WHEN THE government put the country into lockdown life changed for all of us. Old routines ceased and we had to start making new positive ones. Not just in terms of how we are living temporarily but how we want life to be after the pandemic.
It isn’t all about running. It’s finding an exercise that you enjoy doing and will return to giving consistency. Running isn’t for everybody but for those who enjoy it there are huge advantages to opening a doorway to fresh air, forgotten footpaths and the local Sussex countryside on your doorstep.
Four years ago, I suffered from work related stress and didn’t know how to deal with it. I knew that exercise was good for stress so I joined the Dolphin Leisure Centre Gym. This was my first steps towards fitness and good mental health.
Starting with running machines I moved to outdoor running by downloading the C25K app. (Couch to 5km). There are many of these available, including an NHS one, which all have the same aim of getting you off the sofa and outside running in the fresh air. The app. works in digestible chunks, slowly building up your endurance.
Later I discovered “Run Together” groups. They are affiliated to England Athletics and train/coach/support runners to learn and develop to their own potential. As a new runner you can take a beginners course to 5km or, if you are more experienced develop to your own potential. They are held regularly and cost about £2 per run. You can search online to find the nearest one to you and join in.
It was whilst doing this that I was introduced to Park Run. A timed 5km event held at 09:00 every Saturday in parks all over Sussex. Park Run isn’t a race, it’s about the community from the runners to the volunteers who marshal it. You can walk, walk/run or run the distance, it doesn’t matter and there is no judgement attached to it. Park run was founded by Paul Sinton-Hewitt on 2 October 2004 at Bushy Park in London, after he put out an advert asking people who were suffering with poor mental health to run with him. It is now an international event recently adding new countries such as Northern Ireland and Japan.
There were so many health benefits for me just running 5km. It’s a wonderful workout, burning 700 calories an hour, I started to lose weight, lowered my resting heart rate and improved my aerobic capacity, lowered my blood pressure and relieved my feelings of stress and anxiety.
I started to look at local village days in my area and found they ran events from 5 miles to 10km. The favourites for me were Lindfield and Ardingly, whose fully marshalled runs through the countryside are amazing. Making a shift from 5km into 10km reinforced the benefits and started to impact other areas that are really important for my good mental health. Particularly with my self-esteem, sleep, energy levels, resilience and it also has a positive impact on depression releasing feelgood hormones into your system such as Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin and Endorphins (D.O.S.E).
I found the running community really supportive and finally went to Haywards Heath Harriers and after a trial period joined and registered as an athlete with England Athletics. This opened up so many opportunities being able to run any event as a member and I discovered the West Sussex Fun Run League (it also covers East Sussex). Eighteen running clubs hold and marshal one run per year, which are all very different ranging from cross country underneath the Sussex Downs to a 5-mile beach run at Littlehampton. You can enter these as a non-affiliated runner anytime at a cost of £3. Once you turn up it’s your run, do it your way and ensure it has the “fun” element.
If you want to find more in terms of
support networks, motivation and information there is a Sussex and Surrey
running community on Face Book called “Sussex Plodders” or if you are into
Twitter there is also “Blue Light Runners” which is a national group. Blue Light Runners did meet up at the
Cardiff University Half Marathon.
I never started running to lose weight, but I have now lost 3 stone, my stress and anxiety is under control without the use of medication and I had covered the five pillars of good mental health. I was exercising on a regular basis, I had looked at my diet and improved it, my sleep was much better, I had my self-esteem and was feeling much better and I was giving something back. Being involved in the running community improved my support network which works in more than one direction.
Mindfulness has played an important part of my running journey. Endurance running (anything over 2 miles) tends to focus your mind on the moment, looking at the here and now. Whilst your mind is pre-occupied with the state your body is in it breaks the bigger problems down and allows to you work through them in a logical way, with all of the D.O.S.E chemicals being released into your body you can maintain the good mental health to come up with solutions.
Two years ago, I became a mental health champion for England Athletics. As part of that I started to organise runs under their #runandtalk campaign with Mind the mental health charity encouraging people to run a short distance have a coffee and a chat about good mental health and running.
This year with lockdown I qualified with England Athletics as a Leader in Run Fitness which allows me to organise, risk assess and take groups out running with the ability to coach them to their own potential.
If you are interested in running then think about your own health and seek the advice of your GP first. Start slowly and allow your body to build up your endurance in terms of getting your muscles working and increasing your aerobic capacity. I hope I have given you some ideas on what is out there and you can check out the following links for more information. If you want some advice then please let me know.
Contact list
www.runtogether.co.uk/
www.westsussexfunrunleague.org.uk/
https://twitter.com/runners_blue
Article is now being used in a school in Ireland and in Haywards Heath Harriers newsletter.
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