Run, Rabbit Run, Rabbit Run Run Run

We all have an exercise or sport that suits us a little more than all the others, even if you don’t know what it is yet. For me it is running.

Now, I love lots of sport/exercise:

• Climbing
• Horse-riding
• Body-boarding
• Running (as I’ve mentioned)
• The gym
• Football (yes that is playing!)
• Boxercise
• British Military Fitness (although only attended the trial session, I loved it)

To name just a few and I am sure there would be more from those I haven’t yet tried. However, out of the above, most cost money, whether it be initial start off costs for all the gear or whether it be for an on going cost per activity. Most are time consuming to travel to and/or to actually do.

Then there is running which is free and you can start from right outside your front door. I say free, I suppose there is the cost of trainers and, being a sufferer of shin splints in the past, a good pair of trainers that suit your individual running style are invaluable. I always know when I’ve had mine too long as my shin splits return. I have often spent the same amount on them as you would a fashion pair, sometimes less,so they aren’t necessarily going to break the bank – unlike the equipment/gear for other sports/exercises.

I still can’t believe I ran a 3.5mile race with serious shin splints without stopping – I’m bloody stubborn when I want to be, so much so that it crosses the line into stupidity – I could barely walk by the end and had to take 6-8 weeks off running. The reasons for the shin splints – an old, tatty pair of non-running trainers!

I get bored of repetition and, even in the gym, I used to have a huge bank of different exercises that I used to rotate round and then drop/add another exercise every 6 weeks! Running,again, is great for avoiding that. You get bored of your route, you change it. Go down a different street, run around a beautiful place like a park or, if you are lucky enough (like me) to live near the sea, then run down by the beach.

The next criteria to be a good sport or exercise in my book is I have to be able to see an improvement quickly and have the potential to be ok at it. With running, I can count the distance and can always, very quickly, see an improvement, striving for the next mile.

It is a great way to ‘clear your mind’ too. Particularly, if there is something troubling me or I’m angry about something, I can spend that time processing it in my mind and, in fact, it helps my running if there is something on my mind, because I don’t focus on the run, therefore getting through the miles without even noticing.

Of course, you can run competitively against other people but, for me, there’s no better competition than myself – always trying improve and do better than the last run!

Then there are the sports I don’t like:

Swimming – In my opinion, swimming pools are there to play, splash and have fun in. I see nothing fun about swimming up and down in straight lines trying not to splash or catch the eye of the swimmer in the next lane that’s doing butterfly strokes with goggles on and, in my case, swimming 6 lengths to my one – that’s if I manage the one. I am not a strong swimmer having cheated at many of my ribbons and badges at school by walking along the floor, kicking up my legs once in a while. Not something I’m proud of, I wish I had tried harder and was a better swimmer – I’ll encourage my children to swim – but you can’t change the past and I am not that fussed about trying to change the future, where swimming is concerned!

Bikes that don’t actually move! – How dull can you get? and they are bloody hard work! Yes, I know the bike is fab for your bum and legs and is a great exercise if you get shin splints, but nope, not for me. And don’t even think about suggesting Spinning! What cruel, satanic, person dreamed up that exercise. I did try it once – and it was a beginners class. All these people were standing up, peddling for the walls (why don’t they put a poster of hills or something on the gym walls, surely there must be some kind of motivation even if it is static?), with the wind in their hair (could just be the high powered fan or maybe wind of another kind from the ‘cyclist’ in front) with a stark look of determination on their face. Whereas I was sitting down collapsed over the front handlebars wondering how I was going to survive the next 43 minutes (of a 45 minute class). I survived, just, but did most of it sitting down and on the least resistance!

Aerobics – Now, it isn’t that I dislike aerobics, I actually quite enjoy it – usually because I’m laughing my socks off at the back of the class as I bump into everyone next to me and am always a move behind. Its just not ‘my exercise’. I’d do it again if I was up for a giggle and had a good friend to go along with but its certainly not something, with my co-ordination (or lack of it), I’m ever going to be good at and I’m not sure the rest of the class found my bumper car impression as funny as I did! It is for this reason, I have never chanced a dancercise style class, despite the fact it always looks like lots of fun when I’ve seen it on the TV or heard people talk about it.

So there you have it – that’s why I love running! I’m never going to be an Olympic champion and may not ever even make it to marathon standards (though I dream that maybe one day I will) but hey, I can do it and I like it! Listening to my Running playlist on my iPod while my Runtastic App on my HTC Desire records my stats as I run down Bournemouth beach just after sunset. What isn’t there to like?

So, just so you know, you may get the odd post from me relating to running - like my next post that tells of a particular woe I seem to suffer from…