Run fast, run slow, run far, run close.... just run!

So I've never been the most sportiest type of person. Even as a kid in school, I didn't mind PE classes but it was never my favourite time of the day or week. By the time I was a teenager, and towards my late teens, my mom was very into exercising and sports and with her encouragement I did a bit too but mostly cos she pushed me to do it. 

I've always had a love and hate relationship with running - since I was much younger I've found it quite hard and exhausting and the memories of school running tests, where I never did particularly well, really put me off running. During my years in London I've always tried to pick up running as a regular thing but then after a few weeks or months something has put me off it again. Now, for the last few weeks I've become really into it again so I thought I'd write down a few tips that I've found to be working quite well for me. You could call it "Running for dummies" as I'm not any sort of a specialist in it!

• Running gear. I know it's not all about fancy clothes, or the newest running shoes but they do help! I find it very motivating that I can put on my nice running top, my coral coloured leopard printed sneakers ( I know they're awesome!) and even socks that match the shoes. You can go running in your old sweatpants and t- shirt if you like, but for me it gives a little extra buzz that I know my clothes and shoes are spot on for their purpose. With shoes I wouldn't cut corners though, it's important that you have decent running shoes and for women a good sports bra makes a massive difference.  My shoes are from Adidas (though for long I was a devoted Nike fan), my favourite sports bra is from Victoria's Secret and so are my running pants. VS and PINK do really good sports bras and yoga pants,which are perfect for running, and for gym too. I tend to buy them from America, whenever I go, as once again the price is quite a lot cheaper there than in the UK. H&M have recently added a lot of nice sports wear into their collection, I've bought really cool running socks and a nice little belt for my phone and keys from them, I haven't tried their actual sports clothes yet.

• Music. A good playlist on your phone or Ipod makes a HUGE difference, so you're not just alone with your thoughts counting how many damn laps to go till you can go home. I'm constantly adding new songs to my list and Spotify has a whole selection for workout playlists, which are worth checking out. I tend to listen to all sorts of songs, but I have started to prefer drum and bass, house, heavy hiphop and afrobeats as my running tracks. Chase and Status, Rudimental and a bit of Calvin Harris take me a long way, alongside bit of Future, Drake and a Fetty Wap.

• Track your run. Keeping track of your speed, the length of your run and your route is extremely helpful too. It's also great for keeping an eye on your progress. There's a ton of apps for running in the app stores, which I haven't even tried, but I've been using a Nike running app. It's good, it lists down all your runs, marks your fastest and furthest runs and you can tag your mood into each run, whether you felt good or bad. I used to have a lot of sad faces but now I've been giving myself happy smileys too! It's got a lot of other features too which I haven't even paid attention to, I'm keeping it simple.

• Variety in your running routes. This is something I need to start paying attention to. As much as I like the circling route in my local park, it is getting extremely boring! It's not a very long route and you have to do several laps to run the 45mins that I tend to run. For some reason I tend to be the only one running clockwise in that circular route, this morning every single other runner was running anticlockwise! 

• Make enough time for it. This is another difficult one for me, but I've noticed I enjoy it a lot more if I'm not rushing to go back home and to take a shower and get on with my day. I don't know how people go for their runs in the early morning before work! I rather go, do my run and come home and stretch out and shower in peace. Obviously this is only for the weekends now, winter time if difficult for running as by the time I come home from work, it's way too dark and late to go out for a run.

Let's see how long this running bug lives in me this time, but I'm pretty hopeful that I will keep up with it and learn to enjoy it even more. I'm still slow and don't run long routes, but I'm noticing small steps towards the better and I'm sure my marathon running mother will be happy for me! Never mind the fact that a bit over a week ago I took a major tumble in the middle of the road, fell flat on the ground and my knee is still hurting and sporting a nice bruise. 

Are you a runner, what's your best tip for a beginner?