I Cannot Get Past Two Miles

by Barbara

Hi -- love the newsletter :)
I have been running 1/2 hour 3 or 4 times per week and I cannot seem to get past the two mile mark. I bought new running sneakers and I am trying the tempo running but with the tempo running, I was getting a lot of cramping.

Answer by Dominique:


Hi Barbara,
Great to hear that you have picked up running.
We all hit hurdles from time to time. When I started running I remember the half hour mark, the 1 hour mark and after that the 1.5 hour mark being quite tough. Might be a combination of some physical and psychological challenges at times.

There are two ways to get over these hurdles.

One way is to increase your mileage really, really slowly. Just run 2.1 miles next time. Then 2.2 miles and so on.

Another way is to do run/walking for a while.
Run 2 miles, walk for three minutes and then run a little bit more. Next time do it again, but walk for two minutes only. Reduce the walking time until you do not need to stop for walk breaks anymore.

I have got some special beginner running programs on my site which might be able to help you out. Have a look at them and pick your favorite. Considering you have already some experience you might not want to start at the complete beginning, but they might still be helpful. Click here for the Beginners Running Programs.

About your tempo running. You might simply not be completely ready yet for tempo running. If you do decide to go a bit faster, make sure you build it up with nice little intervals of only a few minutes each. Every time I get out of a period of base running, those tempo runs are very, very painful. It is best to ease into them with some tempo intervals in the first few weeks.


Hope all this helps.
Best of luck.
Dominique