AN UPPERMILL writer is encouraging others to follow in his footsteps and leave technology at home while they run for pleasure – and it is all captured in his new book.
John Matthews has launched ‘Unplugged Runner – what happens when you run free’ to chart his journey choosing fresh air and freedom of the outdoors over gadgets.
And he hopes his readers will follow suit, forgetting about tracking running times, distances and splits but instead just enjoying the experience of running.
John, a tv producer and film maker for almost 30 years, said: “This is my fifth book and my first e-book – it’s about running free, releasing ourselves from gadgets, and what happens when you run free of any app or interference.
“Gadgets and apps get in the way of us having fun. They create a barrier between what is actually happening and how we experience it.
“All of this heart rate, blood pressure, steps, speed, distance is taking us away from having fun running. It makes us enjoy the results after and often not focus on the actual run.
“I realised that when I started entering 10k races and joining running clubs, the fun was draining from my running.
“What we need to do is get closer to the actual running, focus on where we are in nature, feel the physical effects. Stop wasting our lives studying the numbers of things already in the past that the gadgets create.
“Also it’s not just about running, it’s about connecting closer with the landscape, about getting outside.
“I don’t want to be anywhere near my phone when I am out running. Ideally, I want to create a movement that ditches tech in the outdoors.”
Broadcaster Jim White, who wrote the book foreword, said: “When I do my local Saturday morning Park Run, I am struck by how obsessed everyone is with tech.
“I’m no different. I have a patch on my arm to hold my mobile, which I plug into some tracking site recording everything I do from the distance covered to my average blood glucose.
“When I finish the run, my immediate priority is not to breathe in the pleasures of exercise. It is to check how things have gone.
“In this book John tells you to try ditching all of it, free yourself and see what happens. What happens to John is fascinating!”
John has also launched a branded clothing range and the opportunity to join his very first ‘Unplugged Runner Club’ as he hopes to start a movement of running for pleasure.
Find out more and purchase ‘Unplugged Runner’ online.
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