Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Kate Carter

How was your weekend running?

It’s not about you athletes who go round, and round, and round .. oh wait, yes it is.
It’s not about you athletes who go round, and round, and round .. oh wait, yes it is. Photograph: Tim Williams/Action Plus via Getty Images

Much as I love my Saturday morning club track sessions, it is rather nice to have finished your long run by lunchtime on the first day of the weekend, leaving the rest of it free for .. err ... eating everything in sight and playing with Lego. Productivity is overrated anyway, right?

Having done a fair few marathons - and therefore marathon training blocks - I’m starting to get very bored with my usual run routes. It’s not that running along the river isn’t lovely, on a sunny day when the distance and pace does’t matter, but it can get very monotonous after the 3,507th time you’ve gone past Barnes Bridge. So, naturally, seeking less monotony, I ended up at the running track. Running in 400m circles. A lot of circles. Yes, I know. Still, at least that long run also bought up the total of 2,000 miles for me so far this year. Only another 1,000 to go before New Year’s Eve ...

Do you have any tricks or tips for making a much-travelled route interesting again? I’ve tried reversing it, running it in km rather than miles (desperate, I know) and downloading some new podcasts to listen to. Ideally I’d obviously explore new routes, or travel to a point the right number of miles away and run home - but usually time pressure makes that impossible.

As always, share those tips, hints, weekend highlights (anyone have a British athlete at their local parkrun?) and gradual but positive returns from the injury wastelands (hello Tara!) below the line ...

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.