C25K week 5 round up

Running is hard

I know, right? You probably don't need me to tell you that. I imagine that the increase in minutes of running over the last few weeks has brought that crashing home.

Yes running is hard, but it wouldn't be worth doing if it was easy. Sitting on the sofa watching TV is easy, lying in bed for an extra hour on a Saturday morning is easy, getting in the car to go to the supermarket is easy. But these things all lack something that running brings. A sense of achievement, an increased level of fitness and best of all, a rush of endorphins!

OK so you might not be quite at the 'rush' stage yet, but I'll bet you are feeling an lift in mood after a run. That's because, for all the benefits of running there are for your body, the benefits for your mind are tenfold.

Running (physical activity), is increasingly being 'prescribed' for improving mental well-being or even depression, and for good reason. All those lovely chemicals that are released when you run. The release in tension, or sometimes simply having a bit of time to yourself. These things are as important as lowering your blood pressure or dropping a few pounds off your waistline, and are not to be underestimated.

So welcome to the club of doing something that is hard but feeling good about it. Welcome to being a runner!

If the mental health benefits are of particular interest to you, here are a few links that you might find useful:
http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/help-information/mental-health-a-z/E/exercise-mental-health/

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/apr/30/running-shows-mind-whos-boss

http://www.thesportinmind.com/articles/the-benefits-of-running-and-exercise-on-mental-health/

Progression

I do hope you are continuing to enjoy our course. You are certainly progressing brilliantly.

Some of you were able to complete your first parkrun last week and others not but that's fine. It will come. The point is that you all ran more than ever before!

Caroline will be at the helm for the next session as I'm off to the inaugural Didcot parkrun to see if I can snag myself a PB!

Session 5

What we did:

• 5 minute brisk walking with swinging arms
• (run 5 minutes + walk 3 minutes) x 2 + run 7 minutes (23 minutes)

Session 6

Next session we will be doing:

• 5 minute brisk walking with swinging arms
• (run 7 minutes + walk 3 minutes) x 2 + run 5 minutes (25 minutes)

Homework

Don't forget to get a few sessions in during the week. Think of it as an opportunity to get out of the house and away from the kids/parents!

Register

We'll meet again at 8:40 on Saturday. Don't forget to check in with one of us so we can keep a record of who is there for each session.