Saturday, July 30, 2011

How To Run Faster At Any Age

Here is a compilation of my ‘methods behind my madness’ in one of life’s most natural activity: running. Jogging and the shuffling of feet count as running – avoid letting anybody tell you otherwise.

1)    Run barefoot at times, especially when you forget your shoes.
2)    A few minutes of running is better than procrastination. Weight-bearing exercises like running and walking help our bodies build stronger bone density.
3)    Add an extra kilometre every week. In 52 weeks, you would have theoretically done a minimum of 52 kilometres in a workout (equivalent to a marathon).
4)    Run with other runners to stay motivated.
5)    Run alone to build focus, awareness of your surroundings, and designing your own runs.
6)    Run for fun, or run faster. Seriousness has no place in the pastime called running.
7)    Race occasionally to test your fitness.
8)    Benchmark yourself against your run group, age-group, race, or internationally.
9)    Enlist a coach, who is either still running, competing or was a competent runner.
10) Learn from others: Seek those who have made the most progress recently and learn from them. We can also learn from those who were injured, and recovered.

You can tweak these strategies, or substitute your own. Everyone is a snowflake. We are all truly unique and unusual. There will be moments where we are surprised, or will surprise ourselves. Go for a run!

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