The joy of running

Double page spread in today’s UK Times T2 section about running – with the focus being on the mental benefits and the sheer joy of running. Given that, from an evolutionary point of view, running is probably our most fundamental movement pattern after walking, it only makes sense that running is key to human health.

Peta Bee’s article ‘Why pounding the streets really is good for your health’ gives the scientific background to some of the benefits of running but Caitlin Moran’s article ‘How running can make you happy’ really brings alive her experience of why stepping out the door to run is so much more fun and simple then a trip to the gym.

She says: “I love how sleek and extreme it is — in terms of simplicity and time efficiency, running is the Martini of exercise. If you want to, you can push yourself with it to such an extent that — up hill, in rain, wind peeling your eyeballs — you feel like you’re punching into the face of God.”

Love it!

Interestingly though barefoot running only gets a small mention in the ‘What’s hot?’ column as “this year’s running trend” and isn’t mentioned at all in the main article about running injuries. Also the first item in the ‘Essential Kit’ list is a pair of gel-soled running shoes. It seems that the media is still pitching barefoot running as something new, niche and a bit wacky rather than something suitable for everyone, including beginner runners. Yet it’s likely that it’s the very people who don’t enjoy running who are running in a way that isn’t comfortable for their body and who would most benefit from learning to run barefoot-style. The power of learning “wild running” (taught at Wildfitness but developed over the millennia by nature!) is that you can run and run, avoiding pain and injury and able to just revel in the exhilaration of feeling the wind in your hair!