Running coach Martinus Evans is on a mission to inspire.
Evans hopes people can see that anyone of any background, ability or body type can start a running and fitness journey.
In fact, his new book, "Slow AF Run Club," even has the subtitle "The Ultimate Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Run."
Evans said he was motivated to start running after a health scare 11 years ago.
"In 2012, I went to go see a doctor about some hip issues and he looked at me and said, 'You know what? I know why you're in pain.' I was like, 'What's that?' He's like, 'You're fat. You need to lose weight or you're gonna suffer some serious health consequences,'" Evans recalled to "Good Morning America" Tuesday.
The encounter motivated Evans to start running but he also decided to set a big goal.
"I told him, 'You know what, I'm gonna run a marathon' and he laughed at me and told me, 'That's kind of out there,'" Evans said.
"So, I went home and I got on the treadmill and I failed miserably, couldn't run longer than 15 seconds. But every day, I kept going out there, day after day, second after second, so next thing, 15 seconds to 30 seconds to a minute. And next thing you know, minutes turned into miles and miles turned into marathons," he continued.
For beginner runners, Evans encourages them to believe in their dreams.
"One of the things I tell people is they need to practice delusional self belief. All of these modern marvels, somebody had to come up with it. So, imagine your cell phone. Imagine somebody being like, 'You know what, I want to talk to somebody but I want to be on the go,'" Evans said, comparing the invention of the cell phone to the strength of personal willpower.
"I believed in it so much that I willed my way into running and the same thing with anything else you want to do in life," he said.
When it comes to starting out, Evans said a slow and steady approach is the way to go.
"Most runners go out too fast. They do. They go too fast. They go too hard, right out the gate. So, one of the things that we'd like to do is slow it down," Evans recommended.
"One of the things I recommend for my new runners is they do a pace. They do 15 seconds of running, and then one minute of walking," Evans said. "So we start off with something small that you can do and you can start running and build up from there."
Evans said a beginner runner will know when to increase the pacing when they start to get bored.
"If you start to notice that, hey, this is easy for me or I'm recovering very easily, that's when it's time to pick up the pace or even go longer," he said.
Evans' new book, "Slow AF Run Club: The Ultimate Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Run" is out Tuesday from publisher Avery.
