About running

I hated running all my life. Then fate intervened, and since I didn’t have much opportunity for other forms of exercise, I started running in the forest during chemo - got that biweekly - first week was about survival, on the resting weeks I ran two-three times, 3-4kms. Then the habbit stayed - I loved the forest before, and I thought that if I could go out during chemo, then rain/mud/cold wouldn’t be able to hold me back. And indeed it can’t. The next year I kept the same pace - two small circles a week -, but then covid hit, we went home office, and I started increasing the distances and pace.

It’s interesting to look back and see that in the beginning I ran my 3-4 km tracks at the same pace as the 50+ km Vérmókus I ran recently.

Running⌗

I run mostly in the forest (trail running), and what I write here is mostly my own experience, if a coach says something else, then they’re probably right 😉

What do you need to start⌗

You⌗

Egészséges (nagyjából) izületekkel/izomzattal - ha valami már elromlott, azon a futás tud rontani - és javítani is - sokat, kezdetben mindenképpen óvatosan érdemes nekivágni.

Even if your joints/muscles are in a good shape - if something is already broken, running can make it even worse - youd better start carefully.

At the beginning you’ll probably concentrate on survival - start with walking/slow jogging if you’ve never done any sports -, but as you progress, you’ll have to start paying attention to your breathing, running technique - practice different ones, so you can switch if your legs get tired -, and your body in general.

A pair of shoes⌗

This is something you should pay attention to from the beginning, there can be a huge difference between two pairs of shoes called running shoes. When buying your first pair, it’s worth going to a running store, where they can give you advice, and measure your pronation.

Things to consider:

• terrain / asphalt?
• foot pronation? (pronator/normal/supinator)
  • this can be measured in running stores with a camera, it’s worth it!
  • (I have a strong flat foot, so my foot pronates a lot)
• how waterproof/breathable they are?
• what’s the shape of your foot (e.g. Asics are perfect for my feet, but I can’t even put on Salomon shoes, it’s worth trying on several products of different brands)

At the beginning, I suggest to get a pair of asphalt shoes that are comfortable (and made for you pronation).

Extras⌗

Clothes⌗

I don’t mean that clothing is an extra, because you can run naked (you definitely can, but please don’t), but because almost anything is good enough.

However, besides “anything is good”, it’s better to run in something that you don’t sweat into too much, breathes well, and you don’t get cold in. You can spend an infinite amount of money on sportswear, but - especially at the beginning - the store brands of sports stores can be quite good, and much cheaper than the similar stuff of the top brands. You will be able to tell - over time - what you should wear in the given weather, but it’s a good start to dress for ~10 degrees warmer weather.

Flask⌗

On longer distances, especially in the summer, it’s essential to drink while running. It’s worth getting a well-storable (foldable or crushable/silicone) cup, from which you can drink more easily than hanging on the fountain, pressing the lever with your leg, etc. Nowadays most running events don’t provide cups at the refreshment points, you can get drinks in your own cup.

If there’s no fountain on the route, you have to take the liquid with you. A completely valid solution is an emptied half-liter soda bottle, but silicone flasks are not that expensive either - I like them because shaking them isn’t noisy -, and drinking bags are also available for backpacks.

Tracking/navigation⌗

If you run you must have a strava account. Of course, it’s not a must, but what’s not on the internet never happened, and currently strava is the instagram of runners/cyclists. There are communities, you can tag friends, and steal routes, where it’s worth running.

Strava’s mobile app is also capable of tracking your run, but there are thousands of others, and if you have a smart/sports watch, it can probably track your run better than your mobile. Nevertheless, it’s always worth taking a phone with you - or anything you can contact the left behind with -, anything can happen at any time, not least it’s easier to find you in the forest if you get lost.

If you venture further into the wilderness, it’s also useful to have some offline usable map with you. There are places where there’s no mobile signal, and anyway, Google maps and friends are completely useless outside of civilized areas. There are many free OpenStreetMap-based maps available for both Android and iOS, which you can use for free, it’s worth getting one, and if you use it a lot, buy it. Some of them (e.g. mapy.cz) also show hiking trails.

Then, if you really navigate a lot on unknown terrain, and you don’t want to run with your phone in your hand, offline navigation-capable watches may be an option for you - but these are typically very expensive.

Health tracking⌗

Now that we’re talking about smart watches/bracelets, most of these are capable of measuring your pulse while running. These data are far from being diagnostic, and it’s not worth comparing them with other people’s measurements, but they can give you an idea of how well you can perform on a given day, and also warn you to take a bit back if you want to reach the end of the track.

It’s worth noting that optical pulse measurement will never be perfect, it varies from person to person how accurate even the most modern watches can be, so if you want more reliable data, you’d better get a chest strap pulse meter, which is much more accurate.

