Sunday, February 8, 2009

On the long run

This morning I went for a 2.5 hr training run, initially I had planned to run with my regular running buddy but he was injured so I had to enlist another running buddy. My new running buddy had been sick all week and unfortunately he couldn't maintain my pace and I had to leave him behind. This left me with about 2 hours to run with no one to chat with and no music to listen to (I don't wear my MP3 player when I am running with friends). So lots of thinking time and one question that I pondered which is often asked of me is 'why do I run?' One big reason is for my health, I have a strong family history of diabetes and also osteoporosis and I want to do what I can to reduce the chance of either happening to me. One of the best ways to avoid diabetes is maintaining a healthy weight and regular exercise. The great thing about regular exercise is that it helps in weight maintenance but also of importance is that regular moderate/intense activity also helps maintain good cardiovascular health, provides weight bearing exercise to help build bone mass and has also been shown to play a role in good mental health - reducing stress. I find that running is the most time efficient exercise and although I can't actually say I always enjoy running, I can say with confidence that I enjoy finishing a run and I always feel better emotionally after a run - so thats one of the reasons I run!

Training run: Time 2h33min, Distance 25.32km, Location Middle Brighton Baths to Beaumaris and back, Temp 22C.
Gmap of run course: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2546939

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