Positive results of running for wellbeing newsletter

 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.

A positive outcome from COVID is an increase in the number of people who have started running.   People run for different reasons whether it’s to compete, improve their fitness or maintain good mental health.   Behind each person is a journey and a story of how running has had a positive impact on their lives.

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.

Park Run is quick simple and easy to join.   Sign up online and print off your barcode, go to your nearest venue, listen to the new runners briefing and off you go.   At the end you get a token which is scanned with your barcode and you get a text or email with your time on it.

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.

Please be aware that none of the groups are currently running at the moment but they will be back!   Check the websites for when they will all restart and good luck with your journey.

 

 

 

 

Contact list

www.parkrun.org.uk

www.runtogether.co.uk/

www.westsussexfunrunleague.org.uk/

www.englandathletics.org

https://twitter.com/runners_blue

 

Article is now being used in a school in Ireland and in Haywards Heath Harriers newsletter.

The Virtual Run

COVID-19 HAS forced us all to look at how we are living our lives and how it could be done differently.   Some have been really effective and some not so good.   One thing I am going to take away when all of this does come to an end is "simplicity".    We all live complex lives but it doesn't always have to be like that.   When you are forced to simplify things then everything becomes easier.

The vitual run has sprung up everywhere and personally I am not a big fan of it.   However, due to COVID-19, the lockdown and social distancing it has been a way to run events in a simpler and easier way and I am thankful that people have taken the time to plan and execute them to such great effect.

It doesn't replace meeting people at the events, looking and talking to the sponsors, running with groups of likeminded people, the crowds who help motivate you on or crossing that finish line.    But with the times we are living in it does keep you motivated and engaged with the running community who are so isolated at the moment.

I have managed to compete in three virtual runs over lockdown.   There were other ones that I wanted to run but I couldn't work out the cross country routes and I needed some assistance with places that I have never run before.   So I put those to one side and perhaps when lockdown ends I can reconsider them again.

The Surrey and Sussex Healthcare (SASH) was the first one that I entered.   It's run by the people who organise Run Reigate and Run Gatwick aka Run Series.    The aim was simple but very effective you pay to enter and then record your mileage on their website with evidence (screen shot of Strava) to show you did the run.    Everybodies mileage is accummulated and is then turned into cash.   All money goes to SASH which means the NHS.   It was a great idea and I recorded all my training and normal runs adding to the accumulated miles.   The final result was an amazing 122,000 miles run by everybody (the target was 30,000) and £13,224 for the NHS.

The other two were arranged by Haywards Heath Harriers for the senior endurance groups.   Three 5km and 10km runs.   The window of opportunity was opened over three days allowing runners to take part at any time over the days that they wanted to run it.    The route was set up on Strava as segments which recorded and created a leader board for each event.   This was a great idea and a real race allowing people to particiate when they wanted without a lot of runners turning up at the same place and time.   Great work in planning, organising and executing by Haywards Heath Harriers.

Over the last few weeks Haywards Heath Harriers have returned to training.   Due to lockdown it has been by invitation only, ensuring that the numbers are kept manageable and team leaders taking people for specific run training.   Again the planning and organising has been amazing.

I may not be a big fan of virtual runs but they certainly have their place and have kept people motivated and running during this very difficult time.

Safe running.

A tentative return to normality

THE LOCKDOWN has forced everybody to abandon their old routines and start to create new ones.   To begin with I felt out of my depth as I was off work with a high temperature and cough which left me fatigued.   Then I had some leave booked so had that before returning to the work place as a key worker.

Within all of this I started to create new routines but longed to return to what I knew.   It wasn't until I went back to work and slipped into a familiar routine that I started to feel better about things.   In between we managed to get a lot done.

• Decorated the bedroom
• Cleared the loft creating a pile for charity
• Cleared the front and back gardens
• Created a pile of rubbish for the dump
  

We even managed to deal with an emergency when the water tank in the loft started to leak.   This was the bank holiday weekend in the middle of lockdown!   And led to 10 days of showering at work and having to fill the cisterns of the toilets up with a bucket.

The last couple of weeks has seen a slight return to normality with Haywards Heath Harriers starting their training schedule.   But with so many restrictions still in place it can't be the same as it was before, so what is the new normal?

