I’m not a huge runner; we know this. But this weather…it makes me want to at least pretend to be. Right down the street from our house is a woody trail that wraps around a lake, and it’s so beautiful and peaceful at this time of year that I actually crave getting out there with a pair of sneakers, a pair of headphones, and perhaps Virgil (Lucy, as you can probably imagine, isn’t exactly the athletic type).
This is very weird for me. But it feels so good.
Now, full disclosure, lest you think I’ve gone and replaced Jordan with some kind of Exercise Bot: When it comes to running, I max out at about 20 minutes and usually don’t even hit that…but it’s not really the length of time that I spend running that matters to me; it’s how even a short jog makes me feel.
It’s obviously energizing and heart-pumping and all the things you’d expect, but my favorite part has to be how my skin looks and feels for the rest of the day: sort of glowy, like all the blood has gone right there to the surface and stayed put – and this makes sense, because anything that boosts your circulation also benefits your skin.
It makes makeup almost besides the point. Which is so nice.
To get the maximum skin-boosting benefits from a morning run (or whatever your exercise routine of choice is):
1. Pre-exercise, gently exfoliate your skin so that it gets a chance to breathe.
2. Don’t forget SPF if you’ll be exercising outdoors – even if it’s cool out, you absolutely absolutely absolutely need it (try Simple Skincare Protecting Light Moisturizer SPF 15; it’s fast-absorbing and light, and won’t slide off your face when you sweat).
3. Post-exercise, either rinse off your skin with plain old water or give it a quick swipe with a cleansing wipe (these are my favorites) before applying some more moisturizer. And then go ahead and keep your makeup to a minimum; with all that natural glow, who needs it?
