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Butcher's Dog! Regular
outdoor fitness tips from the canny canine on creatine. Cold
wet nose and glossy coat guaranteed.
Run Like The Wind!
Running's a brilliantly transferrable
exercise for outdoors fitness, by which I mean, in my doggy
way, that being fit to run will also be a good way of
maintaining and building fitness for the hills and
mountains. It's weight bearing, so you use your legs and
other core muscles, a hard cardio-vascular work out - and
don't let anyone tell you that stomping uphill with a heavy
pack is easy.
The one thing running won't prepare you
for directly is carrying a rucksac - and running with a pack
is a bad idea, so don't try it kids - but the body actually
adapts to the extra weight within days and you'll have the
basic fitness already.
But before you jump up and start pounding
the pavements, here's a few quick tips to help you avoid
injury.
Beware 'The Experts' Never listen
to international athletes, they've long ago forgotten what
it's like to be a beginner and instead blather endlessly
about 'lactate threshholds', 'VO2 Max' etc. Running
magazines similarly are obsessed with 10K personal bests and
running the London Marathon.
Get Your Shoes Right Good running
shoes, bought to suit your needs and fitted by a specialist
shop will help to avoid impact and other injuries - there's
a huge choice, but if you over- or under-pronate, you may
need a specialist shoe.
And Change Them Regularly the EVA
cushioning material that makes news shoes bouncy and springy
wears out. Once the cushioning's reduced, more impact gets
through and the risk of injury rises. The answer is to bite
the bullet and replace once they start thudding. The
mid-sole will actually start to wrinkle so you can see it
too.
Run On Soft Surfaces If Possible
Try to stick to grass and trails rather than pavements.
The reduced impacts are easier on the legs, but the uneven
surfaces are also closer to what you'll encounter in the
hills and will help to build up connective tissue strength
and keep your joints stable. It will also help develop
balance on poor terrain. When you buy your shoes, make sure
the sole grip is up to it.
Start Easy I'm not going to give
you a programme, but start gently and build up. Begin with
say 20 minutes of gentle jogging with a rest day between the
sessions then gradually build up to longer runs. Reserve one
day as a 'long run' day and gradually increase this, while
still going at a gentle pace. One guide is that you should
begin by running at a pace when you can talk - yes, even to
yourself - without gasping and wheezing... After a month or
so, if you're reasonably fit to start,yu could be doing a
long run of, say, 60 minutes, at the weekend, plus a couple
of 30-minute outings during the week.
Don't Try To Run Through Injury if
your body hurts, it's because there's something wrong. Have
a day or two off and see if things improve. Don't try to run
through it, you'll only end up making the injury worse.
Building up mileage gradually will help to avoid injuriesm
sudden increases can cause stress fractures.
Stretch Before And After
stretching will also help avoid injury and reduce
stiffness and muscle soreness the day after a run. Don't
bounce, just ease into the stretch and hold for around 20
seconds. You shouldn't stetch so far that you feel
pain...
Run Hills Once you're reasonably
fit, try to run hills regularly. You'll be using the same
basic muscle groups and descents, in particular, will be
brilliant for building strength in the quads for going
downhill, something that's almost impossible in the gym.
There are plenty of decent running web
sites that will fill in some of the gaps, but, as they say,
don't try to run before you can walk. Eh? But you know what
I mean.
Happy running
Woof!
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