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The Exercise Equivalent of a Cheeseburger? (Read 389 times)

    Honest question: if you don't enjoy it, why do it?

     

    There are plenty of other ways to be active.  I'm not being facetious. I honestly am curious.

     

     

    I completely echo the "the last stride of the day is my favorite".  I'll answer the why do it if you don't enjoy it....for me at least.  First its not really that don't enjoy it, it is mostly that I really could do without the daily training run.  Easy runs are boring, hard workouts are hard, long runs are...well, long.

     

    As to the why do it questions, there is a whole list of answers.  I don't really like doing it, but I like having done it.....every day I am happy that I ran (past tense).  I like being fit.  I like being healthy.  I like that I can run in the morning, by myself, before anyone else in the house wakes up and it doesn't cost me family time.  I like chasing the kids in the yard or taking them on a hike and never getting tired.  I like that some day, hopefully, I will be healthy enough to do the same with my grand kids.  I like eating a doughnut or drinking a beer and not worrying about it.  I like that it makes me trim and fit looking, and so does my wife (I used to be fairly overweight).  I like the mental peace a run will bring on a bad day at work.  I like that people know that I'm a runner and ask me about my races.  I love races.  I love competition.  I love visiting a new city and getting to know it by running through it.  I love the great feeling of accomplishing a goal.  I love the community of runners.  I love that I know what it is like to push my physical body to the absolute limit of what it is capable of, feel it break, and a year later run through that limit and find the next one.  I love who I am because I am a runner and I am a runner because I run....so I run even though I don't particularly care for the specific strides of each run.  The daily run is just the price of admission.

    Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.


    I need a snack.

      I am in better shape at 44 than I was at any time since I was 25.  Being fat and winded going up a flight of stairs is no way to go through life.  I think I will keep running.

      Mysecondnewname


        Apparently, "The chair is out to kill us"  as well.

         

        http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-dont-sit-20130525,0,3673157.story

        Chris T


          Honest question: if you don't enjoy it, why do it?

           

          There are plenty of other ways to be active.  I'm not being facetious. I honestly am curious.

           

           

          I enjoy it very much as soon as I am finished. I relish the accomplishment. I started about 5 years ago, at age 50, and couldn't run a quarter mile without stopping to walk. It took me about two weeks to make it a mile. 2-3 more to make it two. The fact that I can now go 10+ anytime I want to? That was unimaginable to me back then.

           

          I have (personally) aged out of other active pursuits- organized basketball, for instance. I have always, and still do, strength-train. Bicycling is always an option, I guess, but I don't like the costumes you apparently have to wear. Smile

           

          Don't get me wrong, I never said I don't enjoy it. I said I don't consider it fun. To me, there is a big difference. Running is something I do, riding a roller coaster is fun.

          L Train


             

            I completely echo the "the last stride of the day is my favorite".  I'll answer the why do it if you don't enjoy it....for me at least.  First its not really that don't enjoy it, it is mostly that I really could do without the daily training run.  Easy runs are boring, hard workouts are hard, long runs are...well, long.

             

            As to the why do it questions, there is a whole list of answers.  I don't really like doing it, but I like having done it.....every day I am happy that I ran (past tense).  I like being fit.  I like being healthy.  I like that I can run in the morning, by myself, before anyone else in the house wakes up and it doesn't cost me family time.  I like chasing the kids in the yard or taking them on a hike and never getting tired.  I like that some day, hopefully, I will be healthy enough to do the same with my grand kids.  I like eating a doughnut or drinking a beer and not worrying about it.  I like that it makes me trim and fit looking, and so does my wife (I used to be fairly overweight).  I like the mental peace a run will bring on a bad day at work.  I like that people know that I'm a runner and ask me about my races.  I love races.  I love competition.  I love visiting a new city and getting to know it by running through it.  I love the great feeling of accomplishing a goal.  I love the community of runners.  I love that I know what it is like to push my physical body to the absolute limit of what it is capable of, feel it break, and a year later run through that limit and find the next one.  I love who I am because I am a runner and I am a runner because I run....so I run even though I don't particularly care for the specific strides of each run.  The daily run is just the price of admission.

             

            Good post.

             

            Gator eye


              Apparently, "The chair is out to kill us"  as well.

               

              http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-dont-sit-20130525,0,3673157.story

               

              Breaking news, run or don't run in the end we all end up dead.


                I love who I am because I am a runner and I am a runner because I run....so I run even though I don't particularly care for the specific strides of each run.  The daily run is just the price of admission.

                 

                Well said.  

                "When a person trains once, nothing happens. When a person forces himself to do a thing a hundred or a thousand times, then he certainly has developed in more ways than physical. Is it raining? That doesn't matter. Am I tired? That doesn't matter, either. Then willpower will be no problem." 
                Emil Zatopek

                zonykel


                  I love who I am because I eat cheeseburgers. I eat cheeseburgers because I love myself. So I eat cheeseburgers even though I don't particularly care for the specific contents of each cheeseburger. The daily cheeseburger is the price of admission.


                  Walk-Jogger

                    Apparently, "The chair is out to kill us"  as well.

                     

                    http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-dont-sit-20130525,0,3673157.story

                     

                    I choose to run and stay in the best possible shape, so I will be looking good at my own funeral...

                    Retired &  Loving It

                    Mr MattM


                      With the current evidence, I'm not sure why anyone would argue against the point that running (or exercise in general) is good, but that 'too much' can be bad.  Hell, that's pretty much a rule of life...

                       

                      The question might be "how much is too much?" and I doubt that there is a single answer.  In that regard, 'too much' is probably a very individual thing.  I do think that if one were 'running for health and fitness' then one would never need more than 30-40mpw, along with other healthy lifestyle choices.  For those that like to run a lot more, or races lots of marathons, etc... you are simply assuming a potential added risk... as do people who ride rollercoasters, or skydive, or <fill in your fun but slightly risky hobby here>...

                       

                      In that context, the article isn't ridiculous... it's just a consideration.

                      be curious; not judgmental

                      zonykel


                        I think it was from Lore of Running that I read that if you're trying to extend longevity, ~4 hours of exercise a week maxes out your benefits at about 2 extra years of life. Beyond that, you're training to improve fitness for a race or something like that. It wasn't clear if the excercise was supposed to be aerobic only. There are certainly other benefits of exercise that improve quality of life and fend off diseases.

                         

                        For example, I watched two different documentaries, one on Parkinson's and one on Alzheimer's. Both came to the conclusion that excercise benefits the brain. There is no pill that can do what exercise can (to benefit the brain). If there was such a pill, it'd be extremely expensive.


                        Feeling the growl again

                          I think it was from Lore of Running that I read that if you're trying to extend longevity, ~4 hours of exercise a week maxes out your benefits at about 2 extra years of life.

                           

                          Noakes plays loose and fast with his "facts".  There is some good info in there but if you read carefully, he goes back and forth between well-supported points and personal opinions passed off in the same manner.  That's the same book where he claims you have X number of good marathons in you.

                          "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                           

                          I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                           

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