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Fresh inspiration
From the Great North Run to the New York City Marathon, there are gorgeous races everywhere to get you fired up at this time of year. You may not have gained a place yourself but just seeing images of these big autumn races is enough to make us knuckle down to some hard training again.
Trails come into their own
The most hard-hearted road runner has to admit there’s a certain romance about going off-road at this time of year. With the glorious glowing colours of the trees, shiny conkers gleaming on the ground, and the odd frost ensuring the mud isn’t too hard to get through, it’s the perfect time to get back to nature.
Magical misty mornings
In summer, sunrise is reserved for only the most hardcore among us – we all love the dawn chorus but getting out of bed at 4am is a bit much. For your more standard 6am or 7am starter, autumn offers the chance to see the magic of the sun rising through the mist, frost glistening on the grass. It’s a beautiful, peaceful time of day to run – make the most of it.
Wacky races
This is a pretty festive time of year, from Halloween to Bonfire Night to Christmas. Chuck Movember in there and you have all the fancy dress possibilities a runner could possibly want, with the added bonus of the odd Christmas pudding on offer at the end of the race.
No more sweat baths
Working up a sweat can be great fun but, by September, we’ve had enough of blinking salty sunscreen out of our eyes, thank you. Running inevitably warms you up so we’re perfectly happy to set out at a more comfortable temperature – anything below 20C is fine, thanks – for a few months (until we start whinging about the cold in January of course…)
Gorgeous new kit
News flash: the weather changes in autumn. That means we’re gonna need some new running kit, or at least to rediscover a few old favourites in the bottom of the gear drawer. Best of all? If you have three favourite running tops, now you get to wear them all at once. In fact it’s a necessity until the temperature picks up again.
Warming ‘recovery’ food
It’s never easy to haul yourself out for a run on cold days or when inevitable seasonal downpours and gales make it an effort just to run to the end of your street. Force yourself out though and you can look forward to the best bit of autumn running: getting warm again! Treat yourself to a hearty casserole, a sweet apple crumble or a gorgeous milky hot chocolate after your run. All proven* to be excellent recovery foods! (*by the WR team)
