HOW TO GET READY FOR RUNNING ON THE MEDITERRANEAN

INTRODUCTION: RUNNING ON THE MEDITERRANEAN

RUNNING ON THE MEDITERRANEAN COAST: If you are planning a trip this summer to the Mediterranean, you are probably already imagining yourself lying on the beach just soaking up the sun, taking bike rides to the local cafe, or taking a hike through the local park. But like most people, you have probably put on a few extra pounds and are now wondering how to burn off those extra calories. There are a lot of options and equipment that a person can turn to for burning off calories but the hands-down winner for return on effort and money is jogging.

Now before you lace up your shoes and head out the door for what could be your first run in a very long time, there are a few things that you should do to ensure your transition from couch potato to Olympic athlete is a seamless (and painless) one. To help you out I’ve put together a few tips to help you guide you towards success. I’ve been running for over 40 years and during this time I’ve gone through my share of training ups and downs with a few forced “breaks” thrown in along the way. In this time, I’ve picked up a few insights and tricks that I’m happy to share with you in the article below.

(To find out more about the Mediterranean, see our related posts: “Best Things To Do In Mallorca“, Guide to the Coast of Spain, and Guide to the Mediterranean Coast)

Disclaimer

Before doing anything, you should consult with your doctor. Every person will have a different starting point and not everyone was dealt the same hand in terms of genetics, so be sure to talk to your doctor about your exercise plan to make sure you are set up for success.

How To Make This Happen

Patience

If you are reading this post then it’s likely that at some point in your life, your body was a well-oiled machine. But that was in the “before time” and this is now. To make sure you don’t hurt yourself or lose motivation right at the beginning, you should start small, go slowly, and ease into this.

For the first few weeks you should aim at getting some short daily walks in and then gradually combine some short jogs with walking breaks in between.  You want to go slow and easy – you are not trying to set world records now, you are just getting your muscles to slowly get used to moving again in ways they may have not seen for quite a while.

After this initial “slow” 3 to 4 weeks, you can begin to slowly increase your workout distance and time. Consider this process as a journey with every workout being just a small step towards reaching your destination. You’ll get there but you want to take your time.

Running Shoes

Visit your local shoe store and buy a good pair of running shoes. You don’t have to get a $500 pair of marathon shoes but you do want shoes designed for running and not some other sport. These will help protect your feet and ensure that you are able to run properly and maintain a comfortable and efficient running form. You wouldn’t expect to have a smooth running form wearing cowboy boots or house slippers so make sure to invest in this one piece of equipment.

Avoid buying running shoes online and instead, visit your local sporting goods store. You want to try on the shoes in the store to make sure that they fit and that there are no pinch points or other issues before buying them.

Warming up

This is a tricky point. On the one hand, you want your muscles to be stretched and ready for doing a workout. On the other, you ideally want to stretch when your muscles are warmed up, like for example, after a jogging workout! So you see the problem here:  the chicken or the egg!  

At the beginning stage,  trying to force your muscles to stretch when their stiff and seized is more likely to create problems than benefit you. The solution here is to make the first part of the walk or jog, your warm-up. Begin with a slow walk for a few minutes and then ease slowly into a SLOW jog. After another 5 to 10 minutes of slow jogging, you can gradually pick up the pace.

TIP: Oh, and by the way, NEVER finish your workouts with a final sprint! Your chances of hurting yourself here are at their highest and you gain no training benefit from a final sprint. Treat the last 5 or 10 minutes as your warmdown and slowly finish your workout. This will help prevent your muscles from seizing up and becoming stiff and sore the next day.

Cooling down / Post Workout Stretching

After the workout, you should get in the habit of stretching as part of the cool-down phase of your workout. Your muscles will be warm and loose after the workout so you should use this opportunity to stretch a little before calling it a day. This does not have to be a long drawn-out affair. Just 5 to 10 minutes of light slow stretching (avoid bouncing or jerking movements). As time progresses stretching will become easier. A combination of a relaxed warm-down and light stretching will help you set up for your next day’s workout.

Set Your Objective

With your vacation destination planned and trip booked, you have a clear time objective before your eyes. Ideally, you have left yourself a few months to start a training schedule to help you reach your objective. You know what your starting point is and you will likely already have an idea of where you want to land in terms of the final end result.

