A bad runner's journey into bad running, part 2 - how I run

(You can read part 1 first, if you want.)

When I first started running, I naturally fell into what I considered to be a proper running pace, but I found that I was not able to run as far as I wanted, and it wasn't until I made a conscious effort to slow down and concentrate on distance that I was able to achieve 5 km without stopping (the goal of Couch to 5K).  They advise that to start you should run as slowly as possible; the slowest thing you can actually call running.  After a while I realised this was really good advice for me.

I haven't really concentrated on my technique very much.  The main thing I tried was swinging my arms a little more than I thought was natural.  This seems to give the lungs more room and make diaphragm cramping less likely.  A lot of people I see running keep their elbows bent sharply with their forearms held high, but that hasn't worked for me so far.

I sometimes find that my lungs start to protest as I get to about the 1-2 km mark in a run.  My brain immediately starts to make plans to stop and thinks up appropriate excuses - "You'll probably feel sick if you keep going", "you may not make it to 5 km if you don't stop for a walk now", and similar things.  I found that if I just ignore those excuses and keep running (and maybe ease off the pace a bit), after a little while the tight feeling in the lungs passes and I finish my 5 km very successfully.

I run in a place I love: at the beach, around low tide, in the early morning or late afternoon.  Our beaches here aren't usually crowded, and early or late in the day is the time when many native birds are active, especially raptors.  (My favourite to watch is the white-bellied sea eagle - sometimes they're amazing enough to make me stop running and just watch as they glide along.).

I run on the moist part of the sand - between the thick, dry sand above the high tide mark, and the hard, wet part that the water has recently been on.  This seems to give the right combination of stability of surface and underfoot cushioning.  I often have a swim or surf before (in the hotter part of the year) or after (in the cooler part of the year).

I run with as few accessories as possible: sunscreen (when necessary), a swimming rash vest, running skins (compression shorts), my Garmin fitness tracker and GPS (I currently use older models that don't have the functions combined), and my car key on a shoelace around my neck.  In winter I have worn a light fitness jacket, but in this climate it's not really necessary in all but a few weeks of the year, and causes me to overheat at other times.

I don't wear shoes.  This means I need to keep a watch out for any sharp shells on the beach, but I haven't found that particularly tricky, and I find I heat up less.  Until I started training on the road, I hadn't really experienced any pain in my feet or legs due to running in bare feet (more on this later).

I don't carry a phone or MP3 player.  I love music, but I don't like things being in my ears when I'm sweating.  I prefer to listen to the sound of the waves and the birds.  Sometimes I sing (or some rough facsimile thereof), or recite music in my head, especially some of Neal Morse's longer pieces.