Everything depends on your level of fitness. Lance Armstrong said running a marathon was the hardest thing he ever did, I’m just happy to finish one. His sub 3 hour marathon equate to my 1/2 marathon time give or take some minutes. The Basics of running are simple, efficiency of stride, lactic acid threshold, base training, patience and determination.

Training plan: If you’re just starting out, I would suggest running 3 times a week. I would also run a 3 week cycle. The first week of the cycle you train at a specific level. The second week you increase by 10-20%. The third week you scale back to lower than first week’s level. This gives your body time to recuperate and prevents injuries. The first week of your next cycle should be increased by 10-15%. After 3 cycles, reduce you first week pace by 10%. This will work – you just need to be patient.

For example: Distance of every run in the week.

Cycle 1: wk1:1km – wk2:1.2km – wk3:0.9km

Cycle 2 : wk1:1.2km – wk2:1.4km – wk3:1.1km

Cycle 3 : wk1:1.4km – wk2:1.6km – wk3:1.3km

Cycle 4 : wk1:1.2km – wk2:1.4km – wk3:1.1km

Cycle 5 : wk1:1.4km – wk2:1.6km – wk3:1.3km

Cycle 6 : wk1:1.6km – wk2:1.8km – wk3:1.4km

I think you get the picture.

Beginner:

The best method to ease into running is the run walk method. Your body should adjust to running more easily using this method. The time you spend running and the time you spend walking depends again on your fitness level. If you need to walk longer or are able to run more, just do it. You run for 30-60 seconds, depending , you walk for 30 seconds. You do this for a week. The next week you increment you run by 10 seconds, but keep the walk to 30 seconds. As the weeks progress you should be able to gain substantial increase you capacity of running. The ideal for the run walk method is to get up to 10 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking, but it all depends on how you feel. Once you are able to keep a pace of 10-1 for 30 minutes you can start to increase the 10 minute run by 10-20% every week.

The pace you should be in is a Zone 1 pace. Zones are calculated by the hearth rate that is attained with physical activity. Zone 1 pace is (220 – your age) X 60 or 70% – I’m 36 , (220bpm – 36) X 70% = 130 bpm. This is a foundation building pace. This pace is used on long runs because it enables your body to manage lactic acid. A friendly fuel when absorbed properly lactic acid becomes running enemy when it is out of control. The longer you can run at this pace, the more your body will improve his capability to absorb the acid. This is endurance building, and it is the first step to having a great run.

Lactic Acid Is Not Muscles’ Foe, It’s Fuel !

If you need to do more sports during the week, cross training should be your choice. Gym work to strengthen the abs is a plus. Cycling or spinning also gets your heart going without the impact on your knees.

If you are able to run for 30 minutes, my suggestion to you is to get out there and find a nice friendly 5k. This is a celebration of life , a celebration of your new found passion: Running. Turkey trot your way to the end.

Intermediate:

You’ve achieved your first goal and that first 5k is now behind you. You’ve adapted your body to running and now can run 3 times a week for 30 minutes each time and can even push this a bit further.

You now are able to move to the next level. First thing to do is add another running day to your week. This will help you put on the miles and will help you adjust even more to a runner’s regiment. Second thing to do is start mixing up your running workouts. 1 slow long run (zone 1), 2 normal half hour runs (zone 1 maximized- bottom zone 2), and 1 run that is totally different from the other types of runs that your body is accustomed to do. My suggestion is either Hill running or intervals.

Hill running is simple: Find a hill – run it to the top (if you can get up there fine – if not – stop where you’re about to collapse) – once up there – walk back down. Do this 10 times and make sure you keep a pace that you can accomplish it 10 times. If you cannot run it – walk up the hill. This will put pressure on your big leg muscles and should bring your body close to lactic acid threshold, walking back down will help your body manage that load and will push it farther and farther as the workouts progress.

Interval: Warm up with a 15 minute turkey trot. Once you are warmed up – bolt it for 100 meters – as fast as you can without collapsing (85% of your max speed) – just before blowing up – walk for 1 minute. Repeat this for at least 1000 meters (10 X 100 meters). If your body is not too broken, turkey trot your way back home for another 15 minutes … this is great for pushing your lactic acid threshold even farther.

