Tis The Season To Run

Image courtesy of The National showing the Santa Claus Run in Michendorf, Germany

Its Christmas time and there’s a lot to think about when we get to this time of year. With all that’s usually going on, sometimes it’s our running that needs to take a back seat but it doesn’t have to always be the case. If you think ahead and plan things out you could probably still get your training done, with a minimal disruption to your family time while still being able to get your last minute Christmas shopping done.

I know a lot of people want to put family first, but going for a run doesn’t need to be a selfish endeavour. During such a stressful time of the year, making sure you are taking yourself could ensure you are bringing your family closer together if you are mindful of keeping everything in order as you go. Making sure you are still running over the holiday period will help you:

• Relieve stress and make sure your head is clear and ready for anything the season throws at it.
• Will help you burn off extra calories that you may have when over indulging.
• It can also you to start the new year ahead and allow you to not feel bad about the extra turkey you ate.
• If you know you are going for a run the next day, it may actually stop you from over indulging in the first place.

If you let the stress of the holiday season take over, you could almost loose a month of run training. How do you think you are going to feel starting the new year after a month like that. So here are some ideas to help you get through the coming weeks without any major breaks in your run training.

1. Get Your Run Out Of The Way Early

Even if you’re not a morning person, it may be a lot easier when you have a busy day to get your run out of the way as early as possible. For people in the Southern Hemisphere this could also work well if the weather is heating up and for our friends in the Northern Hemisphere, you may need to opt for a treadmill at the gym.

2. Get Your Friends And Family Involved

As long as you’re not forcing people to get out and run with you, it may be a good way to encourage friends and family to come along for a run. You could also have your kids riding their bikes along side as you do your training run. If you’re struggling to meet up with your running friends before Christmas, you can always schedule a run together as other runners will always make time for a run.

3. Enter A Christmas Run

Christmas Runs are getting popular and are usually a fun tradition you can start with you family. A lot of races also encourage you to dress up for the occasion, hopefully encouraging a lot more of your friends and family to join in with the Christmas running fun.

4. Schedule Chores While Running

Even though there are a lot of things you need to get done, you can always use your run to get these things done. For example, if you need to get to the shops to do some last minute Christmas shopping, if you don’t need to carry anything too big, you could use a back pack and run to the shops. Who knows you might actually save some time driving in traffic or looking for a car park.

5. Schedule Your Runs In Your Calendar

You’re probably entering all your Christmas parties and events into your diary or calendar. If you have these available to your friends and family, it will allow them to see what you have on and they can schedule around your training and running.

6. Start Up A Christmas Running Streak

If you’re the type of person who gets a lot of motivation from a running streak, well why not start a Christmas running streak. We could call it the “12 Running Days of Christmas” or even though its a little late, “Run Every Day In December”.

It always takes a little planning and forward thought but Christmas time doesn’t need to mean no training for a couple of weeks. You still have a productive and enjoyable time while keeping your training on track.

About the Author
Hey I'm Vince, an Aussie living in New Zealand, trying my best to make the most of the time I have. I work as a Software Engineer but love to run and all aspects of it, including geeking out on the latest science to help get the most out of my body.

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