Healthier heart Your heart is responsible for pumping blood to carry oxygen to the body. When you run, you cause your heart to work harder, pumping more blood. Over time, running makes your heart more efficient so that even if you are at rest, your heart is pumping more blood with each heart beat. The arteries also benefits from running. Runner s high is also believed to be responsible for the runners seeming addiction to running: Because they are always intensely post-euphoric, runners keep running every chance they get. 3. Improves confidence The sense of achievement after finishing a run or completing a target distance boosts the runners confidence. Next time you feel like going farther and faster, ask if your body is capable of the demands, then let sound judgment overtake you. 3. Take some breaks. This is especially important if you feel soreness in your muscles or are overly tired. A day or two of missed run is better than subjecting your already fatigued body to a possibility of injury. Heart monitors help the runner tweak his program to ensure he is training at the right intensity. Speed and distance monitors give out data such as how far he has run and how fast his pace he is running. These little devices (now installed with a GPS system) also allow storing information for future use or reference. But in order to prevent dehydration, weakness, and, in more serious cases, heat stroke while running, runners need to constantly replenish the lost amount of fluid. The problem usually is that runners replenish only half of the amount. To be adequately hydrated, they need to drink water before, during, and after running. This is like the style of the swimmers who breathe at every third stroke. Runners who get to this state can keep running like a clock, with consistent pace and a great deal of efficiency. This concentration on breathing can also take his mind away from pain or soreness that may have developed at this stage and can cause him to quit the race.