Running at its most basic is a fundamental skill we all develop as kids and generally maintain through most of our life span, if we want to. It has long been seen as an incredibly effective means of exercise for the masses, or a vital tool for many to complete their hobbies. It’s so effective, that entire industries have been built around helping us run better. We’ve got billion dollar sporting goods stored pumping out runners that are regularly refined (or perhaps just redecorated) in order to provide a more comfortable and sustainable run. And that’s just the shoes - let’s not forget about the clothing that helps hold everything in place, or the technology being developed to help provide more details analysis of your specific running regime.

Running was not always a thing for me. I was a pretty chunky child, and absolutely hated running! I would be playing rugby every week, but would get so upset at the coaches during the warm up as I couldn't understand why we had to run before the game started, and then run during it as well! Of course, that was because I was so unfit that even the warm up wiped me out, and eventually when I hit high school and got more serious about rugby, I moved past this (to my coaches' delight!). When I hit university, two shoulder reconstructions forced my early retirement out of rugby and steered me into doing a couple half-Ironman triathlons. Here I found that running actually went from being bearable, to quite enjoyable. So let me start to share some secrets on how I moved from a non-runner, to an avid promoter of recreational running.