Niko Niko

I've been running off and on since I graduated from high school. Running during sports always seemed like a punishment or drudgery, but when I began running on my own at age eighteen, it quickly became freeing. Mark had left for Army basic training and I took up jogging to pass the time while he was gone.

Having later moved to Wilmington while in nursing school, I would get up before daylight and run along the busy streets; cars passing on their way to work. Once, I slipped in the snowy sidewalk in a busy intersection under the early morning streetlights. I quickly got up and continued on, much chagrined and hoping no one had taken the time to notice.

In our little gray house in Pricetown, I would sneak in a run while Mark played with our small children. When I became pregnant for Rachel, I continued running into my third trimester.

After we moved to Providence Prairie, our jogging days waned as homesteading took the forefront and most of our physical resources. Soon though, we found ourselves once again jogging, this time along the rock roads of desolate Hamilton County. We rarely met a car but saw plenty of oil horses. It was an introvert runner’s paradise.

We ran off and on, but sometime prior to our first two children’s courtships, we became more consistent again. We didn't miss a day of running for an entire year! That felt like an accomplishment! When we have been in periods of life where we aren't running, I always eventually found myself gazing longingly at runners as we passed by them in the car. Walking was fine, but I know that when I am running, I feel happy and free.

Once again, I persuaded Mark to go running with me. So, since early 2021, we have amped up our normal walking routine as I was eager to return to my solitary community of runners. Just me, just Mark, sometimes our children.

After periods of no running, it made sense to begin gradually. We utilized the C25K program and set off. Couch to 5 kilometers in just six to eight weeks sounded great! Nevertheless, we were well into running when it was time for preplanned surgery for Mark. After our hiatus and his recuperation, we picked up where we left off and completed the program. I might mention that we weren't very fast. Not fast at all! In fact, I've never been a fast runner.

Still jogging slowly, I came across an article about a Japanese professor, Hiroaki Tanaka, who was a marathon runner. Later in life, he started running slower in an attempt to improve his marathon time. Amazingly, he just about cut his time in half! Tanaka formalized his slow jogging system after using it to cut his time from 4:11 for the marathon in his thirties to 2:40 when he was fifty-years old and eventually 2:38:50 – his personal best after that. That is impressive!

He calls his technique Niko Niko running, which in Japanese means happy, happy. That is because the pace is slow enough to carry on a conversation and isn't exhausting. It's a happy run that you look forward to. Mark and I appreciate our slow run together as we catch up on each other's day and reconnect. He says it reminds him of the airborne shuffle that he did in basic training . He recalled how they could run at that pace for hours on end. And more recently, I have been enjoying special one on one time with each child as they take a turn accompanying their mama on her run.

I realized that this slow jogging was exactly what we were already doing! It is a an efficient, healthier, and pain-free approach to running for all ages and lifestyles. It gave me peace to think that I didn't have to push myself to meet some outside standards of what someone else called running. I could keep on doing what I was already doing and continue to improve my health and wellbeing! In fact, after doing further reading about this running technique, I realized there were many, many more benefits from this running type as compared to faster running.

Slow jogging is an intensity of running that occurs at a heart rate of around 138 minus half your age. It is easy on the joints. And the effects of your run continue long after the run is finished. It reduces anxiety, improves your sense of calm and well-being, it reduces pain. It has been shown to have positive effects on metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, and increases HDL cholesterol in patients doing 180 minutes of slow jogging per week. The slower pace of Niko Niko jogging prevents your body from creating cortisol. People who speak of a runner’s high are often referring to the adrenaline spike that occurs somewhere mid run. What happens when you jog slower is that it causes your body to release endocannabinoids that aren't released in faster runs. Running just feels good!

So I think I will keep on running. . At my slow pace. . . Happily. And free.

~Rhonda