Running gets the brain working!

When was the last time you ran?

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I have always hated running.  When I was a kid I would be last in any race longer than a few hundred meters.  I would puff, sweat, stagger and generally hate the whole experience!

But if it was a short distance, I was your kid!  I was fast and would win most races of 100 meters. Then I would throw myself on the ground until I got my breath back.

Today, at 62 years of age I have decided to take up running.  I know you think I'm crazy.

I actually took up running in my forties!

I actually took up running in my forties, on and off over the next 12 years.You know what started me?

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You know what started me running?  A 1970's book entitled ‘The Zen of Running!'  Here was a guy who had figured out how you could enjoy the experience as much as breathing.  I was very skeptical and thought what a load of tripe!

So I took his advice and tried his techniques and you know what?  Yes, it worked for me.  His big premise was run within your breath.  That means you will breathe a little harder but you won't be struggling to breathe.

I could barely shuffle along!

When I started with this technique of his, I could barely shuffle along and I would be breathing quite hard, so I shuffled a bit more slowly.  Anway long paragraph short, after 3 months of running every other day around a course of 7 kilometers I was looking a bit like a runner, I had a stride, WOW!

I wouldn't say I was happy about running, but I was getting the benefits and smiling more often.  It's something to do with endorphins I believe.  Yes, I was drugged up to the eyeballs on endorphins, whatever they are?

Life got to be busy, very busy!

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But then around the mid-fifties, life got to be busy, very busy and I had more and more excuses not to keep it up.  As you know you don't need many excuses not to exercise for you to stop.

Eventually, after years of now feeling like a blob, I decided to get started again.  Back to shuffling along and watching snails overtake me on the bends.  But, I can't deny it, after a shuffle, walk and slight panting over about 4 kilometers I felt a sense of accomplishment.  After a lovely shower and a 20-minute rest, I felt like a million dollars.

I know, I have only done the one run/shuffle and I haven't got into any kind of habit.  But there is hope on that thar horizon!

So what I am trying to say is:  Today go for a walk/shuffle/run and go home with your head held up high – you deserve it and so does your body!