If you have wished you could be a runner but have gotten overwhelmed everytime you tried to take it up, you will benefit from these painless methods of building up to running. It's common for new runners to push themselves too hard in initial workouts, which makes them give up because they feel so miserable. The best way to evolve from walking to running is to gradually run more and walk less so that the exercise sessions are never too difficult. It’ll take time and perseverance, but eventually you’ll get there.
Build up to being a runner by using your stopwatch to guide you. A stopwatch is inexpensive and incredibly helpful. When working out, start out by walking to warm up. Next increase your pace until you are running at a comfortable pace, running until you feel it getting to be too difficult to be enjoyable. Time how long you can run at that easy pace and still enjoy it. Don't be discouraged if it's as little as 30 seconds. Now use your stopwatch to walk for double the time you ran. Take turns running and walking like this, making sure you walk twice as long as you ran. Over time you'll want to reduce your walking time to equal your running time, then half of your running time, until you feel you can run and enjoy it without walking at all.
Another effective way to work your way into running is to let a heart rate monitor be your guide. The heart rate monitor will help you adjust your exertion level such that it's never too much for you, but is challenging enough. Determine what your fat burning heart rate zone is, and then start out walking. Once you are warm, run until you are well into your fat burning zone. When your heart rate monitor reports that you have hit the top of your fat burning zone, change your pace to a walk until your heart rate drops to the lower end of your fat burning zone. Keep running and walking, always keeping within your fat burning heart rate zone, so you'll have an exercise session that is challenging but not too hard. After several workouts like this, you'll discover you can run the entire time, but still be in your fat burning zone.
These two methods take time, but they work.
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