Any walker can start running and any runner can get faster and go farther, says Josh Goldman, MD, a UCLA Health sports medicine specialist and long-distance runner.
It’s all about gradually pushing your body to do more, then taking time to stretch, rest and recover, he says.
Here’s how to up your running game, no matter your starting point.
How to start running
Walkers who want to become runners can start by adding running intervals to their regular walks.
After walking for a few minutes to warm up, consider adding a minute of running, then alternating between walking for two minutes and running for one.
“If that’s too much for you, give yourself a longer recovery,” Dr. Goldman says. “Run for a minute, walk for five minutes, then run for another minute.”
As a beginner, running doesn’t mean channeling your inner Usain Bolt. It’s just “moving your legs faster than walking,” Dr. Goldman says: “You want to be at a pace where you’re breathing more heavily but can still have a conversation.”
As your body adapts and gets stronger, make the running intervals longer — two minutes, then three — until you’re running for 15 or 20 minutes, whatever your goal is. To run a 5k at a conversational pace, you’d want to work up to about 40 minutes.
Be sure to walk for a few minutes to cool down, and don’t forget to stretch regularly, Dr. Goldman says: “Stretching is good for everybody.”
Cross-training is important, too, whether you’re walking or running. More on that in a moment.
What to expect as you transition from walking to running
The biomechanics of walking and running are different, Dr. Goldman explains. When walking, we use our calves to push off the ground and move ourselves forward. With running, that propulsion comes from the hips swinging the legs forward and driving the knees up.
Walkers transitioning to running will need to strengthen their hip flexors — the muscles of the front upper thigh and hips that lift the knees —and may notice soreness in the front of the legs as they do, he says.
When walking, one foot is always on the ground, providing stability and lessening the load on the body. While running, however, there’s a moment of “floating” between launching off the ground with one foot and landing with the other.
“There’s a lot more force on the leg in a running gait than a walking gait,” Dr. Goldman says. “And that single-leg ground impact can cause lots of problems if you don’t have the hip, core and foot and ankle strength to stabilize you as you land.”
This is where cross-training comes in.
For the walker-turned-runner, key exercises might include single-leg balancing and single-leg heel raises, planks, lateral leg lifts and bridges, Dr. Goldman says: “All are going to build that 360-degree core that’s going to keep you stable when you’re landing on a single leg.”
Increasing your running speed or distance
Experienced runners who want to shave a few minutes off their 5k time or start tackling longer races, such as a 10k or half-marathon, also benefit from strength training, which builds both endurance and explosive energy, Dr. Goldman says.
“Strength training makes you faster,” he says. “When you’re strength training, it’s like bursts of explosion and power, which is what you need to be a faster runner.”
If you can’t dedicate a whole workout to the weight room, consider adding 10 to 15 minutes of strength training at the end of your run, he says.
To increase speed, he also recommends tempo training: incorporating two-to-three-minute intervals of running at a faster pace — say 30 seconds or a minute faster than usual — into your run, like the walk-run intervals recommended for beginners.
This trains the body to go faster by pushing into what’s called the “lactate threshold,” he says — the pace at which the body switches from aerobic training, which relies on oxygen, to anaerobic training, which draws on stored glucose and adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
Expect some discomfort when training like this, Dr. Goldman says. When he cuts his typically seven-minute mile to 6:30 during tempo training, “you start to feel it,” he says. “That’s where that burn and discomfort comes from.”
But as you return to your regular pace, oxygen replenishes. Bursts of speed help the body to adapt to a faster pace, he says.
He emphasizes, however, that it’s essential to start small: “What is most dangerous in the running world is large spikes, either in distance or intensity.”
Incorporate two or three faster intervals at first. As you get stronger, you can repeat tempo intervals throughout the duration of your run. Apps can help you keep track during tempo training runs.
The same gradual approach applies to building endurance for greater distances, Dr. Goldman says. If you’re a 5k (3.1-mile) runner with eyes on a 10k (6.2 miles), don’t immediately double your distance.
Instead, increase your mileage by 10% to 20% a week, always listening to your body to avoid injury. Discomfort is OK, but it shouldn’t be “tearing, searing or stabbing,” Dr. Goldman says. “Performance improvements are uncomfortable because, to improve, you are pushing your body to a limit that it’s not currently capable of doing.”
If you’re very sore, opt for an easy recovery run: gentle miles at an easy pace.
“It’s called a party pace in the running world,” Dr. Goldman says.
Warm up, cool down and recovery
Recovery is even more important when you’re pushing your body to go farther or faster, he adds.
It’s essential to do a dynamic warmup — high knees, leg swings, walking lunges — before challenging runs that include tempo intervals or increased distance. These warmups can also help alleviate muscle soreness. Gentle walking as a cool down allows breathing to slow and muscles to begin relaxing.
Be sure to stretch regularly. And consider using compression tights or the “legs up the wall” yoga pose after challenging runs. To do it, lie on the floor and extend your legs perpendicularly, resting them against a wall.
This move can “significantly improve your ability to clear all that excess fluid out of your legs and have your muscles feel better and ready to run again more quickly,” Dr. Goldman says.
Sleep, hydration and nutrition are also critical.
“If you’re finishing (your run), eating a donut, drinking a beer and sleeping four hours a night, you’re probably not going to feel great,” he says. “You’re probably going to have to go slower because you’re not recovering as well.”
Join a running community
To improve your running abilities and have fun while you’re at it, join a running group, suggests Dr. Goldman, who cofounded Electric Athletic Club. There are dozens of run clubs across L.A. County that provide coaching, training plans and priceless camaraderie.
“There’s accountability built into it,” Dr. Goldman says. “And misery loves company, so when you’re doing these harder workouts, you’ve got somebody you’re with and you’re all kind of suffering together.”
UCLA Health recently launched its own run club, which meets Wednesday afternoons in Westwood.