In addition, many interesting (useful?) things can be extracted from some hours, e.g.:

• cadence
• stride length
• estimated power
• vertical oscillation
• ground contact time (in some cases compared to the other leg, how symmetrically you use them)
• …

In addition, if you wear the watch continuously, they can assess the quality of your sleep, tell you how much you should rest after a given run, and even suggest a training plan.

Belt, backpack⌗

It’s also a personal preference question whether you like to run with a belt or a backpack, but after a while things won’t fit in your hand, and you’ll run out of pockets on your clothes. It’s worth trying these too if you have the opportunity, and here too, the branded sportswear versions are not to be discarded.

Headlight⌗

If you run at night, it’s definitely recommended, especially in the forest. If you go on a longer trip, it’s worth having it in your backpack, so you don’t have to worry if it gets dark, you might even have something to lend to the lost hikers who didn’t bring one.

Snow chains⌗

We don’t stay at home even if it snows. As long as it’s fresh, there’s no big problem, but when it’s already trampled hard, or melted/refrozen, there’s no shoe that won’t slip on it. This is where the snow chain comes in handy.

Running poles⌗

Even here in Hungary, there are places where it makes it easier to move, but you have to learn to use it, at the beginning it’s more of a hindrance than a help.

“Life-saving” foil⌗

Jó, ez az elején remélhetőleg nem kell, de több versenyen is kötelező tartozék, és inkább legyen a táskában feleslegesen, mint ne legyen ott, de te átazva kuporogj valami üregben törött bokával fagypont körül.

Ok, you probably won’t need this at the beginning, but it’s a mandatory accessory for many races, and it’s better to have it in your backpack unnecessarily than not to have it while squatting in a hole with a broken ankle soaked through and near freezing.

Band-aid⌗

Completely unnecessary. If you run in the forest, you will fall, period. If the wound is small enough for the band-aid, you won’t mess with it. If needs some sewing, or half of your skin has come off of your side, then it doesn’t help. Of course, I have it in my backpack too, but I’ve never used it.

Sword, gun, and other weapons⌗

Boars don’t hurt you, if they sense you, they run away. Or run towards you. If they run towards you, then it doesn’t matter what you have with you, you have to get out of their way. Dogs raised by stupid/careless owners are much more dangerous than wild animals, as are people in general - if you really feel like it, you can carry a pepper spray with you.

Refreshment⌗

This is a pretty complex topic, it’s kind of personal, what you bear/like/need, and there’s a scientific background to it, which is worth looking into over time. I’ll write down what I usually do.

Short - < 10 km/1 hour⌗

Nothing much is needed, maybe a little water in the summer.

Medium - up to half marathon⌗

2 dl of iso every half hour, 1 chocolate muesli bar every hour, salt tablets in the summer.

Long - well over half marathon⌗

This is where it gets interesting for me. I used to use the muesli bar method here too, possibly supplemented with grape sugar (glucose/dextrose) tabs, but at around 30-35 km this (for me) becomes insufficient, I get hungry, I feel that I’m out of energy.

So I started using energy gels (my own, because they’re expensive otherwise) - 3-4 sips every half hour, accompanied by ~2 dl of iso, and so far it works, I consumed all the half-liter of it that my soft-flask can hold on Vérmókus (52km/1800m) or on Mátrabérc (55km/2800m), but I didn’t feel for a moment that there would be a problem. Then, I can’t personally comment on, what would happen on longer ultra-runs, but even at such distances it’s clear that you shouldn’t only eat/drink when you feel actual hunger, and not what comes to your mind, but you need to consciously consume the carbohydrate that your body can process - not too little, because it runs out, and not too much, because it leaves earlier than you’d like.

Races, hiking tours⌗

Running alone isn’t bad, but it’s even better in company! Or not. There are a lot of races everywhere, almost every weekend there’s something, shorter/longer/ultra, urban/trail, individual/relay, … It’s worth trying them, because it’s a completely different experience.

I personally don’t like urban races or even racing itself, I overdo it unnecessarily. But I love the atmosphere of the longer trail-relay-races, where of course there’s always something unexpected to solve together with the team, and you are not just a racer, but supporter and cheerleader and such.

I also started going on hiking tours, where nobody will stop you when you run, but you have time to stop and chat at checkpoints, or walk a bit together with other hikers in the rainy/foggy night in the forest to find the eluding checkpoint.

Summary⌗

Since I’m using strava (autumn of 2020 - beginning of 2024) I’ve run a total of 7143 km, with 186 thousand meters of elevation gain, mostly in the forest, mainly in the Buda mountains. I’ve met a lot of nice and funny people, I see something new, interesting on almost every run, I meet wild animals, and I still want to run further and further. Although this may be the effect of the endocannabinoids 😉