When you first start running it is hard, but you soon see improvements and that can be a great motivator. You start to breathe easier, don?t go quite so red, you can run faster and you can run further. However, after a while you will reach a plateau and can get into a rut doing the same runs at the same pace week after week. Your body gets used to the running routine and stops adapting. It can then be very difficult to maintain the motivation to get out of the door and keep running. If you always do what you always did then you will get what you always got; if this is happening to you then it is time to add some spice to your running life.

Variety is the spice of life and this holds true for running so look at introducing some new things to your training schedule. If you run alone then try running with a group, if you run on a treadmill get out on the road, if you run on the road then go off road. The next thing to do is to look at the type of running sessions you are doing. Introducing some speed work to liven things up. For many people this sounds all too serious, but it can be fun. The Swedish (I know they are not well-known for their fun loving nature) have a special word for fun speed sessions; 'Fartlek' which means speed play.

Fartlek sessions are very simply runs where you run fast for some of the time and slower for some of the time. You can just run fast when the fancy takes you or introduce a little structure by using natural features to dictate when to run fast. For example run fast past five trees then slowly past seven, or run fast when you are passed by a red car and then slow down when passed by a blue one. Just be a little careful with your choice of colour and doing this on quiet country lanes or you could be running fast for a very long time.

Use your imagination and all sorts of sessions can materialise. On one run it was cloudy when I started but the sun soon came out. I do not have much hair covering my head and was already slightly sun burnt so I ran fast in the sun and slowed down in the shade. The best fartlek session I ever experienced was in Tanzania. I had run about seven miles along a dirty road and had just turned around to head back to my hotel when the school I was passing finished for the day. All the excited children ran beside me and after less than a minute they had exhausted their English and I had come to the end of my few words of Swahili. At that point I shouted fast and ran fast, then I shouted slow and ran slowly. After a few repetitions they children got the message and took it in turns to shout fast and slow at varies times. That was a fun session with lots of laughing from the children and onlookers. I got back to the hotel exhausted but exhilarated. Speed work can be fun.

If you are running faster you will be putting extra strain on your body so as well as spicing up your running think about putting some spice in your diet. Ginger, chilli, turmeric and cumin will all help to keep your body healthy and your immune system boosted.

Edward Chapman

Ed & Phil Publishing