Raised heartbeat - I know it goes much higher than my Doctor recommends. Looking at him I doubt he's a runner and he certainly doesn't understand why anyone why I want to run saying "it's not as if you're training to be a top class athlete so I don't understand why you want to run"
Strengthening my bones - there's no way I want to have fragile bones when I'm older
Strengthening my ligaments, tendons around my ankles when I run over rough ground - when I ran with Dave McRoy in Snowdonia I remember having to work hard keeping balance over that rocky ground
Weight control - a nice steady 10st 7lbs seems about right
Better, deeper sleep - this is blissful! Sometimes I almost seem to know when I'm in a really deep sleep and my body is repairing itself
Listening to my body breathing, working, being in tune - perhaps this is what people who do yoga talk about
I am more healthy than I was 20 years ago - I wasn't in bad shape but my diet wasn't very good and I did smoke. I certainly couldn't run far.
Mentally
The Runner's High - wow what can I say? I sometimes feel so elated, so much on top of the world, happy and able to handle anything
Feel unbeatable
Problem solving; working through problems - the only snag is not being able to remember what I had worked out
Seeing things clearly
Makes me feel alive! Especially if its been raining, or cold or maybe after a really fast fluid kind of run
I feel great all day if I run early in the morning
Keeping things in perspective
De-stressing myself - the main motivation that got me going originally
The joy of it
Listening to the sound of gravel dancing behind me, following my footsteps
Listening to the rhythm of my footsteps - almost hypnotic and a great way of maintaining a steady pace
Listening to music on my ipod - Invitation to the Blues by either Tom Waits (the best) or Jennifer Warnes (pretty good), Young at Heart by the Bluebells
Being the first to run through the new day - such an immense privilege that is utterly priceless especially when I'm the first to run through the dew covered grass
The challenge of it - I have only once cut a run short and gone back home early
The satisfaction of it
Where does this path lead...?
Every run is different
The clouds
The smells in the woods, the pockets of cool air on a summer's evening
The different seasons
Running along the edge of fields and noticing how crops have grown, changed colour
Running through puddles, feeling the water splash my legs and make my feet wet for a bit
These are brilliant, every one of them!
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