The important shift for me was developing a little humility and learning how to train at my own pace.
When I started running, I would try to go as fast as I thought I should be going. Which meant as fast as other people were going, or as fast as my high expectations for improvement told me I should be going. It was hard, it hurt a lot, and it wasn't fun at all.
Eventually I learned to pay attention to my actual (rather than desired) fitness level, what my recent training history actually looked like, and how my body was responding. That hurt a little, but was also very pleasurable once I got going, and the pleasure more than counterbalanced the pain. I also learned to distinguish different sorts of pain. For me the first mile is never very pleasant, but I know it's all getting-warmed-up pain. That's different that the you're-training-too-hard-and-its-time-to-stop pain.
Then, don't be arrogant about it. Don't say, "Hey, I want to run a race sooner, so I'll just skip 4 weeks ahead." If you are going to err, err on the side of gentleness. Start with week 1, and if that seems hard, just do week 1 again until it seems right. You are trying to develop a lifetime habit, so you have a lifetime to get this right.
Also, get a heart rate monitor. Set it to beep if you your heart rate gets too high. Ideally, get one that records data, so you can understand your workouts in context. If you are looking mainly forward, it's easy to get impatient. But if you have actual data showing what you ran the last month, it's easier to say, "Oh, I can see the improvement, so I'll try to do a little better next week."
The important shift for me was developing a little humility and learning how to train at my own pace.
When I started running, I would try to go as fast as I thought I should be going. Which meant as fast as other people were going, or as fast as my high expectations for improvement told me I should be going. It was hard, it hurt a lot, and it wasn't fun at all.
Eventually I learned to pay attention to my actual (rather than desired) fitness level, what my recent training history actually looked like, and how my body was responding. That hurt a little, but was also very pleasurable once I got going, and the pleasure more than counterbalanced the pain. I also learned to distinguish different sorts of pain. For me the first mile is never very pleasant, but I know it's all getting-warmed-up pain. That's different that the you're-training-too-hard-and-its-time-to-stop pain.
For those looking to make a similar shift, I strongly recommend finding some external structure that tells you how much to train. E.g., Hal Higdon's beginner guide: http://halhigdon.com/training/50933/5K-Novice-Training-Progr...
Then, don't be arrogant about it. Don't say, "Hey, I want to run a race sooner, so I'll just skip 4 weeks ahead." If you are going to err, err on the side of gentleness. Start with week 1, and if that seems hard, just do week 1 again until it seems right. You are trying to develop a lifetime habit, so you have a lifetime to get this right.
Also, get a heart rate monitor. Set it to beep if you your heart rate gets too high. Ideally, get one that records data, so you can understand your workouts in context. If you are looking mainly forward, it's easy to get impatient. But if you have actual data showing what you ran the last month, it's easier to say, "Oh, I can see the improvement, so I'll try to do a little better next week."