Running: the rambling part

Running. It holds a strange place in the national psyche. It's generally perceived as the entry-level exercise. Taking a brisk walk every day is a good start, but for those who decide they really want to improve their fitness and lose weight I'd bet more take up jogging than anything else. But it's usually a hate-hate relationship. People struggle their way through uncomfortable and sweaty sessions, slogging their wheezing bodies round the block before collapsing back home to nurse their blisters. It can be a high barrier to entry - while many believe this is the price they must pay and continue to put themselves through it, others move on to 'more advanced' fitness activities or abandon their hopes altogether. After all, if they can't even hack going for a little jog what business do they have running at all?

Yet still there are people lacing up their shoes every day and hitting the road, with varying degrees of success. Something drives them, some basic belief that running is good for you. It can be surprising how negative non-runners can be about the activity, until you realise that most of these people are actually failed runners. Whatever arguments or reasons they throw out against the utility of running, you can be pretty sure they still tried it at some point and weren't happy with the results. The flipside of this most natural form of exercise is that people expect it to come naturally. You are either a runner or you're not. People resist the idea that it is something they should have to learn. And our society reinforces that, one way or another. Whether it's acceptance of a sedentary life (which is slowly changing) or the belief that 'cardio' and fitness are mutually exclusive, there are plenty of facilitators out there who will let you slink away and take the shortcut on that cross-country run.

I was there. Nothing was as bad for my asthma as trying to run through the mud in winter as we circled the school, and nothing as embarrassing as the showers afterwards. Through my teenage years I'd wheeze and rattle over short distances, and stop before my legs literally burned to nothing. Shin splints were most common ailment, even through that period at university where I tried committing to jogging regularly. And oh the chafing. Once a week was all I did because that's how long it took to recover. There would be occasional bright spots. When the sun came out and I could bounce along and feel ready to take on the world, but by the time I rounded the next corner and saw how much farther I still had to go my spirit would dip and my legs would grow heavy. It was boring, it was uncomfortable, it left me struggling to walk one time in three and it didn't seem to be having a magnificent impact on my waistline.

Even later, after I'd overcome my asthmatic tendencies, gotten stronger, healthier, fitter, I still struggled. That last summer of my PhD, when I cycled, walked or ran to campus 5 miles away 3 days of the week and swam the other days. When I could play badminton or frisbee for hours on end, darting about the court or field, when I could hike in the mountains all day. I don't think I ran that whole 5 miles once. I would manage a mile or two then need to walk, my legs and my lungs conspiring against me. And through all this not once did it occur to me that I didn't know how to run. I was willing to accept my physical limitations. I thought that if I kept trying I would find it easier, it's not as if I never enjoyed it after all. But those moments of pleasure were rare. Too often all I got was the satisfaction of having made the effort. I figured that would have to be enough. 10 years of voluntarily, albeit sporadically, exercising to become fitter and healthier still left me uncomfortable running much more than 400m. I never got seriously injured, but I would credit that to never having been so committed as to put in the mileage many novice runners do in their attempts to improve.

So where am I now, barely a year after I read a book that changed my perception of running so entirely as to blow away all those years as a failed runner, all the excuses and half-truths I'd whispered to myself? In some ways I had been lucky, I'd stumbled on to discussions about correct running form 2 years ago and could finally see that technique isn't something that only matters in separating elite sprinters by hundredths of a second. Whatever level you're at, technique matters. I can only suppose I'd blinded myself up until this point as I was well aware that I had had to learn some things about how to walk if I was going to cover 25 steep miles without joints seizing up, why should running come any more naturally? So I had begun the work of actively trying to correct the physical and postural problems inflicted by our manmade environment. I still felt that there was no need to run any great distances. Short sprints were fine, there was always time to catch your breath in sport and so many other things to do. And besides, running properly required commitment, training, its own rest days and recovery right? You couldn't expect to go out every day, especially not if you were doing other physical activities.

Well that all depends on what's important to you. Of course you can go run every day, if you choose to do it right. You can deadlift without breaking your back or squat without ruining your knees, if you take the time to learn how and to build the strength, stability and mobility you once had as a child and lost as you graduated to the desk. There is no greater functional movement, and it is a shame to see the misinformation that holds people back, just as it is to see the litany of excuses from people who are otherwise well educated about fitness and equipped to perform well. As my previous posts have explained, fitness to me is not judged in a single moment or on a single action. If you can't drop everything and run at a moment's notice, and more specifically if you don't know your body well enough to know how to do it safely, what speed is maintainable, how to surge past obstacles or recharge your batteries all while on the move, then while I may be impressed by your dedication, strength or skill at a particular activity don't expect me to be impressed by your fitness. For me it's still a work in progress, but in that year I've gone from being that person who needed a week or more of recovery after pushing to run more than half a mile to being able to stroll out the door with no intention other than to enjoy the outdoors and end up going 7 miles and wondering later that day if I wouldn't like to go out and play some more. It is natural. There's a reason why people keep trying to do it. There's also a reason why so many fail, and we'll get to that in the next post.