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general health

Running

IN the 80's it was called jogging and was responsible for more pulled hamstrings and failed exercise regimes than any other fitness craze.

But running is still around and remains the simplest and purest way to get your body and your metabolism moving. A recent study by Danish cardiologists showed that regular running can lead to longer life expectancy.

One running convert is Marie Caldwell who says it has completely changed her life.

By her own admission the former teacher and mother-of-four was the original, fat, couch potato, whose only exercise was to reach for another fag or chocolate.

She had never even been to a swimming pool until she was She was cajoled into running by husband, and former masked wrestler, Eddie, after he had completed a marathon and suggested she join him in the next.

The first time Marie tried to run she collapsed at the first lamp-post gasping for breath.

That initial stagger, it was nothing more, ignited something in her mind and she went out again, and again, and again.

She ran her first marathon in 1982 and has notched up at least 20 more since, including the New York marathon.

Now a slim and trim 63 year-old bursting with energy - she holds six records for distance running and is in training to beat the British record for her age-group she set in 1999 of 92 miles in 24-hours.

Now she is classed as one of the Super Young - a member of an elite group of older people monitored by Manchester University expert in aging, Professor Patrick Rabbitt.

On her last visit to the department, a set of tests involving measuring lung capacity, strength and running on a treadmill, showed that she was in excellent condition - for a 19 year old!

Marie has a well-organised training schedule: Monday she does a two-hour stretching routine, Tuesday she runs 45-minutes each way to the over-50s running group she organises at the Jubilee Centre in Bury as well as taking the class,

Wednesday she ‘‘throws weights around’’ and does sit-ups, Thursday is her ‘‘big day’’ running up to 3 and three quarters hours, followed on Friday with 30 minutes up-hill speed work. The weekends she does more sit-ups and weights.

She is convinced of the transforming power of running, for anyone. ‘‘I’m nothing exceptional,’’ she insists. ‘‘If I could do it anybody can.’’ Marie runs a keep-fit and running group at the Jubilee Centre in Bury for the over-50s whose oldest member is 83 and manages four or five quarter-mile circuits of the lake where they jog.

Marie is full of stories about the benefits of running. There was one of her clients who turned up with dangerously high blood pressure.

Over six months she built up from gentle walking to gentle running two or three times a week. Her next hospital examination produced results which startled her specialist who demanded to know how she had reduced her blood pressure so dramatically.

Another member of Marie’s running group is 78 but is in her 50th year of running her own keep-fit group as well as being a devotee of rounders and line-dancing.

‘‘I do it because I love it,’’ stresses, the woman whose friends say that when she dies she will be the fittest corpse in the cemetery.

‘‘When the fun goes out of it, it will be time to hang up my running shoes.’’

Marie’s couch potato guide to getting running

Start off walking from your house for five minutes. Notice how after a few days you get further before you turn back. Gradually increase the time you walk for and the speed. Build up to 30 minutes.
Try running slowly between two lamp posts on your walk.
Incorporate longer periods of running. Notice how your waistbands are becoming slacker.
Choose a companion who is as unfit as you are to go out with, otherwise you may get discouraged.
Remember stretching and warm-up exercises before and after to prevent aches and pains.
Now you have got going invest in a proper pair of running shoes. They do not need to be expensive but get them from a specialist running shop where staff can offer advice.
Build up to going out three times a week for 30 minutes.
Do not make excuses. Simply put on your running shoes and get out of the door.
Do not go running after a big meal. You will enjoy it far more afterwards, when you are feeling smug and your metabolism remains high.
Just enjoy it! Timing yourself once a month to monitor your progress is encouraging, but a stopwatch on every run is a guaranteed downer.
Set yourself a goal, whether it is to run in the parents’ race at the school sports day or to take part in a local fun run.

The current target for distance runner Graham Jackson is the Manchester Marathon later this year.

Graham is secretary of The Harriers, an enthusiastic band of experienced runners who meet and set out weekly from The Y Club at Castlefield in Manchester They can regularly be seen pounding the streets of the city on routes that mix canalside paths with road.

Graham said: ''Running is a great leveller. Anyone can do it, young or old, men, women, whatever size and shape ,you can still get moving.

''Although you need to make sure you warm up properly and cool down afterwards. The only kit you need is a pair of decent shoes.

''There is a comraderie about running in a group, everyone encourages each other and I would recommend it to anyone.''

Links
General information on running