Pain is only temporary
Glory lasts forever
A few years ago I was in the lunch room at work before I clocked
on, having a glass of water. A work colleague entered the room
and we got chatting about how we traveled to work. I told her I
park my car at South Bank and walk to the office, which is about
a 2km walk. She replied in amazement with "Wow, aren't you good
to walk all that way". Yes, I was Super Man because I was so
active and had the stamina to endure the 2km trek.
Little did she know
To be honest, I almost did feel like Super Man when I arrived at
work that day, not from the 2km walk but because of what I had
done for the 90min or so earlier that morning. I just couldn't
be bothered telling her I had been out the door at 5.45am for a
25km run.
I don't train anywhere near the volume I used to and thank God I
no longer work in that particular office, however I do have
vivid memories of the days I trained hard and arrived at work
feeling more than alive. My work colleagues had no idea as to
how hard I had pushed my body during the two training sessions
which passed in the 16 or so hours since we last met.
Running is a primitive means of transport......
I know there are many scientific reasons explaining why we often
feel great after a run however I prefer to look upon the "High"
from a more simplistic view. Running is a primitive means of
transport which requires little modern day outside influences
apart from a comfortable pair of shoes and apparel. It's
one of the most pure physical activities available to us.
I often thought it would be great if you could bottle the great
feeling you walk away with following a run. That clean relaxed
feeling which fuels your soul making you believe you could
almost conquer anything.
At times,
my guys walk away exhausted
I attempt to offer encouragement to all of the runners in my
Brisbane Running Group and at times they walk away exhausted yet
satisfied that the hour was well spent.
Following a recent session I received the following email from
one of the group members.
"A big
thanks for this morning's speedwork session. I thought I really
pushed myself to the red line for just about all of it and came
away thinking I could not have gone any harder. Just feeling
fantastic today and your help has been nothing short of
sensational. I may be a little unbalanced but, damn I'm enjoying speedwork with the group! What a great and positive bunch. No
doubt the endorphins will settle a little soon but it feels
pretty good at the moment".
David's words were sent free of any prompt from me and I believe
they are a "live" capture of the way many of us feel following a
run.
On the flip side, running can also be slightly cruel. Running
can be an extremely demanding action to put your body through
and without adequate rest/ recovery from sessions access to the
Super Human rush can be taken away from you via injury and
fatigue. ITB syndrome, achilles tendonitis, stress fractures &
chronic fatigue.
The list goes on and they can all leave you sidelined for
months.
Running allows us to experience PEACE
Running is not just about obtaining quality of life through
greater fitness and chasing personal best times along the way.
Running allows us to experience peace.
Next time you experience that clean/relaxed feeling after a run,
maybe you can capture how you feel in writing, just like how
David did.
Not taking what you have for granted and appreciating being
healthy and fit may be all that is needed to allow you to keep
in tune with your body, preventing injury and fatigue, allowing
the highs to just keep on coming.
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