I went running every other day for a month and this is what I found…

In these months of lockdown when all gyms are closed, running can provide a good alternative to keep yourself in shape and get ready for summer!

So my girlfriend decided to get me an Apple Watch for Christmas and this is how it all started…

At the beginning I thought that the hype wouldn’t have lasted long and in a few weeks I would be back on the sofa watching Netflix. That’s when I decided I would have wrote this article by the end of January to keep me motivated.

Disclaimer

Any health information in this article is based on my personal experience and it is not the result of any scientific study on the matter. If you have health related questions, please consult your doctor.

Premises

I am a healthy 29-year old guy. I used to go to the gym for around 8 years but during the last 4 years I slowly fade out from a constant exercising routine. When I started this 1 month recording in January 2021, I just recently went back on running.

My findings

As you can see from the screenshot on the left, the distance I ran didn’t change much throughout the month. I also didn’t notice much difference with my pace.

What really made all the effort worth it was that my average heart rate went down from 160bpm to 140–150bpm during workout and my rest heart-rate from almost 70bpm to almost 60bpm.

I also felt more energised when I ran in the morning before work or during a lunch break, compared to when I ran in the evening after a whole day on the monitor.

Also I live in Ireland and here the weather is not the best so if you notice the dates, sometimes I went running two consecutive days while others I took a longer break but at the end of the month I managed to go running 15 times. I am glad I chose not to run every day because sometime my legs got sore after a run and having a rest day in between two runs helped me recover and avoid injuries.

In Conclusion

Now that I reached my workout objectives for this month, I feel excited to start a new challenge with myself. Maybe I will continue on running every other day for the next month, just to get more used to the physical stress involved. After all, restrictions in Ireland have been prolonged until March so there are not many places to go to anyway.

I hope this very short story inspired you to add some workout in your daily life in line with the covid restrictions in your area.

Don’t forget to wear gloves and hat and have fun! 🏃 ❄️