There are runs when it feels so good that you feel like you are flying along. In those moments I either imagine I’m a superhero, Kelly Holmes or that I’m in the scene of a movie (I never imagine being chased, I would probably start to believe I was being chased and run to the police station). On other days though, when the fatigue sets in, the thought of a run feels like nothing short of torture. I struggle during those times and it’s so easy to let the negative thoughts creep in telling you to stop and turn back home. I actually had a run like that today. But I kept going and I felt all the better for it. Let’s face it if I had stopped I would be feeling really crappy right now.
Recently I came across this quote which was shared by someone on Twitter. I think for the really good runs it can explain why we, well I, feel like I’m flying. But for when times get bad this is a nice way to think about running rather than thinking about what lies ahead of you.
‘When you walk, one foot is always on the ground. When you run, most of the time you are actually airborne. For example: a 6-foot-tall runner with feet about 1 foot long was found to take 1,250 steps while running 8-minute miles. Thus, while covering 1 mile—5,280 feet—he was in touch with the ground for 1,250 feet and airborne for 4,030 feet.
Put another way, he was in the air for 76% of the time. So don’t think of it as a 10-mile run. Think of it as 7 miles of flying.’
Quote from “Running is Flying” by Paul E. Richardson
Running Mum 