When its cold outside its important to be wearing the right sort of running gear. Staying warm means a safe and comfortable training session.
Find out more here and here about how to cope when the going gets cold.
Archive for the 'Inspiration' Category
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You could say that the weather has been a little bit on the cold side for the past few weeks. And in some parts of the country that would be an understatement. Many runners love winter running. Quiet and empty streets. Cool, crisp air, and a feeling of blissful solitude. But let’s face it, it can be tough to find the motivation to reach for the trainers when it is close to zero outside, or even below. So here are just a few tips to help get you going during the deep freeze:
- try to run in your lunch breaks rather than at the beginning or end of the day. Though the daytime temperature may be only a few degrees above what it is during the night you will feel the difference. Plus it is less likely to be icy underfoot.
- warm up thoroughly before you head out of the door. Try a few star jumps and a bit of running on the spot, or head to the gym and start your run on a treadmill.
- find a friend. It can be easier to find the motivation to keep to your schedule if you can run with someone else, even if it is for just one of your weekly sessions.
Click here for more motivational tips.
Had a beautiful week’s holiday with a few friends last month in the village of Chardonnay (yep, that one), near Tournus in the heart of Cotes Maconnais, staying in an excellent gite. The owners, Nick and Rebecca, also have rooms to rent above their bar and restaurant 300m down the hill in the centre of the village.
The beautiful countryside provided some excellent running opportunities. Off-road tracks through the vines that cover every hillside and very quiet roads meant each run could be very different.
Each day we planned a route through a different set of villages with a few climbs thrown in for good measure. The running watch never made an appearance, this was most definitely running for pleasure.
And of course, keeping your running ticking over whilst on holiday also means you get to enjoy every single drop of the area’s truly excellent white wine.
Some of us plan to be running well into our retirement, but can we ever hope to do as well as Buster Martin? He is training hard for his first marathon.
At the ripe old age of 101!
Read more about Buster’s slightly bonkers story, and watch him here.
Running is so much more than just the very best way of helping to stay fit and healthy. For anyone who has run for more than 60 minutes knows, you feel at one with yourself and the world and that is a wonderful feeling. And for some people, such as the marathon monks, running is a spiritual experience. Now we have a book that takes this subject seriously – ‘Running and Philosophy: A Marathon for the Mind’, a collection of 19 essays written by philosophers for runners, edited by Mike Austin. The book takes on some of the big questions runners think about in a way that entertains, educates, and inspires.
No matter how flexible it is, any training programme will come under pressure from the practicalities of life. Only elite athletes get to eat, sleep and train. So it is highly likely that between now and the marathon in April you will have a weekend away with friends, or a short holiday booked. Taking a short holiday during the programme is no bad thing, but it doesn’t have to mean that you stop running whilst you are way. I was very lucky to spend Christmas and New Year on holiday in South Africa and though running was not in the forefront of my mind I did take my trainers and kit with me. The only rule was that if I did run it had to be off the watch and take no account of pace. As part of the holiday my girlfriend and I stayed at a place called Fraai Uitzitch in the Robertson Wine Valley and very beautiful it was too. One afternoon we thought we would explore the area on foot and set off on a rambling run. We trotted down a gravel track and spotted along the roadside a group of Springbok. Nothing peculiar in that, but then a sprightly youngster broke away and started running alongside us, even doing the ‘pronking’ they are so famous for – when they spring in the air and straighten their legs. The three of us ran together for about 5 minutes and it was a wonderful moment, and certainly beats the experience of running in south London that we do every weekend. We must have run for 10 miles that day, far more than we intended and dinner certainly tasted fantastic when we got back.
That experience really brought home for me one of the main reasons I run; to explore the wide open spaces. The body gets easily bored with running the same old routes, so next time you are planning a weekend away then don’t forget to take you running gear. Even if you go out for just 30 minutes it will be something new and you never know what wild animals you might bump in to!
Now most of us are very unlikely to challenge the world’s best marathon runners in the next year or two. OK, maybe never. Their running exploits might seem a million miles away from us lesser mortals. They are like us, just flesh and blood, only more finely tuned! And equally, your training regime will never be quite as punishing or demanding as that required to challenge at the very highest level, let alone compete with the best male and female marathon runners in the business. But training a little bit like marathon winners such as Paula Radcliffe, Haile Gabrselassie or Mara Yamauchi may not be as silly as it sounds. What unite these great athletes are their dedication and commitment. They set clear, achievable goals, and use patience, planning, and progression as their guides. We can use these important principles for your own training and reap the rewards on race day
So we might never be elite, but we can have elite style thinking, and that means gaining insights and taking tips from those who are working at the edge of what is possible and working them into our programmes.
Athlete’s websites gives us a peak into their strange and bizarre world of eating, training, sleeping, eating, training – you get the picture. One of the better websites is that of Mara Yamauchi, one of Britain’s best female marathon runners and recent winner in the Osaka marathon.
I have written before about how your imagination is a powerful ally for your running, about how positive thoughts can help you when the going gets a bit tough in training or in races. Well I recently came across this quote from Lorraine Moller – a former Olympian and marathon winner – which reminds me of how we can use our imagination in other ways, it allows your mind to run away with itself:
“Throw away your ten-function chronometer, heart-rate monitor with the computer printout, training log, orthotics, high-tech underwear, pace charts and laboratory rat-tested, air-injected, gel-lined, motion-controlled, top-of-the-line, fashion footwear. Run with only your imagination. It is your rich companion guiding you into realms further and faster and more daring than you ever dreamed. Follow it through exotic lands in far-off galaxies in times past and future. Run with the lithe strides of a Kalahari Bushmen in the hunt for dinner, or in the thundering midst of a stampede of elephants. When thirsty run towards the oasis in Death Valley at midday. Sometimes giant strides with giant feet that cover whole countries can be very economical. And when the ground is boggy, launch off each foot to pluck a star from the heavens and carry the lightness of them in your pockets. Uphill, attach a few helium balloons to your vest so that your feet skim the ground, leaving no footprints. Downhills are free energy, so take off the brakes and spread your wings for take-off. In stiff competition cast a line to the person in front and gently reel yourself in so that they never notice. Then, as you slip past, become as invisible as a colourless rainbow and as silent as lightening that outran its thunder. And when you cross the finish line, always throw your arms in the air in total ecstasy. After all, this is your running and your life. Come on, your have to admit that there is nothing like that feeling, knowing you are the master of your running destiny. No limits, just you and as far as your mind can stretch.”
Compared to other sports, running is not necessarily best served in the arts. You have the occasional books, and the odd film, but they are rare. Even rarer is to hear good representation of running on the radio. So when an excellent play based on running comes along it is a good idea to tell as many people as possible.
Sophie Woolley’s hugely successful one woman show called ‘When to Run’ is being broadcast on Radio 4 in the afternoon play slot on Thursday 21 February at 2.15pm. Unlike the stage show, she plays just one of the characters in the radio play, with three actresses in the other roles. You can find out more about When to Run at .
I saw the stage show last year at the Royal Festival Hall and it was excellent.
Recommended.
Few runners ever get the chance to lead a race. Even fewer get the chance to lead an elite race. And an even rarer handful of runners can boldly claim to have lead an elite race on TV, and the world biggest half marathon to boot.
Well this is what happened to this lucky runner at last year’s Great North Run.
Makes me smile every time I watch it.