Beginner Runner

Good running form isn't something you should wait to work on until you're running longer distances. It's something you should develop from your very first steps!

In this episode, we'll explore why proper running mechanics matter from the beginning and take a head-to-toe look at what good running form actually looks like.

You'll learn how to position your head and shoulders, develop a natural arm swing, maintain proper body posture, and improve your foot strike. We'll also discuss how tight shoulders, limited mobility, and poor coordination can interfere with your running efficiency.

Plus, I'll share simple ways to evaluate your own running form, including a helpful video technique, and explain why strength, flexibility, and stability are essential to putting it all together.

The goal isn't just to become a better runner. It's to develop good habits that will help you run comfortably, efficiently, and injury-free for years to come.

Want more help with your running journey? Join our Beginner Runner community for instructional videos, masterclasses, a detailed 36-level walk-to-run program, and monthly group calls.

Visit Skool.com/beginnerrunner to learn more!

Shopping for your first running shoes shouldn't feel harder than your first run. In this episode, Coach Deb breaks down the choices so you can walk into a running store feeling informed, prepared, and confident. She explains the terminology, considerations, her preferences, and helps you focus on what matters most, finding the shoes that are right for you, for your gait, for the surfaces you'll be running on, and your feet.

Where to shop: Learn why Debbie recommends running specialty stores for personalized help, a broader selection, and connections, i.e., building a relationship with the local specialty running shoe store.

How to narrow your options: Women's vs men's, trail vs road, zero drop vs higher drop, cushioning, toebox size, and more.

Running shoe terminology made simple: Understand the upper, toebox, insole, midsole, and outsole, plus stack height and heel-to-toe drop.

Coach Deb also explains the importance of allowing the toes to splay and how that comes into play when selecting the best model.

Deb recommends the Gasparilla Distance Classic, specifically the 5K Walk, February 20th and the walker friendly 8K the next day. $5 off discount codes for each race are RUNTAMPA5 and RUNTAMPA8.

Then, she encourages anyone in the area to register for her own December holiday race, the gnome-themed Run Tampa Tinsel Run on December 12th.·

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 your body time to adapt.

Before taking the test, spend a couple of weeks building brisk-walking endurance, practicing a cadence of 170, and strengthening your balance, core, legs, and feet.

To begin the test, warm up with a brisk one-mile walk. Then start your phone's stopwatch and run with a high cadence and small forward steps. Continue until the effort feels hard—about 80 percent. Record the time, walk for three minutes, and repeat the test. Average your two running times.

Your starting running interval should be at least 15 seconds shorter than that average.

Begin with two or three minutes of walking between running segments, always erring on the side of comfort. Repeat the sequence several times, then slowly add repetitions over a period of weeks, and once a week - or every other week - stretch out the duration of one run. This is the long run principle, and it even applies to beginners.

Listeners who want additional structure can join Deb's free Beginner Runner community at https://skool.com/beginnerrunner. A $12 monthly tier includes the 36-level Walk to Run to 5K schedule, additional resources, and a monthly Beginner Dinner Zoom call.

This episode also highlights Tampa's pirate-themed Gasparilla Distance Classic, in February, including its walker-friendly 5K and 8K. The discount codes RUNTAMPA5 and RUNTAMPA8 provide 25 percent off. Visit https://rungasparilla.com to register.

Visitors can also learn about the club Deb founded and directs, Run Tampa, at https://runtampa.com.

Key takeaway: Start where running feels sustainable, prioritize comfort, and progress only when your current routine feels easy. Motion is lotion, and patient, consistent movement is what builds lasting success.

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 not a special breathing pattern but a change in running form: take very small steps while turning the legs over quickly. A target cadence of about 170 foot strikes per minute, counting both feet, allows a runner to move at an easy pace without overstriding. Think "Quick steps, tiny steps, easy pace."

Tiny, quick steps reduce the intensity of each stride, create a smooth rhythm, and help runners feel lighter on their feet. Running slowly with a low cadence is harder because the body must balance longer on each leg. Faster turnover creates momentum, much like a bicycle becomes easier to balance once it is moving. When cadence is high and steps small, the feet land beneath the body's center of gravity rather than reaching forward, eliminating braking and reducing pounding, making comfortable breathing more likely from the start.

Preparation has two parts. First, build basic fitness through brisk walking, working gradually toward at least two miles. Walking cadence does not matter; the goal is simply a brisk, sustainable effort.

Second, practice the running cadence in place before attempting forward running. Start with 20-second segments at 170 beats per minute, rest for one minute, and repeat several times in the morning and later in the day. A metronome app can supply the beat. Build toward ten repetitions, then progress to 30-second segments when the shorter intervals feel easy.

After one or two weeks of consistent practice, begin moving forward with extremely small steps while maintaining the same cadence. Practice indoors or in a driveway before attempting regular outdoor running. If breathing becomes difficult, the steps have probably grown too large. Patience is essential because the method works only when quick turnover is paired with genuinely tiny steps.

