If you happen to find yourself alongside the Dutch River that separates Old Goole from regular Goole just after 7am, you might spy a most peculiar sight.
The bald rhinoceros – the only one of its kind – plodding along at a rather modest pace. Certainly far slower than you might expect, considering its lean and muscular form – yet it covers the distance between the marina and the blue swing bridge that never opens in a respectable time nevertheless.
I am, of course, talking about myself and my habit of taking what I call a Walk-Run three to six days per week, every week (planned rest weeks aside).
The premise is simple:
You walk out for a set time (22 minutes for me – yes, I know that’s oddly specific and no, there’s no particular reason behind it) and then you run most, or, ideally, all of the way back.
These runs aren’t “training” per se. In fact, I only go ever so slightly faster than a brisk walk and always slow down the moment I sense any discomfort or breathlessness. (It’s this that allows me to do them on top of the rest of my training, without getting burned out or injured).
However, despite not being challenging, these near-daily slow runs do wonders for building your endurance and mental toughness and are, I believe, a natural progression from walking every day as I advise everyone to do as a matter of course – provided they’re not too ill or injured.
Truly, I’ve found everything easier since I started doing them. Lifting, my “proper” runs, sprints, playing with my kiddos – work, too, because I certainly feel like I’ve far more energy throughout the day now versus before.
None of this is to say that everyone ought to start doing Walk-Runs.
If you haven’t already been walking every day without fail for at least 45 minutes if not an hour or more, you’re probably not fit enough to handle it.
Likewise, people who can’t run due to some medical malfunction.
But people who are already committed walkers and in good health may gain greatly from adding a *slow* run to their daily walk.
If you’re not at this point yet but would like to be, then “The Running Starter Kit” could be what you need.
It contains a straightforward system to take you from not running at all to running respectable distances multiple times per week.
(This is the exact system I used after I begrudgingly realised lifting weights and doing high-intensity cardio would never be enough to keep me as lean as I wanted to be throughout the year).
It’s £6.50, which I think is very cheap.
However, there are two important points to note before proceeding:
1) I am printing the reports to order on my personal printer using regular printer paper. An attractive document this is not, so please don’t buy it if you’re more concerned with how it looks than what it contains.
2) There are no refunds or guarantees beyond the 14 days on receipt of goods I’m obliged to give to comply with consumer protection legislation.
If that hasn’t put you off, more info and order below:
Thank you,
Phil Tyreman
P.S. Do not purchase “The Running Starter Kit” if you own either “The Conditioning Codex” or March’s issue of “The Phil Tyreman Letter” (where it was given as a bonus) because you’ll be paying for the same information twice.