Have you ever noticed that children find the way that some people run funny?
I enjoy thinking. I’m quite a philosophical person, I think. I am at least more thoughtful than I was a few years ago. Most of the time my brilliance remains within my skull, attempts at sharing my thoughts and ideas with others usually results in bloodshed. Endurance exercise allows a unique opportunity to just think. Without distractions, which somebody with ADD can testify to is sometimes a niggle. On a side note I believe 100% that ADD (which I have been told I have) is the effect of a cause, not a disease. Mine was the result of computer games. Sidetracking, bloody distractions. You might call this thinking time meditation, or prayer, I just call it thinking. But, it is a different kind of thought, very insightful.
I find it funny when I see speed limp champion Bob. Does it ever enter this determined humans mind that something is wrong? Sadly I think the problem is many become acceptant there is no solution to their problem, which is usually a movement deficiency. I admire those who work on their problems, more so than those that complete marathons with ignorance to them. Note to endurance athletes: eat more protein. It is important and doesn’t make you big, just better.
Endurance comes in many forms. Be it 400m brutal lactic acid burning sprints, lung breaking quad suffering 50 mile time trials, or a power walk. It is endurance if you are enduring – and hopefully coming out the other side unscathed. In fact this is exactly what has been increasingly attracting me to endurance: enduring pain without pain (massive paradox). I derive an incredible amount of satisfaction by walking the ever growing lands of suffering while remaining pain free. It’s my way of poking the devil with a stick.
Pain free exercise and proper movement are the same thing. I could quite happily run 5k with an unnatural heel-strike and be pain free, however what other problems will be associated with this and why am I running on my heels in the first place?
“Some might think that by climbing a mountain, that we have conquered it. But, we are only visitors here” – David Attenborough
Mountain literature has been the cornerstone of my recent reading frenzy. I highly recommend reading Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer to kick start the habit. Quite simply I have developed more admiration for these athletes than any other. Not only do these athletes have to be technically brilliant, they have to be daring, brave and extremely fit in every fashion. Enduring in high altitude conditions is like being a hundred years old and walking with a zimmer frame, apparently. I shall simply leave a little fact. For every four people that attempt K2, one dies trying.
