YOUR RUNNING CHECK-UP

GIVE YOUR SELF A QUICK HEALTH AND FITNESS CHECK WITH OUR LIFESTYLE AUDIT

WORDS:CHRISTINA MACDONALD

New year, new you! Or new injury? We don’t want to put a downer on your 2017 goals, but the end of the year is a good time to reflect on how your running went in 2016. Did you manage to nail those personal bests, or run that 10K or half-marathon without any niggles? Or did you find yourself in that vicious circle of upping your mileage and then getting injured or feeling exhausted on race day?

It’s not just how you train that affects your ability to get the most from your running. How you eat, sleep, drink and rest in between each run will all have a significant effect on your running performance. So let’s look at your current lifestyle and see if it gels with your running.

PART 1

YOUR CHECK-UP

We run for lots of reasons – usually for weight loss and ‘me time’, with health reasons often being further down the list. Yet it’s important to look at how we’re treating our bodies, especially if we want to run without injury. It’s time to ask yourself the awkward questions…

HOW DO YOU TYPICALLY FEEL AFTER YOU’VE BEEN FOR A RUN?

a Energised, elated and excited about the next one

b A bit tired but pleased that you got your workout done

c Exhausted and ready to collapse into your bed

HOW WELL DO YOU TYPICALLY SLEEP MOST OF THE TIME?

a Pretty well most nights – no problem dropping off

b Not bad – though it depends on what happened during the day

c Pretty poorly – I struggle to doze off and feel exhausted the next day

BE HONEST! DO YOU NORMALLY DRINK ALCOHOL THE NIGHT BEFORE A RACE OR A LONG TRAINING RUN?