Still at the Gym

It is strange not to be running outside and restricting myself to maintenance runs on the treadmill. It seems more like work i.e. having the objective and carrying out a plan in a prescribed manner rather than an act of enjoyment (gyms are, after all, fitness factories). But it is not all joyless:

Any exercise makes me feel better. If I don’t do something to raise my heart rate and pump blood around the body, my mind tends to get sluggish and muzzy.
There is satisfaction to be had from the quantification of effort – i.e. know you are maintaining a steady, known speed for set amount of time. (When I run outside my speed tends to go up and down quite a bit).

It is easy to gradually vary the effort of each session, either speed or time, and set yourself little challenges – much more easily than outdoors.

However the major benefit is the result of a treadmill’s major disadvantage. It is dull and time passes more slowly so you have to work harder on strategies to keep yourself going. It is mental training, which I hope makes me stronger

The other good thing is that you can people watch. I have written before about people with disabilities determinedly trying to improve -they always make me feel humble. But there are also other people who make me think about what I am doing.

Perhaps because I am fairly stiff, I am unduly impressed by those who are flexible but watching them reminds me that even if I have no natural aptitude it is an area I ought to work at. I am convinced that most of the injuries I have had have been the result of stiffness in my calves and hamstring and they have always happened after I have neglected my stretches for a period. For some reason I am better able to discipline myself to stretch properly at the gym than at home.

So there are advantages to gym sessions but they do not give me a feeling of deep enjoyment. That comes from being outside where there is fresher air and a sense of freedom. There is no sense of freedom in a gym – perhaps that is another way in which they are a bit like work.

Photothon 25: Under the shade of trees

Another broken rule! Not the furthest point but the end (and of course the beginning).

It was a hot day and the only place to run was in the woods, under a canopy of trees. There was a such a difference in temperature between the open areas and woodland that I don't think I could have run very far without that cover of leaves.

I took some photos at the furthest point and could have used them but the defining moment of today's run happened at the end, when it was over and I was doing my stretches. I am a believer in stretches after a run. Whenever I have had injuries they have usually been caused by tight calves so I spend a deal of time easing out my calves. I also have tight hamstrings and they need stretching, which I usually do by lying on my back and pulling back on a straightened leg.

I was doing this near a tree and, as is my usual practice, had my eyes closed when I held the stretch. However for some reason I opened them and looked up at the cover of trees with the sun filtering through and the blue sky beyond outlined in an intricate pattern. An enormous feeling of peace swept over me. In the distance I could hear children playing. A couple of girls were trying to work their hula hoops and some boys were building a den out of fallen branches. In another area there was laughter from a group of mums and their children having a picnic. The place was at ease with itself and I was looking up, up, up into the heavens.

Admittedly it was not all perfect balance and harmony – I did have one leg waving about in the air, rather uncomfortably – but it was a moment to enjoy. If running can bring on such moods,even if only occasionally, then it is worth all the sweaty effort.