Guest Post: May you live long and run forever ...by Pat Walsh

 ** May you live long and run forever**

2 Years ago this week we had the first Covid cases in Ireland and the start of a tough time for us all. Just as things are improving on that front we wake this week to the nightmare of war in Eastern Europe. 

I am not a politician, journalist or a knowledgable historian so please save any derogatory or inflammatory comments for another page please.

In all cases “ The first casualty of war is the truth ”. All I will say is God help any poor civilians caught up in all of this. It just seems so unnecessary. I hope all sides can be brought together to reach some resolution. 🙏

What can we do to help ourselves? Simple. Stay running

Few ideas to keep you running.

CARE LESS 😂

Don’t misread or misunderstand this. You shouldn’t be careless at anytime during your running career, but you can care less about pace, race location, weather, gear, and clothing. At the end of the day the important thing is just to keep running.

Think about how long you want to run. Is it just for this week? This month? This year? Or is it for many years to come? 

Once you figure out running is a lifelong journey that gives back what you put in 10-fold, you’ll make better decisions about running…and life.

REST 🛌

One thing typically all athletes, experts, and coaches agree on is getting adequate sleep for optimal performance. As you age, you need more recovery time between hard efforts for your body to properly repair. Some elite athletes are reported to get 10-12 hours of sleep per night and sometimes a nap during the day.

Runners literally pound on their bodies and need to repair the damage to properly rebuild the muscle tissue so it becomes stronger. Adequate sleep not only supplies that time but allows the mind to rest and recover as well. 

HYDRATE 🥛

As we age our level of thirst decreases, which can lead to insufficient fluid intake. Sweat rate also decreases with age, and kidney function is reduced. As a result, you’re more likely to become dehydrated. Athletes should always start taking in adequate fluids in the 24 hours prior to training or racing and continue to hydrate during and after activity.

Consider this fact: if you lose as little as 1 percent of body weight during a run (due to sweat), your performance goes down by 2 percent!

Hope your week is going well. I got my 10 mile last weekend with the gang. #HappyDays 😍

#pwr #KeeponRunning