By Genevie Roguski
My favorite kind of running has always been short and quick with the exhilarating feeling you get from the intensity. In my teens and 20’s I loved the feeling of a speedy 20 minute run.
Fast forward 30+ years and I had fallen out of love with running. Repeated illnesses, little twinges and aches and most recently, a fractured knee cap repeatedly stopped any momentum that I had and I found myself plodding along, with my mojo and motivation barely intact.
A couple months ago I was talking with one of our wise staffers at the store, Maxx (who is also an exercise scientist), and asked him, “What’s the least amount of running I can do, but still get some good benefits?” and he said, “10 minutes.” He then gave me some quick science as to why 10 minutes is the “minimum effective dose”, and my interest peaked and my heart soared. Maybe this was the answer to recapturing some of that feeling I so loved from decades before?!
First, I decided I would completely ignore any internal pleas of “I’m too tired or stressed out or busy to do this”….and just do it.
Second, I initially “pretended” I was running faster – concentrating on quicker turnover, driving from the hips and leaning from the ankles (I found that when I was plodding along I was more sitting back on my butt and loping along).
And I kept at it.
In only a few weeks I really was running and experiencing my run in a whole other way. I’m now regularly running between 10 and 18 minutes a day (with no current plan of going any longer). In a lot of ways it really does feel like I am a kid going out for recess – energizing, exciting and fun!
I think I’ve fallen back in love with running.
Genevie Roguski, Co-Owner of Fairhaven Runners & Walkers
