Just because you have never run farther than the bus stop, is not a reason to ignore the pleasures of recreational and competitive running. The sport provides many benefits. Besides improving overall health, cholesterol levels, and lung function, running is a confidence booster, a stress reliever, and a depression buster.

Having a disability, whether its amputation, paralysis, or vision loss, doesn’t mean you can’t join the thousands of others who find the sport a winning choice.

Keri Serota, executive director of Dare2Tri, a Move United chapter that helps athletes with disabilities train for triathlons, offers some advice for the beginner and for those who want to get to a higher level of competition.

If you’ve never run before, Serota suggests starting out with small, attainable running goals before undertaking a half marathon or full marathon.

“Set a small goal for yourself such as a 5K. Depending on how in- or out-of-shape you are, I would say somebody could train for a 5K in 8 to 12 weeks,” she said.

“If you haven’t done a lot of running, start with a run/walk program. For example, run for two minutes, walk for one minute, run for two, walk for one. You are breaking it down to small achievable goals. That’s important because if you set an unrealistic goal and don’t meet it, you will feel frustrated, and then it’s common to give up the program. You want to ensure you have success by setting realistic and small attainable goals, find success with that, and then move on to the next goal,” she said.

A beginner should also go for time instead of distance. Instead of setting your goal on a certain mileage, it’s more effective to increase time. If you’ve worked up to running 15 minutes, set a goal for 30.

Prosthesis

Those who participate in the sport regularly may want to look into investing in a sport or running prosthesis to help minimize wear and tear.

Racing Chairs

Wheelchair users who want to begin a running program may want to explore the availability of a racing chair in their community or contact a DSUSA chapter or another adaptive sports program that has chairs available for individuals to try and practice with.

Serota said a racing chair isn’t required to do a run. “You don’t necessarily need a racing chair just to get involved in the sport and get moving. A wheelchair user can start in an everyday chair or a sports chair like a basketball chair or tennis chair. Athletes have done half marathons in a sports chair,” she said.

Running Guides

For an athlete who is visually-impaired and might need a guide to run with them, Serota recommends reaching out to local running groups. “Stores that sell running shoes and apparel are a good place to start. Approach the group and ask if someone will run with you, say at a 12 minute pace, or whatever your pace is,” she said. “Explain to them what your specific needs are and how you like to be guided. It’s not difficult for a guide to learn and it’s generally a positive experience for both the guide and the runner.”

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Brian Hoddle, a teacher and internationally known track and field coach, including Head Coach of the 2004 USA Paralympic Track and Field team in Athens, states that the most important thing for a runner to have is good body balance. “If a prosthetic limb is not designed correctly, the person is going to have problems all the way up and down the body. It doesn’t matter what workout I give you as an amputee, if your body is not aligned, then you will be hurting all the time, and running is not going to be a lot of fun. Often times you’ll see problems crop up in the SI area.

“The second important thing is joint range of motion (JROM) in the shoulder girdle and the hip girdle. If you are standing and you have your hand on the wall and I have you kick leg forward and bring it back – how much of a JROM do you have in your hip? Then I’ll have the athlete face the wall and do leg swings back and forth. Is the JROM the same on both sides of the body or do you have one side or one hip area that is locking up? That causes a lot of problems and I see this with amputees as well as NFL players. The solution is you have to work on it. In the USA, we are fixated on static stretching; that’s not going to solve the issue. The issue is you have to work on JROM through specific exercises.

“Third is the mental aspect and that is huge whether you are an able-bodied runner or a runner with disabilities. Because it is so interconnected with the physical, if you don’t have your mental house in order, it’s hard to be successful,” he said.

Hoddle uses five words for success: vision, focus, persistence, discipline, and commitment. “Any aspect of your life, even in the business world, you can apply those principles. Athletes today may not have the upbringing or the coach that taught those skills, so it’s something that really needs to be addressed and not taken for granted,” he said.

When it comes to training, Hoddle emphasizes quality vs quantity. “Whatever the workout is, there needs to be a reason for it, and if you can’t figure out a reason for it, you shouldn’t be doing it. Secondly, you get out and get the job done and move on. Time is valuable and precious to people and more isn’t better.”

“I’m a firm believer in time management. If you don’t practice it, you won’t survive,” he said. “If you are a Paralympic athlete, are you going to squeeze an hour and a half practice in or are you going to block a time that is set, so that you are totally focused and ready for a quality practice session. If you fail to plan, you’ll plan to fail. Even for a recreational runner, are you going to go out and squeeze in your run or are you going to say, hey this is important for my health and it’s going to be a priority. I am going to set aside FOCUSED time. So set a 24-hour plan in place (86,400 seconds in a day) that will structure your life, like brushing your teeth, showering, eating breakfast, and training. I think that is really important.”

When running, Hoddle said the foot needs to be dorsi-flexed. “You want to cock the toe up and muscles need to fire sequentially. Muscle A needs to fire to muscle B, then muscle C. If you aren’t firing muscles sequentially when you are running, you are setting up a recipe for injuries.”

International Adaptive Running Organization- Achilles International

Adaptive Track and Field Manual- Blaze Sports

National Governing Body for Track and Field- Adaptive Track and Field USA

International Governing Body for Track and Field- World Para Athletics

Paralympic Track and Field- Team  USA

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