Run every day?

To be honest this is not a question I ever imagined having to contemplate. I’m now drawing close to my second running anniversary; from a single breathless lap of the local park in January 2018 and now about to begin training for my first marathon in Edinburgh in May 2020.

I have clearly worked physically hard to progress to my current position, but also invested heavily in changing many aspects of my life and read widely on a range of subjects from nutrition, to sports psychology and exercise programmes. Whenever I have written on a lifestyle subject I always highlight the importance of investing personally. Meaning, it is critical to your success that you don’t just mimic what someone else has said or done but test it, challenge and adapt for your needs. What is good for me, or worked for me, is just a personal experience and ultimately your success depends on you, your decisions and how your body responds.

Exercising every day may has health benefits. You’ll feel energised, fitter and probably look better too. Studies report that cardiac exercise of several minutes each day at a moderate pace may help reduce your risk of death from heart attacks or stroke for example. But if you’ve read this far then it is assumed you’re not just here for that, you run for much more than this – and probably want to run further and faster than you do today.

If you do currently run, or have even only just begun, it is likely that you may know or understand that as a high impact exercise running can lead to injuries – I can certainly recall the impact of shin splints on my early progress. But injuries if not managed can be significant, maybe even impact on your ability to train at all. It is essential that we account for not just our objectives but properly listen to our bodies, and learn to interpret and differentiate the messages we are being provided in terms of stress – which we need to progress – and pain – which we must respect.

How many days we run each week will be determined by our goals, and how they match with current levels of fitness. When you are first setting out, with the exception of the C25k programmes it is unlikely many people will properly plan or schedule activity until they get into routine of preparing for races, or set themselves a specific goals such as a Half Marathon or Marathon. It was several months before I recognised the benefit of planning my training sessions, including mandatory rests, rather than just running every day when I “could”.

It really is beneficial to do reading, probably as much as running, when you decide you want to progress. We don’t need a science diploma since there is a lot of accessible information and advice available – including in various magazines and podcasts – but do take a variety of perspectives and try what you can before committing. Again, it is ok to change approach if things don’t work out. My only single piece of direction is not to take advice from random people on social media, take professional qualified advice only.

This may appear like a strange thing to say but running isn’t all about running. With the exception of a few physically gifted individuals most of us do require an array of comfort and support in order to progress – and occasionally to recover. There is considerable advice available on the benefit of a “strong core” and whilst there continues to be debate on the wider benefits of stretching, for example, most experts believe there is benefit in a stretch or warm up prior to and possibly following a running event including a race. I have my own routines which I use but I witness so many others when I race or do parkrun, there really is only personal experience which will determine what is best for you. Whether it is contemplating a range of activities, or how you warm up, there are a few considerations, and always be open to new ideas and experiences but always think of your needs and circumstances. To progress you need to commit but this does not exclude changing or adaption whether through innovation or necessity.

If you are at this stage where you’re pushing distance, then there will be runs which longer and both mentally and physically challenging. Your long run will hurt you; you cannot avoid muscle soreness from a successful workout. The important aspect is how you measure it, and how you respond.  You must be able to differentiate between soreness and potential or actual damage, and to respond appropriately. Above all else you do not want to ignore or excuse damage as this will undermine all your plans so be honest with yourself. It’s clear that rest days are an important element of any training programme and like any other aspect you should consider changing and adapting rest periods to help recovery.

No science qualification but my reading and understanding is that it is the micro tears in the muscles recovering which is what builds strength, and this partly explains the “soreness”. I have also recently read that taking pain killers can slow down the healing process and so should be used with caution – and probably never recommended to reduce pain to facilitate further exercise. There are many solutions available to assist with recovery including foam rollers, massage and manipulation, and both hot and cold baths so engage and find what works for you. But there is no avoiding pain if you want to progress, indeed it is one of my measures if I have achieved my training run goal or should be happy with my race performance.

Returning to the “running is not just running” comment must mention the psychology of the challenge our sport presents to us. Most active runners will agree there a huge wellbeing benefits in being able to take alone time down the road; providing opportunity to process and possibly reset our thoughts and emotions. A very personal aspect of the sport but also one which provides significant motivation for many as well as the satisfaction in meeting running goals and objectives. For this reason, it is important to commit, and to not allow or permit circumstances to stop you running. You’ll make your own mind up about social and family priorities, but this is more a point about not waiting for the perfect morning, sunrise or evening breeze to put your shoes on. For most of us we do have to change our habits to match the seasons and accept you will be wet/cold/hot at some point but just dress appropriately and get on with it. If you wait for perfect, then you’ll never set foot outside the door.

Just like a good race training is best improved on by slowly gaining pace and miles. Do not rush, do not set yourself against others, find yourself and push your own goals. Once you have the confidence in your ability with the basics then look to add longer sessions and more training days but remember that “rest” is part of the programme. If like me you have come to running later than accept that progression, and recovery, between runs will take longer! Accept that pain is part of your training routine and coping with the effects of a long run is also part of the programme and will make you stronger. Final point, yes you do have to put your shoes on if it’s raining – and do it with a smile it scares the civilians.