When I first started running, this is how I built myself up.

I started small: just 3 minutes a day, 3 days a week. Then moved up to 5 minutes, then 7, and kept slowly adding time from there. It took several months, but eventually I could run 45 minutes at a time, and it actually felt easy.

I’ve thought about doing more, but I’ve also seen a lot of long-term runners end up with bad knees. So I’ve usually kept myself around the 45-minute mark, about 2 or 3 days a week. For me, that feels like a good balance between staying in shape and not overdoing it.

But I do it on a treadmill so safer. Way more boring though, but safer. lol

I used to be a hard runner for about 25 years, always running to music playlists that evolved over time. I would challenge myself based on my vibe for each run, telling myself to go full out for the next chorus, or guitar solo, etc. Further into my playlist, when I knew I'd be well warmed up, and at my peak, I would put 3 or 4 higher intensity songs in a row, followed by a rest song that still kept up a decent pace. It worked great for me.

Years later, after I'd gotten away from running and gained quite a bit of weight, I'd get skeptical looks at cardiac workups when I said I used to run. Then they'd run the tests and say "You should start running again, you're heart is fine." One cardiologist even said that all that hard running when I was young is still paying dividends DECADES later.

The guy who was my running mentor when I was young said "Running is the King of exercise."

That's awesome! I'm actually built for running, tall and lean. But I never ran when I was younger, other than running everywhere as a kid. So I now that I am an adult getting into it, I am definitely kinda awkward about it. I wish i had run when I was younger. Especically since I have the perfect body type for it.

Did it ever mess up your knees or anything? That's the number one complain I hear from long-term runners. So I am always careful to make sure I don't do that. I don't have any knee issues, but I don't want them! lol

I runner friend of mine told me to just make smaller steps to avoid knee problmes. This was kind of awkward at first for me, but I quickly got used to it.