I started to take running more seriously following a shoulder injury (rotator-cuff torn off the bone) which prevented me from carrying out my usual training. It also took a year to recover from the operation so running was my go-to method of training.
I also completed the London Marathon so the first thing I did was download a ton of training plans and apps.
The training plans just weren't suitable for my weird level - more than beginner because I already had a good fitness base, but below beginner because of my inexperience and poor mental attitude towards it. None of these running plans worked for me. They were too long or too short. I ran them too fast and I didn't understand what was right for my body. I started to record my efforts on an app but I didn't really know why because the stats didn't really mean anything to me. My left knee hurt and I didn't enjoy it - I needed to start from scratch.
I asked myself what could I comfortably run. The answer was 1 mile (1.6km). I wondered what would stop me from running too quickly. My answer was music. I could choose songs based on tempo and just run to the beat. That's actually harder than you might think - I listen to heavy metal so some songs are off beat or too fast. I found slower songs worked really well to begin with.
I got my play list ready and went off and ran a mile. I actually felt pretty good because my shins weren't killing and I wasn't so out of breath that I couldn't breathe. I decided not to run any further that day even though I felt like I could. That was a good decision!
Two days later I did it again. I deliberately ran slower and it felt weird but this time I finished the run, rested for ten mins and then ran again. Amazingly, the second mile didn't feel nearly as hard as it would have if I ran two miles without the rest. I was really happy with that.
So, after a few more runs like that I decided to add another mile. I ran 1 mile, had a 5 min rest, ran 1 mile, had a 5 min rest and then ran 1 mile. All was going really well. It was the first time I had run 3 miles and not felt completely shattered. My legs still ached but it felt a little more enjoyable now.
Now that I started feeling good about running, I decided to run 2 miles without a rest and another amazing thing happened. The first mile flew by really quickly. It felt a lot easier. So after that I added another mile. I ended up running 5 miles with only 2 rests. That's 3 miles without the rests!