Christmas is a wonderful, fun filled, tiring, stressful, boozy, intense, noisy, sugary, fabulous, difficult time of year!
So, how to keep your mind and body health? Can you keep up with your training over the Christmas period?
It's helpful to have a plan, I find. Knowing when your Christmas parties are, knowing when you have to be at work, and when you are catching up with friends and family, and planning your training around this. You aren't going to have a fun or productive training session the day after the Christmas party!
Have a think about why you run too, and this will help you get the most out of your running in December. Do you like to run for your own space and thinking time? You'll probably need it more at this time of year, so make sure you make time for runs even when things get busy. Get your energy from spending time with others? What about a family visit to parkrun?
There are many things that impact training, recovery and how you feel when you run;
- the food you've eaten
- hydration levels
- how much sleep you've had
- how much caffeine and alcohol you've drunk
- stress levels
The build up to Christmas will change all of these factors, so go easy on yourself when training runs don't go quite to their usual levels.
If you can't get out to run, try to fit in some time outdoors; ideally in a park, in the woods, or somewhere with some greenery. It's been proven that nature has a positive and stress-relieving impact on the brain.
I hope you have a great Christmas!
