Ideas from the Nature Travels team to ramp up your running in 2020, perhaps in preparation for one of our running holidays!
Taking up a New Year’s resolution can be a good motivation to get into a new habit – and if you’re like me and you love your running, it shouldn’t be such a difficult resolution to hold at least part of the year!
Here’s a list with some running-related New Year’s resolutions that you might want to consider for 2020!
Resolution #1: Run your first Half Marathon, Marathon or Ultra
Why not let 2020 be the year you break the comfort of your normal distance and book in for a longer distance than you normally do?
If you’re normally a 10K runner, why not book in for a Half Marathon? Or if you’ve already done a Half, maybe this year should be the year you book in for your first Marathon. Or if the Marathon has already been crossed off that bucket list, why not aim for an Ultra or a Sprint Triathlon?
Resolution #2: Join a running group
Another great thing to do this year is to get social with your running and join a local running group or a club!
It’s a great way to develop new friendships with people who share your interest in running.
This can bring a new level and new interest to your running. I’d say the main benefits joining a running group will give you are:
- New friends
- You’ll be more motivated to run
- Variation to your running
- Improve your running
- Support from others
Resolution #3: Do more strength training
One good New Year’s resolution is to increase your strength training. This will not only increase your overall strength but will also improve your running.
An easy way to do this is simply to hold a plank, pre and post run.
This can then be developed into adding different kinds of planks or maybe push-ups.
Another option could be to use one of the free outdoor gyms, making sure you pass one towards the end of one of your easier runs each week.
Another thing you can try is Hard HIIT. It’s short but intensive training and many gyms offer it.
You go in and you know it’s only going to be 20 mins – it’s hard, but anyone can suffer through 20 mins!
Resolution #4: Set a new PB in the New Year!
A New Year’s resolution to set a new PB is a great way to give yourself a goal for your training, whether it’s for 5km, 10km or HM.
Here are some things you might want to consider doing:
- Do speed work at least once a week.
- Eat properly (eat correctly to fuel your body)
- Strength train (see a few tips above)
- Sleep well (sleep helps muscles repair and recover)
- Run the shortest route possible (without cheating that is)
Resolution #5: Hill work
One great thing is to do more hill work. But except just promising to do more hill work, how do you set a measurable goal for your New Year’s resolution?
Here’s one way:
- Find a long hill and run it the same effort as you would normally run at on the flat, even though it might feel very slow.
- Listen to your breathing. Monitor your effort level.
- Now you have your sustainable pace at the moment. Look at your watch now and see what pace this is.
- Now you have something to improve on and to measure against.
- Set your goal – where do you want to be to have a faster sustainable pace uphill? Now set your New Year’s resolution to reach this goal!
Resolution #6: Stretch more
Everyone knows that stretching is something many runners know they maybe should do, but never do.
But instead of seeing stretching as something you need to do before or after your run, see it as something you do before you go into bed – a bit like brushing your teeth. You don’t forget to brush your teeth, do you?
Choose 3-4 stretching exercises that suit your body and that you know would benefit you to do regularly.
Now make a New Year’s resolution to make a new habit of doing these every evening before you go to bed. Then if you happen to miss them one night, it’s not the end of the world, but try to stick to every night so it will become a new habit.
There you are – six things that will start your new running year in 2020 off on the right track!