Running and sometimes walking!
Running is the most accessible sport or physical activity you can enjoy on your front door. Whether you are looking to lose weight, get fit or simply enjoy a run through your local park all you need is a pair of trainers and a bit of motivation. We love running in the mountains where the rewards are a constantly changing landscape, challenging gradients and the odd encounter with local wildlife. Running in these places feels easier as you are gently absorbed into the environment solely occupied with the route ahead and the reward of a great view at the summit.
Not everybody is lucky enough to have mountains on their doorstep with most living in towns and cities, this doesn't mean that you have to stick to pounding the pavement though... there are green islands and interesting spaces throughout our towns and cities, you just have to find them. With a little time looking at an ordinance survey map or google maps you will be able to start threading together green islands, interesting places and footpaths creating a mix of exciting and varied routes.
3 Simple Rules
Our time is at a premium in the modern age so you should strive to get the most from every run, to support this we have developed 3 simple rules. These rules are designed to maximise enjoyment, motivation and the physical returns for the time you invest:
Equipment
Running doesn't require a great deal of equipment but sensible and appropriate footwear is a must. Your local running shop will be able to advise you on suitable footwear based on where you want to run. Running clothing is widely available and in the colder months only requires a few extra layers. Aside from this all you need is some water in a sports bottle or bladder and you are ready to go.
You don't need a heart rate monitor or GPS watch to start running. However, as you run more often using these 'data tools' will provide useful information allowing you to analyse your fitness and modify your exercise programme for maximum gains. They are also shiny 'nice to have' toys...
Dependent on the length of each run and the terrain you will need to consider additional food, water, clothing and safety equipment including a means of communication.
Understand your objectives and design a simple programme to support them!
If you run on a regular basis, even if its once a week 'session structure' and a 'programme' will be of benefit to you. It will allow you to gauge your progress, when to change the intensity and nature of each session and importantly mitigate the risk of injury. As you track your progress and performance against your objectives and programme, you will increase your understanding of what works for you leading to advancements in your fitness and knowledge.
Not everybody is lucky enough to have mountains on their doorstep with most living in towns and cities, this doesn't mean that you have to stick to pounding the pavement though... there are green islands and interesting spaces throughout our towns and cities, you just have to find them. With a little time looking at an ordinance survey map or google maps you will be able to start threading together green islands, interesting places and footpaths creating a mix of exciting and varied routes.
3 Simple Rules
Our time is at a premium in the modern age so you should strive to get the most from every run, to support this we have developed 3 simple rules. These rules are designed to maximise enjoyment, motivation and the physical returns for the time you invest:
- Reward - Reward doesn't always mean finishing at a coffee shop for cake and caffeine, although it often does! REWARD yourself by running in nice places that lift your spirits and give you a buzz. It definitely works and will positively feedback into your everyday life..
- Challenge - Include at least 1-2 challenges in every run... you will leave each run with a sense of satisfaction and achievenment. We love hill challenges, it may be one or several but we both enjoy setting new targets when we run as individuals or together.
- Flexibility - When you feel like running further, higher and faster come prepared to sustain it! There will be days when after 20 minutes you aren't feeling it and then the days when you don't want to stop running. Run with enough food, water and clothing to keep you going for a couple of hours to ensure you don't miss out on the days you feel invincible. We use running vests and a hip belts depending on how long we think we'll be out.
Equipment
Running doesn't require a great deal of equipment but sensible and appropriate footwear is a must. Your local running shop will be able to advise you on suitable footwear based on where you want to run. Running clothing is widely available and in the colder months only requires a few extra layers. Aside from this all you need is some water in a sports bottle or bladder and you are ready to go.
You don't need a heart rate monitor or GPS watch to start running. However, as you run more often using these 'data tools' will provide useful information allowing you to analyse your fitness and modify your exercise programme for maximum gains. They are also shiny 'nice to have' toys...
Dependent on the length of each run and the terrain you will need to consider additional food, water, clothing and safety equipment including a means of communication.
Understand your objectives and design a simple programme to support them!
If you run on a regular basis, even if its once a week 'session structure' and a 'programme' will be of benefit to you. It will allow you to gauge your progress, when to change the intensity and nature of each session and importantly mitigate the risk of injury. As you track your progress and performance against your objectives and programme, you will increase your understanding of what works for you leading to advancements in your fitness and knowledge.
- Run Structure - It may sound a bit dull but having structure for each run will help to provide a framework to measure your performance against both short and long term goals, it also helps to mitigate the risk of injury. In general a run should consist of a warm up (stretching and increasing your heart rate), main body of exercise (type of session; speed, hills, interval) and the warm down (stretching and bringing down heart rate).
- Objectives and Programme - Setting objectives will shape your programme, these may range from losing weight, getting fit or running a marathon. Regardless a simple programme will ensure that you achieve these objectives taking into account your level of fitness, ability, motivation and time available. We all like to see improvements and a basic programme will provide a means to track performance against objectives and ultimately their fulfilment.