With winter right around the corner and fall sports at a close, many Bears find themselves with more time on their hands.
When sports aren’t in season, running can be a great way to stay busy and improve mental health; it’s not just for cross-country athletes! Running has many benefits and has been shown to ease seasonal depression in many cases.
According to the Mayo Clinic, one of the major benefits of running and other physical activity is that it’s shown to help by releasing endorphins that make people feel good. These endorphins and other natural brain chemicals enhance people’s sense of well-being.
Running is also a great way to improve performance in school. It allows for a break from the stress of schoolwork which can reduce stress and anxiety among students.
According to the University of Rochester, studies have proven that exercise helps for people’s bodies to build additional connections between nerves. These extra connections help for the brain to have enhanced memory, improved problem-solving skills, greater concentration, and more.
All that’s needed to start running is a supportive pair of shoes, whatever athleticwear you prefer, and yourself! An easy and free way to track runs if a watch isn’t accessible is a running app called Strava. Strava records runs and allows people to post them to share with friends in the app if they choose to. It’s also easy to keep them private if preferred. It tracks mileage for the week and can also track bike rides, walks, lifts, and more. This is ideal to keep track of cross-training along with runs.
Georgia Speelman ‘27 has utilized Strava this past season to track her running and make improvements. She uses it to track her progression with running and likes how Strava does a great job when it breaks training down.
“Strava definitely has improved my running,” Speelman said. “I use it to make sure I’m staying on track rather that be mileage or pacing wise. I also love to look back at past runs for inspiration for future runs to do when I’m out of ideas. Strava allows me to set realistic goals based on what I’m able to see on the platform, which I would say has improved my performance.”
There are many great places near Delaware to go on runs and have them continue to captivate people. MacNamara Park is great for long runs as it connects to the Route 3 trail which is flat and long. It also connects to Char-Mar, so it’s easily possible to get some hills in on the same run. Highbanks is beautiful for other runs and has a great variety of trails to keep runs enjoyable. There are many hills at Highbanks so it allows for easily added intensity to the run. Some other places to check out to switch up runs are Shale Hollow, Deer Haven Park, and Alum Creek State Park. It can also be nice to run on the beach at Alum to add views and interest to a run.
