Sasha Cowley

Running Coach in training and CoFounder of RunFitMum

 Holiday running, I love it. There is no better feeling than peeling yourself out of your holiday bed and setting off to explore a whole new area. The things you discover that you might never have known about; the hidden beaches, the fabulous pubs, the great walks. Not to mention that warm welcome you get from the family when you saunter in with the paper and fresh croissants just in time for breakfast. Plus there is that wonderful smug feeling that cloaks you for the rest of the day as you lie on your sun bed secure in the knowledge that you have been for a run!!

The funny thing is that seemingly I am content to wait until my holiday to enjoy all the benefits of the tourist run. Until last week, when suddenly I realised that actually I don’t need to limit myself to just two weeks of the year. I was having a bad day, the physio had said to give track Tuesday a rest, the interminable lashing rain was getting me down and my eldest daughter was packed off on her school residential happy as Larry but leaving me a bit down in the dumps.

Something clicked. I decided I needed an adventure. I grabbed the Ordnance Survey map, my running pack, and my trail shoes and drove to a local beauty spot. Not for me one of my usual runs, I studied the map found a footpath I had never been down before, worked out a vague circuit and set off. It was glorious, there was heathland, woodland, farmland, this run had it all and it was just a few miles from my house. I got back to the car soaking wet from the driving rain and covered in mud, but totally elated. Much like a holiday run that elation lasted all day, that run turned my mood and my day around.

So now I know. I don’t have to wait for my annual leave to have a running adventure, there is always an adventure waiting for me if I can just push myself out of my comfort zone and get out there and find it.