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WILLSTROP: I really wasn't born to run
Running is perhaps the simplest and most natural form of activity, and the most painful.
Personally, I don't run that often and there are valid reasons why.
Running is very different to playing squash; squash takes in short explosive bursts with lots of lunging and twisting, while running involves a longer, drawn out stride, stressing a whole different set of muscles.
So nowadays, in these times of increasingly scientific methods of training, it wouldn't be too smart to go running all the time.
The general rule is to train the body in the way you want it to perform.
One thing running will always do though, is improve general cardiovascular fitness and this must be helpful, to some extent, for any person wanting to improve at their sport.
Running takes a lot out of the body – it definitely takes a lot out of mine and I was hardly built to be the next Sebastian Coe – there's no doubt that big, thick-set lads are never going to set the world alight at distance running.
Many runners I know feel that there is nothing like running – that it can invigorate like nothing else, especially if it is done in the right place – and the subject of running came to mind as I have been in Colorado for the annual pre-season altitude training camp.
If anywhere lends itself to running then this is it, and I am glad my five runs a year will be done here, among the green mountains, fresh air and the trickling streams and lakes that surround us.
We have been running on trails at the camp, not on the flat, and definitely not on roads. By playing squash there is already enough impact going through the body without adding more.
The trails are are more undulating and soft, and cause the runner to stay concentrated and balanced when trying to dodge and weave any uneven surfaces.
Trail runners need to be careful they don't roll ankles over rocks but apart from this slight risk it is undoubtedly a more interesting way of running.
And there is the added bonus of scores of hikers screaming, 'hey, nice going man, let's go!' as only Americans can, in an effort to encourage.
With the altitude up here the runs are tough, and my hat goes off to the great distance runners of the past whose dedication and hard work is second to no other athlete.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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