Running is proably the most popular sport. Everyone can run. You don't need a friend or partner to run with as you can do it alone. But, for me, running is a sport that I never had imagined that I would like and love to do it until 2022.
Actually I started running in a gym around the last quarter of 2022 (I don't remember even the month). As a student, I am a member of ASVZ, a sport center of my university, and it has a gym where everyone can use (university's students or employees). I booked a fitness session 2-3 times a week and did workout for 20-30 min before my table tennis or badmin started. I also ran on a threadmill from time to time, each time for like 20-40 min, depending on how much ready I was.
Having spent 3 months in a gym, at one point, I found that it was so boring and I could not even bare to exercise in a gym anymore. So I less often go to a gym and eventually it was kind of that I stopped.
After my friend had introduced me to join Adidas Running Zurich (ARZ) club in May, 2023, my running journey had begun. (Yes, I will never forget it!) The first time I ran with ARZ people was in the morning session (7.00 - 8.00 am). The course was about 8 km, mixed train of city and hill, with 200 m elevation. On that day, my pace was about 7 minutes per km and I had an abdominal stitch (side cramps) while in running after 3 km. It was so painful and I suffered a lot! The day after I felt my legs so much as my body was not ready and has not been prepared for running for a long time. That being said, even if I am slow but I never stop. I still continued joining ARZ in the following weeks so far even on the day of writing this blog.
To avoid side cramp I did research and asked one of the the ARZ crews, Ale, about how to breath while running. Ale who is one of my idol, always positive thinking and pushing/cheering people including me to keep running. She told me some tricks such as 3-2 rhythmic belly breathing (don't use your chest to breath otherwise it will call side cramp). Kudos also go to other ARZ crews who help organizing running session: Bobby, Fiona, Marianna, Fabian, Tomek, Luzia, etc.
“3-2” means
- 3 steps as you inhale: right, left, right
- 2 steps as you exhale left, right
I also learned some techniques from YouTube and internets like how to balance, how to put step, which help me a lot and make me enjoy running. In addition, to challenge myself, I decided to run a half-marathon at Switzerland City Marathon taking place in Luzern in October 2023. Right now I look forward to and have been practicing for this event and I will share with you here how it goes. Note, that if you run faster then you can of course adjust to 2-2.
Credit: running Coach
Happy running!