Finally, You're A Runner: It Doesn't Matter How... Just Get Running!

By Luca Manetti

This book is dedicated to anyone who wishes to get to know the world of running. Beginning with my own personal knowledge, combined with an exhaustive list of information and advice, my aim as the writer is to provide the motivational elements to get started on this fantastic, healthy activity.
Some of the themes covered include why and how to start, defining objectives and reaching them, time management, equipment choices, nutrition, health benefits, motivation, races and mistakes to avoid.
I have written in the first person, my own voice, to make the text light/friendly and direct, like a chat among friends. A sharing of ideas. Running can really change a person’s life, making it more fantastic, dynamic and happy. You need very little. So, what are you waiting for? Get running!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Luca Manetti
• Release date: Jun 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9781071543818

Book preview

AUTHOR

INTRODUCTION

I distinctly recall the day when my wife held my 40th birthday present in her hands. It was a large, anonymous, white envelope. Without the slightest idea what it might contain and with growing curiosity, I opened it and removed its contents. Two plane tickets to New York and the registration confirmation for the upcoming marathon. The plan had been concocted without leaving anything to chance. The present had been given to me at the Christmas before, with eleven months to go. For a moment, I was stunned. Seriously worried about the meaning of the word ‘marathon’. The offer, though, was non-negotiable, much less something I could refuse. I had all the time I needed to train. The die was cast.

At the time, I’d been running regularly for about a year and I’d tentatively taken part in some local races. The longest being a half marathon, gloriously run a couple of months previously in driving rain. But now things had got serious. Never in a month of Sundays had I dreamt of taking on double the distance of the epic undertaking I’d just completed. This was how my adventure into the world of long-distance running began. With an astonished expression, a glazed look and a large while envelope in my hands.

I took it very seriously - a sort of mission. I turned to a professional to get some advice and their final blessing. With their help, I drew up a training programme and followed it religiously. I trained with shrewdness and tenacity. I avidly read everything I could find on the subject of running, training, nutrition and motivation. Finally, eleven months later, we flew to New York in November, and I ran what is considered by many to be the most famous marathon in the world. That was it - I was hooked.

A few years later and after a few thousand kilometres, I realised this was one of my wife’s numerous strokes of genius. And I can never thank her enough. Running has literally changed my life. For the better. In the following pages I want to convey how it feels. I want to convince you to give running the opportunity to become part of your life. Get your trainers on... We’re off!

PEOPLE WHO RUN

You’ve certainly come across someone running down the road. You’re in the car, perhaps on a particularly dreary, cold day or at a ridiculous time, very early in the morning or late at night. Along the road, you see someone focussed on running, lost in their own thoughts. In the pouring rain, midwinter, in the snow. Instinctively, you’ll have thought something like: ‘Look at that crazy person ... out running at this time.’ Or: ‘Don’t you have anything better to do with your free time?’ Tell the truth. It’s happened to us all. But, in making fun of the runner, deep down you felt a certain admiration, bordering on envy. The witticism took the upper hand, and, once out of sight, this fleeting moment was wiped from your memory.

But if it’s alright with you, I’d like to pick this up again. After all, if you’re reading this book perhaps you've changed your mind and think the subject of running merits more in-depth study. Let’s look in more detail at who these strange people are who go pound the roads or paths at absurd times of the day or night, and in weather and temperatures that sensible people, ‘normal’ people, would quietly stay at home in the warm.

It’ll surprise you that these people are not so odd, least of all crazy. They’re not supermen (or superwomen) and they don’t have anything wrong with them. They haven’t got a crew loose. You know, they aren’t doing these strange things because they're training for the Olympics. Except on very rare occasions, they're not professional athletes but enthusiastic amateurs. They aren’t unemployed, bored and super-wealthy, nor are they mentally disturbed. They’re ordinary people who lead ordinary lives. Very often they have tonnes of stuff to do, a family and days filled with commitments. Children to take to school, shopping, work meetings and running. All in all, lots of things to do during the day and magically they manage to fit them all in. Basically, they’re happy, not too stressed out and have a healthy appetite. They’re obviously physically fit, rarely complain and almost always have clear objectives in their minds. Confused? Read on and I’ll explain.

Someone who has always taken part in sport will be more inclined to keep themselves fit. Since their youth, they've been used to following a strict training plan.  Two, three or four times a week. Every week of the year, or thereabouts. With this assumption, it’s fairly easy to continue with regular training into adult life. Although, remember that anyone can become sporty at any time. So, the fact that you may not have been sporty in the past is no excuse for not taking up running.  You’ll have to look for another one.

