Running, An Introduction
Running seems to be somewhat ubiquitous these days. Yet it is something I’ve never really taken to until recently. Unlike many I don’t have the unfortunate memories of cross-country runs that turned me off it. In fact I have almost no youthful memories of running at all. I suppose I ran around is school at breaks playing football, and whatever gym/games lessons made me do but never really went further than that.
Since then I’ve never really contemplated running as something to do. That said I have, on and off, thought I’d like to be able to run some distances (even starting at some points, but never getting far). I’m thinking of doing this not for “exercise”, but for running itself. One reason is to get out into the countryside a little more, go a little further than a walk allows and enjoy the environment more than road cycling allows. The inspiration for that came when I was in the Lake District, I stumbled on a delightfully illutrated book “Over the Hill at 60” by Barry Holmes. This tells the tale of the author running all the Wainwright fells before his 60th. The idea of being able to explore the hills more quickly, and get out certainly appealed.
That was months ago, but about 8 weeks ago I started “Couch to 5K” (C25K). This seems to now be a fairly universally way to get started running now. It consists of three days a week, starts with a mixture of walking and running and then spends an increasing amount of time running and less walking as you go on. At the start of 8 weeks in, it’s up to 22 minutes running, 12 minutes running, 3 minutes walking then 10 minutes running. I can’t say I’m finding it easy, but I’m capable of doing it (sometimes just) which is more than I thought I would be at the start.
Now I’ve finally got into running I’m wondering why I didn’t start earlier. There’s something cathartic, or meditative about running that has been doing a good job of clearing my head. More so when I run from home than from work probably becuase home means river banks and greenery, and work industrial estates. I’m planning to finish the C25K program, then think about what to do next, I’m certainly going to continue running.
Mostly I’ve been running on pavement, with a bit of rougher track thrown in. I think I’ll try and start going more towards trails and fells, to help with the aim of seeing more countryside and some hills. Other than that there’s various 5K to 10K programs, which might be a sensible next step. I may have to consider stopping running from work, and sticking to the nicer environments but it has been a good way to consistently keep at the C25K program.
So that’s the summary, running for the sake of it rather than for any sort of “exercise” ideal. Starting with C25K and once that’s done I’ll re-assess the next option.