Fun run

On Sunday I had a complete failure in the legs department. As I set out on an 11 mile training run with Catherine I felt ok. Normally it takes me awhile to get going, to find my rhythm, but yesterday I never got there. Aside from struggling with my breathing I felt as though my lower body had gone Kim Kardashian overnight. After 3.5 miles doing the Ironman shuffle I told Catherine to carry on without me. I then walked three miles home. This last remark is the most unusual as I despise walking unless there is a purpose, such as walking to the beach or a pub.

Yesterday I decided to erase the memory of the bad run by doing... another run. The trouble with Coogee is that whichever way you head there's a hill to climb, you can't avoid it. Nor did I yesterday as I took myself off south along the coastal path towards Maroubra. It was a great run. Maybe it was the sea breeze on my face, the spectacular view, or that I didn't feel like shit.

Despite it being a great run it wasn't necessarily "fun". The idea of running being fun is alien to me, unless it's on a trail in the country. Admittedly I felt good yesterday and enjoyed it, but mainly when I had finished. Most of my runs are similar to beating myself with a bat, just a little more breathless.

This run and the terrible one I'd like to forget on Sunday got me to thinking, "When have I enjoyed a run and thought it was fun?"

Well it has happened over the last 11 years of running. All be it only a few times. The first was when I ran a cross country 10km race near Salisbury, then when I ran an ultra marathon of 50km at midnight in the middle of nowhere and more recently a 20k trail run and a half marathon PB. There have been times when I've run with friends but they were probably more enjoyable once completed.

So why do it? Why do some of us use our free time to do something we don't find fun?

The easiest way I can explain why I run stupidly long distances is this; I enjoy completing a challenge. That is where the enjoyment comes from. But I don't think it's fun. Mountain biking in Switzerland? That's fun. Playing frisbee? That's fun. Sitting on my arse at the beach, drinking beer and watching the sea? Definitely fun.

I get a level of satisfaction bar none from running for hours and finishing an event alive. It's caveman. It purely satisfies a piece of brain that used to operate frequently under the stress of being chased by large animals, big, hungry animals.

Sadly we don't get chased by anything anymore, so those feelings come from something else. For those that need it we have activities such as running, weight lifting, climbing, cycling, surfing and mountaineering among others to take us to the edge. Yes people find them fun, but a lot of people do them because they need to. It's a drug they need.

Running for me is a way to push myself to physical and mental limits, to go beyond them, to accomplish something extraordinary. I enjoy it when it's finished, then I can relax knowing I completed what I set out to do. The fun is enjoying that knowledge whilst sipping a cold beer!

Tomorrow is a running day, til next time...

Tom :)


- Posted from the modern day type writer