Warm Up and Cool Down

This is exercise 101. Warming up your body before exercising [4] gets you limber and gets your muscles ready to work. By doing this, you run less risk of hurting yourself while exercising, and it will actually make whatever workout you're doing a little more fluid and hopefully a little easier.

Same goes for cooling down. Even if all you've done is a short, light run, you want to bring your heart rate back down gradually and show your muscles and joints some love before calling it quits. By doing these two simple things, you'll set yourself up for a better run tomorrow.

Run Intervals

If you're just starting out running, I urge you to not push yourself to do too much at once. I like to do my running in intervals if it's been a long time since I've been in a groove. When I start back up, I usually set my running playlist up so that I have a good, relatively short, fast song to run to, followed by a slightly longer song that's more of a bop for a fast walk.

By doing this, I can run one song and walk the next, alternating back and forth. This gives me a little time to rest and catch my breath. Lately, while I'm still in intervals before I get to where I can run nonstop, I'm focusing on covering more distance — aka running faster — during my run songs.

Make Sure You Have Your Sh*t Together

Believe it or not, not having the right gear and right pre-running checklist has been a huge detriment to me in the past. Here's what you need to have locked down before you start.

Make sure every piece of your outfit is comfortable and not going to be something you want to mess with while running. For me, it meant finding the perfect pair of pants [5] to fit my gut and my butt. My belly jiggles and my ass won't quit while I'm running, so if I have pants that don't sit high enough on my waist, I spend half of my run pulling them back up.

Then there's the problem of finding the right sports bra. I still haven't nailed that down, because my favorite comfortable sports bras are too loose, which sadly means too much bounce and a little bit of pain. However, you don't want a bra that's too tight, because you won't be able to stop focusing on how it's cutting into your skin and maybe even hindering your breath.

It's also been a process for me to find the right shoes to run in [6]. I used to swear by an old pair of Nikes I had until someone at a sporting goods store told me they were absolutely not meant for running because they provided no ankle support. Yay. So I switched to a pair of Asics that I hope never wear out on me because they're a godsend.

Make sure you're laced up properly and have socks that won't slide or annoy you. Also make sure your phone is properly charged and your headphones are comfortable to run in. Would you believe that on my first run after my break, my headphones weren't cooperating with my iPhone and about a quarter mile into my run, my music started to randomly skip and shut off? Yeah, make sure that doesn't happen to you.

Do It Every Day

If you don't like running, it'll be really easy to talk yourself out of doing it. This has always been a huge problem for me. I'm great at coming up with excuses, but getting yourself into a good habit of going out for a run, regardless of the length, every single day will make it second nature to you.

I recommend picking a time of the day that you can always commit to running. I haven't yet settled on whether that's morning or evening for me, as I've been trying both, but midafternoon used to be my sweet spot before my work schedule changed. Figure out the perfect time and make that your running time every single day.

Figure Out What's Hardest For You and Focus on It

Are your joints bothering you when you try running? Maybe it's your breathing. Whatever the case, dedicate some of your first running attempts to figure out what it is and then figuring out how to make it better. If it's your joints, maybe you need to stretch better or even find shoes with more support. If it's your breathing, try to spend some time managing your breaths until you can keep them more even, but consider the possibility that you're pushing yourself too hard and that's the culprit.

I actually discovered that my biggest setback was breathing trouble because I didn't know how to properly breathe in and out in a manageable way while running. What has helped me is mouthing the words to whatever song is playing in my ears. It forces me to breathe at a more normal level so that I can get all the words in.

Remember That It's OK to Be Slow

Everything about fitness is very personal. Your running speed and my running speed won't be the same. You may never run a fast mile, but you know what, who cares? It's OK to be slow as long as you're moving. I'm pretty sure there are people who can walk a mile faster than I can run one, but I don't pretend to like running or even be good at it. But I know that movement is good for my body, so I get out there and do what I can.

Don't get discouraged if running is hard for you. Maybe you'll try it for awhile and realize you just don't want to work out that way. Fine! Find a workout that works for you. But running is one of the easiest ways to work out with no gym and no equipment, so it's a good one to have in your back pocket if you decide you're itching to break a sweat some day.