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Showing posts from May, 2023

5 Simple Ways to Make Running Fun

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A lot of people hate running. They see it as a chore, something they "have" to do, or as penance for the ice cream they had the night before. They find the act of running itself a hateful and painful experience and cannot fathom how some people claim to enjoy it. I've been in that position many times. After returning to running after a long break or illness, running can feel clunky and horrible. But once you have a baseline of fitness, running can be a lot of fun! If you observe kids at the park (which is an ill-advised pass time for a childless, mid-twenties bloke like myself), they can have inordinate amounts of fun by literally just running around. No equipment needed! I think kids have got it figured out while us grown ups put all sorts of barriers up that ruin the fun of running. Before we get into it, I do want to acknowledge that there are many different runners with many different goals and that's great! My goal is to get in a bit of exercise and have fun doin

4 Ways GPS Tracking Ruins the Fun of Running

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I've simplified how I run in order to maximise the amount of enjoyment I get out of it. Part of that simplification was ditching my Garmin and deleting Strava and I couldn't be happier with the results. Before I get into the downsides I experienced, as someone who had been running without any gadgets for many years, I think it would be appropriate to explain how I came to track my runs in the first place. Coming into possession of a GPS watch I've been running for most of my life. I was in the school cross country team and would compete to a reasonable standard, training several days a week. Throughout uni and beyond my running was a lot less structured, not training as such, just going out for runs because I enjoyed it. Every now and then I'd be persuaded to pay to go for a run (something which I regularly do for free), and join a fun run, race or other running related event. I'm not some elite runner training for my next big race, just an average bloke who goes ou