I decided to try running, downloaded the Couch to 5K app on my phone and persuaded my eight-year-old daughter to come with me.
We had a great time together, talking and planning routes we would run. It helped our mental health and relationship as much as our physical health.
Once we “graduated” I just kept running. My partner started running again too, he’d done it years before. And we were able to take it in turn looking after the children to enable the other to have the time to run.
What I love about running is you can fit it in around your life. Get up early and run before the kids get up, or run in your lunch break or in the evening.
You can do short runs everyday, or longer runs with a rest in between. I started running 3 or 4 times a week plus a longer run on a Sunday morning, finding beautiful scenery to run in along the river or the beach, and listening to music or an audio book.
Having time for myself.
The great thing about running is you can do it by yourself. You can run locally up and down streets where you live or take yourself off further into a park or the countryside.
You can run with another person or a small group. But even if you’re running along there are so many online groups you can chat to other runners and pick up useful hints and tips.