The Best Reason To Run Right Now
It’s in your hands.
Hold up one of your hands in front of your face. Left or right, it doesn’t matter.
Examine your palm.
Now turn it round. Look at the veins and the fine hairs. Look at your nails, growing.
Look at the unique details that make it yours: the nicks and scratches; the scars and calluses; the manicure or polish, chipped or unchipped.
Now flex your fingers.
Ball your hand into a fist, squeeze hard, grip.
Feel the fibres of your muscles expand and contract.
Feel the strength.
Extend your fingers again, stretch them as wide as you can.
Now hold it still.
Look at it closely.
Study it.
Some day that hand will belong to a dead person.
A bit morbid, perhaps, but also just a fact.
The point being: don’t put off what you can do today. And today you can definitely go for a run.
Running’s like everything else, it’s easy to say “I’ll start tomorrow.” (Along with that diet).
The beauty of running is that it’s simple and accessible. But paradoxically this means it’s actually quite difficult, to start or to maintain.
If it feels like it’s there for you any time it’s easy to bump down the “To Do” list.
It’s a bit like your Netflix, or when Sky+ was a thing. You fill it up with stuff you’re never going to watch. (But it’s fine, because you could, any day now).1
For me it’s books. I’ll read that one day, I think, looking at the pile of unread books beside my bed whilst simultaneously ordering new ones.2
If you’re off the blocks and running already, well done. Hopefully I’m preaching to the converted. But it’s easy to pull up and dawdle.
Or stop.
You’ll be familiar with the ebb and flow of motivation. It’s the same for everyone. Accept it, but understand that sometimes you'll need to do something about it.
We live in a passive culture. We’re conditioned to do nothing. I mean, social streams are literally called feeds. What are you, a battery hen?
That box set you’re into isn’t going to change your life. And it’ll be there tomorrow. Or even when you get back from a quick run. Imagine how much you’ll enjoy it then, knowing that you’ve done something.3
We all need relaxation. It just doesn’t need to mean grinding to a halt.
You need to make running a habit.
Don’t expect fireworks every time. (But there might be).
Think marginal gains.
And don’t bother overcomplicating things with that couch to 5k nonsense. That’s just more layers that make running seem more difficult than it is.
Just get out and run. It doesn’t matter how far or how fast. And, actually, slower is better, for lots of reasons. Top Kenyan runners do the majority of their training at a pace around 40-50% of their max. Think 9-11 minute miles. You could probably do that now.
The point is not to make running hard, the point is simply to be out there.
You should try to keep going, but it doesn’t matter if you need to stop and walk.4
Just find your groove. The joy in running for most people has nothing to do with performance.
Ask yourself why so many people love it?
It doesn’t matter how old you are, how attractive you are, how fit you are, how fast you are…5
You don’t need any equipment, and it’s free, always and forever.
Cold? Put a layer on.
Dark? Get a head torch.
Wet? Put a jacket on. (But you’re going to sweat anyway).
No running shoes? Find a grassy patch and don’t wear any.6
You’ll never regret going for a run.
Time isn’t forever.
Life is filled with things we’ll start tomorrow (or the next day, or the next, ad infinitum…) but running doesn’t need to be like that. It’s so easy you can do it right now.
Go on. Put down your phone, close the laptop.
Stop examining your hands like a weirdo.
Get up and have a wee jog round the room. Better still - trot right out of the door and keep going. There’s nothing stopping you. Just go. This email will be here later, along with all the rest.
If you don’t enjoy the run, I promise you’ll feel brilliant when you get back.
Go.
It’s the only way to begin.7
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The best example of recorded things that will conclusively never be watched is university lectures. What a hilariously hopeful idea. (Except for that weird mature student who smokes roll ups and wears HiTec Silver Shadows with a brown leather jacket and inexplicably visits the post office every day. He’ll go to the lectures then watch them again later).
There’s a Japanese word for this habit of buying books you don’t get round to reading. It’s “tsundoku”. Isn’t that lovely?
I’ve got a bit of a weakness for beer (above 6% only, but ideally closer to 9+) but I offset this with running. There are few beers in your life you’ll enjoy more than post-run beers.
Personally I do think when starting out you should try to keep going as long as possible, even if it means jogging at a super slow pace, because once you stop you’ve given yourself licence keep stopping. But it’s not the end of the world if you do.
There are some really excellent ugly runners.
Alternatively I can highly recommend the humble Vans Slip-on as a superb stand-in running shoe.
Don’t forget your eventual cold, dead hands.
Vamos! Please can you get some inspirational tunes included in your next post?
Wonderful stuff