With a large athletics club you can't have everybody just turn up which means it has to be done by invitation only.   Ensuring that the numbers are kept to a manageable level maintaining the current restrictions.   This week I got my invitation and it felt like I had found Willie Wonkas golden ticket.   It had perfect alignment with my working week and gave me something to look forward to, that oasis of normality starting to return.

The runners are split into groups and each group has it's own activities.   This means that they are getting as many runners as possible to attend the sessions, but limiting them in each group ensuring distancing is maintained and safety is the priority.

The group that I was in went for a steady long run around Cuckfield, down towards Haywards Heath and looping back through some of the amazing footpaths that Cuckfield has to offer.   It was amazing after so long just to go for a run with other people, enjoy the countryside and have a chat about running in lockdown.

There are a lot of people that you miss but don't realise until you see them again.   The interaction you have had with them is either on Strava or a virtual run.   That one and a half hours of training has made a difference in terms of having social interatction with the people you have missed.

There are three main elements to good mental health ...

• Sleep
• Eating
• Moving

As long as you can maintain those then you are maintaining a good mental health.   But social integration also has go play a major part of it as well.   Lockdown has not helped in this area but there have been ways around it with telephone, Skype/Zoom and emails.   But the physical act of seeing someone and having that face to face interation has been so missed.

I have to thank Haywards Heath Harriers committee, coaches and run leaders for the work they have done through lockdown.   Keeping eveybody together as much as possible and sorting out the return to training schedule.   It wasn't an easy or quick task but they have all done an amazing job.

Running with my past behind me

I WAS born in Redhill, Surrey where I was brought up close to my maternal grandparents who lived in Earlswood.   At the age of 18 I had had enough of the place and moved to Brighton but slowly began to drift back.   I got all the way to Haywards Heath in West Sussex and settled down.

Redhill is a big part of me.  As I child I was always on the commons from dawn to dusk coming home covered in dirt and filth.   I knew all of the footpaths and hidey holes around the area and loved it.   A chance to have a run around the area is a must as it brings back so many memories.   It's difficult to think of your pace because I have to stop for a moment and just look; it was my home and a big influence on my life.

Going to visit my Dad I knew he would be shopping so I dumped my car on his drive and set off for a run down the road and into the town centre.   When I was little Brighton Road was the main road through Redhill and if you drove at 40 miles an hour and blink, you have missed it.   Now it has a small shopping centre and the whole of the centre itself is pedestrianised, they even have a weekly market.   It's a totally different place to the one I left so many years ago.

The cinema, opposite the railway station, shut down many years ago.   When I was young both my Mum and her best friend worked there and would sneak me in to see films.   Her friend's eyesight was never very good and as I turned up to see a film once she said, "You again?   I have already let you in three times!"   So three kids had an unexpected treat and got in for nothing due to a case of mistaken identity!

Opposite used to be the offices of the Surrey Mirror which stood proud in the middle of three car parks.   When I left school I did a four year apprenticeship in printing there having to go to college first at Reigate Technical College before it shut down and then at Brighton Polytechnic.

Turning left up Station Road I headed towards Raffles Bridge.   Home of the Red Lion pub where you can get your fix of live music. Many a time I have seen "The Muttz Nutz" there.   There is also a great fish and chip shop.   From there I headed for Shaws Corner where the war memorial is situated opposite The Hatch pub.   As I travel around I am amazed at the amount of pubs that have closed down, but not due to Covid-19 as they were already closed before it took off.   All those places from a misspent youth, with so many memories, all gone.   After a good night out, with plenty of beer, I could do a pretty mean Kate Bush impersonation on the way home!

Down into Reigate, an old Market Town and home of the cinema that I frequented when Redhill was shut down.   I saw classics such as Star Wars when it first came out.   The first film I ever saw here was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  I was small at the time and my mum took me to see it.   Before the film started a man appeared out of the floor playing the keyboard; a trend that stopped a few years later but to a small boy it was magical.

Cutting round to The Priory where I did a lap of the park and lake taking one of the footpaths which was shady and cooler.   The Priory was redeveloped a few years ago with footpaths put in place around the lake and trees repositioned with money from The National Lottery.   It is the start and finish point for Run Series event RunReigate which I try to do every year and Reigate Parkrun which I have done a couple of times.

I headed out of the park and right towards Meadvale and The Angel pub.   Another one that has shut down but they are doing a lot of work on it at the moment.   It looks like it will have a new lease of life as flats.   At the time the father of my friend from next door, who had a strange addiction to "sav and chips", was the landlord of the pub.

