Not Out In A While

The 10km I did on Thursday was my last run, and I don't think I'm getting out until the end of this week to be honest.

It was my birthday on Wednesday, so my fiancee and I took advantage of our Tesco Clubcard vouchers to have a weekend break in Aviemore, which was lovely. Nice drive home on Sunday as well - up to Inverness then down the Great Glen to Fort William, then home through Glencoe, Crianlarich, Callander and Stirling. Very nice.

Last night I had a game of fives, tonight I have two games of fives, and I'm supposed to be going hillwalking tomorrow so it'll be Thursday or Friday before I'm out running again. Thought I'd post a wee blog about the relationship between running and football.

I'm not a brilliant footballer by any means. I'm certainly not terrible - I have a decent touch, I'm strong, and I can pass well enough and I have a good left foot. But I've found that since taking up running my football has improved considerably as well. There will always be guys I play alongside who are technically better footballers than me, but don't have the fitness - I have a yard or two of pace on almost everyone I play against, meaning I can track back well enough, beat players down the wing, and generally cause a nuisance. Being pretty strong means I can tackle well enough and defend pretty well as well.

I find it works beneficially both ways as well. The running helps develop my fitness for fives. Fives helps develop my running - I use the games of football as my "sprints" workout, which means I don't have to do many boring HIIT sessions. And the cycle continues (usually until I pick up a stupid injury).

If you enjoy football but aren't particularly good, you'd be amazed at how much you can mask being maybe a bit technically poor by being fitter and faster than the other players you play with. Worth a try, I'd say!