What kind of run are you doing today? Easy run? Tempo run? Progression? Intervals? Long run?
No matter what you’re doing, your run should start the same way: slow.
Why? Because your body needs time to warm up.
A lot can go into warming up for training runs and I’m going to write more about this next week. However, when it comes to the actual running, a slow start is a good to transition from inactivity or lower intensity activity to the higher intensity of your running.
What should this look like? Most people need about 5-10 minutes of very easy running to “wake up” the body. This is time to get the blood flowing and get the muscles warm and loose. Basically, to do that transition I mentioned above.
Before you say you don’t need this, consider that people who are much faster than you believe they need it and have found the benefits. Kenyan runners are well known for starting almost painfully slow. Top sprint coaches have their sprinters begin their warmups with walking.
If you don’t believe this will help you, I would encourage you to at least give it a chance. Give it a try for two weeks. If you think after that time that I’m crazy, go back to starting fast. How much have you lost? If, as I suspect, you find that the rest of your run goes much better when you start slow, you can keep doing it and reaping the benefits.