Running!

Run (verb): to go quickly by moving the legs more rapidly than at a walk and in such a manner that for an instant in each step all or both feet are off the ground.

So to complete the set today I am thinking about another activity that I love – running.

What it is that I love most about running is that it is about the only sport that you can do without any specialist equipment with the exception of a pair of trainers or the need to go to a specific place to do it. I can lace up my shoes, open my front door and off I go. I have about 30 routes of various distances all starting from my house.

I love the feeling of freedom that running gives me. You are out sharing your space with nature and the elements and although you may be running with other people, the only person against whom you are competing is yourself. All too often in life we just stumble on from day to day without any clear purpose whereas when you are running you can set yourself lots of goals to aim for and work towards. Your short term goal might be to get up early tomorrow and run 6 miles but that might be just one piece in the jigsaw to a much larger goal like running a marathon in 6 months time. Not only can you set yourself goals but you also know when you have reached them which is just as important to setting them in the first place.

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up.
It knows that it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve.
It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle
when the sun comes up you'd better be running.

Anon