Make sure your objective is reasonable and attainable, this will make it easier to stay motivated from start to finish. Remember it took you years to reach your present state so it will take some time to undo some of this. It’s not impossible but be kind to yourself and set an objective that is attainable. And remember, once you reach your objective, there is nothing stopping you from setting the next objective and reaching that one too. It’s all up to you.

Have A Plan and Stick To It

Now you know where you want to end up, you should decide on a training plan outlining how you will reach your objective. You wouldn’t take a trip without some kind of road map of how to get to your destination, so you should treat your fitness journey the same way. As a suggestion, I’ve put together an 8 week running plan to take you from your first steps to completing a 5km run.

8-Week Beginner Running Plan to Complete a 5K Run

Week 1

Goal: Build a foundation with walking and light jogging

• Day 1: Walk 30 mins
• Day 2: Walk 30 mins
• Day 3: Rest
• Day 4: Walk 30 mins
• Day 5: Walk 30 mins
• Day 6: Rest
• Day 7: Walk 30 mins

Week 2

Goal: Introduce short jogging intervals

• Day 1: Walk 4 mins, jog 1 min (repeat 6 times) – Total: 30 mins
• Day 2: Walk 4 mins, jog 1 min (repeat 6 times) – Total: 30 mins
• Day 3: Rest
• Day 4: Walk 4 mins, jog 1 min (repeat 6 times) – Total: 30 mins
• Day 5: Walk 4 mins, jog 1 min (repeat 6 times) – Total: 30 mins
• Day 6: Rest
• Day 7: Walk 30 mins

Week 3

Goal: Increase jogging intervals

• Day 1: Walk 3 mins, jog 2 mins (repeat 6 times) – Total: 30 mins
• Day 2: Walk 3 mins, jog 2 mins (repeat 6 times) – Total: 30 mins
• Day 3: Rest
• Day 4: Walk 3 mins, jog 2 mins (repeat 6 times) – Total: 30 mins
• Day 5: Walk 3 mins, jog 2 mins (repeat 6 times) – Total: 30 mins
• Day 6: Rest
• Day 7: Walk 30 mins

Week 4

Goal: Extend jogging time gradually

• Day 1: Walk 2 mins, jog 3 mins (repeat 6 times) – Total: 30 mins
• Day 2: Walk 2 mins, jog 3 mins (repeat 6 times) – Total: 30 mins
• Day 3: Rest
• Day 4: Walk 2 mins, jog 3 mins (repeat 6 times) – Total: 30 mins
• Day 5: Walk 2 mins, jog 3 mins (repeat 6 times) – Total: 30 mins
• Day 6: Rest
• Day 7: Walk 30 mins

Week 5

Goal: Emphasize jogging with shorter walking breaks

• Day 1: Walk 1 min, jog 4 mins (repeat 6 times) – Total: 30 mins
• Day 2: Walk 1 min, jog 4 mins (repeat 6 times) – Total: 30 mins
• Day 3: Rest
• Day 4: Walk 1 min, jog 4 mins (repeat 6 times) – Total: 30 mins
• Day 5: Walk 1 min, jog 4 mins (repeat 6 times) – Total: 30 mins
• Day 6: Rest
• Day 7: Walk 30 mins

Week 6

Goal: Increase jogging duration

• Day 1: Walk 1 min, jog 5 mins (repeat 6 times) – Total: 36 mins
• Day 2: Walk 1 min, jog 5 mins (repeat 6 times) – Total: 36 mins
• Day 3: Rest
• Day 4: Walk 1 min, jog 5 mins (repeat 6 times) – Total: 36 mins
• Day 5: Walk 1 min, jog 5 mins (repeat 6 times) – Total: 36 mins
• Day 6: Rest
• Day 7: Walk 30 mins

Week 7

Goal: Longer continuous jogging with minimal walking

• Day 1: Walk 1 min, jog 7 mins (repeat 4 times) – Total: 32 mins
• Day 2: Walk 1 min, jog 7 mins (repeat 4 times) – Total: 32 mins
• Day 3: Rest
• Day 4: Walk 1 min, jog 7 mins (repeat 4 times) – Total: 32 mins
• Day 5: Walk 1 min, jog 7 mins (repeat 4 times) – Total: 32 mins
• Day 6: Rest
• Day 7: Walk 30 mins

Week 8

Goal: Complete a continuous 5km run

• Day 1: Jog 20 mins, walk 1 min, jog 10 mins – Total: 31 mins
• Day 2: Jog 25 mins, walk 1 min, jog 5 mins – Total: 31 mins
• Day 3: Rest
• Day 4: Jog 30 mins continuously
• Day 5: Rest
• Day 6: Jog 35 mins continuously
• Day 7: Rest or light 20-minute walk

By the end of Week 8, you should be ready to complete a 5km run confidently. Remember to listen to your body and adjust the plan if necessary.

