable.

This ensures success because you feel accomplished at the end of each workout, looking forward to the next workout because you decide when to move up to the next level; that means you will be moving through the schedule at a rate that is personally customized to you.

There’s no race to see how fast you can become a runner.

Who cares if it takes six months for you to be able to finish a 5K? The important thing is to continually get healthier and to build momentum in your journey to becoming more fit and locking in to the running way of life.

It comes down to this: Baby steps are just that, baby steps, but they are still forward movement, and that is the key. Start with baby steps. Build confidence, and I need to mention this: Starting at a super easy point and progressing gradually is the best way to avoid injury, which is what causes many beginners to give up.

What you mustn’t do is stand still. Have you been standing still?