Seasoned runners make it look easy, but the truth of the matter is that as experienced runners we’ve all made the same mistakes.
It’s called learning by experience.
The cost of those lessons is highest in your first months of running.
A review of 13 studies found that new runners got 17.8 injuries for every 1,000 hours of running, more than double the 7.7 injuries per 1,000 hours in more experienced runners.
The good news is that researchers have now tested most of the habits behind those injuries, so you don’t have to learn every lesson the hard way.
In this article, you’ll learn the research on the most common beginner running mistakes, including:
- How much longer one run can be than your recent longest before your injury risk climbs
- Why running every run at a medium effort holds back your progress
- The type of strength work that prevented injuries in new runners
- What to eat after a run, and when pain means you should stop
How Much Should a Beginner Increase Their Running?
The mistake that gets the most new runners hurt is adding distance faster than their legs can handle it.
Your cardiovascular system improves more rapidly than your muscles, tendons and bones, so you can build the endurance to run farther before your body is ready to absorb the extra impact.
Researchers measured where that tipping point sits by tracking 5,205 adult runners with GPS watches for 18 months.
They compared the distance of every run with the longest run each person had done in the previous 30 days.
Research has shown that when a single run was 10% to 30% longer than a runner’s longest run in the past 30 days, their injury rate rose by 64%, and a run more than twice as long raised it 2.3 times.
Their weekly totals, compared week to week, showed no link with injury.
That means one run that jumps past what you’ve done recently is the bigger risk, even when your weekly mileage looks sensible.
Use your longest run from the past month as your ceiling for every run.
If your longest run in the last 30 days was 3 miles (4.8 km), keep your next long run at about 3.3 miles (5.3 km) or less.
Once that distance feels comfortable for a couple of weeks, you can step it up again, and this guide to increasing your weekly mileage shows how to plan the weeks around it.
How Hard Should Your Runs Feel as a Beginner?
Most of your runs should feel easy enough that you could hold a conversation the whole way.
New runners often make the mistake of running every run at the same medium effort, or pushing the pace on the days they feel good.
That middle effort feels productive, but it’s too hard to recover from quickly and too easy to work as a real speed session.
A trial of 30 recreational runners tested this over 10 weeks, with both groups doing about the same amount of hard running.
One group did most of the rest of their training at an easy effort, and the other group did a large share of it at a medium, comfortably hard effort.
A 10-week trial found that runners who kept 77% of their training easy improved their 10K time by 5.0%, while runners who spent 35% of their training at a medium effort improved by 3.6%.
The researchers couldn’t rule out chance for that 1.4-point difference, but the runners who slowed down didn’t give up any fitness to do it.
That means you can run most of your miles slower than you think you should and still get faster.
On easy days, use the talk test: if you can speak in full sentences, you’re running at the right effort.
Not having a complete plan that includes all the right workouts for your specific needs is one of the biggest mistakes I see beginner runners make.
Once you can run 3 to 4 days a week comfortably, add one faster session a week with a clear purpose, such as short hill repeats or a tempo run, and keep the rest of your runs at a pace that feels too slow.
If you want a plan that explains the purpose of every run, my book Easy Running Plans includes the running workouts along with the strength and recovery work built into each day.
Do Beginner Runners Need Strength Training?
Strength training is one of the most effective ways to stay injury free when you start running.
A trial in Finland put 325 new runners through the same 24-week running program.
Before each run, one group did hip and core exercises, one group did foot and ankle exercises and one group did static stretching.
A 2024 trial found that new runners who did hip and core exercises before their runs had 39% fewer overuse injuries in an average week than new runners who only stretched.
The foot and ankle group had no fewer overuse injuries than the runners who stretched.
That means your hips and core are the place to start if you only have time for a few exercises.
The finding fits a larger body of research.
A 2014 review of 25 trials with more than 26,000 people found that strength training cut sports injuries to less than one third, while stretching didn’t lower injuries at all.
You don’t need a gym or any equipment to get started, because bodyweight exercises for your hips and core are enough.
Do them 2 to 3 times a week, either before your run as the runners in the trial did or right after it.
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How Should Beginner Runners Recover Between Runs?
You gain fitness in the hours and days after a run, while your body repairs your muscles and refills the energy your run used.
So the 2 habits that matter most are leaving an easy day or a rest day after a long run or workout, and eating soon after you finish.
A lot of older advice tells you to eat carbohydrate and protein in a 4 to 1 ratio after a run.
Current sports nutrition guidelines don’t use a fixed ratio.
Sports nutrition guidelines recommend about 0.25 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (0.11 g per lb) at a meal, or 20 to 40 grams, and they tell endurance athletes to focus first on getting enough carbohydrate.
For a 150 lb (68 kg) runner, that’s about 17 grams of protein, which is roughly what you get from 3 eggs.
Add a serving of carbohydrate such as rice, bread, pasta or fruit, and you’ve covered both.
The same guidelines note that the boost exercise gives your muscle repair lasts at least 24 hours but fades over time, so eating within a couple of hours of your run is a sensible target.
After every run, eat about 20 grams of protein along with some carbohydrate within a couple of hours.
Should You Run Through Pain as a New Runner?
Running through pain is how a small problem turns into months away from running.
The trick with most running injuries is that if you identify and treat them early, they tend to disappear rather quickly.
For example, if you feel a slight tug at the bottom of your foot, sleeping in a splint, resting for a day or two, some massage, and strength exercises will knock that case of plantar fasciitis out before it has a chance to become anything meaningful.
However, decide that it’s okay to run through, despite the increasing pain at the bottom of your foot, and you may need six months off and two surgeries to run again (I know from experience).
An injury also makes the next one more likely.
A 2015 review of 15 studies found strong evidence that a previous injury is one of the clearest risk factors for future running injuries.
That means running through an injury can turn a few days off into months, and it leaves you more likely to get hurt again.
Stop your run and take a day or two off when:
- The pain makes you change how you run, such as limping or shortening your stride
- It gets worse as the run goes on
- You still feel it the next morning
If the pain hasn’t improved after a few days of rest, see a physical therapist or sports doctor.
It’s infinitely better to take one or two days off to ensure you’re healthy than need weeks or months down the road.
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A good injury prevention program starts with assessing where you’re weak and where you might be tight or inhibited. In the video I’ll demonstrate the six mobility tests you need to perform to assess what you need to begin working on.
What Are the Most Common Beginner Running Mistakes?
Use this table as a quick check on your first few months of training.
| Mistake | What to do instead |
|---|---|
| Making one run much longer than your recent runs | Keep each run within about 10% of your longest run in the past 30 days |
| Running every run at a medium effort | Run most miles at a conversational pace, with one faster session a week once you’re ready |
| Skipping strength work | Do hip and core exercises 2 to 3 times a week |
| Not eating after runs | Eat about 0.25 g of protein per kg (0.11 g per lb) of body weight plus carbohydrate within a couple of hours |
| Running through pain | Take 1 to 2 days off when pain changes your stride or gets worse during a run |
