Benz - runners high has in my experience absolutely nothing to do with fast (I don't do fast - local running club won't touch me - I'm too slow, but I'm kite high much of the time.) Has everything to do with the delight of being able to do it at all. A beautiful place to run is the icing on the cake.
The pain of a really hard climb through the woods on summer days The crispness of the air on a dark winters morning The high after a hard effort The company The solitude But most of all, the time it gives me to be me
I like it as it allows me to get outside, relax (?), and enjoy the fresh air. I love the thrill of racing, the effort of training towards a goal, the confidence it gives not only in athletic terms but in life generally. I'm also pleased about the way it keeps me in shape.
Its good too that I can relate to other runners sharing goals,hopes and experiences.
If I'd been asked 6 months ago I would have said I hated running, and that it was boring.
I've only really started running by accident: I was doing a little, mostly intervals, at the gym for general fitness, when someone suggested going for a run along the canal. So I did that, and it was much better than in the gym, but still nothing special. Did it a few more times, and it became a regular thing. Still no breakthrough though.
Then we began to increase the distance, and THAT lit the blue touch paper for me. Now that I'm covering real distances and I feel that I'm actually travelling somewhere I really do enjoy it.
The canal runs are fantastic now, a real escape from town life. I see very few people, there are lots of dragonflies flitting everywhere, its quiet...
Then I did the Windsor half on Sunday. It was first ever, and further than I'd ever run before. For me it was a great course. I enjoyed the leafy green setting, the hills were fine (especially down), the atmosphere, running amongst lots of people... and I finished much quicker than I thought I would.
I love to run along the seemingly endless tracks here in Germany. I can run a different route for almost every day of the month... all around 10 kms each,which is my favourite distance. There are always other runners / walkers / cyclists on these routes,and they always look twice at the "olg guy " in the England tee-shirt running along, singing in time to his walkman. I just love it !!!!!!
Hey MartinH and Billyboy - we're all in the same region more or less! I live in Wachenheim on the Deutsche Weinstrasse and work in Mannheim-Seckenheim. Our house is 200m from the start of the Pfaelzerwald so we run almost always on sunlit (summer) or snowy (winter) forest trails. S.A.
Reasons to run? Clean crisp air, pine needles, miles and miles of forest trails, feeling good, tired-but-wonderful, the taste of a good beer afterwards, my dogs running ahead and back to me,self-reliance, my post-run shower, finding new routes through the forest, lowering my blood pressure, getting rid of work-induced stress, and many more. And maybe mostly -because I can!
I run because my family told me,i was too old!Run the london marathon they said,impossible!But i did it,then injury struck.So now they said you'll have to give up.No no and thrice no, we are now managing some gentle gym work and waiting for a scan that will hopefully give me a clean bill of health.I will run forever.......
Yeah to that! I've got osteoporosis, but so what? I don't let a small thing like fractured bones slow me down - competing in Ironman triathlons I've seen blind people or people with only one leg finishing! In tri circles there's a very famous kid named Rudy Garcia who has no legs but is a fierce triathlon competitor - if he can do it, so can we able-bodied folks!
To enjoy the feeling of getting into the Zone after the first mile or so, the breathing sorts itself out, the heart rate steadies and there is no-one else there. Even if you have a bad run you are still happy you made the effort to go out. The feeling of setting a target, long or short term and achieving it. Having the confidence to say that you can, even if others wonder why you bother.
MartinH and Billyboy - do you guys ever go to Volksmarsch events? John & I often run one on a Sunday for a change in route if we're not doing a race anywhere
Comments
The pain of a really hard climb through the woods on summer days
The crispness of the air on a dark winters morning
The high after a hard effort
The company
The solitude
But most of all, the time it gives me to be me
Will
Even after a difficult run I can still be pleased that I've done it.
It's also agreat way of taking time out....
Love it.....
I love the thrill of racing, the effort of training towards a goal, the confidence it gives not only in athletic terms but in life generally.
I'm also pleased about the way it keeps me in shape.
Its good too that I can relate to other runners sharing goals,hopes and experiences.
I've only really started running by accident: I was doing a little, mostly intervals, at the gym for general fitness, when someone suggested going for a run along the canal. So I did that, and it was much better than in the gym, but still nothing special. Did it a few more times, and it became a regular thing. Still no breakthrough though.
Then we began to increase the distance, and THAT lit the blue touch paper for me. Now that I'm covering real distances and I feel that I'm actually travelling somewhere I really do enjoy it.
The canal runs are fantastic now, a real escape from town life. I see very few people, there are lots of dragonflies flitting everywhere, its quiet...
Then I did the Windsor half on Sunday. It was first ever, and further than I'd ever run before. For me it was a great course. I enjoyed the leafy green setting, the hills were fine (especially down), the atmosphere, running amongst lots of people... and I finished much quicker than I thought I would.
I never, ever, expected to enjoy a run that much!
I just love it !!!!!!
S.A.
Dont let theb###ds grind you down
Even if you have a bad run you are still happy you made the effort to go out.
The feeling of setting a target, long or short term and achieving it. Having the confidence to say that you can, even if others wonder why you bother.