Write an article based on this "Take time to warm up and stretch out. Employ interval training and plyometrics. Focus on time more than pace while jogging. Stick to your program. Vary your cardio training. Be patient but determined."
It can be tempting to just get on with the running part of running, but properly preparing your body will pay dividends in your results. A proper warm up can also reduce your chance for progress-derailing injuries, such as a pulled hamstring. Warm up your muscles for 10-15 minutes before beginning your workout proper. Start by walking and gradually picking up the pace until you reach a full run. If you choose to stretch before your workout, do it after your warmup, as stretching is more effective on loose muscles. Some advise eschewing stretching before the workout altogether, instead preferring to stretch for 5-10 minutes after the workout when muscles are at their most pliable. Stretch your hamstrings by lying on the ground and raising each leg straight up in the air. This is considered superior to standing toe-touches because it better isolates the hamstring. Hold for 10-30 seconds. Stretch your quadriceps by pulling each leg up behind you while standing. Hold for 10-30 seconds. Jogging for longer periods requires greater efficiency, in both your body's utilization of oxygen and your body's motion when your feet are on and off the ground. Specific types of training can improve the efficiency of each. Interval training involves running at high speed for short bursts (often 30 seconds to one minute), interspersed with cool-downs of equivalent or slightly longer periods that consist of light jogging or walking. For more detail on an interval training regimen, see How to Increase Your Running Stamina Interval training increases your VO2 max, which is essentially the efficiency in which your body uses oxygen to convert calories into energy. Improving this efficiency through more intense running will benefit your ability to keep up a lighter pace of running for longer times as well. Plyometrics involves using drills such as jumping rope, skipping, one-legged hops, and high-knee sprints to improve explosive power in the legs so that your feet can spend less time in contact with the ground while running. Maximizing the propulsive power while minimizing the contact time (and thus friction) of each step is one key to more efficient running. Prioritize training your body to jog for a specified period of time -- a half-hour, hour, or whatever it may be -- before worrying about how much ground you cover in that time. The pace can be picked up further along in the training process. If you are a beginner and/or cannot jog for 30 minutes straight, take brief walking breaks as you go. Don't stop until you reach the 30-minute mark, to train your body to keep moving for that amount of time. Steadily wean yourself off the walking breaks. Find a pace that you feel like you could keep up indefinitely once your training moves beyond the beginner stage. Keeping an easy pace can reduce your risk of injury. Research various running programs and find one that suits your needs, be it an 8-week beginner plan with a weekly schedule, a 10% weekly increase in mileage, or pacing yourself on 800-meter runs to prepare for a marathon. Programs with a good deal of variety can help moderate injury risk while also combating the boredom that can come from doing the exact same training the exact same way over and again. Such tedium can make it easier to justify skipping one workout, then another, and so on. Jogging for longer periods of time requires increasing your cardiovascular endurance, but to break up the monotony and give your sore shins or other parts a break, switching between jogging and exercises like biking and swimming can be quite beneficial. As a non-weight bearing exercise, swimming can give a break to sore feet, knees, etc., while providing an equivalent cardio workout. It also gives you a chance to exercise your upper body muscles. Bicycling is also easier on the joints than running, and thus can make an effective change of pace. You can also do interval training on a bicycle, mixing bursts of speed with slowdowns just like you do while running. Consider rotating days, jogging one day then biking or swimming the next, especially if you are dealing with joint pain related to running. "Slow and steady wins the race," according to the fabled tortoise, but it also describes the best way to build up your jogging endurance. Injuries are more likely to occur when pushing for results too quickly, and injuries can derail even the best laid training plans. Don't expect immediate results or be frustrated when you can't go from couch potato to marathon-ready in a few weeks. Remind yourself that you are in this for the long haul, and that every little gain benefits not only your endurance but your overall health. That said, if you never push yourself, you'll never move forward in your training. Push yourself to keep going and reach that day's goal, even when you are sore, tired, or just want to quit. Unless you think you may be injured, you do need to push through some pain in order to gain.