# Sharon Horgan Says Running Gave Her the Kind of Pleasure She Never Expected at 56 > Sharon Horgan overhauled her approach to fitness during menopause, and six years later running two to three times a week has become the habit she credits with both her physical and mental health. - Source: Life Channel - Canonical URL: https://lifechannel.one/article/sharon-horgan-56-running-fitness-routine - Author: Nora Whitfield - Section: Wellness - Published: 2026-09-27T21:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-27T21:00:00.000Z - Tags: Sharon Horgan, Running, Fitness, Menopause, Wellness --- Sharon Horgan did not come to running as an adult by accident. She ran cross country as a kid between the ages of 12 and 15, then largely left it behind for decades before picking it back up around six years ago, during a stretch of midlife when menopause symptoms pushed her to rethink her health habits more broadly. ## A routine built around distance, not intensity These days Horgan runs two to three times a week, typically sticking to 5k distances and occasionally stretching to 10k when she is running with other people. Old injuries factor into that pacing. She has pins in her hip from a previous injury and manages ongoing knee issues, both of which keep her runs shorter and more measured than they might otherwise be. What has stuck with her, she says, is how unexpectedly satisfying the habit has turned out to be. She has described the pleasure it gives her as something she genuinely did not see coming when she started back up. ## A habit that travels with her Horgan packs running shoes wherever she goes, whether it is a holiday or a work trip, treating runs as a way to actually see a new city rather than following a set scenic route. She has also found the time useful for thinking, occasionally stopping mid-run to record an idea on her phone before continuing. Between the physical routine and the mental clearing it seems to provide, running has become less of a fitness box to check for Horgan and more of a fixed part of how she moves through her days, at home or away. --- Originally published by Life Channel. Free to cite with attribution and a link to https://lifechannel.one/article/sharon-horgan-56-running-fitness-routine.