Good afternoon and welcome back to RFYL Weekly! This week, the team will be slowly integrating back to running in the community, following all safety precautions advised by the CDC. All runners must be wearing a face mask to participate.
Our Saturday morning workout will take place in the Bronx at Van Cortlandt Park for a 6-mile trail tune-up race presented by the Odyssey House Alumni Association. The team will meet at 8:00 am in front of the Burger King, one block away from the last stop on the #1 train 242nd Street.
6 Benefits of Running
By Jacquie Cattanac
Everyone knows that running is a great way to get into shape, but it can also benefit almost every part of your body and lift your mood. Whether it’s your favorite part of the day or something you have to push yourself through, the benefits are undeniable. The next time you’re thinking of skipping a run, think of these reasons to get your butt out of the door.
- Running Improves Your Health: Believe it or not, running is actually a great way to increase your overall health. Research shows that running can raise your levels of good cholesterol while also helping you increase lung function and use. In addition, running can also boost your immune system and lower your risk of developing blood clots.
- It Prevents Disease: For women, running can actually help to lower your risk of breast cancer. It can also help reduce the risk of having a stroke. Many doctors today recommend running for people who are in the early stages of diabetes, high blood pressure, and osteoporosis, and it is proven to help reduce the risk of having a heart attack. By helping the arteries retain their elasticity and strengthening the heart, your chances of suffering a heart attack can be significantly reduced.
- You Might Lose Weight: Running is one of the best forms of exercise for losing or maintaining a consistent weight. You will find that it is a leading way to burn off extra calories and that it is the second most effective exercise in terms of calories burned per minute, following only after cross country skiing.
- Running Boosts Your Confidence: Not all of the benefits of running are physical. Running can provide a noticeable boost to your confidence and self-esteem. By setting and achieving goals, you can help give yourself a greater sense of empowerment that will leave you feeling much happier.
- It Relieves Stress: Stress can actually cause a number of health and mood problems. It can also diminish appetite and sleep quality. When you run, you force your body to exert excess energy and hormones. Running also helps to reduce your chances of developing tension headaches.
- Running has the Power to Eliminate Depression: When you are depressed, the last thing you likely want to do is to get up and go for a run. Yet you will find that after only a few minutes of running, your brain will start to secrete hormones that naturally improve your mood. In fact, there are few things in the world that can better or more rapidly treat depression than exercise such as running.
Running is incredibly beneficial to the body, mind, and spirit. You will find that even short runs can leave you feeling more energized, more focused, and better able to enjoy all that life has to offer.
Source: Active
Coach Andre’s tips:
Running mechanics is something that you become more familiar with as you run more. Long training runs are generally a good time to focus on your running mechanics because you become more aware of your pace, speed, and body mechanics. This forces a runner to focus and be more conscious of what’s going on with his or her body movement. As you run, pay attention to how your body moves with each step: head, shoulders, hands, hips, and feet.