The Grinch who stole the Christmas Run

For several years now I have disagreed with Sarah.

We cannot and will never see eye to eye on this subject.

I’m right she’s wrong – to me

I’m wrong she’s right – to her

Every year like tradition, we have the Christmas Day run debate.

“It’s selfish”

“It’s family time”

“Only Losers run on a Christmas Day”

Smiling back as if to annoy her more I reply

“You have 15 hours with Mark on Christmas Day, is that not enough?”

In the case of my wife Nicole, this is more than enough time with me.

She lets me run

Sarah doesn’t agree, putting Mark in a tight spot, caught between respecting his wife and being childishly ridiculed by his mates.

“Off you go Mark, you’re not allowed”

As our best friends, I know that I can have this conversation with Sarah in a jovial way, I know that she firmly believes in her opinion, as do I.

This question of exercising on Christmas Day does divide opinion. Some believe it is a perfect opportunity to go out and feel the benefits of exercise, whereas others see it as an incredibly selfish act.

As a former professional footballer of nearly 20 years, the Christmas and New Year period was one, if not the busiest time of the year for us, with 5 games in 12 days.

I can only think of 1 time in my career when I wasn’t in training on Christmas Day, during my time at Reading Football Club when I was recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury and believe me when I say I’d much rather have been training.

I loved training on Christmas Day when I was a player, and as I near to 50 years old, I now love going for a run on Christmas Day each year.

There are obviously many reasons why it can be a good idea to exercise on Christmas Day morning or any other day this holiday season.

We all know the benefits of the neurotransmitter’s dopamine, adrenaline, and endorphins, which make us feel happy, motivated and ready for the day ahead.

But there really is so much more to exercise than this.

Just 20 minutes of exercise can make all the difference and help you enjoy the rest of your day far more than you usually would without it.

• Improved hormone health for the day helping you feel in a sharper mood and better overall well-being.
• Improved mental health and reduce stress, anxiety, and depression (A quarter of people say Christmas makes their mental health worse)
• Increased ability to cope with the stress of Christmas Day, family tensions, increased noise.
• Improved sleep quality for the night ahead.
• Increased energy levels for the rest of the day.

Of course, many people work incredibly hard and see at time off as a chance to rest, even those who exercise regularly use the day as a rest day, especially for those who see training as a chore.

I’m incredibly lucky, my wife understands that I need exercise. My career as a professional sportsman has institutionalised me in the need to exercise daily.

She can sense when I need to lace up the trainers, head out onto the trails and feel the endorphins in my veins.

More than that, she knows that she’s going to get a better version of me as a result of that run.

Another friend of mine says his wife places his running trainers by the back door as a prompt for him to go out, get it done, and come back to us.

The benefits of exercise are cumulative, so it’s best to make it a regular part of your routine during the holidays to get most of the benefits.

Depending on what you like, it doesn’t matter if its running, weight training, cycling or if you’re new to exercise or haven’t been active in a while, going for a morning walk can be enough. Just Move

This year Sarah left our house on Christmas Eve making an ‘L’ for Loser gesture on her forehead to me, she’s so childish, I’m above that.

My reply to Sarah is that it is selfish of her NOT to let him go for that run.

My advice to Mark, follow the Nike slogan my friend

Just Do It

Although I suspect, like me, he’s not that brave.