McGrattan - Run Well: Essential health questions and answers for runners

Contents

I really hope you have enjoyed reading Run Well and found some tips and advice to help you on your running journey. We all need help sometimes and I have certainly needed it in abundance writing this book! Thank you to all the wonderful runners who gave me quotes and to my running friends Sally, Jo, Tamsin, Louise, Lisa, Rochelle and Ann for being my chapter reviewers. Thanks also to Bernie and Laraine for their input on the basic life support section. Huge thanks to the amazing runners who waded through proof copies to be able to offer me endorsements, I feel honoured and really appreciate your time and seal of approval.

Im so grateful to all the team at Bloomsbury, especially my editors Charlotte Croft and Sarah Skipper. I was so excited they published my first book, Sorted: The Active Womans Guide to Health and delighted they wanted to help me realise this vision of creating a health handbook for all runners.

Thank you to all my followers on social media who motivate and spur me on every day with their passion for running and never fail to like all my far from perfect running selfies! I love to chat about running so do come and say hello on my social media accounts or on my blog drjulietmcgrattan.com.

Thanks to all those people in my life whove got my back with special mention to friends Tamsin, Nicky, Jennie, Lisa, Vicki and Louise. To Christina Neal, Lisa Jackson, Rhalou Allerhand, Joe Williams, Vicki Broadbent, Moire OSullivan and Nell McAndrew, thank you for all the support, encouragement and opportunities you have given me. And to the wonderful team at 261 Fearless, its an honour to work with you to bring running to so many women around the world. Kathrine Switzer, Edith Zuschmann and Horst von Bohlen, thank you for teaching me so much about running, life and business, you are truly my inspirations.

An extra special thank you to my family who raised an eyebrow when I announced my next writing challenge, but then got fully behind me to help me get to the end. To Ken, Joseph, Thomas and Molly, thanks for all the love and fun, for waiting at finish lines and for being patient while I wrote. Youre the best!

If you have enjoyed Run Well, Id be so grateful if you would leave me a review at the place you buy your books online. I know its adding to your to-do list but it makes so much difference to authors. Thank you so much.

And finally, a huge thank you to all of you in the running community. You always brighten my day. Enjoy the wonderful gift of running everybody and make sure you run well!

Dear Runner,

I have been a part of this wonderful community for 13 years and it has brought me so much joy. It has supported, encouraged and motivated me, helped me be my best, finished in front, behind and beside me, and cheered me on regardless. Its not just the running, its the people and the opportunities that it has brought me. I have made friends, travelled the world and even found a new career. It was time for me to give back. I wanted to use my years of running, my 16 years working as a GP and my new career as a writer to create something for you all.

The human body is a complex and fascinating thing, and I am still learning about it. Despite our best intentions, things go wrong and navigating the online forums and websites to get the information you need can be a tricky and even dangerous task. Over the years as a GP and as a health expert for many magazines and online communities, I have been asked literally hundreds of running-related health questions. I hope in the pages of this book you will find something to reassure you, to inform you and even to make you laugh. I want you to learn about your body so you can be amazed by it, know how to look after it and feel confident about when to ask for help.

I have enjoyed writing this book so much. I have imagined you all, across the desk from my computer, asking me questions and listening to my answers. I feel you have shared this journey with me. So, my running friends, here is my book and I hope it helps you to run well.

P.S. Do remember that this book in no way replaces seeing a medical professional who can assess you, examine you and take your personal medical and family history into account. If youre a competing athlete, then always check that any medications you use arent prohibited. But I know you know that!

Running is a journey of discovery. Not just of running routes and new places but of your own human body. Your capacity to endure and perform. Your resilience and courage. Your ability to harness the power of running and use it in other areas of your life. But, like any journey, there are ups and downs, delays and set-backs.