Kinda defeats the point, no?
I've
been surrounded by so many people recently who rave about running
like it's the greatest pastime ever. Google 'running and endorphins'
(endorphins being pleasure chemicals found in the bloodstream) and
you'll find a slew of articles like this one
and this one
and this one
proclaiming running to be the best legal high going. It's been touted by those that do it so much that I thought I'd give it another shot.
I
decide on a route similar to one I used to run when I was 17- in
fact, it's a little shorter as it goes past my current home and I cut
out the part that went past my parents'. I wanted to see if it made
me feel as good as people said it would.
“It
gets you out in the fresh air,” they say. “It clears your mind.”
“It's great for mental health as well as physical.” I have no
doubt that, for some people, these statements ring true. But when you
live in Oldham, an outskirt town, the air isn't so fresh anyway. And
yeah, it clears your mind- and leaves you with an overwhelming sense
of boredom.
The
original route used to take me 30 minutes, if memory serves. I
remember flying around it, weighing a little over 60kg back in 1999.
I'm now over 80kg, with a load of muscle and fat added to my ageing
frame. Around half way around, the outside of my right foot started
to give me a little jip. I couldn't do anything other than keep
going, so I ploughed on, arriving home in the pissing rain, and in
agony, clocking in at 45 minutes.
I
left it a few days before doing any more exercise. On returning, I
hit the gym and tried a series of 10 minute runs. I started with 10
minutes on the cross trainer, then did a few minutes of abs work-
sit-ups, crunch machine, planks. I interspersed each run with around
5 minutes of stomach exercises, to let my legs recover. I started at
7.0kph, a steady jog. The next run was 7.1, and so on. I battled
through 8.0kph, with the same right side of the bridge of my right
foot causing agony.
I
typically forgot to weigh myself on entry to the gym, but I was
84.1kg on the way out. This whole thing was a terrible idea. I went
home and watched a film.
So,
no. Running is not for me. For cardio and fresh air, I'll use a
skipping rope, thanks. It's much better for your feet, knees and
muscles all over your body. It also means if you get tired and want
to stop, you aren't miles from home. You're in the same spot
geographically that you started in.
Who
enjoys running? Not me, that's for sure. Give me weights or a punch
bag over a jog any day of the week. I guess the point of this blog
post is that exercise should be fun (hence me uploading it on
#psychologysaturday).
Just because everyone else does it, doesn't mean you have to too. If
you're not getting endorphins from exercise, try a different form of
exercise. I'll stick with the gym, thanks.
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