High cadence also supports safer form. It encourages a slightly bent knee at landing, lowers impact, and helps prevent problems associated with overstriding, such as knee stress and shin splints. Quiet footfalls are a useful sign: "Quick feet, light ground." Once this technique feels automatic, the next stage is choosing suitable running shoes and completing a diagnostic test to set appropriate walking and running intervals. Additional demonstrations and community support are available in Deb's free Skool group at skool.com/beginnerrunner.

Deb recommends the Gasparilla Distance Classic 5K and 8K, both walker friendly. 25% off discount codes: RUNTAMPA5 and RUNTAMPA8

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 stae, the value of embracing a slow pace, and the imediate goal of establishing a routine that's both sustainable and enjoyable.

Then, she describes what you can expect and how you'll feel after several months of a walking and running program, when you start to notice mental and physical improvement, when completing a mile of walk-run intervals feels good, and what it will feel like to finish your first 5K and wear that medal around your neck. By that time, you'll be making running friends and you'll be eager to learn more.

Last, she'll prepare you for the high you'll be experiencing after six to eight months, when you start to own being a runner, when you wear it as a badge, and the benefits seem apparent in every aspect of your life. By that point, running will have become much more than an exercise for fitness, a goal to be reached, but rather, a hobby you look forward to doing.

Beginners succeed by starting gently, adapting plans to real life, learning from difficult days, and celebrating small achievements. With consistent effort, expert guidance, and patience, early uncertainty develops into health, confidence, connection, and lifelong enthusiasm for running.

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 devoted runner.

That experience replaced an old memory of pain and failure with a love of running and became the foundation of how she coaches beginners.

Her method rejects the idea that everyone should progress on the same calendar. Most beginner plans are organized by weeks, with each week getting progressively harder. But your body does not know what week it is.

Instead, Debbie organizes training into levels. You repeat each level as long as needed and advance only when the current workout feels unmistakably easy.

This patient approach is especially helpful for people starting with little fitness, returning after time away, or working from home and struggling with too much sitting, isolation, low energy, or weight gain.

Running can offer far more than a medal. It can provide stress relief, purpose, confidence, adventure, friendship, and support through difficult times. Debbie has watched running help people cope with loss and create friendships that feel like family. She wants the relaunched podcast and her free online community to offer that same connection.

The episode also answers common beginner questions. Should you run nonstop until you cannot continue? Is walking allowed? Should you train every day? Should you push through pain?

The message is simple: you do you. Your first assignment is to become a mover before trying to become a runner. If you are inactive now, start with what feels good and gradually work toward walking a couple of miles on most days.

No amount of movement is too small. Walking improves stamina, prepares the body for walk/run training, and creates the habit of getting out the door. Debbie's larger goal is for you to enjoy the process enough to keep running for life.

As John Bingham said, "The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."

The next Beginner Runner episode will outline the journey from not running at all to making running as automatic as brushing our teeth. Visit http://beginnerrunner.com to join Coach Deb's free Skool community.

Listeners near Tampa can also visit http://runtampa.com to join Debbie's local running family for a Saturday group run. For now, focus on walking, fresh air, and forward motion. Start where you are, let comfort guide your progress, and remember, motion is lotion.

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 works for any fitness level
• Why some people need to start by just walking to the mailbox (and that's perfect!)

Want more support?

Join my 12-week Beginner Runner Village program. Get weekly "Beginner Dinners" (group coaching calls), personalized progression, and a community of people just like you.

Learn more at http://BeginnerRunner.com

Remember: "The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." - John Bingham

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.

https://mojoforrunning.com

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.

https://www.mojoforrunning.com/

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.

Mojo for Running

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.

https://mojoforrunning.com

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.

Mojo for Running

As we finish 2020, we need to do the right things to prepare to make 2021 a powerful, postivie year, despite the pandemic.

For sure, 2020 has been dreadful by all measures, but it doesn't have to beat you up, and let's not let it set the stage for 2021. I think 2021 would be the best year ever to become a runner.

It's easy to let goals slide when struggling with such a crazy year, but this is just exactly when you need to double down and focus on the things within your control, and your fitness is just that. Your fitness is in your control. You don't need to go to a gym. You can get out and start running, and you must.

In this episode, I provide advice and introduce a challenge that everyone can do to finish the year, strong; it's the 1 + 1 Holiday Challenge. Participation is free, and it may be just what you need to start your new running year on the right foot.

Mojo for Running

A beginner runner's success or failure often hinges on being able to manage several key aspects of running training. In this episode, I discuss beginner runner struggles.

Preparedness is everything, seeing the big picture and being prepared for these inevitable challenges may make the difference between success and failure for anyone at the beginning of their running journey.

It's not easy to start running, but being ready for the inevitable struggles can make all the difference, making you stronger and setting you on the right path for a lifetime of running.

