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Running is good.
It's hot and sweaty and tiring. But it feels good to be able to do it. Both because my latest asthma treatment, Seretide, makes me able to do it without asphyxiating, even though I'm pretty unfit, but also because I'm very grateful to have two legs still. I try to remember this every day.
Running in winter is better.
It gets you outdoors, in the fresh air, at a time of year when I don't spend much time outside. And you don't get so hot, of course - until you get inside.
Running in winter in the daytime is better still.
The cold wind in your face feels like a cool breeze; it's pleasant, even exhilarating. And the weak sun shines in your face and makes you feel truly alive. Perfect therapy for SAD.
But running in winter in the snow is best of all.
The crunch of virgin powder under my running shoes. No mud, no puddles, just crisp whiteness spraying from my toes and back from my heels. At first, trackless white in front of me, then retracing my steps, watching for lap after lap as my pace stays much the same, my course unvarying, until I deviate a little to scale some berms or pound through the bark pits surrounding the children's toys. Watching as my pace shortens; time to stop. Sitting on an ice-cold bench, breathing deeply, getting my wind back for another couple of laps, feeling the wintry wind but not feeling the chill at all. Marvelling at the drugs and surgery and sheer luck that allow this. Enjoying the sensation of my legs working beneath me. Having time to register and really notice the snow-covered twigs on the trees, the patterns in the thin coverlet made by the grass and ground beneath. Feeling my feet slip then find traction on the slopes. Paying attention to how a lap and a half barely registers any more; I'm just starting to warm up by then. Noticing how, just barely perceptibly, it gets easier, day by day.
I've run every day this week so far. I really want to keep this up. Motivation is hard in my current state, but this is helping. I want to do this. I must do this. “Mens sana in corpore sano” and all that.
Shower time now.
It's hot and sweaty and tiring. But it feels good to be able to do it. Both because my latest asthma treatment, Seretide, makes me able to do it without asphyxiating, even though I'm pretty unfit, but also because I'm very grateful to have two legs still. I try to remember this every day.
Running in winter is better.
It gets you outdoors, in the fresh air, at a time of year when I don't spend much time outside. And you don't get so hot, of course - until you get inside.
Running in winter in the daytime is better still.
The cold wind in your face feels like a cool breeze; it's pleasant, even exhilarating. And the weak sun shines in your face and makes you feel truly alive. Perfect therapy for SAD.
But running in winter in the snow is best of all.
The crunch of virgin powder under my running shoes. No mud, no puddles, just crisp whiteness spraying from my toes and back from my heels. At first, trackless white in front of me, then retracing my steps, watching for lap after lap as my pace stays much the same, my course unvarying, until I deviate a little to scale some berms or pound through the bark pits surrounding the children's toys. Watching as my pace shortens; time to stop. Sitting on an ice-cold bench, breathing deeply, getting my wind back for another couple of laps, feeling the wintry wind but not feeling the chill at all. Marvelling at the drugs and surgery and sheer luck that allow this. Enjoying the sensation of my legs working beneath me. Having time to register and really notice the snow-covered twigs on the trees, the patterns in the thin coverlet made by the grass and ground beneath. Feeling my feet slip then find traction on the slopes. Paying attention to how a lap and a half barely registers any more; I'm just starting to warm up by then. Noticing how, just barely perceptibly, it gets easier, day by day.
I've run every day this week so far. I really want to keep this up. Motivation is hard in my current state, but this is helping. I want to do this. I must do this. “Mens sana in corpore sano” and all that.
Shower time now.
