Running: It's not just for Christmas...

Take a look in any women’s magazine or female targeted newspaper/ internet article at the moment and all you seem to get is advice on ‘How To Fit Into That LBD (little black dress)’, ‘How To Burn Off Those Mince Pies’, 'Planning Your Low Carb Christmas'  or  'Drop A Dress Size For The Party Season’. It all makes for rather depressing and repetitive reading...

Don’t get me wrong, I originally started to run to help me lose weight years ago. There was a lot of weight to lose. But I always told myself that I wanted to do something positive with the weight loss. I don’t believe in diets. They are simply not sustainable long-term. I didn’t want to live my life counting absolutely every crumb that I consumed. Instead, I decided to change my entire lifestyle and running became a major part of my life and who I am. 

I feel the same way about advice given to women in magazines during the summer, advising us how to ‘Look fab in an itsy bitsy bikini’. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to look attractive or feel great, but quick fixes sadden me. It worries me to think of the after effects of such restrictive diets; to think of people punishing themselves, only to momentarily lose weight and then 'fall off the wagon' and pile on even more. Weight loss isn’t just for Christmas... (Or summer). I read a Daily Mail article - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2520030/Tis-season-jogging-Women-run-hours-burn-calories-consumed-Christmas-Day.html - entitled 'Tis the season to get jogging: Women will have to run for five hours to burn off the calories consumed on Christmas Day’ and although slightly intriguing, my main thoughts were ‘For goodness sake, it’s bloody Christmas, live a little!’ 

My other thoughts prompted me to think of how grateful I am that running is what I absolutely love to do all year. I don’t have some dreaded obligation hung around my neck. I would quite willingly go out and run for 5+ hours because I enjoy it. So I say, let’s all enjoy Christmas, eat lots of dins, be merry, make the best of ourselves, enjoy what we love and be happy. 

Sleepy eyed

And to those who don’t have an active hobby now, seek something out that you would love to try this New Year and don’t be intimidated by phrases such as ‘change of lifestyle’ – it could be the best thing that ever happens to you...

Running Under Darkness.

Now, I’m not a morning person by any means. I’m also not the most organised person in the world by any means. But, a strange thing has occurred over the last few weeks and I have found myself making lots of lists and actually (religiously) marking down things and goals in my calendar. This week I have taken it one step further by utilising a little app on my mobile and colour coding lots of tasks (and adding in lots of cute picture icons like snowmen...). 

Another miraculous thing to come out of this is that I have been going running at 6am many mornings. I know you’re all shocked, you should be.  I am. And more alarmingly I have found that I absolutely love it. I love running when it’s dark outside. Its one of the best bits of ultra-running, that night section followed by the glorious sunrise.

I’m no stranger to evening running, but I find that as much as I love running, getting myself through that door and out into the cold evening air later on in the day can be a struggle. So, morning running has been my best form of defence against my reluctance to un-snuggle myself off of the sofa. Fellow runners also seem to be pretty friendly in the morning – not that I normally always encounter grumpy runners – and it’s a nice start to the day to exchange a simple ‘Good morning’ whilst out running. 

This morning's 6am-er was full of interesting bird noises, like all the birdies were talking to each other. One bird sounded like a ringing telephone and another boisterous group of birdies sounded like they were wolf whistling. Lots of smiles were brought to my face. So, my thoughts for today are that early morning running is a brilliant way to go. Try it. I love it and I’m a nocturnal night runner ;-)