Turning left I headed for Earlswood where my maternal grandmother used to live.   Taking the footpath to the rear of the village school, where my grandmother was one of the school dinner ladies, I headed for "top common".   This was one of the places that I once loved the most.   Running around, making camps in all the thick bracken and kicking a ball around.   We used to get as much money as we could and buy bottles of cream soda.

Opposite the turning behind the school is the site where Redhill General Hospital used to be.   This is where I was born a long time ago which made me a Redhillian.   The amount of times I have been there for broken bones and stitches - once being knocked over by a car on a crossing opposite the old cinema aged nine.   The site is now a housing development with a new hospital having been built between Earlswood and Salfords.

Looking over the view you can see aircraft taking off and landing at Gatwick and St. Johns church where my parents were married and where I was christened.   You can just make out "The Ring" where the local cricket club play.   There are so many memories that I stopped and smiled.   A few years ago I found a letter written by my grandfather to my grandmother and mother when she was little.   She had been evacuated during the war to Warminster, he talks about barrage balloons being put up on the common which is amazing to think of.   One evening my grandfather went out to the toilet (they were outside then) and he got blown through his toilet door by a doodle bug that came down on Earlswood Common.   He was shaken but uninjured.

Running down from the top and middle common I took the main road through (that separated the middle and bottom common) and went right down Mill Hill.   This is a steep hill with the main Brighton Road at the bottom of it where my Mum scared the life out of us when she was learning to drive.   We were little at the time and cowered on the floor thinking we were all going to die, we didn't have seat belts in those days!   I ran down the hill going past the bottom common and The Garibaldi pub.

The Garibaldi closed down some time ago and was due to be redeveloped.   But a group of locals got together and managed to get it designated as a community public house.   The redevelopment didn't happen and it's now run by the community for the community which is a great thing.   From here I am very close to my Dad's house.

Garmin is great training for your next event, but every now and then you just need to take some time out and look around you.   Just do a run for yourself and enjoy it for what it is.   Don't worry the world will not end and you may remember why you run in the first place and rediscover yourself in the process.   Just do it and enjoy it.

Why am I struggling?

JUST BEFORE Lockdown started I went down with a high temperature which put me into self isolation for 14 days.   This led into booked leave and I went back to work with a cough which led to another 7 days of isolation!

As I went back to work (for the first time) I suffered an overwhelming feeling of fatique I had not been running for quite a while but eventually I started again.   Although very tenterativly and slow; somedays I stood there on the start line and thought, "I don't think I have the energy to complete this".

Even though I was doing some harsh shifts I was getting out running on a regular basis for training.   I had entered two events to keep my motivation up.   Surrey and Sussex Healthcare (SASH) though Run Series raising money for the NHS and Haywards Heath Harriers 5km and 10km runs.   All being virtual runs.

I had started to look at cross country routes around Lindfield, Haywards Heath and Cuckfield trying to link them all together with the aim of creating a really good half marathon route around my area using road, foot paths and cross country.

But underneath that I was struggling and found hills that wouldn't normally cause a problem were now a struggle; what had gone wrong?    Could it

.

be the result of the illness or the shifts I was working?   I had to stop and think about life before lockdown.   Outside of running I was going to the gym, doing a little swimming and taking part in Hybrid Boxing.   When lockdown occured I lost everything but continued with the running.

And there was the answer.   I had stopped the strength and conditioning exercises and hadn't realised it.   The gym gave me weights and core exercises but Hybrid

Boxing brought everything together into one amazing conditioning session that really helped support my running.   The muscles I really needed to push me up hills from core, glutes, quads down to calfs were not being exercised which was impacting on my running especially on hills.

Clearly some action was required so I got all of the weights I have at home and a scaffolding pole (I got off my dad) and set up my garden gym.   The aim was do a cross between Dame Kelly Holmes core workout, gym and hybrid boxing.   A few days later I was due to go for a run but stuck in the middle of four early shifts so I switched it for a second garden gym session.

Two days later I moved to my last two shifts for the week and I was ready for a test.   I did a clean tempo run round Clair Park and sailed up the hill that I was struggling with.

Never underestimate the positive impact of a strength and  conditioning session can have on your running.   Enabling you to take on the more difficult parts of your course and feeling good at the end of it.