‘We all handle stress, worries, and tiredness differently, don’t we?

Blog by Kevin Sawers

My usual reaction is to withdraw from social interaction and spend too much time playing computer games or idly browsing the internet. But running regularly helps me stay away from this unhelpful habit – it gives me energy and positive feelings, which help me make better choices about how to deal with difficulties and with just being busy.

Entering a few races per year gives me targets to aim at, and I find that really motivating.

But excuses and laziness can creep in when I don’t have a race coming up soon. So I’ve just set myself a new target of two runs every week; a fast 5 kilometres or so during the week and a longer run (8-12 km, around 6 miles) at the weekend. It’s also fun to set long-term goals – a few weeks ago I ran a marathon (details here) and my new target is to go below 20 minutes for the 5km distance.

Parkrun

Talking of 5km, if you want to get into running then take a look at the NHS’s Couch to 5k programme and (when it’s allowed to restart) the Parkrun movement. Parkruns take place at 9am every Saturday morning all over the country so there’s bound to be one near you!’