The point of pushing your body this way is to enable you to start picking up speed and finding a way to sustain it. Also – this is a good thing for your running body as it is called upon to adjust and find new ways of coping. Doing the same thing week after week can cause your body to adapt and might hinder your progression.

The goal you might have with these exercises is to improve you PR for your 5K or 10K time, enabling you to get faster and faster. Being faster and enabling your body to cope with it will help you out on your long slow runs. Your lactic acid overload might not be as great as it was before and your threshold of pain and endurance will be heightened.

Once you mastered these techniques and can now run for an hour or more on your slow long runs, a 10K or a half marathon is well within your reach.

Experts:

Elite runners are a breed on their own. They usually have a running stride that looks like a work of art and also have a cardio that can sustain 15-20 km/hour run tempo. Not everybody can achieve this type of running pace and keep it for 2 hours or more.

If you’re at this level and are reading this, you’ve humoured me enough to keep going and could potentially write an article on this web site about how you go about your training. Since Deena Kastor and Meb Keflezighi are not here to add some advice, I will risk myself and add my two cents to this level of running fitness.

First thing, and expert runner sho

The Spaniards assumed that the baseball practice and teams were just a cover-up for the preparation to go to war. Throughout the Caribbean region, Cuban players spread their newfound knowledge which increased the popularity of the game. It was two Cuban brothers who carried the game to the Dominican Republic and Cubans in the country of Venezuela along with Venezuelan nationals who had matriculated in the U.S. brought the sport to Venezuela, beginning in 1895 and to the island of Puerto Rico in 1897.

In Mexico, it was also Cubans who had fled from the island during its struggles for independence that brought baseball to Mexico. The Cubans in Mexico were assisted by U.S. merchant marines and railroad workers. Various regions of Mexico were converted to the sport during the years from 1877 to 1899. In terms of popularity, the sport of baseball is number one in Cuba, Dominican Republic and Venezuela with a strong showing in Puerto Rico.

Mexico still places football as the dominant sport. In Central America, baseball is also very popular. In the United States, players from Latin America and Puerto Rico have become a growing force in major league baseball. There are professional leagues organized in Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

As in the rest of the world, football (soccer) is unquestionably the most popular sport in Latin America. Yet, it is also true that in much of the Caribbean basin, baseball is the number one sport. In fact, where U.S. imperial power spread throughout the world, and in Latin America specifically, the influence of baseball was the strongest. During a military occupation, many countries were introduced to American baseball.

It has been said that if Fidel Castro had been a better baseball player, the history of the Cold War might have played out very differently. Castro is an avid fan and once played the game. The reverse is also true: Orlando Hernandez “El Duque” left Cuba in 2000 and played for the New York Yankees in the World Series.

Baseball season in Latin America stretches from October to January. The winners of the four national leagues meet in February to play the Caribbean Series. Mexican players participate in a summer minor league that has connections with the U.S. Minor League Baseball governing body. Mexico has been given Triple A status. There are also Dominican Republic and Venezuelan summer rookie leagues that are affiliated with Minor League Baseball.

Although professional baseball existed in Cuba from 1878 until 1961, it was abolished by the Cuban government at the professional level. The Cuban national team now dominates the world amateur competitions, winning gold medals at Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996.

About 30 percent of the major league players in baseball today are connected to Latin America in some fashion. Either they are from Latin America or are descendants of Latin Americans who grew up in the U.S. In the general population, only eleven percent of the people are from Latin America. Latino baseball players overwhelmingly are foreign born and claim Cuba, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic as a birthplace.

Unfortunately, some of the major teams have gained a reputation for an almost sweatshop approach to baseball academies in the Latin American region. Young boys with talent are signed and sent to these training regimens where life is harsh in the hopes of winning a contract with one of the major clubs. Many of these players travel to Latin America to play the winter league baseball games in the Latin American leagues.

The countries in the Caribbean basin that are baseball enthusiasts send national teams with championship titles to participate in the Caribbean World Series each year since 1949. For players of Latin American descent, the opportunity to play in Major League Baseball is high success and tremendous financial gain.

Beginning in 2006, the World Baseball Classic between the United States, Puerto Rico, Japan, Mexico, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, was held. Nicaragua did not attend, but Cuba did send a team. The tournament was won by Japan, which was a tremendous surprise to many if not most of the observers.