Days are getting longer, giving us a greater opportunity to get outside and exercise. Why is it that convincing yourself to get out of the door can be so tough when the feeling of ‘runners high’ at the end is so great?! Maybe you have been inspired by Eliud Kipchoges sub 2hour marathon or Joshua Cheptegi’s world record-breaking 5km in 12min 51seconds. IMAGINE the scenes of someone pulling that out of the bag at your local Park Run. The thought alone is [almost] enough to make go downstairs and put on my trainers.
But seriously, getting back into running can be a daunting prospect, and what is stopping you? The weather? An old injury? Fear of being ‘bad’ at it? All of these are rational thoughts and almost every runner has come across one or more of these barriers in their own journey. If it is an injury preventing you from running, then the obvious thing to do is to go see a physio [me, of course] and get it addressed and start a reintroduction to running.
If mindset is your barrier, you’re not alone! Tips that I have found useful with patients include:
Follow 'the couch to 5k'
Try both the treadmill and outside and see what you prefer
Join a local running club if you want to take it a little more seriously, I have been doing a lot of research on the best clubs so dm me for ideas
Join a social running group if you want to have a bit more fun with it
Run with a mate/partner and put the world to rights... Before finishing with brunch, or a pint*, or both. (*not strictly health advice but you have to love a bit of balance)
Most importantly, don’t set unrealistically high expectations for yourself.. yet!
For those whose excuse is ‘My doctor told me its bad for my knees’ or ‘I don’t have the body for running’... You can rest easily assured that this isn’t the case. There is a sweet spot for everybody, and other variables to consider including Optimal training frequency and intensity, appropriate footwear, strength and conditioning, stretching and mobility. Last year I worked with beginners, regular runners, people with injuries AND myself through marathon training.
So, give me a call or message if you’d like to understand how I can help get you back into running, safely.
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