I have a guest post for you today written by Oli Harris, I’m sure that you will find it interesting. Oli is the founder of the Sporting Blog, which he describes as a pleasant distraction from his day job in horse racing. When not slaving over a keyboard Oli is a keen tennis player, golfer and gym goer, fighting the ageing process one day at a time.

I had always found running long distances hard, even as a young person playing lots of different sports. I just never had that extra bit in my lungs and felt that my energy levels just dropped away, although my body itself felt like it could go on.

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As a result of this, I concentrated on staying fit in more a sport-specific way. For squash, I would do court sprints and play as many matches as I could, the same for tennis and I learned how to stay fit for cricket by doing short sharp bits of work rather than long runs.

So over the years, long distance running or even jogging never featured in my fitness routine. As I got older I started lifting weights and trying to pack on a bit more size, and to me, when every calorie was precious, long bouts of cardio were off-limits.

Why I needed to run

It wasn’t until my mid-30s that I decided to try and play tennis competitively again. Not professionally of course, but county standard and generally trying to play at the highest level I could. My technique was there, and I added strength in the right places in order to prevent niggling injuries I had picked up in the past. But the issue became my stamina.

The old issue came up again, 25 years after the last time it had become a problem.

Cycling didn’t tax my lungs enough but it did burn out my legs and back. Skipping was great but again, my lower back didn’t appreciate loads of it, and just playing over and over again was not practical in terms of getting into a place where my lungs were working overtime.

So, I decided to try running again… and here is what I found problematic, and how I remedied it where possible.

Shin Splints

It wasn’t long after I started to try and run a bit more that the shin splints started kicking in. It normally started within about 2-3 minutes of running but was very much worse when waking up in the mornings.

If you have ever had this annoying condition, you will know there is no fast cure. It is normally rest to get rid of them, and then finding out what causes them and attempting to address that. Mentally I don’t deal well with being injured, but being injured as a runner is even more mentally challenging.

In my case, I dealt with it in part by going to a running shop, had my gait analysed, and tried the running shoes recommended for my foot size, shape etc. Even on the machine in the shop, I felt about 15 stone lighter and had a real spring through my toes.

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Since wearing them I have not had shin splints at all. All down to the way my instep landed with different shoes I believe.

Energy

As you may know Dear Reader, movement gets harder and less inviting as the years advance. In my case I really noticed a change in my energy levels, often affected by stress, worry, and all the other things that come with greater responsibility, I battled non-stop (and still do) with finding the energy to run.

Somehow sport is different, I can get up for playing a game and find energy in competition or trying a new technique. With running I just couldn’t visualise having enough energy to get enough miles in.

So, I decided the only way was to artificially produce the vision, by spiking my nutrition and convincing my mind I was building up to a run, and fuelling my body to achieve it. A bit of a ritual if you will.

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The ritual involved planning roughly when I would run, and deciding to eat something carb-heavy about 2-3 hours beforehand. I would then try and squeeze in some nap time directly after eating, before rising and drinking something with glucose and a dash of salt in it. Not pleasant but the simple sugars felt like they were starting to kick in.

I then pounded something high in sugars about 10 minutes before running, normally my favourite pre-workout of a can of Coke (I know, I know) but I prefer that to pre-workouts and it is all I need.

This little routine had me amped and certainly tweaking a little from the sugar, but it blasted me into the run, and the slower acting carbs I had eaten earlier felt like they were fuelling me for the long haul.

The road was not my friend

I quickly discovered that my back and hips did not love pounding the pavements. They would both start screaming at me after a certain amount of time on the roads, especially where I live, which is uneven and slightly up and down in places.

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I tried running trails but the wonder shoes I referenced above were not designed to go anywhere wet, muddy, or even slightly uneven.

So, I admit I had to start using the treadmill. This may not sound that exciting, but it was a way of getting in the miles without hurting myself, plus I was in the dry and could watch something on my phone at the same time.

This for me was a game-changer as watching something really helped me pass the time and I made sure I watched things that motivated me to help me go that little bit further. I always need a push, and these videos became a shove, so I solved two problems at once.

Starting to run in middle age was not easy, and it is not perfect or indeed anything like what I thought it would be. It is not the scenic, beautiful open-air experience I imagined but as they say, it is what it is, and at the moment, it works for me.

So, thanks for sharing your running experiences Oli, I could personally relate to a lot of your experiences. If you want to check out Oli’s blog, please head to The Sporting Blog, if fitness and training is your thing, the blog has a whole section dedicated to fitness and training.

**Full disclosure: I didn’t receive any payment for sharing this guest post. All photographs were obtained from Pexels**

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