67/365 "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" (ok well i am not a long distance runner, or lonely for that matter, but it sounded an imposing title...)

I have been running on and off now for several years, most seriously about five years ago when I ran 10 miles a week, every week for a year, and could run for an hour and a half continuously as easily as I can now  sit on my behind and watch TV for an hour and a half (actually not that easily, because I get SO fidgety having to sit still for more than five minutes!) I go through phases when I really go off it, and don’t run at all for a few months, and then something gets me out the door and I remember again that I love it. The obvious benefits are well, obvious… fitter body, heart, lungs, more energy, leaner muscles, weight loss, to name a few. But for me although I gladly enjoy all of those benefits, it’s the ones I never suspected I would find that mean the most to me. The feeling of stepping out of my everyday life, of really connecting with my body and the natural world around me (I only ever run outside in parks and woodlands, in winter I make do with a running track, but its still outside) “Stress relief” doesn’t even come close to explaining it, a scientist would no doubt say it is “runners high” that kick of endorphins that make you feel on top of the world “endorphins allow animals to feel a sense of power and control over themselves that allows them to persist with activity for an extended time, and they resemble opiates in their abilities to produce analgesia and a feeling of well-being.” And I guess that is the medical explanation, but the feeling is something almost transcendental. Once I am fit enough to be able to run for 30 minutes plus, I fall into a pattern during my runs. The first ten minutes are hard work, breathing is laboured and legs resist moving, muscles complain, in fact it’s known to runners as “the toxic ten” for that reason. The urge to give up and go home in these ten minutes can be VERY tempting! But as soon as I cross the 10 minute mark everything starts to feel warmed up and I find my pace, and on the best runs it feels like I am expending no effort at all, and almost floating above the ground and feeling more alive than at any other time, every nerve ending tingling, every breath counting. For someone who hated all sports at school with a vengeance and was always overweight, it was a huge psychological breakthrough for me when I first learnt to run and hit the golden “I can run for 30 minutes without a walk break” goal. And I think that achievement changed something within me with regards to the self imposed barriers and ceilings we all put in place as to what we can and can’t do in life. I never thought the 13 stone asthmatic fat girl who cried on mandatory school cross country runs, would EVER be able to run for an hour and a half and love every second of it (well apart from those first 10 minutes of seconds that is!) And the realisation that I could do that made me realise that in fact I could do anything if I set my mind to it. The same year I ran 520 miles, I was number one in the world at the job I do, and achieved an award that no one in my role had ever achieved in EMEA before. I don’t think that was a coincidence. So anyway, I have a lot to thank running for, and sometimes I forget that, and sometimes I don’t bother to appreciate it the way I should, like we all are with everything we value at some point in life, I take the fact that I CAN run for granted and don’t actually always do it! But when something stops me from it like the odd knee or ankle injury, I nearly go wild without it. All of which makes me realise it’s something I should really commit to. It’s easy to come home from work and sit on the sofa with a glass of wine, but then nothing good in life is really achieved easily, and if it was, would it still be as good?

P.S. The photo, yes these are my muddy trainers! I love them most when they look like this, nothing worse than wearing a pair of “box fresh” ones out the door, I usually find the muddiest puddle I can and splash them up good n proper ASAP!