THE BENEFITS OF RUNNING

I took up running around six years ago with the encouragement of my then fourteen year old daughter who suggested we go for a jog one spring morning. I hadn't run anywhere or for any distance since I was at school and that first morning run was a painful affair. I couldn't really run at all not even for a minute without becoming very breathless and uncomfortable, everything hurt, my knees, my ankles and my chest.
We didn't give up though we followed a running programme which suggested that we run for one minute and walk for two minutes. And then we increased the running minutes and decreased the walking until  by the end of a certain amount of weeks we found that we could run continuously for twenty minutes with no problems. I think the programme said that we would be able to run for twenty minutes continuously after seven weeks of training but it took us far longer than seven weeks to get to that stage.
Like my yoga practice my running isn't as regular as it could be, but it doesn't matter how big a gap I have from  running I never seem to decline right back to the initial stages of training when it felt like my lungs were going to burst. My longest run most recently has been approximately 9 miles at a steady pace.
Some of the benefits of running are:
It reduces the risk of heart disease, diabetes, breast cancer, colon cancer, Alzheimer's disease and stroke.
It lowers blood pressure, raises your good high density lipoprotein(HDL) cholesterol, improves your uptake of blood fats and reduces your resting heart rate. It helps you shed body fat and keep it off, improves muscle tone and strength and strengthens bones.
It boosts circulation ,banishes depression and is one of the cheapest ways to keep fit, all that is need to run is a decent pair of trainers or running shoes.
Running outside in the fresh air gives you a  natural high and helps to clear your head so it is a good antidote to stress as well.