Anyone Can Run

Since I have been running regularly and increasing distance, ultimately running half-marathons, I’ve heard many comments along the lines of,  “oh, I can’t run” or, “I wish I could do that” and, “oooh, no, I could never do that.”

Well, I firmly believe that just about anyone can run and that it’s just a matter of having a go, and training to the level you want to get to.

Seriously, other than a disability or serious medical condition that makes running dangerous, anyone can run.  Whether or not you want to run, or whether you’d enjoy running is, of course a different matter.  But I haven’t heard many non-runners say, “no, just doesn’t appeal to me” or “no, I tried it and didn’t particularly like it.”  I generally hear the word “can’t.”

Well, you’ll never know for certain if you never give it a go –if you’ve got 2 legs and none of the above issues apply, you can run and could give it a try.  Initially, it might be a walk with a very steady jog (we used to call it “granny-tapping”) between two lamp posts.  If you can do that, you’re running.  It’s a start.  You don’t need to be running marathons day after day to say you’re running!  You’ll have started and from there it will grow.

I remember my first attempt to run round our village.  After a couple of hundred yards I was red, sweating, heart pounding and a horrible blood taste in the back of my throat.  Now, I think nothing of running a half marathon distance (13.106 miles) as a training run and have competed in 4 half marathons this year, beating my time with each successive race.

The first 3 were before my 50^th birthday and the most recent just after.  During my 50^th birthday celebrations, I reflected on the fact that I feel fitter and better at 50 than I ever did in my 30s and this has lead me to rename this little blog to Fran Allison – Fit After Fifty.

Whether you run for fitness, weight loss, the social element, to improve your mood, the sense of achievement, or just run for fun - you can run.