I have a lot of silly ideas. Some of them better than others. Some last minutes, some days, some even months. But I’ll always give them a try and you never know what the result might be.
My latest idea is inspired by those on their own run streaks. I know Jack Matthews has surpassed 200 days of running 5k a day. Baggie Runner who we all love has had great success from his own streaks. Then there is Paul Commons who I met recently at Ashford parkrun, he’s ran 10k or more, everyday for over 5 years. Wow!
As a running coach who harps on about the importance of recovery and rest days, that journey isn’t one I want to pursue, but perhaps more apt would be sharing a new running tip every single day.
I can’t promise I’ll be able to write a blog for each tip, with most of my pearls of wisdom to be shared across the multitude of social media platforms. But hopefully all the little nuggets I’ve learned on my own journey can help you enjoy and improve your own running.
I’ll start with a simple piece of advice and that’s to get yourself out on the trails from time to time. I’m not suggesting the majority of your runs should be done on trails, far from it, especially with the unpredictable nature of the English weather.
In fact only last month, numpty here rocked up at the Bewl 15 trail race in road shoes when the 60% of the route was a mudfest. I still had fun though.
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I should add I’ve since purchased a pair of Brooks Cascadia 17 to add to my shoe rotation to avoid a repeat of that calamity.
I’ll be honest my early experiences of trail running were fairly negative. The mud was the main deterrent, but often the stop start nature of running on the trails left me frustrated. You’ll have to negotiate stiles, gates, bridges, stinging nettles, low branches and often overgrown paths.
It’s important to embrace the fact you’ll be covering a lot less ground as a result and you’re not going to impress any of your friends on Strava with how fast you run 10k. Trust me, it will be slow. But that’s ideal for your easy runs right? Ignore the watch, keep the effort level easy.
There are many benefits to running on the trails rather than the road. The softer impact takes away some of the stress and strains on your joints.
The lateral movement that is involved in avoiding obstacles will help burn more calories, up to 10% according to Mr.Google. You can build up strength in your ankles as you land on the uneven terrain.
Running in nature can help reduce stress and make you happier. There will also be far less pollution on the trails than running in busy urban areas.
Mindfulness is also a key part of trail running. You need to be more aware of your surroundings and where you are placing your feet. One poorly executed step and you could end up on your backside as I’ve experienced a few times.
Give it a go, especially at this time of year. You might just enjoy it.
Trails are the best!