I used to run. I never liked it much, but I did it anyway. I was never fleet of foot, and I never ran very far — two or three miles, usually, with the longest effort ever being only about six miles or so.
I did it mainly because I found running to be good training for the will. I disliked it so much that the mental effort it took for me to get out there and do it cultivated a useful kind of inner discipline. But as the years went by the various injuries I’ve accumulated — a teenage hatchet-wound to my left ankle, a torn left ACL with serious meniscus damage, and a shredded right Achilles tendon — made running more and more unpleasant, and so a few years ago I stopped altogether.
I’m happy to see that this turns out to have been exactly the right move.
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From some movie I’ve seen (but can’t remember which): “Pain. What a rush!”
Possessing, as I do, a pain threshold in the minus range, I, too, gave up running many years ago, followed fairly shortly there-after by the gym! However, I have now discovered swimming. Totally tedious, although if the pool is fairly empty one can think one’s thoughts as you do it. Actually I only swim for 15 mins but then I stand in the corner and do a variety of exercises before finishing with a couple or more fast (er, that’s *relatively* fast, of course!) lengths. I have lost a stone and a half and my trouser waistline has dropped two inches.
But above and beyond all other considerations – swimming doesn’t hurt! Need I say more? Whimps of the world unite – and get down to your local pool regularly!