Mojo for Running

This is the last day of the quick-start beginner runner series, the day you take the diagnostic test, which will provide the evaluation which will give you the needed information to implement what you've learned.

You've been learning about what to do for nine days. Think of this as graduation day, the day you get the last, but most critical, piece of the puzzle. Today, you find out exactly what you should do, and I mean you, personally, what you should do on Day 1 of your running journey. Today, is your diagnostic run.

In this podcast, I explain what to do to find out how far you should run during each running segment of your walk to run mile, which is the distance you should start with.

I also explain how to progress from there, the three variables, and the details regarding the decisions you'll be making in deciding what to change and when.

I'm excited for you because this is, of all the running secrets I've imparted, perhaps the most crucial one, because if you try to start your running training with too much running, you'll likely never succeed.

Mojo for Running is my other podcast for intermediate runners.

I've heard the phrase, 'turtle power,' for years, always from slower runners, usually in an upbeat, positive way, an "I'm fine with that" way, but sometimes they utter he words apologetically, and that makes me sad, because running, your running, everyone's running should be what they want it to be and what is right for that person.

Often, these are beginner runners, but not always. It is my hope that after listening to this episode, no one listening will ever feel bad, in any way, about being a slower runner.

What is slow, anyway? It's all relative, isn't it? When an Olympian runs a 6-minute-miles, it's an off day. Most runners will never see that faster side of 9 minutes, and some will always run 12-minute miles, and I sure hope those people don't apologize for that because there is no reason. To me, that's like apologizing because you have brown hair.

If anyone ever makes you feel like your pace is too slow, then that person is just being unkind and isn't worth worrying about. In fact, they probably feel inferior in some other way. You have as much right to go your own pace and be happy with it as any other runner has a race to go the pace that is comforrable for them.

After all, running is an individual sport. One of the nost enjoyable elements of running is that anyone can do it; you don't need to be a gifted athlete, but I sure hope you do realize that anyone at any pace is an athlete.

Turtle Power is a mantra of slower runners everywhere, and so it should be. I hope it's empowers slower runners. If you're a slower runner, and since you're a beginner, you probaby are, own it; don't apologize for it. Feel the power.

Mojo for Running

Weight loss – or management – plays a role in the life of virtually every runner. Either they start running to lose weight or they've already lost weight, and they want to become a runner to help them maintain that weight loss. Too, some runners run because they're worried that their weight will gradually creep up if they don't get lots of exercise to offset the calories of the food they consume.

Even the most fit-looking, slender runners will often say that maintaining a desirable weight is one of the key reasons why they run.

Bottom line, many runners are running to lose weight.

It works. Running can, without a doubt, facilitate these goals, but for some, it doesn't work. It's not a given that you'll lose weight by starting to run. Rather, it's a great part of a weight loss strategy. Some people become runners and never lose weight, or even gain weight. I've seen it enough times that, now, I can explain why that happens and how to avoid it.

I've got some guidelines for nutrition as well. I want you to succeed in reaching your weight loss goals, and I'm sure this information will help you do that.

Mojo for Running

Michael Pollan

The Gut Balance Revolution

Eat the Yolks

Grain Brain by Dr David Perlmutter

Real Food Liz (Liz Wolfe) author of Eat the Yolks

Your Personal Paleo Code by Chris Kresser

The Whole30

Walk to Run to 5k Program

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When 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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Many beginner runners don't warm-up because they think the only reason to warm-up is to prepare to run fast; they know they don't run fast, so they skip the warm-up. That is a big mistake, but I absolutely understand how a beginner runner might arrive at the conclusion that, for them, a warm-up is unnecessary. You must realize that it's all relative. For you, walking is the appropriate warm-up.

The fact is that warming up is even more critical for the beginner runner than it is for an advanced runner. I'll explain that and how to do an appropriate beginner runner warm-up in this podcast.

Then, we'll talk about walking paces. By that I mean paces for the three different occasions when a beginner runner walks as part of a weekly schedule. Those three are the speed for walking when walking is the whole workout on your easier, non walk/run days, walking as part of a warm-up before the walk run interval, and last, the pace for walking between running intervals. This question came up several times in my online coaching group; so, I know it's one that occurs to most people executing a walk to run program.

Mojo for Running is my other podcast for intermediate runners.

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The single most common beginner runner complaint I hear is that they can't breathe. Often new runners say they struggle to breathe because they feel like they're breathing through a straw; they say they just can't get enough air, and that's a miserable sensation, right?

If you've ever been in that situation, you will find answers in this episode. That may be the number 1 problem that you know you must overcome to be a success, to be able to build endurance and, one day, run for miles, in comfort. It just makes sense, that if you can't breathe, you can't run very far, and you can't be comfortable for even a few minutes. So, this is a problem we must fix and do it the right away.

For a more extensive discussion of this topic, please check out this earlier podcast episode:

BRV 008: How to Breathe When You Run

Mojo for Running is my other podcast for intermediate runners

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