Go the distance
image credit - Pinterest
“If someone says, ‘Hey, I ran 100 miles this week. How far did you run?’ ignore him! What the hell difference does it make? The magic is in the man, not the 100 miles.”
- Bill Bowerman
Bill Bowerman was an American track and field coach. He was also the co-founder of the world’s largest supplier of athletic footwear and apparel, Nike. Alongside co-founder Phil Knight, an empire was born out of selling shoes to running athletes to improve their performance on the track driven by their passion for the sport.
In my opinion, running is viewed very similarly to marmite. Generally, people love it or they hate it. I’m a huge fan of running. I have been running for at least a decade of my life now and I feel it’s the best thing for me to do if I need to reset my brain if my thoughts get loud and I start feeling overwhelmed. The act of running helps me to feel like I’m taking back control if things seem like they are spiralling.
Running is an aerobic exercise; it increases heart rate and breathing rate to speed up blood flow and deliver more oxygen to the body to produce energy aerobically. Exercises such as running contribute to your level of cardiovascular fitness developing the efficiency of your heart, lungs and blood vessels. The easier it is to pump blood around the body, the less taxing it is on your heart to do all the work. Cardiovascular fitness positively impacts your heart health, lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease such as coronary heart disease and risk of stroke.
There are so many other benefits of running as well as keeping you fit and healthy. Firstly it’s free, so it’s accessible to everyone. You don’t need a gym membership to go for a run. If you are a beginner you can build up your pace and distance travelled over several regular occasions. The NHS has developed a programme called Couch to 5k, made up of a series of podcasts to help absolute beginners get into running.
Apps such as this including my personal favourite, Nike Run Club are beneficial as they can support and motivate by counting steps or movements and calories burned if you are focusing on a calorie deficit. They also provide GPS satellite navigation and map-out routes whilst monitoring both overall distance covered and average speed so you can measure your physical progress.
Nike Run Club also offers a selection of guided runs where trained coaches and athletes can talk you through any type of workout you choose, whether that be long or short distances. My favourites are the guided runs featuring Headspace co-founder Andy Puddicombe as the focus of these runs is to engage both your body and mind, be mindful of the act of running and push through any mental barriers you may be faced with.
If you aren’t a fan of running there are other cardio workouts that you may enjoy such as HIIT workouts, circuit training, cycling and even walking as a low-impact exercise. Trial and error is the best way to find out what is right for you and your body.
Achieving any distance at any pace is a success that should be celebrated, as it’s just showing up and persevering with the challenge that’s the most important part of being a runner.