Running = boring? Preposterous!...well maybe not
This post is more of a response to Mr. Alex's post on how running is boring.
For years I've tried to refute the claim that running is boring, but I've come up quite empty. That is, running can be one of the most exciting, exhilarating experience one can have, if that is what one finds exciting and exhilarating. And so, if you find running boring... then I shall not disagree.
I do think that there are some points that can be discussed.
Practice Practicality
For me, I find that of my friends, only a certain percentage of people I know actually exercise, and of those people, only a small handful share the same set of sports that I can possibly practice (those being running, soccer, and golf. Try to get me to play basket ball, and I will embarrass myself.). And to be able to play soccer or golf really requires too much equipment, effort, and most difficult of all, other people to play with. Soccer really can't be enjoyed by less than say half a dozen people (really, it should require more like two dozen people) and golf is..well expensive, and more of a grown up sport (not many of my friends actually play) On top of that, it's really difficult to practice sports when you want to, since it can't be done alone! However, I suppose tennis is more of a sport you play with one other, or maybe three others, and so finding others to play with is a lot easier.
I do agree that running is a poor choice of sport if you want to build your reflexes, or want better spatial awareness. I'd also like to add to Alex's comment on how running is a "safe" sport, because I've certainly seen my share of injuries related to running ranging from blisters, to torn ACLs, to getting spiked in the leg during a race(all of which have happened to me).
Accomplishment
For me, running definitely gives me a tangible sense of accomplishment, since you can run races where your performance is boiled down to a single number: your time. Then, and only then does the mental concentration kick in. I would say that when you're running the mile in a track meet, the amount of worries and thoughts that go through your head are similar to what goes through the head of other sports players. Everything little detail down to how regularly you breathe, or how far your strides are apart is going to factor into your overall time that you finish in, so I would argue that running is a mentally empty activity. When you are just training though, it's slightly more relaxed. You just have to put the miles in, and finish at a certain pace that you've set as a goal for yourself.
One reason why I got into running is also the discipline it has taught me. It's helped me lead a more structured life, one that I can hang onto. When I was playing soccer, everything seemed so chaotic, and out of order. It was like a war field. People running this way and that, and there were just a lot of egotistical, self-centered people wanting to show off. If you want to show off in running, you gotta come in first. And that can only be done by having a strong mind, and a strong body. It is also a sport where your hard work pretty much has a direct proportionate relation to how well you perform. There really is no shortcut you can take to finish a mile.
Social Aspects
As for the social aspects of running versus social aspects of a team sport, say soccer, I find that there might be a slight misunderstanding in general. There used to be a saying in our xcountry team: "For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack." Now, it's been quite a few years since I was part of the xcountry team, but if there is something I learned back then, it is that running is quite the team bonding experience. Just the other day, I ran with my Korean friend, and he said to me, "you are my running coach. If I was just running by myself, I would never have been able to push myself this hard." And so, when running in a group, it is much easier to keep the pace steady, and it is much easier to run faster. This is a strange concept, since you would think that running in a group would result in the group running at the lowest common denominator, but this is not always the case. Running in a group allows the slower runners to keep up with the faster runners. And thus, when running a xcountry race, it is often most wise to run with the group of runners that you know that is the right pace for you. This might be one of the reasons why I felt more like I was in a community when I was in the xcountry team, rather than when I was in the soccer team, when your ability really determined your "starting position" in the team.
In the end though, whether running is a better "sport" than other sports is nothing more than a "my school is better than your school" kind of argument. It's certainly got its perks, but it's certainly not the way to keep yourself healthy, as there are definitely other alternatives. I do wish that people would stop giving me the occasional "ugh" face for running, like it was some sort of self-inflicted torture(that can be whole other rant). The biggest reasons why I run is for the cardiovascular health benefits, and the discipline it has taught me.
For years I've tried to refute the claim that running is boring, but I've come up quite empty. That is, running can be one of the most exciting, exhilarating experience one can have, if that is what one finds exciting and exhilarating. And so, if you find running boring... then I shall not disagree.
I do think that there are some points that can be discussed.
Practice Practicality
For me, I find that of my friends, only a certain percentage of people I know actually exercise, and of those people, only a small handful share the same set of sports that I can possibly practice (those being running, soccer, and golf. Try to get me to play basket ball, and I will embarrass myself.). And to be able to play soccer or golf really requires too much equipment, effort, and most difficult of all, other people to play with. Soccer really can't be enjoyed by less than say half a dozen people (really, it should require more like two dozen people) and golf is..well expensive, and more of a grown up sport (not many of my friends actually play) On top of that, it's really difficult to practice sports when you want to, since it can't be done alone! However, I suppose tennis is more of a sport you play with one other, or maybe three others, and so finding others to play with is a lot easier.
I do agree that running is a poor choice of sport if you want to build your reflexes, or want better spatial awareness. I'd also like to add to Alex's comment on how running is a "safe" sport, because I've certainly seen my share of injuries related to running ranging from blisters, to torn ACLs, to getting spiked in the leg during a race(all of which have happened to me).
Accomplishment
For me, running definitely gives me a tangible sense of accomplishment, since you can run races where your performance is boiled down to a single number: your time. Then, and only then does the mental concentration kick in. I would say that when you're running the mile in a track meet, the amount of worries and thoughts that go through your head are similar to what goes through the head of other sports players. Everything little detail down to how regularly you breathe, or how far your strides are apart is going to factor into your overall time that you finish in, so I would argue that running is a mentally empty activity. When you are just training though, it's slightly more relaxed. You just have to put the miles in, and finish at a certain pace that you've set as a goal for yourself.
One reason why I got into running is also the discipline it has taught me. It's helped me lead a more structured life, one that I can hang onto. When I was playing soccer, everything seemed so chaotic, and out of order. It was like a war field. People running this way and that, and there were just a lot of egotistical, self-centered people wanting to show off. If you want to show off in running, you gotta come in first. And that can only be done by having a strong mind, and a strong body. It is also a sport where your hard work pretty much has a direct proportionate relation to how well you perform. There really is no shortcut you can take to finish a mile.
Social Aspects
As for the social aspects of running versus social aspects of a team sport, say soccer, I find that there might be a slight misunderstanding in general. There used to be a saying in our xcountry team: "For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack." Now, it's been quite a few years since I was part of the xcountry team, but if there is something I learned back then, it is that running is quite the team bonding experience. Just the other day, I ran with my Korean friend, and he said to me, "you are my running coach. If I was just running by myself, I would never have been able to push myself this hard." And so, when running in a group, it is much easier to keep the pace steady, and it is much easier to run faster. This is a strange concept, since you would think that running in a group would result in the group running at the lowest common denominator, but this is not always the case. Running in a group allows the slower runners to keep up with the faster runners. And thus, when running a xcountry race, it is often most wise to run with the group of runners that you know that is the right pace for you. This might be one of the reasons why I felt more like I was in a community when I was in the xcountry team, rather than when I was in the soccer team, when your ability really determined your "starting position" in the team.
In the end though, whether running is a better "sport" than other sports is nothing more than a "my school is better than your school" kind of argument. It's certainly got its perks, but it's certainly not the way to keep yourself healthy, as there are definitely other alternatives. I do wish that people would stop giving me the occasional "ugh" face for running, like it was some sort of self-inflicted torture(that can be whole other rant). The biggest reasons why I run is for the cardiovascular health benefits, and the discipline it has taught me.
posted by
Mas # 8/28/2007 11:17:00 AM 