To gauge your effort so that you aren’t pushing yourself too hard, keep your jogs at a pace where you can carry on a conversation without running out of breath. Slow down if you have to. As you can see from the above training plan, the distances and duration of the workouts will progressively get longer. This increase should be gradual and will help your body to progressively get stronger and healthier.

Keep Track of Your Workouts

Using your journal, keep track of your workouts. Mark down how far you went and how long you jogged. That’s it. Nothing complicated. By doing this, you will have a way to measure your progress. You’ll be surprised at your own progress and this should act as a positive feedback loop for yourself. Success breeds success. There will be days when you will be less motivated than others, but having a training log will help you keep on track and help you through those rough days when you might not be as motivated.

Keep Track of Your Calories

A good motivator as well is to keep track of how much you are eating. You can track this information on your running log if you want and just keep it simple. There are various calorie counters on the internet that you can use to calculate how much you’re burning off in any given workout. You can find these for walking, jogging, swimming or cycling. Most of these online calculators are super easy to use.

So, calories in and calories out will tell you if you are in a calorie deficit (losing weight) or calorie surplus (gaining weight). Keeping track of this information will help you stick to your plan and help motivate you through the tougher times.

The internet is also a good source of information for knowing how many calories different foods have. A small kitchen scale can help here as well. You don’t need to be a slave to this but being aware of your calories will help you to know what foods to avoid and which ones to go for.

Include Other Activities

There are times when training will seem more like a chore than an adventure. To help you stay on track, consider throwing in some other activities in the mix to help keep you on track. Some cycling or walking your dog are just a few ideas. If you have a treadmill you can try walking or jogging while watching some Netflix. You can consider your local gym or community center or even the local high school track.

Visualization

Let’s be honest, this won’t be easy. Heck if it was, everyone would be jogging. But keep this in mind: human beings were designed to run. Running is a perfectly natural thing for your body to do and should be possible for most people. The big challenge will be mental. There will be times that you will have trouble staying motivated and this is where a few motivation tips and tricks can help out.

The most important thing is to believe that you can do it and the first step for this is to tell yourself you can do it! That’s right, “talk yourself into it”, this simple trick will work wonders. And if you think this idea is nonsense, then consider that there is a multi-billion dollar advertising industry that’s based completely on this concept. Giving yourself positive feedback is part of the “I think I can, I think I can” school of thought, and is very effective.

Picture yourself working out. If you plan on jogging in the morning, picture yourself jogging in the morning. If you are going to jog after work, picture yourself jogging after work. Keep your end objective in front of your eyes. Picture yourself at the beach. Picture yourself cycling through a small Mediterranean village. Picture yourself hiking up the side of a mountain. If you can imagine it, you are one step closer to doing it.

FINAL THOUGHTS: RUNNING ON THE MEDITERRANEAN COAST

Getting yourself fit for your vacations through jogging is a great idea and will help make your trip an excellent experience. Being fit will open the door to trying other activities while on your holidays such as kayaking, snorkeling, or cycling. Working out will help turn a “Mmehhh” experience into the trip of a lifetime. By following the tips provided, you can transition smoothly from couch potato to a confident jogger, ready to take on the European landscapes and Mediterranean coastline.

Remember, consistency and patience are key. Lace up those shoes, start slow, and gradually build up your stamina. Before you know it, you’ll not only be shedding those extra pounds but also enjoying every step of your journey. Happy running and happy travels!

(see related post on Running in the Heat for Mediterranean Travel)

“Don’t Just Dream It! Do it!”

How about experiencing the Mediterranean first hand? Running on the Mediterranean Coast doesn’t have to be just a dream. Use the map below to inspire you and plan your next Mediterranean vacation right now!