Lolloping sloth

It may come as a surprise to those of you that don’t know me all that well, but I am a sloth. Perhaps not in the literal sense and not on the extreme end of the scale as some are, but I am still a sloth. I love to lollop, laze and feed.

I always enjoyed playing sport as a youngster because I got to hang around with my friends and try many different skills. As we grew up sport became less of a priority because some crazy adults thought that school work and qualifications were a better idea (nutters!) I started training at the gym around the age of 15 and was playing rugby at my local club outside of school. All of this was good fun because it involved other people, so I had a commitment to turn up and loved it when I did.

Several years later after school had finished and I had entered the “real world” I took to running to replace the rugby that I had left behind. I was crap at first, but after running with others on my personal trainer’s course I saw a rapid improvement and felt the satisfaction of a good run. Naturally I over trained at that point and ran so much that I developed compartment syndrome in my lower legs, forcing me to lay off for a few weeks. I have since broken most of the running rules, because that’s kind of a fun way to learn! Probably the worst thing I did at this early point in my running “career” (I am yet to actually earn money from it), is not joining a running club and running with others. I think at the time I enjoyed my own company and that time alone to daydream. Now as a 30 year old I still enjoy that time daydreaming on runs, but I am less motivated to get my arse moving in the morning for a run. More recently I have found the benefit of running with friends is to get me out of bed at 530am on a Sunday, run 30km and then enjoy the rest of the day.

However running is not quite the same as “playing”. I never consider a good run to be more fun than a good ride on a bike. Nor do I consider it more fun than throwing a frisbee about with friends at the beach. So why do I do it you may ask? Well the bit I “enjoy” is putting myself through the ringer, surviving the session and the satisfaction afterwards. Of course the release of endorphins is a legal form of drug taking, so that helps too! When it comes to marathons it is nice to know how far I can push myself and then extend those boundaries. I don’t think we always have that opportunity at work each day to see our development. But in training we can set a goal and progress gradually towards it, seeing the benefits and results we create along the way. That in itself is a good enough reason to do it. Nobody wants to feel like an underachiever and you can only improve with regular, organised training.

So tonight I am going for a run, partly because I posted in my other blog that I was going to have down two runs by tonight - guilt trip! The other part is because by writing about why I run I remind myself what good it does my body, my brain and my soul. Just not as much as riding mountain bikes with Carrot, playing frisbee at the beach with Dane or playing rugby with my old mates. Ah well!

T :)