On Running
People. I love my running group. I love the interaction with other runners. Interating with strangers is rare in LA’s car-centric culture. I talked to the most fascinating engineer during my run today. He saved money for two years as an undergrad in order to travel for 19 months through Australia, Asia and Europe before begining his career. So cool. Anyways, I made a general comment about how the last two miles are always tough. The girl behind me commented that I was talking, which was a good sign I wasn’t overexerting myself. The guy next to me, a story developer for Disney, said, “Yeah, you sound totally relaxed, and have for most of the run.” This prompted me to ask if that was his polite way of saying I’ve been chattering non-stop for four hours and may want to think about stopping? Laughter ensued, although sadly no one denied the charge.
Excercise. It’s good for you. Although maybe not so good for your joints and stuff, but nothing’s perfect.
Food. More exercise means more eating. (This may also be why I don’t appear to be losing any weight.) Plus, I secretly like food in bar form and running gives me an excuse to eat food bars with minimal guilt.
Accomplishment. It’s nice to know you’ve burned a day’s worth of calories before many people have even gotten out of bed.
Improvement. It’s amazing how quickly your endurance and speed improve when you’re running. This is in contrast to the many other things I’ve done and shown no improvement in (five years of piano lessons, a sad attempt at tennis, three snowboarding trips, some sad skating – actually, this list is getting depressing, so I’m just going to stop now).
Apparel. Running clothes are cute. My black running shorts with the red and yellow piping on the side are adorable. And I have a nifty running hat.
Conversation starter. It’s nice to have a response other than “napping” when people ask if one has a hobby.
(FYI – My twenty mile run was GREAT today, which made me think about why I love running. Hence this particular post.)
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