My recent summer holiday in Wales coincided with me reading an inspiring book called ‘Running Free’ by Richard Askwith and this happy coincidence has reinforced in me a set of running/life values to go back to basics and back to nature in my running. In his book, the author describes his own process of escaping from the commercial layers of running and reconnecting with nature through running. He talks about ‘Big Running’ – a huge multi-billion dollar global industry with everything you could ever want and all the things you never knew you wanted, to enhance your running performance (specially designed footwear, heart-rate monitors, energy gels, electrolyte drinks, GPS route & data recorder, ipod armband, specially designed compression shorts and socks, digital wristbands/mobile health devices… etc.) Some of these things may be genuinely useful, but it’s the incessant “this is indispensable/must-have” sales pitch that the writer objects to, which can deceive the uninitiated into thinking that we absolutely need all of these things to be a runner and that this is the only way to run. If I was, say, the next Paula Radcliffe, these pieces of highly developed, advanced technology may help me to make the marginal gains that are key for elite athletes. However, I’m not and never will be an elite athlete and I have learnt a valuable lesson in opening my eyes to the fact that running is a commercial industry, and just like any other, their success depends on us believing that we ‘need’ their products.

The writer, however, has discovered an alternative which he calls ‘Slow Running’ and I believe this is what I also discovered while on holiday in Wales. This is a back-to-basics style of running which is outdoors, exploring nature, sometimes getting lost, where the primary motivation is not to achieve ‘marginal gains’ or a personal best time, but instead you run for the joy of running in nature, in a constantly changing and beautiful environment, where the same route is different every time you run it (due to a change of season, time of day, weather etc). Running that is solely performance centred drives the ‘need’ to constantly record and improve performance (which in turn drives ‘Big Running’) and can be hugely motivational for many people, but I have realised that this is not the only way of running.

During my Gower Peninsular holiday, I went on a training run (training for the Royal Parks Half-Marathon in October) and ran outdoors in the hills overlooking the stunning beaches of the Gower Peninsular (see picture.) On this run, I rediscovered the sheer unbridled joy of running in nature. I didn’t know precisely where I was running to and there was a distinct possibility of getting lost, but it didn’t matter. I don’t know exactly how far I ran and in what time I ran that distance but I didn’t care. I had rediscovered running for pleasure, with the wind in my face, the sun shining on me, stunning views all around me, butterflies flying past me and bumblebees doing their amazing work. I felt liberated from the constraints of performance orientated running, of sticking religiously to a training programme, of being more concerned with my time per mile than my own personal enjoyment.

In life, as with runners, we can become so obsessed with performance, with results, with putting our head down to achieve the desired outcome, that we become blinkered to the beauty of nature, of people and of life around us. We can end up focusing so much on the performance and the result, that we forget to slow down and enjoy the process; we also forget the value of enjoyment which ultimately is hugely important for motivation. In terms of running, there are so many mental health benefits to running in open green spaces where the scenery changes, the conditions underfoot and overhead are varied and where you notice the growing natural environment around you and its many inhabitants.

I found the whole experience of running in the Gower in the ‘slow running’ style hugely liberating and felt full of life because I got back to basics, back to nature, back to running for the sheer joy of running, without caring about my time or my distance; where getting lost would have just added to the sense of freedom and discovery.

In a society where the pace of life can be so fast and so performance driven, I realise now that I can choose to slow down and look around me and this helps me to appreciate more what I have in life. In this performance centred culture, which then increases the tendency for technology driven running, I feel I can now choose how I run and can even alternate – sometimes running for performance, to push myself and challenge myself, but also never forgetting to run for fun, for sheer pleasure, for the feeling of freedom and for the smile it puts on my face when running among the wonders of nature.