One day you may need to run. Not in your trainers, Lycra and fitted top. Not after a good warm up, chatting with your friends and on a sunny day. 

It will be when you are least prepared. 

Maybe it’ll be raining. Or after a long day. When you’re wearing a smart suit or carrying a shopping bag. 

It might be for a bus, or to stop a child running into traffic, or to escape danger. It will be a sprint from the start, and unrelenting. 

Practice. 

Get a pair of boots, sweatshirt and pair of old trousers. 

Find a hill. Or a field. 

Take the luxury of a warm up. 

Then sprint. 

Try to hold a hard pace for a minute.

Walk back to the start to recover. 

Do it again. 5 – 10 times. 

It never gets easier. But you are more prepared.