I often smile and laugh. I admit to being happy, on the whole. Partly due to my personality. And partly because of, or rather, thanks to running. It’s a mood I find myself in most of the time. Of course, I have my problems just like anyone else. Big or small, they might be worries about my family, work, finances or health. The difference is that I have perspective to review and deal with these situations. During or straight after a run is the ideal time to think clearly about things, by simply moving yourself outside of the - often negative - emotional factors which alter your perception. When you're running, your body returns to a more basic state. Physical activity returns it to a dynamically defined cycle that amplifies our most primaeval internal mechanisms. It does this while it inhibits other ‘secondary’ ones, which are often highly conditioned to our hectic daily lives.  Put simply, you see things differently. They become more linear and straight forward. You think about them in a different way. Perhaps you even understand the essence of things better and more quickly. You’re able to make sense of situations that seemed complex, reducing them to their simplest terms. I'm convinced that running makes you happier because it lets you work out problems more objectively, leaving you with the feeling you’ve reached better decisions - better thought through and, all in all, correct.

One of the more obvious physical effects of running is the enjoyable sensation of relaxation you feel just after you get home from a run. It helps you release tension, loosen your muscles and free up your mind. This is related to the release of endorphins - hormones that create a feeling of well-being and calm. It’s a biochemical process with immediate effects. Once you've got into the habit and routine of running, you’ll automatically develop this pleasant addiction. I believe this is one of the primary reasons to take up running as it will be difficult to stop. When we talk about addiction, endorphins are the physical explanation for this phenomenon. Our bodies literally become drugged by these hormones and steadily demand their regular dose.

You’d think that having a toned physique, being fit, rarely or hardly ever being ill, enjoying eating and being hungry, and always being in a good mood, would be the characteristics of a superhero. And impossible for a normal person to reach that state. Wrong! If you know a few runners, you’ll probably notice a few of these characteristics. If you don’t know any, I can tell you that these distinctive traits are common among runners. If you’ll excuse the expression, I believe I can comment that runners are quite ‘cool’. The interesting fact is that they aren’t runners because they're cool. They're cool because they are runners. The difference is significant and the issue interesting. Cool people are normally born - it’s an innate quality that some people have, and others don’t. You just can’t learn it by having lessons. You can’t fake it or be ‘sort of’ cool. Runners, on the other hand, become it. And they can all become cool, without exception. Everyone then has it within their grasp to become a bit more ... cool. So, what are you waiting for? Grab the opportunity with both hands! Get on with it!

You’ll never be too busy to find a few minutes to run. Let’s do the sums: if we take away the hours we should be sleeping (8 hours), working (another 9.5 hours, including commuting), eating (1.5 hours), family time (2 hours), personal hygiene (1 hour), there are still a couple of hours left for pursuing your hobbies and interests. This means you don’t need to become too stressed or have to give up anything. All you need to do is to plan your commitments in an efficient way and not waste time doing pointless stuff. This is exactly the main prerogative of active, dynamic, organised people. They always magically find the time to do everything. They always know what, how and when to do things. And it never seems to be much of an effort.

Facing each day by managing your commitments in an active and proactive way, instead of chasing around from morning to night, radically changes your perception of time, as well as the satisfaction of getting stuff done. How many times have you realised, just as you’re going to sleep, you need to check the next day’s tasks in your diary? I do this systematically and often I find there’s a good slot for an hour’s run. Now don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not saying that everyone has to have a schedule that super busy and a diary that’s jam-packed. I’m just saying that often even the busiest of people are the ones who find the time to do everything, including regular exercise. While some may take the time to do everything nice and calmly, others like to spend time watching TV, browsing social networks or in the pub.

I know a lot of people who, when I ask them, ‘How’s it going?" will begin an agonising list of complaints. They’ll tell you that they’re tired and even a bit fed up, work’s wearing them out, the weather’s terrible this year, the holidays went by in a flash and they didn’t get to rest, they have back problems, always have a cold, suffer from persistent migraines, slept badly the other night and their dream is to leave everything behind and open a beach bar in Thailand. Or, even more depressingly, they’ll tell you that everything’s just as normal, nothing of interest happens, it’s just the same old routine and that life is dull, nothing interesting ever happens.

If we were to really look closely at these people’s lives, we’d probably discover that very