Running took me by surprise. Like so many others, I was only a couple of weeks into C25k, when I needed to find out whether it was ok to run every day, because I was enjoying this exercise, in a totally unexpected way. This wonderful forum provided the answer. Damn........ I've got to have a rest day! I wanted to run all the time....I was loving it and still am. So where did this passion arise from? How did it take hold so quickly?
Over the last two and a half years I have watched a neighbour's son, Aidan, grow from birth to active toddler. He is a fearless individual, which strikes terror into the hearts of his parents. As soon as he could walk unaided, he wanted to run. Wise parents counselled against it on uneven surfaces, but his ebullience and lack of experience meant that he threw caution to the wind and rushed, often faster than his feet could carry him, with the inevitability that gravity would win over, leaving him sprawling and bawling on the ground. This did not, in itself, seem to deter him and as his technique has improved he has managed to remain upright for longer, running and jumping with sheer exuberance and joy of life.
His parents have had to restrain him when near roads or other hazards, obviously, but have not managed (nor attempted) to quash his zeal. At toddler group he is being slowly socialised into sitting and no doubt by the time he reaches school, he will have learned only to run when it is appropriate.
No one is permitted to run inside a school.....for good reason. I remember my primary school playground as a melee of wildly rushing boys and skipping girls, but within the corridors decorum was required. We were allowed to run in PE lessons, but generally in competition with others. Some found they were “good” at it, ie. fast, while others were not “good” at it, and were consequently not encouraged. As the years passed, there was less general charging around and more structured games such as football, and overall, fewer children actually running at all.
Our modern society knocks running out of us, because it is not a requirement for functioning or survival. I ask you, how many of you can say that you have the opportunity to run while at work? Yet, despite not running for all of my adult life, I rekindled the desire to run after just a few sessions. The exhilaration of movement was addictive, despite the pounding heart and the gasping breath, or, maybe because of them.
There is something very basic about running, which is part of our true nature. It is obvious in Aidan with the vitality and excitement that exudes from his careering body. It is also plain to see in so many people who have discovered that running is more than just a way to get exercise, despite the fact that they were never sporty or “good” at running. I wonder how many of the poor souls that we fail to convince with our messianic zeal, who say that they never liked running, could actually recapture that primitive and elemental joy of life that we experience when we run?
My wife told me, when I started C25k, that she had never liked running and that I wouldn't get her running. I said nothing. She now runs. She now loves running.
Enjoy your running.
Running on holiday!
Running clothes
Running with children advice?
