A Runners Handbook
E-Book, Englisch, 144 Seiten
ISBN: 978-0-7198-4292-4
Verlag: The Crowood Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Wasserzeichen (»Systemvoraussetzungen)
This thorough handbook gives detailed practical advice to all adult runners. It covers everything you need to embark on a running career, but goes further and explains training needs and regimes to established runners. Written in an accessible easy style, it answers all your questions – before you've thought of them – and encourages everyone to get fit and enjoy your running safely.
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1 GETTING INTO RUNNING There is plenty of evidence about the benefits of exercise and running. Despite this, there are plenty of naysayers who will try to discourage you. I shall discuss some of the problems that can arise from running but compared to the benefits, these are relatively small. The main benefit of running will be general improvement in cardiovascular respiratory fitness. The blood flow to the heart and into the muscles will improve, which will also reduce the risks of arterial blockage. Impact exercise like running has a profoundly beneficial effect on preventing the development of osteoporosis or if osteopenia (thinning of bones before osteoporosis occurs) is present, then running will reverse it. Getting outdoors improves levels of vitamin D, and this contributes to protection of the bones, but also improves immunity and helps with depression. This will reduce the risk of premature fractures in old age. Running has benefits for cognitive function and reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, particularly true for off-road running where a mental focus on balance and neuromuscular co-ordination is important. Running will help in a strategy to reduce weight and lower blood sugar, but only when combined with attention to diet. Runners overall live longer and have reduced risks of strokes, heart attacks and most types of cancer. There is no convincing scientific evidence that running is the primary cause of arthritis, although if the arthritis is present for other reasons it may make it worse. Running has demonstrable mental health benefits, especially for depression. The message is clear: you can achieve significant and personally satisfying goals through running and you will reap long-term health benefits. THE ‘WHY’ Everyone has a reason for starting running. Whatever drives you to think about running will be personal to you. The most common reasons for wanting to take up running tend to be related to concerns about weight; new health issues such as type two diabetes; heart and lung problems; as a response to life stress or as part of a general re-evaluation of life goals. To run successfully, there needs to be considerable motivation maintained over a long period of time. It is useful to have clear goals – targeted weight loss, improvement of physical health, or perhaps most powerfully to raise money for charities, perhaps in memory of a lost one or for a personally meaningful cause. It can be helpful to set a target to aim for, but this needs to be a realistic target, for example completing a 5k parkrun or something more ambitious. You need to ensure that you have plenty of time to do the necessary training to get you to a level where you will be able to achieve your goal in an enjoyable fashion. Age is no bar to taking up running (with appropriate medical cautions), and certainly continuing running past retirement age is both possible and excellent for health. You may not be as fast as the youngsters, but you may well be better over longer distances. Care with warm-up and cool-down regimes is more important as you age, to prevent injury. What tends to work poorly are New Year resolutions with general goals such as to ‘get fit’. In much the same way as gyms make most of their money in the first three months of the year, because of people making New Year’s resolutions which they then don’t keep, runners who start in the depths of winter without clear targets and goals are unlikely to stick at running in the long term. No one can hide the fact that for someone who has no history of running, getting out and starting running is going to be hard and requires meaningful motivation to keep going in the early stages, when it is most difficult. There is a mass of scientific evidence which confirms the benefits of running. Other benefits are that as a hobby it is relatively cheap and easy to do and you can get outside and enjoy nature. It can be done virtually anywhere. It allows you to set challenges for yourself and gives you the satisfaction of achieving things that perhaps you never thought you could do (run a marathon?). You can start at any age. This book is the accumulated wisdom, usually through making mistakes, of 30 years of running. My own start in running was much the same as many other people, so I know how hard it is trying to make the transition from an overweight sedentary adult to a fit and active runner. My own journey began around the time of my 40th birthday, when I realised I had to take serious action then if I wanted to avoid being significantly obese in ten years’ time. I was predominantly sedentary, apart from a little walking. At that stage in my career, workload was manageable. I started running round my village – a fairly flat circuit of about one third of a mile. To begin with I could barely do more than one or two laps. I persevered and gradually the number of laps increased. Our village is built on the side of the Tyne Valley. Once I was able to manage four circuits, I started gradually trying to run up one of the main hills out of the village. This was a very slow process and the hill itself is nearly a mile. It took me three months of daily running trying to push up the hill a little bit further each day before I reached the top. For me, this was a massive achievement. ‘The message is clear: you can achieve significant and personally satisfying goals through running, and you will reap long-term health benefits’ The next stage came when a work colleague suggested I should try the Great North Run, our iconic half marathon. In those days, there was nothing like ballots for places so getting in was quite straightforward. I joined the local running club to train, of which I’ve been a member ever since. I completed the Great North Run in a not very special time and have worked up to marathons and ultras. As age started catching up with me, I made the switch to trail running as it is easier on the joints. My story is not in any way remarkable. It never fails to move me when I read about the people who have gone from being clinically obese to being regular competitive runners, or those who have been able to turn getting fit into raising staggering sums of money for charity. BENEFITS OF RUNNING • Living longer • Reduced risks of heart disease, stroke, diabetes • Reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s or dementia • Reduced risk of some types of cancer • Improved bone density (assuming dietary calcium and vitamin D intake are adequate) • Boosts vitamin D levels in the summer • Improved mental health (reduced stress, improved happiness) TIPS FOR STARTING RUNNING • Identify a strong motivation • Choose an appropriate time/place • Get support from friends and family • Be prepared to take your time • Run/walk is a great way to start • Get simple inexpensive clothing and shoes • Stick at it! WEIGHT LOSS AND RUNNING A word of caution here. Many people start running as part of a weight-loss strategy. However, it is important to recognise that starting any form of consistent exercise programme will increase muscle size: muscle is heavier than fat and while in the early stages there will be loss of fat if food intake is appropriate, there will come a point when muscle bulk increases and the rate of weight loss will slow down. People get very disillusioned at this stage and will sometimes give up. What changes most is body shape. Bad fat (visceral fat within the abdomen) decreases and pot bellies recede. It is important to keep this in mind and not to give up. There are any number of diets which claim to cause rapid weight loss and undoubtedly some of these do, often by reducing calorific intake to extremely low levels and by restricting fluid intake, clearly undesirable for running. If you are starting to run to help with dietary control for weight, it is important to ensure that your diet is properly balanced. If you have any concerns you should consult a trained state-registered dietician. It is important that the dietician fully understands your goals and your exercise plan. Weight loss of 1–2lb per week is likely to lead to a sustainable long-term change in weight (see ‘Nutrition’, Chapter 4). Overall, the science is swinging towards focusing on getting fit rather than weight loss, as this tends to lead to greater long-term health benefits. RUNNING AND WEIGHT LOSS • Running by itself will not necessarily lead to weight loss • Reduce calorie intake and choose healthy foods • Avoid extreme diets when starting to run • Avoid ‘rewarding’ runs with high-calorie snacks • Focus on getting fit – weight loss will follow THE ‘HOW’ If starting with no previous experience of running, turning motivation into action can be extremely hard. It is good to have support and encouragement from friends and family, as this will help through the difficult early stages. Make sure that people know what you’re doing and why. If you are planning to get fit for participation in a charity fundraising event, get people involved early because this will give you additional motivation as you see the list of those who are prepared to donate money for your endeavours. Knowing that people support you will help you get out of the...
