In my world, you don't need balls, pucks or sticks to have fun. You don't have to throw anything into a net, into a goal or into a basket to get your hands up in the air. You don't have to wait for a teammate or a friend to flourish and you don't have to reserve the tennis court, swimming lane or golf court to emancipate yourself.
That's how it goes in running, we just have to get out of the house with our running shoes and suddenly, we can have fun playing outside.
Almost 10 years ago, I put on running shoes for the first time. It lasted about twenty minutes and I had no idea which way to go ... What was the right technique, the right pace, the right number of times, the right shoes and should I alternate walking and running? I wasn't even at the stage of asking myself those questions. I was new and ignorant, but curious to run..
If I could go back, what advice would I have for her?
- Hey the 24-year-old Dominic who wants to discover this new way of life ...
I would start with walking and running. 1 minute of walking for 1 or 2 minutes of running. And instead of getting carried away by wanting to run every day, wait as often as possible 48 hours before setting off again to put on your espadrilles. That would be wiser and anyway, what good is the rush to improve if you like the process.
Don't ask left and right for advice, because you will end up getting lost among these hundreds of different opinions. Find yourself a coach and trust him. Have fun running as slowly as possible. Take very small steps at a rapid pace of around 180 steps per minute because it has less impact on the body. Go for a run in the parks to avoid the traffic lights and to admire the scenery.
Allow yourself to stop drinking water here and there and allow yourself to walk as needed to better enjoy the moment. Let others go beyond you and take advantage of this moment to smile, live and improve. For the technique, it's simple ... The back straight and tilted forward, the hands relaxed and at the height of the hips, the gaze far forward and slightly down, avoid skipping too much vertically and try to use as little energy as possible to move forward. For the rest, trust yourself ...
The body is an intelligent machine that adapts easily. Forget the miracle recipes, the thousands of interlocking tips, the hundreds of contradictory articles and the excel files more complicated than a periodic table. Running is pure and simple sport, keep it as crystal clear as possible.
To walk is to move and to move is to run. Running is health and health is life ... Go play outside Dom!
Text by Dominic Royer (trainer of the Endurance racing club)
