Bored of turkey? Stuffed with mince pies? MARTIN YELLING reveals how to survive the festive season with his ‘lifesaving’ tips and cracking Christmas workouts
With the festivities and frolics of Christmas
nearly here, it’s about time you had a think
about how, where and if your running is going
to fit in. The festive holiday period usually means a little
extra time off work but often the reality is more time
spent travelling, shopping, wrapping and worrying about
oven times than run times!
Whether you are trying to juggle your spring marathon
training or simply keep up your regular running routine, it’s
important to acknowledge the change in workload, family
commitments and social engagements and tweak your
running to find balance with everything going on - without
losing a grip on your training, your goals or your sanity!
Whether you are a first-time novice runner, a regular
recreational runner or a bit of an experienced speedster
it’s all about integrating your running with your other
festive commitments at this busy time.
Here are some festive tips for surviving the Christmas festivities with your running intact!
FESTIVE LIFESAVING TIPS
Kick coughs and colds!
Holidays, office parties, family
gatherings and other social
get-togethers are perfect
germ swapping occasions.
Being ill over Christmas is
not good in anyone’s books.
Washing your hands regularly,
staying well hydrated (with
water not alcohol!) and not
getting over-stressed or overtired
will help you combat the
dreaded festive lurgy.
Stuff the turkey, not yourself
Christmas is a time for too
many mince pies, a little wine
indulgence, time with loved
ones, family and friends and of
course turkey with everything!
Reaching for another sausage
roll, savoury bite or sweet
treat over the festive period
isn’t going to ruin your fitness
or your waistline. A healthy
diet is all about ‘everything in
moderation’ so take care not
to over-eat or drink too much
mulled wine.
Let yourself go
Try and put aside a little
time each day to relax. With
so much going on around
Christmas, it’s easy to keep
piling on the personal pressure
and burn the candle at both
ends. As little as 10 minutes a
day of relaxing downtime can
help you meet the demands
of a busy Christmas and feel
more ready, focused and sharp
for your training and meeting
the in-laws!
Sleep tight
Sleep is the best form of rest
and recovery so don’t neglect
it. Too many late nights
and not enough quality
sleep will leave you feeling
groggy and grumpy instead
of fresh, excited and ready
to have fun. Try and grab
an early night in the lead up
to Christmas at least on one
night of the week.
Plan and protect
It may sound dull, but
identifying a time to run in
your week will definitely help
you protect your opportunity
to run. This might not be the
same time you’d normally run
at. It may involve getting up
extra early so you can get your
run done and your final last
minute shopping in, or fitting
in your run around family and
other festive commitments.
Scheduling your run time in
advance will mean you are
more likely to stick to it.
Bag a set of quick workouts
Don’t banish your running
shoes to the wardrobe this
Christmas. Instead plan in
fewer, shorter, focused runs
that will leave you feeling
refreshed and revitalised and
ready to tackle the turkey, kids,
parents, crackers, presents,
and everything else!
• to read the full feature, see this month's issue of Running fitness
Martin YellingMartin Yelling used to do a lot more running that he does now. He once sneaked a AAA’s medal over 1500m, finished in the top 10 in the National XC, clocked some sub 30min 10k’s and even won a few races.
Once his legs stopped enjoying the pounding quite so much switched to multisport and won the British elite duathlon championships a couple of times, competed at some scarily fast world championships events, came top 15 at Ironman Switzerland and bagged the big one in Kona.
Now he enjoys running on leafy trails, trying (and failing) to keep up with his wife (2xOlympic marathon runner Liz Yelling), and helping coach runners and triathletes of all standards achieve things they’d previously thought impossible. He also likes trying to paddleboard, eating the same amount as he used to when training very hard and smiling.
www.lizyelling.com
