When setting out on your first day of running it may seem hard to be able to figure out what your baseline distance should be. If you haven’t run in a while but have done cardio then your baseline will most likely be different than someone who has just started exercising.

Your mindset is going to greatly affect where you stand in this equation. Many times running is more mental than it is physical, your thoughts will often make you quit long before your body needs to. Getting past your own inner thoughts will be the greatest obstacle in setting your base distance. Let’s take a look at the following before setting out on our first run.

1. Patience is the key, do not try to set any land speed records. Trying to run too quickly will make you tired fast and could result in injury if you haven’t exercised in a long time.
2. Don’t wear headphones or watch TV, this is not only distracting but it can throw off your pace.
3. Listen to your body, the feeling of exhaustion and heavy breathing is normal, sharp pains and dizziness are not. If you feel pain make sure to stop, running through it is just not worth the risk.
4. Mentally prepare yourself prior to your first run. Tell yourself that you will not quit, you will be proud of yourself when you exceed your own expectations.

Now that we have that out of the way lace up your shoes and get ready for your first run. Make sure to start slowly as you need to understand what your body is capable of. Increase your speed slowly and only if it feels comfortable enough.

To help gauge if you are running at the right speed you should be able to hold somewhat of a conversation. Try talking, if you can’t put together a sentence without breathing after every word then odds are you are running too fast. If you can sing the national anthem then you are not putting in enough effort. To help with breathing read our “Runners Breathing Techniques“.

At the end of your run make sure to record your time and distance, this will become the baseline for all of your future runs.  Many people find that after just two or three good high effort runs that they are able to increase their distance and time by 50% or more! So do not be disappointed if you can only push out half a mile or even a quarter mile, you should start to see gains if you put in effort over time. This is the key to consistent runs, keep with it and you will be proud of yourself!